ATLANTA — Georgia’s top lawmaker is expressing frustration over the lack of movement for key House bills.
Channel 2’s Richard Elliot spoke one-on-one with House Speaker Jon Burns on Tuesday.
He rarely shows frustration over bills, preferring instead to work behind the scenes to get them passed. But now he’s just hoping they can work something out by Sine Die.
“You can never take politics out of the politics, right?” Burns said.
The long-time veteran of the Georgia House of Representatives knows better than most about the political process.
But even he admits, he’s frustrated by what he believes is the lack of speed of certain House bills moving through the Senate.
Most importantly to him, his key legislation was to improve literacy in the state of Georgia.
Georgia ranks near the bottom in third-grade reading skills. He thinks lawmakers need to keep that in mind in the coming week.
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“Whether they’re a Senator or a House member, to go out and talk about what we’ve done on a very, very … the most important issue that will be almost for our generation is what we can do about literacy,” Burns told Elliot.
But Burns is expressing frustration over the lack of speed by the Georgia Senate. His own bill remains in committee, and they have yet to agree on a budget.
He’s offering to work with Senators to get their bills passed in his house, but he said he needs to see some movement in the Senate.
“We certainly are open to discussions about what’s a priority for the Senate and for some of their Senators, and for the body as a whole, and for the lieutenant governor. But we’re focused on the things that we think are important that could be priorities for them as well as us. And I’ll go back to that one. That’s literacy,” Burns said.
Elliot reached out to Lt. Gov. Burt Jones’ office, who is also the president of the Senate, for comment. Jones’ office sent a statement, saying:
“This is the legislative process working as it should. Any legislation with a significant price tag deserves careful review — and this one is no different. As someone who has grown up around dyslexia and experienced it with family members, I know how critical early literacy is. Every dollar should go directly into the classroom — not into growing government. The Senate’s version will reflect that.“Senate