(APN) ATLANTA — The Georgia General Assembly wrapped up the 2015-2016 Legislative Session during the early morning hours of Friday, March 25, 2016, staying some 45 minutes past midnight in an unusual procedural move. Most of the progressive bills that Atlanta Progressive News has followed during the Session have failed. This outcome reinforces what we already know, that […]
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(APN) ATLANTA — HB 859, Campus Carry, sponsored by State Rep. Rick Jasperse (R-Jasper), passed the House on February 23, 2016, and had its first Senate Judiciary hearing on Wednesday March 02. HB 859 is yet another model legislative bill pushed by the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), along with the National Rifle Association (NRA) and local gun groups […]
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(APN) ATLANTA — Monday, February 29, 2016 was Crossover Day for the Georgia Legislature. This is the day that bills must pass from one chamber to another in order to still be active for consideration in becoming a law. Atlanta Progressive News has provided extensive and comprehensive coverage of the legislative session again this year. The following is […]
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(APN) ATLANTA — On Thursday, February 25, 2016, the Senate Judiciary Non-Civil Committee held a first hearing on SB 254, the Marijuana Misdemeanor Bill. The bill is sponsored by State Senator Harold Jones (D-Augusta) a former prosecuting attorney. http://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/en-US/Display/20152016/SB/254 http://atlantaprogressivenews.com/2016/01/24/sen-jones-discusses-bill-reducing-cannabis-possession-charges/ Sen. Jones’s bill would eliminate felony charges for possession of cannabis (“marijuana”) for personal use, regardless […]
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(APN) ATLANTA — HB 1006, or “Georgia State Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP),” as originally introduced would have shortened the lifetime amount of monetary aid from the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program for struggling families from 48 months to 12 months. This draconian language was removed from the House Bill text when it incorporated into Senate Bill 389, […]
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(APN) ATLANTA — Members of the Georgia Water Coalition from around the State of Georgia lobbied on Wednesday, February 17, 2016, at the State Capitol for priority conservation bills, HB 966 and SB 36. The Georgia Water Coalition is a group of more than 180 organizations representing over a quarter million Georgians. HB 966 – Provides a 25 […]
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(APN) ATLANTA — State Rep. Pedro “Pete” Marin (D-Duluth) held a press conference to introduced his resolution, HR 1033, asking the Gwinnett County Board of Commissioners to work to ease the traffic congestion and listen to citizens’ demands to increase mass transit options. Marin said he wants to continue the conversation to make sure Gwinnett County is not left […]
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(APN) ATLANTA — Transit funding just got a boon, as SB 330, sponsored by State Sen. Brandon Beach (R – Alpharetta) passed out of the Senate Transportation Committee on Wednesday, February 18, 2016, by a vote of eight to three. The committee had to move rooms twice in order to accommodate the large crowd, and heard testimony from various […]
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(APN) ATLANTA — This installment of Capitol Journal covers Week Three of the 2016 year of the 2015-2016 Legislative Session of the Georgia General Assembly. Legislative Session Day 9 (Monday, Jan. 25, 2016) The medical cannabis (marijuana) bill, HB 722, sponsored by State Rep. Allen Peake (R – Macon), had a hearing today, with over two hours of […]
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(APN) ATLANTA — In the flurry of activity that marked the first week of the 2016 year of the 2015-2016 Legislative Session, members of the Georgia House Democratic Caucus gathered on Thursday, January 14, 2016, to announce their policy agenda. High on the list was Medicaid expansion in Georgia, an option under the Affordable Care Act (“Obamacare”) that Georgia […]
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(APN) ATLANTA — The Assault Weapons Ban Bill, HB 731, has been introduced in the State House, and is co-sponsored by State Reps. Mary Margaret Oliver (D-Decatur), Rep. Stacey Abrams (D-Atlanta), Rep. Carolyn Hugley (D-Columbus), Rep. Pat Gardner (D-Atlanta), Rep. Dar’shun Kendrick (D-Lithonia), and Rep. Dee Dawkins-Haigler (D-Lithonia). http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/20152016/154275.pdf The bill prohibits the sale, distribution, transport possession, and […]
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(APN) ATLANTA — Merit pay for teachers, contract workers, minimum wage, and sick leave are all issues that labor groups will be working on during 2016 while the legislature is in session. Mayor of Clarkston Ted Terry, who also serves as the State Campaign Director of Georgia chapter of the American Federation of Labor-Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO), spoke […]
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(APN) ATLANTA — As next year’s General Assembly legislative session quickly approaches in Georgia, Atlanta Progressive News is taking a look back on what took place under the Gold Dome earlier this year, in 2015, updating the Legislative Scorecard we first published in 2014. We again rated State House Representatives and State Senators representing areas wholly or partially in […]
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(APN) ATLANTA — The Wednesday, October 28, 2015 meeting of the Georgia Commission on Medical Cannabis heard testimony from law enforcement officials, the Georgia Pharmacy Association, and a medical cannabis security specialist. The high point of the day was when Rick Allen, Director of the Georgia Drug and Narcotic Agency, mentioned the State of Connecticut has rescheduled cannabis from […]
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With additional reporting by Matthew Charles Cardinale. (APN) ATLANTA — 2015 was a watershed year for the LGBTQI equality movement in the U.S., with the ruling of the Supreme Court of the U.S. in favor of same-sex marriage as a fundamental right under the U.S. Constitution. But LGBTQI advocates lament that the State of Georgia has a long […]
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