Crossover Day Chaos

Crossover Day is the last day a bill can pass its chamber of origin so it can be considered in the other chamber, continuing its progress toward becoming law. 

Deadlines like Crossover and Sine Die create logjams of bills. This year from the start of session to Day 26, there were about 50 bills that made it to the Senate floor. Then this week, on just two days alone, we voted on over 80 bills.

Clearly this process could be managed better, but if you’re trying to slip something through unnoticed by the public, the chaos can be used to conceal. It also results in sloppy law. Many of the Republican bills we considered this week were filed at the last minute, then rushed through Committee with little public input.

Quality Control

Amending the Majority Leader’s Bill: I started my week trying to fix one of those last minute bills, SB 540 — a bill sponsored by the Senate Majority Leader and aimed at addressing harmful AI companion chatbots. These chatbots are designed to simulate personal relationships that keep users emotionally engaged. Because they pull information from across the internet, they can generate deeply inappropriate responses — including sexually explicit conversations with children. 

After the bill was rushed through Committee, I discovered that some clever language actually exempted social media platforms from having to follow the protections outlined in the bill. In other words, the bill allowed social media platforms to roll out erotic and emotionally manipulative chatbots to kids. 

So last week I convinced the Majority Leader that the bill needed to be amended on the floor. Of course, the Meta and TikTok lobbyists were watching closely, so we kept the bi-partisan amendment very quiet until just before the bill was called up for a floor vote. Both the amendment and the bill passed the Senate with bipartisan support.

Protest Parameters: This week, we debated SB 443, a bill that proposed to increase penalties for the unlawful obstruction of roads during protests. It was a robust debate, with the author clarifying that he did not intend for it to include sidewalks. But the author’s amendment unintentionally removed the existing misdemeanor penalty for unlawfully blocking a sidewalk — leaving the sidewalk obstruction with no penalty at all, which was not the author’s intent.

Another legislator spotted the problem and quickly handwrote a floor amendment to restore the original misdemeanor penalty. But the amendment contained two spelling errors, “misdeameanor” and “inconveince” — which meant the amendment itself needed another amendment to fix it. These mistakes are referred to as “scrivener’s errors,” dating back to copying errors made by medieval scribes.

It was a lighthearted moment with a lot of joking and laughing about the Senator who can’t spell, but it also highlighted how easily mistakes can create real policy gaps when bills move at warp speed. I am always grateful for the keen eyes and skills of many of my colleagues.

Data Centers vs. The Rate Payers

I’ve written before about SB 34, a bill originally designed to protect electricity customers from the enormous costs associated with massive data centers.

Thanks to Georgia Power’s outsized lobbying influence, the bill went through the wringer — first getting watered down in committee and then being shut out of a vote last week when the author tried to amend the consumer protections back in.

The weakened version resurfaced on Crossover Day folded into SB 410, a bill that dealt with tax incentives for data centers. And because SB 410 moved through the Finance Committee, the bill was engrossed, meaning it couldn’t be amended on the Senate floor.

During the floor debate, Republicans hailed the bill as a “consumer protection bill,” while our Minority Caucus Chair laid out the hidden costs. Georgia Power has already received approval from the Republican-led Public Service Commission to double its generation capacity to serve data centers. That expansion could cost $50–$60 billion over the coming decades. Much of that financial risk would ultimately fall on Georgia ratepayers through weak contracts and PSC rules. Although Georgia Power promised rate freezes and “downward pressure” on electric rates for the next three years, the financial impacts of these projects will last decades, far longer than these short-term promises.

For years to come, Georgia families will shoulder the burden while Big Tech companies make billions in profits.

Election Denial Just Won’t Die (But Their Bill Did!)

Another last-minute Republican bill, SB 568, proposed to require massive changes to our system of voting, including the use of hand-marked paper ballots for the upcoming elections.

The Senate Ethics Committee did hear testimony on the bill, and election officials raised serious concerns about the timeline. They warned that making such a major change during a major election year would create confusion and chaos. Several Republican senators heard the same concerns directly from election officials in their own counties.

That pressure made all the difference and the bill failed to get enough votes to pass. But we’ll have to watch this one closely to make sure SB 568 doesn’t pop up as an amendment to another bill.

Democratic Negotiations Ignored

Until Crossover Day, the Senate had not passed a single Democratic bill.

Dozens had been filed, but only six Democratic bills made it through the Rules Committee. Democrats hold 41% of the seats in the Senate, yet only a tiny fraction of our legislation moved this year.

Democrats lack enough votes to stop egregious Republican bills, but we do have the power to stop constitutional amendments because they require two-thirds of the chamber to pass.

Republicans wanted our support to pass SR 668, allowing for local flexibility in creating special tax categories for data centers. So we asked for three things in return for our votes: 1) passage of SB 34 in its stronger, original form; 2) passage of SB 94, restoring the Consumer Utility Council that was cut in 2008; and 3) floor votes of our 6 bills.

Republicans passed their weakened version of SB 34. They refused to bring SB 94 to a floor vote. So we stayed firm and voted against their SR 668. All day long they played the game of Lucy and the football with our 6 bills. It was infuriating.

 What it Takes to Pass a Democratic Bill

One of the bills waiting on the table was SB 278, my bill to require folic acid fortification in corn flour to help prevent spina bifida in the Latino community. I spent the week working the Rules process, including taking advantage of an invitation to dinner with another Democratic senator and two Republicans — including the Rules Chair.

Building relationships is essential when you’re in the minority, and the dinner was a great chance to build some rapport. In fact, the Rules Chair joked with me all week that “Sally is going to save the internet” with my online safety bills. I was thrilled when SB 278 made it through Rules on my birthday.

But on Crossover Day, Democratic bills sat on the table until 9:50 pm. In the end, only three of the six were called up. Sadly, SB 278 wasn’t among them.

In the coming weeks I’ll look for opportunities to attach my bill to another. Or I’ll start over next year. Speaking of next year . . .

Back on the Ballot for Another Term

In the middle of the legislative rush, we had Candidate Qualifying at the Capitol this week.

I officially qualified to run for re-election to the Georgia Senate — and once again I’ll have a Republican opponent in November, this time a MAGA one. 

There’s also encouraging news statewide: Democrats are fired up.

This year, Democrats qualified candidates in 204 state legislative races, contesting 88% of Georgia House seats and 82% of Senate seats — the highest number of Democratic candidates and contested seats under the Gold Dome in at least three decades.

What’s Next 

We’ll be returning to regular business on Monday, but the week after Crossover day is often quiet as House bills begin to work their way through Senate Committees and vice versa. We’ll be in session all week, except Wednesday which is a Committee workday. 

Town Hall: Please consider attending our Legislative Town Hall Monday night this week at the new Brookhaven City Centre, 4001 Peachtree Road, at 6:30pm.

Also, tune in to watch GPB’s Lawmakers Tuesday night at 7pm, where I’ll be a guest presenter.