State Senate session report: Week six.
Monday, February 12, 2024:
Worst. Trilogy. Ever.
These attacks on free speech really p*ss me off. They’re such a cowardly attempt by a radical minority to hijack the culture while simultaneously (and without any irony) inviting the state government to intrude on the relationships between educators and parents with the kids they care for. It’s censorship, plain and simple. Photo by Janko Ferlič on Unsplash
Freedom of thought and speech are two of our most important rights. Freedoms which have—throughout history—scared small men.
If you thought book bans were limited to our public schools, that might soon change. There’s a three-way attack on librarians underway in the Georgia Senate that would censor legal speech, harm our kids’ intellectual and empathic development, drive away good educators, and ultimately spill over into the public library system.
CRIMINALIZING BOOKS
Greg Dolezal’s (R-27) SB 154 will make the “distribution of harmful materials” by public school librarians a misdemeanor. This vaguely-defined rule is typically applied only to LGBTQ materials and certain histories, not the wider universe of books with “obscene” content like Catcher in the Rye or even the Bible.
FORCING REPORTING
Dolezal’s SB 365 will require public school librarians to report any and all titles a student obtains, effectively removing one our kids’ most important safe spaces for intellectual exploration and self-discovery.
UNDERMINING THE PROFESSION & REPLACING QUALIFIED LIBRARIANS
Larry Walker’s (R-20) SB 390 will ban the state or any state agency (schools, universities, etc) from using public or private funds to purchase materials, services, or operations by the American Library Association (ALA). This bill is especially insidious because ALA certification is currently required to work in our public libraries. Thus, not only would this bill hurt current professional librarians but it would open the door to unqualified individuals taking over the administration of our public libraries, stretching the radical Republican war on free speech out of the public schools and into all our libraries.
All of these censorship bills are sponsored by our opponent. But these bills cleared have only cleared their first reading and are in committee, so we have plenty of time to voice our concerns to our senators.
And these small men have time to read a book.
Tuesday, February 13, 2024:
“Don’t Say Gay” comes to Georgia.
Georgia is experiencing a surge in anti-LGBTQ+ bills during this legislative session aimed at removing queer people from public life. LGBTQ+ Georgians deserve to access health care, a full education, economic opportunity and their First Amendment rights to expression and association. In response, the Human Rights Campaign is holding a “Pride to the Capitol” event on Tuesday, February 27 to make our voices heard. Photo by Alexander Grey on Unsplash
Tuesday marked the half-way point in Georgia’s short legislative session—and a new low.
The Georgia Senate Committee on Education and Youth discussed SB 88—the so-called “Parents and Children Protection Act of 2023”—advocating for the forced outing of transgender youth to their parents and restricting LGBTQ+ topics in schools. The bill, introduced with little time for review, would require schools (public and private) to develop policies for outing transgender students and make parents opt into gender-related education or face financial and athletic penalties.
And if that wasn’t bad enough (it is), only those opposing the bill were allowed to speak at the hearing. Carden Summers (R-13), the bill's sponsor, first give the floor to Jeff Cleghorn, an anti-trans activist who calls transgender people “mentally ill sex fetishists.” Following an incendiary speech in which Cleghorn advocated for separating transgender individuals from the LGBTQ+ community, committee Republicans also heard from a former president of the Young Republicans, a representative from Gays Against Groomers, and a representative from the Georgia Log Cabin Republicans.
Then they ended the debate, preventing dozens of attendees opposed to the bill from speaking. Donzella James (D-35) asked how many people in attendance had come to testify against the bill—hands shot up across the room.
Elana Parent (D-42) summed up the situation:
It’s fundamentally unfair to allow no testimony. It’s another thing to allow testimony from only one side. That’s [a] black eye on moving ahead on this when there are this many people here.
Despite objections, the bill passed 6-3 on a party-line vote. It will likely proceed to the full Senate for consideration.
SB 88 is one of ten anti-trans bills proposed in Georgia this year. Others include ending legal recognition for transgender people, banning drag in public, banning LGBTQ+ books, and baring transgender people from using restrooms that correspond to their gender identity.
Wednesday, February 14, 2024:
I’m Just a bill under the Gold Dome.
See, bills are cute and stuff when they’re not a gross overreach into our private lives. Illustration by mighty corps studio, inspired by School House Rock.
With the legislative session halfway, let’s slow down and take a look at how a bill moves through the Senate so we can better follow the action.
CREATING A BILL
When there’s a need for new legislation (or changes to existing law), our Senators, legal experts, specialists, lobbyists, and staff research the issue and draft a bill that solves the problem while adhering to state and Federal law. Typically, this phase happens behind closed doors with limited public input.FIRST READING
A Senate sponsor introduces the new bill during a floor session. The Senate president then assigns the bill to a committee.COMMITTEE
The public often sees a bill for the first time when its reviewed, debated, and often amended in committee. It may be reviewed more than once and the public may speak for or against it (if allowed). But if the committee approves the bill, they’ll send it back to the floor with a “favorable report.”RULES
A bill that survives its committee and Second Reading arrives at the Rules Committee. In a given day, this committee may hear a dozen bills but each member chooses only one to move on for a floor vote.FLOOR VOTE
This is what we usually see on the news. During this “Third Reading,” Senators discuss, debate, engross, or amend a bill before voting for or against it.OFF TO THE HOUSE
Approved Senate Bills head over to the state House and repeat this process.CONFERENCE COMMITTEES
If the House and the Senate pass different versions of a bill, a conference committee reconciles the differences.THE GOVERNOR
Assuming a bill passes both chambers, it goes to governor for signature or veto (or, if he does nothing in 40 days, it becomes law automatically).
Thursday, February 15, 2024:
Cornbread is not a priority. Sorry (not sorry).
Cornbread may not be the best use of legislative time, but it sure is good. If you’re looking for a killer cornbread recipe but you’ve got a gluten allergy (like me!) or are celiac, try this recipe from glutenfreebaking.com.
I can’t believe I have to say this, but cornbread isn’t the most important thing in the Georgia state Senate.
I’m all for symbolic resolutions and bills. Lifelong Georgia Colonels, purebred dog days, themed license plates—these are celebrations of what we value and love about our state. But before the Economic Development and Tourism committee debates the merits of HB 1048—designating cornbread as the official state bread—perhaps they should finish the important business the people of Georgia need from their legislators.
You know, things like (according to the AJC’s recent polling):
The cost of living—including rents
Public safety (I mean, who’s even running that committee?)
Education (always)
Keeping public money in the public schools—not vouchers (important to 2/3 of Georgians)
Expanding Medicaid (69% of Georgians support it)
Offering voter-backed ballot referenda (80% of us are down)
Restoring women’s reproductive rights (44% support this)
And not things like:
Banning books
Stripping rights from law-abiding LGBTQ people
Perpetuating Trump’s lies (and mucking up our election system in the process)
This criticsm isn’t to say all the Senate business this session is trivial. Not at all! Look what our senate actually got done Thursday:
Chuck Hufstetler’s (R-52) SB 349, limiting residential property tax increases to 3% annually passed a floor vote (it’s good for metro homeowners, potentially not so much for rural school systems).
Greg Dolezal’s (R-27) SB 430, removing the requirement for business and health facilities to display Covid-19 warnings passed a floor vote.
Bill Hickman’s (R-4) SB 470, creating a study committee to preserve our dwindling farmland passed a floor vote.
Bill Cowserts (R-46) SR 579, a constitutional amendment to authorize sports betting for the benefit of Georgia’s HOPE Scholarship and pre-K programs, passed out of committee.
It’s merely to say, we should expect better. And maybe—just maybe—we can save the nice-to-have bills for after we accomplish the need-to-haves.
Friday, February 16, 2024:
Georgia adds another brick to the wall.
In 2019, American artists Ronald Rael and Virginia San Fratello (Rael San Fratello) and Mexican artist Omar Rios (Colectivo Chopeke) collaborated to add pink teeter-totters to a section of the border wall near El Paso. Sadly, this isn’t the kind of engineering Kemp has planned in support of Operation Lone Star.
In a blink-and-you-miss it move this past Monday, our state Senate voted 31-15 for SR 543, a grievance-filled resolution authorizing Governor Kemp to send Georgia National Guard troops to Texas to assist in curbing the illegal-immigrant invasion at the southern border (29 guard members have been deployed to Texas since 2019 performing missions that include aerial surveillance).
If you thought this was anything but symbolic, costly, and wasteful election-year messaging exercise, consider:
The Resolution mostly whines about canceling Trumps much-ballyhooed border wall and assumes all immigrants crossing the border are fentanyl-carrying criminals (even though data shows fentanyl mostly comes in through nearby ports of entry)
Civilians cannot, by definition, “invade” anything.
Senate Majority Leader Steve Gooch (R-51) said, “We’re not going to pass a bill today that is going to move the needle in a large way. What we are going to do today is take a position on this issue.”
Kemp is only sending 15-20 additional guardsmen. To build a forward command center.
Also, please consider:
We’re only the second state to send troops to Texas, the first being Florida. Any time we follow Florida’s lead in a concern.
Just last week, Senate Republicans in Washington killed a sweeping bipartisan immigration deal (four months in the making!)
So, to sum up: IT’S A CRISIS! WE BETTER SEND 20 ENGINEERS!
I don’t want to descend into a debate on Federal Immigration policy—Georgia doesn’t set those rules and it’s not our job to enforce it. Nor even Texas’ willful disobedience in the face of a very clear Supreme Court ruling ordering them to cooperate with The Department of Homeland Security.
But I will remind: Federal courts and the Founding Fathers are very clear that immigrants don’t constitute an invasion. And that the last time we joined forces with Texas against Washington, it didn’t go great. They even made a movie about it.
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
