The bill’s sponsor, state Sen. Larry Walker, R-Perry, said all but 3% of Georgia voters already have a driver’s license number or state ID number on file, meaning they wouldn’t have to provide a copy of photo ID to vote absentee. Photo ID is already required of in-person voters.

“It’s not about disenfranchising voters. It’s not about overburdening the electorate,” he said. “It’s about efficiency and security.”

But state Sen. David Lucas, a Democrat from Macon, said the ID requirements would make absentee voting harder, especially for those who would have to make a copy of a photo ID to request an absentee ballot.

“Let’s make no mistake about what this bill is about: The election did not turn out the way you wanted it to,” Lucas told Republican senators. “We’re perpetuating this big lie of fraud.”

A series of bills have been filed following Republican claims of election insecurity that started with the misinformation campaign President Donald Trump waged following his loss in November.

State election officials have said there was no evidence of widespread fraud in the presidential election, which they verified through multiple recounts and audits. Georgia senators were all elected in the same election, but none has claimed fraud in his or her own contest.

Many of the bills have targeted absentee ballots, a popular option for voters in 2020 who wished to avoid crowds in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. Over 1.3 million of the 5 million votes cast in November were by absentee ballot.

SB 67 is one of four bills supported by Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan that the Senate passed this past week.

The others are:

Also passing the upper chamber was Senate Bill 89, which would allow the State Election Board to establish criteria for “low-performing” election offices and, if they don’t improve, to replace the local officials with new election superintendents indefinitely.

In House, one election bill, many proposals

Over on the House side, they’re taking a kitchen sink approach to election legislation.

Like Senate Bill 67, House Bill 531 contains an identification proposal for absentee ballots.

But the measure touches on so many other areas of voting, including a new limit on absentee ballot drop boxes, requiring that they be located only inside early voting locations or county election offices.

Here’s a quick — kinda, sorta — summary of what other proposals in HB 531 would do:

The House Election Integrity Committee approved the bill, but only after it removed another proposal that would have banned Sunday voting.

That proposal spurred complaints that the bill would limit voting by Black voters who participate in “Souls to the Polls” events after church.

Revenue figures spur effort behind tax break

The COVID-19 pandemic has not been the strain on state tax collections that many had predicted, and that could mean more cash in many Georgia pockets.

House Ways and Means Chairman Shaw Blackmon, R-Bonaire, filed House Bill 593 this past week to boost the standard deduction Georgians can take when doing their income taxes. The tax cut would be relatively small — less than $100 for a married couple filing jointly — and Blackmon said it would cost the state $100 million to $150 million a year.

A year ago, when the coronavirus first infiltrated Georgia, tax cuts didn’t seem possible. In fact, fears that state revenue would plunge during the COVID-19 pandemic scuttled plans for a bigger cut that House Speaker David Ralston was pushing.

But state tax collections did not take a dive or even a slight dip. They are up 6.3% for the first seven months of this fiscal year.

Blackmon calls his proposal “the fairest way to help the most people keep more of their money.”

But not everybody sees it that way.

Danny Kanso, who worked on the staff of then-Republican Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle before becoming a senior policy analyst for the Georgia Budget and Policy Institute, said “more is needed to move the needle for working families.”

His organization is calling for a state tax credit of as much as $500 for “low and moderate” income families.

Tax proposal takes aim at digital downloads

While House Ways and Means Chairman Shaw Blackmon, R-Bonaire, tried giving Georgians a little more spending money by boosting the income tax deduction, some of that cash could boomerang back to the state under another proposal he is backing.

House Bill 594 seeks sales taxes on digital downloads, including prewritten computer software, books, music and streaming services. Blackmon is a co-sponsor of the measure.

Its sponsor, Rep. Kasey Carpenter, R-Dalton, made a case that it’s a matter of fairness.

He pointed out that if you buy a book at a store in Georgia, you pay a sales tax. If you download a book onto Kindle, you don’t.

But Kevin Curtin, a lobbyist for AT&T, said the playing field still wouldn’t be level.

He said the bill calls for a sales tax on streaming services while there is no sales tax on cable and satellite services.

Bills seek limits on a governor’s power in a crisis

Several bills moved forward this week that would rein in the type of emergency powers Gov. Brian Kemp has exercised amid the coronavirus pandemic.

The Legislature awarded those powers to Kemp during a one-day special session in March after it suspended its regular session because of the pandemic.

Kemp then issued orders, such as limiting the size of public gatherings, to prevent the spread of the virus.

One of the measures that moved this past week is House Bill 358. It would require governors in the future to seek legislative approval to extend a declared state of emergency beyond 30 days. Lawmakers could authorize an extension up to 90 days, and the governor could also seek approval for additional extensions up to 90 days.

Kemp, raising concerns about convening the General Assembly on short notice, threatened to veto the bill if it was not revised. Amendments followed. One would provide flexibility on the timing of such a vote; another would allow such votes to be conducted by teleconference.

Another piece of legislation that moved forward, House Bill 468, would allow any business to continue operating during a public health emergency if it can comply with safety guidelines set by the governor.

The subcommittee also approved House Bill 536, which would prohibit a governor from singling out religious practices for restrictions. Churches and other religious institutions would still have to comply with social distancing and other health guidelines. But a governor could not impose measures so restrictive that they prohibit religious practices.

David von Diemar/Unsplash

David von Diemar/Unsplash

Measure advances that would block deep cuts to police budgets

The Georgia House voted to bar local governments from substantially decreasing their funding for law enforcement.

Under House Bill 286, cities and counties would not be able to reduce their law enforcement budgets by more than 5% in one year or cumulatively across 10 years.

The bill’s sponsor, state Rep. Houston Gaines, an Athens Republican, pointed to discussions in Athens and Atlanta to decrease spending on their police forces, although no cuts actually occurred.

After a summer of protests over racial injustice and police brutality, activists in Georgia and across the country backed efforts that fell under a heading of “defund the police” that called for diverting money from law enforcement budgets to address issues such as mental health, addiction and homelessness.

“This is a dangerous idea that will harm those who most need protections and put victims at risk,” Gaines said.

But state Rep. Bee Nguyen, an Atlanta Democrat, made a case that police departments require accountability, saying the law is not enforced uniformly in all communities.

“If you are Black or brown, whether armed or unarmed, you are more likely to be killed by law enforcement than our (white counterparts),” she said.

A Yale University study found that people of color were killed by police at “significantly higher rates” than white people, whether or not the person was armed. For example, Black people who were armed were killed at 2.6 times the rate of white people who were carrying weapons.

House votes to block regulations on energy choice

The House endorsed a bill that would prevent cities and counties from limiting the types of energy that can be used in buildings and homes, despite concerns raised by climate change activists.

Rep. Bruce Williamson, a Republican from Monroe and the sponsor of House Bill 150, said it would support the kind of competition needed to drive down costs over time by giving consumers a choice on energy.

Environmental advocates and city leaders opposed the measure, saying it could make it more difficult for municipalities to reach 100% clean energy goals and reduce the impacts of climate change.

“This bill says you have to permit new natural gas infrastructure 20 to 30 years down the road,” said Rep. David Dreyer, D-Atlanta. “If a local government wants to be innovative 15 years from now … we are prohibiting them from doing that.”

Stat of the Week: Relief, legal and medical, coming for 14,000 registered cannabis patients

Help moved a step closer for the 14,000 registered patients who are allowed to use medical marijuana in Georgia but can’t because there’s no legal way to obtain it.

The Georgia Access to Medical Cannabis Commission announced that it will review applications from nearly 70 companies and then award six licenses, as early as this spring, to begin manufacturing medical marijuana oil.

The licenses will allow the cultivation of medical marijuana, which can have no more than 5% THC, the compound that gives marijuana users a high.

Georgia first allowed registered patients to use the cannabis oil in 2015, and the range of illnesses and conditions that could be treated with medical marijuana has grown since then to now include seizures, terminal cancers and Parkinson’s disease.

But those patients have had no legal way to buy it, and they have often relied on people bringing the cannabis oil in from other states. That won’t change until the six licensed companies can begin production.