The Good, The Bad, & The Ugly

Now that we have had time to reflect on the session in its totality, I want to break down everything that happened and how it affects each and every single one of y’all. That’s the thing about politics: under the Gold Dome, we pass or strike down bills that impact tax dollars and livelihoods, but everyday people rarely pay attention. I want y’all to be in the loop, to understand the good, the bad, the ugly, and most importantly, the solutions.

Hyper-partisanship. Our session this year was marred by that very concept. Repeatedly, we have seen how the lack of bipartisanship and cooperation can lead to bills that don’t put Georgians at the center.

Of “the bad” that resulted from this kind of thinking, one of the most egregious items passed is the “governor school takeover,” as detailed by SR 287 and SB 133. Come 2016, there will be a referendum to vote on this amendment to the Georgia Constitution; voters will have to decide whether or not they want any governor, not just Nathan Deal, to have complete authority over any “failing” school, which is defined by arbitrary guidelines. While I do understand and commend the Governor for trying to take some initiative on this issue, passing a Michigan-style takeover bill and not providing additional funding to help these struggling schools is not a solution any more than protecting dysfunctional school boards and bad teachers is a solution. Instead, we are making the system more susceptible to corruption through political favors. This short-sighted approach of dealing with a systemic issue only gets in the way of providing relief for struggling Georgians.

Some things, on the other hand, were plain ugly and underhanded. The ugliest of them all was HB 202, otherwise known as the Mercedes-Benz tax breaks, which would help bring the automotive giant to Georgia. Tacked on and passed in the last minutes of the session, folks basically decided not to play by the rules. The bill didn’t meet the cut off time, and legislators couldn’t muster the votes to void the rule, leaving them without the time to adequately read and vet the bill. Despite this, the chamber decided to “lie” and pretend that the bill came out of the conference committee on time. This blatant disregard for the rules sets a horrible precedent for the future. We simply cannot ignore rules that we do not want to follow; they are there for a reason. And in this case, legislators passed the bill on blind faith, risking the chance of passing disastrous provisions.

But, as with everything, there is a silver lining. Originally, MARTA had been receiving their penny through the new car sales tax that was eliminated by the change to the one time title tax. HB 202 gives them the equivalent of their penny and ultimately makes the transit authority financially stable.

In the same way, the session wasn’t all bad. We made meaningful strides on several issues. With HB 170, we raised money for transportation infrastructure. Although the bill did not focus enough on public transportation, it helped start discourse on the importance of increasing taxes when necessary. We can’t always cut taxes and expect infrastructure and other publicly funded resources to serve citizens well. Further, the medical marijuana bill HB 429 made a genuine, albeit not comprehensive, effort to extend lifesaving treatment to Georgians.

More than anything though, in our state of political polarization, the best efforts that we have made involved striking down bills that would infringe on civil rights and liberties. We killed SB 129 on “religious freedom restoration” that would ultimately legalize discrimination, especially against the LGBT community, as long as it has a religious foundation. With the support of prominent religious leaders across the state and average citizens alike, we successfully opposed the bill’s implementation. And even further, we struck down two attempts, first in the form of SB 6 and second in the form of an amendment to another bill, to take away driver’s licenses from immigrants who have been granted humanitarian reprieve by the federal government.

Ultimately though, through this session, we have won some, and we have lost some — as in life. But the important thing is to learn from our mistakes and to present a more united front when dealing with our goals next session. And the first step to that is increasing awareness. I want y’all to get your friends and family involved. Tell them about what goes on under the Gold Dome, and show them why they should care. We need every last one of you.