GEORGIA POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE (GAPAC) P.O. Box 8420, Atlanta, GA 30306 (404) 872-8095; FAX (404) 874-8628 MEMBERS UPDATE - MARCH/APRIL 1994 Georgia Legislature Update Forty days and 4600 bill later the Georgia Legislature's 1994 term came to a surprisingly swift conclusion on March 16. For our state's gay and lesbian communities, it was a break-even effort. Of the most positive pieces of legislation, two languished in committee. Ron Slotin's Sodomy Law Reform bill and Jim Martin;s Sexual Assault bill (which would eliminate sodomy between consenting adults as a crime by default) will be reconsidered next year. In the next newsletter, Larry Pelligrini will elaborate on the efforts being made on behalf of these two bills. Ron Slotin introduced Senate Bill 565, passed by both houses, which prevents doctors from referring patients to home infusion businesses in which they have a financial interest. Designed to prevent profiteering, this bill corrects the omission of home infusion businesses from a related bill passed last year. The fundamentalists introduced legislation regarding sex education, book banning, English only, and school prayer. And, of course, the session began with several legislators and Lt. Gov. Pierre Howard railing from the legislative pulpit against GPTV for airing "Tales of the City". Of these, only the school bill passed. Roaming the halls during much of the session were members of Nancy Schaeffer's Family Concerns Teen PAC. Interviewing legislators and lobbyists alike, the teens collected personal information from their unwary subjects, having not fully identified themselves. On their "graduation" day, the teens wore hats identifying themselves as "Hard Hats for Jesus". We can probably guess what they will do with the information. The tactics of misinformation and fear, generously funded by conservative backers, were apparent throughout the session. A slickly produced video was provided to each legislator showing scenes which have aired on GPTV (taken out of context, of course). A Washington, D.C., based group flew someone to Atlanta to testify in committee on behalf of the English-only bill. This group also hired Atlantans for phone banking; they succeeded on making it the #1 topic of phone calls to the legislature. In-depth descriptions of several of the most controversial and a few of the most ridiculous of the considered bills follow. %%%%% Bills of Interest HB-1511 ANTI-DOMESTIC PARTNERSHIP. Co-authored by Mark Burkhalter (R-Alpharetta) and Billy McKinney (D-Atlanta), this bill sought to supercede local laws and bar domestic partnership in the state. With much help from the City of Atlanta's lobbyist, the bill never left committee. The state legislators did not want to be seen treading on "home rule". HB-1950 BOOK BANNING. It would have allowed petition initiatives in individual school districts to remove books from the shelves. If a certain number of signatures were collected to ban specific books(s), then the school board would be required to hold hearings on the subject. Two amendments were attached to the bill. The first would have required a higher percentage of signatures than the original bill. The second required that the petition system be voted upon and approved within each school district before it went into effect. It has passed the House with the amendments. Incredibly, the author Sharon Trense (R-North Fulton) withdrew the bill because she felt these amendments "weakened" it. We expect to see this again next year. HB-1314 SEX EDUCATION. A school construction bill which had broad popular support of both Democrats and Republicans, it first passed the House. When the bill reached the Senate Floor and its sure passage was imminent, a last-second amendment was added, In a well-choreographed move, Pierre Howard (Lt Gov presides over Senate) stepped aside, Pete Robinson (D-Columbus) took the podium and read the amendment. It stated, in part, "...appropriated funds shall only be expended for responsible sex education and AIDS prevention courses which do not promote homosexuality as an alternative lifestyle". Sen. Ron Slotin (D-Atlanta) immediately objected on the grounds that it was not germane to the bill; Robinson overruled him, called for a voice vote, and the bill passed with the amendment attached. Larry Pelligrini estimates that this process too 15 seconds. The bill was sent to a conference committee where select House and Senate members met to negotiate differences between the two chambers versions. There, the bill's author, John Godbee (D-Brooklet) who chairs the House Education Committee, insisted that the amendment be deleted. Senate leaders agreed. SB-396 MEDITATION AND SCHOOL PRAYER. Passed on the final day of the 1994 session, it mandates one minute of reflective meditation in schools and allows student initiated prayer at school events. The original bill called solely for meditation. However, when it reached the House, it was amended to allow for student prayer. When Doug Teper (D-Dekalb Co.) pleaded to at least provide protection and/or guidelines for teacher and principals, he was literally hooted and booed, one of the very few times our lobbyist can remember that happening. Afterwards, the fundamentalists were literally bumping into each other to position themselves for tv interviews. It passed the house 164 to 10. The bill does not take effect until the next school year. Expect a legal challenge. BUDGET ITEM: FUNDING FOR GPTV. Approved. While all the blathering focused on the airing of Tales of the City, the real issue was funding for GPTV's move from the district of Grace Davis (D-Fulton Co.), one of the stations most vocal critics. Ultimately, the issue was resolved to the satisfaction of most. Ms. Davis' district gets a training center in the vacated facility; Emory (which donated land for the site) gets a medical testing lab which was to relocated to Macon, Georgia Tech gets GPTV, and GPTV gets most of their funding. SB-127 ENGLISH ONLY. Had this bill passed, it would have been mandatory that all official documents produced by the State of Georgia would be written exclusively in English. Generally, legislators did not want to be forced to vote on the issue and were relieved when Cathy Cox (D-Bainbridge) filibustered away most of the waning moments of the 1994 session. Midnight arrived just as this bill was called for a vote, and Tom Murphy (Speaker of the House) struck his gavel uttering the Latin phrase "Sine Die" sending everyone home. The author, Mike Crotts (R-Conyers) could substantiate his claim that this bill is cost-saving. However, he felt compelled because, he explained, during a near- death experience, Gold told him to run for office and ,presumably, introduce legislation like this. With stacks and stacks of bills introduced each year, the legislature often takes years to vote on a particular bill. The author's persistence, the perceived interest of the populace, favorable committee assignments, and the dictates of strategy determine when a bill finally gets voted on. Like bad fish coming back to haunt us, we expect to see some familiar bills return during the 1995 session. Book banning, restrictive sex education, mandatory HIV testing schemes, and English Only will all likely be back. But, we also know that the sexual assault reclassification and sodomy law reform bills will progress. %%%%% On the Legislature's Lighter Side..... A raise for Attorney General Michael Bowers from $69.3K to $87.0K FAILED. Changing parties didn't please the Democrats. %%%%% COMMITTEE NEWS Political Committee Seeks New Members The political committee of GAPAC is actively seeking additional members to work on the next cycle of elections, which will include races for Governor, statewide offices, and Georgia Senate and House of Representatives. We have completed a questionnaire for candidates and incumbents and will be sending it out and evaluating the results; interviewing candidates; holding public forms; determining ratings; and publicizing the results. If you or anyone else you know are interested in working on these projects--a vital importance to out community--please come to our next meeting, Monday, April 18, 1994, at 6:30 pm at 1045 Hudson Drive N.E., behind the North Highland YWCA. For directions or more information call 404-284-5441. %%%%% typing/typos by Lois Morrison