Lawmakers: Senators debate COVID-19 vaccines and pimping on Day 14

Georgia senators engaged in contentious debates over two bills on Day 14. 

First, senators debated Senate Bill 1, which would permanently ban state agencies from requiring people show proof of COVID-19 vaccination as a condition to receive government services. 

The ban is currently in effect, but the law will end in June if lawmakers do not extend it. SB 1 removes that sunset clause from the bill. 

Public schools would not be able to require students show proof of vaccination against COVID-19 if the bill becomes law. Republicans said the bill was necessary to ensure that Georgians won't be discriminated against because of vaccine status. 

"We did not allow government to discriminate against citizens over the last year when it comes to the COVID-19 vaccination as COVID becomes less and less of a public health threat," SB 1's sponsor Sen. Greg Dolezal (R - Cumming) said.

Over 1 million people in the U.S. have died from COVID-19 so far, according to the Centers For Disease Control and Prevention. Dolezal said that COVID-19 death rates have dropped since the beginning of the pandemic, but many public health officials have attributed the downturn to vaccines and effective treatments. 

Democrats accused Republicans of creating a partisan fight over a public health issue.

"This amendment comes to you today as the government trying to take away the rights of the individual," Sen. Nan Orrock (D - Atlanta) said. "But what's really happening in this country is that the COVID-19 pandemic, a disease, has been politicized in a way that other diseases have not been."

The CDC says COVID-19 vaccines are safe and recommends that children six months and older be vaccinated. Democrats noted that many doctors oppose SB 1. But the bill passed 31-21 in a party-line vote. 

Senators also debated SB 36, a bill dealing with the sex trade. The bill would create a mandatory minimum sentence of one year for "pimping and pandering" charges. At least one year would have to be served in prison. It would also change the first offense of pimping and pandering to a felony. Under current law, the first offense is a misdemeanor charge and the second is a felony charge.

The bill's sponsor, Sen. Randy Robertson (R - Cataula), said the law change is necessary to discourage pimps and the men who pay for sex. 

"This legislation is very clear," he said. "What it does is tells the supplier, that person who feeds off of that supply, that we are not going to stand around allowing them to shop and to sell human flesh anymore."

Democrats expressed concern over adding to already crowded prisons and questioned whether increasing mandatory minimum sentences effectively deters sex trafficking crimes. 

"Mandatory minimums have failed in this state and all over the country for that particular reason," Sen. Emanuel Jones (D - Decatur) said. "It takes away judicial discretion."

The bill passed the Senate 33-16.