State Senate session report: Crossover Week.
Monday, February 26, 2024:
To vote, or not to vote.
A stack of stickers sits atop the ballot scanner during the mid-term election on Tuesday, Nov. 8, 2022 at Lawrenceville Road United Methodist Church in Tucker, Ga. Photo by WWNO.
With just a few days left before Crossover Day (on Leap Day, Thursday February 29) let’s keep an eye out for bills that might slip through at the last … such as Max Burns’ (R-23) SB 221, eliminating automatic voter registration for eligible Georgians when they get their driver’s licenses—the primary method for ensuring accurate voter lists.
Do you remember how you registered to vote in Georgia? Was it at the DMV, when you moved and needed to get a new (or your first!) driver’s license? That’s likely. Since 2016, Georgia has enjoyed automatic voter registration and it’s one of many factors credited with our higher-than-average voter registration numbers—especially among Black voters.
Ethics Chairman Max Burns argues he’s concerned automatic voter registration could result in voters being signed up twice. Officials from the Secretary of State’s office, on the other hand, report the current policy ensures voters’ addresses are updated when they move. It also prevents noncitizens from registering.
Republicans on the Senate Ethics Committee advanced SB 221 with a 6-5 vote, along party lines. If the bill passes into law, eligible Georgians will be required to make a conscious decision to register (e.g., we will have to opt-in instead of having to opt-out).
Supporters pushed the legislation in a hearing that included testimony from Brad Carver, one of the 16 Republicans fake electors who attempted to betray our state’s electorate to Donald Trump after he lost the 2020 election. The bill would also make it easier for residents to challenge the eligibility of fellow voters.
Critics argue the bill undermines the goal of clean voter rolls and risks driving the number of registered voters down—both bad news for representative democracy.
SB 221 is just one of many election-related bills pushed by Republicans t this session, seemingly in response to Trump's 2020 loss. It could be up for a vote in the Senate this week.
About half the committee meetings today were cancelled, today. Perhaps that will slow this ugly bill’s roll toward Crossover.
Tuesday, February 27, 2024:
Sports betting on the ballot‽
Bill Cowsert (R-46) speaks about SR 579 at the Senate in the Capitol in Atlanta, on Tuesday. Cowsert sponsored the resolution, which passed. Photo by Arvin Temkar/Atlanta Journal-Constitution via AP.
We’re one step closer to sports betting! Yay?!
Tuesday—as part of a marathon five-hour floor session—our state Senate voted 41-12 in favor of SR 579, proposing an amendment to our constitution that would allow betting on professional and college sports, structured similarly to the amendment authorizing the Georgia Lottery.
Under the proposed amendment, 80% of taxes from sports betting would be directed to pre-K programs and—once those are funded—Hope scholarships. 15% of proceeds would aid people with gambling addictions while 5% would be earmarked to recruit major sports events.
There’s been a lot of the debate about how to best legalize sports betting in Georgia. Over recent years—and even during in this session—some advocates have sought to legalize sports gambling as part of the state’s existing lottery program. Bill Cowsert (R-46), one of the resolutions sponsors, has argued voters couldn’t have foreseen sports betting when they approved the lottery back in 1992 and that the most reasonable approach is for voters to consider a new amendment.
Critics, however, warn sports betting is a ruinous and addictive form of gambling. Marty Harbin (R-16) even suggested, voters don’t have enough “knowledge and information” to make an informed decision. Meanwhile Carden Summers (R-13) argued voters should have the chance to remove all prohibitions on gambling, clearing the way for casinos.
A previous bill, SB 386, set up the structure for sports betting on the assumption this amendment would pass the legislature and, eventually, the electorate.
In recent years, Senate Democrats voted with morally-opposed Republicans to block similar legislation. This time, Senate Minority Gloria Butler (D-55) said her party agreed to go along with the resolution because it prioritizes pre-K.
Sports betting still has a long way to go. While the Senate approved the measure ahead of Crossover Day, it still needs to garner two-thirds approval in the state House before it going to the ballot for public approval in November.
NOTE: In response to a number of questions on social media, I should clarify, this resolution and bill do not specifically address animal sports such as horse racing (which is already legal, nationally) and all sports betting addressed by this bill would be online, only.
Wednesday, February 28, 2024:
The tragedy in Athens comes to the Gold Dome.
Hundreds of students and faculty members gathered Monday afternoon for a vigil honoring 22-year-old nursing student Laken Hope Riley. Photo by UGA.
We’ve spent eight weeks following a variety of bills through the state Senate, but let’s pivot to the House and consider a bill we’re likely to see hurried through a vote on Thursday—Crossover Day.
You’ve likely seen the terrible news about 22-year-old nursing student Laken Hope Riley, murdered last week on the UGA campus in Athens. The man charged with her murder is a Venezuelan man in the United States illegally.
In response to Riley’s murder and a call for action by the Governor, our state House accelerated the progress of HB 1105, requiring local law-enforcement to enforce immigration law and penalizing officers and department who don’t cooperate with immigration authorities when detaining non-citizens. The bill first entered to the House at the end of January and appeared stalled until this recent tragedy propelled it through committee on Tuesday.
Athens-Clarke County is not a sanctuary city—state law prohibits the practice and has for over 15 years. But jurisdictions retain a wide latitude regarding how they cooperate with Immigration & Customs Enforcement (ICE). For instance, Athens-Clarke County officials typically only arrent people charged with entering the county illegally in response to signed warrants, not simply because of their immigration status.
HB 1105 removes most of that latitude, offers officers immunity from damages and liability incurred while complying with ICE, and threatens departments and officials who don’t cooperate with losing their funding—even moneys that don’t originate with the state.
It should be noted, had this bill been in place before Riley’s murder, the tragedy in Athens might not have been averted. Federal authorities never issued a warrant for the suspect, nor had the suspect been otherwise detained by local law enforcement (he had been issued a citation and a summons). He’d previously been arrested by Federal authorities in 2022 and in New York in 2023, but neither jurisdiction is answerable to Georgia law.
Thursday, February 29, 2024:
Crossover!
Thursday was actually the first time I ever visited the Capitol, to visit House Representative Dar'shun Kendrick’s Tech Demo Day. It’s not half bad—I might stay. 😂 Photo by JD Jordan.
Thursday marked Crossover Day—the 28th day of the legislative session and the self-imposed deadline by which a bill must pass at least one chamber to still have enough time to pass the other chamber before the end of the session.
It was a marathon day, with nearly ten hours of floor session and some 50+ bills under consideration.
WHAT PASSED OUT OF THE SENATE
SB 180, an unnecessary copy of Clinton-era Federal legislation without any pesky state-level civil rights protection or separation of church and state language. Georgia Equality is right to raise a pragmatic alarm.
SB 198, creating a Georgians With Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Innovation Commission.
SB 390, banning public or private funds from being used to purchase materials, services, or operations by the American Library Association. You know, so moralizing authorities can legislate our public libraires like they do our schools.
SB 395, authorizing anyone in a school to possess or administer naloxone, an opioid reversal drug. Sadly, this approval is much needed to keep our kids alive.
SB 407, requiring the documentation of domestic family violence incidents.
SB 420, prohibiting foreign investors from buying farmland or land near military bases—especially if the Department of Commerce considers their nation “adversarial.”
SB 460, doubling the number of RNs and PAs a doctor can supervise, to help rural hospitals.
SB 480, repaying student loans for certain mental health professionals (44-1). See, Republicans can support student loan forgiveness.
SB 507, creating an “America First” license plate. On one hand, this bill is unnecessarily partisan. Even Majority Leader Gooch (R-51) described it as a virtue-signaling on Politically Georgia. On the other hand, MAGA supporters have a right to express their values same as everyone else.
SB 542, allowing a public right to use all navigable streams—but not the surrounding land—for passage on boats and for hunting or fishing.
These bills are all bound for the House—and vice-versa! The session will continue Monday, March 4. Have a great weekend!
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
