by Ty Tagami | Apr 2, 2025 | Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA – Georgia’s Senate Republicans passed multiple changes to state election law Wednesday after rushing amendments into a bill from the House of Representatives.
The overhauled House Bill 397 would remove the State Election Board from oversight by the elected secretary of state, giving the board custody of investigative reports and communications between the secretary and local election superintendents.
The Senate passed the bill 33-23, voting along party lines.
The 22-page bill would also prohibit dropping off absentee ballots after the advance voting period, which Democrats said would suppress voter turnout.
“We want segregation now, segregation tomorrow and segregation forever,” said Sen. Randal Mangham, D-Stone Mountain.
Republicans countered that the measure was needed to further secure elections, noting the large turnout last year.
“This protects the integrity of our elections,” said Sen. Max Burns, R-Sylvania.
Fellow Republican Sen. Rick Williams of Milledgeville said the measure was necessary to prevent “popup” voting sites like he said had occurred in Cobb County.
The measure has many other provisions, such as changing where poll watchers have access on election night, amending the timing for special elections and withdrawing the state from a multistate partnership that helps maintain voter list accuracy.
This all prompted Sen. Jason Esteves, D-Atlanta, to call it a “Frankenstein whack-a-mole” bill.
Because HB 397 was amended by the Senate, it must return to the House for final passage.
by Ty Tagami | Apr 2, 2025 | Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA – The families of teachers killed in mass shootings and other violent acts at school would get double the money under legislation that has passed both chambers of the Georgia General Assembly but still awaits final approval after some changes.
House Bill 105 passed the state Senate unanimously on Wednesday after unanimous passage by the Georgia House of Representatives. However, an amendment by the Senate means it must return to the House for final approval.
The bill seeks to double to $150,000 the compensation to loved ones when teachers and other public school employees are killed “in the line of duty.”
This would put indemnification for teachers in parity with that of police officers killed on the job.
It’s an acknowledgement of the growing risk of violence in schools.
“This is in response to the tragedy at Apalachee High School,” said Sen. Bo Hatchett, R-Cornelia, who presented the bill on the Senate floor.
Two teachers and two students were killed in the mass shooting at Apalachee High last September, with nine others injured.
The amendment that needs House approval adds a requirement that the State Board of Workers’ Compensation inform injured police officers when they are eligible to apply to a fund that covers the difference between full pay and workers compensation while recovering.
Workers’ comp covers two-thirds of their pay, said Sen. Brian Strickland, R-McDonough. He said Gov. Brian Kemp agreed to the amendment to HB 105, which Strickland characterized as one of the governor’s bills.
by Dave Williams | Apr 2, 2025 | Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA – A leading safety technology solutions company will invest about $10 million in a new manufacturing plant in Smyrna, Gov. Brian Kemp announced Wednesday.
Georgia-based Flock Safety’s new facility will create 210 jobs during the next three years.
“In Georgia, we foster a business environment where innovative companies can get off the ground and grow into leaders in their industry while operating in safe communities,” Kemp said. “Flock Safety is a great example of the success that approach has created, and we’re proud to celebrate this milestone with them.”
Flock Safety was founded in Georgia in 2017 and currently supports more than 250 jobs in the state. More than 300 law enforcement agencies and 100 businesses in Georgia have deployed Flock Safety’s technology to reduce crime.
The company launched its Drone as First Responder system last year upon acquiring Aerodome, a leader in rapid response drones for public safety.
“We feel fortunate to have our roots in Georgia, the state that is undisputedly the leader in the American aerospace industry, and are proud to invest further by creating hundreds of advanced manufacturing and aviation jobs locally,” said Garrett Langley, Flock Safety’s founder and CEO. “Drone as First Responder technology stands to transform emergency response, and these made-in-America … drones will have a transformative impact on the local communities we aim to serve.”
The company has begun hiring for jobs at the new plant and expects to begin full operations in 2027. Interested individuals can learn more about working at Flock Safety and apply at www.flocksafety.com/careers.
The Georgia Department of Economic Development’s Global Commerce team worked on the project in partnership with the city of Smyrna, the Cobb County Economic Development office, the Metro Atlanta Chamber, Georgia Power, and SelectCobb, a public-private partnership for economic development.
by Ty Tagami | Apr 1, 2025 | Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA – Proponents of religious freedom gathered in the Georgia Capitol Tuesday to pressure the state House of Representatives to vote on a measure that would limit government intrusion into actions based on religious beliefs.
Opponents say religious rights are not under attack and that Senate Bill 36 would make it legal to discriminate against people under the banner of faith.
Proponents say religious freedom has been seriously infringed in other states and could be a problem in the future in Georgia. They have cited two cases in this state — one involving a student who wanted to hand out religious literature on a college campus and another involving a college counselor who was disciplined for asserting that her religious rights were compromised by having to advise LGBTQ students.
The Senate passed SB 36 along party lines in March. A committee of the House of Representatives then passed it, over the opposition of Democrats and one Republican.
The legislation has not come up for a vote on the floor of the House, and the 2025 legislative session ends Friday.
“It’s time to move, now,” W. Thomas Hammond, Jr., executive director of the Georgia Baptist Mission Board, said Tuesday, with supporters arrayed behind him on the marble steps of the state Capitol.
The bill is being sponsored by Sen. Ed Setzler, R-Acworth, who said Georgia should join 39 other states with a Religious Freedom Restoration Act.
“We’re the only Republican-led state in the nation that does not have this protection,” Setzler said after Hammond spoke.
Critics of SB 36, including fellow Republican Rep. Deborah Silcox from Sandy Springs, have noted that Georgia is one of a few states lacking a comprehensive civil rights law that protects against discrimination in public spaces, workplaces or housing.
The federal Civil Rights Act prohibits discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex or national origin. Many states have expanded civil rights protections to also prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation, gender identity or both.
Eighteen cities and counties in Georgia have non-discrimination ordinances. Silcox and Democrats said SB 36 would pre-empt such local laws, and they pushed for language in Setzler’s bill they said would counterbalance religious interest.
Setzler opposed the amendment, saying SB 36 would not override local non-discrimination ordinances and that establishing a statewide non-discrimination law was a separate policy discussion.
Setzler explained Tuesday that he also opposed the amendment because the non-discrimination language was a “Trojan horse” that would “exempt” the religious protections in SB 36. If someone were to raise a non-discrimination claim, he said, the religious freedom protections wouldn’t apply if Silcox’s language had been added.
SB 36 seeks to prohibit government intrusion into the exercise of religion except in cases involving a “compelling government interest.”
Silcox’s amendment would have added that the government’s interest includes “protecting persons against discrimination on any ground prohibited by federal, state or local law.”
On Tuesday, Rep. Stacey Evans, D-Atlanta, refuted Setzler’s assertion. In an interview after he spoke, Evans, who had voted for the Silcox amendment, said religious freedom protections can co-exist with protections against discrimination against LGBTQ+ people.
“If Senator Setzler was not interested in using this RFRA bill to discriminate against Georgians,” she said, “he would have no problem with an anti-discrimination amendment to the bill.”
At this point, it is up to the House Rules Committee to decide whether to put SB 36 to a vote of the whole House. Should the committee withhold the bill when the House gavels to order on Wednesday and Friday, it would remain in play when lawmakers return next year, but it would be sidelined for the remainder of this year.
Asked for comment about the pressure campaign to bring SB 36 to a vote, a spokesperson for House Speaker Jon Burns, a Republican from Newington, texted this statement:
“There are several issues that the House will consider over the next two legislative days, and as always, we’ll focus on prioritizing policies that matter most to our fellow Georgians.”
by Dave Williams | Apr 1, 2025 | Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA – Republican-backed legislation denying coverage of gender-affirming health care though the State Health Benefit Plan (SHBP) advanced in the Georgia House of Representatives Tuesday.
The House Health Committee approved a bill that originated in the state Senate and passed that legislative chamber in February.
The House panel added a provision to Senate Bill 39 that would extend the denial of coverage beyond employees of state agencies, public schools, the University System of Georgia and the Technical College System of Georgia to also apply to state prison inmates.
The legislation defines gender-affirming care to include hormone therapy and sex reassignment surgery. It would also ban state-owned health-care facilities and physicians who work for the state from providing such care.
“There’s many places within health insurance where certain surgeries or procedures aren’t covered,” Rep. Brent Cox, R-Dawsonville, who is carrying the bill in the House, told committee members Tuesday. “Certain things we have to pay for out of our own pocket. … This is to be responsible with the funds we have.”
Legislative Democrats have argued the bill is part of a broader Republican agenda attacking Georgia’s transgender community for political gain.
Democrats on the committee pointed to a series of lawsuits over coverage of gender-affirming care for state employees the state has lost or settled going back to 2015. Plaintiffs have successfully challenged those denials as a violation of the U.S. Constitution’s equal-protection clause.
“These types of laws have been overturned by the judicial branch in multiple states,” said Rep. Jasmine Clark, D-Lilburn. “How are we saving money for the state if we’re having to spend more money in litigation?”
Rep. Trey Kelley, R-Cedartown, said the state has lost those lawsuits because there’s no state law on the books addressing the issue.
“This will correct that problem and help avoid litigation,” he said.
Dr. Cassie Ackerley of Atlanta objected to the provision extending the bill to prison inmates. She said inmates who in some cases have been receiving hormone therapy for years would be suddenly cut off.
“You’re forcing a person to de-transition while incarcerated,” she said. “That’s cruel and egregious.”
Republicans on the committee defeated an amendment Clark proposed to allow Georgians already enrolled in the SHBP to continue receiving coverage for gender-affirming care, then passed the underlying bill along party lines.
The legislation heads next to the House Rules Committee to schedule a floor vote on one of the final two days remaining in this year’s General Assembly session.
