YDG Legislative Report: Week of 3/7/11

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YDG Legislative Report: Week of 3/7/11

We’re nearing the halfway point of 2011 legislative session and the heat under the Gold Dome is starting to simmer. From the HOPE bill making its way through the Senate to the passage of the controversial Arizona style immigration reform bill, we must take a stand and let our voices be heard. On education: HOPE bill passes House, barely amended in Senate Last week, as we indicated in one of our many emails on HOPE, HB 326, which makes major revisions, passed the House. Today, the bill passed through the Senate with only Republican amendments, rejecting those proposed by Democrats that would have served to keep the original intent of HOPE alive. With little room for discussion, the Senate Higher Education Committee passed the bill out of committee in a matter of minutes, not allowing the necessary debate on the bill. Before the bill reaches Gov. Deal's desk, it must be passed in the House again with the Senate's amendments. With that in mind, we still have a chance for our voices to be heard! Please contact your Representatives and Senators to let them know you want to keep HOPE alive! A special thanks to all the Democrats who stood up to the HOPE cuts in the House and Senate and a special thanks to Senator Jason Carter (D-Decatur), who proposed two amendments to the HOPE bill. While both failed (one was a grandfather clause for those already receiving HOPE and another putting an income cap for HOPE recipients), Senator Carter stood up for his beliefs during a raucus day in the Senate. We applaud his courage and the courage of all other legislators that stood up to the cuts and proposed sensible alternatives.  On education: pre-K survives most drastic cuts  Coinciding with his proposed changes to the HOPE Scholarship, Gov. Deal also proposed significant changes to Georgia’s very popular pre-K program. Deal’s original proposal called for cutting the school day from 6.5 hours down to 4 hours per day. Many balked at the Governor’s proposal fearing it would significantly damage the education pre-K students receive in the program.  While the number of hours per day will not change, the number of days pre-K students will be in the classroom, from 180 to 160 per calendar year. The proposal would also increase class sizes from 20 to 22 students, allowing for 2,000 additional pre-K slots in Georgia. Many Democrats, including House Minority Leader Stacey Abrams and Rep. Stephanie Stuckey-Benfield, considered the cut in days necessary to preserve the 6.5-hour school day. More news on Georgia's pre-K program can be found here.  On immigration: controversial HB 87 passes House In vote largely along partisan lines, HB 87 passed 113-56. The controversial legislation is similar to the federally challenged Arizona immigration law that allows for profiling to determine who is or isn’t an illegal immigrant. As we’ve mentioned throughout the session, YDG strongly opposes the legislation and we must act now to prevent discrimination from becoming legal in Georgia.  HB 87 is now headed to the Senate Judiciary Committee. If it passes out of committee, it is likely that it will pass the Senate with the current Republican majority. Please take the time to contact your senator and all those senators serving on the Judiciary Committee and urge that they vote against HB 87. Let’s preserve civil rights in the state that all but started the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s. Before contacting your senator, familiarize yourself with HB 87 and read some recent news on HB 87 and the potential dangers of passing such legislation. On workers’ rights: HB 416 follows Wisconsin; challenges collective bargaining rights Continuing his trend of fringe bills, Rep. Bobby Franklin (R-Marietta) sponsored a bill last week that would eliminate the collective bargaining power of public employees. This bill would attempt to do the same to public workers as Governor Scott Walker (R-WI) is doing in Wisconsin. This bill is nothing but an attempt to further marginalize the power of unions in Georgia. As with any bill that hurts workers’ rights, YDG strongly opposes HB 416. Public workers are already struggling through tough economic times and collective bargaining rights are essential to ensuring that public employees receive a fair wage for their work.  We cannot let a Wisconsin-type legislation spread to Georgia! While many of Rep. Franklin’s bills are ignored by the legislature, HB 416 has the potential to gain traction in a time where many disapprove of unions and the rights of unionized workers. We’ll stay on top of HB 416 and bring you continued updates on whether this destructive piece of legislation moves forward. For more information on HB 416, please read through the bill and be prepared to take action in the coming days. Crossover Day approaches  The all-important Crossover Day, the final day in which a bill can pass the house in which it was introduced and then “crossover” to the other, will be March 16 th . As in the past, YDG will have an active role during Crossover Day. An email was sent out yesterday regarding what we’ll be doing for Crossover Day and how you can get involved.  For more information, please contact one of the following people: Joey Hornbuckle: 404-735-6570  Amber English: 612-554-5705 Joel Mendelson: 404-538-7877   Thank you,   Joel Mendelson Political Director, Young Democrats of Georgia