Parent Press: Week 4 of the 2022 Legislative Session

Greetings!

Throughout our government, we are seeing norms being broken to pass unpopular policies supported by the extreme right or block important progressive legislation. The Georgia General Assembly is not immune to this. During the 2021 session, the Republicans called hearings on voter suppression bills early in the morning to avoid streaming or public input. During our redistricting special session, we experienced an appalling lack of transparency resulting in very consequential maps being dropped at the last minute.

We continue to see more of these tactics during the 2022 session. Hearing agendas are posted at the last possible moment, giving advocates and minority legislators alike, little time to prepare to review bills. And this week, the majority Democratic Gwinnett Delegation was essentially shut out of their County School Board and Commission redistricting process by the Republican controlled State Senate.

These actions sow divisiveness, are frustratingly undemocratic, and frankly cause distrust in our government.  I appreciate you all for staying in the fight with us while we keep working for a State government that is responsive to you. 

​Gwinnett County Redistricting

The typical process for bills that only affect one county or municipality in Georgia is through the local delegation.  The Senators or House members that represent that county submit legislation that are supported by the majority of the delegation. This is how county level redistricting has worked in the past, and how it is working in every large county delegation, except Gwinnett County.

The growth in diverse populations in Gwinnett has contributed to electing Democrats and flipping the County Commission and School Board, both of which are majority-minority. Similarly, all but one of the State Senators in Gwinnett are Democrats. In response to these changes, the sole Republican Senator from Gwinnett submitted a redistricting plan that would change the rules to elect a non-partisan school board and potentially allow Republicans to get some seats back. This legislation bypassed the Democratic majority Gwinnett delegation and was submitted as general legislation passed by the Senate this week.  This can only be seen as an attempt to grab back power from a diverse, Democrat majority school board in a county with a changing population. A similar process took place in the House with the Gwinnett County Commission. Read more here:  

  SB 319 - Permit-less Concealed Carry

SB 319 passed through the Senate Judiciary Committee this week during National Gun Violence Survivors week. 

Proponents of the bill predictably focused on the 2nd Amendment and claims that the bad guys will get a gun anyway. But over 5,000 people were denied a carry permit in 2020, most due to criminal history. Why would we want to make it easier for criminals to obtain guns? With our lax gun laws, this is one of the few checks we have in Georgia to make sure that people who are dangerous do not have guns, and this bill would eliminate that check. This will not make us safer. We should be considering SB 146 that I sponsored to protect children from accessing guns that are not stored safely or SB 344 sponsored by Senator Harrell to require training for all gun owners.

SB 319 will likely be on the Senate Floor next week. You can find  the contact information for Senators here.

This is a good description of the hearing:

​And if you want to learn more about how common sense gun laws can protect us, Everytown for Gun Safety is a great resource. See where Georgia falls on its ranking of gun safety policies by state!

Continued Efforts to Stifle Teachers

SB 377, 'banning divisive concepts' from being taught in schools will have a hearing in the Senate Education and Youth Committee on Monday at 3 pm. This bill would ban K-12 schools and Universities from teaching 'divisive' concepts regarding race, listing 9 banned concepts, and provides for any parent to initiate a complaint process that could lead to penalties on school districts and teachers. This bill will prevent thoughtful discussions in class room about race and racism which are important to understand our past and become a better society. And, could take us backwards even further, because the vague language of the bills may cause teachers to avoid teaching facts about history out of fear of complaints and retribution.

In Alabama, similar actions by the Board of Education are leading to complaints about the Black History Month curriculum. Read the distressing article below.

According to Steve Murray, director of the Alabama Department of Archives and History: 

“Vaguely worded laws against divisive concepts won’t do anything to excise CRT from the classroom, because it doesn’t exist there,” Murray said. “But those laws will have consequences, creating confusion on the part of parents and apprehension on the part of educators who rightly will worry that a perfectly appropriate lesson on slavery or civil rights could prompt a deluge of criticism or even the loss of their job.”    

 This is bad policy and dangerous for our schools. Please reach out to the Senators on the Education and Youth Committee and consider attending or watching the hearing on Monday at 3pm in Rm CLOB 307.

​Other Items to Watch

DeKalb County Redistricting

The process to evaluate county redistricting is beginning in the Senate. There are at least 2 versions of County Commission maps. One would change the current county commission structure from 5 districts + 2 super districts to 7 districts and eliminates the super districts.  The other maintains the current 5+2 structure, and adjusts the district boundaries slightly to account for population changes.  Stay Tuned.   

The house is holding a series of hearings on their maps on February 8 at 6:30 and February 9 at noon. For more information visit: DeKalb State Delegation Facebook page.

HB 1013

HB 1013, the Mental Health Parity Act, incorporates the recommendations of the Behavioral Health Reform and Innovation Commission that included legislators along with mental health, substance abuse and criminal justice experts. This is a comprehensive bill that will address funding and access to mental health services, requires health insurers to treat mental and physical health with parity, and strengthens programs for mental health workers and first responders. 

This bill is Sponsored by House Speaker Ralston and has bipartisan support.

​Virtual Town Hall

Next week I will join Representatives Mary Margaret Oliver and Becky Evans for a virtual town hall.

To Register

To Submit Questions

If you missed last week's town hall with Rep. Bee Nguyen, Comm. Larry Johnson and Atlanta council member Liliana Bakhtiari, click here.

DeKalb County Covid Resources: 

  • DeKalb County testing and vaccine resources:

https://www.dekalbhealth.net/covid-19-dashboard/

 

Questions? Please contact me at elena@elenaparent.com.

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Parent Press: Week 5 of the 2022 Legislative Session

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Parent Press Week 3 of the 2022 Legislative Session