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On March 23rd, 2026, myself along with my fellow classmates and Professor went and visited the Georgia State Capitol in downtown Atlanta. When it came to the trip itself to the capitol, I found the trip to be very enjoyable from the bus ride, to riding the MARTA, to eventually arriving and spending the day in Atlanta, everything about the trip to me was very enjoyable. For me, this was not my first trip to the capitol as I had previously visited the capitol during a field trip back in elementary school, however I would definitely say that this was a lot more exciting than that previous trip, especially knowing it had been a long time since I had visited the capitol. When I first entered the Capitol, I realized out of the gate that that day was going to be a very eventful day there in the Capitol, as there were numerous representatives and journalists present, along with students from different schools all over the state of Georgia. The main attractions on this day at the Capitol, was the live sessions that happened while I was there, where bills were being voted on and giving us the ability to spectate and listen to the sessions live. Numerous conversations were being made amongst people regarding bills, and what they thought and I was lucky enough to meet a few people to ask for their thoughts and what they were mainly there for. Among the people I spoke to included a few lobbyists and a few people representing a Nonprofit organization called the NAMI. The conversations I ended up having with these people were quite informative and showed me that there were numerous different topics these political figures care about, with each one providing there own viewpoints and experience and providing great information and reasoning why they are passionate about the bills they are currently interested in.

List of Interviews

• Senior Advisor Stan Jones
• Lobbyist Jason Skipper
• Nonprofit Organization NAMI

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Interview 1: Stan Jones

My first interview for the day came when I came across senior advisor Stanley S. Jones Jr., who was willing to answer a few questions I had while he had some downtime. For questions, I mainly inquired about any bills he was interested in, as well as what he was mainly there for and what his role was. He responded to me explaining that he was a lobbyist who primarily advocated for healthcare related topics, while also assisting with trade associations in the healthcare industry, which also answered my question regarding bills he would show interest in. He went on to point out numerous different bills he currently showed interest in relating to healthcare such as SB 395, SB 428, and SB 485. However, the most notable bill he brought up that was getting the most attention from him was SB 500 which was a bill relating to a potential expansion on healthcare workforce data. I also asked Mr. Jones what questions he often asks himself when looking at bills, which he responded saying he often asks about the importance of a bill, as well as how likely it is to actually happen.

Screenshot from Gold Dome Partners.com

Interview 2: Jason Skipper

For my next interview, I went and spoke with lobbyist Jason Skipper, who like Mr. Jones was willing to answer a few questions I had for him. Jason Skipper is a lobbyist who currently represents the Wellstar Health System. At Wellstar, he currently serves as the VP and the Chief Government Affairs officer and leads in the government affairs strategies for Wellstar. With a 20 year experience, Skipper mostly spends his time looking into healthcare and is especially big on budgeting/funding related to healthcare. While there is not a specific bill that has caught his eye, he shows support for bills that are meant to further enhance the access to healthcare. Based on my interaction with Mr. Skipper, I would say he is an experienced leader who cares a ton regarding healthcare in Georgia, specifically the availability of healthcare for people.

Screenshot from Linkedin.com

Interview 3: N.A.M.I. (National Alliance of Mental Illness)

The last interview I was able to get was actually from a nonprofit organization that was present at the Capitol that day called the National Alliance of Mental Illness. This nonprofit organization has over 27 affiliates and is part of the Georgia Mental health policy partnership, which is a proposal to enforce parity, protect the children in Georgia, and to also help prevent overdoses and suicide rates. The NAMI also provides support groups for both families and for people ages 18 and over, to help them with any possible issues or mental health challenges they may be going through in their lives. One of the cool things they pointed out to me was that they had a chart with all of the Focus bills for the 2026 Legislative Session with the bills colored in green being bills they oppose, and with bills colored red being bills they oppose. While the majority of the bills were in green, there was one bill that was colored red, giving the impression that this was a bill they were opposing, which was HB 295, which according to the its description on the Georgia General Assembly website is meant to provide procedures for owners of property to “make claims for compensation from local governments for loss of property”. There is also another bill highlighted in yellow that is meant to be the bill that is getting payed the most attention to by NAMI and that is SB 497, a bill that if passed would require schools to alert parents if there children are given non instructional services by staff members at the school, as well as to expand the health records of the mental health of children to teachers and staff at schools without needing the consent of parents.

“Millions of people in the U.S. are affected by mental illness. It’s important to measure how common it is, so we can understand its impact — and so we can show that no one is alone” – NAMI

Facebook post from NAMI Georgia

In conclusion, I found my trip to the Georgia State Capitol to be a very informative trip. I especially enjoyed the different interactions I had with lobbyists, journalists, and nonprofit organizations from all over Georgia. The people I met and interviewed provided me with great knowledge on major subjects in the capitol, most notably in the field of healthcare. Thanks to the interviews I had with Stanley Jones and Jason Skipper, I learned more about the field of healthcare and what bills from the general assembly are being. I also learned a lot about different bills currently being discussed in the general assembly and why these bills are important for people. Overall, I would say that this trip was an all around success and I really enjoyed the opportunity to be amongst these great individuals who represent our state.