Having hurdled one obstacle, Coastal Georgia lawmakers sponsoring major pieces of legislation now face another: how to get the buy-in from counterparts on the other side of the state capitol.
Measures that cleared either the House or Senate by last Thursday’s deadline must now be taken up by the other chamber. Only if agreement is secured in both the bodies by the close of session later this month can the bill be passed to Gov. Brian Kemp for his approval or veto.
Perhaps it’s easier said than done for four bills sponsored by senators and lawmakers from the region, starting with a measure authored by Rep. Jesse Petrea (R-Savannah) that would require local law enforcement agencies to work with federal officials to detain people arrested and suspected of being in the country illegally.
A 26-year-old Venezuelan man who immigration authorities said entered the U.S. illegally has been charged in the killing in Athens last month of an Augusta University nursing student and that arrest helped push the measure to House passage by a largely party-line vote of 97-74.
During debate on the House floor before the vote, Petrea described his bill as a “common-sense measure aimed at strengthening our immigration enforcement.”
House Democrats rejected that argument, with Rep. Pedro Marin (D-Duluth) calling the measure another attempt to “promote racial profiling and discrimination. Rep. Esther Panitch (D-Sandy Springs) said it would “turn every patrol officer away from his primary duties and every citation into an inquisition.”
The bill was part of a package of immigration-related bills pushed by Petrea, who also sponsored legislation to “clarify” that only U.S. citizens can vote in Georgia. That measure was defeated in the House by a vote of 98-61.
During debate, Rep. Sam Park called the bill “unnecessary,” saying the state’s constitution already states that only U.S. citizens who are Georgia residents are eligible to vote.
‘License to discriminate’?
Another bill backed by some Coastal Georgia lawmakers and sure to encounter close examination as it winds its way to possibly becoming law is the “Religious Freedom Restoration Act.
The legislation, co-sponsored by Senators Ben Watson (R-Savannah) and Billy Hickman (R-Statesboro), would enhance religious protections by limiting the ability of local and state governments to enforce or pass laws that conflict with religious beliefs. It passed the Senate on Crossover Day by a vote of 33-19.
The Georgia Chamber of Commerce and the Metro Atlanta Chamber joined LGBTQ groups in opposing the bill, SB 180, a version of which was vetoed by then-Gov. Nathan Deal, a Republican, in 2016.
Georgia Equality said in a statement that it would license discrimination on the basis of faith with no necessary protections against discrimination on the basis of race, gender identity, sexual orientation, religion, or country of origin.
Democratic Senate Minority Leader Gloria Butler said, “This legislation makes Georgia a worse place to live. People want to be free to live their lives and work and play in peace, not potentially encounter discrimination at every corner. But today we are telling LGBTQ people and their families to leave our state.”
‘Power grab’?
With the support of Lt. Gov. Burt Jones and other top Republican lawmakers, the Senate passed by a vote of 46-7 a bill that would promote Savannah State University and the state’s other historic Black colleges and universities as hubs for economic and workforce development.
Coastal Georgia Senators Hickman and Derek Mallow (D-Savannah) co-sponsored the bill, which among other things would create a commission to oversee the establishment of innovation and economic prosperity districts around the state’s HBCUs. But reservations linger that are likely to arise when the House considers it.
Sen. Freddie Powell Sims, who voted against the measure, said it would “empower a very loosely defined and appointed commission to institute a complete power grab away from the Board of Regents.”
‘Highest bidder’?
Standing in the well of the House chamber last week, Savannah Republican Ron Stephens delivered a sobering message.
There’s plenty of space to build homes for the workers for the Hyundai EV plant in Ellabell, the largest economic development project in the state’s history. The only problem?
There isn’t enough water.
The bill authored by Stephens, which passed the House by a vote of 105-58 and now goes to the Senate for consideration, would privatize water permits in instances where public facilities are unable to meet the demand. It’s co-sponsored by Petrea and Bill Hitchens (R-Rincon).
In debate on the House floor, Lisa Campbell (D-Kennesaw) said the legislation, HB 1146, threatens to create a bad precedent.
If approved by the Senate and signed into law by Gov. Kemp, it would mean that “access to our limited and shared drinking water supply could be granted to the highest bidder,” she warned.
