ATLANTA — Lawmakers worked under a deadline to get their bills passed on Crossover Day - the day a bill must pass one chamber or the other if it wants to survive.
Georgia Democrats rallied on the steps of the State Capitol as they tried to highlight and push their agenda.
They were critical of the Republican agenda and, they claimed, the inability not to have a fair hearing on their own agenda.
“Y’all, those aren’t just policies. These are not just policies. These are our values and actions and represent our fundamental belief in fairness that Georgia should work for all of us, not just the most wealthy,” state Rep. Sam Park said.
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Earlier in the day, Gov. Brian Kemp signed the amended budget. That budget helps get Georgia through the rest of the fiscal year. It includes more than $1 billion for hurricane relief, school safety and tax relief. Something he’d like to see continued but only with diligent budgeting.
“From my perspective, my goal is to continue to see how we can keep lowering tax rates,” Kemp said.
Newnan Republican state Sen. Matt Brass got his bill passed with bipartisan support to increase the amount of THC allowed in medical cannabis oil and allow doctors to prescribe it more often.
“There’s just so many people out there in pain, and we just want their doctors to be able, like I said, have all the tools they need to take care of their people,” Brass said.
Mobile sports betting made it out of a key committee but did not make it for a vote. The bill to ban DEI from Georgia public schools appears to have failed in the Senate.
Other bills that passed are one that would prevent cities or counties from requiring firearm safe storage devices, and a bill that would codify the ability of legislative committees to conduct investigations like the one currently investigating Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis.
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