Approaching Crossover Day at the General Assembly
Legislative Update March 5, 2023
What a week. Several of the initiatives I’ve been working on came to a head. More on that in the next section, below, or catch the highlights from my appearance on GPB’s Lawmakers this week.
Rep. Draper on GPB Lawmakers
Monday is Crossover Day in the General Assembly. That means that any piece of legislation that hasn’t passed one chamber (either the House or the Senate) by end of day Monday is dead* for this year. As such, Monday will be a long day on the floor as we try to get as many bills through as possible. Because Republicans are the majority party, whether bills get through or not is ultimately up to their discretion.
(*Text from a dead bill can always be added to a live bill that is germane through the amendment process. So, even if a particular bill number isn’t moving, the substance of that bill can pop up elsewhere.)
So far, the most controversial bills this session – for example, Buckhead City, restricting gender-affirming care for trans minors, and the voting bills that ban drop boxes, expand voter challenges, and prohibit counties from receiving outside funding for elections – have been introduced on the Senate side of the General Assembly. The House may or may not take up what makes its way through the Senate on Crossover Day. I’ll note that the Buckhead City push died Thursday and is not expected to move forward this session. That’s a huge win for our district, which includes portions of the city of Atlanta. Thank you to all the advocates.
I’m cautiously optimistic that since the House has not yet introduced extreme “culture war” bills, it is a sign that this body is interested in prioritizing legislation meant to address real problems. We’ll see. Our time is so compressed that it’s truly a zero sum game; when we waste oxygen on bills meant to inflame and divide, we aren’t spending time on the myriad of proposals intended to actually help Georgians. I’ve been impressed with the civility and reasonableness in the House so far, and I’ve been told by multiple veteran legislators, on both sides of the aisle, that this is the most affable session they have experienced in many years. Perhaps that has to do with changes in leadership and the large freshman class of legislators. I hope it holds because it’s a more conducive atmosphere for working collaboratively.
Below you’ll find some highlights from the last week. It is an honor and a privilege to work for this district.
In service,
Taking the Wait-Time Guessing Game out of Voting for Voters with Toddlers and Babies, HB 559
My bill, House Bill 559, will be eligible to be heard on Monday. HB 559 would allow voters accompanied by a child 5 or younger to go to the front of the voting line. If you’ve ever had to stand in line with a toddler, or keep a fussy baby calm, you know how far this policy would go to ensure families can access the polls in a manner that is reliable and inviting.
Never one to miss the opportunity to make a crystal clear point, I got permission to bring a special guest to my presentation of the bill to the Government Affairs Committee– my toddler. The committee chairman even moved us “to the front of the line” so I could present my bill earlier in the hearing. Touché.
The bill passed out of subcommittee and committee with unanimous and bi-partisan support. I am hopeful we will be voting on this bill on the House floor on Monday. Check out the committee hearing below.
Presenting my bill, HB 559, to the Government Affairs Committee.
I had a special guest visit me this week, my son Remy.
Save the Holidays (and money, and election workers’ and voters’ sanity): Runoff Reform Bill, HB 419
I dedicated an entire newsletter to explaining why eliminating costly and unnecessary runoffs was so important to me. However, because I didn’t initially have bi-partisan support for House Bill 419, I didn’t expect it to move.
But since I introduced this bill, I’ve received the support of the Association of County Commissioners of Georgia (ACCG), and the Georgia Association of Voter and Registration Officials (GAVREO), the People’s Agenda, and the ACLU of Georgia. I’m particularly stunned by GAVREO’s support, as this is the first legislation they have ever officially supported. GAVREO is the statewide professional organization for Georgia’s election administrators.
And, a poll by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution shows the majority of Georgians want to get rid of runoffs (to the surprise of no Georgians!). The poll was done statewide and respondents self-identified their ideology as Liberal: 32 percent; Moderate: 23 percent, and Conservative: 45 percent.
I was delighted when I was asked to present my bill to the House Government Affairs Committee on Friday. I’m not sure what this means for the legislation’s chances, but clearing the hurdle of receiving a hearing is a positive development.
Presenting my bill, HB 419, to the Government Affairs Committee.
Causing me Heartburn: Election Board Takeovers at the Local Level
I think this will be one of the most important issues to watch this session, if not THE most important issue.
Why? Because Democracy is foundational. And as such, it must be protected at all costs.
When I was the director of voter protection for the Democratic Party of Georgia, I worked closely with election offices and election boards across the state. These boards have enormous power when it comes to elections. The critical work done by the boards of elections includes, but is not limited to, submitting the budget for the costs of election administration to the county, selecting early voting sites and hours, choosing drop box placement, hearing and making determinations on voter challenges, and certifying election results. In short, they have a major role in how elections run, who gets to vote, which votes count, and which races are certified.
Did I mention these boards are super important?
Before 2020, it was standard practice to have equal representation from the two major parties on local boards of elections across the state. For instance, even though DeKalb is a majority Democratic county, two of the five members of the DeKalb County Board of Registration and Elections are Republican appointees.
This makes sense in the election context, where Republicans and Democrats will both be on the ballot, and both parties are direct stakeholders. Having both parties represented on the board allows for checks and balances on power, increases voter confidence and election transparency, and improves government accountability. Democracy ✅
We’ve seen a disturbing shift since 2020, however. There has been a quiet but systematic and coordinated effort to change who controls elections at the local level, making it possible for one party to have complete control of those boards. Authoritarianism ✅
Republicans’ purported justification for making the switch away from party appointees is a Georgia Supreme Court Case from 2018, Delay v. Sutton. The court in Delay held that a DeKalb law that delegated to private entities the power to appoint members to the DeKalb Board of Ethics was illegal. Republicans argue that under Delay, party appointments to boards of elections are illegal, and thus the boards must be restructured and new members must be appointed.
I take issue with that. First, it’s not clear that the holding in Delay extends to boards of elections, or that political parties are the same kinds of private entities as considered in Delay. These questions are currently being litigated in Cherokee County Superior Court. However, even if Delay does apply to boards of elections, there are ways to comply with the law AND maintain political representation from both sides on boards of elections. That’s the appeal I’ll be making with the authors of these takeover bills.
At the end of the day, Republicans have the votes to change the board of election appointment process however they want– and have the power to boot effective Democratic members from boards, often Black, in the process. Just last week, House Republicans did just that in Ware County, voting for House Bill 422 over the objection of Democrats. HB 422 takes appointment power from the political parties and gives it to the Republican controlled Ware County Board of Commissioners. Similar legislation for Cherokee County– a far more populous county– was just introduced.
This is a scary, totalitarian path for Republicans to be going down. With every board of election they take over, they are increasing distrust in our elections at a time when they say they want to encourage voter confidence. I’ve been fighting against these takeovers since the aftermath of 2020, and I intend to keep at it.
Save the Okefenokee Swamp, HB 71
Thank you to those of you who have reached out to me in support of House Bill 71 to protect one of Georgia’s most treasured natural resources, the Okefenokee Swamp. The organizing around this effort has been absolutely remarkable. I am a proud co-sponsor of the bill.
Despite the fact that the primary sponsor of this bill is a powerful Republican, the Chair of the Natural Resources and Environment Committee, where HB 71 is assigned, will not grant a hearing on the bill. But if the bill receives signatures from 91 legislators (a majority of our membership), the speaker, at his discretion, can bypass the committee process and bring the bill to the House floor. The last I heard, we were a few signatures away from reaching 91. We will continue searching for additional legislators to sign on to the bill.
Democrats currently hold 79 of the 180 seats in the House. Most, if not all, have signed HB 71.
Questions? Concerns? Need Help?
There are several ways you can share your concerns, request assistance, or let me know about activities in our neighborhoods.
The best way to get in touch is through the contact us form on my website. But, you can also reach me by calling the office (404-656-0265), sending an email to saira.draper@house.ga.gov, or visiting the Capitol. My office is 604-D in the Coverdell Legislative Office Building across the street from the south side of the Capitol.
For more frequent updates, please follow me on social media (links at bottom).
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