It’s been a busy week at the Capitol as we prepare for Crossover Day next Thursday. Crossover Day is the last day a bill must pass either the House or the Senate to stay alive for the Session (with a few exceptions, of course). Even with this past Tuesday being a committee workday only, we’ve been voting on a lot of bills–both good and bad. All of the bills that have passed the House now go on to the Senate.
Votes This Week
Updating Our Systems
HB 34: This bill required the Secretary of State to institute a unified system to track the completion of continuing education credits for professionals whose licenses must be renewed by state boards. It will ensure that professional licensing boards are only renewing the licenses of those who are up to date with their continuing education requirements. I voted yes on this bill and it passed.
HB 423: This bill provides for Next Generation 9-1-1 systems and services, and requires all new 9-1-1 systems to conform to wireless enhanced 9-1-1 standards. The bill revises the duties and responsibilities of the Georgia Emergency Communications Authority and adds members to the board of directors. I voted yes and the bill passed.
Protecting Against Fraud
HB 108: This bill prohibits anyone from charging fees for referring veterans to benefit assistance services and limits compensation for assisting with benefit claims. It requires written agreements for paid services, bans upfront fees, and caps fees at five times the monthly benefit increase received. It will help protect veterans from those attempting to take advantage of them. I voted yes on this bill and it passed.
HB 240: The bill prohibits mortgage lenders from using unfair or deceptive practices to try to solicit a consumer who has applied for a loan with another mortgage lender or broker. These practices include pretending to be the lender the customer initially applied with, knowingly giving misleading information, and contacting people on do-not-call lists. I voted yes on this bill and it passed.
Supporting Students and Children
HB 136: This bill provides tax credits for donations to organizations that support youth who have just aged out of foster care. We all know children still need support after age 18. Foster children who turn 18 often find themselves without a safety net or support for things like applying to college, getting a loan, or securing insurance. This bill seeks to encourage more of these organizations who can serve youth who age out of foster care. Too many foster children wind up homeless or incarcerated. This bill aims to curb that trend. I voted yes and this bill passed.
HB 172: This bill expands student loan forgiveness for veterinarians serving rural communities. It extends these benefits to those who graduated from veterinary school within the past decade, and will help address the shortage of veterinary specialists in rural Georgia. I voted yes on this bill and it passed.
HB 307: This bill amends the Georgia Early Literacy and Dyslexia Act to include provisions for students significantly at risk of not achieving grade level reading proficiency or with characteristics of dyslexia to align instruction with the science of reading principals. It creates the Georgia Literacy Coach Coordination Council, which will support coordination of state literacy efforts to ensure training is standardized across the state. I voted yes on this bill and it passed.
HB 253: This bill is known as Ethan’s Law. It would prohibit courts from ordering children to be sent to out-of-state “family reunification” programs that forbid them from speaking to a custodian parent. It’s named after a child named Ethan, who spoke about his traumatic experience being forced into one of these programs against his will. Children should not be taken from their parents or homes to be with a parent they do not feel safe with. I was proud to vote yes and this bill passed. See my remarks in support of this bill below.
The Majority’s Insistence that We Codify Hate
HB 267: The Riley Gaines Act. While this bill claims to protect girls’ sports, what it truly does is use vulnerable children as political pawns in an effort keep focus on a culture war instead of real issues. This bill bans trans and nonbinary children from playing sports other than with the gender on their birth certificates, limits where they can use the restroom, and provides a cause of action for a lawsuit against schools for students or parents who feel the rules are not followed on team placement or bathroom use.
As a former female student athlete who is now raising a female student athlete, I want to protect girls in sports as much as anyone. But this bill does not do that, nor is any bill needed to do so. The NCAA and the Georgia High School Association already have rules that prohibit students from playing sports in high school or college on teams that do not match their birth certificate genders.
While I voted against this bill, it did pass. See my comments about in the AJC and listen to my parliamentary inquiry on this bill in the video below.
Expanding Access to Healthcare
HB 94: This bill mandates that insurance companies cover for fertility treatments for those battling a variety of diseases that are known to have adverse fertility impacts. I voted yes on this bill and it passed.
HB 124: This requires health insurance coverage for PANS/PANDAS – two pediatric disorders. Families deserve to be able to get the proper healthcare for their children, and this bill will help relieve their financial burden as they seek treatment. I voted yes and it passed.
HB 182: This bill prohibits life insurance companies from restricting or excluding liability for policies covering active-duty service members. This will help fulfill our promise to care for those serving our country. I voted yes on this bill and it passed.
HB 227: This bill is known as the Putting Georgia Patients First Act. It expands access to medical cannabis, educating the public about it, and adding to the list of medical conditions that may be treated with medical cannabis. I voted yes on this bill and it passed.
HB 329: This bill allows nurse practitioners and physician assistants to perform artificial inseminations. I voted yes and it passed.
HB 352: This bill adds Medicaid coverage for continuous glucose monitors for individuals with gestational diabetes. This will help improve the health of mothers and prevent diabetes in their children. I voted yes and this bill passed.
HB 373: This was my officemate Rep. Lydia Glaze’s first bill! It requires insurance coverage for annual prostate cancer screenings for men at high risk. Early detection saves lives, and I was proud to vote yes and to see this bill pass the House.
HB 422: This bill mandates that health insurance options for state employees include high deductible plans, and outlines ways for state employees to save on these plans. I voted yes and this bill passed.
HB 428: Since the overturning of Roe v. Wade, one of the many fears we have faced is that the right to IVF will be threatened. This week, we voted to codify the right to IVF in the state of Georgia. I voted yes on this bill and it passed.
Acknowledging the Sins of Our Past
HB 303: Known as the Original 33 Memorial Act. This bill commemorates the 33 African Americans who were elected to the State Legislature in 1868. They were expelled from the legislature shortly thereafter. Many of these courageous members were later jailed or lynched. This bill will create a monument for them at the Capitol. I voted yes on this bill and it passed.
Cornbread, Brunswick Stew, and Native Plants, Oh My!
HB 14: Designates cornbread as the official state bread! I voted yes on this bill and it passed. Bonus, we got to taste some cornbread this bill’s sponsor brought in. Yum.
HB 233: Designates Brunswick Stew as the official state stew. I hope we get a sampling of Brunswick Stew soon, but regardless, I voted yes and it passed.
HB 444: Designates April as Georgia Native Plant Month. I voted yes and this bill passed.
HB 76 Hearing
I introduced HB 76 and the bill was heard in the Transportation Committee this Thursday. Thanks to the neighborhood advocates who came to testify and have supported this effort, especially Tom Boller. This bill mandates that all significant transportation projects must have a public hearing. Currently, projects being done by private companies through the Georgia Department of Transportation do not have to be shared with the public prior to construction. This bill guarantees people the right to know what is happening in their neighborhood and to make their voices heard. See my comments on this bill as well as witness testimony in favor of it below. While I do not expect this bill to move further, I have been assured by the Transportation Committee Chair that GDOT is being asked to draw up specific rules to ensure this never happens again. Once that rule is drafted and adopted, we will determine if any changes in state law are necessary.
Compensation Resolutions Get a Hearing
Did you know that Georgia is one of the few states that does not require compensation to the victims of wrongful convictions? I sponsored House Resolutions 118 and 119 to provide some justice for Michael Woolfolk and Mario Stinchcomb, two men who spent 18 years in prison for a crime they did not commit and for which they’ve been exonerated. I presented these resolutions before the General Government Appropriations Subcommittee this week, where they passed. They will go before the full Appropriations Committee next week. If this sounds familiar to you, it’s because I sponsored these exact resolutions last year, but they never made it through the Senate. I’m proud that we are a step closer to righting the wrongs against these two gentlemen, and I’m hopeful that these resolutions will go all the way this Session. See my comments in committee on these resolutions below.
Tort Reform Update
This week, SB 68, one of the Governor’s Tort Reform bills, arrived in the House. While we expected it to be assigned to the House Judiciary Committee, as it was in the Senate, it was instead assigned to the Rules Committee. I have been assigned to the special Rules Subcommittee that was formed to hear the tort reform bills. See some of the clips from our first contentious hearing below. Our next hearing will be on Wednesday at 10 am.
Election Bills on the Move
While we are busy voting on bills on the floor of the House, we are also hearing proposed bills in committee before they get there. In the Rules committee this week, we heard HB 397, which would allow municipalities to eliminate a day of Saturday voting. As you can see in the video below, I asked the bill’s sponsor about the potential inequalities this could create. I also asked why we aren’t allowing municipalities to adopt ranked choice voting if our goal is to allow local officials to control and lower costs for their elections.
Fighting Against Slumlords
This week, the Judiciary Committee had a hearing on HB 183. This bill would change how extended stay hotels and motels treat those who stay in them for long periods of time, stating there is no landlord-tenant relationship between the businesses and these people, and allowing these businesses to use the police to remove them with little notice. I’m worried that this allows businesses to mistreat people while passing the risk they take with their own business models onto the state and our police officers. This bill has been tabled – for now. Read the AJC’s coverage of my questioning of the sponsor of this bill.
Save the Date: March 12 Town Hall
Crossover Day is next week! Sen. Sonya Halpern and I will be talking all about it next week at our Town Hall on March 12 at 7pm. Register to join us at this link: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/SkgLYjUAQHadGDN3mnGf_g
Friends Keep Friends Informed
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Thank you for allowing me to continue to serve you,
