Newspaper Page Text
The ADVANCE, January 19, 2022/Page 4A
(Efft Aiiuancg
2022 Session: Week One Update
By Leesa Hagan
R-Vidalia
(District 156, Georgia
House of
Representatives)
The
15 6th
Georgia
General
Assem
bly con
vened in
Atlanta
for the
2 0 2 2
legisla
tive ses
sion last Monday January
10, 2022. With only 40
legislative days to accom
plish the people’s business,
the House of Representa
tives got down to work.
Highlights of the first week
included celebrating Hun
ker Down Day to send the
UGA Bulldogs off for what
turned into an incred
ible win over Alabama and
Governor Brian Kemp’s
annual State of the State
address.
Gov. Kemp delivered
his fourth State of the
State address on Thursday
before the legislature and
members of the Georgia
Supreme Court and Court
of Appeals. During this an
nual address, the Gover
nor discussed the current
conditions of our state and
presented his goals for the
year ahead. After reflect
ing on the challenges and
successes of the last year,
Governor Kemp unveiled
several of his legislative pri
orities for this year, includ
ing education, health care,
and public safety.
Regarding education,
most notably, the Gover
nor encouraged the legisla
ture to fully fund the state’s
schools and restore educa
tional cuts that were made
due to the pandemic and
recommended a $2,000
pay-raise for K-12 teachers,
assistant teachers, and pre-
K teachers. Additionally, he
shared his plan to provide
one-time pay supplements
to other critical school
personnel, such as school
bus drivers. Since this pan
demic began, teachers and
school staff have exceeded
their job requirements to
provide quality education
for our students.
Next, Governor Kemp
asked the General Assem
bly to continue to focus
on improving health care
in our state. To address
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the shortage of health care
workers across the state,
Gov. Kemp announced his
plans to expand nursing
programs, add 136 prima
ry residency slots for the
Georgia Board of Health
Care Workers, and increase
funding to mitigate ru
ral doctor shortages. The
governor estimated that
these investments would
add 1,300 practitioners to
the health care work force
in our state. These invest
ments would benefit all of
us by addressing the health
care worker shortage and
the high rate of burnout
they currently face.
Finally, Gov. Kemp
plans to launch a new anti
gang unit in the attorney
general’s office that would
partner with the Georgia
Bureau oflnvestigation and
local law enforcement to
prosecute gang members.
He also encouraged us to
appropriate funds to ad
dress the backlog of crimi
nal investigations caused
by the pandemic, upgrade
GBI crime lab equipment,
and provide additional staff
in the crime lab and medi
cal examiner’s office. To
enhance law enforcement
recruitment efforts, the
governor outlined his plan
to provide a raise for state
law enforcement and other
state employees and re
quested that the Technical
College System of Georgia
add law enforcement and
criminal justice degrees to
the state’s high-demand ca
reer initiatives. Also, First
Lady Marty Kemp and the
GRACE Commission will
work with the House and
Senate this session to add
human trafficking to the
list of serious violent and
sexual offenses that require
a superior court judge to
grant bail. As we’ve unfor
tunately seen in our local
community over the past
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2022 DAY 1 — Celebrating Hunker Down Day.L to R: Rep. Jan Tankersley, Rep. Beth
Camp, Rep. Katie Dempsey, Rep. Leesa Hagan.
2022 DAY 4 — Rep. Leesa Hagan with the newly elected
House Majority Chair, Rep. Bonnie Rich.
several weeks, the rising
crime rate must be ad
dressed.
This week, my col
leagues and I will begin
the state budget process
through a series of Joint
House and Senate Ap
propriations Committee
hearings, which is often re
ferred to as “budget week.”
The governor released his
budget proposals after his
address on Thursday and
over the next several days
we will delve into them
and hear directly from state
agency heads regarding
their needs for the current
and upcoming fiscal years.
The governor’s budget
recommendations, along
with the recommenda
tions from state agencies,
will ultimately help us to
form legislation for the
state’s budget in the com
ing weeks. I look forward
to bringing you news about
our state budget through
out the legislative session.
Finally, I would be re
miss if I did not congratu
late the University of Geor
gia Bulldogs for their 2021
College Football Playoff
National Championship
title. We are proud to have
these national champions
hail from our great state,
and they represented Geor
gia well as they defeated
the University of Alabama.
The first day of session co
incided with game day, and
the House made sure to
wish the Bulldogs the best
of luck. We started the leg
islative day with an excit
ing highlight reel from this
season, and as the Speaker
of the House gaveled us
out for the day, we joined
together and sang, “Glory,
Glory to old Georgia.” Go
Dawgs!
Now that the legisla
tive session is underway, I
will spend most of my time
over the next three months
at the State Capitol. I wel
come you to reach out to
me with your thoughts
and opinions as we move
throughout the session,
and if you plan to visit At
lanta, please stop by my of
fice! It’s always good to see
a friendly face from home.
You may email me directly
at Leesa.Hagan(a)house.
ga.gov to get in touch.
Thank you for allowing me
to serve as your State Rep
resentative for House Dis
trict 156.
Georgia Senate committee
OKs ban on noncitizen voting
By Dave Williams
Bureau Chief
Capitol Beat News Service
Proposed constitu
tional amendment pro
hibiting non-U.S. citizens
from voting in Georgia
cleared a state Senate com
mittee Thursday
The Senate Ethics
Committee’s Republican
majority passed the mea
sure 7-2 along party lines
after opponents criticized
it as unnecessary. Georgia
law, federal law and the
U.S. Constitution already
contain a ban on nonciti
zen voting.
“There is absolutely no
need to amend the Geor
gia Constitution,” said
Cindy Battles, director of
policy and engagement for
the Georgia Coalition for
the People’s Agenda.
Katherine Mad
dox of Atlanta linked the
proposed constitutional
amendment to the dispute
over the 2020 presidential
election results and the
attack on the U.S. Capitol
a year ago by supporters
of then-President Donald
Trump.
“What is the inspira
tion for this bill ... unless
it’s to belabor a point I
would think the majority
party would be trying to
distance itself from: vio
lence and racism,” she said.
But the resolution’s
supporters said it is simply
an attempt to clarify a ban
on noncitizen voting that
is not clear as written in
the current state constitu
tion.
Sam Teasley, direc
tor of external affairs in
the Georgia secretary of
state’s office, said it is “per
missive” in that it states
citizens may vote but does
not specifically prohibit
noncitizens from casting a
ballot.
“It is not clear,” he said.
Teasley’s boss, Repub
lican Secretary of State
Brad Raffensperger, this
week called for an amend
ment to the U.S. Constitu
tion banning noncitizens
from voting.
“In Georgia, the right
to vote is sacred,” Senate
President Pro Tempore
Class
Reunion—
The Vidalia High
School Class of 1975
will hold their class re
union April 8-10, 2022,
at Hawk's Point Golf
Club, 1901 Loop Rd„
Vidalia. A Meet and
Greet will be held on
April 8 at 6:00 p.m..
and GOP candidate for
lieutenant governor Butch
Miller said Thursday. “Citi
zenship matters.”
Miller’s resolution
passed the committee 7-2
and now heads to the Sen
ate Rules Committee to
schedule it for a vote of the
full Senate.
However, it faces an
uphill battle. Constitu
tional amendments re
quire a two-thirds vote to
pass, and Senate Republi
cans lack the 38 votes they
would need to reach that
supermajority without
help from Democrats.
This story is available
through a news partnership
with Capitoi Beat News
Service, a project of the
Georgia Press Educational
Foundation.
Banquet on April 9 at
6:00 p.m., and Wor
ship service on April
10 at First African Mis
sionary Baptist
Church.
For more informa
tion, contact Laverne
Madison at 912-293-
3720 or Allen McAr
thur at 912-614-5197.
ODDS