The Georgia General Assembly has passed many bills this year that affect your wallet, your neighborhood school, the speeding cameras on your drive home and health care facilities for when you’re sick.
But in the year following a presidential election and preceding next year’s statewide elections, lawmakers are also aiming to score points by passing bills that are more explicitly political.
Here are few that remain alive after Crossover Day, the Legislature’s deadline for when bills need to pass out of each originating chamber.
America First
Republican lawmakers have pushed bills echoing President Donald Trump’s “America First” campaign theme, including a license plate bearing the slogan and bills restricting dealings with China.
The America First plate drew opposition from Democrats who opposed the spread of Republican politics in government services. Republicans said the proposal is about promoting patriotism, not Trump.
Bills targeting China would restrict state agencies from buying goods from foreign companies deemed a security threat, require quarterly reports of funding from China to Georgia universities and prohibit land purchases by foreign governments near military installations. Those bills will next be considered by the state Senate.
Fani Willis fights
Senate Republicans have continued their battle with Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, passing Senate Bill 255, which would give certain legislative committees subpoena and other investigative powers.
Willis, a Democrat, has fiercely fought a pair of subpoenas that the Senate Special Committee on Investigations issued in August. In December, a Fulton County judge ruled against her.
Athens Republican Bill Cowsert, the committee chairman who sponsored SB 255, said the bill would codify that the panel has subpoena power as it continues its work. Democrat Stacey Abrams could be subject to its next investigation.
Republicans want Willis to testify and produce documents related to her investigation of President Donald Trump and onetime romantic relationship with a former deputy.
Senate Republicans also approved a bill that would allow criminal defendants to recover the fees if they successfully argue that a prosecutor should be disqualified for misconduct and the case is dismissed. Sen. Brandon Beach, R-Alpharetta, said he had the Trump case — and the actions of Willis — in mind when he sponsored the bill.
SB 244 will now head to a House committee for consideration.
Talking elections, still
During the election last fall, state Sen. Shawn Still, a Republican from Johns Creek, sparred with Democrat Ashwin Ramaswami over Ramaswami’s public records request seeking the names of students at a local high school during the campaign.
Ramaswami said he had requested those names to organize a voter-registration drive and find ways “to get more young people involved in politics.” Still said Ramaswami’s story changed multiple times and called his request “creepy and weird.”
Still introduced Senate Bill 212, which would prohibit the disclosure of public students’ records to political candidates or those acting on their behalf. He said the measure “ensures that campaigns and candidates know that it is improper and it is wrong to go under false pretense to harvest children’s data, particularly minors.”
SB 212 passed 33-19, with two Democrats voting in favor. House members will now consider the legislation.
Democratic efforts
Democrats have introduced their own partisan bills. One measure — House Bill 650 — that would restore certain rights of individuals with criminal histories was named the Presidential Felon Freedom Act, a nod to Trump’s New York conviction on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records. The Democratic bill did not pass.
Another Democrat-sponsored bill took aim at Georgia’s anti-abortion law, requiring the government to pay women who wanted abortions for medical, psychological and legal expenses. House Bill 347 didn’t receive a hearing.
Protesting protests
Trump has threatened to pull federal funding from colleges and universities that allow “illegal protests” by students on campus. Republicans in the state House wanted to strip students convicted of a criminal offense of their financial aid eligibility. Several Democrats, including state Rep. Stacey Evans, said the bill could be used to punish students who participate in protests because the bill would have targeted students charged with crimes related to “disruptive conduct” on campus.
Staff Reporters Tamar Hallerman and David Wickert contributed to this report
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