While last week the legislature was not in session, it was still a busy week for me and my colleagues in the General Assembly.

Last week I kicked off what will be a regular series of town halls in the 16th District with three town halls taking place in Cedartown, Rockmart, and Euharlee. These town halls give us an opportunity to have a conversation with each other regarding the issues which are most important to our community. For the months the legislature is in session I plan on having four town halls each month with two town halls taking place on each the 2nd and 4th Saturday of each month. Please make sure to stay tuned for these upcoming events.

Things were quite busy at the Capitol as well with a joint session of both the Senate and House Appropriation Committees to hear budget requests from state agencies to help plan for the fiscal year 2013 amended and 2014 budget. Following along with these hearings gave me the ability to learn even more about both the challenges and opportunities facing us this session. Here are just a couple bits of information which I found to be of great interest.

·$1.6 Million will be provided to help fund reading mentors in Georgia schools

·Each juvenile who is housed in a Georgia detention center cost the state $91,000 per year

·Amazon.com continues to ignore Georgia law by not collecting sales tax on online purchases. This hurts our “brick and mortar” retailers who have been willing to make a physical investment in our state.

I always welcome you to visit me at the Capitol in my office located at 607E in the Coverdell Legislative Office Building and hope you will contact me at trey.kelley@house.ga.gov or by contacting me on my cell phone at 770-324-2275. It is a great honor to get to represent you in the Georgia House and ask for your continued prayers during this journey.

May God Bless You and Your Family,

Trey Kelley

Georgia House of Representatives

Coverdell Legislative Office Building, Room 607E

404.656.0287

trey.kelley@house.ga.gov