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The Gist
Pay raises, enriched pensions, health care services, college funds, tax breaks and more protections for consumers. These are just some of the winners in the final days of this year's legislative session.
Of course, once a bill has been passed by the Legislature, it still must get the governor’s signature. If the governor doesn’t sign or veto it within 40 days of the end of the session, it automatically becomes law.
Here's a look at how Georgians will benefit from new funding in the fiscal year 2023 and 2024 budgets, as well as new policies enacted through legislation that made it through both chambers this session.
What’s happening: a breakdown of the winners
- Most taxpayers will get income tax refunds ($250 for single filers, $500 for married couples) after filing their 2022 taxes this year.
- Homeowners will receive, on average, a property tax refund of about $500 later this year.
- Public school teachers and other certified school employees get a $2,000 pay raise and teachers in K-12 get a dedicated planning period during school hours when they can’t be required to do paperwork or other duties.
- Pre-K teachers and assistant teachers will get a $2,000 increase from lottery funds.
- Public school nurses, nutrition workers and bus drivers get a 5.1% pay raise, and school custodians get a $1,000 bonus.
- Children enrolled in kindergarten through third grade will benefit from new reading and literacy programs outlined in the Georgia Early Literacy Act, which mandates that schools use high-quality, evidence-based reading curricula and literacy tools, and requires teachers to receive training on how to provide developmentally appropriate literacy instruction.
- Funding was restored to the program that provides reduced-priced lunches to public school children in need.
- Middle and high school girls attending school in low-wealth areas who need feminine hygiene products will be able to get free tampons and pads at school.
- College students who qualify for the HOPE scholarship will receive 100% of tuition next year, including those enrolled in public and private colleges. Students at state universities and technical colleges who don’t have the money to graduate will benefit from $12 million in lottery funding for the state’s need-based completion grants program, now offering $3,500 once students have completed 70% of credits in a four-year program, and 45% of credits in a two-year program.
- Students with intellectual disabilities can now get 100% of their college tuition covered and can expect to be enrolled in classes with nondisabled peers for at least 50% of their courses. SB 246 also ensures that these students will get individual support and services for social inclusion, including involvement in extracurricular activities.
- People with a multitude of behavioral health needs will find more services and care available through $27 million in funding for three new behavioral crisis centers in Augusta, Dublin and Fulton County, as well as expanded services for substance abuse and addiction recovery across the state.
- The 2024 budget includes $9.4 million to double the number of waivers funding care for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
- Adults on Medicaid will now have dental coverage.
- Health care providers in rural areas will qualify for loan repayment programs, including rural doctors, physician assistants, advanced practice registered nurses and new mental health professionals.
- Nurses who serve as faculty members in post-secondary nursing programs will be eligible to have up to $100,000 of their student loans repaid by the state, per SB 246.
- People who enroll in eligible programs of study in the behavioral health professions will qualify for service-cancelable loans, funded by $10 million provided to the Georgia Student Finance Commission, per HB 1013, the 2022 Mental Health Parity Act.
- State psychiatric hospital employees will get salary increases through a $10.1 million appropriation to the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities, a budget move to address part of the workforce crisis at the department.
- More low-income families will receive child care assistance through $1 million in matching funds for the Department of Early Care and Learning, to draw down another $1 million in federal funds.
- Children with complex physical, mental and behavioral health needs who are in the care of the Department of Family and Children Services (DFCS), living in foster homes, hotels, or DFCS offices, will find better housing options and support through $20.2 million in new state funding.
- The passage of SB 133 means that juvenile court judges will have to take a beat before sending children who have been reportedly abused or neglected into state custody or foster care. The new law requires judges to let DFCS gather and review information about the child’s case and options for where to place them (including with extended family) before removing them from their homes.
- More than 3,900 law enforcement officers in a dozen state agencies will get a $4,000 pay increase in 2024, and some frontline officers, including state troopers and Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) officers, will receive an additional $2,000.
- Families of cold-case victims, including some involved in 600 known existing unsolved cases, can now ask law enforcement agencies to renew a probe into old cases after three years. The 2024 budget provides $5.4 million for a new cold case unit within the Georgia Bureau of Investigation.
- Law enforcement dogs are getting some legal protection. Anyone who harms a K-9 officer or search and rescue animal on duty could now face up to a year in jail and/or $1,000 in fines, thanks to SB 155 aka “Figo’s Law,” named for the Georgia State Patrol K-9 killed in the line of duty last October.
- Buckhead residents will get more peace of mind when the Department of Public Safety opens a $1.25 million satellite post in the north Atlanta area where citizens have complained about incidents of violent and property crime.
What about other government workers?
- All state employees will receive a $2,000 cost of living raise.
- Retired state employees will receive a bump in their pensions and a one-time benefit of $500.
- Employees at the Georgia Forestry Commission will get a $4,000 pay raise on top of the $2,000 increase provided to all state employees.
And there’s more …
- Drivers of electric vehicles will now be able to pay for juicing up their vehicles by the amount of power used instead of the amount of time spent at a charging station, with some new taxes added, per SB 146.
- People who use gas-powered leaf blowers can blow leaves to their heart’s content because the state has barred any localities from banning the devices. HB 374 also prohibits cities and counties from telling homeowners what fuel they can use in their homes, including in their stoves.
- People with online subscriptions, such as Netflix, will now be able to opt out of or cancel automatic renewals online with businesses that offer paid subscriptions or purchasing agreements.
- And people who order food from third-party food delivery services such as GrubHub or UberEats can take comfort in knowing that the food and business practices of those apps, including their dealings with local restaurants, will be better regulated. In both cases, terms between consumers and online merchants must be “clear and conspicuous” to reduce deceptive and unfair trade practices.
What’s Next
Gov. Brian Kemp will sign, ignore or veto the FY 2024 budget and the bills passed by the General Assembly in 2023 that still await his review. Bills not vetoed within 40 days will become law. Legislators can override a veto with votes by at least two-thirds of the members of each chamber. Bills tabled or never taken up by either chamber this year, as well as wholly new legislation, will have a fresh shot at consideration on Jan. 8, 2024, when the second year of this two-year legislative session begins. Before the start of the 2024 session, the governor will submit a budget report including his proposed amendments to the Fiscal Year 2024 budget, as well as his proposed FY 2025 budget. The fiscal year in Georgia begins July 1.
Have questions, comments or tips about legislation that did or didn’t pass this session, and thoughts about what should be on the legislative agenda for 2024? Contact Jill Jordan Sieder on Twitter @journalistajill or at [email protected] and Tammy Joyner on Twitter @lvjoyner or at [email protected].
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Header image: Reps. Tyler Paul Smith, Spencer Frye, Al Williams and other Georgia House members are poised to celebrate the end of the 2023 legislation session on March 29, 2023, by tossing up shredded and whole bills. (Credit: Jill Jordan Sieder)
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Session nears end: Final push on health care, other critical bills
ATLANTA — The 157th General Assembly made its mark this year. It passed measures to ease regulations governing expansion of hospitals, provide private school vouchers for students in low-performing public school districts and crack down on rogue prosecutors.
On Thursday, the final day of the 2024 legislative session, both chambers churned out a few dozen bills destined for the governor’s desk, including legislation to increase penalties for sex offenders, secure elections and monitor students’ social media activity.
Before the day is done, they will reckon with bills to legalize sports betting and penalize cities that ignore immigration laws.
Gov. Brian Kemp recapped the last three months of legislative work in a quick speech he made to both chambers.
“We put more money towards mental health services than ever before. We’ve made meaningful investments in infrastructure. We’ve taken the first meaningful steps on tort reform in decades,” Kemp said Thursday night.
A bill to define antisemitism, hotly debated on Sine Die last year, generated just as much heat early in this year’s session before passing.
National angst over immigration issues prompted Republicans to pass bills banning foreigners from buying land and from donating to political campaigns. The February death of nursing student Laken Riley, who was allegedly killed by a Venezuelan man who had entered the U.S. illegally, gave new life to immigration-related legislation this session.
In a similar vein, House Bill 1105 would require law enforcement to track and detain undocumented immigrants and to report their status to federal immigration officials.
House Bill 301 would allow Georgia residents to sue law enforcement agencies and local governments that act as sanctuary cities for undocumented immigrants and who fail to enforce state law. If a judge agrees, the state would cut off state and federal aid, except for a short list of essential services. HB 105 and HB 301 were both amended in the Senate and are expected to see final passage in the House.
Budget takes center stage on final day
Among the biggest issues debated in the final days was the fiscal year 2025 budget.
Key components of the $36.1 billion fiscal year 2025 budget proposed by Gov. Brian Kemp were approved by the House and Senate, whose budget writers continued to negotiate over a few expenditures well into Thursday afternoon.
The 2025 budget makes big new investments in education, including $2,500 raises for K-12 and pre-K teachers, and $210 million in new funding for student transportation. Pre-K class sizes will be reduced to 20 from 22 students using $9.5 million in Georgia Lottery education funds. (Pre-K education will also be infused with lottery revenue from coin-operated amusement machines through House Bill 353, a bill passed this week that calls for $50 million to $100 million in lottery reserves to be used annually for pre-K.)
Higher education will get a boost with $91 million for dual enrollment programs and $66 million to restore funds for teaching programs at smaller colleges, a line item vetoed by Kemp last year.
Most state workers will get 4% pay raises, while law enforcement officers, corrections officers and people in high-turnover positions such as child welfare case workers will get $3,000 more. Behavioral health providers will also see pay rate increases.
The budget includes new funds to expand rural workforce housing, domestic violence shelters, skilled nursing centers, and to provide stable housing and services to homeless persons. State court judges will get raises, as will district attorneys, public defenders, and scientists and technicians at the Georgia Bureau of Investigation.
As always, the state will invest heavily in transportation, spending $2.4 billion on projects including roads, bridges and electric vehicle infrastructure.
Tax breaks equal tax relief
Two bills to provide modest tax relief to both individuals and businesses passed last week. House Bill 1015 cuts the state income tax for individuals to 5.39% from 5.49%, retroactive to Jan. 1. Those earning $58,000 would save about $34 at that rate. House Bill 1023 would decrease the corporate income tax rate to match that of individuals.
Still on tap is House Bill 1019, a bill to lower the assessed value of residential properties and to increase the homestead exemption on owner-occupied homes, was amended by the Senate to raise the exemption to $10,000 from $2,000, a bigger jump than the $4,000 exemption proposed by the House. If passed, it will appear on the November ballot as a referendum for voters.
New provisions for the film tax credit, an interactive gaming tax credit and an affordable housing tax credit were rolled into an amendment to Senate Bill 349.
The bill offers film production companies a 20% tax credit and 10% additional credit to those who meet criteria, including using crew members who are local residents, spending at least $30 million in Georgia, filming at least half of their productions in underserved areas of the state and using local studios and sound stages. The total amount of film credits cannot exceed 2.5% of the total state budget.
The affordable housing tax credit prioritizes housing projects located in rural areas, that reserve a majority of units for seniors and people with disabilities, veterans and first responders; provide access to transportation; and are owned by a housing authority.
Here’s a look at other legislation that did well this session:
Housing. The Legislature passed the Safe at Home Act, which guarantees that rental units are fit for human habitation and also provides other tenant protections.
Lawmakers also passed House Bill 220, which requires community-governed associations to notify in writing a home or condo owner of a covenant breach — such as painting their house a color not approved by the association, and give them time to fix it before taking legal action. It lets homeowners vote in their community-governed associations even if they owe an HOA fee. It also ensures HOA meetings and elections are held at least once a year as long as 5% of the owners ask for it. The Senate created a study committee to delve further into issues involving community-governed associations such as homeowners’ associations.
House Bill 1410 would create a stable housing accountability program to provide voluntary and immediate housing to homeless people for up to 18 months while helping them find permanent housing and providing other wraparound services. It also amends who appoints members to the State Trust Fund for the Homeless Commission.
Health care. After several years of trying, the House and Senate reached a compromise bill involving regulations governing where and if hospitals should be built or expanded in Georgia, which has seen nine rural hospitals close since 2010. The Legislature also passed bills to pay back the student loans of mental health professionals and addiction specialists who serve youth and work in underserved areas of the state.
Law enforcement. Besides healthy raises for law enforcement officers across several agencies, the Legislature approved bills to increase penalties for many crimes, including those related to drug and sex trafficking. Concerned over the national fentanyl crisis, lawmakers passed a bill that goes after those who make or sell fentanyl and charges them with a felony offense of aggravated involuntary manslaughter if their distribution results in someone’s death.
The Legislature also voted to add 20 misdemeanor charges, such as shoplifting, criminal trespass and forgery, to a list of offenses no longer eligible for cash bail after a second charge.
Education. HB 282, a bill on career-readiness education for sixth to 12th graders, passed but not before the Senate amended the bill with provisions that included panic buttons for teachers.
Late-breaking culture wars
A bill originally meant to provide mental health resources to high school athletes became a touchstone on culture wars in the Legislature. The Senate turned House Bill 1104 into a bill banning transgender youth from participating in girls’ sports and from using multi-occupancy school bathrooms, and requiring schools to tell parents what books their children check out from school libraries. The House is expected to take it up today.
In another move, House Bill 1170 started out as a bill to provide opioid drug overdose kits in schools and public buildings but was changed in the Senate to ban the use of puberty-blocking drugs by transgender minors. It passed by substitute 32-19. Awaiting House action.
Medicaid expansion fails
Efforts to expand Medicaid to millions more Georgians hit highs and lows through the session but finally died earlier this month.
Senate Democrats made a last-ditch appeal to a Republican-led Senate committee to expand Medicaid, but after a 7-7 tie vote, the committee chair killed the measure in favor of giving Kemp’s Pathways program more time to catch on. The Democrats’ proposal, modeled after Arkansas’ Medicaid waiver plan, would have let state officials seek a federal waiver so Georgia could purchase private health insurance plans for people who are above the poverty line but unable to afford insurance through the Affordable Care Act.
Have questions or comments? Contact Jill Jordan Sieder on X @journalistajill or at [email protected] and Tammy Joyner on X @lvjoyner or at [email protected].
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HOA bill advances in the Legislature
The Gist
Bills geared to addressing challenges facing homeowners’ associations and the residents who live in such community-governed places have advanced in the Georgia Legislature — but not without some bipartisan wrangling.
On Tuesday, the Senate passed Senate Resolution 37, which created the Senate Property Owners’ Associations, Homeowners’ Associations, and Condominium Associations Study Committee.
Sen. Donzella James, D-Atlanta, one of the bill’s sponsors, had been trying for two years to get the legislation passed. Parts of James’ other HOA-related bills were attached to a House bill that also passed the Senate on Tuesday, day 39 of the 40-day session.
The Senate also passed House Bill 220, which requires community-governed associations to notify in writing a home or condo owner of a covenant breach — such as painting their house a color not approved by the association, and give them time to fix it before taking legal action. The bill, sponsored by Rep. Rob Leverett, R-Elberton, passed 51-2. The bill returns to the House for its review of the Senate’s amendments.
Sine Die, the final day of the session, is today.
What’s Happening
Passing SR 37 is a major step in James’ three-year effort to get legislation passed that would regulate more closely community-run associations.
“It was crucial because now we’ll take a serious look at it with people who have been assigned who have no strong contact with HOAs at all,” James told State Affairs.
In last-minute maneuvering, parts of James’ other HOA bills were attached to HB 220. That bill was amended to include provisions that prevent homeowners from losing their right to vote in the HOA if they owe a fee. It also ensures HOA meetings and elections are held as long as 5% of the owners ask for it, and that HOAs abide by nonprofit laws.
“This amendment is simple but it’s very necessary,” Sen. Matt Brass, R-Newnan, told his peers Tuesday, crediting James with bringing the HOA issues to his attention.
“This amendment is a small step forward for all these bad actors in HOAs, and not all HOAs are bad,” said Brass. “But there are some bad actors out there.This amendment is a message to them that we’re coming for you.”
Why It Matters
James got involved in the issue three years ago after attending a meeting where residents in several Douglas County subdivisions talked about problems they were having with their HOAs.
That meeting subsequently led to the launch of HOA boot camps to help people learn about community-run associations.
“We did help a lot of people,” James said. “But I realized that the problem was with the law, and with them [homeowners] signing those covenants at the closing of the house and not really being advised properly.”
As it stands now, James said “There are no [Georgia] regulations.The only thing that controls an HOA or a COA [condominium owners association] is the covenant that you signed, and with them signing those covenants at the closing of the house, and not really being advised properly.”
As a result, James initiated a series of hearings last summer on the issue. The hearings drew lots of people who were having trouble with their HOAs, including many from Brass’ district. James brought the issue to the attention of Brass, chair of the influential Senate Rules Committee, who ultimately helped advance the bills.
“What Brass did with them is he went in each one and took a major part out and put it in as an amendment to somebody else’s bill,” James said. “We couldn’t write the whole bill all over again. We could only amend it. And so that’s what he did.”
In similar fashion, Leverett told State Affairs, he brought his bill after groups representing homeowners’ and condo associations came to him expressing concern about approaching homeowners in person about covenant violations because of the potential physical danger it could create.
What’s Next?
The Senate Property Owners’ Associations, Homeowners’ Associations, and Condominium Associations Study Committee will report its findings and recommendations to next year’s General Assembly once hearings are held later this year.
“I see positive movement. It’s a good start,” James said of the creation of the study committee. “What it will do is give us a chance to look at everything that wasn’t included in the amendment to HB 220.”
Have questions? Contact Tammy Joyner on X @lvjoyner or at [email protected].
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Voting ‘no’ is a legislative way of life for these two Georgia lawmakers
ATLANTA — When it comes to voting “no,” Rep. Charlice Byrd and Sen. Colton Moore are the top two naysayers in the Georgia General Assembly.
The two conservative, Republican lawmakers have been in lockstep on several key pieces of legislation throughout the session. Between them, they’ve voted no on nearly 200 bills, often casting the lone dissenting vote. Each was the only lawmaker in their chamber, for instance, to vote no on the state’s fiscal year 2025 budget.
In fact, the two legislators have voted in unison on a number of bills this session that will impact Georgians in substantial ways. They’ve voted no on bills that would:
- Ease restrictions on expanding hospitals.
- Double parental leave for state employees to six weeks from three weeks.
- Forgive the student loans of mental health workers and veterinarians.
- Let nurses and physician assistants prescribe painkillers to patients.
- Require employers to provide secret ballot votes if their workers choose to unionize. Companies that do so get state economic incentives.
- Create a new program to provide housing and services for the homeless.
- Require convenience stores to post information from the human trafficking hotline.
All of those bills passed despite Moore and Byrd’s votes.
They don’t always go against the grain of their party, which controls both the state House and Senate as well as the offices of the governor, secretary of state and attorney general — known as the Republican trifecta.
Moore and Byrd have given a nod to some key Republican initiatives this year, including bills to support private school vouchers, enforce the tracking and detention of undocumented immigrants, ban foreigners from donating to political campaigns, and to ensure that legislation takes into account the impact on small businesses. They’ve joined the GOP on election reform measures removing the secretary of state from the State Election Board and making changes to ballots and voting procedures designed to improve election security. And both agree that people who don’t have cosmetology licenses should be allowed to blow-dry hair and apply makeup.
The pair’s far-right views are heavily influenced by the Georgia Freedom Caucus, a three-year-old, uber-conservative group that is the outgrowth of the congressional House Freedom Caucus. The national State Freedom Caucus Network favors social conservatism and small government and opposes immigration reform. It helped oust U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy last fall.
Byrd and Moore are chair and vice chair, respectively, of the Georgia group. Sen. Greg Dolezal, R-Cumming, the chief deputy majority whip in the Senate, is the third member of the Freedom Caucus in the General Assembly.
“I go by the four pillars of my Georgia Freedom Caucus,” which are, “Does it grow government? Does it raise taxes? Does it increase regulation? And does it go against personal liberties?” Byrd said on Georgia Public Broadcasting’s “Lawmakers” television show earlier this month when asked about her pattern of no votes. “I also throw in there for myself: Is it the proper role of government? … It was to protect, preserve and defend, and now we fund a whole lot of things that we really should not be funding.”
Byrd and Moore began the session in January promoting the Freedom Caucus proposal for a complete repeal of the state income tax by 2030, and belittling the gradual personal income tax drop of 0.1% per year to 4.99% from 5.49% by 2029 promoted by the governor and GOP leadership. “At that rate, it would take 54 years to get to zero,” said Moore.
Both Byrd and Moore are rabid supporters of former president Donald Trump. And both have caught flak for controversial moves in the Legislature.
Moore has burned up considerable political capital — and gained national attention doing so. He was kicked out of the Senate Republican caucus last September after attacking fellow Republicans for refusing to agree with him in calling for a special session to take action against Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, who is prosecuting Trump in an election interference trial. Earlier this month, Moore was banned indefinitely from the House for a scathing tirade he leveled against the late-Speaker of the House David Ralston.
The self-styled “RINO (Republican In Name Only) Wranglers” were featured in this video calling for a special session and lambasting their GOP colleagues:
Byrd introduced a bill early this year to impeach Willis, but it was ignored in the House. Later in the session, Republicans in both chambers went after Willis and others they deem as “rogue prosecutors” in their own way, by standing up a prosecutorial oversight commission (a bill which Byrd and Moore voted against). The Senate, led by Dolezal, also launched an investigative committee to probe Willis’ conduct, which Moore supported and claimed credit for spurring on.
The pair’s unconventional approach is “not the normal path that one follows when trying to build a successful career in the Legislature,” Charles Bullock, a University of Georgia political science professor who is widely-regarded as a preeminent scholar on Southern politics, told State Affairs.
“The old advice that [former] U.S. House Speaker Sam Rayburn used to give new members is ‘you have to go along to get along,’ ” said Bullock. “Help out other members and when you need help, you could turn to your colleagues and they’ll remember when you were helpful to them and they’ll reciprocate. If you’re out there burning bridges though, it means you are going to be less effective in doing things for your constituents.”
Byrd against immigrant ‘invasion and for the free market
Byrd, 72, is a former middle school teacher and political activist who lives in Woodstock and represents conservative, wealthy and mostly white Cherokee County. A self-described “pro-fair tax, pro-gun, pro-life Reagan conservative,” she has consistently voted for measures that return funds to taxpayers and against those that expand the budget.
She said the amended fiscal year 2024 budget signed by Gov. Brian Kemp this month “is full of crony subsidies, welfare and woke-ism while failing to deliver on conservative policies.”
Byrd said she took issue with spending $126 million on Kemp’s limited expansion of Medicaid through his Pathways program, despite its requirement for recipients to work or volunteer. And she’s opposed to “paying to grow the EV (electric vehicle) industry, train their workers, house their workers, subsidize them to the max. Free market should decide if EVs are our future, not the government.”
Byrd was also against returning $66 million to the University System of Georgia (USG) for teaching expenses, a line item in the 2024 budget vetoed by the governor last year. “Our universities are indoctrinating our kids … and USG is funding racism, sexism and radical gender ideology,” said Byrd.
Of Chinese and European descent, Byrd is a founding member of the Asian-American Pacific Islander Caucus in the General Assembly. Unlike other members of the mostly Democratic caucus, she regularly complains about “the invasion” of illegal immigrants in Georgia and at the southern U.S. border.
Last month she said, “Georgia is doling out our taxpayer dollars for everything that is not the proper role of government while doing nothing to address the invasion of our state or the root causes of sex trafficking or holding Fani Willis accountable. With the Republican trifecta, one would think we should be doing a lot better.”
Through March 21 of this session, Byrd has voted no 118 times out of 325 votes on legislation, or 36% of the time.
On Monday she posted this video on X to brag about being “the state representative who votes ‘no’ the most,” and to preview the last two legislative days of the session, which she said “will be dangerous for freedom”:
Among Byrd’s solo no votes this year was a vote against allowing people who make cottage foods such as baked goods, jams and trail mixes in their homes to sell them in local stores. She was also alone in rejecting a bill to create the Weeping Time Cultural Heritage Authority to preserve the memory of more than 400 African slaves sold in Savannah in 1859.
Byrd acknowledged it can be tough to vote against everyone in her party and sometimes against the entire House.
“You lose a lot of friends, and that is very unfortunate,” she said. “I have made a lot of other friends that appreciate and respect what I do,” including some colleagues who tell her they wish they could vote the way she does. “And I always tell them, ‘There is not one person on that floor that votes for you. It is your district that votes for you, and you should be voting your district.’ ”
Even when she’s voting with the majority, she finds moments to work in her far right agenda. During a long debate this week in the House over Senate Bill 354, a bill to allow blow-dry stylists and makeup artists to practice without a cosmetology license, which several Democrats warned would pose health risks, Byrd said, “we should be more concerned about a doctor mutilating our children than the licensing of cosmetology.”
Moore pushing for criminal justice reform
In his first month at work in the Legislature this year, Moore voted no on a dozen of the 45 or so bills that came up for a vote in the Senate.
The legislation Moore has voted against runs the gamut. He was the sole naysayer on a resolution that would create a Senate study committee to look at improving family caregiver services. He also was the single no vote on a resolution that designates May 1 as Purebred Dog Day. Both passed the Senate.
He was one of six lawmakers who voted no on a bill that defines antisemitism. That bill passed 44-6. And if he’d had his way, development authorities wouldn’t be allowed to hold their meetings by teleconference. His Senate peers disagreed with him, passing the bill 51-1.
While Moore and Byrd may appear to be legislative doppelgangers, they aren’t in sync on everything.
Moore voted against the Safe at Home Act, a bipartisan bill that would guarantee safe living conditions in rental properties. Byrd embraced it. Moore also voted no to create a Senate study committee on the preservation of Georgia’s farmland.
Bullock said he’s surprised that Moore, one of his former students, has aligned himself with extreme conservatives. During his senior year at UGA, Moore took Bullock’s legislative process class which dealt with “norms of behavior and getting along well with peers and mutual respect.”
Two years after graduating, Moore unseated State Rep. John Deffenbaugh, R-Lookout Mountain, the incumbent in his home county of Dade, becoming one of the youngest representatives to serve in the Georgia Legislature.
His voting pattern and behavior may mean the lawmaker is trying to create “an image that he thinks might be helpful to him in the future,” Bullock said. “But it does not position him well to secure things that he might want to get for his district.”
Moore’s ties with the Freedom Caucus, Bullock said, indicate he’s following a path set forth by the far-right group. “The Freedom Caucus like the [one in the] U.S. House is quite ideological and therefore not likely to engage in compromise or back down from its position when it thinks it’s right.”
Neither does Moore.
All told, Moore has voted no on 81` out of more than 250 pieces of legislation between Jan. 8 and March 21, including bills regarding the last two state budgets. That’s about a third of all bills.
A closer review of Moore’s Senate voting record this session shows he has cast the lone no vote in roughly 75% — 37 bills — of the more than 50 bills where a single no vote was cast.
The lawmaker, who is an auctioneer and works at his family’s trucking company, said he follows “a strict standard of principles.”
“When it comes to a piece of legislation, and in my opinion, any piece of legislation that misuses taxpayer money, it’s not the proper role of government. I typically vote against that,” the 30-year-old northwest Georgia lawmaker told State Affairs. “Bills that subdue individuals’ freedoms that shouldn’t be subdued, legislation that I think grants government power that it shouldn’t have, anything like that.”
Bucking their party, Moore and Byrd have come out strongly against House Bill 986, which would criminalize “deep fake” campaign ads relying on artificial intelligence to alter a candidate’s image, voice or likeness, which they argued infringes on free speech. Moore suggested the AI-generated image below of then-presidential candidate Nikki Haley could be subject to the measure:
In order to make their case for the bill, Republican lawmakers created an AI impersonation featuring Moore and Georgia Freedom Caucus state director Mallory Staples appearing to advocate for the legislation they oppose.
Moore isn’t rash about his decisions.
“In order to vote no as much as I do, I have to be pretty darn well prepared to defend those things throughout the course of the legislative session,” he said, noting that he spends hours, sometimes days, reviewing legislation coming up for votes.
He also has members of his staff go over “every single piece of legislation. And every piece of legislation, I get a report. There’s highlights in it. Good parts of the bill. Bad parts of the bill.
“What I look at every single day when I go in to vote is probably three times more in-depth than what the majority leader has.”
“A single nay vote is not going to have any policy impact,” Bullock said. “So in that sense, the risk the person runs is the person becomes viewed as something of a crank. If everybody else is going along with, say, passing the budget or whatever else, then eyebrows get raised for the one person who is voting no [for something] which has near universal consensus. And so that probably undercuts the perceptions, perhaps, or the soundness of the judgment of the individual and their effectiveness.
“Then the individual may say, ‘Look, I’m being true to my principles. But that doesn’t necessarily … win over anybody else,’” Bullock added.
While Moore’s approach may confound some political observers, he may have political ambitions beyond the Georgia Legislature, Bullock surmises.
“My best guess is that he has a longer, broader ambition, maybe to go to Congress,” Bullock said. “He’s in the same district with Marjorie Taylor Greene. She has played something of that kind of role, not necessarily being the sole naysayer, but certainly an outspoken person who does not compromise, does not trim her sails or back down. And she has done very, very well. She, I think, has become something of a role model.”
Bullock noted that Taylor Greene, who is from the same northwest Georgia mountain area as Moore, was one of the top fundraisers in Congress when she was a freshman.
“My guess is a lot of other young members as well as individuals who would like to get to Congress, look at her behavior and say, ‘Okay, yes, she’s clearly outside of the mainstream. Yes, she gets a lot of criticism but she also gets an awful lot of publicity. And she raises a lot of money. The person watching her might say, ‘You know, I could do the same thing.’”
But Moore insists he’s driven by injustices and a desire to reform the criminal justice system.
“What keeps me motivated in politics were the injustices that I experienced as a young child,” Moore said. “My father was charged with a crime that he didn’t commit and was sentenced to 10 years in the penitentiary. Hundreds of people wrote letters and said that they think they got this case wrong. The case sentence was overturned and I had a chance to grow up with a dad.”
Both Moore and Byrd have voted against bills to increase mandatory minimum sentences for many crimes, and against Senate Bill 63, a bill that passed in both chambers that would require cash bail for nearly 20 new misdemeanor offenses.
Reelection prospects
The pair’s disruptive approach may not win them friends or influence in their respective chambers, Bullock noted, but it may sit well with their constituents.
“If it works with your constituents, that’s all that matters,” he said.
Both lawmakers are running for reelection this year. Byrd has no opposition in District 20, and will coast to an easy victory this November. She joked that she’ll “enjoy a lot of golf” this summer and fall.
Moore has more of a fight on his hands. He’ll face Republican challenger Angela Pence in the primary this May, who told the Chattanoogan: “I’m running to be the voice for ordinary citizens who want real results, not never-ending partisan shouting matches.”
A small business owner and resident of Chickamauga, Pence ran for Congress in 2022 as a Libertarian against Marjorie Taylor Greene. She said she decided to run for the state Senate “because I realized our district was not being represented. Our current senator’s actions have put us in a position where he can no longer do his job.”
Citing Moore’s banishment from the House and isolation in the Senate, Pence said, “he can no longer even attempt to represent us.
“While Senator Moore grandstands for retweets and shares, real crises in his district like toxic water contamination in our schools and skyrocketing property taxes — due to an outdated state education funding formula — have gone unaddressed,” she said. “The people don’t need any more unhinged sideshows — they need someone who will roll up their sleeves, put in the real work, and score concrete wins that positively impact their daily lives. District 53 deserves a state senator who not only knows how to pick the right battles but how to win them.”
GEORGIA GENERAL ASSEMBLY’S TOP NAYSAYERS
Rep. Charlice Byrd
Age: 72
Birthplace: New Orleans, LA
Residence: Woodstock, GA
Occupation: Former teacher, campaign organizer
House District: 20, covering parts of Cherokee County
Years in Legislature: 2009 to 2013, and 2021 to present in House
“No” votes in 2024 session*: 118 of 325 total votes, or 36%
*Votes on passage of legislation from 1/08/24 to 3/21/24
Sen. Colton Moore
Age: 30
Birthplace: Trenton, GA
Residence: Trenton, GA
Occupation: Auctioneer, truck driver
Senate District: 53, which covers Dade, Walker, Catoosa, Chattooga and Floyd counties in northwest Georgia.
Years in Legislature: 2019 to 2020 in the House; 2022 to present in the Senate
“No” votes in 2024 session*: 81 of 257 total votes, or 32%
*Votes on passage of legislation from 1/08/24 to 3/21/24
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