2018 State Legislative Session

Notable 2018 legislation

  1. Cash Bail Reform
  2. Conservation Funding
  3. Income Tax Cut
  4. Change the Driver’s Licenses of Immigrants
  5. Cyber-security
  6. Campus Free Speech
  7. Cooperation with ICE

Cash Bail Reform (SB 407)

The progressive group Athens for Everyone described this legislation as follows: “Even though all the sponsors are Republicans, and the bill does not go far enough, we still support it as a strong effort toward reform of an inhumane system. It would require judges to consider a defendant’s ability to pay in setting bail and give law enforcement officials flexibility to issue citations instead of criminal charges for some offenses.”

Voting yes to reform cash bail: Cowsert, Ginn, Frye, Wallace, Gonzalez

Bill sponsored by: Brian Strickland

Signed into law by Governor Nathan Deal

Conservation Funding (HB 332)

The progressive group Athens for Everyone described this legislation as follows: “A bill that creates a dedicated funding stream from an existing sales tax on outdoor recreation equipment for the purpose of protection and preservation of conservation land. There is currently no such dedicated funding stream for conservation in the state.”

Voting yes to dedicate conservation funding: Cowsert, Ginn, Frye, Wallace, Gonzalez

Bill sponsored by: Sam Watson, Spencer Frye

Signed into law by Governor Nathan Deal

Income Tax Cut (HB 918)

The progressive group Athens for Everyone described this legislation as follows: “This bill was the subject of a struggle between Delta and politicians beholden to the NRA, but that’s not why we oppose it. Our state could have had $5.2 billion extra in its coffers, enabling us not only to expand Medicaid but to fund any number of ambitious programs to address poverty in Georgia. Instead, it gives that money back to corporations and cuts the top tax rate from 6 percent to 5.5 percent.”

Voting yes to cut income taxes: Cowsert, Ginn, Wallace, Gonzalez
Voting no: Frye

Bill sponsored by: Chuck Efstration

Signed into law by Governor Nathan Deal

Change the Driver’s Licenses of Immigrants (SB 161)

The progressive group Athens for Everyone described this legislation as follows: “The bill would add the term ‘noncitizen’ in a prominent location on the driver’s licenses and ID cards now in use by non-citizen Georgians. Legislation like this is incredibly dangerous and is meant to stigmatize immigrants in Georgia. The Georgia Budget & Policy Institute estimates that ID redesigns will waste $1 million in tax dollars.”

No vote was held on this legislation.

Bill sponsored by: Frank Ginn

This bill did not pass either House or the Senate.

Cyber-security (SB 315)

The progressive group Athens for Everyone described this legislation as follows: “This bill would make logging into a computer without permission illegal, even if no information is stolen, punishable by a fine of $5,000 and up to 12 months in jail. The problem is that companies could use the law against employees who do personal business on work computers, and even scraping public online information could be illegal.”

Voting yes for cyber-security: Cowsert, Ginn
Voting no: Frye, Wallace, Gonzalez

Bill sponsored by: Bruce Thompson, Bill Cowsert

VETOED by Governor Nathan Deal.

Campus Free Speech (SB 339)

The progressive group Athens for Everyone described this legislation as follows: “This bill does get rid of “free speech zones” on college campuses, but it’s really designed to help out hate speech. It would impose fines and suspensions on students who disrupt others’ freedom of speech. The University System of Georgia opposes this bill as overreach by the General Assembly, and we oppose it because it only seems to protect some people’s freedom of speech.”

Voting yes for free speech enforcement on campus: Cowsert, Ginn
Voting no: Frye, Wallace, Gonzalez

Bill sponsored by: William Ligon, Jr.

Signed into law by Governor Nathan Deal

Cooperation with ICE (SB 452)

The progressive group Athens for Everyone described this legislation as follows: “This bill would require (among other things) that a sentencing court (not just felony, but also misdemeanor and ordinance violation) determine the immigration status of an offender and, if that person is undocumented, report them to the Department of Homeland Security and give ICE their last known address 72 hours before releasing them from custody.”

Voting yes for free speech enforcement on campus: Cowsert, Ginn

Bill sponsored by: Jesse Stone

Passed the Senate but not the House.