Sen. Colton Moore and Rep. Mitchell Horner of Northwest Georgia joined their colleagues in the Georgia General Assembly as its 2023 legislative session convened this past week.
As they took their respective places in the legislature, Moore and Horner officially replaced two veteran elected officials from the area.
In interviews with the Chattanooga Times Free Press, Moore and Horner detailed their legislative priorities and first few days of serving in the General Assembly. As members of the seven-person conservative Georgia Freedom Caucus, both men said they are committed to defending fiscal responsibility and their districts' conservative values under the Gold Dome.
"I think our values have always been the same here in Northwest Georgia," Moore said at a recent event to raise money for staff and supplies for his Senate office. "The problem is our politics in other places -- Atlanta, Washington, D.C. -- their encroachment of policy has started to come in and effect us a bit more."
Moore, R-Trenton, serves Senate District 53, which includes Catoosa, Dade, Walker and Chattooga counties and a portion of Floyd County. Horner, R-Ringgold, serves House District 3, which includes most of Catoosa County.
Moore replaced Jeff Mullis, who served as state senator for 22 years and retired as chairman of Senate's powerful Rules Committee. Horner replaced Dewayne Hill, who retired after five years in the state House and eight years on the Catoosa County Board of Commissioners.
GUNS AND BURGERS
Moore's fundraiser featured an array of firearms attendees could shoot and cheeseburgers made with locally-sourced beef, including cattle from his land. As gunshots echoed through the rolling terrain of rural Dade County, Moore described some of his legislative priorities.
He said he wants to end Georgia's tax credits for the film industry, split the state's omnibus budget to allow more fiscal scrutiny and end certificates of need, a permitting system that requires new health care facilities to prove they are needed to receive state approval.
Staff Photo by Andrew Wilkins / Mitchell Horner shoots targets during a fundraiser Oct. 29 in Dade County. Horner won election to the state House last year and joined colleagues in Atlanta for the start of the legislative session this week.Moore said politicking for freedom has lost popularity, but he said his values are the same as those of his grandfather who fought in World War II. Northwest Georgians are freedom-loving conservatives who just want the government off their backs and out of their pockets, Moore said.
(READ MORE: Colton Moore wins Republican nomination in close District 53 Georgia Senate primary)
Also at the fundraiser, Horner said education is his legislative focus. He said providing tax credits for parents who home-school or send their students to private schools is a priority, but he also wants make sure the public school system has the budget it needs and isn't burdened with unfunded mandates from the state.
"People just want Atlanta and bigger government to get out of their pockets," Horner said.
Fewer taxes means more money for Georgians' businesses and families, he said, speaking from his experience as a small business owner, husband and father of two girls.
(READ MORE: Two running for Georgia House seat in northern Catoosa County)
Horner said he thinks conservative values are under attack. Republicans hold a majority in both chambers of the legislature and the governor's office, but he said deep-blue Atlanta is growing and is becoming even more of an influence on statewide politics.
Moore agreed that some Republican leaders in Georgia are unwilling to take on social issues because they don't want to be labeled as anti-woman or anti-LGBT. Despite that, Moore said he is still against abortion and announced previously that he wants to ban transsexual surgeries for minors -- coordinating with U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Rome, who's proposing similar legislation on the federal level.
The left was the first group to talk about being woke, or waking up to what's going on in the world, Moore said.
"Both sides have woken up to what their values are, and that's where we are right now," he said.
But being an elected official isn't always about making laws, Moore said. Sometimes, it's just as important to simply block bad legislation, he said.
Though both Moore and Horner were having meetings and building relationships before their swearing in, Horner said connecting with county-level leadership has been less than successful. Horner said his door is open, however, and he's been working with Catoosa County's tax assessor to improve school tax exemptions for seniors.
RETIREES REFLECT
Hill, the former state House member who Horner replaced, said his experience as a county commissioner helped prepare him for the General Assembly.
He learned quickly that anything he wanted to accomplish required support from other commissioners. But rather than a few votes on a five-person commission, in the state House, Hill had to have 90 other representatives to get legislation passed.
"So you build relationships to be able to accomplish things," Hill said in a phone interview. "And if you burn those bridges, you're not going to be effective for your county or the ones you represent. That's what I've learned. And that does require reaching across the aisle to work with the other party."
During his time in the House, some elected officials voted no on practically everything, and he said nothing gets accomplished that way.
"The best thing you can do is listen until you learn because there is a system, and it works," Hill said.
Having that mentality of wanting to learn from longer-serving elected officials helps newcomers weather the challenges of office and serve the people, he said.
Hill encouraged Moore and Horner to do their own research, so they can be better prepared to vote. Mullis had no comment on the newly elected officials from Northwest Georgia.
SESSION BEGINS
The state Senate's first day was mainly pomp and circumstance, Moore said in a phone interview this past week, as senators shuffled for positions and prepared for the session.
On Wednesday, Moore said he voted yes on the Senate's rules package. Moore said the rules package decentralized power.
Over in the state House, Horner said by phone Wednesday that representatives voted for its rules earlier that day after being sworn in Monday. Horner said he made a motion to table the rules and eventually voted against the package.
"We didn't have time to read it, and I'm not going to vote on anything I don't have time to read," Horner said. "I made that statement on the House floor. That was the primary reason."
The provision passed 94-77, and Horner said all the Democrats voted against the rules, which he said gave more power to the House speaker.
One change cuts the time to vote in half and lets the speaker decide how much time representatives are given to vote, Horner said. Another big change that wasn't mentioned when the bill was described on the floor gives the speaker the power to bring any bill to the floor immediately, he said.
Horner said he was the first one in the chamber Wednesday morning, and he said no one read the rules before the vote.
Early Wednesday afternoon, Horner said he was on the way to meet with the Office of the Legislative Council, where state attorneys assist lawmakers with a bill's formatting and legal impact. Horner and council staff were working on bills about school choice, reworking Georgia's film tax credit and helping school paraprofessionals get educational credit for their service, he said.
When asked if there was anything else his constituents needed to know about his first few days representing District 3 under the Gold Dome, Horner said to stay tuned.
"I'm sure it'll stay spicy, so I'll keep you up to date," Horner said.
Contact Andrew Wilkins at awilkins@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6659.