HR997: HR997 Joint session; message from the Governor

This resolution arranges the logistics for Governor Brian Kemp to speak to the Georgia General Assembly. It calls for a joint session of the House of Representatives and the Senate to be held at 10:45 A.M. on Thursday, January 15, 2026, in the House chamber, with the Governor's address scheduled for 11:00 A.M. The resolution also creates a 14-member escort committee, seven lawmakers named by the Speaker of the House and seven named by the President of the Senate, to bring the Governor into the chamber. It invites the Justices of the Georgia Supreme Court and the Judges of the Georgia Court of Appeals to attend, and directs the Clerk of the House to send copies of the resolution to the Governor and to each member of those two courts.

• Calls a joint session of the Georgia House of Representatives and Senate for 10:45 A.M. on January 15, 2026, in the House chamber.
• Invites Governor Brian Kemp to deliver an address to the joint session at 11:00 A.M. that same day.
• Creates a 14-member escort committee, seven House members and seven Senate members, to bring the Governor to the chamber.
• Invites the Justices of the Supreme Court of Georgia and the Judges of the Georgia Court of Appeals to attend the joint session.
• Directs the Clerk of the House to send a copy of the resolution to the Governor and to each invited justice and judge.

This affects Governor Brian Kemp, members of the Georgia House of Representatives and Senate, the Speaker of the House and President of the Senate who appoint the escort committee, and the Justices of the Supreme Court of Georgia and Judges of the Court of Appeals who are invited to attend.

This resolution is purely procedural: it schedules the Governor's annual address to the legislature and arranges ceremonial details like the escort committee and invitations to the state's top judges, without changing any Georgia law or policy.

• Sets the joint session for 10:45 A.M. on January 15, 2026, in the hall of the House of Representatives.
• Schedules the Governor's address for 11:00 A.M. that day.
• Establishes a 14-member escort committee split evenly between House and Senate appointees.
• Extends an invitation to the Supreme Court Justices and Court of Appeals Judges to attend.
• Instructs the Clerk of the House to transmit copies of the resolution to the Governor and the courts.

1. 2026-01-12Senate Transmitted House (Senate)
2. 2026-01-12Senate Read and Adopted (Senate)
3. 2026-01-12House Read and Adopted (House)
4. 2026-01-12House First Readers (House)
5. 2026-01-09House Hopper (House)

• Chuck Efstration (R, HD-104)Primary sponsor

• Governor's address
• joint session
• Georgia legislature
• state government ceremony