More from yesterday

Quick Hits:

Who got hit? Super speeders. The House passed a bill that would levy an additional fine and the dollars will partially go toward funding trauma care.

Who got hit? Clean water advocates. The Senate passed a bill (SB 155)that strips protection from streams carrying rainwater. Construction buffers intended to reduce pollutin were weakened.

Who got hit? Voters. A bill that had been tabled and thought dead, HB 225, was temporarily revived in committee then pulled from debate. The bill proposes to make it illegal for a person who is not a resident of Georgia to do voter registration campaigns in the state. Hopefully, the bill will go away permanently this time.

Who got hit? Anyone who eats. Last week two bills moved out of committee that were legislators idea of addressing the economic crisis. One would repeal corporate income taxes. The other was to balance the loss of revenue by adding back the grocery tax. The tax repeal author yesterday announced he would hold up the bill because it needed "study". Ya think? Couldn't they have come to this conclusion before committee passage? But the tax on groceries bill moves forward and is eligible for a floor vote any day now.

Not a hit, but a home run? For voters!!! In a surprise move, after all the other voter suppression proposals this year, SB 11 was passed by committee. This bill requires that all those who lost their right to vote after a felony conviction, are to be given a certicicate of voter restoration at the time they complete their sentence requirements. This is necessary because the Georgia Constitution allows restoration but many ex-offenders were being told and have been told, that they could never vote again. We feel safe in saying this was intentional misrepresentation of the law, again to suppress voting. So it's good news that this bill attempts to correct that injustice. We want ex-offenders to feel like they can get back into the game of life and should be encouraged to be involved in their community. It remains to bee seen, however, whether the bill will ever be scheduled for a floor vote.