Sine Dei! Other than "Play Ball!" I think the two words I most want to hear each spring are "Sine Dei!"

If you are not familiar with Sine Dei, it is a Latin phrase meaning literally "adjournment without a day." It signifies the ending of a legislative session without adjourning to a specific date or time. In Georgia, it is the words typically shouted with great excitement by the Speaker of the House that conclude each year's legislative session.

And that generally means that each of us can take a deep breath and relax some until the following January! That is, unless something has transpired in the Capitol that might impact our lives or our jobs!

Georgia, like some many other states, has part-time legislators. That nuance means that for the individuals that convene under the inveterate Gold Dome in downtown Atlanta each January, the making of the laws that impact us as consumers and our companies as providers of products and services is not their main jobs! That fact alone should get your attention.

For 40 legislative days, the term specified by the Constitution for the State of Georgia, spread over roughly 3 months each winter, our personal and professional lives are in the hands of people from all of Georgia's 159 counties, most of which probably do not understand what we all do for a living. And there is yet another reason not to take the Georgia General Assembly for granted!

Fortunately, there are several ways that each of us can become informed about, or even involved with, what is going on within the Legislature. The simple way is to monitor their activities through their own web site: http://www.legis.state.ga.us/legis/2005_06/leg/legislation.htm Go to this link and search on any key words that apply to your company or your industry. You might be surprised to learn that there is new legislation that might impact how your company can conduct its business affairs.

The better way is to become personally involved with the legislative process so that you are not blind-sided by any of the activities of the General Assembly. This is easier than you may realize.

I happen to live three houses away from my State Representative, and I frequently have the opportunity to chat with her in our neighborhood. Before that, I was represented by one of my college classmates so I had easy access to what was going on in state government or someone to call if I had a question about any pending legislation.

Find out who represents you in both the State Senate and the House, and let them hear from you. You will be surprised how accessible that they will be and how open they will be to hear your thoughts on any particular issue.

I know this to be true first-hand because it has been my privilege to draft two bills or acts that passed both houses of the General Assembly and that became laws in Georgia over the course of my business career. Looking back on these processes, the creation of these statutes was surprisingly straight-forward.

Despite the famous quote from Otto von Bismarck that "Laws are like sausages. It's better not to see them being made", I ventured twice into the legislative process and lived to talk about it.

Calvin D. Johnson, Publisher
publisher@tpatlanta.com
Trans Atlantic Systems, Inc.