OPINION: One General Assembly, two very different chambers

Unsurprisingly, a partisan debate ensued, as it often does in the state Senate. With a chamber full of ambitious members, including multiple who are considering statewide campaigns in 2026, the upper chamber of the General Assembly has become more like the more partisan, combative U.S. House in Washington.

Meanwhile, the state House, led by 71-year-old Speaker Jon Burns, has become more akin to the U.S. Senate in Washington, the “saucer” that George Washington once said served to cool the boiling tea of the U.S. House.

The role reversal is as apparent in the tone of the debates in the chambers as in the agendas they’re following. While the state House has focused most of its time this year on new tax cuts, expanded family leave policies, and budget items, the state Senate has been host to the most divisive measures so far this session. Among them, a bill to investigate Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis; a religious freedom bill that Democrats warned would create state-sponsored discrimination, and a sales tax holiday for all gun purchases.

Lobbyists in the hallways on Crossover Day described the House as “the backstop” or the big brother in a sibling rivalry. The Senate, meanwhile, is the “wild west” where hardliners dominate.

“It’s quite the opposite of the federal legislature,” said state Rep. Michelle Au, a Democrat from Johns Creek who is one of the few who has served in both chambers.

“The types of legislation we’re seeing on the House side are a little more workmanlike, a little less of the political, social issues we see on the Senate side,” said Au. “Generally speaking, the Senate tends to be a little bit older, more conservative, more rural, and that informs the type of legislation they’re able to bring.”

One of those older, more conservative, and more rural lawmakers is Gooch, the powerful Senate Majority Leader from Dahlonega. “In my 14 years in the Senate, I’ve seen quite a bit of contrast with the House and the Senate,” he said. “We’ve always claimed and took the credit for being the more conservative of the two chambers.”

Gooch also said it’s logical for the House to focus more on economic issues early on since the state Constitution requires spending bills to originate there. After Crossover Day, Gooch said the Senate will look at House-passed legislation, “And we’ll start perfecting their bills.”

Who is perfecting whose bills? State Rep. Alan Powell, the GOP chairman of the Regulated Industries Committee quipped of the Senate, “There are convincing arguments for a unicameral form of government.”

Part of the reason for the different politics of the two chambers is just that — politics. Although they’re both led by conservative Republicans, the House has multiple GOP members in swing suburban districts who have to be wary of the most partisan measures the Senate sends over. Most senators, on the other hand, represent districts where they are more likely to see a tough partisan primary than a general election challenge.

The leaders in the chambers reflect and influence their chambers, too. Burns, 71, won the House gavel last year after the unexpected death of his friend, the longtime Speaker David Ralston. He’s promised to make the House “a steady hand” that will deliver sound policy. “We will not waver in doing what’s right for the people of this state,” he told the Buckhead Coalition recently.

The leader of the Senate, Lt. Gov. Burt Jones, 44, a vocal Trump supporter, is one of several Republicans thought to be contemplating a run for governor in 2026 to succeed Brian Kemp. The run to the right for all possible GOP statewide contenders is real.

Of course, it’s not all partisan brawling in the Senate, nor consensus and good times in the state House. Plenty of bipartisan measures moved through the Senate Thursday and Jones has courted Democrats with support for HBCUs and targeted health care measures.

And in the House Thursday, a heated debate broke out over a bill focused on undocumented immigrants following the killing of nursing student Laken Riley. Democrats called it pure politics and the bill passed the House over the objection of Democrats. “We have had enough of attempts to promote racial profiling,” said state Rep. Pedro Marin, D-Duluth.

Back in the Senate, after Majority Leader Gooch introduced the America First license plate bill, state Sen. Josh McLaurin, an Atlanta Democrat. offered an amendment to make the license plate read “Donald Trump First” instead.

“I want to get to yes by making this bill what it’s really about, which is putting Donald Trump first,” he said. In response, state Sen. Bill Cowsert, R-Athens, asked McLaurin, “Are you an American? Do you support America? Are you a communist infiltrator?” And so it went for the next 15 minutes.

Finally, state Sen. Greg Dolezal, a Cumming conservative, offered to name the entire bill after the Democrat if he’d vote yes. But McLaurin identified the biggest problem with that idea — getting it through the lower chamber.

“If you can get a Sen. McLaurin bill that says ‘Donald Trump First’ through the House, I’ll go to the signing myself.”