Celebrating New Leadership in the New Year
Friends,
As we continue to celebrate and spend time with our families during this Christmas and New Year season, I wanted to share with you the excitement that will be seen in upcoming days at the State Capitol in Atlanta.
Early in the new year, General Assembly members will be sworn in to our new legislative terms. As required by the state Constitution, we will take our oaths of office on January 9th with the House beginning its session at 10am.
This ceremony, open for members of the general public to watch from the House gallery is the most important of our terms of office - a chance for both first time and reelected members to pledge to uphold the Georgia and United States Constitution as we embark on our two year terms of office.
Following the oath of office that morning, the House will elect chamber officers, including the Speaker of the House and the Speaker Pro-Tempore. These officers represent the entire House membership, and as such must be elected by the full House membership after the administration of the oath of office.
I am honored to be nominated by my Republican colleagues to be our candidate for Speaker, and look forward to being joined by our nominee for Speaker Pro-Tempore, Jan Jones, as our colleagues vote to fill those positions.
Later that week on January 12th, our statewide elected officers will take their oaths of office to begin their new terms.
Led by Governor Brian Kemp following his reelection, several new office holders will be sworn in, including Lieutenant Governor Burt Jones, Agriculture Commissioner Tyler Harper, and Labor Commissioner Bruce Thompson. As well, in addition to Governor Kemp, several Georgians reelected to their respective offices will renew their oaths of office, including Attorney General Chris Carr, Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, State School Superintendent Richard Woods, and Insurance Commissioner John King.
There will be a number of opportunities for Georgians from around the state to join the celebration in Atlanta as your elected officials embark on their new terms of office.
I hope that you will join Dayle and I as we offer our prayers for our state and the men and women who will lead it in 2023.
Always remember that should you have questions, comments, or concerns about issues affecting District 159, you can always reach out to me at 404.656.5052, Jon.Burns@house.ga.gov, or on Facebook at www.FB.com/JonBurnsGA. If you wish to sign up for my weekly emailed newsletter, visit https://www.friendsofjonburns.com/home to sign up.