ATLANTA – The Georgia Senate passed legislation Monday that would expand free-speech protections for religious and ideological groups, which opponents say could encourage on-campus discrimination.
Senate Bill 318, called the “Forming Open and Robust University Minds Act,” would bar schools from designating so-called “free-speech zones” where student groups can convene outdoors on campus, including for protest events.
Contentiously, the bill would also
prohibit Georgia colleges and universities from denying meeting spaces and
funding for “religious, political or ideological student organizations.”
While not protecting students or groups
that harass other students, the bill would prevent students who do not abide by
a particular group’s belief systems from joining or intentionally disrupting
that group’s activities.
The bill would let groups sue a college
or university for injunctive relief and seek monetary damages of at least
$5,000.
Those provisions aim to keep certain
groups from being diluted and to block Georgia schools from adopting so-called
“all-comer policies,” in which school administrators have greater say in what
activities student organizations can undertake, said the bill’s sponsor, Sen.
William Ligon.
Ligon, R-Brunswick, said his bill aims to
broadly protect free speech on college campuses, including for groups that may
hold beliefs not grounded in fact or reality. Allowing those groups and
ideologies to face debate and challenges to their beliefs is a key part of the
bill, he said.
“I’m not afraid of having more free
speech,” Ligon said. “That’s the great thing about this country and this state,
and we need to encourage that as much as possible.”
An amendment made to the bill Monday
sought to make clear that athletes on college sports teams would still be
subject to team policies on speech and behavior.
The bill passed along party lines by a
32-21 vote. It now heads to the Georgia House of Representatives.
Several Democratic senators objected to
the bill Monday over concerns it could hamstring schools from barring
organizations that promote race, sex and gender discrimination. They worried
the broad speech protections could attract hate-based groups to Georgia college
campuses and risk losing federal funds.
“Our state and public college system has
come way too far to pass a bill that forces taxpayers to subsidize
discrimination,” said Sen. Zahra Karinshak, D-Duluth.
The bill also drew objections from
representatives of the University System of Georgia and the American Civil
Liberties Union in committee hearings ahead of Monday’s vote.
Some opponents questioned whether the
bill is necessary. Colleges and universities can already be held liable in
court for violating free-speech protections under the First Amendment of the
U.S. Constitution, said Brooke Bowen, a senior legal counsel for the University
System.
“We’re committed to making sure that
we’re protecting the First Amendment across all of our campuses,” Bowen said at
a committee hearing late last month. “But we do believe that if we do get it
wrong, there are remedies in federal law for constitutional violations.”
Ligon defended his measure Monday,
arguing that without broader speech protections Georgia schools could silence
certain religious or political organizations on campus, particularly
faith-based groups.
“You effectively silence the voice of
that minority group,” Ligon said. And that’s wrong.”
Coronavirus cases have been confirmed in Georgia. (Image: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)
ATLANTA – The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Georgia climbed over the weekend as state officials await arrival of passengers from a cruise ship where the virus spread who will be quarantined at Dobbins Air Reserve Base in metro Atlanta.
So far, state health officials have
confirmed five people in Georgia tested positive for the respiratory virus,
which quickly spread following outbreaks in China and other countries.
Another six people have tested
presumptive positive for COVID-19 and are awaiting confirmation from the Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention, likely increasing the total count to 11
cases.
Meanwhile, 34 passengers from Georgia and
“additional American citizens” aboard the Grand Princess cruise ship off the
California coast are set to be transferred to the Marietta-based air reserve
base late Monday or early Tuesday, according to Gov. Brian Kemp’s office.
Dozens of passengers on the ship have
tested positive for the virus. In a news release, the governor assured the base
“is equipped to provide high-quality care for Americans in need while keeping
Georgia families safe.”
“We must continue to support one another, trust the advice of the medical community and remain vigilant,” Kemp said.
Kemp’s office also announced Monday state officials are preparing Hard Labor Creek State Park in Morgan County as a quarantine site for people who contract coronavirus. Part of the roughly 5,000-acre park will serve as a site for emergency isolation trailers, seven of which have already been installed.
Georgia joined a growing list of states with confirmed COVID-19 cases earlier this month after a father and his son from Fulton County tested positive for the virus following the father’s trip to Milan, Italy.
The novel strain of coronavirus is thought to spread largely by “respiratory droplets” when someone coughs or sneezes after symptoms are present, according to the CDC. Symptoms appear within 14 days of contraction and include fever, coughing and shortness of breath.
The additional confirmed cases in Georgia come after the state lab received more than 2,500 test kits from the federal government last week. Georgia Public Health Commissioner Dr. Kathleen Toomey said Friday the risk is still low for an outbreak in the state.
But more positive test results are
expected as testing ramps up, Toomey said. She and other officials stress the
need for calm, to avoid panicking and to use common-sense sanitary practices
like washing hands and covering one’s mouth when coughing or sneezing.
Amid news of the growing number of
COVID-19 cases, Georgia Insurance Commissioner John King directed insurance
companies in the state to remove coverage hurdles for testing and treatment of
the virus.
“Now that there have been confirmed cases
of coronavirus in Georgia, it is essential that we are doing everything we can
to remove any potential barriers to care for our Georgia citizens,” King said.
ATLANTA – Budget
writers in the Georgia House of Representatives Monday cut in half the teacher
pay raise Gov. Brian Kemp proposed in January.
Reducing the
salary hike from $2,000 per teacher to $1,000 would allow lawmakers to restore
spending cuts the governor recommended in other areas of his $28.1 billion
fiscal 2021 budget plan, including funding for programs that affect education,
House Appropriations Committee Chairman Terry England said.
“To
teachers, it’s not all about the money,” said England, R-Auburn. “It’s support
services and wraparound services, not only in the classroom but in the
community.”
In keeping
with the $27.4 billion mid-year budget for the current fiscal year now before a
legislative conference committee, the fiscal 2021 spending plan the House
Appropriations Committee approved Monday would restore many of the
across-the-board cuts Kemp is proposing to help offset sluggish state tax
collections.
Last August,
the governor ordered state agencies to reduce spending by 4% this fiscal year
and 6% in fiscal 2021, which begins July 1.
Besides
increasing teacher pay, next year’s budget calls for a 2% pay raise for employees
across state government and targeted increases of 2%, 4% and 5% for workers in
agencies experiencing annual turnover rates of more than 30%.
As is the
case with the mid-year budget, the fiscal 2021 spending plan the committee
approved would restore cuts to the Department of Agriculture Kemp recommended,
including funds to hire five additional food safety inspectors and two animal
inspectors.
The
committee also put back funds to add 44 beds to the Department of Behavioral
Health’s budget for treatment of Georgians with drug addictions and expand
Medicaid coverage to low-income mothers for up to six months after their babies
are born.
Some of the restored
cuts are aimed specifically at the needs of rural Georgia, including funds for
the Georgia Rural Health Innovation Center, the state’s new hemp farming
program and for a new rural psychology residence program at Colquitt Regional
Medical Center in Moultrie.
The House
budget also would fully fund school counselors across the state at the rate of
one counselor for every 450 students, reject cuts the governor recommended to
Georgia’s accountability courts, add two environmental engineers to the state Environmental
Protection Division to monitor the disposal of coal ash and reduce cuts to the
state’s public libraries.
England said
Georgia teachers still would be getting an 11.7% pay increase over two years
despite losing $1,000 from next year’s raise. Kemp and the General Assembly
approved $3,000 increases for teachers in this year’s spending plan.
England said
the House is committed to revisiting teacher pay when it takes up the fiscal
2022 budget next year.
The full
House is due to vote on the fiscal 2021 budget on Tuesday.
ATLANTA – Georgia
Democrats are off to a strong start in their bid to build on the electoral
gains they made in congressional and legislative races two years ago.
But
Republicans say they will have the enthusiasm and resources to retain
majorities in both the General Assembly and the state’s congressional
delegation they have held for most of this century.
As the deadline for candidate qualifying fell at the state Capitol Friday, Democrats had fielded a candidate in all 14 of Georgia’s congressional districts for the first time since 2008. Democrats also were running for about three-fourths of the 236 seats in the state House of Representatives and Senate.
The influx
of candidates angling to unseat Republicans gives Democrats a better shot at
flipping the 16 seats needed to win control of the Georgia House for the first
time since the 2004 election, said state Sen. Nikema Williams, D-Atlanta, who
doubles as the state’s Democratic chair.
“I am very
optimistic about what that means for our prospects in November because we are
laser focused about taking the House back,” she said. “I see that the future of
Georgia is blue.”
But
Democrats face an uphill battle to reclaim a majority in either Georgia’s
congressional delegation or the General Assembly.
Although Democrat
Lucy McBath of Roswell pulled an upset in 2018 by capturing a congressional
seat in Atlanta’s northern suburbs held by Republicans for decades, Republicans
still control the congressional delegation 9-5.
The GOP must
defend three vacant congressional seats this year, but only one of those – the
7th District primarily in Democrat-trending Gwinnett County – is in
serious play.
Meanwhile,
Republicans currently hold a 35-21 majority in the Georgia Senate and 105 of
the 180 House seats.
More than
1,500 Republican candidates signed up to run for federal, state and local office
during the qualifying period compared to just 880 Democrats. Many will be going
up against members of their own party in the May 19 primaries.
“Republicans
are better organized and more enthusiastic than at any time I can remember,”
Georgia Republican Chairman David Shafer said Friday. “We will be campaigning
everywhere to everyone.”
McBath, who
ran former U.S. Rep. Karen Handel out of office two years ago, has drawn five
Republican challengers for the 6th Congressional District seat, including
Handel. The Democrat edged Handel by a razor-thin margin in the 2018 general
election to claim the traditionally Republican district previously held by
influential former Georgia officeholders Newt Gingrich and Tom Price.
Four other
Republicans who Handel bested in the 2018 GOP primary have jumped back into the
race this year including Joe Profit, Blake Harbin, Paulette Smith and Mykel
Lynn Barthelemy.
The
neighboring 7th Congressional District is also poised for a brawling contest following
current seat holder U.S. Rep. Rob Woodall’s decision not to seek re-election.
In 2018, Republican
Woodall won a fourth term to the suburban Atlanta district by less than 500
votes over Democrat Carolyn Bourdeaux, who is making a second run at the seat
this year and already has amassed nearly $1.3 million in campaign
contributions.
Two state senators
and top competitors for the district – Zahra Karinshak, D-Duluth, and Renee
Unterman, R-Buford – have already squared off several times over bills on the
Georgia Senate floor during the legislative session now underway.
Other 7th
District candidates include businessman Mark Gonsalves, businesswoman Lynne
Homrich, physician Dr. Rich McCormick, activist Nabilah Islam and state Rep.
Brenda Lopez Romero.
The 9th
District, which Rep. Doug Collins is vacating to run for the U.S. Senate, has
also drawn a swarm of candidates including a trio of Republican state
lawmakers: Sen. John Wilkinson, R-Toccoa; Rep. Kevin Tanner, R-Dawsonville; and
Rep. Matt Gurtler, R-Tiger. Another Republican hopeful is former U.S. Rep. Paul
Broun, launching a comeback bid after representing Georgia’s 10th
Congressional District from 2007 through 2015.
A fourth
congressional seat up for grabs is the 14th District, held by U.S. Rep. Tom
Graves, who announced late last year that he will not seek re-election. Ten
candidates qualified to run for the Northwest Georgia seat including former
state School Superintendent John Barge, state Rep. Kevin Cooke, R-Carrollton,
and businesswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene.
In a unique
development, both of Georgia’s U.S. Senate seats are up for grabs this year
following the recent retirement of longtime U.S. Sen. Johnny Isakson, who
stepped down due to health issues.
Nearly two
dozen candidates have jumped into the race to challenge Isakson’s successor,
U.S. Sen. Kelly Loeffler, who Gov. Brian Kemp appointed late last year.
It will be
a free-for-all special election set for Nov. 3, with all 21 candidates from
parties of all stripes – Republican, Democratic, Libertarian, Independent and
Green – competing at the same time.
Loeffler’s
campaign has stepped up an advertising war with Collins, a staunch ally of
President Donald Trump who was passed over by Kemp for the Senate appointment.
On the
Democratic side, several prominent candidates qualified for the Senate seat last
week, including the Rev. Raphael Warnock, pastor of Dr. Martin Luther King
Jr.’s congregation at Ebenezer Baptist Church; former U.S. Attorney Ed Tarver
of Augusta; and Matt Lieberman, the son of former U.S. Sen. Joseph Lieberman of
Connecticut.
U.S. Sen.
David Perdue, R-Ga., on the other hand, is seeking re-election through the
normal primary process. Seven Democrats are vying in the May primary for the
nomination to challenge Perdue’s bid for a second six-year term, while the
incumbent drew no GOP opposition during qualifying week.
The Democrats
hoping to take on Perdue include former Columbus Mayor Teresa Tomlinson; Sarah
Riggs Amico, who lost a close statewide race for lieutenant governor in 2018;
and filmmaker Jon Ossoff, who lost a tight and expensive special-election race to
Handel for the 6th Congressional District in 2017.
Charles
Bullock, a political science professor at the University of Georgia, said the
immensely crowded contest for Loeffler’s U.S. Senate seat could help generate a
record turnout in the November election.
“It looks
like a tremendous amount of money will be spent on that seat, including money
coming in from independent groups,” he said. “All that money should capture
people’s interest.”
Democrats
believe they have a good opportunity to capture Loeffler’s Senate seat because
of the unique nature of an election with no May primary.
But Bullock
said the most important contests to Democrats are in the Georgia House, where
capturing a majority would guarantee them a role in redrawing the state’s
congressional and legislative district maps next year based on the 2020 Census.
“That’s why
Democrats are concentrating on controlling the state House,” he said. “If they
actually do that, it gets them a seat at the table.”
But if
Republicans retain control of both legislative chambers, they will be in the
driver’s seat to control district boundaries that will govern Georgia elections
until 2032.
Here is the list of candidates who qualified for 2020
statewide and congressional races in Georgia:
U.S. Senate special election (Nov 3)
Candidate Occupation Party
Doug Collins Attorney Republican
Derrick Grayson Network
engineer Republican
Annette Davis Jackson Businesswoman Republican
Wayne Johnson Business
executive Republican
Kelly Loeffler* Atlanta U.S. senator Republican
Kandiss Taylor Educator Republican
Tamara Johnson-Shealey Advocate Democratic
Deborah Jackson Attorney Democratic
Jamesia James Business
owner/retired Air Force Democratic
Matt Lieberman Attorney Democratic
Joy Felicia Slade Physician Democratic
Ed Tarver Attorney Democratic
Raphael Warnock Pastor Democratic
Richard Dien Winfield Professor Democratic
Brian Slowinski Retired Libertarian
Al Bartell Business
consultant Independent
Allen Buckley Attorney/CPA Independent
Valencia Stovall Business
owner Independent
John Fortuin Property
manager Green
Rod Mack Member,
Hapeville Board of Appeals Write-in
U.S. Senate
Candidate Occupation Party
David Perdue* U.S.
senator Republican
Sarah Riggs Amico Executive
chairperson Democratic
Marckeith DeJesus Health
care professional Democratic
James Knox Retired
Air Force Democratic
Tricia Carpenter McCracken Journalist Democratic
Jon Ossoff Journalist Democratic
Maya Dillard Smith Civil
and human rights lawyer Democratic
ATLANTA – Legislation introduced into the state Senate this week is calling for more sunshine when lawmakers draw new congressional and legislative district maps next year based on the 2020 Census.
Democrats say greater transparency in the
redistricting process would help head off any potential attempts at
gerrymandering by the state’s majority Republican leadership.
In Georgia, the majority party in either
chamber of the legislature has the upper hand in drafting and passing district
maps with redrawn borders. Republicans have enjoyed a majority in both the
180-member House and the 56-member Senate since 2005.
The maps are redrawn every 10 years to
reflect new population counts shortly after each census, the latest of which is
set to begin counting next month. Congressional and state legislative districts
are required to be roughly equal under the Georgia Constitution.
Critics of the redistricting process have
long argued it can allow the map drafters to redraw lines in ways that favor
their party, either to consolidate weak districts or flip others held by the
opposing party.
Senate Bill 491 would require state
lawmakers to hold at least two public meetings to present the proposed new
district maps and explain details of how the boundaries were drawn.
Those maps and explanatory information
would also have to be published on the General Assembly’s website before
redistricting committees in the state House and Senate vote on the maps.
The bill’s sponsor, Sen. Elena Parent,
said at a news conference Friday requiring a more public airing of the maps
before state lawmakers approve them would give Georgia voters a better chance at
bringing pressure to bear on their elected officials if they do not like how
the districts would be revised.
“It’s very important that we have a
meaningful way for citizens all around the state to able to register their
comments and to review the process and the proposed maps,” said Parent,
D-Atlanta.
Her bill is being pushed in the House by Rep. Matthew
Wilson, D-Brookhaven.
Parent said she recently talked to Sen.
Matt Brass, R-Newnan, who chairs the Senate Reapportionment and Redistricting
Committee, about scheduling her bill for a hearing. Lawmakers could still
consider the measure next spring before the redistricting process happens in
summer 2021, she said.
Parent is also sponsoring a resolution
that she filed in last year’s legislative session to create an independent
commission to draft the new maps, rather than lawmakers themselves. That
measure, which would ask voters to approve formal changes to the redistricting
process, has stalled in the Senate.
