Georgia General Assembly to get back to lawmaking. Here's what to expect in the 2023 session

Gov. Brian Kemp easily won another four years as governor, but he will be working with new faces in the state legislature. Both chambers of the Georgia General Assembly, the House and Senate, will be starting the 2023 session with new leadership.

On the House side, Rep. Jon Burns (R-Newington) appears ready to take over as speaker after the retirement and then death of former House Speaker David Ralston.

On the Senate side, Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan declined to run for re-election and President Pro Tempore Butch Miller stepped down to mount an unsuccessful run to replace Duncan. Burt Jones, another state senator, won the election to the lieutenant governor's seat, and Sen. John Kennedy will likely serve as president pro tempore.

"The governor is going to be more powerful, because he is the only holdover," said Charles Bullock, a University of Georgia political science professor. "And the new speaker, and particularly lieutenant governor, are going to be kind of a shakedown cruise."

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What to expect in the Georgia House of Representatives

In the House, the transition from Ralston's tenure, and interim speaker Jan Jones, to Burns is likely to be smooth.

"I think in the House, they may see pretty much a continuation of what David Ralston was trying to do," Bullock said.

Rep. Ron Stephens, R-Savannah, agreed that Burns thinks much like Ralston did. The one possible change to the chamber that Stephens sees is a bigger tent for the Republicans.

"Most of the people are in the middle and we’ve been a little heavy-handed with the people who are farther right," he said. Under Burns, Stephens said he expects the majority party to be "more inclusive" of more staunchly conservative members.

Otherwise, Stephens expects that Burns will have his work cut out for him the first year just getting used to the job.

"It’s a monstrous job," Stephens said. "Even when Ralston was struggling with his health, I’d see him working long days."

What to expect in the Georgia Senate

In the Senate, the leadership change will likely be more noticeable.

"I would think at least the attitudes of the new lieutenant governor I'm expecting to be quite different from that of Geoff Duncan," Bullock said. "Geoff being something of a reformer within the Republican party and not a Trumper, while Burt Jones is the only Trump candidate for major office to win in Georgia."

Jones is a controversial figure who supported the false claims of widespread election fraud in Georgia after the 2020 election. He was also one of the fake electors who tried to reverse the state's electoral results, and was stripped of a chair position within the Georgia Senate in part due to his efforts to overturn the election. Now he will lead the chamber.

More:2020 election denial is on the ballot in Georgia this year. These are the candidates.

But Sen. Ben Watson, R-Savannah, thinks that the Senate will get along well with Jones, who has served in the chamber for eight years already. While the Senate can move to strip incoming lieutenant governors of some of their powers, they have made no attempt to do so with Jones. Watson anticipates the Republican coalition will be inclusive of all members.

Sen. Greg Dolezal, R-Cumming, was one of two of Jone's appointments to the Senate Committee on Assignments, which sets up the committees for the coming year. Dolezal said that the process has been smooth, even with new leadership and an influx of freshmen, and many legislators bring relevant experience from other areas such as industry.

"We have not had any specific challenges, nor do we expect many," he wrote in an email. "Each of our new members bring unique skills to the Senate we hope to tap into for the sake of all Georgians. Some of them have significant legislative experience as well, so they are entering the Senate with a good bit of institutional knowledge."

Dolezal also said that Jones has an advantage coming from the Senate - he knows his colleagues and has made a point to meet new members as well.

"He understands the importance of relationships in getting his priorities across the finish line, and I have already seen him investing the time necessary to forge relationships on both sides of the aisle," Dolezal wrote.

Meanwhile John Kennedy will serve in as the second highest ranked member of the Senate. Kennedy served as the chair of the Senate Redistricting and Reapportionment Committee last year as legislators re-drew district lines based on the 2020 census.

This article originally appeared on Augusta Chronicle: Georgia House, Senate has new leadership as session about to start