By Barbara Augsdorfer, editor for the Effingham Herald

State Rep. Bill Hitchens (R-161) was the guest speaker at the monthly meeting of the Effingham County Exchange Club Nov. 20.

Rep. Hitchens touched on a number of subjects such as Effingham County Schools and the bills he’s introduced and how they make their way through the process of becoming law.

“(Speaker of the House) Jon Burns and I have always been advocates for Effingham County Schools, and we turn out a good product,” Hitchens said.

He added that many Effingham students end up at University of Georgia or Georgia Tech. He added that Georgia Tech is a tough school to be accepted, “And we have a lot of kids there,” he added. “It makes me very proud.”

“A few months ago, I was in a meeting with the president of Georgia Tech (Ángel Cabrera) and he told me they had 70,000 applications last year and they were going to take 6,000,” Hitchens said. “You don’t get in there without a lot of horsepower. Your academics and everything have to be just about perfect.”

Georgia Tech’s acceptance rate is around 8.5%.

Effingham County high schools’ 2024 valedictorians were both in the “just about perfect” pool – Nathaniel Wicker from South Effingham and Nate Hayes Jr. from Effingham County earned two of those 6,000 spots and are both freshmen at Georgia Tech.

How a bill becomes (or doesn’t become) law

Hitchens then moved onto another topic – how laws are made.

“I get requests almost weekly, to introduce a bill for something,” Hitchen said. “It’s tough to get a bill through.”

He said it’s not as simple as introducing a bill, getting it approved, and the governor signs it.
“It takes 91 votes in the House and 29 in the Senate, and the governor’s got to sign it before it becomes law,” Hitchens explained. And only a fraction get through to the governor’s desk.

“Last year there were about 1,200 bills and 200 got passed,” Hitchens continued. “If it’s something everybody wants, it’s pretty easy.”

Hitchens gave an example of a state trooper who was killed in the line of duty, but because he had been on the force for less than 10 years, his widow did not qualify to keep his health insurance.

“We got that thing through in about 15 days,” Hitchens said. “The state felt they were the responsible party and they ought to be taking care of their people.”

The process for a bill to become law starts with the legislative counsel – a group of about 20 attorneys who write the legislation based on what the member of the state legislature is trying to accomplish.

After the proposed legislation is approved by the member of the house or senate who wants to introduce it, the bill is sent to the clerk’s office and it has to be read before the entire house – twice. Then the Speaker decides if it should be sent to a committee.

The bill could die in committee or be approved. If it is approved, the bill is voted on by the entire house. Here, again, it could be approved or die.

The process is repeated in the Senate. The bill lives or dies by a majority of votes.

The governor, of course, can sign or veto it. If the bill is vetoed, the legislature can try to overturn the veto. Again, the bill can live or die here.

Recall the saying about laws and sausage – it’s better to not see how either is made.