I hope each of you had a safe and wonderful Christmas and that your New Year is off to a good start. My family was blessed this past year in so many ways, and we had a wonderful holiday season. Stacie and I have a tradition of taking the girls to the mountains for New Year's, and we had a great time again this year. The girls were extremely excited to be there to see their first snow of the season.

With the holidays behind us, it is time to focus on the year ahead.

I am confident that 2014 will bring many challenges, but I am excited to see what it has in store for us.

The 2014 Legislative Session starts on Jan. 13, and I am looking forward to my second session serving in the Georgia General Assembly in Atlanta.

It is truly an honor to represent the fine people of the 9th State House District. I recognize the trust you have placed in me, and I am humbled by it.

I plan to introduce several bills during the session that I have worked with many of you on over the past months. A couple of these bills I have written about already, and others I will be discussing with you over the next few weeks. However, I anticipate this will be a fast-paced session with us getting out around the middle of March.

As in the past, I plan to work hard to keep you informed on what is occurring in Atlanta. As the session starts, I will begin sending out our newsletter on a weekly basis. If you are not already receiving it, please contact me by email or phone to be added to the list.

Last session, I found one of the best ways to stay in touch was to hold a weekly informational breakfast. This was an opportunity to meet with constituents on an informal basis.

At these gatherings I typically provided an update on what had occurred in the General Assembly over the past couple of weeks. I also made myself available to answer any questions that attendants may have about pending legislation or any other issue of interest.

Rep. Amos Amerson started this tradition during his tenure in the House, and I was happy to continue it.

I plan to hold the first of these informational breakfasts for the 2014 Legislative Session at 9 a.m. Jan. 18 at Ryan's in Dawson County.

I encourage each of you to come out as we discuss the first week of the session and look at key issues that will be addressed over the next couple of months.

As always, you are encouraged to contact me by email or on my cell phone with any thoughts or concerns that you may have.

I am honored to serve as your Representative at the State Capitol.

I am always available to assist you and encourage you to contact me with questions or your opinions.

Rep. Kevin Tanner can be reached on his cell phone at (678) 776-5059, at the Capitol at (404) 656-0152 or by email at kevin.tanner@house.ga.gov.