Crowe for Georgia

Sine Die — The Last Gavel

It's early, but you can already feel it. There's a buzz in the air on Sine Die that's different from any other day in this building,even before the doors open, before the floors fill up, you just know today is different. I'm taking a few minutes before the day gets started — before it gets loud, fast, before it becomes everything all at once. Today is Sine Die — the last day of the 2026 Georgia legislative session — and if you've never experienced it, it's hard to explain. There's an energy that builds through the day unlike anything else in this building. But right now, in this moment before it all begins, it's quiet. And I want to use that quiet to say a few things.

This session meant something. Forty legislative days. Hundreds of bills. Countless committee hearings, floor debates, late nights, and early mornings just like this one. The Public Safety and Homeland Security Committee did work I'm genuinely proud of — bills that will make Georgia safer, protect people's personal information, and strengthen the systems that keep our communities secure. When those bills get to the Governor's desk, I'll think back to mornings like this one.

I thought about District 118 every day I was here. Butts County. Monroe County. Newton County. Every vote, every floor speech, every amendment — I was thinking about the people back home who trusted me with their voice. That responsibility doesn't get lighter. It just gets more meaningful the longer you carry it.
In a few hours, it gets loud. The building will fill up. Leadership will move fast. The floor will be packed. Last votes will be cast. And then, at some point today, the gavels come down for the final time and the 2026 session becomes history. I'll try to soak it in, but honestly — it always goes by faster than you think.

For now, I'm grateful. Grateful for the work. Grateful for the colleagues who fought alongside me. Grateful for every single person in District 118 who makes this worth doing. Time to go finish what we started.

Here we go. Last day. Let's make it count.
— Clint

Photo credit: By DXR - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=50257863

Today, House Bill 438 passed the Georgia Senate, completing its journey through the legislature after six years of effort.

This legislation corrects a longstanding inequity. The men and women of the Commercial Vehicle Enforcement Division and the Capitol Police Division of the Department of Public Safety put their lives on the line just like every other sworn state law enforcement officer — but until now, they did not receive the same retirement or line-of-duty disability benefits.

HB 438 changes that. These officers will now be eligible for the same early retirement at age 55, the same enhanced disability protections, and the same creditable service options available to state troopers, GBI agents, game wardens, and other state law enforcement personnel.

This is about fairness, and it is about honoring the service of officers who protect Georgia’s roads and our State Capitol every single day. I’m proud to have carried this fight and grateful to the colleagues, advocates, and officers who never gave up on getting it across the finish line.