Georgia is NOT Arizona.
Action Alert! Call Gov. Deal all this week. This morning, the Georgia House Judiciary Committee passed SB40 out of committee with a committee substitute that gutted SB40 and replaced it with language from HB87. Both of these are AZ style legislative initiatives, but it seems that the House of Representatives wants their version to be the one that passes the Georgia General Assembly. The House Judiciary Committee took no public testimony and they justified this because there were only "technical changes" to SB40 with language from HB87 as it had passed the Georgia House of Representatives. Either way, SB40=HB87 now and they both are AZ style legislative initiatives. What does this mean? The new AZ style initiative that is moving is SB40. The bill now goes to the House Rules Committee and then could be voted upon in the GA House of Representatives. All of this could happen as soon as this week. IF the GA House of Representatives passes the modified SB40, then it would go back to the GA Senate for "Agree/Disagree". If the GA Senate "Agrees" with the changes to SB40, then it would go to Governor Deal for his signature or veto. However, if the GA Senate "Disagrees", then there would be a conference committee called and appointed by Lt. Governor and House Speaker to work out the differences. The appointed conference committee will then have to meet in the remaining days of the Legislature (Monday-Friday this week and last few days on 4/12 & 4/14), work out the differences and then provide an opportunity for the House and Senate to vote on the new compromise AZ style legislation. If they both agree on the compromise, then it goes to the Governor. If there is no agreement, then the measure could stall out this session. Your action and phone calls are important. Please follow us on www.facebook.com/GALEO.org for on-going updates and action alerts. Georgia is NOT Arizona! Let's put a stop to this! Please take 5 minutes TODAY for immigrant justice and human dignity...and repost this frequently! Please forward this via email also! For the rest of this week, please focus your efforts on calling the Governor to begin to SHOW LEADERSHIP in OPPOSITION to these AZ style measures. Please call the Governor and ask him LEAD in opposition of HB87 & SB40, the JOBS KILLING initiatives: Governor Nathan Deal State of Georgia 404.656.1776 Click here to send him a note online. An Arizona law would hurt Georgia in the following ways: - Foreign Investment: Georgia wants to expand and increase efforts to attract and retain foreign investment. If the state continues to foster and create a hostile climate for immigrants, how does it expect it will fare in a global marketplace?
- Tourism and Conventions: Arizona has lost over $140M in tourism and convention business because of the AZ law. Can Georgia and the City of Atlanta, Macon, and Savannah afford to lose tourism and convention business? In 2009, foreign tourists accounted for $1.8 billion in direct expenditures in Georgia's economy.
- Agriculture: This is the number one industry in Georgia. The Georgia Farm Bureau has come out opposing such a law. According to U.S. Senator Saxby Chambliss (R-GA), the nation's agricultural workforce is made up of 50-70% undocumented immigrants. What would happen to our number one industry should that workforce disappear because of a mass exodus or deportation? Can Georgia afford to harm it's number one industry during these trying economic times?
Other updates and ACTIONS: Town Hall: Immigrants' Contributions to GA's Economy (Gwinnett County) Senate Special Committee on Immigration and Georgia's Economy
Date & Time: Thursday, March 31 , from 7:30 pm to 9:00 pm Location: Georgia Gwinnett College Campus
Cisco Auditorium, located in Building C
1000 University Center Lane
Lawrenceville, Georgia 30043 Panelists: Sen. Curt Thompson-Chairman, Tucker; Sen. Gail Davenport, -Jonesboro; Sen. Jason Carter, Decatur; Sen. Emanuel Jones, DeKalb; Sen. Doug Stoner, Smyrna; Sen. Vincent Fort, Atlanta Please support our efforts against these initiatives by following the following links and spread the word: Please follow us on www.facebook.com/GALEO.org for updates and other calls to action on this legislation. Join our campaign "I want a PROSPEROUS Georgia. Georgia is not Arizona." There are over 1,254 people and growing who support this effort! Please follow this link here. What else can YOU do? Please follow this link to learn more: http://www.galeo.org/agenda.php?agenda_id=0000000847 Don't forget other upcoming events: http://www.galeo.org/event_listing.php Become a GALEO member today! http://tinyurl.com/GALEOMembership | 
