James March-April 2025 web - Flipbook - Page 37
No question that the lieutenant governor, who presides over the Senate, as well as
the speaker of the House of Representatives, wield tremendous power in the General
Assembly. But every year James selects three other legislators who we believe demonstrate
leadership and who we salute for impressive work on a wide range of policy issues.
SE NATO R
R E P R E S EN TAT I V E
R E P RE SE N TATI VE
Greg Dolezal
Patty Stinson
Jesse Petrea
This small business owner and entrepreneur, first elected in 2018 to serve
as a lawmaker for the Cumming-based
27th District, belongs to a range of influential committees— including chair
of Transportation and vice chair of the
Appropriations panels. A graduate of
North Park University, his desire for upgraded public services led him to start
Fix Forsyth Traffic and he served on the
Forsyth County Planning Commission.
A fiscal conservative, Dolezal
opposes all tax increases and has voted
to reduce the state income tax with the
hope of eventually ending it. He serves
his district by supporting smart Forsyth County infrastructure needs while
opposing any toll lanes. And he has
fought to keep property taxes low while
working to attract high paying jobs.
Dolezal has sponsored numerous
bills that have been passed into law.
Recent accomplishments include bipartisan Senate passage of his bill codifying
safety and fairness in girls’ sports and
ensuring changing rooms are only for
biological females. He favors no tax on
tips and has introduced legislation ranging from helping foster families obtain a
Georgia Promise Scholarship to strengthening Second Amendment protections.
This dedicated public servant is a genial
small business operator who served
in the state House from 2013 to 2023
representing District 139, and now represents District 150 which includes the
city of Butler where she lives. Before her
tenure she served as a Taylor County
Commissioner and for several years
directed the West Central Georgia Community Action Council.
During this longtime Democrat’s
tenure she has worked with Republicans to craft legislation on policy issues
ranging from tax relief to education and
healthcare. Colleagues commend her
for her work ethic and constituent service, and during this General Assembly
session she is immersed in a wide range
of legislation. Examples: Voting that
only U.S. citizens can vote in elections,
banning government agencies from
using a central bank digital currency as
payment and pushing limited student
loan forgiveness.
She is the vice chairwoman of the
State Planning and Consumer Affairs
Committee and serves as a member
of the powerful Appropriations, Rural
Development and several other House
committees.
The Savannah native, elected in 2014 to
represent District 166 which includes
much of Chatham and Bryan counties, is a successful entrepreneur and
president of a healthcare consulting
company.
A sponsor of many bills over the
years, the Republican has led the effort
to ensure Georgia law enforcement
cooperates with the federal ICE to remove criminal illegal aliens, pushed for
exempting military retirement income
from state income tax, led multiple
reforms on the parole process to keep
violent offenders behind bars and introduced a bill this session stipulating that
restaurants have the country of origin
posted on restaurant menus offering
shrimp. Other issues he is passionate
about include pushing for healthcare
reforms including further helping the
aging and disabled, as well as protecting
the Georgia coast.
Petrea is the chairman of the House
Human Resources & Aging Committee,
as well as a member of the Appropriations, Public Safety/Homeland Security
and other important committees.
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