GRTM Blog

ATLANTA — Controversial legislation prohibiting transgender students born male

from competing in most girls’ sports in Georgia cleared the Republican-controlled state Senate Thursday.

The bill, which passed 34-22 along party lines, stems from complaints by parents

of biological girls who have quit sports because they don’t want to have to

compete against transgendered girls who were born male and, thus, enjoy an unfair

advantage in strength and speed, said Sen. Marty Harbin, R-Tyrone, the measure’s chief sponsor.

“This bill is about fairness,” he said. “It’s simply not fair to force biological girls to compete against biological boys.”

But Senate Democrats argued the legislation stigmatizes transgendered students,

a particularly vulnerable group of young people who suffer from a high suicide rate.

“This is hurting our kids,” said a tearful Sen. Sally Harrell, D-Atlanta, who is the mother of a transgendered child.

Harrell said the bill is premature, coming at a time when transgendered children aren’t well understood by many.

“Let society deal with this issue for a little while,” she said. “Let the sports associations try to figure it out.”

Sen. Elena Parent, D-Atlanta, said the measure is politically motivated,

part of a conservative agenda Republicans are pushing under the Gold Dome.

“It’s another election-year bill about another fabricated problem,”

she said. “Ostracizing vulnerable children to get votes is despicable.”

But Sen. Matt Brass, R-Newnan, said the bill is meant to safeguard the integrity of girls’ sports.

“Women’s sports is one of the greatest tools we have in the

fight for gender equality,” he said. “This bill simply protects that tool.”

The bill now moves to the Georgia House of Representatives.

ATLANTA — Legislation guaranteeing parents input into their children’s

education cleared the Republican-controlled Georgia Senate Tuesday.

The bill, which passed 33-21 along party lines and now moves to the state

House of Representatives, is part of an education agenda being pushed by

GOP Gov. Brian Kemp that includes measures prohibiting the teaching of

certain “divisive concepts” in Georgia schools and banning

transgendered students born male from competing in girls’ sports.

The Parents’ Bill of Rights would give parents the right to review curriculum

and other instructional material during the first two

weeks of every nine-week grading period in public schools.

Principals or superintendents who receive a request for

information from a parent would have three working days to provide it.

If the principal or superintendent is unable to share the information within

that timeframe, they would have to provide the parent a written description

of the material and a timeline for its delivery, not to exceed 30 days.

Parents not satisfied with a local school’s decision on a

request could appeal to the school district and, beyond that, to the state.

Parents also would be able to opt out of sex education instruction for their

children and could prohibit photos or videos of their children unless necessary for public safety.

“At the end of the day, parents know what’s best for a

child before the government,” said Sen. Jason Anavitarte, R-Dallas

Senate Democrats argued the legislation is unnecessary because

parents already can play a role in their children’s education if they choose to.

“Parents are invited to back-to-school nights and parent-teacher conferences,”

said Sen. Elena Parent, D-Atlanta. “They can attend school board

meetings and many do. They can elect school board members.”

The bill would create an adversarial relationship between parents

and teachers when they should be working together, Parent said.

“This bill creates a process for investigation and appeals ... document production

efforts that contribute to an atmosphere of censorship and overburdening of teachers,” she said.

Parent predicted the bill would worsen an already troublesome shortage of teachers in Georgia.

Supporters countered that a Parents’ Bill of Rights has become necessary in

Georgia because in-home instruction during the coronavirus pandemic has

shown parents what their children are learning that, in some cases, conflicts with their values.

“Our parents have learned more of what their children are being taught

than ever before,” said Sen. Marty Harbin, R-Tyrone. “That’s what’s caused some of these concerns.

“How can you sit here and fight against the rights of parents?” Sen. Matt Brass,

R-Newnan, asked the bill’s opponents from the Senate well. “We are simply returning control back to the parents that they have lost.”

ATLANTA — In 2019, the General Assembly created a commission to launch

a medical marijuana program in Georgia by awarding licenses to

companies to grow the leaf crop and convert it into low-THC cannabis oil.

Three years later, not a single patient has received a single dose. Despite

the tentative granting of six licenses last summer, the initiative is mired in

legal protests filed by companies denied licenses claiming the selection process was flawed.

“It’s the most maddening process I’ve ever seen,” said state

Rep. Alan Powell, R-Hartwell, chairman of the House Regulated Industries Committee.

Now, Powell is pushing legislation he says would resolve the legal issues and get the program on track.

House Bill 1400 would increase the number of licenses the state awards

from six to as many as 28. That would allow the 16 companies that have

filed protests to reapply for a license rather than pursue their protest in

court and cause further delays, Powell testified during two days of hearings on the bill.

“It’s time we do what’s necessary to fix a broken system,” he said.

The more than 20,000 Georgia patients who have registered with the state

Department of Public Health to receive low-THC cannabis oil are frustrated they

haven’t been able to get the drug three years after the legislature created the program.

Under the 2019 bill, patients suffering from a variety of diseases qualify for

low-THC cannabis oil. The list includes cancer, seizure disorders, multiple sclerosis,

amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), Crohn’s disease, Parkinson’s disease and sickle-cell anemia.

Dale Jackson, the father of a teenage son with autism, took lawmakers to task

during one of the hearings for failing to keep their promise to provide a legal pathway for Georgians to get the oil.

“We were told, ‘Just do it right. Just follow the process,’ ” Jackson told members

of a House subcommittee assigned to consider Powell’s bill. “You lied to us. … This problem has to be fixed. This has to end.”

Several lawyers representing companies denied licenses to

produce low-THC oil spoke out in support of the bill during the two hearings.

Kellen Carr, representing Georgia Bioscience Research, one of the companies

protesting denial of its license application, said limiting the number

of licenses will drive up the costs of the oil, which is not covered by insurance.

“The only thing that keeps costs down in this industry is marketplace competition,” she said.

Kristen Goodman, representing Symphony Medical, another protester,

said the six licenses that were granted went to large out-of-state

companies with plans for cannabis oil-producing operations concentrated in Middle Georgia.

“The north half of the state is not represented at all, nor is the southwest corner,”

added Wesley Dunn, representing Revolution Georgia, another company denied a license.

Andrew Turnage, executive director of the Georgia Access to Medical Cannabis

Commission, did not respond to an e-mail requesting comment on Powell’s bill.

But during a commission board meeting last month, he said the commission supports expanding the number of licenses.

Powell’s bill got some pushback during the hearings over whether granting

more licenses would mean caving in to the threat of lawsuits from companies denied licenses.

“I am deeply concerned we are rewarding people simply for

having the ability to file a lawsuit,” said Rep. Michael Smith, D-Marietta.

But others on the subcommittee said increasing licenses to get

low-THC oil to patients sooner rather than later should be the overriding consideration.

“We’ve got children who are sick and hurting all over this state and need this

to make a difference in their life,” said Rep. Rick Williams, R-Milledgeville. “We need to make this happen.”

ATLANTA – Republicans in the Georgia Senate approved new district boundaries

for the state Public Service Commission (PSC) Thursday over objections from minority Democrats.

The new map, which now heads to the state House of Representatives,

would move 41 of 159 counties from one commission district to another.

The changes were necessary to reflect population shifts reflected in the 2020

Census, Rep. John Kennedy, R-Macon, chairman of the Senate Reapportionment and Redistricting Committee, told his Senate colleagues.

But Senate Democrats argued the map makes more changes

than would be necessary to get the districts nearly even in population.

They singled out Gwinnett County, which would move from PSC District 2 to

District 4 under the new map. That change would prevent Democrat Patty Durand,

who is challenging Republican Commissioner Tim Echols this year in District 2, from running because she lives in Gwinnett.

The term being served by District 4 Commissioner Lauren “Bubba” McDonald doesn’t expire until 2026.

“Incumbents [are] trying to protect their seats,” said Sen. Nan Orrock, D-Atlanta.

Beyond the issue of changes affecting individual counties, Sen. Jen Jordan,

D-Atlanta, sought to change the system of electing members of the PSC.

Currently, commissioners must live in one of the five commission districts, but they run statewide.

Jordan proposed an amendment to have commissioners elected only by voters in their districts.

She said electing members of the PSC statewide makes it more difficult for a minority candidate to win.

“It dilutes the voting power of people of color in this state,” she said.

But Kennedy said the current system guarantees commissioners

will address issues facing the PSC from a statewide perspective.

“We don’t need regionalism,” he said. “We don’t need

district fights about what statewide energy policy should be.”

After Jordan’s amendment was defeated, the Senate

passed the new PSC map 33-21. Both votes were along party lines.

This story is available through a news partnership with Capitol Beat News Service,

a project of the Georgia Press Educational Foundation.

ATLANTA – Legislation that would grant in-state college tuition to refugees from

Afghanistan resettled in Georgia last year drew bipartisan support in a state House committee Wednesday.

House Bill 932 would waive the one-year residency requirement to qualify for in-state

tuition at the state’s public colleges and universities that applies to students who have moved to Georgia from out of state.

“These refugees … worked with our military, primarily in Afghanistan,” Rep. Wes Cantrell,

R-Woodstock, the bill’s chief sponsor, told members of the House Higher Education

Committee Wednesday. “These folks want to be American and live the dream.”

Cantrell chaired a legislative study committee last year that looked for ways to

strengthen Georgia’s economy by enabling foreign-born Georgians to contribute

to the fullest extent possible. About 10% of Georgians today were born outside of the United States.

“We’ve got more jobs in Georgia than people,” Cantrell said. “We shouldn’t be

putting up artificial limits to these people getting educated and becoming productive members of society.”

“It’s a common-sense way to address an economic development issue,” added Rep. Betsy Holland, D-Atlanta.

Darlene Lynch, chairman of the Business & Immigration for Georgia Partnership,

a coalition of business and civic leaders, said refugees should be treated differently

under the law governing in-state tuition than people who choose to move here from other states.

“Georgia is the only state they have ever called home,” she said.

“They have been told to come to Georgia to resettle here.”

But committee Chairman Chuck Martin, R-Alpharetta, said he’s uncomfortable with

waiving the one-year residency requirement for refugees while still applying it to others who move to Georgia.

“My struggle is putting these folks ahead of other folks,” he said.

The committee did not vote on the bill Wednesday but

could decide whether to advance it as soon as next week.

This story is available through a news partnership with Capitol Beat News Service,

a project of the Georgia Press Educational Foundation.