As Sine Die looms in the near distance, the theatrics of politics in Georgia go into overdrive.  The topics of most interest have already been covered on this blog before with education and transportation taking the cake for most often discussed topics.  However, we have been markedly silent on the issue of Religious Freedom.

I have wanted to speak to this issue, but have been hesitant.  It is something that I feel both passionate about as a person of faith and who does not necessarily believe that regulations always aid equality or justice.  Yet I have a uniquely difficult position:  I am genuinely friends with and admire both primary sponsors of the House and Senate versions of the bill and my pastor has openly spoken against both pieces of legislation.   The lead lobbyist for the Faith and Freedom Coalition is also a friend, and I have Georgia Equality as a client.  When I say I am firmly in the middle, it is not an exaggeration.  Most people who know me personally know where I stand on this issue, and therefore my written explanation of my beliefs are probably relatively unnecessary.

However, after sitting in the House Judiciary meeting last Thursday afternoon I thought I would bring a few things to light about some of the proceedings and process, and give a second chance to someone whose courage I deeply admire.  This post isn’t about policy; it’s about punditry and leadership. Continue reading “Sine Die and Second Chances” →

Anyone who has followed this legislative session knows there’s lots of talk about Georgia’s transportation. Forget the gridlock, congestion, and lack of transit options in our most populous regions, we’re struggling just to keep the roads paved and the bridges useable. I’m not going to delve into the details, but if you need the back-story I’d suggest checking out the transportation section of PolicyBEST.org, they’re eyeball deep in this issue.

Now, I’d love to agree with the idea that rhetoric and posturing are enough to solve our transportation issues, especially since our legislators are so skilled in those disciplines, however, the roads won’t be paved with the speeches by our lawmakers. If we are to trust what our legislators say, then their words must be reflected in their actions. Today’s Senate proceedings provided a rather stark display of how those reflections get distorted. Here’s what passed out of the Senate today:

The budget (with regards to transportation):

• The “fourth penny” from motor fuel taxes goes into the general fund (not to the Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT))
• New debt proposed to pay for additional budgetary needs.
• Service current GDOT Debt.

Senate substitute for HB 170:

• New “user” fees
• Converts the motor fuel sales tax to an excise tax (note the first bullet from the budget…these two things cannot coexist)

Therein lies the problem, the budget and the transportation bill don’t account for each other. The budget spends money from the general fund that will go away if a transportation bill restructuring the motor fuel tax is passed. Moreover, we spend tax dollars to service current debt, and the Senate’s solution is to add debt?!? To that point, take a quick look at this chart, it is the recommendation for next year’s GDOT budget (paying special attention to the 14% in the 2 o’clock area):

Y’all…maybe I’m missing something, but it seems like this is a classic case of wanting to have the cake and eating it too. Either funding GDOT at a high enough threshold to maintain our infrastructure is a priority or it isn’t. Seems to me, with what the Senate passed today, that it isn’t.

Don’t increase the debt liability of the department charged with maintaining our roads when the current debt load is already an issue.

Don’t spend the “fourth penny” on the justice, education, or medical systems if the intent is for those dollars to go to the roads.

And don’t tell me that you believe we have a transportation crisis if GDOT is, at best, fourth on your priority list.

Dear Legislature:  You need to get right with Jesus, and the conference committee is the perfect time to do it.

Hello everyone! I am Lindsay! (with an ‘A’ not an ‘E’)  but I will also answer to Linds. Before I get started blogging about new bills, my political heroes & news worthy updates, I would like to introduce myself! I am a Georgia College & State University public health graduate. I have lived all over the South but consider Georgia home. I am super passionate about education, women’s rights and health issues. I live and breathe everything non-profit and have had the pleasure of working for a few thus far.  I believe everyone is entitled to their own opinion and I am open to hearing all sides of an argument. I love to read. I could watch Ted Talks all day and I am always up for a good debate. The world is ever changing and I am just trying to keep up. I look forward to sharing my thoughts on our incredible country and state & hearing yours as well!

 

Cheers!

Stalk me on twitter: @Lbriana12

 

There are two things that we Southerners are famous for:  our aversion to snow and our propensity to speak in endearing clichés.   Saturday Night Live produced a pithy little skit poking fun at both.  Stay with me, folks; you’ll understand this post soon enough.

On February 23, 2015, while we were all heading for home and stocking up on the essentials of bread, milk, eggs, and “beverages,” Senator Hunter Hill and Senator Fran Millar’s Senate Bill 152 was set to read.  In essence, this bill takes away Teacher Retirement System (TRS) for any new teacher hired after December, 2017.   I won’t bore you with the numbers, but if Georgia wants to have teachers who are the best and the brightest, giving them the short end of the stick is a road paved to hell, even though the good intentions are questionable.

The Universe has a lovely way of telling people things, and our friends Senators Hill and Millar may want to take heed.

On January 24, 2014 Senate Resolution 782 was read in the Senate.  Guess what happened on January 28, a mere four days later?  Snowmaggedon.  You know, that day when children were stuck on buses for hours and teachers stayed at school and took care of the young people whose parents couldn’t get to them? Yeah, that Snowmaggedon.  With SR 782, Young Senator Hill wanted to mess with not only active teachers’ retirement, but also that of all retirees in Georgia.  Since those retirees were already home on January 28 with their bread, milk, and beverages, they gave down the country pretty quickly.  I am fairly confident that the four sponsors of SR 782 had headaches from all of those phone calls.

When the teachers actually got home from spending the night with other people’s children, the phones started ringing again.  The resolution never made it to the floor, and teachers thought that it was dead and cold in the ground. We thought Hill and Millar read the writing on the wall, or in the snow as the case may be, and were going to leave well enough alone.  Senators Shafer, Mullis, Bethel and Jones dropped that thing like a hot piece of corn bread, but Hill and Millar?  God love them.  These boys were counting on the fact that even a blind dog finds an acorn every now and again, bless their hearts.

Senate Bill 152 dropped and was read on February 23 this year.  This time, the Senators left off the retirees and only included those of us who are still teaching children.  I guess these Good Old Boys figured that since the retirees don’t have a dog in the race, the bill would be fine and dandy.  Teachers were in school, so Senators Hill and Millar thought they are sitting in high cotton, right?  RIGHT????  Well, on February 24, 25, and 26 these fine gentlemen got another think coming.  Why?  SNOW DAYS! Sorry Senators, but you got caught with your pants down.  Teachers got wind of your shenanigans faster than two shakes of a sheep’s tail, and we were pretty hacked off at the news of your silly little bill. Teachers don’t sit around like bumps on a log even though that seems to be the general gospel for y’all up there in the Dome.

What do teachers do all day “trapped inside” while Satan’s Dandruff swirls around us?  We get on social media.  What did we find on social media February 25?  Lord have mercy, we found A LOT!  The news of SB 152 spread like wildfire, and Hill and Millar were in the middle of it all…again.   Young Senator Hill’s bill dropped at the worst possible time…again.

I think that it’s Jesus’ way of saying, “Boys, that dog won’t hunt.”  Next year may be snow free, but teachers have been bitten way too many times by these gentlemen, and we are a little shy of what might happen less than a year from now; we will be burning the midnight oil to ensure that these boys keep their dogs in the shed, their foxes out of our hen house, and their fingers out of our retirement pie.  Senator Hill and Senator Millar will soon realize that the sun don’t shine on the same dog’s tail all the time.

I hope that these gentlemen will actually speak to those who have reached out to them; otherwise, they are in for a very rude awakening from a sleeping giant.  Hill and Millar may want to talk with former Governor Roy Barnes about the power of the teacher’s vote.  They can take that to the bank.

#teacherretirement

#HunterHill

#FranMillar

#Teachersnowdays