UGA football to upend legislative work -- again
Kemp, state leaders lighten workloads ahead of CFB championship
Georgia football fans rang in 2023 with a come-from-behind victory over the Ohio State Buckeyes Saturday night in the college football playoffs. UGA’s narrow 42-41 win gives the defending champions a chance to win the national title again — a feat last accomplished by rival Alabama in 2012.
The Bulldogs’ return to the national championship will also complicate the schedules of Georgia’s political leaders, many of whom are UGA graduates themselves. The General Assembly’s annual legislative session is scheduled to begin on January 9 — the same day UGA will battle TCU for the championship trophy.
But don’t expect legislators to stick around all day. Many of them will likely be boarding planes and heading to Los Angeles to attend the big game shortly after that first gavel comes down.
Among other changes to the first week of the legislative session:
The annual Eggs & Issues breakfast, often a platform to roll out economic policies, will be held on Jan. 11. And Gov. Brian Kemp – an Athens native and diehard Bulldog fan — built a three-day cushion into the schedule by setting his inauguration for Thursday, Jan. 12.
It will not be the first time college football has upended the political calendar. In fact, a similar dynamic unfolded last year: the 2022 session began on the same day as the college football championship. Legislators ended up taking a temporary hiatus following UGA’s big victory — their first championship in over 4 decades.
President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris visited Georgia the day after UGA won the title to campaign for voting rights legislation. The visit was boycotted by some civil rights leaders, who believed that the President should have been pushing these bills on Capitol Hill instead of on the campaign trail.
You can expect more disruptions and delays from state leaders if the Bulldogs defeat TCU next Monday.