Battleground: Ballot Box - Lawmakers Huddle: A recap of Georgia legislative session Week 4

Pamela Kirkland: So, the state legislature definitely picked up the pace this week, it sounds like. We saw the first bills passed in the General Assembly. Tell us more.

Donna Lowry: Well, yes, the first bill came up for a vote on Day 11. Since then, the House has considered about a dozen bills and the Senate less than five. So there's a lot of work ahead in the coming weeks. Yet the most important bill did pass out of the House this week, and that's the amended budget for this year. That budget provides for Hurricane Helene relief state prison improvements and school safety upgrades. So that bill now goes to the state Senate.

Pamela Kirkland: And speaking of the Senate, they passed a bill on Thursday to ban transgender girls from competing on teams that do not match their sex assigned at birth. It's been a highly charged issue. What was the debate like and how did that vote play out?

Donna Lowry: Well, it was interesting because two Democrats joined Republicans in voting for that legislation. And the bill applies to kindergarten through 12th grade students and to college students. The bill would also require people to use changing areas, locker rooms and sleeping quarters according to their sex assigned at birth. Democratic opponents opponents called it a culture war move, with State Minority Leader Harold Jones II of Augusta, saying Republicans are using transgender kids as political foil. So very, very charged, as you mentioned.

Pamela Kirkland: And speaking of charged issues, Democrats also moved to put abortion rights directly before Georgia voters with a new resolution. What would that measure do?

Donna Lowry: Yes, that was very surprising. But — and once again— will be controversial. They introduced Senate Resolution 84. It would put a constitutional amendment on the ballot. And if approved by the voters, would protect would protect access to abortion until fetal viability is determined on a case by case basis. But because it's an amendment, it needs a two thirds majority. And that's tough. That's a tough hill to climb in a Republican-controlled legislature. So we'll see how that goes.

Pamela Kirkland: I mean, we saw a lot of action inside, but outside of the legislature, we saw some Democrat demonstrations at the state capitol this week. What were people protesting?

Donna Lowry: Well, the protests were mostly on Thursday, but they were long and there were actually two of them in the morning. They protested policies by President Donald Trump early in the morning. And then there seemed to be a little bit of a break. And then late in the afternoon, and this was long after many lawmakers had left for the day. That group focused on getting their message to evening commuters who passed by the Capitol that night. There were a lot of state patrol agents out there, but on the whole, pretty peaceful protests.

Pamela Kirkland: And looking ahead, what can we expect as lawmakers return next week? And maybe a little bit bleary eyed that Monday after the Super Bowl?

Donna Lowry: Absolutely. So the day after the Super Bowl, as you mentioned, and the House plans to wait until 1:00 in the afternoon to go into session. The Senate will start at 10 a.m., probably with a little of those bleary eyed lawmakers, especially those who have to drive in from long distances that morning. But as for the work ahead, now that they've passed the amended budget, the House will start working on the fiscal budget for 2026, and that begins in July. And of course, you know, they are mandated to pass a budget. So we will expect a lot more work taking place in the next few weeks.