The Sausage Factory – Sine Die Style

Laws and sausages, you should never watch either one being made.
— Otto von Bismarck

The Republican Sausage Factory Kicks Into Overdrive

Driving to the Capitol this week, I felt like I was headed to a Republican bill-making factory. Fortunately most of the bills were harmless, but occasionally the Senate Democratic Caucus had to put up a good fight to send some rancid bills to the garbage.

On Thursday we blew through the midnight deadline and worked until almost 1 am when the Majority Leader finally moved to adjourn Sine Die. It was a very, very long day.

A Crazy Way to Make Dinner

You THOUGHT you knew how a bill becomes a law? I bet you never learned in school about “Frankenstein” bills (several bills stuffed into one) or “Christmas Tree” bills (parts of bills amended on to another).

We often see these at the end of session, but this year Republicans took bill slicing and dicing to a whole new level. Senators offered amendments left and right from the floor on bills that were already patched together. It was hard keeping up with what we were voting on. Bill numbers and captions stayed the same even when the content changed.

Sausages That Made it Through the Factory

The State Budget: Passing a balanced budget is the only Constitutionally-mandated requirement of the General Assembly. This year, we fulfilled that duty at 10:45pm on the last day of the session when we agreed to the Conference Committee report for HB 916, reconciling the House and Senate versions of the FY 24/25 budget.

The $36.1 billion budget, down slightly from this year’s spending, includes raises for state employees, teachers, university employees, and law enforcement. It also includes measures championed by Democrats including money for childcare, domestic violence and sexual assault response, and school lunches.

My budget success this year includes $79 million for caretaker raises, a direct result of passing my rate study bill (SB 610, 2022). I also obtained $250,000 for Clubhouse Atlanta, a non-profit in Dunwoody that provides space, support and structure for people in recovery or who have chronic mental health challenges.

What’s not in the budget? Money to arm teachers in schools. Credit goes to those of you who sprang into action over the weekend with phone calls and emails after reading a note in the AJC about an increase in school safety funds to cover Lt. Governor Burt Jones’ plan to arm and train teachers. Both the House and Senate Appropriations Chairs confirmed that school safety money was NOT for arming teachers, and the Budget Conference Committee removed the extra money. You were LOUD and you were heard!

Election Frankenbill: Just after midnight on Sine Die, Republicans pushed through a Frankenstein bill that cobbled together several bad election bills. Here’s some of what SB 189 does:

1. Allows third-party candidates on the statewide ballot if at least 20 other states do the same. This opens the door for independent candidate Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. to challenge President Biden here.
2. Places additional undue administrative burdens on county elections offices by requiring them to report absentee ballot counts within one hour of polls closing,
3. Defines “probable cause” for mass voter challenges. Republicans claim this will help clarify these challenges, but Democrats want to do away with them altogether because they perpetuate the myth of widespread voter fraud and overwhelm our local elections staff, and
4. Eliminates QR codes on election ballots after July 2026. (If only they had listened to me in 2019 when I warned them that voters would be suspicious of codes they can’t read.)

Property Tax Cap: Recognizing that rising property taxes are a pain point for many Georgians, we passed a Constitutional amendment to limit property value assessments to the current rate of inflation. A Constitutional amendment requires a two-thirds vote in both chambers, and this one passed easily with bipartisan support. You’ll have a chance to vote on this measure in November.

The Official State Crustacean: When I asked you in my last Snapshot to guess the Official State Crustacean, one of you got it right! The White Shrimp got the honor with the passage of HB 1341.

A Pause to Celebrate Colleagues

The final days of the biennium are often bittersweet, especially when we have to say goodbye to long- time colleagues who won’t be returning to the Gold Dome. We celebrated the retirement of three long-serving trailblazing Senators — Sen. Valencia Seay, Sen. Horencia Tate, and Minority Leader Gloria Butler.

David Cook, our longtime Secretary of the Senate, also announced his retirement. We all count on David and his team to make sure everything in the Senate runs smoothly from orchestrating our floor sessions to taking care of all of our administrative needs. It’s hard to imagine the Senate without his steady hand.

Making My Own Sausage

When my bill for an Innovation Commission for Adults with Developmental Disabilities, SB 198, was hijacked and completely stripped in the House Public Health Committee I hatched a plan to attach the original bill language to the new SB 198 when it came back to the Senate. I enlisted the support of the Lt. Governor’s office and one of my Republican colleagues, I worked with Legislative Counsel to prepare a floor amendment, and I kept a close eye on SB 198 all week.

Late afternoon on Thursday, I was informed by the Lt. Governor’s office that the new language was a priority for House Speaker Burns and our plan was no longer viable. We tried to come up with another plan, but time ran out. With my bill being left on the cutting room floor, the Commissioner of the Dept. of Behavioral Health & Developmental Disabilities has asked me to participate in a workgroup on this issue during the interim.

My Study Committee resolutions to review ways to protect kids from social media and expand higher education in prisons also never made it out of the Senate Rules Committee, but I have received commitments from the Lt. Governor and a couple of Committee Chairs to work on these efforts during the interim through regular Standing Committee meetings.

Sausages Left on the Factory Floor

Thankfully the House declined to take up several culture war bills sent over by Senate Republicans.

More Transgender Discrimination: HB 1104 was originally a great bill to help student athletes with mental health challenges. Then it was stuffed with a ban on transgender students in sports, a ban on transgender students using bathrooms of their gender identity, and another bill to prohibit sex education in schools before sixth grade. Meanwhile HB 1170 was hijacked to ban puberty blockers for transgender kids. The House adjourned Sine Die without passing either.

American Library Association Bill: SB 390 was a bill to cut ties with the American Library Association (ALA) after its President referred to herself as a “Marxist lesbian.” The ALA sets standards and provides training for librarians and provides grant funding for our libraries, so this bill would have been detrimental to our libraries.

Religious Liberty: SB 180 was another failed attempt at instituting “religious liberty” which is typically a thinly veiled license to discriminate against LGBTQ+ and non-Christians.

The Official Bread of Georgia: Cornbread lost its bid to become the Official Bread of Georgia when the Senate declined to take up HB 1048.

What’s Next: Help Me Make More Sausages

As the session comes to a close, it’s now time to gear up my re-election campaign. I’m facing primary and general election opponents, and I need your help. If you appreciate my work and enjoy these Snapshots, I hope you’ll support my campaign by donating, placing a yard sign in your yard, or volunteering your time. Look for another email very soon to find out how you can help.

It’s been an honor and pleasure representing you and I have so much unfinished business I still want to accomplish. I hope you’ll vote in both elections to send me back to the Senate.

“Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around every once in a while, you could miss it.” — Ferris Bueller

Follow the Leader

Medicaid Expansion and Hospital “CON” Reform

Instead of using hospital regulatory reform (Certificate of Need, aka CON) as a bargaining chip for Medicaid Expansion as North Carolina did, Georgia Republicans are following the lead of the Governor by refusing once again to expand Medicaid.

This week, the Senate passed HB 1339, the CON reform bill. Among other things, the Senate version exempts ambulatory surgery centers from CON regulations. These centers don’t have to accept Medicaid patients and cherry pick off the more profitable procedures, leaving local hospitals to fund the non-profitable procedures.

I knew there was some GOP support for Medicaid expansion in the House, but this week I overheard some Republican Senators saying we should have expanded Medicaid before reforming CON. They’re worried about hospitals in their districts. What a missed opportunity to help people and communities across Georgia with the resources needed to support life.

Follow the Votes: Transgender Medical Treatment

This week the Senate Health and Human Services Committee amended HB 1170, a good bill that makes opioid overdose antidotes readily available in public buildings, to include a ban on puberty blockers for transgender kids. Last year, when a slew of bills banning transgender care were introduced in state legislatures across the country, Georgia was one of the only states that kept puberty blockers available. What changed? Powerful Republican leaders are now facing far-right primary opponents and feeling the pressure. Look for SB 1170 to be on the Senate floor soon.

What won’t be on the Senate floor — SR 785, a resolution I filed on behalf of Community Estr(El/la), an immigrant transgender advocacy organization recognizing March 26th as Trans Liberation Day to honor the struggles and achievements of transgender people. Instead of being placed on a unanimous consent calendar for Privileged Resolutions, SR 785 was assigned to the very same Committee that banned puberty blockers. Think it’ll get a hearing? Probably not…

Follow the Middle Course: Suicide and Firearms

Democrats are constantly searching for ways to reduce gun violence that our Republican colleagues will support. This year, Senator Elena Parent and I may have found one in “Donna’s Law,” aka SB 522, a personal liberty bill that allows people with suicidal tendencies to put themselves on the “Do Not Sell” Firearms list to protect themselves from making a hasty, irreversible decision. Suicides, not homicides, account for the majority of gun deaths in Georgia.

It’s rare for a gun safety bill to get a hearing, but the Chair of the Senate Public Safety Committee allowed one for SB 522 this week. A variety of mental health experts and suicide prevention advocates testified in favor of the bill, including Donna’s daughter, Katrina Brees, who surprised us by flying in from Louisiana. Katrina believes that if “Donna’s Law” existed, her mother would still be alive today. We held a press conference later that afternoon. https://youtu.be/Zar0UlYDkNY?si=CVHyhGn6z0Wfjsor

Follow the Money: Data Centers and School Vouchers

Thursday, the Senate passed HB 1192, a bill that suspends a sales tax break for high-tech data centers for two years. Legislators have been scrutinizing the long list of tax incentives used to attract business to Georgia. It makes sense to study the cost benefit of these incentives, but a pause pulls the rug from under businesses that chose to locate here based on the tax incentive and causes uncertainty for projects in the pipeline. Environmental advocates informed us about the huge amount of natural resources data centers use, so I intend to watch the data storage industry for its impact on global warming.

Across the hall, the House passed SB 233, the school voucher bill that allows $6,500 per student to be used for private school or homeschooling, by just one vote. This year, to make it more palatable for Republicans who voted against it last year, House leadership loaded it with incentives like writing teacher pay raises into the school funding formula and allowing students to enroll in public schools outside of their districts. I’m sure primary pressure plays a role in the bill’s passage too. The amended bill will have to pass the Senate before it heads to the Governor’s desk.

Follow the Logic: Higher Ed in Prisons Study Committee

This week, I filed SR 770, a Study Committee Resolution to examine how we can offer higher education in Georgia prisons to reduce recidivism. Intern and constituent Lillian Hanson has been working on this issue all session, making connections with experts and advocates for our office so we can build on them in the years to come. When I asked the Chair of the Senate Higher Education Committee to sign the bill, his seatmate signed it too, saying, “It only makes sense!”

I also filed two other common sense bills this week — one that requires regular school building inspections like we do for restaurants, and a bill allowing colleges to opt out of Campus Carry and requiring gun storage and firearm safety training for those that allow guns on campus. While they won’t move this session, filing them now allows me to refile and move them more quickly next session.

Follow My Values

With only five legislative days remaining (expanded to two calendar weeks), now is the time when it’s easy to lose track of values. I campaigned hard on sticking to my values, and I believe they are why I have been re-elected three times.

In May, I am facing a primary election opponent due to my vote on HB30. While this bill was called the antisemitism bill, I think it will do little to reduce hateful acts toward Jewish people. However it will regulate how some of us speak about the Israeli government. America was founded on the courageous acts of standing against powerful government, and we may find ourselves in that position again, depending on the outcome of our 2024 election. My abstention on HB30 was a vote to protect the free speech of every American. While my opponent desires to make this race about war in the Middle East, I intend to stand for the justice and freedom that leads to peace.

Here’s my “inclusiveness” value that I followed: “We extend our world beyond our own family, community, and ethnic group to include a wide range of others — have-nots, minorities, the homeless, people with disabilities, people from other nations and even the earth itself.”

I still carry my “yellow value card” with me to the Capitol. It’s the card I made during the early 2000s when I served in the House and watched Republicans take over the legislature. I’ll keep it close at hand the next couple of weeks and follow it with every vote, even when it means someone might get mad at me.

We Need Your Urgent Follow Up!

SB 198, my bill to create an Innovation Commission for Adults with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (IDD), hit a major roadblock when the Chair of the House Public Health Committee declined to schedule a hearing for the bill. I spoke with the House Speaker’s office this week to ask for their help, and if you care about this issue, you should too. Call 404.656.5020 or email Jon.Burns@house.ga.gov to let him know that Georgia’s system to support adults with IDD is outdated and broken and that we need the Speaker’s help moving SB 198 forward to fix it.

I’ll be back at work at 9am Monday morning for the 36th legislative day.

Crossover Week

Georgia’s Crossover Hurricane Downgraded to a Tropical Depression

At the Georgia Capitol, there are two words that elicit both the excitement of parties and food alongside the dread of long working hours and mischief — Crossover and Sine Die.

Crossover Day: A “crossover” deadline is the last day for a bill to pass out of the chamber in which it was introduced and still move forward for consideration in the opposite chamber.

Sine Die: Latin, meaning to conclude without setting a date or time to reconvene.

Last Thursday, Legislative Day 28, was Crossover Day. From my experience, no matter how well you plan, you ultimately have no control over whether your legislation gets caught up in the Crossover storm.

Disabilities Commission Makes it in the Nick of Time

Case in Point, SB 198: I introduced SB 198 early in 2023 to create the “Families Living with Intellectual & Developmental Disabilities Innovation Commission.” It was assigned to the Senate Health & Human Services Committee, where I couldn’t get the Chairman to call it up for a vote. In early 2024 I had a chat with the Lt. Governor, and the logjam was removed. The bill passed out of Committee unanimously several weeks ago.

Next Step — the Rules Committee, which is like a giant sieve for bills. Some make it, but many don’t.

Despite my advocacy, and the advocacy of hundreds of volunteers, SB 198 didn’t make it out of Rules until the day before Crossover Day. But just being on the calendar for a floor vote on Crossover Day doesn’t mean it will actually get called up for a vote.

By dinner time on Crossover Day, we heard that the Lt. Governor would only be calling up a few more bills before adjourning. There were still more than 20 bills left on the Rules calendar, including SB 198.

When we returned from dinner, I was assured by the Lt. Governor’s right hand man that SB 198 would make the final list of bills. I can’t tell you how relieved I was when it was finally called up around 9 pm and passed 50-2.

Overall, about 15 bills, authored by both Republicans and Democrats, were left untouched before the Lt. Governor adjourned for the night well before midnight.

HBCU Bill Sparks Blustery Debate

One of the longest debates of the week was among Democrats over SB 235, a bill that creates an HBCU (Historically Black Colleges & Universities) Innovation and Economic Prosperity Planning Districts Commission. The Commission would design prosperity planning districts with local advisory committees around each of Georgia’s 10 HBCUs with the ultimate goal of raising funds to improve the schools and blighted areas around them.

While everyone agrees our HBCUs have been underfunded for decades, several legislators who were HBCU alumni strongly objected to the bill, arguing that it would create an unnecessary layer of bureaucracy with no accountability to the Board of Regents and the state. The bill ultimately passed.

Breezing Through Bills Before Crossover Day

After the HBCU debate, we got through the floor vote calendars pretty quickly in the days leading up to Crossover Day.

Here are just a few of the bills that blew through:

Sports Betting: Sports betting was back, this time with a Resolution for a Constitutional Amendment. The Senate passed a sports betting bill earlier this session, but it was a regular bill without a referendum. Senate Resolution 579 cleared the Senate with the required two-thirds majority. If it passes the House, Georgia voters will ultimately decide in November if we should amend our state Constitution to allow for sports betting.

Sheltering Kids from Social Media: The Senate passed the Lt. Governor’s bill, the “Protecting Georgia’s Children on Social Media Act” or SB 351. It directs the State Board of Education to develop programming on Internet safety, keeps kids from using social media in Georgia schools, and requires parents to give permission for certain social media accounts.

I’ve been very interested in this topic and doing lots of research. I’ve come across approaches that take some of the onus off of parents to constantly monitor their kids’ social media. I’m drafting a Study Committee resolution so we can dive more deeply into the possibilities.

Making College Transfers Easier: SB 399 requires the University System of Georgia and the Technical College System to work together to make credits more transferable between the two systems, making it less expensive for technical school students who choose to pursue four year degrees.

State Takeover of Local Boards of Health: SB 293 lessens the qualifications for local board of health directors from a medical degree to a masters degree and shifts the responsibility of appointing these directors from the local board to the state. I got some helpful advice from one of my local mayors on how to analyze this bill.

Youth Driving Dangers: SB 402 allows those with a Class D Drivers License held by 16 and 17 year olds to drive between the hours of midnight and 5:00 am. It also allows them to drive with an unrelated passenger, but limits that number to only one passenger under the age of 21. The timing of this bill seems horrible, given several catastrophic fatal teen driver accidents that occurred recently during early morning hours.

The Amended 24/25 Budget: The Senate approved the conference committee report from the House on this year’s amended budget. With the “little budget” done,” we’ll be working to pass the big budget for fiscal year 2025/26 in the coming weeks.

Crossover Day Gusts

With the torrent of bad bills that passed through Committees last week, we were expecting the worst, but were pleasantly surprised when many of them including the Chaplains in schools (SB 379), criminalizing school librarians (SB 154), and ending automatic voter registration (SB 221) bills did not make it to the Rules Calendar for Crossover Day.

The Democratic Caucus filed minority reports for the most controversial bills, which allows us to officially disagree with the Committee’s “do pass” recommendation and gives us more time on the floor to argue against the bill.

• The Religious Freedom Restoration Act (SB 180) provides a license to discriminate based on religious beliefs. The debate on this bill was cut short when a Democratic Senator moved to table the bill and the Majority Leader countered by calling the question which trumps a table motion. Because we filed the Minority Report, Senator Kim Jackson had the opportunity to give an impassioned personal speech about how this bill could hurt her and her family as a queer Episcopal priest married to a Muslim imam.
• The American Library Association (ALA) bill (SB 390) bans libraries from spending public and some private funds on ALA materials and eliminates the requirement for librarians to be ALA certified. In her Minority Report, the Senate Democratic Caucus Chair said that this bill “puts librarians on the front lines of culture wars” and questioned the wisdom of tying the hands of our libraries when Georgia has such dismal literacy rates.
• SB 517 immunizes law enforcement officers from criminal prosecution if the officer can prove that the use of force is lawful, justified, or falls within the department’s guidelines. Our police already enjoy strong criminal protections through qualified immunity. This bill will only make it more difficult for victims of unjustified or excessive use of force to seek justice.

Sadly, all of these bills passed and are now headed to the House. Also be on the lookout for all of those bad bills that didn’t make it to Crossover Day. They could easily come back to haunt us as bill amendments or hijacked bills.

Where Will the Winds Blow Next?

The Georgia General Assembly is currently the opposite of Congress. The Georgia Senate is controlled by the hard-liners while the House, under the leadership of Speaker Burns, has been more moderate. That means that the House now gets to deal with the culture war bills from the Senate while the Senate will take up the less controversial House bills.

We’ll still have plenty of substantive issues to dive into like HB 1180 that imposes limits on Georgia’s Film Tax Credit, HB 1105 that requires law enforcement to help immigration officials and imposes penalties on those that don’t, HB 1339 that makes changes to the state’s Hospital Certificate of Need regulations, and HB 1015 that accelerates an income tax reduction.

What to Watch:

WSB-TV reached out to talk about the need for more Medicaid Home & Community Based Support waivers for adults with developmental disabilities. You can watch the story here:

https://news.yahoo.com/does-state-budget-far-enough-233235543.html

For several years, Senate administrative assistants have designed a Senate “bingo” game for Sine Die. This tradition has grown, and now the press has extended the lore to Crossover Day. See AJC’s Maya Prahbu on “X,” formerly Twitter.

https://twitter.com/MayaTPrabhu/status/1763390246383673461

62% of Georgians disagree with our state’s strict abortion ban. When lawmakers make laws that go against what the people want, what can be done? Watch and share Sally’s Reels: sallyharrellga

 

Working Smart

I’ve never read “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People,” but I think I’ve been doing some of it anyway!

Habit 6: Synergy

The Good Faith Grant: A couple of years ago a group of high school counselors reached out to legislators to discuss the need for a comprehensive scholarship program for students who have met the criteria to attend college, but don’t have enough money.  My colleague Senator Nan Orrock, who has been one of my mentors for many years, joined us and we began meeting regularly in a workgroup.

Last month, one of those school counselors called me in her new capacity as an Education Policy Analyst at the Georgia Budget & Policy Institute (GPBI). She wanted to know if we could introduce legislation this session based on the groundwork we had been doing.

We finally dropped the bill into the “hopper” on Friday and it became SB 526. The lead sponsor is the Chairman of the Senate Higher Education Committee. This is a bipartisan bill.

We could not have achieved this success without all of us acting as a team. SB 526 is scheduled to be heard in the Senate Higher Education Committee this coming week.

“Donna’s Law” Voluntary Gun Registry: This week I overheard Senator Elena Parent talking about a bill she was working on to create a voluntary “do not sell” gun registry for people at risk for suicide. I’ve actually been working on this issue for a couple of years, but have been unable to get a Republican co-sponsor.

“Donna’s Law” is named for Donna Nathan, a Louisanna woman who googled “gun stores in New Orleans,” drove to a gun store, purchased a gun, and hours later shot herself. Designed for people with chronic mental health issues, “Donna’s Laws” have been passed in three states and are pending in several others.

Senator Parent and I decided to team up. We compared research, finished drafting Senator Parent’s bill and decided to approach various Republican Chairman to request a hearing. Since I have a good working relationship with the Chairman of Public Safety and had previously discussed this initiative with him, Senator Parent and I went together to ask him for a hearing. We got a resounding “yes”!

We dropped the bill in the hopper together, and it is now SB 522. It has been several years since the Senate has had a hearing on a gun bill that decreases, rather than increases, the number of guns in the state.

As Senator Orrock said, “If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.” In the Georgia General Assembly, we must go fast AND far!

Habit 3: Put First Things First

Early Bird Gets the Worm: If you ask my husband, he will tell you that I am NOT a morning person. However, I was in front of the camera bright and early on a rainy Monday morning to film the second installment of my new video series. This one is on the state budget. You can watch it here. If you haven’t followed me on Instagram yet, please do —  so we can get our video out to a wider audience.

I ended Monday the same way I started — in front of the camera on GPB’s Lawmakers where I spoke about SB 198, my bill to create an Innovation Commission for Adults with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities.

SB 198, Disabilities Commission: By the way, I need your help to move this bill along. Call and email Republican leaders on this list and encourage them to move SB 198 to the Senate floor before Crossover Day. There are suggested speaking points on the document to guide you, but make it your own. Personal stories always get the most attention.

Immigration is a Time Suck: Monday the Senate spent half the day debating SR 543, the “Blaming President Biden for Congressional Republicans’ Inability to Run A Government” resolution. That’s not the name of course, but that’s what we called it. It was a pure messaging move by the Republicans to criticize President Biden on immigration.

The debate went on so long they had to move the remaining bills to the next day. Overall, it was an enormous waste of time.

Instead of sitting through the debate, I spent time outside the chamber working on local legislation.

Habit 1: Be Proactive

It’s About Time — Updating DeKalb County’s Charter. Between legislative sessions I served on the Dekalb County Charter Review Commission. The Commission held 22 meetings over 18 months with lots of public input. We poured over DeKalb’s 75-page charter that hadn’t been updated in decades. It was so outdated, there was a reference to utilizing chain gangs and it stated the CEO is still being paid what he was in 1992!

The 15-member Commission discussed the form of government (CEO vs. County Manager) and the number of seats on the County Commission. To make these changes, a two-thirds vote was required, and none of the large proposed changes met that threshold. We did agree on a number of substantive changes that will result in smoother county operations with increased accountability.

This week, I paired up with a Commission member who is an attorney and who knows county law — he is now working with Legislative Counsel to draft the local bill that will make these changes after voters approve them in a November ballot referendum.

So little time — City Annexations.  I’ve been working with Doraville leaders since last spring to draft annexation legislation to clean up city lines in three separate geographic “islands” in the city. The streets in these areas had been cut out of Doraville for decades causing service delivery problems for DeKalb.

Then a couple weeks ago, Chamblee leaders asked for a referendum for annexation of Embry Hills. Local bills always take more time than you might expect, so I doubt we’ll be able to pass an annexation bill for Embry Hills this year.

Next Up

Next up: I hope to have two education bills heard in Committee next week. In addition to the Good Faith Grant bill, the Senate Education and Youth Committee will hear SB 432, a bill to ensure that our younger students get unstructured recess everyday. Georgia law already mandates at least 30 minutes of recess, but only on days that students do not have PE. Research says PE is not the same as recess in terms of how children’s brains take in and retain information.

Crossover Day, the last day for bills to pass their first chamber in order to get to the next chamber this year, is February 29th. The last day of this session, Sine Die, is March 28th

The Georgia Senate Goes to the Salon

A Bad Hair Day

A touch of humor erupted this week on the Senate floor Monday morning that lightened my load.

Cosmetology Licensing: Last summer a Senate Study Committee conducted a critical review of all Georgia’s licensing laws. Out of that work came SB 354, which proposes to eliminate licensing requirements for the folks that wash, dry, & style hair, and those who apply makeup. The Senate Democratic women tried hard to explain to our male colleagues why some licensing requirements are still necessary for safety reasons.

Our Group Chat was rather colorful:

“You can rip out whole sections of people’s hair with hair extension glue!”

“The men are trying to ruin our hair!”

“This is why we need more women in office!”

After plenty of hair jokes, the bill passed, 38 to 15.

A Hair Bill Left Undone: SB 82, called the “Crown Act,” is a bill that protects Black Georgians who wear natural hairstyles from discrimination. Senate Republicans refuse to move it forward.

Moving Bills Are a Thing of Beauty

Just when things seem impossibly stuck, circumstances change and doors fly open.

Georgians with Intellectual & Developmental Disabilities Innovation Commission: Last year, I couldn’t get SB 198, my Disabilities Commission bill, to move at all. This week the bill passed unanimously through the Senate Health & Human Services Committee.

We were told we had the votes to pass the bill out of Committee, but we lined up a handful of advocates anyway who shared compelling stories. The Commission is modeled after the late Speaker David Ralston’s successful Behavioral Health Innovation Commission, whose recommendations resulted in meaningful mental health reform. Next week, I’ll push the bill through the Senate Rules Committee to move SB 198 to the Senate floor.

Children & Play: This week, Republican Chairman Clint Dixon, who leads the Senate Education and Youth Committee, became the second signer on SB 432, a bill I authored that requires recess every day for elementary and middle school students, ensuring kids get adequate break time even on days when they have a structured PE class.

When I glanced down at the bill and saw my signature next to Sen. Dixon’s signature I did a double take. Sen. Dixon and I have radically different politics, yet we are both able to see that children need unstructured free-time during the school day. I felt an ounce of hope for the future of our country.

The next step is to get SB 432 on the agenda for a vote in the Education Committee (nice to have the Chairman’s support).

Advocates Make Cut and Dry Pleas for Healthcare

At the Ropes: While the Senate was busy debating sports betting, I spent time at the “ropes” talking with constituents who want us to fix healthcare. The “ropes” are located just outside the chamber doors where the Senate operates the “page” program. As we are able, we leave the chamber to have conversations with constituents “across the rope-line.”

Among these constituents were St. Pius Catholic School students who made impressive arguments for closing the gaps in healthcare. I also met Brookhaven constituent Toi Irvin and her son Evan, who were advocating with the American Heart Association. Evan, who is Evander Holyfield’s son, collapsed at school due to a rare and deadly undiagnosed heart condition, so his mom was telling their story and advocating for better preparedness and training.

Senator Warnock: Senator Warnock visited the Senate Democratic Caucus this week, emphasizing to us the importance of continuing our fight for Medicaid expansion. In the chamber, he reminded the full Senate that he helped secure $1.2 billion in federal funding incentives for Georgia’s Medicaid expansion. Some Democratic U.S. Senators did not want to reward Georgia with higher incentives since they built their own Medicaid programs on less lucrative federal contributions. Those incentives have not yet swayed Governor Kemp.

Speaking of Healthcare… Thursday night, at a dinner sponsored by the Georgia State University Health Policy Center, I sat next to the House Health Committee Chairman. When he said he needed to call an Uber to get to his condo, I offered to drive him since it was on my way home. As I drove, I made sure to mention my disabilities bill, since it might end up in his Committee. This is how you make friends and get things done at the Capitol!

Higher Ed Funding Needs a Makeover

Tuesday, I spoke at a United Campus Workers press conference about the need to fully fund higher education back to the levels it was funded in 2000. Currently, higher ed funding is 31.5% less than it was  — making college less attainable for too many Georgia students.

I also had very positive meetings throughout the week with key Republican leaders regarding needs-based scholarships that we’ve decided to name “Good Faith Grants.” We know that Governor Kemp’s Georgia Match program will identify kids who have proven themselves capable of going to college, but fall through the cracks because they just can’t afford it.

Looks Can Be Deceiving

Thursday looked to be a short day with just three bills on the floor. But it turned out to be a very long day in the Chamber with no lunch! We had vigorous debates on sports betting (SB 386), the Gwinnett county City of Mulberry (SB 33), and the final Conference Committee Report on “The Big Bad Bail Bill” (SB 63).

I find it sad we spend so much time on sports betting when we have so many pressing needs. In the past, sports betting was introduced with an accompanying voter referendum, but now Republicans have decided it doesn’t need a referendum. I voted no on the bill.

What’s Up Next Week? It was nice to have a lighter week, but it probably won’t last. Monday we are not in session due to the funeral of Rep. Richard Smith, Chairman of House Rules, who died suddenly last week from a short illness.

What’s on the horizon? Governor Kemp’s SB 362 will make it hard for labor unions to come to Georgia, SB 438 will once again address transgender kids and sports, as well as bathrooms and other facilities, and SB 390, which removes American Library Certification and funding from public libraries statewide will be heard in one of my Committees. Evidently Senate Republicans think the leader of the ALA is a Marxist, so libraries are evil.

So much for light reading. I’ll let you know the next plot twist.

 

Page Program: If you know someone who would like to serve as a page (ages 12 – 18), please let my administrative assistant, Kathlene Dorking, know at 404-463-2260 or kathlene.dorking@senate.ga.gov.