Tag: Georgia Senate

Georgia Senate Passes Bill to Defund Sanctuary Cities

Debra McClure
Randy Robertson

A bill to strengthen immigration enforcement and accountability passed the Georgia Senate by a vote of 33-18 last Thursday. HB 301 would remove funding from sanctuary cities refusing to follow immigration laws within the state. The bill awaits transfer to the House for further consideration.

The measure aims to hold officials accountable and allow local “governing bodies” to lose eligibility for “certain state and federal funds” when “the prohibition on immigration sanctuary policies” is violated.

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Georgia Senate Passes Certificate of Need Reform Measure

The Center Square
Emergency Room entrance

The Georgia Senate has passed a measure to reform Georgia’s certificate of need laws.

Lawmakers passed House Bill 1339 by a 43-11 margin. The House overwhelmingly passed the measure last month, and the amended version returns to the House for consideration.

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Lawyer Who Unearthed Fani Willis Allegations Reveals Prosecutor Met With Kamala Harris in Georgia Senate Hearing

Tom Pappert
Fani Willis and Kamala Harris

The defense attorney who originally unearthed the revelation that Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis was romantically linked with special prosecutor Nathan Wade appeared before the Georgia State Senate on Wednesday to share her knowledge with a committee created to investigate Willis’ actions.

Merchant detailed how she learned of the relationship between Willis and Wade, who the district attorney appointed to prosecute the Georgia election case against former President Donald Trump, and explained she learned of a meeting between Willis and Vice President Kamala Harris during her investigation.

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Georgia Senate Advances Bill to Create New Mulberry City

The Center Square
Chuck Efstration

The Georgia Senate passed a bill that could create a Mulberry city in northeastern Gwinnett County should voters give the proposal a thumbs up.

Lawmakers passed Senate Bill 333 last week, sending it to the state House for consideration. If passed and signed into law, it would put the issue on the spring primary ballot.

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Commentary: Georgia Republicans Must Act Now vs. Corrupt Prosecutor Fani Willis

Admin

With election season officially underway in America, recent scandalous allegations of corruption in Georgia reinforce the need of all Americans to repel the powerful forces that align to steal away the electoral agency of patriotic citizens.

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Georgia Republicans Who Killed School Choice Legislation in 2023 May Stop Reforms Again

Tom Pappert

A group of Republicans in the Georgia State House who were responsible to killing a 2023 effort to increase school choice in the state will reportedly work to stymie the education reforms again in 2024, according to a Friday report.

In 2023, Republicans in the Georgia Senate successfully passed Senate Bill 233, which would have granted state funded vouchers of up to $6,500 for students in the bottom 25 percent of the state’s schools. The funding would have been removed from public schools at the same time, which rural Republicans claimed was unfair to students that did not leave the struggling schools.

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Georgia Senate Says Kids Don’t Need Permits or to Pay Taxes on Lemonade Stands

The Center Square

As a parent, T.L. Matthew knows setting up a lemonade stand can be fun and educational.

“In my personal experience, setting up a lemonade stand with my daughter was a fun and rewarding bonding experience that taught her valuable skills in communication, entrepreneurship, and money management,” Matthew, the CEO and founder of Fayetteville-based SumFoods, told The Center Square via email. “Unfortunately, in many states, kids who try to set up their own businesses have been bogged down by unnecessary regulations and taxes, forcing them to obtain permits and licenses or risk being shut down or fined.”

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Georgia Senate Passes Bill to Create State-Funded Education Savings Accounts

The Center Square

The Georgia Senate passed legislation to create state-funded education savings accounts.

Under Senate Bill 233, the Georgia Promise Scholarship Act, taxpayers would fund $6,000 per student per school year. Families could use the money to defray “qualified” education costs, such as private school tuition.

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Georgia Senate Passes Measure to Ban COVID Vaccine Passports

The Center Square

The Georgia Senate voted Tuesday to permanently block governments across the state from denying services to unvaccinated residents.

Senate Bill 1 removed a sunset provision in state law to make permanent a prohibition against state and local governments requiring residents to provide proof of a COVID vaccination to access government services.

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Georgia Senate Signs Off on Fiscal 2023 Budget

The Center Square
Georgia State Capitol

The Georgia Senate has signed off on a fiscal year 2023 state budget that increases spending by 10.8% over last year.

The Senate voted 56-0 in favor of an amended House Bill 911, a more than $30 billion spending plan that includes pay raises for many state employees and largely returns spending to pre-COVID-19-pandemic spending levels.

The budget proposal includes pay raises for certified teachers and other school workers, including nutrition workers, bus drivers and school nurses. It also increases funding for law enforcement, including for the Georgia Department of Public Safety to hire state troopers and expand crisis intervention training for officers across the Peach State.

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Georgia Senate Approves Bill to Ban Teaching ‘Divisive Concepts’

The Center Square
Bo Hatchett

Georgia teachers would be banned from teaching “divisive concepts” in the classroom under legislation signed off on by the Georgia Senate.

Senators voted, 34-20, in favor of Senate Bill 377. The legislation now heads to the state House, where lawmakers previously passed similar legislation, House Bill 1084.

The bill outlines nine “divisive concepts,” including that one “race or ethnicity is inherently superior to another race or ethnicity” and that an “individual’s moral character is inherently determined by his or her race, skin color, or ethnicity.”

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Raphael Warnock Campaign Nervous About Herschel Walker’s Chances in Georgia

Chris Butler

Campaign staff for Senator Raphael Warnock (D-GA) have sent their followers several emails calling Georgia “the number one battleground” and saying “Democrats’ chances of defending our razor-thin majority hinge on keeping Georgia blue.”

Warnock’s campaign staff frequently cited the name of Herschel Walker. Walker, a Republican, filed paperwork in August to run for Warnock’s seat. The election is next year. Former President Donald Trump endorsed Walker in September.

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Georgia Senate Committee Learns Private-Sector Workers’ Retirement Savings Low

Bradley Vasoli

According to data presented Friday to the Senate Retirement Security for Georgians Study Committee, about half of Peach State residents—and Americans generally—aren’t saving enough for retirement.

Jessica Eckman, a senior legislative representative with the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP), told the committee that about 50 percent of U.S. households are at risk of accumulating insufficient retirement savings, up from 31 percent three decades earlier.

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Georgia Senate Passes Measure Blocking Local Efforts to Reduce Police Funding

The Center Square

A bill that bans counties and municipalities in Georgia from reducing their police department budgets by more than 5% has passed the Georgia Senate and will be sent back to the House.

Sen. Randy Robertson, R-Cataula, a law enforcement veteran, said the legislation, House Bill 286, is a response to local efforts to “defund the police.”

“I think everyone sees the things that are going on around our country right now related to law enforcement, and what this does is just guarantee the citizens of any community that they’re not caught up in the politics that revolves around policing and offers protection,” said Robertson, who sponsored the bill.

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Two Election Integrity Bills Headed Towards Georgia Senate Floor

Peter D'Abrosca
Woman voting at booth

Two bills to help ensure election integrity in Georgia are one step closer to the Republican-controlled Senate floor, according to Tuesday reports. 

“Senate subcommittee votes 3-2 to end at-will absentee voting in Georgia, making it only available to those over 75, a doctor’s note or out of town. SB71 advances to full committee,” the Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s Mark Niesse said on Twitter. 

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During Georgia Senate Hearing, Giuliani Team Shows Video of Suitcases Filled With Ballots Processed After Counting Supposedly Ended

Jason M. Reynolds

The election was a sham, and there is “overwhelming proof of fraud,” Rudy Giuliani said Thursday in the second of two hearings at the Georgia Senate, and his team showed a damning video of suitcases stuffed with ballots processed once counting was supposedly finished.

The Senate Government Oversight Committee held the first hearing of the day to “evaluate the election process to ensure the integrity of Georgia’s voting process,” 11 Alive reported.

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