| Legislative Tip Sheet |
 Who are my legislators? An excellent source for finding out who your elected officials are is http://www.votesmart.org/. The panel on the left side of the page asks for your nine-digit zip code and instructions for determining the nine-digit zip code are included. The website will provide contact information for all of your elected officials, including your state representative and state senator. Detailed information about individual legislators is also available on the web at http://www.legis.ga.gov/. You can request a copy of Members of the Georgia General Assembly from House Communications (404-656-0305) or Senate Information (404-656-0028). You can also download this booklet from www.legis.ga.gov . by clicking on “Picture Book” at the bottom of the screen. This invaluable resource is updated yearly. Who is on what committee? This information is included in Members of the Georgia General Assembly and is also available at www.legis.ga.gov . You can find information about committee assignments for individual House and Senate members, or you can look up information by committee. When is a committee meeting? For the House, call the Clerk of the House at 404-656-5015; for the Senate, call the Secretary of the Senate at 404-656-5040. Some committees adhere to a daily or weekly schedule when the Legislature is in session, although meetings are often postponed or scheduled on short notice. Most meeting notices are posted outside the offices of the House Clerk and Secretary of the Senate. If you are trying to closely monitor the activity of a specific committee, your best bet is to check with the committee secretary on a daily basis. For a copy of a bill, go to http://www.legis.ga.gov/ . If you know the bill number, you can easily find the legislation. There is also a search option that allows you to search using key words. If you are still having trouble, you can call the Clerk of the House or the Secretary of the Senate (numbers listed above.) You will need to know the title or description of the bill. To contact a legislator, addresses, phone numbers and email addresses are available at http://www.legis.ga.gov/. This information is also in Members of the Georgia General Assembly. When you are at the Capitol and the Legislature is in session, you can send a message to a legislator in the House or Senate chamber. Page desks are located outside each chamber and forms are located on the Senate Page desk and in the south lobby outside the House. Legislators are not always at their desks, so sometimes you must send a message in more than once. If you want to speak to your own legislator, it sometimes helps to call ahead of time and let him or her know that you will be at the Capitol that day. Legislators are more accessible to their own constituents, so if you live in the district, let him or her know that up front. General Assembly Schedule: Both chambers usually convened at 10:00 a.m. most days. If this year is like other years, the House and Senate may begin at an earlier hour in the later weeks of the session. Committee meetings are usually held in the afternoon, particularly during the first month or so. Many legislators keep office hours from about 9:00 a.m. until the House/Senate convene and then again in the afternoon. The most important thing to remember, though, is that the schedule is set each day and is always subject to change. The 2010 Session will begin on January 11, 2010. Compiled by Mary Frances Williams |
