As Crossover Day approaches and with qualifying this week, the House Republicans are picking up the pace of passing problematic, election year bills. Here is a list of bad bills that I voted NO on last week:
This bill rewrites the Right to Farm Act that has successfully protected Georgia farmers from nuisance lawsuits for more than 3 decades. This new bill removed the “changed conditions” clause of the old bill that protected existing farms from new neighbors or development in their area. By removing this clause, we would grant every farm protection from nuisance lawsuits after one year. This will open the flood gates for large investment chicken farms to move into Georgia and be protected as long as they keep their operation lowkey for the first year. These farms smell bad, have terrible impacts on the environment, and will drive out local Georgia farmers.
This bill will legalize the sale of raw milk for human consumption. Human consumption of raw milk can lead to health concerns, and this bill does not go far enough to regulate the sale and provide proper warning on labels.
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House Bill 1216 - Enhanced penalties for violations of fleeing or attempting to elude a police officer
This bill will increase penalties and make it a felony for multiple violations of fleeing a police officer. This will only add to our disaster of mass incarceration and will not solve the issue at hand. This bill opens the door for people to be arbitrarily charged for fleeing a police officer if they wait to pull over in a safer or more well lit place.
- House Bill 1 - Forming Open and Robust University Minds (FORUM) Act
This would establish that unrestricted outdoor areas of the University System of Georgia and the Technical College System of Georgia campuses are public forums for their campus communities, and this bill would prohibit these institutions from restricting expressive activities in those areas or designating any campus areas as a “free speech zone”. This will allow for outside groups not paying tuition to the school to spew hate and misinformation on campuses.
This piece of legislation is creating a solution in search of a problem. Republicans have manufactured outrage over the idea that divisive ideas like Critical Race Theory are being taught in our K-12 Schools. In reality, this bill will limit teachers' ability to speak openly about the realities and history of race in America. If the state school board arbitrarily decides that a school breaks these new rules, then they can cut vital funding to that school district. Legislation such as this could lead to a slippery slope of erasing uncomfortable parts of our nation’s history from school curriculums.
This bill codifies a list of rights that parents already have when dictating their child’s education. The dangers of this bill are that it sends a message to our teachers that we don’t trust them, and it puts an undue burden on our already overworked teachers and administrators. I rose in opposition to the legislation, and in support of a healthy parent-teacher relationship.
