ATLANTA – With less than two weeks remaining in this year’s General Assembly session, Lt. Gov. Burt Jones has morphed from a lighting-rod political figure to a de facto life coach for anxious lawmakers.
“Everything’s gonna be alright” is the advice Republican Jones is handing out as the legislative session hits the final stretch.
As lieutenant governor, Jones presides over the state Senate, wielding his heavy gavel from the dais overlooking the chamber where he spent a decade as a senator representing Jackson and central Georgia.
“I don’t think there’s one piece of legislation out there that the state of the Republic depends on — other than the budget,” the new lieutenant governor said of his approach to the frenetic final days of the session.
Speaking of the budget, Jones is pleased about across-the-board $2,000 pay raises for state employees as well a property tax rebate drawn from Georgia’s historic budget surplus.
And he’s applying his equanimous approach to a sports betting measure making its way through the legislature.
It’s a proposal Jones supports personally but, even if it doesn’t pass, “the following day will still come,” he said.
Sports betting — after appearing to have died prior to the all-important “Crossover Day” deadline earlier this month– may have gained new life this week when it was tacked onto an unrelated bill about soap box derbies.
Jones said he thought it was wise for the legislature to consider sports betting apart from other gambling measures.
“History has shown that when you either put sports betting and casinos or sports betting and horse racing together, they usually don’t go anywhere,” he said.
“I had told people in the [Republican] caucus who were interested in sports betting that it would get a fair look, and so we’re…
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