State Senate session report: Week five.
Monday, February 5, 2024:
This isn’t the Women’s Bill of Right we were looking for.
Trans rights aren’t isolated to a tiny segment of the population. And trans people aren't some “other.” They’re my family. Their rights are my rights. And, frankly, trans rights are a canary in the proverbial coal mine. Our Republican legislature’s—including our incumbent senator’s—attacks on their personal healthcare freedoms reveals how fragile all our freedoms are in the face of ignorance and a lack of empathy. Photo by Krzysztof Hepner on Unsplash
Last Tuesday, House Rules Chair Richard Smith (R, Columbus) passed away and Monday’s House & Senate meetings were canceled so members could attend his funeral. So, let’s pivot over to the state House and look at how some right-wing culture warriors are looking for new ways to waste our time and money infringing on the personal liberties of people they don’t agree with.
One of my increasingly political teens turned me on to HB 1128, the “Georgia Women’s Bill of Rights” that entered the state House hopper last Thursday. It has six Republican sponsors—five women and one man—but doesn’t yet have a committee assignment.
But it does have my attention. Because, for a “Women’s Bill of Right,” this bill isn’t about cis-gendered women at all. Rather, it’s a find-and-replace exercise eliminating the word “gender” from the Official Code of Georgia:=
It refutes the concept of gender, ordering the state use only the inadequate birth-sex binary (Scientific American has a great piece about why human sexuality isn’t binary).
It removes hate crime protections for victims targeted on the basis of sexual orientation or gender, even prohibiting the GBI from reporting a victim’s gender.
It replaces gender on Drivers Licenses and ID cards with birth-sex markers and prevents the updating of such markers on all state-issued documents.
It prohibits children from using bathrooms that don’t correspond to their birth sex.
It removes gender as a consideration for the demographic balancing of committees.
This is really just a “Georgia TERF’s Bill of Rights” (referring to Trans-Exclusionary Radical Feminists—radical feminists and social conservatives who reject the notion that trans women are women, oppose trans women in women's spaces, and resist transgender rights legislation).
It’s not the state’s place to police anyone’s identity and gender is more than genitalia. Let’s keep an eye on this. And get your House rep’s contact info ready.
Tuesday, February 6, 2024:
There’s more evidence for the Tooth Fairy.
As Jay Bookman said it well in the Georgia Recorder, “At this point, almost three years after the election, [believing there was widespread voter fraud in the 2020 presidential election is] like an adult believing in the Tooth Fairy, only worse. There’s at least some evidence of the existence of a Tooth Fairy: A child’s tooth disappears overnight, and is magically replaced by money? How do you explain that, other than by magic? In contrast, after multiple federal and state investigations, there remains zero evidence that such vote fraud occurred, not here in Georgia, not in Arizona or Michigan, not anywhere.” Photo by Anthony Tran on Unsplash
Let’s talk about a dangerously unnecessary election bill that passed the state Senate, yesterday, and two more which appeared before committees. But first, let’s remember:
There’s no evidence of widespread voter fraud in the 2020 presidential election.
Republicans at all levels of media and government continue to say there was.
63% of Georgia Republican voters therefore believe there was.
Sigh.
Enter Max Burns’ (R-23) SB189, which passed the state Senate yesterday, requiring the text portions of ballots be counted for vote tabulation and recounts purposes instead of the machine-readable QR codes.
This bill doesn’t solve a real problem—Georgia’s election technology is demonstrably safe and secure. Rather, this bill threatens to create election chaos.
Currently, when we finish voting, we receive a paper ballot with both printed text humans can read and a QR code machines can read. The QR code is then used to quickly and accurately tabulate votes. In fact, these codes are so secure, they’re even readable if up to 30% of the code is destroyed or corrupted, Neat!
The Optical Character Recognition (OCR) technology used to scan printed text, on the other hand, is typically only accurate 85%-90% of the time. This partial accuracy means data extraction is problematic and requires time consuming human verification and correction—all enormous opportunities for unnecessary error and expense.
But Republican Senators aren’t done yet throwing wrenches in our state elections:
In the Ethics Committee, Rick Williams (R-25) presented two more election bills in search of a problem:
SB 367, which would eliminate absentee ballot drop boxes.
SR 454, amending our state constitution to clarify that only US citizens have the right to vote. Something which is, you know, is already the law.
But hey, there’s good news, too. Williams also presented SB 411 giving priority treatment to early voters accompanied by children five or younger. So, bring your kids to the polls!
Wednesday, February 7, 2024:
The state of the gavel.
Georgia Supreme Court Chief Justice Michael Boggs greets lawmakers after his State of the Judiciary address on February 7, 2024. He’s really rocking that robe. Photo by Jill Jordan Sieder (no relation) for State Affairs.
On Wednesday—after a long day listening to Larry Walker (R-20) not understand how libraries work—Georgia Supreme Court Chief Justice Michael Boggs addressed a joint session of the state legislature.
The Chief Justice covered a lot of ground. Let’s look at what’s going well and where our courts need legislative help.
THE GOOD
With the help of Federal pandemic aid, Georgia’s courts made significant progress reducing the backlog of violent felony cases, leading to an average 11% drop in pending serious violent felony cases across the state. Woot!
Grants from the American Rescue Plan Act further enabled judicial circuits to hire temporary judges, staff, and update courtroom technology. Despite this progress, ongoing personnel shortages and courtroom security concerns persist.
Boggs highlighted the creative use of federal grants by certain circuits, such as using unconventional venues for trials (the Chattahoochee Judicial Circuit in Columbus, for instance, used the local ice rink and civic center for jury selection and trial venues).
THE BAD
The state judicial system still faces challenges in recruiting and retaining personnel, including judges, attorneys, court reporters, and other staff. Boggs emphasized the need for increased pay for superior court judges and addressed the shortage of attorneys in “legal deserts”—particularly in rural areas. He also raised concerns about vacancies in assistant district attorney positions and the lack of legal representation for indigent defendants in civil cases. These points echo feedback we’re hearing from every sector of government about the state’s failure to keep up with inflation and offer competitive wages.
Boggs also urged lawmakers to consider removing barriers to practicing law and highlighted the importance of protecting judges and court staff from threats and violence (Trump and supporters, we’re looking at you). The proposed budget for the Georgia Judicial Council in 2024 includes a $1.5 million increase to enhance judicial security.
Thursday, February 8, 2024:
Red is the new black.
Even the R Street Institute, a credible right-of-center organization, calls the US cash pail system “broken” and goes so far as to note, “removing the spectrum of cash bail options could result in an increased number of violent offenders being subjected to pretrial detention, since no judge wants to release a person mistakenly who presents a risk to the community.” Photo from rstreet.org.
Let’s follow a bill out from under the Gold Dome for a moment.
On Tuesday, the state House passed SB 63, a controversial cash-bail overhaul our Senate passed the week before. And on Wednesday, the ACLU of Georgia threatened to challenge the bill in court if signed into law by the Governor.
The bill is currently waiting for Kemp’s signature—or for a 40-day default period to expire—to go into effect.
SB 63 mandates bail for a variety of low-level crimes and impose restrictions on charitable funds or individuals bailing out individuals more than three times (Cop City protestors, look out). Supporters argue it prevents violent criminals from being released on signature bonds while critics claim it unconstitutionally criminalizes poverty and violates the First Amendment—all in a state that already locks up more of its people than any other state in the country.
The bill is part of a broader national trend among Republicans to increase reliance on cash bail while some Democratic-led jurisdictions are moving towards ending or limiting its use.
Sadly, the bill will likely contribute to the further overcrowding in our county jails—something our opponent claims to care about despite voting for this bill. If we want to improve conditions in our county and state jails and prisons, we need to be smart on crime, not more draconian.
The decision to jail someone pretrial should be based on public safety concerns, not a defendant’s wealth. You shouldn’t lose your job, home, or children because you’re unnecessarily detained for a non-violent crime—that’s pre-trial punishment. And for minor offenses, issuing citations instead of making arrests can reduce the number of people entering the jail system.
Let’s keep our eyes on this one.
Friday, February 9, 2024:
The Senate Special Committee on Whataboutery.
“No, you’re the insurrectionist!”
On Friday, the recently-approved Senate Special Committee on Investigations held its first meeting about whether Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis misused taxpayer money in her pursuit of a felony racketeering case against Donald Trump and his allies for attempting to subvert Georgia lawful election in 2020.
According to chairman Bill Cowsert (R-46), the special committee—consisting of six Republicans and three Democrats—aims to conduct a fact-finding mission without partisan bias. 🧐 And while it lacks the authority to remove Willis from the case, it does possess subpoena powers (Willis is fighting another subpoena in court and may challenge this special committee's subpoena, too). Additionally, the special committee anticipates testimonies from whistleblowers within the Fulton County DA's Office.
Questions about the special committee’s potential bias were raised by Senate Minority Leader Gloria Butler (D-55):
It is my hope that this committee conducts itself in a responsible fashion and pursues the truth, nothing but the truth … A political witch hunt or show trial would damage Georgians’ faith in both our political and legal system.
The investigation centers around Willis' admitted romantic relationship with special prosecutor Nathan Wade, appointed to assist her with the Trump case. Willis denies any wrongdoing, asserting her relationship with Wade was professional and that accusations of financial impropriety and prosecutorial misconduct lack evidence.
It should be noted, both Senate President, Lt Gov Burt Jones, and Senator Shawn Still (R-48) are connected to the Trump prosecution (the former was excused from prosecution, the latter is a co-defendant of the disgraced president). So while Willis appears to have exercised some really bad judgement, this investigation amounts to some class A whataboutery—responding to an accusation with a counter-accusation instead of a defense.
The investigation's timeline is expected to extend beyond the current legislative session.
JD JORDAN FOR GEORGIA STATE SENATE DISTRICT 56
For anyone in East Cobb, Roswell, or Woodstock alarmed by the state’s escalating attacks on our bodies, our families, our doctors’ offices, our classrooms and libraries, even our polling places, I’m running for state senate district 56 to fight for our freedoms and to deliver a better future for everyone in Georgia.
And unlike my opponent who’s spent 14 years rolling back our freedoms, failing to safeguard our kids, and gerrymandered his district to stay in office, I promise to bring everyone in the 56—regardless of ideology—the best possible constituent experience so you feel heard, valued, and supported. As we all deserve to be.
I’m running for the 56. Let’s make a better Georgia for all of us.
—
FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT
Jordan For Georgia, LLC
10800 Alpharetta Hwy Ste 208 #629
Roswell, GA 30076-1467
jdjordan@forthe56.com
706.804.0456
