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The past two weeks have continued to be a roller coaster. Today we finished Day 18 of the session. I remember hearing this summer that Redistricting was the most political act and being warned about how challenging it would be. However, I did not anticipate then that it would be the LOCAL redistricting process, for the Board of Commissioners and Boards of Education, in counties that have changed from majority R to majority D in the past decade, that would be so controversial, demoralizing, and emotionally exhausting. The General Assembly has usurped local control in these counties, which is resulting in white minority power overruling the local voters of color majority. I have also experienced a few high points, with two pieces of legislation I have worked on since last summer passing out of committee, onto Rules. Read on for more.
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Start with Good News First!
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What do Super Bowl football player Malcom Mitchell and I have in common? A love of reading, and a passion for helping ALL of our Georgia children to be able to read proficiently! It was my honor and privilege to meet him and hear him testify at our Committee hearing for HR 650, Creating Georgia's Evidence-Based Literacy Ecosystem. Check out his non-profit
Share the Magic Foundation - he is an amazing individual!
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Dr. Amy Sharma, Executive Director of Science for Georgia, and Rep. Matthew Gambill and I are excited that HR 650, Literacy Instruction Study Committee, passed out of the Education Committee unanimously. Dr. Sharma has really led the way in pulling together all of the research on evidence based literacy instruction for this legislation and we are thankful for her leadership and work.
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HR 595 - Urging the Georgia Building Authority to plan for sustainable building management on the capitol campus properties - Passes out of State Properties Committee
I have been working on this legislation for a year. It is an Urging Resolution, so no mandates with real teeth, but I am encouraged by the cooperation with Georgia Building Authority and hopeful this will move forward. Here is a Bill Summary:
HR 595 Those of us who work in the Capitol Complex buildings often throw away items that could be recycled or food that could be composted, and often drink from single-use plastic water bottles instead of drinking from water fountains. We do have a recycling program, but compliance and participation can be much improved, and there is no composting program. This waste goes to our landfills, instead of being recycled or composted. The Georgia Building Authority can study and characterize our waste stream and create a robust sustainable building plan that improves our efficiency and reduces waste on these properties, as well as increase our access to clean drinking water at the taps or fountains.
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Thank you for February 9 Town Hall
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Thank you to those who attended the Feb 9 Town Hall with Senator Parent, Chairwoman Oliver, and me. Here is the recording - it was broadcast as a Facebook live, so the recording is on Senator Parent's Facebook Page.
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City of Buckhead Avoided for Now
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City of Buckhead is avoided for now. Thank the Lord because I attended a debate over the City of Buckhead and there were definitely people displaying unruly behavior and not minding their manners! Alcohol should NOT be served at public debates! I appreciate our Atlanta Delegation Chair Rep Betsy Holland so much - she has had to live and breathe this issue for several months now. Thank you to Lt Governor Duncan and Speaker Ralston for giving Mayor Andre Dickens the opportunity to work on reducing crime and keeping Atlanta United. Read more here: State GOP leaders scuttle Buckhead secession push in 2022
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Amended 2022 Budget Passes House, with $2.6 Billion Increase
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On Friday Feb 11, the House voted to amend the state budget for the current fiscal year ending June 30, 2022. I voted yes. The bill has moved to the Senate for debate. Below are some highlights from the amended 2022 budget, House Bill 910:
The original Fiscal Year 2022 budget was set by a revenue estimate of $27.2 billion. Since the FY 2022 budget was adopted by the General Assembly in March 2021, the state’s financial position has continued to improve with FY 2021 setting record revenue collections. With robust collections anticipated for the remainder of the current fiscal year, the governor’s revenue estimate for the Amended FY 2022 budget (House Bill 910) is raised to $29.9 billion, an increase of $2.6 billion, or 9.7%, over the current budget.
The increased collections in the Amended budget present an opportunity to address one-time funding needs for infrastructure.
- Provides more than $900 million in one-time capital expenses including:
- $32.3 million to replace 789 vehicles, vans, and buses for state agencies;
- $193 million for school systems to replace 1,747 school buses and fund safety features;
- $86.9 million for equipment and technology replacement; $106.6 million for maintenance, repairs, infrastructure, and design for state facilities;
- and $481.3 million for property transformation projects.
HB 910 also improves upon the human capital infrastructure of the Georgia government by investing in employees.
- appropriates more than $900 million to provide salary increases for state employees and educators.
- $465.6 million to provide a $5,000 salary adjustment to all full-time, benefit-eligible state employees to address recruitment and retention needs;
- adds an additional $78.5 million to fund a one-time salary adjustment for state employees whose salaries are funded with federal or grant funds and whose employing agencies cannot absorb the midyear increase.
- includes a $2,000 salary supplement for teachers and $1,000 for other school employees, including nurses, bus drivers, school nutrition workers, and custodians.
You can read more of the highlights of the Amended 2022 House Budget here, an Associated Press here, and an AJC article: Georgia House panel backs plan for pay raises, bonuses.
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DeKalb Local Redistricting
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Thank you to those who participated in one or more of the three Public Hearings the DeKalb House Delegation held for local redistricting, for our Board of Commissioner and Board of Education maps. We believe the process should be open and transparent.
For the BOC map, we received overwhelming public feedback to keep the current format of five districts and two super districts. We also received feedback from several people that the DeKalb Charter Review Commission is the body to study the possibility and impact of changing the structure of our district representation.
DeKalb House members gathered in the Anteroom to view the five district Board of Commissioners map, with slight revisions based on public comment, before signing the legislation.
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Monday, Valentines Day, Legislative Day 16, Was Not A Day of Love In the Chamber
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It was a hard day. A day of profound sadness. As I mentioned in my first newsletter and opening of this one, this is a very political year, with local redistricting and with all of the culture war bills.
HB 1134 Provides that prosecuting District Attorneys and the Attorney General have concurrent jurisdiction to prosecute criminal gang activity. Under the bill, the Attorney General has the authority to employ peace officers for purposes of investigating criminal gang activity. It is estimated that there are 1500 street gangs in Georgia and that 60% of all violent crime in Georgia is gang motivated.
A minority report was filed in opposition to the bill. Concurrent jurisdiction threatens to override local control. Several local district attorneys, including DeKalb’s Sherri Boston, opposed this bill.
Two colleagues, Rep Josh McLaurin and Rep William Boddy both spoke in opposition. Rep Boddy basically said this bill was political cover, and pointed out the times when the Attorney General has dropped the ball and not taken action on cases this year, and asked instead to “give the local DAs the resources they need”.
Rep McLaurin addressed all the ways the criminal justice system is broken and how little we do to invest in preventing crime. One horrible example is that it is estimated that once a child enters a Juvenile Justice detention center they are recruited to a gang within 48 hours. When he ended on “we better just pray our children don’t go to a Juvenile Justice Center because they will get recruited to a gang”. I admit that I teared up with that devastating image. I know our DeKalb Juvenile Court programs work so hard to invest in our youth and help them in the community. I voted no.
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I was originally excited that my bill, HB 1218, Burial Purchaser Protection Act, was assigned to the Judiciary Committee, chaired by Rep Chuck Efstration, pictured here. This is when I asked and he agreed to a hearing. But immediately after I voted against his bill, HB 1184, mentioned above, he came and told me that there was pushback to my bill, and he was pulling it from the agenda. And so it goes.
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And then the day went from bad to worse, with redistricting for Cobb County Board of Commissioners and Board of Education, both of which should have been local bills, but became state-wide bills. This happened with Gwinnett last week and with Richmond/Augusta yesterday.
Basically, in counties that have gone from majority white to majority of color, but still have a Republican in the delegation, that person draws a different map than the local board of commissioners or board of education has approved, and instead of going through the local calendar, these counties are redistricted through the state. In other words, the General Assembly likes local control when it is white local control, but when whites lose local control due to population change, they want state control over local redistricting. They want to preserve and prolong and maximize a structure for power as long as they can. So white state power over local black power.
And my R colleagues insist in our culture war bills that it is “divisive” to state that the United States is systemically racist. It is hard to argue that a political system that allows a white minority to preserve their power over a majority of people of color is not racist.
Several of my colleagues spoke eloquently on the floor that day. I have included video clips of two below if you want a flavor of what is going on.
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Cobb County Delegation Chair (and my suite-mate AND candidate for Lt. Governor), Rep Erick Allen, speaking against HB 1154.
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Rep Shea Roberts was an eloquent white ally - she doesn't live in Cobb, but made excellent points - "How are the locals out of control? Are you really saying that electing Democrats and specifically Democrats of color is defined as being out of control?" Take a listen...
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This photo of me with Rep Jasmine Clark and Rep Shelly Hutchinson, two of my colleagues from Gwinnett, was taken after I stood in solidarity with the Gwinnett delegation at a press conference about the state takeover of home rule.
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And Yet There is Love and Respect in the Chamber
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Yesterday we learned that Appropriations Chair, Rep Terry England, would not be running for re-election. Many of us were very surprised. Chairman England is highly respected and a humble and big-hearted man and will be sorely missed. When he told us and spoke from the well, he talked about having love for one another, and strangely enough, I did feel love in the chamber. This is what I mean about an emotional roller coaster. He quoted from the book of Esther we were "born for such a time as this" and spoke of others who would follow in his steps. The word is that we will have a record number of open seats for the 2022 election.
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Our team is expanding! I have four wonderful interns this legislative session. Many of you know Jordan Madden, pictured on my left, as a former intern, but who is always an asset to our team, and on my right is James Wilson. Jordan and James are both students at Georgia State. This day they came to provide testimony at HB 1084. I am proud of them and will provide opportunities for you to hear from them and our other inspiring interns in future newsletters!
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I was glad to host two Girl Scout Troops, one from Oakhurst and one from St. Thomas More, at the Capitol. I was a Girl Scout Co-Leader for six years with my friend Jayne Cavagnaro, and I loved the experience. I treasure that time with my daughter Carly and her friends, and think that Girl Scouts provide a remarkable opportunity for our young women to thrive and reach their full potential.
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I have canoed and camped in the Okefenokee and thus seen firsthand what a unique and important ecological area it is. I will work to ensure that these waters are not spoiled! I will vote Yes to HB 1289, which protects the Okefenokee Swamp from nearby mining operations.
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I loved seeing Smokey the Bear at the Capitol for Georgia Forestry Day! Georgia Forestry Association and Foundation are working across the state to encourage sustainable forest practices and products. They partner with Trees Atlanta, Fernbank, Atlanta Botanical Gardens, Georgia Audubon, Chattahoochee Nature Center and GPB. They would love greater participation from schools or after school programs in DeKalb in the educational programs to share a greater understanding of future job opportunities, enjoyment of our state’s forest resources, and the circular economy. Let me know if I can help make a connection!
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February 23- Dekalb Delegation Meeting
Program: DeKalb Schools will provide update and present their legislative agenda
Time: 12:00-1pm via Zoom
Watch on DeKalb House and Senate Facebook LIVE
February 23-DeKalb Police - South Precinct Community Meeting
Time: 5pm via Zoom and/or by conference call.
Presenters: Major L.D. Robertson will present information pertaining to South Precinct and Ms. Powell, E-911 Training Supervisor
(Conference call: 1-888-270-9936 (US Toll Free) or 1-602-333-0032)
(Conference code: 694299)
Or click this link for Zoom:
https://dekalbcountyga.zoom.us/j/85449537980
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Will you join me on February 26th? Two Parades in One Day!
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February 26, 2022- Mead Road Mardi Gras Parade
Time: 1pm @4/5
http://www.meadrdmardigras.org/
February 26, 2022-East Lake Family YMCA Annual Black History Parade
Address: 275 Eva Davis Way
Time: 2:30 pm
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That's all for now! We are off for President's Day weekend, and I am thankful for a break. I hope you will also have an opportunity for rejuvenation. I hope to see some of you on February 26th! Please contact me if I can be of service to you. I am humbled and honored to be our representative.
Sincerely,
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Representative Becky Evans
Georgia's 83rd House District, DeKalb County
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