After midnight on Monday, members of the Georgia legislature went back to their day jobs and became candidates again—or turned into pumpkins, whichever you prefer. The last week of the legislative session was the annual dash to the closing bell with the requisite confetti of shredded paper tossed in the air when it was over.
We now head into an election year with over 170 candidates vying for 24 positions in national and statewide office, not including those running for the Georgia House and Senate. The Governor got everything he wanted and incumbents have a compelling story to tell constituents back home.
To go directly to issues you are interested in:
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Signed by the governor:
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HB1013, the Mental Health Parity Act, makes across the board changes and improvements to mental healthcare in the state. Speaker David Ralston, who introduced the legislation, realizing that the bill will be his legacy, was in tears upon passage. “We are reminded again today that truth is a powerful force,” he said. The bill goes into effect almost immediately (July 1) and is backed by $180 million in funding.
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SB514 lets parents opt-out of mask requirements for their children in schools.
ALL OF THE FOLLOWING WERE APPROVED AND AWAIT THE GOVERNOR’S SIGNATURE.
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SB441 was the bill that finally passed late on Monday. The provision gives the GA Bureau of Investigation (GBI) stronger police power over elections.
Under this version of the bill, the GBI can initiate investigations of all allegations of election fraud or other infractions that put election results in doubt. Previously, the Secretary of State had the discretion to call in the GBI when he or she deemed it necessary. This potentially turns every election investigation into a criminal investigation even though a tiny percentage of them are ever proven and most of those are due to simple human error. In the last election where allegations of voter fraud, ballot tampering and absentee ballot shenanigans flew, the GBI found no proof of any of it. None. The new state budget allocates $580,000 to pay four GBI agents to investigate election-related cases. The legislation omits the sweeping changes the earlier HB1464 included but eliminates the mandate for employers to allow employees two hours off work to vote during early in-person voting, in addition to allowing time for employees to vote on Election Day.
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The state passed a blockbuster $30.2 billion mid-year budget. It is a laundry list of happy news for legislators running for office, everything from teacher pay raises to 22 new game wardens. HB824 was the last vote of the session at 12:15 a.m. Tuesday. It increases the pensions of state lawmakers.
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HB1437 revises the tax code to lower the state’s income tax rate from 5.75% to 4.99% over a number of years. Standard exemptions will rise gradually from $2,700 for single filers to $12,000; from $7,400 to $24,000 for married couples filing jointly. This takes effect in 2024. The bill has a provision to delay the phase-in of lowered rates any year the state doesn’t have enough money in reserve to pay for it or when tax collections fall below a certain threshold.
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SB319, Constitutional Carry, allows people to carry a gun without a license.
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HB1084 limits how race can be discussed in K-12 grades. However, it now includes the creation of a school athletics oversight committee to study and decide whether transgender students should be able to play high school sports that align with their gender identity. The Georgia High School Association has the ultimate say. Rep. Matthew Wilson (D-80, Brookhaven), a strong opponent, apologized for the measure. “It is so hard to reconcile being in a state that hates people for who they are with the love I have for us,” he said. An earlier bill, SB435, which would have banned transgender students from participating in any sport except those that match their birth gender, did not get a hearing.
HB1, also known as the FORUM Act, prevents colleges and universities from limiting who can set up free-speech zones on campus. Students testified that it would make it easier for extremist groups to speak on campus while supporters claimed that conservative organizations were being prevented from exercising their right to free speech.
SB226, the final version of multiple bills advocating for everything from parental control of school library holdings to the outright banning of books, passed. School principals will now have seven days to decide whether to remove books deemed “harmful to minors” by parents or school boards.
SB345, the so-called vaccine passport, bans state and local agencies, schools and government from requiring COVID-19 vaccines. Government agencies will be able to require vaccines if the state loses its legal challenge to President Biden’s requirement that all federal workers be vaccinated. The bill, of course, does not mention any of the long list of vaccines that workers and students have been quietly accepting for generations.
HB1283 makes school recess mandatory. This has been introduced in every session for the last three years. The sponsor, Representative Demetrius Douglas (D-78, Stockbridge) has been dogged in his determination to get the bill passed. Removing the provision that made it illegal to withhold recess as a punishment seemed to do the trick.
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HB1150 doubles the time limit on filing nuisance lawsuits against farms from one year to two. As Georgia loses agricultural land to subdivisions, farmers are hit with lawsuits about noise, dust and odor.
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NEW CITIES
Although the effort to carve Buckhead out of Atlanta and create a new city failed, several communities will be able to vote on whether their cities should be incorporated and able to elect city governments.
- East Cobb
- Lost Mountain
- Mableton
- Vinings
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ALL OF THE FOLLOWING FAILED
BUT ARE LIKELY TO RESURFACE IN THE 2023 SESSION.
Ban on abortion pills by mail: There was not enough support in the Republican caucus to warrant the energy to pass it.
Expansion of medical marijuana licenses: This failed by a single vote so will surely be re-introduced next year. It would have expanded the number of licenses from three to six. Medical marijuana has been legal in Georgia for several years but with legal challenges from companies unable to obtain a license, no one makes it here and there is no place to buy it.
Legalized gambling: Several different pieces of legislation, a perennial effort by a group of long-serving lawmakers, tried but failed to pass. The final version would have added a referendum to the November ballot to let voters—and would-be punters—from deciding once and for all.
Limits on the film tax credit: The Senate tried to cap tax incentives at $900 million a year and make the credits non-transferable. The film industry is now worth $4 billion in Georgia and employs 75,000 people but the studios are usually based in California or New York. Republican leaders showed a willingness to penalize an industry often aligned with liberal politics.
Mandatory cash bail for all felony offenses: Judges would retain the right to set the bail amount but lose the discretion to waive bail and release an accused on their own recognizance.
Lawmaker Pay: Pay for Georgia’s 180 House members and 56 senators would have risen to 50% of the state median household income, up to about $30,000, under a constitutional amendment proposed by House Resolution 842.
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Under the Gold Dome will be distributed to League members and partners each week that the Georgia General Assembly is in session. It is a product of our Education Fund, allowing us to report legislative facts and activities at the State Capitol. The UTGD Team is comprised of LWVGA staff and volunteers, who will be tracking and reporting on legislation and committee hearings throughout the legislative session.
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UTGD Team
Editor: Rebecca Rolfes, LWVCGA
Volunteer legislative observers:
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Mikayla Arciaga
Julie Bolen
Gail Buckner
Blake Caldwell
Mary Kay Clyburn
Daniel Eason
Ashleigh Ewald
Jessica Fields
Gina Hill
Sharon Hill
Keona Lynn Jones
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Alan Kaufman
M Maguire
Rosemary Mackey
Margarita Moldovan
Renee Rubens
Jane Thimme
Laurie Tyson
Michelle Weston
Elizabeth Melville
Maxie Kirk Williams
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League of Women Voters of Georgia | Website
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