Page "Robert A. "Bob" Holmes" Paragraph 3

Holmes served as a State Representative in the Georgia General Assembly, from 1974 to 2008.

In 2006, Holmes was re-elected as a Democrat to his seventeenth term, repreenting the 53rd House district ( Parts of Clayton, Fayette, and Fulton Counties ).

He was a committee member of Appropriations and Rules and served as Chairman of the Education Committee.

He was the first African-American in the history of the General Assembly to serve on the Budget Subcommittee.

He served as chair of the Georgia Legislative Black Caucus ( GLBC ) in 1990-91.

At that time Georgia was considering the reapportionment of its Congressional district.

GLBC wanted three majority black districts.

A black State Senator chaired the Senate Reapportionment Committee but the legislature passed a plan with only two majority black districts.

That plan did not get clearance from the US Department of Justice under Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act.

Then the legislature passed a plan with three majority black district, which was overturned in Miller v. Johnson.

Then, the Georgia Senate adopted a plan with one majority black district, which failed to pass the House.

A federal court had to adopt a plan to break the impasse.

Ultimately, the court adopted a plan with just one majority black district, but all three incumbent black Congressmen managed to be reelected.

Over his career, Holmes successfully sponsored or co-sponsored more than 200 laws that have been passed in the Georgia General Assembly.