NEWSLETTERS

In the wee hours of Friday morning, March 29, we adjourned sine die on the 2024 legislative session. The 12:59 a.m. end time on day 40 was a record late adjournment. So which bills lived, which bills died, and which bills ran out of time during week 12? Read on!

This week we wrapped up week 11. Tomorrow is Sine Die! After that I will have one more Legislative Update for you recapping the end of the session, so stay tuned for that.

Last week we wrapped up week ten of the session. Sine Die is rapidly approaching!

Last week brought Senate bills, committee hearings, and Qualifying Week! Qualifying Week is the first week in March, when candidates formally declare their candidacy for partisan primaries and nonpartisan races for the 2024 election cycle.

This past week brought an important milestone for the legislative session—Crossover Day! So which bills lived, which bills died, and what is the Senate sending our way starting next week? Read on…

Week six of the legislative session is in the books! Bills are still being introduced and heard ahead of Crossover Day next week. Any bill that has not passed one chamber of the General Assembly by Crossover Day—generally–will not pass the General Assembly and become law this year.

We have completed Day 20 and are now halfway through the legislative session! Year two of the biennium moves faster than year one, so the long days of floor debates and votes have begun.

Week Four brought lots of highs and lows. We were happy to welcome our hometown friends to the Capitol for Chatham Day. But the week was also somber, as we mourned the deaths of three Georgia service members, and a treasured member of our House family, Rules Chairman Richard Smith of Columbus.

This week we wrapped up week three of the legislative session. We are officially one-quarter of the way to Sine Die! Bills are starting to move through the committee process and to the House floor for votes. And the Gold Dome is filling up with pages, advocates, and other visitors to the capitol.

Week two of the legislative session is budget week, when the governor presents his budget priorities and state agencies present their budget requests to the House and Senate Appropriations committees. Passing a budget is the one item the legislature is constitutionally required to complete during the legislative session.

On Monday, January 8, the 2024 legislative session began! It was great to be back at work for the people of Georgia House District 163. The first week of session brings lots of events, such as the Georgia Chamber’s Eggs and Issues breakfast and the State of the State address, but legislators also got right down to work.

Since my last update, the judge ruled that the remedial maps drawn last month fully complied with his previous order. However, he noted during the hearing that it took twenty-two months for the 2021 maps to be fully litigated and found to be unconstitutional.

Thank you for the gift of allowing me to serve our community. In the new year, I look forward to working together for a better Georgia for all our families.

From my family to yours, warmest wishes for a wonderful holiday season and a peaceful and prosperous 2024.

Special session has concluded, the holiday season is underway, and the regular session will be here in a few short weeks!

In light of a federal court’s recent ruling, that Georgia’s legislative maps violate the Voting Rights Act, Governor Kemp has called for a special legislative session to redraw Georgia’s maps. Please join me for a town hall to talk about the judge’s ruling, the special session, and what changes to Georgia’s legislative districts we can expect during the upcoming special session.

It’s been a busy autumn in House District 163 and all around the state! And even though the second Monday in January is still two months away, my colleagues and I will soon return to the Gold Dome.

School has started. The heat and humidity persist but the light is beginning to change. And our back-to-back national champion Dawgs kick off this weekend. All of this means fall is upon us! Read on to find out what I’ve been up to around the district and what’s coming up soon.tion goes here

SAVANNAH, GA - This Thursday, Georgia State Representative Anne Allen Westbrook (HD-163) and Georgia State Senator Derek Mallow (SD-2) will host the second in a set of joint townhalls, created in order to listen to and address the needs of constituents here in Savannah.

SAVANNAH, GA - The Georgia Chamber of Commerce, the state’s largest and most influential business advocacy organization, has released its official 2023 Legislative Scorecard showcasing how members of the general assembly voted on the business community’s top issues during the legislative session.

The AJC reported this week that the Kemp administration has projected the state will again have a multi-billion dollar budget surplus, possibly topping $5 billion, though the exact amount has yet to be determined.

Independence Day is a day to celebrate and to reflect upon our nation’s history.

Throughout America’s history, patriots have struggled valiantly to expand freedom to those who lacked it–not only on battlefields, but in our courtrooms, at our lunch counters, in America’s streets.

During the month of May, I visited neighborhood association meetings in Liberty City, Cuyler-Brownville, and Tatemville. And I joined my House colleagues, Rep. Ruwa Romman and Rep. Yasmin Neal, on a Women in Politics panel when the Young Democrats of Georgia visited Savannah for their annual convention.

On January 21, 2013, Hadiya Pendleton marched in President Obama’s second inaugural parade. One week later, she was shot and killed on a playground in Chicago. Hadiya’s friends commemorated her life by wearing orange, the color hunters wear in the woods to protect themselves and others.

This week brought lots of great events in House District 163. I enjoyed seeing friends and neighbors at Enmarket Arena for the Janet Jackson concert, the Ardsley Park Tour of Homes and Gardens, and at the Savannah Regional Central Labor Council’s 24th Annual Fish Fry!

I hope you will join me in praying for all those affected by this senseless violence, many of whom are teens and young adults, and in renewing our resolve to change our culture, which enables anyone to respond to fear, misunderstanding, or conflict, with gun violence.

This week was my first full week back in Savannah. I spent it getting settled back into my regular work and home routine and meeting with constituents. Like much of America, I also closely followed the situation unfolding in Tennessee following last month’s mass shooting in Nashville…

On Monday, April 3, Republicans in the Tennessee House of Representatives introduced expulsion resolutions against Representatives Johnson (D-Knoxville), Representative Jones (D-Nashville) and Representative Pearson (D-Memphis). …

Last Wednesday was the fortieth and final day of the 2023 legislative session, also known as Sine Die. Sine Die is Latin for “without day” and means to adjourn with no definite date to resume…

This week we completed legislative days 37-39. The Economic Development and Tourism Committee met that day, and we passed a bill out of committee to reauthorize the House Rural Development Council…

This past week we completed legislative days 32-35. The post-Crossover Day lull is now over and committee hearings and votes on Senate bills that reached the House are moving full speed ahead.

The legislative week was marked by tragedy, with the unexpected passing of Representative Tish Naghise of Fayetteville after a short illness…

As Crossover Day approaches this week, stay up to date on what the General Assembly is working on during the 2023 Legislative Session…

ATLANTA, GA - February 27th, 2023, Georgia State Representative Anne Allen Westbrook (HD-163) took to the well to oppose HB 147, the ‘Safe Schools Act’.

This week we also celebrated Lupus Awareness, welcomed members of the Savannah Regional Central Labor Council, as well as the 1890 Universities Foundation…

We have now made it through half of the 2023 legislative session. Crossover Day is rapidly approaching and the pace of legislation is picking up…

Thursday marked the much-anticipated Savannah-Chatham Day at the Capitol! Each county is given a day to celebrate the leadership and business that hails from their area…

The House returned to the Gold Dome for the fourth week of session and voted on our first bill of the session: the Amended Fiscal Year 2023 state budget…

Today marks the first day of Black History Month! This month we celebrate the triumphs of Black achievement and the beauty of Black culture…

This week I signed on as a co-sponsor to several pieces of legislation. There are two bills I am supporting this session that I wanted to highlight, House Bills 44 and 45…

Rep. Westbrook’s Response to Gov. Kemp’s State of the State Address.

This week was “Budget Week”. Each year, the Georgia General Assembly devotes the entire second week of session to holding joint House and Senate Appropriations hearings in order to pass a balanced state budget…

Monday, January 9th marked the beginning of the 157th Legislative Session of the Georgia General Assembly and it was such an honor to be sworn in as your District 163 State Representative!