ATLANTA – A Georgia House committee unanimously approved a bill Wednesday that would codify a ban on the use of TikTok on state-owned devices.
“This is all about national security,” said Sen. Jason Anavitarte, R-Dallas, the bill’s main sponsor. “This is not a content moderation bill.”
The bill would codify into state law Republican Gov. Brian Kemp’s directive last year prohibiting the use of TikTok, a highly popular video hosting service that runs user-submitted videos, and other similar applications.
TikTok is owned by a Chinese company, Byte Dance, and there is concern that its ties to the Chinese government could expose sensitive state data to a foreign government.
“It only takes one computer and one device to make us vulnerable,” Anavitarte told the state House’s Public Safety and Homeland Security Committee.
“The concern [is] …foreign adversaries having ownership [of social media platforms] and the security concerns on government devices.”
The bill would also apply to similar social media platforms that are directly or indirectly owned by foreign adversaries.
However, it provides exceptions for law-enforcement investigations, cybersecurity research and for other governmental purposes.
If passed, Georgia would join at least 25 other states that have banned TikTok on state-owned devices.
In other social media news, a separate House committee Wednesday approved a proposal to create a study committee focused on social media accountability. The study committee would be tasked with reviewing foreign influence on social media platforms in Georgia, the potential impacts of social media on youth mental health and censorship of speech by social media companies.
This story is available through a news partnership with Capitol Beat News Service, a project of the Georgia Press Educational Foundation.
ATLANTA – The Georgia House of Representatives unanimously approved legislation this week to require the state to assess whether educational requirements for many state jobs are necessary.
The “Reducing Barriers to State Employment” bill also requires the Georgia Department of Administrative Services (DOAS) to “insofar as practicable” reduce the number of jobs for which a four-year college degree is necessary. The state could continue to require college degrees or other certifications for jobs that are deemed to require them.
“As you know, both the private and public sector right now are in a war for talent, and we don’t want to place any artificial barriers in their way,” said Rep. Scott Hilton, R-Peachtree Corners, who sponsored the bill in the House.
“We want to make sure that we’re not requiring a four-year degree, advanced degree or certification that does not apply to the [state] job we’re currently hiring for and lose out on the opportunity to have our best and brightest apply for that job.”
Georgia experienced record-high turnover during the last fiscal year, according to a state workforce report published by the DOAS.
“What good is it to get people in the front door if they just walk right back out of the back door for a job with more competitive pay?,” said Rep. Jasmine Clark, D-Lilburn, during a brief debate on the bill.
Wages for state jobs are not on par with the private sector, which makes it tough to retain state employees, Clark said.
Gov. Brian Kemp has proposed a $2,000 pay raise for most state employees in his fiscal 2024 budget. Law enforcement officers on the state payroll and employees in several agencies with particular high turnover would receive additional $2,000 increases for a total pay hike of $4,000
The bill, which the state Senate passed last month, now moves to Kemp’s desk for his signature.
This story is available through a news partnership with Capitol Beat News Service, a project of the Georgia Press Educational Foundation.
ATLANTA – The state House of Representatives gave final passage Wednesday to legislation aimed at preventing the financial exploitation of Georgia seniors.
The bill, which the Georgia Senate passed last month, authorizes financial advisors to delay transactions involving their elderly or disabled clients if they suspect fraud.
“Georgia has a strong tradition of protecting elders from abuse,” Rep. Carter Barrett, R-Cumming, who carried Senate Bill 84 in the House, told his legislative colleagues during a short discussion before Wednesday’s unanimous vote.
Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger backed the legislation, noting during a news conference in January that financial exploitation of seniors has been on the rise since the pandemic struck three years ago. The Securities Division in the secretary of state’s office processes complaints of financial exploitation.
Senate Finance Committee Chairman Chuck Hufstetler, R-Rome, steered the bill through the Senate, where it also passed unanimously.
The legislation now heads to Gov. Brian Kemp for signing.
Gov. Brian Kemp signs a $1 billion state income tax rebate late Tuesday.
ATLANTA – Gov. Brian Kemp wasted no time signing the $1 billion state income tax rebate the General Assembly passed this week.
The Republican governor put his signature on House Bill 162 late Tuesday, just hours after the Georgia Senate gave the legislation final passage.
“While some in Washington D.C., are calling for tax increases, we’re sending money back to hardworking Georgians,” Kemp said in a prepared statement, referring to the federal budget plan President Joe Biden unveiled last week.
“And while they want to grow government, we’re growing opportunity. Last year, we returned over a billion dollars to the taxpayers of our state, and I’m proud we’re doing it again … to help Georgia families fighting through 40-year-high inflation.”
The tax rebates will go to Georgians who filed state income tax returns for both the 2021 and 2022 tax years. Individual tax filers will receive $250, with heads of households receiving $375 and $500 going to married couples filing jointly.
The state Department of Revenue will begin issuing the tax refunds within six to eight weeks, with the overwhelming majority going out by July 1 for those who file on or before April 18.
Sen. Carden Summers, R-Cordele, listens to arguments for and against the bill he is sponsoring that would ban some gender-affirming care for transgender youths. (Photo credit: Rebecca Grapevine)
ATLANTA – The Republican-controlled state House of Representatives’ Public Health Committee approved a controversial bill Tuesday that would ban some gender-affirming care for transgender Georgia youths.
The bill would prohibit hospitals and doctors from providing hormone-replacement therapy or gender-affirming surgeries to transgender minors. However, It would allow some gender-related treatment for certain medical conditions and let transgender youths take puberty blockers.
The panel also approved an amendment to allow doctors to be held civilly and criminally liable for providing hormone-replacement therapy or gender-affirming surgeries to Georgians under 18 before approving the bill as amended in a 12-10 vote along party lines.
House Democrats argued the bill’s ban on gender-affirming care for under-18s would put Georgia law at odds with the recommendations of several major medical societies, including the American Academy of Pediatrics. The Georgia chapter of the group also opposes the bill.
“Why do you think the judgment of the Georgia state legislature should supersede what the American Academy of Pediatrics has determined to be best practices in caring for gender diverse children?” Rep. Michelle Au, D-Johns Creek, a physician, asked Sen. Carden Summers, R-Cordele, the bill’s sponsor.
“I can’t speak to that,” Summers responded. “Instead of having a surgery…before the age of 18 years old…I want to put a pause there. I don’t think any child should have irreversible surgery. … Our job here is to protect children.”
But others in the standing-room-only hearing pushed back against the claim the bill would protect children, noting that transgender youths are far more likely to think about and attempt suicide than other children.
“These life-saving treatments [are] the reason I am able to speak to you today,” 18-year-old Leonardo Hinnant told the committee, explaining that he began hormone-replacement therapy at age 13 and had a double mastectomy a few years later. “The reality of it is, if this bill passes, transgender kids will die.”
“These decisions are not made with haste, especially for minors,” Hinnant added, explaining that he underwent months of counseling and many doctors’ appointments before finally undergoing surgery.
“This decision is not easy,” committee Chairwoman Sharon Cooper, R-Marietta, said in response to Hinnant’s testimony. “I only wish there was an accompanying bill – if this one should pass – that says that we will always also stand behind transgender people and transgender children and not let you be discriminated against.”
“The fact that the legislature is second guessing well-established standards of care is troubling,” Jeff Graham, executive director of LGBTQ advocacy group Georgia Equality, told Capitol Beat after the standing-room-only hearing.
“All medical professionals and all parents should be extremely concerned about the message this sends — that the legislature knows better than parents working with medical providers to make decisions regarding their children.”
Some on the right – such as Frontline Policy Action, a Christian advocacy group — are opposed to the bill as well, arguing that it does not go far enough and includes too many exceptions.
The bill next moves to the House Rules Committee, where lawmakers will consider whether it should go before the full House for a floor vote. If passed in the House, the state Senate would then vote on the bill again prior to the last day of the legislative session, March 29.
This story is available through a news partnership with Capitol Beat News Service, a project of the Georgia Press Educational Foundation.
