It could have been a lot worse.
When you can say that about Crossover Day, especially in an election year, you’ve said a mouthful.
None of the bills that made it through one of the chambers by the deadline for bills that will be considered this year are perfect. Some might be outright stinkers.
But though it’s seldom praised, there’s something to be said in the long run for sheer volume. There were a lot of noncontroversial, “easy” bills, and the House and Senate moved through these with admirable efficiency. According to one source, they were moving at a pace of a bill every four minutes at one point.
A bill to legalize mobile barbers, a longtime project of Sen. Al Williams, made it over the wire at last. The white shrimp became the state crustacean. Bills to help social workers, massage therapists and nursing home residents were moved along.
If these mundane measures don’t sound like much to brag about, consider the United States Congress. There, the easy stuff seems to have nearly disappeared.
Compared to past election-year sessions, this one has spent relatively more time on bills like the one which seeks to clamp down on the dumping of chicken guts and feathers in rural areas and less on those like the meaningless bill that would have put a question on this fall’s ballot about whether only U.S. citizens can vote in Georgia elections, which is already the law. That measure failed to get a two-thirds majority in the House.
Several voting bills — or should we say anti-voting bills? — failed to cross the line, but there’s speculation some could return under newly acquired bill titles. The worst of these is a bill that would eliminate automatic voter registration, which has given state election officials a seamless means of keeping track of Georgia’s voters and made the process easy for those voters in the bargain. If it resurfaces under a different number, it’s sure to meet with stiff opposition from Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger and probably Gov. Brian Kemp.
Another “abolish” bill, one which would eliminate the Georgia Regional Transportation Authority (GRTA) and the Atlanta-Region Transit LINK Authority (The ATL), was introduced a couple of weeks ago, caused quite a stir — and then vanished in the waning hours of Crossover Day, never to be called up for a vote.
Then we have the “once and future” bills, like the one that creates a consumer’s utility counsel, like the post that was abolished in 2008. Or the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, which is very much like a bill vetoed by former Gov. Nathan Deal in 2016 at the strong urging of the business community. Opponents of the bill say it opens the door to discrimination, while supporters say it protects religious people against unfair government intrusion. You guessed it: It’s really about wedding cakes.
The bill passed the Senate and definitely is headed for court. Iowa passed a similar bill a few days ago, and some sort of federal court test seems certain, no matter what happens to the bill in Georgia.
That’s just a skimming. It doesn’t get into a lot of legislation dealing with important issues like certificates of need, film tax credits and evictions. And lest we forget, immigration. But it gives a sense of how much the legislature tried to get done while it still could this year.
Realistically, the biggest issue, Medicaid reform, wasn’t going to come up in an election with a Republican governor and legislative majority. But unlike their compatriots in Washington, these lawmakers at least tried to do something that could honestly be called the people’s work.
