House Resolution 1767
By: Representatives Buckner of the 137th, Hugley of the 141st, Williams of the 168th,
Holcomb of the 101st, Greene of the 154th, and others
A RESOLUTION
Recognizing and commending Robert McNeill (Neill) Herring for his years of service at the
Georgia General Assembly; and for other purposes.
WHEREAS, Robert McNeill (Neill) Herring is a native Georgian who hails from Dalton,
attended Emory at Oxford College, and graduated from Georgia State University; and
WHEREAS, Neill Herring was invited to be a page at the Georgia General Assembly during
his teenage years, which sparked a lifelong passion for lobbying; and
WHEREAS, he has worked as a lobbyist at every session of the Georgia General Assembly
since 1980, working tirelessly with both republicans and democrats for the last 47 years; and
WHEREAS, he has been a principal lobbyist for the Sierra Club since 1989 and has worked
to represent a number of other Georgia public interest groups during his career, including
Chattahoochee Riverkeeper and the Georgia Water Coalition; and
WHEREAS, his accomplishments have included the defeat of major road projects such as
the Georgia Outer Perimeter and Northern Arc; and
WHEREAS, in 1994, Neill Herring worked with legislative leadership Larry Walker and
Tom Murphy to pass HB 1443, which created the Office of State Administrative Hearings;
and
WHEREAS, he has been a tireless advocate for clean water in Georgia, recognizing it as a
public resource and working successfully to defeat efforts to undermine Georgia's riparian
rights system in 2003 (HB 237) and 2013 (SB 213); and
WHEREAS, Neill Herring has pushed for and secured enhanced protections for Jekyll Island
and other significant Georgia natural areas; and
WHEREAS, he has defeated a number of landfill and pipeline proposals over the decades
that would have impacted private property rights and worked to protect landowners from
improper use of eminent domain by passing the Landowners Bill of Rights in 2006; and
WHEREAS, he worked to secure legislation to improve funding for MARTA in 2015 and
advocated for better transit investments in Georgia; and
WHEREAS, he worked relentlessly to pass a referendum to adopt a constitutional
amendment to dedicate Georgia's Hazardous and Solid Waste Trust Funds so that the General
Assembly did not divert those monies into the General Fund, and this effort was successful
in 2020 and 2021; and
WHEREAS, one of his biggest legislative disappointments has been the failure to have "Tutti
Frutti" by Little Richard designated as the official rock and roll song of Georgia.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES that
the members of this body recognize and commend Robert McNeill (Neill) Herring for his
efficient, effective, unselfish, and dedicated public service to the State of Georgia as well as
extend the most sincere best wishes for continued health and happiness.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Clerk of the House of Representatives is authorized
and directed to make an appropriate copy of this resolution available for distribution to
Robert McNeill (Neill) Herring.