County election office directors, Democratic lawmakers, and a coalition of voting rights groups say the most troubling aspect of House Bill 1464 is that it gives the Georgia Bureau of Investigation the ability to initiate election investigations, a significant change that would divert jurisdiction from the Secretary of State’s Office and State Election Board to the crime fighting agency.
The Georgia Senate delivered a blow to the school choice movement Tuesday, voting down a bill that would have diverted $6,000 from state money for public schools to allow parents to send their children to private school.
Tuesday is Crossover Day in the state Legislature, the last day a bill can cross from one chamber to the other. While lawmakers have been known to practice legislative necromancy by grafting dead language onto healthy bills, legislation that does not pass either Georgia’s House or Senate by Crossover Day is typically considered dead for the session.
The Georgia Family Insurance Act would create a family and medical leave insurance fund that is jointly contributed to by both employers and employees, rather than putting the burden on employers alone.
A Georgia bill that opponents argue aims to stop protests by trampling on constitutional rights through expanded criminal penalties, added civil liability for local governments that allow protests and authorized violence against protesters.
Legislation to bar future lawsuits against the companies involved in a $26 billion multi-state settlement must be passed before the state can collect $636 million dollars. The money will help pay for preventing and addressing the effects of opioid dependence.
A Georgia lawmaker’s proposal to prohibit the teaching of “divisive concepts” in public schools will no longer force colleges and universities to comply.
A controversial bill that proponents say is meant to keep farmers out of court has again collided with private property concerns and fears the measure will make way for large-scale industrial farms.
House Bill 510 would create a state earned income tax credit and help moderate- and lower-income Georgians who often have to choose between working and caring for their families.
Georgia ranks 48th when it comes to access to mental health care, according to Mental Health America. And the COVID-19 pandemic has made more people aware of the gaps in the state’s system, summoning bipartisan energy during an otherwise highly divisive election-year legislative session.
A U.S. District Court judge is set to decide over the next week whether candidates qualifying for a Georgia Public Service Commission race must wait until after a summer trial for a lawsuit claiming the process of electing utility regulators has largely kept Black people from winning a seat.
