With the election of Barack Obama as President and increased Democratic majorities in the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate, we are entering an era of Democratic rule we have not seen in 30 years.

On April 26, the Dixie Air Wing in Peachtree City hosted World War II Heritage Days, an annual event commemorating World War II and honoring its veterans. I was honored to be asked to give the remarks during the opening ceremony.

Over the last 25 years, our county has seen explosive growth, with our population multiplying close to five times in that time frame.

One of the issues I hear about most frequently from citizens in our community is concern about crime and public safety.

With my first session in the General Assembly now complete, I am pleased to report that we passed many of the important pieces of legislation that I have outlined for you earlier and those are now on the way to the governor’s desk for signature.

Our work at the Capitol is coming to an end for this legislative session and I happy to report that we have already accomplished many of the goals we set forth in January.

[Editor’s note: Re. Matt Ramsey (R-Peachtree City) emailed the following statement Wednesday afternoon:]

With spring finally here, tax cuts continue to be a topic of discussion in the Capitol halls. This [past] week, the House and the Senate finally reached an agreement on the Fiscal Year 2008 Amended Budget and the House passed our version of the Fiscal Year 2009 Budget.

Last week, the House crossed the 30th day of our 40-day legislative session. This is the day that a bill must have passed at least one body in order to have a chance of becoming law. With some changes to the legislation that fell short last week, the House of Representatives had a second opportunity to vote for the largest tax cut in Georgia’s history.

As we enter March, our work at the Capitol continues. While we did many good things this [past] week, I was disappointed when the largest tax cut in the history of the state failed by 10 votes to receive the necessary two-thirds vote to be placed on the ballot as a constitutional amendment in November.

The House convened this [past] week on Tuesday for the 23rd day of our 40-day legislative session. On the floor, we adopted legislation addressing our continued transportation funding problems, education and local school boards and an adoption tax credit.

The 2008 legislative session is now more than half-way complete, but much important work remains.

Key issues that we still must address are tax reform, a budget that is fiscally responsible and meets the needs of our citizens, transportation, and trauma care.

As the halfway mark of the 2008 legislative session approaches, we continue to move legislation through the General Assembly, and key initiatives continue to be heard in committee prior to consideration by the full House.

It seems like only last week the 2008 legislative session got underway, and here we are now in February.

Our committee work on the Amended Fiscal Year 2008 Budget is now complete and we are ready to move forward with our proposals.

As the 2008 legislative session continues, legislation is beginning to move through committees and to the floor of the House for a full vote. This past week, we voted for new measures to protect consumers’ identity. I also joined my colleagues Chuck Martin of Alpharetta and Lynn Smith of Newnan on two pieces of legislation offering tax breaks for Georgians.

It was with great excitement and an overwhelming sense of responsibility that I took my seat on Monday in the state House as the 2008 General Assembly session was gaveled in by the Speaker of the House. In the first week of session I had the opportunity to work on several issues that are of great importance to Fayette County and our state. I plan to write periodic updates during the legislative session in an effort to keep the community informed as to what is going on in the General Assembly this year.