Voting rights and criminal justice reform advocates are rallying support behind a proposed state law aimed at eliminating a 147-year-old provision of the Georgia constitution that experts say was created to limit Black people’s access to the ballot box. The measure known as SB 179 and a companion resolution are the latest attempt by Georgia […]
General Assembly
Posted inState Politics
Georgia Lawmaker’s Bill Would Bar Trump from 2024 Ballot
The latest effort to keep Donald Trump’s name off the 2024 presidential ballot comes in the form of a proposed Georgia law backed by Democrats that would bar anyone who’s been involved in a U.S. insurrection from running for office in the state. State Rep. Derrick Jackson, D-Tyrone, introduced HB 1159, known as the Oath […]
Posted inEducation, K-12
Black Lawmakers Pushing for Increase in Funds for Poor K-12th Students
Georgia Legislative Black Caucus members are supporting a bill that would increase public education funding for kindergarten through 12th-grade students living below the poverty line throughout the state. If enacted, advocates say HB 668, aka the Georgia Educational Opportunity Act, would amend Georgia’s Quality Basic Education (QBE) funding formula to include a $1,500 per-pupil weighted […]
Posted inPolitics & Policy
Black Atlanta Wants Rent Control. Will State Lawmakers Help Them Get It?
Advocates pushing for Georgia lawmakers to lift a decades-old, statewide ban on rent control face an uphill battle in the current 40-day legislative session, which started last Monday. “I don’t see that happening,” state Sen. Gloria Butler, a Democrat representing Stone Mountain, told Capital B Atlanta in December. “I’m being realistic because these are real […]
Posted inState Politics, Voting
Black Dems Cry Foul Over Redrawn GOP Electoral Maps
Georgia Democrats expect a federal judge to reject three new electoral maps designed by their Republican colleagues in a ruling that will determine whether Black voting power in the state is properly increased or inappropriately undermined by the plans. In party-line votes, both Georgia General Assembly chambers approved the state House and state Senate redistricting […]
Posted inState Politics
Why Black Senators Are Pushing Back on New Proposed GOP Map
Democratic Georgia lawmakers and voting rights advocates pushed back Wednesday on a new state Senate district map that they say dilutes the electoral power of Black voters and violates a federal judge’s order in the process. “What they’re doing is really criminal,” state Sen. Donzella James, a Democrat from Atlanta, said to Capital B Atlanta […]
Posted inVoting
Georgia’s Electoral Map Unfairly Dilutes Black Voting Power, Judge Rules
A federal judge on Thursday ordered members of the Georgia General Assembly to redraw the state’s electoral maps ahead of the 2024 election after determining the current maps unfairly dilute the political power of Black voters. The landmark ruling by U.S. District Court Judge Steve Jones is expected to increase the number of majority-Black districts […]
Posted inReproductive Health
The Biggest Barrier to State-Funded Doulas for Pregnant Women
The discussion around offering state-funded doulas to low-income pregnant people might be headed back to the Georgia legislature, advocates and lawmakers say. Supportive legislators are planning to introduce a bill that would allow the state’s Medicaid dollars to fund doula services in an effort to reduce maternal deaths in Georgia. The state has among the […]
Posted inCulture
What to Do About Stone Mountain? Black Residents Talk Park’s Racist Past.
N’neka Scruggs refuses to let Stone Mountain Park’s massive memorial carving of Confederate leaders bother her. “That was put there as an act of aggression towards Black people,” Scruggs said of the 51-year-old memorial site, where the Ku Klux Klan used to burn crosses. “I’d rather it not be there, but I don’t pay it […]
Posted inState Politics
Your Elected Officials Were Busy Passing Laws That Affect You. Here’s a Recap.
Lawmakers inside the state Capitol ceremoniously threw shreds of paper in the air in celebration after working past midnight to decide the fate of several contentious bills on Sine Die, the last day of this year’s legislative session. Many of the year’s most controversial measures, including one that would create a Georgia school voucher program […]