GA Legislative Watch | March 19, 2022
Presented by OHIO RIVER SOUTH
GA Legislative Watch
By Molly Mcloughlin • Mar 19, 2022
Smart Brevity™ count: 2.5 mins…610 words
It coulda been worse — Crossover day didn’t end as late as in years past. The Senate left by dinner time and the House members struck deals before midnight.
1 Big Thing: Medical Marijuana
The devil is in the details — The Senate unanimously passed a measure, SB 609, setting a May 31 deadline for the Georgia Access to Medical Cannabis Commission to issue licenses.
Yes, but: The House passed a separate measure, HB 1425, to restart the competitive bidding for licenses later this year, but proposes the commission acquire the necessary amount of medical cannabis for current registered patients.
Catch up: In 2021, the commission tentatively awarded production licenses to six companies, but 16 of the losing companies protested due to alleged lack of oversight, transparency and fairness in the evaluation process.
Two options have been proposed:
- The commission awards licenses to the protesting companies as well as the original six; or
- The Governor chooses the production companies.
What’s next: Both options brought up precedent and ethical questions for the legislature to consider in the last two weeks of the session.
2. What Crossed Over, and What Didn’t
Safe Communities Act of 2021, SB 171 crossed over to the House, enhancing penalties for certain offenses committed during an unlawful assembly.
Pay raises for legislators may be on the ballot this fall, if the Senate approves HR 842. If approved by the Senate and Georgia voters:
- Legislators would be paid 60% of the median household income of Georgians, starting in 2025.
- Pensions of part-time lawmakers will go up to 38% and quadruple what Speaker Ralston could receive.
A $1.6 billion tax refund will be a reality when the governor signs HB 1302. .
GBI will investigate voting fraud with the passage of HB 1464.
- Sure to be signed by the Governor, the bill also allows for public ballot inspections and restricts nonprofit donations to county election offices.
School choice bill SB 601 did not graduate to the next level.
No horse racing here – SR 131, a horse racing constitutional amendment didn’t even make it out of the start gate, and SB 212, a horse racing bill was tabled.
3. Big Political News
The hits are coming in the race for U.S. Senator as Herschel Walker’s opponents, many for the first time, threw several punches this week.
- “This is a campaign – not an autograph tour for those who can pay an access fee,” said Kelvin King in an op-ed.
- Former Navy SEAL Latham Saddler told the AJC that Walker was running an “entitlement campaign” based on his celebrity as a former football player.
Stacey Abrams’ first round of TV ads came out this week where she says, “When I didn’t win the governor’s race, not getting the job didn’t exempt me from the work,” referring to her work with the many nonprofits she’s founded, including one that has paid off 68,000 Georgians’ medical debt.
U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock, Georgia’s first Black senator, met with Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, nominated by President Biden to become the first Black woman on the Supreme Court.
MARTA Interim CEO Collie Greenwood testified during the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs hearing, “Advancing Public Transportation under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.”
4. Budget and Appropriation News
Fulton County Board of Education President Julia Bernath and two other long-serving members will not seek reelection this year.
Want to know more about Ohio River South? Look out for the ORS Quarterly, another publication of Friendly Amendment, coming out next month. Thank you!