Sine Die Has Come and Gone

What Comes Next for Savannah

April showers bring the end of another regular session of the Georgia General Assembly. I write this before the chambers officially adjourned sine die, so I cannot say which bills are headed to the Governor’s desk to become law. However, it’s a virtual certainty that the packet of bills will include legislation suppressing protest rights, trans rights, LGBTQ+ rights, and voting rights, among others. Instead of a straight recap of the session, I’d like to provide some insight gleaned from watching the General Assembly all the way through.

First, we must acknowledge what the Georgia General Assembly is. This is not a free, democratic legislative body. It is a Republican captured and controlled assembly, gerrymandered to remain that way for the foreseeable future. Republicans control every committee, ensuring that it is their priorities and thus the priorities of their wealthy backers and audience that come first. By the time Crossover Day is reached, progressive legislation has been gathering dust in committee since the start of the session in January 2025.

It is also a general election year. With two notable exceptions (Reps Carl Gilliard & Edna Jackson), members from both parties and chambers are running for re-election, statewide office, or federal office. That creates conditions for political theater and using marginalized groups as political props to score cheap points or curry favor with Donald Trump. No one is more adept and shameless at this practice than Senator Greg Dolezal, candidate for Lieutenant Governor.

So until and unless there’s a full-on press from socialist and other left-wing candidates across the state to flip seats, our fight in the General Assembly is to stop the bleeding. Harm reduction is vital work because the General Assembly focuses almost all its efforts on expanding its near limitless police powers.

If you’d like to participate in protecting your friends, family, and neighbors from the excesses of the Georgia General Assembly follow DSA chapters across the state, Project South, Georgia Latino Alliance for Human Rights (GLAHR), Center for American-Islamic Relations Georgia (CAIR-Georgia), Asian Americans Advancing Justice (AAAJ), and the Georgia Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (GACDL). These organizations track legislation, testify in committee hearings, and push out calls to action when needed.

Now, time for those promised insights.

The General Assembly is a Cop Congress

One of the clearest takeaways watching the General Assembly is how police, prisons, and law enforcement receive top priority. There are 11 former law enforcement officers serving in the General Assembly, a small percentage made more impactful because 2 are in top leadership positions. Senator Robertson, a former Sheriff’s Deputy, is the Majority Whip and Rep. Efstration, a former District Attorney, is the House Majority Leader.

Their leadership may help to explain why so much legislation related to police and policing makes it to the floor of their respective chambers. Legislation that expands who counts as a law enforcement officer, expands eligibility for benefits, increases those benefits for LEOs, bills that provide training, expand powers, increase duties, or that criminalize more conduct all receive ample debate and voting.

The daily business of the General Assembly is also never free from the influence of police lobbying groups. At Senate and House Committee hearings, you’ll hear testimony from the Georgia Sheriff’s Association, Georgia Association of Chiefs of Police, Prosecuting Attorneys Council, or just some police taking time off to tell lawmakers what they need. These organizations have a consistent, well-funded presence at the Capitol that lawmakers respect far too much, going so far as to ask whether these organizations support a bill should they be attending a simultaneous hearing.

There is No Punishment for Lying

Watching the GA for an entire session does psychological damage in part because of the bills being passed but also how they make it through. Both chambers have pages-long rules about procedure and decorum, none of which seem to require a member to be honest.

If I was a betting man, I’d have pocketed thousands betting on the amount of times words and phrases like “simply,” “common sense,” “all this does,” and “what we’re trying to do here” are used. A representative or senator can stand in front of their colleagues and say with a straight face, “All we’re trying to do here with this bill is clean up some language so all this does is simply tweak a few sections of our law to add some common sense protections.”

Meanwhile, the bill in question might dramatically expand policing, gut an entire program, or crack down on movement work. All that to say, there’s absolutely no punishment and no mechanism for accountability when legislators deliberately mislead their colleagues about what their bill does. Sometimes, in the most gentle and decorum-approved way, legislators may challenge a sponsor’s description of their bill, but that’s not accountability and it doesn’t stop the practice.

What Can We Do

It’s an election year so of course, the option is there to vote and support candidates that are explicitly aligned with our priorities. That isn’t exactly a long list, but it does include our very own, Kendra Clark. Having additional voices that can challenge mischaracterizations and look skeptically at police lobbying makes a difference. In between now and May 19, doing what we can to support Candidate Clark is our best General Assembly strategy. Beyond an electoral strategy, what else is there?

The procedure and speed of the General Assembly favors the offense, in this case Republicans. Trying to monitor and stop bills once they’re introduced is Herculean. There are big wins here and there, but so many harmful pieces of legislation slip right by. Analyzing legislation, putting out calls-to-action, and testifying before committees provide documented, on-the-record evidence that there were people who pushed back, and people who warned against potential harms.

But more often than not, these do not move the needle. When testimony comes from organizations believed to be “Democrat”-leaning, it behooves Republican members to ignore it. Even when that testimony contains talking points designed to appeal to those Republicans. Just watch them pass legislation that drives up taxpayer costs, infringes on freedoms, and targets religious expression. Once session begins, it’s mostly too late.

Outside of sessions, DSA should publicize each legislator’s record using all the gory details of the bills they sponsored, supported, or opposed. The Georgia Democratic Party is weak, our county Democratic parties are weak. DSA can step into this vacuum and offer Georgians something better.

A concerted, statewide DSA strategy must shed more light on what is a shamefully neglected aspect of our federalist system. As much as we bemoan federal congressional inaction, our state legislatures enact new, dreadful, horrible laws at a rapacious clip. But where is the attention, the outrage, the strategy?

DSA needs to work with more progressive organizations in the state to get this information to as many Georgians as possible so they can understand what cruelties are enacted in their name. We have to try to change the electorate here before we can ever expect more from the General Assembly. It starts with Republican voters telling Republican legislators not to pass a bad bill, it ends with Republicans & Democrats losing to Socialist candidates up and down the ballot.

Happy Sine Die