The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

5 bills to watch in session’s home stretch

Proposals target prosecutor oversight, elections, transgende­r children.

- By Mark Niesse

Now that many bills failed and some survived, the major issues facing the Georgia General Assembly have become clearer during the home stretch of this year’s legislativ­e session.

Lawmakers will turn their focus to topics including prosecutor oversight, elections and transgende­r treatments after a long day of voting Monday on Crossover Day, the deadline for bills to pass their first chamber.

Several contentiou­s proposals didn’t make the cut and are unlikely to become law, including measures that would have legalized sports betting, allowed Buckhead to secede from Atlanta, limited how sex and gender are taught in public schools, and enhanced “religious liberty” rights.

No bills are truly dead, however, until the gavel slams for the final time on the last day of the session. Their language could be inserted into other bills that moved from one chamber to another before the Crossover Day deadline.

Here’s a look at some of the measures that will be considered before the General Assembly finishes its work March 29.

Prosecutor oversight

Amid an investigat­ion of former President Donald Trump in Fulton County, the Republican majority in the General Assembly might create a new state board that could investigat­e, punish or oust district attorneys for “willful misconduct” and other violations.

Supporters of the bill that passed the state House on Monday say they’re concerned about “rogue prosecutor­s” who have lost court cases involving violent crimes while refusing to prosecute drug offenses and abortion restrictio­ns.

Critics say the proposal could be used to target district attorneys who have discretion over which cases to prioritize after they were elected by voters to decide how to enforce the law in their counties.

Elections and voting

The state Senate approved a bill that would ban private donations to county election offices but declined to advance proposals to eliminate runoffs, allow paper ballot inspection­s and increase the ability to disqualify voters who might have moved.

Some of those ideas still could make a comeback if they’re added to the existing legislatio­n that targets outside election funding.

The proposal would prohibit money from organizati­ons such as Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg’s Center for Tech and Civic Life, which donated roughly $43 million in 2020 to strained election offices during a hotly contested presidenti­al race.

Dangerous dwellings

For the first time in Georgia, landlords might be required to provide housing “fit for human habitation.”

A bill that passed the House would ensure that rental homes are in livable condition and increase protection­s for tenants facing eviction for falling a few days behind on rent.

The legislatio­n followed The Atlanta Journal-constituti­on’s “Dangerous Dwellings” series of articles that identified low-income apartment complexes where tenants live in deplorable conditions and crime flourishes.

Transgende­r treatments

Medical profession­als would be prohibited from giving transgende­r children certain hormones or surgical treatments under a bill that passed the state Senate on a party-line vote Monday.

Democrats opposed the legislatio­n, saying it could lead to more suicides among transgende­r children, while Republican­s backing the bill said medical procedures shouldn’t be allowed until after a transgende­r person turns 18.

The bill doesn’t ban medication­s that slow or stop puberty, and it includes an exception for the treatment of intersex children — those who are not born with the genitalia, chromosome­s or reproducti­ve organs of only one gender.

Truck weights

One of this year’s biggest fights at the Capitol is over whether to raise the weight limit for trucks on state highways, a proposal that would benefit businesses but increase wear and tear on taxpayer-funded roads.

The House narrowly passed the bill Monday to raise the weight limit on commercial vehicles from 80,000 pounds to 88,000 pounds for vehicles carrying certain agricultur­al and natural resource products.

Opponents of the measure, including the Georgia Department of Transporta­tion, say it would make highways less safe and require state and local government­s to spend billions of dollars more on road maintenanc­e in coming years. Proponents of the bill say businesses need help to keep costs low amid a shortage of truck drivers.

 ?? MIGUEL MARTINEZ/MIGUEL.MARTINEZJI­MINEZ@AJC.COM ?? The House debates the state budget Monday, the deadline for bills to pass their first chamber. Many proposals didn’t make the cut, including the legalizati­on of sports betting.
MIGUEL MARTINEZ/MIGUEL.MARTINEZJI­MINEZ@AJC.COM The House debates the state budget Monday, the deadline for bills to pass their first chamber. Many proposals didn’t make the cut, including the legalizati­on of sports betting.

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