ATLANTA — A new bill would prohibit transgender Georgians under 18 from receiving gender-affirming hormone therapy or surgery.
“The state has a compelling interest to protect all young Georgians from harm,” said Sen. Clint Dixon, R-Gwinnett, the bill’s main sponsor. “Allowing Georgians who cannot legally vote, smoke, or purchase a firearm to make a high-stakes decision with irreparable consequences is dangerous and must be addressed immediately by the Georgia General Assembly.”
The eight-page bill includes a long list of procedures that would be barred, including gender-affirming hormone therapy and surgical procedures.
The legislation includes some exceptions, including for people who are “born with a medically verifiable disorder of sex development” and for the treatment of “a physical disorder … injury … or illness that is certified by a physician.”
A physician who provides any of the services to a person under 18 would be considered to have committed “unprofessional conduct” and would be subject to discipline by their licensing board.
The bill would prevent school employees, including teachers and counselors, from “encourag[ing] or coerc[ing] a minor not to tell their parent or guardian that “the minor’s perception of his or her gender is inconsistent with his or her sex.” It would also prevent school employees themselves from keeping that information from parents.
Medical groups, including the American Academy of Pediatrics, support gender-affirming care for transgender children when the physician and family deem it appropriate.
“There is strong consensus among the most prominent medical organizations worldwide that evidence-based, gender-affirming care for transgender children and adolescents is medically necessary and appropriate,” Dr. Moira Szilagyi, then president of the American Academy of Pediatrics, wrote last year. “It can even be lifesaving.”
The legislation drew immediate criticism.
“Our representatives should not be substituting their judgement for that of parents and families with regard to the most private and intimate of medical decisions,” said Peter Isbister, a leader of the group TransParent, a support organization for the families of transgender youth that represents 80 families from across Georgia.
“If passed, this legislation will cause untold anguish and suffering for our families,” Isbister added, noting families could be forced to leave the state if the bill passes. “It is not good for, and should be rejected by, our beloved state.”
One unintended consequence of the bill could be the prohibition of circumcision, said state Sen. Kim Jackson, D-Stone Mountain. That’s because the bill includes a provision that would prohibit the removal of “any healthy or nondiseased body part or tissue.”
Circumcision is a common practice and is required or strongly encouraged in some religions, including Judaism and Islam.
The state Senate will assign the bill to a committee on Monday.
This story is available through a news partnership with Capitol Beat News Service, a project of the Georgia Press Educational Foundation.
ATLANTA – The Georgia Senate approved legislation Thursday that would require the state to assess whether educational requirements for many state jobs are necessary.
The “Reducing Barriers to State Employment” bill also encourages the Georgia Department of Administrative Services (DOAS) to reduce the number of jobs for which a four-year college degree is necessary.
Sen. John Albers, R-Roswell, sponsored the bill in an effort to address the challenges state agencies are facing in hiring new employees.
“This is an initiative … for us to review all the positions we have in state government to assure that the education, the skills and experience match up with that position we are currently hiring for,” Albers said.
“We want to make sure that we’re not requiring a four-year degree, an advanced degree or a certification that may not apply to that job and lose out the opportunity of having our best and brightest apply for that job. We have many technology jobs in our state that Bill Gates [who was a college dropout] is not qualified for.”
Albers emphasized that the bill simply instructs the DOAS to review the requirements for state employment. The state could continue to require college degrees or other certifications for jobs that are deemed to require them.
The bill passed nearly unanimously with a 49-1 vote. Sen. David Lucas, D-Macon, voted against the bill. Lucas said he is concerned the proposal could lower salaries as well as the quality of state employees.
The bill will now be taken up by the state House of Representatives.
This story is available through a news partnership with Capitol Beat News Service, a project of the Georgia Press Educational Foundation.
Sen. Greg Dolezal, R-Cumming, speaks in support of a bill that would prohibit government agencies from requiring COVID-19 vaccination proof to access government facilities or services.
ATLANTA – The state Senate passed legislation Tuesday that would prohibit government agencies from requiring proof of COVID-19 vaccination to access government facilities or services.
The bill continues a long debate about what role COVID vaccinations should play in public life in Georgia after they first began to be administered in December 2020.
Last year, the General Assembly enacted a measure barring the use of a person’s COVID vaccine status to prevent access to government facilities, services or licenses. The law included an automatic repeal date of June 30, 2023.
The new Senate bill would remove the repeal date, making the provision a permanent part of Georgia law. The bill passed the Republican-controlled chamber by a 31-21 party line vote.
“The fundamental question that this bill addresses … is whether or not the government should deny services to its citizens based on their COVID-19 vaccination status,” said Sen. Greg Dolezal, R-Cumming, the bill’s main sponsor.
“Ultimately, by voting ‘no’ for this [bill], you’re not voting for public health. You’re voting to allow government to deny a license to someone because they don’t have the COVID-19 vaccine.”
Senate Democrats opposed the measure, arguing the bill politicizes what should be a public health matter.
Sen. Nan Orrock, D-Atlanta, said vaccines have driven the decline in the severity of the COVID-19 virus.
“Newsflash: That [decline is] because we developed a vaccine,” Orrock said. “This nation should take public health measures to protect the population from a dread disease.”
“A permanent ban sets a dangerous precedent, which may lead to erosion of vaccine requirements for school attendance,” added Senate Minority Leader Gloria Butler, D-Stone Mountain.
The Georgia chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American College of Physicians oppose the bill, Butler said.
Georgia has had more than 3 million confirmed COVID-19 cases and more than 42,000 deaths, according to the Johns Hopkins University Coronavirus Resource Center. About 58% of the state is fully vaccinated.
The bill now moves to the state House of Representatives.
This story is available through a news partnership with Capitol Beat News Service, a project of the Georgia Press Educational Foundation.
Belkis Teran, mother of Manuel Esteban Paez Teran, describes the slain activist’s love for the environment at a Monday press conference. (Photo credit: Rebecca Grapevine)
ATLANTA – The parents of slain activist Manuel Esteban Paez Teran called on the Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) Monday to provide answers about the events leading up to the activist’s death last month.
Paez Teran – who went by “Tortuguita” – along with other activists was protesting the proposed building of a large police training center in a forest in southern DeKalb County. Groups critical of the police and environmentalists have opposed the building of the Atlanta Public Safety Training Center, or “Cop City,” since 2021 by setting up encampments in the 85-acre forest.
On Jan. 18, a law enforcement “clearing operation” turned violent. A Georgia State Patrol officer was shot and seriously wounded and Paez Teran was shot and killed.
A private autopsy commissioned by the family indicated that 26-year-old Paez Teran was shot at least 12 times by several different firearms, attorney Brian Spears said Monday.
“Multiple officers riddled his body with bullets,” Spears said.
There is no camera footage of the event because none of the officers present were wearing body cameras, GBI spokeswoman Nelly Miles said last month. Bodycam footage of the aftermath does exist.
The attorneys called on the GBI and other law enforcement agencies to release any and all audio and video footage – including drone and helicopter footage – of the events of Jan. 18.
“Manuel is dead. You cannot charge a dead person with a crime,” Spears said. “There is no reason to withhold this information and there is no reason to not be transparent.
“There needs to be an independent and unbiased investigation into the entire circumstances that should focus not only on whatever shooting may have been done by our young deceased, but also by the officers. We’re here today because we need facts.”
“We are not releasing any videos currently because agents are continuing to conduct key interviews and want to maintain the integrity of the investigation,” GBI’s Miles said on Monday.
Once the investigation is complete, the case file will be handed off to a special prosecutor, Miles added. Officer-involved shooting investigations typically take 60 days to 90 days to complete.
The legal team had hand-delivered a letter to the GBI asking a representative to meet with the family but received no response, attorney Jeff Filipovits said.
“When we began our case, we contacted and spoke with Teran’s family,” Miles said. “We intend to follow up with the family as the investigation progresses.”
Paez Terán’s family said the activist was drawn to the Atlanta forest by a long history of environmental activism and love for the natural world.
“We are horrified by all that has happened,” said his mother, Belkis Teran.
Paez Teran graduated with honors from Florida State University and frequently organized beach and park clean-ups and recycling events, she said.
Daniel Paez, brother of the slain activist, said he missed his best friend and issued a fiery denunciation of how law enforcement agencies have handled the matter.
“I don’t see integrity in the police,” Paez said. “Calling protesters only charged with trespassing misdemeanors ‘terrorists’ is not absolute honesty and trustworthiness.”
“My call to action goes to the police officers: Find your moral courage and place your nation over loyalty to individuals,” added Paez, who described how he learned the meaning of integrity while serving in the U.S. Navy.
The GBI has said Paez Teran legally purchased a 9 mm handgun in 2020 and used that gun to shoot the state trooper last month.
However, the family’s lawyers contended that the gun purchase is not conclusive.
“It’s a single fact without context that tells us nothing of the narrative of what happened and how things unfolded on that day,” Filipovits said. “And we’re not in a position to respond further because we have no further information from the GBI.”
The lawyers said other activists who were in the forest at the time are reluctant to come forward with information because they fear repercussions. Other activists at the site have been arrested and charged with domestic terrorism.
DeKalb County District Attorney Sherry Boston recused herself from the investigation last month because her office has been involved in a task force related to the training facility.
A multi-agency law-enforcement task force carried out another clearing operation at the forest on Monday, GBI spokeswoman Miles said. No arrests were made.
This story is available through a news partnership with Capitol Beat News Service, a project of the Georgia Press Educational Foundation.
ATLANTA – A new poll out Friday shows Georgians support using some of the state’s record surplus to improve social services by expanding Medicaid and increasing funding for education.
The Georgia Budget and Policy Institute (GBPI), a left-leaning think tank in Atlanta, commissioned the poll of 1,099 Georgians through the University of Georgia’s School of Public and International Affairs.
The poll found 71.4% of Georgians support full Medicaid expansion. Notably, it showed 56.4% of Republicans and 70% of independents favor full Medicaid expansion, indicating broad bipartisan support for the proposal.
Expanding Medicaid would cover about 500,000 Georgians at a relatively low cost to the state, advocates contend.
However, Republican leaders have said they will not consider full Medicaid expansion during this legislative session. Instead, the state will implement GOP Gov. Brian Kemp’s limited expansion this summer that will provide Medicaid to low-income Georgians who meet certain work or education requirements.
Full Medicaid expansion is a cornerstone of Democrats’ policy agenda. Though the majority of poll respondents appeared to support Medicaid expansion, that has not translated into electoral successes for Democrats in Georgia.
“When we talk about elections, there are a lot of factors at play … that are going to influence voter choice,” said Danny Kanso, senior budget analyst at GBPI, about the differences between the poll results and how Georgians voted.
“Just because one candidate or another in the previous election had a certain policy as part of their platform, that should not foreclose the opportunity to enact good public policy that is broadly supported across the state.”
Another public health measure, increasing the state’s tobacco tax to the national average of $1.91 per cigarette pack, also garnered the support of 62.8% of poll respondents. That proposal also had support across partisan lines, with the majority of liberals, moderates and conservatives all saying they would like to see the tobacco tax increased.
State Rep. Ron Stephens, R-Savannah, introduced legislation this week to increase the state’s tobacco tax, although his bill would increase the tax by just 57 cents.
Georgia Rep. Michelle Au, D-Johns Creek, has also introduced legislation to create a joint study committee to examine the costs and effects of smoking on the health of Georgians.
Increasing funding for education also garnered broad support in the poll, with 78.1% of respondents saying they support using state lottery funds to offer universal pre-K to all Georgia children. Only about half of Georgia’s four-year-olds were enrolled in pre-K in 2021, according to the Annie E. Casey Foundation.
About three-quarters of poll respondents also expressed strong support for providing additional funding to public schools that serve families at or near the poverty level. Forty-four other states already have implemented an “opportunity weight” to help schools serving students from low-income families, Kanso said.
Around three-quarters of poll respondents supported increasing state funding to help school districts cover school transportation costs. Increases in fuel and labor prices have driven up local districts’ costs.
While in the past the state helped school districts by covering more than half of transportation costs, by last year that proportion had decreased to about 20%, Kanso said.
“That is shifting a huge burden down to the local level,” he said.
Poll respondents also supported increased financial aid for students wanting to gain a college degree.
More than two-thirds, 69%, supported creating a higher education need-based scholarship that would be applied based on a student’s income level, the poll found.
Georgia is only one of two states that does not have a need-based scholarship. However, this year – for the first time in more than a decade — the state’s merit-based HOPE Scholarship program will cover 100% of tuition at state colleges and universities, if lawmakers approve Kemp’s budget proposal.
One big question hovering over Georgia’s $6.6 billion budget surplus is whether the state should spend the excess revenue on one-time payments such as income and property tax rebates – as Kemp has proposed – or put the money toward ongoing investments in state services.
The poll showed mixed results on this question. While 46.8% of respondents said the state should use the surplus for ongoing investments in health care and public education, 32.4% said they favor tax rebates. Another 11.1% said the state should not spend the funds at all.
But when asked a separate question that focused solely on support for a one-time tax rebate, about three-quarters of respondents said they supported the idea. Kemp has proposed a one-time tax rebate of $250 for individuals and $500 for married filers for this year, similar to a rebate issued last year.
“As we just look back at the 15-year trajectory of the state from the Great Recession to the present, we see a lot of budget cuts that were made and were never backfilled,” Kanso said. “That has created really massive deficits across the state.”
“We need to make up for some of these gaps that we’ve created and return to more of a normal pattern in the future where we can sustain those investments.”
The 15-question poll was conducted using an online polling service. The results were weighted to reflect Georgia’s voting-age population in terms of race, age, sex and education and had a margin of error of 3.4%.
This story is available through a news partnership with Capitol Beat News Service, a project of the Georgia Press Educational Foundation.
