The Parent Press: Week 1 of the 2021 Legislative Session
Greetings!
I had hoped that 2021 would get off to a more promising start, but unfortunately, that has not been the case – not yet, at least!
First, we were confronted by the spectacle of the events that unfolded on January 6th – a date which will be forevermore known as a dark day in the history of our nation. Based on a lie, an aggrieved mob stormed the halls of our Capitol, wreaking havoc and leaving destruction and even death in their wake. They believed this lie, despite the reams of contradictory evidence, because the most powerful person in our country told them the election was stolen. But many others – including Republicans in the Georgia Senate – enabled the lie and helped destroy faith in democracy by lending their own names and positions of power to lies and conspiracies. In this combustible situation, even staying silent helped the doubts grow. On January 11, Day 1 of the Legislative Session, I spoke out against my colleagues and challenged their behavior.
Watch me address the events on Jan. 6 in the Senate!
Perhaps those who imitated or enabled the President as he openly marched his followers towards January 6th thought that the damage wouldn’t be too bad – that they could gain the support, and votes, of his followers without any cost to themselves, or our country. They were wrong. Real damage has been done – to this state and to our country.
With authority comes responsibility, and our country desperately needed more leaders to use their positions of power to stop the lies.
The 2021 Legislative Session
Video: Priorities, Plans & Actions to Take in 2021
Issues to WatcH
Redistricting & Gerrymandering
The results of the 2020 elections, in which Joe Biden defeated Donald Trump and Democrats won both U.S. Senate seats, illustrated what many of us already knew: Georgia is no longer the solidly red state of the early aughts. Democrats are as competitive here as they are in traditional swing states such as Florida and the so-called “Blue Wall” states. Georgia is purple, and trending blue.
Georgia Republicans, however, are not willing to accept this reality. Instead, they are poised to use redistricting to grant themselves disproportionate power. The 2020 redistricting cycle has already begun, and we have to be ready. The maps that are drawn matter. They define whether or not Georgians have access to healthcare and high-quality public education. They decide whether our children will be protected from gun violence.
Thus, as the upcoming redistricting process begins, we – as elected officials, activists and citizens – must pay attention. If we don’t, Republicans will create another anti-democratic map, designed to disenfranchise and suppress marginalized communities and Democratic-leaning voters, behind closed doors. We must demand transparency and public participation at every step. Only by making our voices heard can we ensure that the fundamental rights of all Georgians – no matter their race, ethnicity, or party affiliation – are protected, and their beliefs respected.
Voter Suppression
Georgia Republicans, in both the Senate and House, have pledged to use this legislative session to push through measures that would strictly curtail access to the ballot, limiting the ability of Georgians to make their voices heard. Their strategy is not new: for decades, Republicans in our state have worked to prevent citizens from exercising their right to vote, through poll closures, arbitrary “signature match” requirements, and voter roll purges.
The COVID pandemic led Secretary of State Raffensperger to send out absentee ballot applications to every registered voter, which made it easier for Georgians – of all political parties – to cast their votes. At the time he made that decision, many powerful Republicans, including Speaker Ralston, were not happy with him -- suspecting that more people voting in Georgia would weaken Republican control. After Democrats won the 2020 presidential and Senate elections in Georgia, Republicans are relying on the deliberately invented myth of voter fraud to change voting rules to suppress certain voters and keep their hold on power. As voters, we must pay close attention to the moves that the GOP makes in this arena, so that we can draw the public’s attention to their anti-democratic tactics.
Ranked Choice Voting
The United States is a geographically large and diverse nation. A particular electoral reforms might succeed in New York, yet fail in Wyoming. That being said, the last decade – and in particular, the last four years – have shown us that the systems upon which our democracy is based are neither perfect nor infallible. Experimenting with alternative electoral systems has the potential to increase political participation and better preserve democratic norms.
For example, certain jurisdictions could experiment with a transition to ranked choice voting, which has the potential to engage and empower more voters, while cutting costs in states and municipalities that currently hold runoff elections to ensure winners secure a majority of the vote. Ranked choice voting allows citizens to go with a long-shot candidate, or a third-party candidate—to vote with their heart, so to speak — without fearing that a vote for their person will help the candidate they like the least. And, candidates can win only with support — or at least tolerance — from a majority of the electorate.
Officials in several cites, including Brookhaven, Doraville and Johns Creek, have expressed desire to pilot ranked choice voting for their elections. I plan to introduce legislation that would permit that, as well as legislation that would move Georgia to ranked choice voting for military and overseas ballots, meaning we would no longer have nine-week runoffs.
Georgia’s Vaccination Rollout
COVID-19 cases and deaths are climbing, in Georgia and across the nation. Mass vaccination can and will halt the pandemic – yet, Georgia’s vaccine rollout has been slow and plagued by glitches.
A portion of the blame lies squarely with the federal government. The federal government is only supplying our state with 80,000 vaccine doses per week (excluding the doses allocated to long-term care facilities). Yet, 2 million Georgians are currently eligible to receive the vaccine. Simply put, there are far more Georgians who are eligible for vaccination than there are doses of the vaccine.
Our state government, too, bears responsibility for a number of the obstacles we have encountered so far. The federal government made it clear that they weren’t going to take a leading role in the vaccination campaign. Yet, state leaders in Georgia failed to devise or fund an organized plan. Instead of leadership and expertise, Georgians were met with confusion and incompetence, and a patchwork system that relies upon underfunded county health departments to carry out the largest vaccination campaign in modern history.
For over a decade, Republicans have refused to adequately fund county health departments. Unfortunately, a deadly pandemic didn’t change their minds. If we want county health departments to schedule and administer thousands of vaccines, they need more support, resources and staff.
If we can ramp up the pace of Georgia’s vaccination campaign, we will save lives. Currently, the GA Department of Public Health is working to roll out a statewide database for making vaccination appointments, and this should help make the process more seamless. We will continue to advocate for you, your family and the citizens of this state!
Gov. Kemp’s Proposed Budget
Thursday, Governor Kemp released his budget proposal. In his State of the State address, Kemp painted a rosy picture of Georgia’s finances. He told us there would be no new budget cuts. He failed to mention that, in July, the state imposed dramatic across-the-board budget cuts to every agency and sector. Public education spending was cut by $1 billion, and the governor’s budget would only restore half of these funds. Public schools are already struggling to balance the health risks of in-person learning with the educational and emotional risks of remote learning. In order to safely reopen, public schools need additional support and resources from the government – not less resources. The Legislature will be discussing the budget this week, and my Democratic colleagues and I will continue to push for our priorities: common-sense measures that will improve the health, education and financial security of Georgians and their families.