ATLANTA – A south Georgia lawmaker has been tapped to head the legislative committee that decides which bills make it to the House floor for a vote.

Rep. Jay Powell, a Republican from Camilla, was promoted to the role on Tuesday, making him one of the most powerful lawmakers under the Gold Dome. Without his support, a bill will stand little chance of advancing.

The move leaves open the chairman’s seat on the committee tasked with writing tax laws, triggering a domino effect that will play out over the next week as lawmakers return to Atlanta for the new legislative session.  

“Chairman Powell is an experienced leader in the House, and he has earned the trust of our members,” Speaker David Ralston said in a statement announcing his decision to put Powell in the role. “I know he will continue to serve with distinction, and I congratulate him on this well-deserved appointment.

Powell, who is an attorney, represents portions of Colquitt and Mitchell counties. He has chaired the House Ways and Means Committee for the last three years and has co-chaired the speaker’s Rural Development Council for the last two.

He was first elected to the House in 2008 after serving a stint as mayor of Camilla.

Powell said Tuesday that he has mixed emotions about the move, saying he leaves behind some unfinished business but looks forward to the new challenge.

“My primary concern is to make sure that we have good legislation that makes it to the floor,” Powell said. “And I think that the rules committee has been very proficient at that. We don’t waste a whole lot of time debating bills that either are not good policy or that still have problems with them.”

As a lawmaker, Powell has pushed hard for high-level changes to the state’s tax structure, such as trying to move Georgia to a flat rate for income taxes.

He is also a major proponent of creating a universal communications service tax that would apply to untaxed purchases like digital downloads and Netflix while lowering taxes on landlines and cell phones. He has argued that such a move is needed to modernize the state’s tax code.

“We have been trying to address those areas where technology has changed and make the law catch up to technology,” Powell said. “We just haven’t kept up with the times.”

And as chair of the chief tax-writing committee, he’s overseen the development of many complex tax measures over the years.

“If you brought a bill forward and it needed tweaking, he was always willing to work with you to get it right,” said Rep. Sam Watson, R-Moultrie, who serves on the Ways and Means Committee. “And I think that says a lot, and people respect that and they trust him.

“He will use those same qualities as Rules chairman. If the bill’s not right, he’s going to tell them to get it fixed before they bring it back,” Watson said.

Powell will replace John Meadows, a north Georgia lawmaker who held the role for seven years before dying of cancer late last year.

“I think John would be real pleased that Jay’s the one to step in his place,” said Rep. Penny Houston, R-Nashville.

Rep. Jason Ridley, R-Chatsworth, who shared a county with Meadows, echoed that sentiment: “You can never replace John Meadows, but Jay Powell would probably be the closest.”

Jill Nolin covers the Georgia Statehouse for CNHI’s newspapers and websites. Reach her at jnolin@cnhi.com.