February 14, 2022, Issue 6 |
|
To go directly to issues you are interested in, click on the following links: |
|
Legislators have been busy with education, mental health and local redistricting. We are two weeks away from crossover day when it will become clear what will make it to the Governor’s desk, and the state budget will begin to take shape.
All of these bills passed committee and now go to the other chamber for consideration:
-
SB456 to limit access to abortion-inducing drugs passed after an extremely contentious hearing when the committee chair, Sen. Ben Watson (R-1, Savannah) cut off the microphones of dissenting legislators and curtailed public comment.
-
SB338 to expand Medicaid coverage for new mothers from six months a full year passed and should reach the Governor’s desk for signature. He included $28.2 million in his 2023 budget proposal to pay for it.
-
SB435 would prohibit transgender students from participating in school sports.
-
SB226 is the school library censorship bill that allows books to be banned.
-
HB1084 is the classroom censorship bill that allows school boards to prohibit the teaching of “divisive concepts.” This is taken to mean Critical Race Theory which is itself so misunderstood as to be unusable as a legal construct.
-
SB370 giving a tax credit of up to $2,500 to Georgians who donate to nonprofit organizations that help young adults who’ve aged out of the foster care program passed unanimously.
|
|
SB449, aka the Parents’ Bill of Rights, would protect the right of parents to direct the upbringing and education of their minor children. This is a priority of the Governor’s that prohibits “undue infringement” by state or local government or the local board of education. This could obviate the need for laws governing what can be taught and how, what books can be in school libraries, and how schools handle student discipline. Two other bills, HB1178 and HB1158, are different versions of the same thing.
HB1153 would require local school systems to reach out to communities for whom English is a second language (ESOL), to provide standards for foreign language interpreters in schools, and to require notification that interpretation is available.
HB999 establishes state-funded scholarships of $6,000 for students who would prefer to attend private school. The money can also be used for certified tutors and those switching to home schooling.
HB1, the Forum Act, has been knocking around since 2020. It would prohibit the creation of “free-speech zones” at public colleges and universities. The bill has never made it to crossover day.
|
|
SB448 would allow police officers who arrest someone, with or without a warrant, or for a traffic violation to ask for proof of citizenship.
HB1134 would provide for what is called “concurrent authority” of prosecuting attorneys and the Attorney General in cases involving gang activity. If a local prosecutor must recuse him or herself from a case, or if the crime crosses county lines—often the case with gang-related activity—the Attorney General can prosecute it. This dovetails with the Governor’s budget proposal to create a new Gang Prosecution Unit in the Attorney General’s office. Prosecuting gangs has been one of his top priorities since taking office.
SB257 would make all misdemeanor theft offenses eligible for sealing and expungement. People who have been pardoned would get a clean record, making it easier to get a job, sign a lease or take out a loan. It would also expedite expungement for human trafficking victims. This builds on SB288, passed in 2020, which removed economic barriers for more than 4 million Georgians. Sex crimes, violent offenses and DUIs do not qualify. The new bill passed the Senate almost unanimously and goes to the House for review.
|
|
HB933 would make it easier to inspect ballots by removing provisions for keeping them under seal. This follows the repeated challenges, audits and recounts of the 2020 election.
|
|
The Republican majority appears to be targeting the largest urban counties and cities in the state that are mostly represented by Democrats. Local redistricting bills for these counties are being pulled out of the normal legislative process and being introduced as general legislation. By doing this, the majority party can offer substitute bills that are more to their liking. This has happened in Augusta/Richmond County, Cobb County and Gwinnett County.
To quote Sen. Jen Jordan (D-6, Atlanta), “We are tearing this body apart … In the name of what? Being able to take local decisions out of the hands of duly elected officials?”
HB890 redistricting the Athens/Clarke County Board of Commissioners passed the Senate. HB1142 to redistrict the Board of Education has been referred to the Senate State and Local Government Operations committee.
SB457 and SB458 redistricting Richmond County were assigned to the Senate State & Local Governmental Operations Committee. These bills ignore the maps voted for by the Richmond County Commission and Board of Education.
HB873 redistricting the Gwinnett County Commission passed the Senate and heads to the Governor’s desk. The last-minute bill from Rep. Bonnie Rich (R-97, Suwanee) rejected Democrats’ attempt to switch the map back to the one drafted by the County Commission and the majority of the Gwinnett delegation.
SB369 passed out of the House Government Affairs Committee to make elections for the Gwinnett County Board of Education nonpartisan.
HB1028 to redistrict the Cobb County Board of Education and HB1154 to redistrict the county’s Board of Commissioners passed out of the Government Affairs Committee and will go the House Rules Committee before hearings by the full house. Most of the testimony before the subcommittee opposed the bills. In a dramatic end to the full committee hearing a clearly disgusted Rep. David Wilkerson (D-38, Powder Springs) asked to speak for two minutes. He said that the Cobb Democratic delegation, who make up the majority, repeatedly invited Republican members to meet and come to a consensus on the maps, but they refused. The committee chair turned off his microphone and when Rep. Wilkerson continued talking, the chair asked for security to be called. If the maps become law, a lawsuit is likely to follow. The Cobb County Commission maps have been thrown out by the courts in each of the last two redistricting rounds due to violation of voting rights laws.
|
|
HB752 would provide for a psychiatric advance directive similar to advance directives for healthcare. A person could write his or her mental healthcare treatment preferences in advance and appoint an agent to make mental health care decisions on their behalf.
|
|
HB1289 would protect the Okefenokee Wildlife Refuge by preventing companies from getting state permits to mine along Trail Ridge. The bipartisan bill would prevent Alabama-based Twin Pines Minerals from mining heavy minerals along 570 acres, with the potential to expand to thousands more should it prove successful.
|
|
SB390 would exempt all people over 60 who have lived in Georgia for 10 years from state income tax.
|
|
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.
|
|
UTGD Team
Editor: Rebecca Rolfes, LWVCGA
Volunteer legislative observers:
|
|
Mikayla Arciaga
Julie Bolen
Gail Buckner
Blake Caldwell
Mary Kay Clyburn
Daniel Eason
Ashleigh Ewald
Jessica Fields
Gina Hill
Sharon Hill
|
|
Keona Lynn Jones
Alan Kaufman
M Maguire
Rosemary Mackey
Margarita Moldovan
Renee Rubens
Laurie Tyson
Michelle Weston
Elizabeth Melville
Maxie Kirk Williams
|
|
League of Women Voters of Georgia | Website
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
