STATESBORO, Ga. -Georgia State Representative Bob Lane (R-Statesboro), Chairman of the House Game, Fish and Parks Committee, announced today that he will not seek re-election to the Georgia House of Representatives. Lane has represented House District 158 since 1980, following in the footsteps of his father, Jones Lane, who held the seat for 20 years.“I am honored and humbled to have served the interests of the people of House District 158 for so many years,” said Rep. Lane. “It has been a privilege to serve along side some of Georgia’s greatest leaders. However, after prayerful consideration and many discussions with my family, I have decided that I will not seek re-election to the Georgia House of Representatives.”
During Lane’s tenure in the Georgia General Assembly, his leadership has been instrumental helping guide our state through many challenges and opportunities that will have a lasting affect in both District 158 and the State of Georgia. Representative Lane rose through the ranks of House leadership, serving first as chairman of the House Industrial Relations Committee. It was in this position that Lane played an active role in amending Georgia’s worker’s compensation laws. Those laws ultimately reduced the worker compensation rates for Georgia businesses and improved the benefits for injured workers.
Lane later became the chairman of Game, Fish and Parks Committee, a chairmanship which he still holds today. As chairman, Representative Lane oversees the promotion, regulation and preservation of hunting and fishing and the operation of state parks and historical sites. In addition to these responsibilities, Lane is vice-chairman of the Intergovernmental Coordination Committee and serves as a member of the House Appropriations Committee and House Rules Committee. He previously served as vice chairman of the University System Committee and was chairman of the subcommittee of Appropriations on Higher Education. He also has served on Transportation and the Retirement Committees.
Representative Lane has taken his sportsman roots and passion for wildlife seriously. He authored legislation to facilitate the passage of sound conservation laws and policies with a positive impact for all Georgians and for the protection of our natural resources. Lane helped craft legislation making it a “right” to hunt and fish, not just a privilege, and has always been a strong defender of our second amendment rights to keep and bear arms. He personally authored and passed legislation to create an automated licensing system and later sponsored legislation to create a lifetime hunting license and created the “Bobwhite Quail Initiative” for the State of Georgia. He reduced landowner’s liability when doing prescribed burns and he also supported a move to standardize a single dove hunting season in Georgia.
In addition, he passed legislation affecting a variety of sporting activities including; increasing the bag limit on deer, instituting a statewide semi-quality deer management program, creating an open season to hunt alligators and preserving the sport of hunting deer with dogs. He also passed legislation to protect Georgia’s shrimping and Georgia’s popular sport fishing industry. Lane also included Georgia in the Wildlife Violator Compact with 30 other states.
In addition to Lane’s support of the environment and our natural resources, he has also been a staunch supporter of Georgia Southern University. He supported the transition of Georgia Southern from a college to university status and, most importantly, he was a key member of the delegation that advocated funding for the university. His efforts led to the appropriation of over $250 million during his tenure for university construction projects in his district.
Some of Lane’s other legislative accomplishments include playing an active role in the creation of the Georgia Cotton Producers Indemnity Fund of 1999, creation of the Vidalia Onion district, and the creation of the Statesboro Downtown Development Authority.
Chairman Lane stated, “I would like to publicly thank my family for all the sacrifices that they have made in order for me to serve our district. I look forward to spending more time with my family and especially my two grandchildren, Jones and Elizabeth. I would also like to thank the people of District 158 for their support, trust and friendship over the past thirty years.”
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