Political Hijinks

“It’s that time at the Capitol when bills are flying so fast that
sometimes lawmakers don’t even know what’s in them.”

— Axios Atlanta

End of Session Escapades

Last year just before midnight on Sine Die, Republicans waived their own rules, forcing Senators to vote on a bill no one had laid eyes on — a situation deserving nothing but a “no” vote. The GOP majority voted “yes.”

Before Crossover Day, each chamber has 28 days to pass their own bills. Following Crossover Day, we only have 12 days to take up the other chamber’s bills, agree and disagree on changes made, form Conference Committees to work out the differences, and finally, vote on the final compromises.

I am grateful to my Senate Democratic Caucus teammates, who are smart, hardworking, and willing to speak out.

Avoiding Session Antics

I’ve been very cautious about filing bills this year because of the new Republican leadership. Every bill can potentially be used as a “vehicle,” carrying other bills as amendments — potentially turning the bill into something the author does not support — yikes!

That said, this week I decided it was worth filing two bills I’ve been working on. Note: bills filed this year carry over to next year.

Voter Eligibility Challenges: SB 321 increases the burden of proof for challenging the eligibility of voters. SB 202 (the big 2020 election bill) removed the cap on the number of challenges an individual can file. Since then, shenanigans have ensued, and the DeKalb County Elections office has been overwhelmed with unsubstantiated challenges. Dekalb officials estimate they’ve received more than 1,700 alone. SB 321 requires challengers to submit adequate evidence.

Non-Discrimination Protections: Senator Kim Jackson and I filed SB 319, adding sexual orientation and gender identity to Georgia’s list of protected classes. It also expands protections to housing, employment, and “public accommodations” which includes any service available to the public (think restaurants, retailers, hotels, public transportation, etc.). Georgia is one of only three states that do not have comprehensive non-discrimination laws. After fighting against bills targeting transgender youth, Sen. Jackson and I wanted to put our energy into something positive.  

Transactional Tomfoolery

Early in the session, I was told that the new Republican leadership would be more “transactional.” While I wasn’t exactly sure what that meant at the time, it became painfully obvious this week. My attempt to pass a Task Force on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (IDD) as a rider to HB 520, a major mental health bill, got caught up in a battle with the Lt. Governor’s pet bill, SB 99.

SB 99 weakens the “Certificate of Need” (CON) process that requires hospitals to justify “need” before expanding services. CON stops for-profit companies from cherry-picking more profitable services, while leaving others to meet the need for less profitable services. Lt. Governor Jones claims SB 99 will help rural Georgia, but the truth is it will help fast-track a hospital project in his native Butts County, on land owned by a company his father owns. 

Because House leaders and major health systems oppose SB 99, it’s being stopped by the House Health and Human Services (HHS) Committee. In retaliation, Jones is stopping HB 520, a much-needed next step in mental healthcare reform, in the Senate HHS Committee. My sources tell me this standoff won’t end before Sine Die, so Georgians likely won’t get mental healthcare reform or an IDD Task Force this year.

Funding Follies

The plot thickens (you really can’t make this stuff up). SB 99 and the Butts County hospital project have put the Lt. Governor at odds with Wellstar Health Systems. Wellstar opposes the proposed Butts County hospital because it threatens two of their hospitals in the area. Wellstar also happens to be involved in a partnership with the Augusta University Health System to upgrade electronic health records at the Medical College of Georgia. House leaders worry that SB 99 could jeopardize the Augusta project. 

But in their quest to pass SB 99, Senate leadership slashed $105 million in University System funding in next year’s budget — the same amount that we approved in the mid-year budget for the Medical College of Georgia project. And they’ve stripped another bill of tax credits that would have benefitted Wellstar. 

It’s been sad to watch this all play out. I miss the steady leadership of Speaker Ralston and former Lt. Governor Geoff Duncan. Duncan took a more hands-off approach, letting Senators lead instead of forcing his own personal agenda. There are good reasons I decided to be cautious with my bill filing this year!

It’s all Fun and Games until a Bill Gets Hijacked

Soap Box Derby becomes Sports Betting: Crunch time is when we see lots of bill hijacking. One freshman Republican House member learned this the hard way as her simple two-page bill to recognize her hometown Soap Box Derby was changed to a 45-page sports betting bill. 

Anti-Semitism: After being tabled by the Senate Judiciary Committee, Senate leadership brought the anti-Semitism bill (previously HB 30) back to life by completely stripping the contents of HB 144 (a bill about guardianship) and substituting the language from HB 30. At issue is putting the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of anti-Semitism into Georgia code. The definition includes specific examples of anti-Semitism which proponents say will help law enforcement and other authorities better identify and hold people accountable for anti-Semitic acts. Opponents worry that the definition will squash anti-Israel speech, especially on college campuses. However, the IHRA definition explicitly says “criticism of Israel similar to that leveled against any other country cannot be regarded as anti-Semitic.”

 My Budget Priorities Get a Boost

We ended the week by passing the Senate’s version of the “Big Budget” for FY 2024. It includes good things such as pay raises for teachers and law enforcement, cost of living adjustments for state retirees, and funds to help end the “hoteling” of foster kids.

I was relieved to see all of my budget priorities — $4 million for a technical school in Doraville (hopefully the Governor won’t veto this again), Medicaid coverage for Occupational Therapy Assistants,  and 500 additional Medicaid Community Based Support waivers for people living with disabilities — included in the budget. I was especially proud when Appropriations Chairman Tillery gave me a special shout out as he presented the budget:

“And the line item that we were requested to add by the most Senate members in this budget was (funding for) 500 NOW/COMP waivers. And the credit for this again goes to the Senator from the 40th and the Senator from the 56th who have championed this cause in a bipartisan fashion and had numerous, numerous, members of this body sign on in support of their letters and I appreciate their approach and their support.”

Expect More Monkey Business

There are only two days left before Sine Die on Wednesday, which is still plenty of time for anything to happen. The budget is now in a Conference Committee where the House and Senate will work out their differences. Things can and do happen at the last minute, so keep your eyes peeled. 

https://youtu.be/ZRd-rUQ3NQQ 

When bills are hard to pass due to excessive political hijinks, you can work the  budget process to do good things. This year we continued the tradition we started last year of giving 500 more Georgia families access to Home & Community Based Services for their adult children living with intellectual & developmental disabilities.

Hurricane Crossover-Day

The speed at which bills move through the legislative process in the Georgia General Assembly has averaged around 2 – 5 bills per day (bpd) since January. However, the pace increased considerably last Thursday, when we experienced a gust of 26 bpd. Monday, with Hurricane Crossover in full force, we hit 75 bpd. Those of us monitoring the storm at the Capitol held on tight as some pretty bad bills blew through!

Surveying the Damage

Tuesday morning after Crossover I awoke thinking, “What just happened?” It was Friday before I could fully survey the damage, determining what had been destroyed, and what was still left standing.

Surge of Tort Reform Was Held Back

Hurricane Crossover started with a slew of bills aimed at chipping away people’s ability to access the courts to seek damages when harmed by big corporations. Republicans have been making this their priority since they took power in 2005. This year, with Republicans battling amongst themselves, and Democrats siding with the Republicans who DO want to preserve access to the courts, these tort bills were ultimately tabled, weakened by floor amendments, or never brought to the floor for a vote.

Bigwigs and Landlords Remain Accountable: Two bills (SB 200 and 186) were tabled early on, presumably because they didn’t have enough votes to pass. SB 200 would have shielded high-ranking government officials and corporate executives from giving depositions in civil cases. SB 186, entitled the “Georgia Landowners Protection Act,” (renamed by Democrats as “Slumlord and Absentee Landlord Protection Bill”), gave property owners immunity and made it far more difficult for people injured on a property to sue. SB 186 stood in direct contrast to HB 404, a tenants rights bill backed by House Speaker Burns that requires rental properties to be “fit for human habitation.”

Trucking Insurance Companies Still On the Hook: SB 191 and 203 sheltered trucking companies from liability and lowered safety standards, endangering Georgia motorists. SB 191 lowered qualifications for truck drivers and SB 203 increased the number of hours truckers are allowed to drive. Both included language to destroy Georgia’s “direct action” statute that allows injured parties to sue trucking companies’ insurers directly, same as with other car crashes. These bills were tabled or weakened with floor amendments.

Public Schools Took a Hit

The entire time I’ve served in the Senate, Democrats and rural legislators (who have few private schools in their districts) have been able to join forces to defeat school voucher bills. This time I was shocked at the party line vote on SB 233 which allows Georgia students to use $6,000 of public school funds to pay for private school.

A last-minute Republican floor amendment limiting vouchers to students zoned for bottom quartile schools helped the bill pass this year. Republicans never estimated the cost of the bill, but Democrats estimated that if only 2% of Georgia students apply for these vouchers, it would blow a more than $200 million dollar hole in state public school funds. Combined with existing tax credit scholarships and a decades-old funding formula, Georgia public schools will take another financial hit if this bill passes the House.

Damaging Transgender Treatment Bill Almost Escapes a Vote

All day Monday I waited with dread for SB 140, a bill that bans hormones and surgeries for transgender youth. As we inched closer to the bill being called up, the activity in the room changed. People filled the gallery, and reporters joined us in the chamber. At the last minute the leadership delayed the vote, tabling the remainder of the bills. This common practice used during Crossover Day and Sine Die allows the leadership to more tightly control which bills get a vote.

Throughout the day, we got updates on which bills would be called, five bills at a time. SB 140 kept appearing on the updates, but didn’t get called. I became hopeful it wouldn’t get called at all when I checked with the Lt. Governor who told me, “I don’t know, Sally. I’m not sure it’s going to come up. There are disagreements.” I could tell from the periodic huddles that the Republicans were arguing over amendments.

Unfortunately, SB 140 came up just after 10 pm. In my speech against the bill, I talked about the Standards of Care for transgender youth that have been recently rewritten, with a heavy emphasis on providing young people with individualized care and counseling before starting treatment.

“The problem I have with this bill is that It only addresses what we WON’T do for our children,” I said. “We need to focus on what we CAN do for these kids…Going forward, let’s all bring some humility to this issue. Let’s admit what we do and what we don’t know. And when we don’t, let’s ask someone who does –  before we take action.”

Unfortunately, the Republican block stuck together and passed the bill. Now it goes to the House for consideration by the House Committee on Public Health. It is my understanding that Chairwoman Sharon Cooper does not want this bill to pass, but she is being lobbied hard by extremist groups. Please call and politely encourage her to stand firm. If you have time, call the other committee members as well.

Additional Bills of Note that Blew through the Senate

School Accreditation: Most of the Crossover Day bills were non controversial and easily passed. SB 202 is a bill that focuses school accreditation on teaching, learning, and finance measures. In recent years, accreditation agencies have spent much of their time diving into school board dysfunction. The bill also requires that accreditation agencies focus on either school accreditation or remediation, but not both, eliminating a conflict of interest that’s existed for years.

Literacy: SB 211 establishes a Georgia Council on Literacy to ensure a statewide approach to ensuring kids can read by 3rd grade.

Fuel Tax: SB 146 allows the state to collect a fuel tax at electric vehicle charging stations like we do for gas.

Health Network Adequacy: SB 20 requires health insurance companies to ensure they have enough doctors, mental health professionals, and pharmacies in their network to ensure that people throughout their coverage area can access their benefits.

Women to the Rescue

This week Representative Shea Roberts and I co-chaired an “unofficial “ hearing on the Reproductive Freedom Act. Knowing that Republican leadership would never allow a real hearing on these bills, we wanted to give women a chance to tell their stories about how Georgia’s abortion ban has affected them.

The most heart wrenching stories were those told by clinic workers who are faced with telling women they have to travel out of state to get an abortion. Physicians testified that they can no longer practice within their Standards of Care in emergency situations like when a pregnant woman’s water breaks too early in the pregnancy. Doctors now have to wait until patients are at risk and “sick enough,” before they can offer an abortion.

Repairing the Damage: Voting 101 for High School Seniors

In 2021 I filed SB 240, requiring high schools to offer instruction on how to vote. At the time, Lt. Governor Duncan suggested I create a pilot program in my district as a starting point, but the pandemic made that impossible until now.

This year, I partnered with Representative Karen Lupton and the Dekalb Voter Registration and Elections Office to create a Voting 101 class as part of Chamblee High School’s Adulting Day. It was fun to watch the kids learn how to use the voting equipment. It gave me some ideas about how to move my vision for voting education forward in the future.

The Forecast Ahead

With only nine legislative days left in the session, the winds will remain brisk. Bills that didn’t make it on Crossover Day stay alive for next year, or could be added to bills that moved forward on Crossover Day. It’s time to keep our eyes peeled and remain vigilant for whatever storms might come our way.

Late last week I got to visit Chamblee High School. As part of their “Adulting Day,” Rep. Karen Lupton and I partnered with the DeKalb Board of Elections to teach HS seniors how to vote — we even had real machines for them to use!

On International Women’s Day we all wore yellow roses and honored 35 women who serve as extraordinary servant leaders in their communities