As Crossover Day Looms, Grassroots Activists Make a Final Concerted Push
Atlanta, GA — Tomorrow, March 6th, is Crossover Day at the state capitol. Any legislation that has not already passed from one side of the state legislature to the other will not pass this legislative session this year unless it gets a vote on the floor by tomorrow. Grassroots activities have been making a concerted effort to contact their legislators and urge them to pass good bills and to stop bad ones.
While stellar pro-life and election integrity bills remain stalled without a committee hearing, the Georgia General Assembly has been fast-tracking corporate welfare and big government expansion bills of numerous kinds. What’s alarming is that this is being done by a Republican-controlled state legislature!
Hundreds Attend Rally for H.B 441
Monday morning, hundreds of pro-life activists gathered at Liberty Plaza at the capitol to urge legislators to give H.B. 441, the Pro-Life Equal Protection Act, a hearing in the Judiciary Non-Civil Committee. The committee Chairman State Rep. Tyler Paul Smith (R-Bremen) said that he was favorable to the bill, but was “waiting for the Speaker [Jon Burns] to give the green light” before a hearing would be scheduled.
We are calling on supporters to contact Speaker Jon Burns’ office and urge him to give Rep. Smith the “green light” now! Call the Speaker at (404) 656-5020 and tell his office to give H.B. 441 a hearing before Crossover Day! You can also email him at jon.burns@house.ga.gov.
Equal protection is the idea that murder of anyone should be illegal for everyone. The rally was called the “Christians for the Pre-Born” rally, and was largely coordinated by local pastors who came with their congregations.
The rally featured several pastors from across the state such as Josh Buice and Virgil Walker from G3 Ministries, and Wes Fuller from middle Georgia. Out of state proponents Jeff Durbin from End Abortion Now and Brian Gunter (formerly with Louisiana Right to Life) also gave rousing speeches. GRA NFRA Director Abigail Darnell presented a strong message on behalf of Georgia Right to Life in favor of the bill. This is the first time a pro-life Equal Protection bill has been properly assgined to a committee dealing with criminal activity rather than healthcare.
GRA-endorsed State Reps. Noelle Kahaian (R-Locust Grove) and Charlice Byrd (R-Woodstock), who are co-sponsors for H.B. 441, were among the attendees.
Sign a petition and let the legislators know of your support by clicking here.
Sen. Moore Drops “Paper Ballot” Election Integrity Bill
Meanwhile, on the Senate side, GRA-endorsed State Sen. Colton Moore (R-Dade) last week introduced S.B. 303, an Election Integrity bill that would exchange the Dominion machines for paper ballots — a key issue for many election integrity advocates. While both paper and computer ballots can be made fraudulent, the concern is that it is easier for a lay person to detect cheating in a paper ballot system than with a system like Dominion. Senate Republican Majority Leader Steve Gooch (R-Dahlonega) and Senator Greg Dolezal (R-Cumming) have also co-signed onto the bill.
Even though the bill has been assigned to the Senate Ethics Committee, supporters have been frustrated that the bill was not getting a hearing scheduled before Crossover Day.
Georgians for Truth put out an alert calling for activists to contact legislators and urge them to support S.B. 303 and 215. H.B. 215 aims to enhance the integrity and accuracy of Georgia’s voter registration system by regulating how voter data is shared and used, restricting participation in certain organizations, and authorizing new mechanisms for maintaining voter lists. Chiefly, it will force the SOS to exit from ERIC (Electronic Registration Information Center). Most surrounding states have exited from this system as it has failed its purpose.
