Tillery: Week 7 Highlights

This week officially marked the halfway point of the 2022 Legislative Session. Over the past 20 legislative days, the Senate has made major progress on 2nd amendment protections, pushing back on federal government mandates, combating gang activity, and protecting parents’ rights in the classroom. With Tuesday and Thursday being our only two legislative days this week, every other day was filled with many bills moving through committee. On the floor and this week, the Senate made some major developments that extended protections to our student athletes and gave parents of young schoolchildren more oversight of the education they are receiving. This week, Governor Kemp also announced major developments of grants totaling $442 million to replace old water and sewer infrastructure in communities across the state. These grants were extremely competitive and difficult to get. Community leaders had to design plans and show need in order to qualify. Thanks to the hard work of many majors, councilmembers, commissioners and staff, our area performed extremely well. Long County ranked as the number one project statewide and received $3 million for drinking water and wastewater improvements. Other area winners included Baxley, Glennville, Jesup, Lyons, Mt. Vernon, Scotland, Tattnall County, Uvalda, Douglas, and Vidalia. During the press conference, the Governor was joined by members of the Water and Sewer Infrastructure Committee and they invited Mt. Vernon Mayor Joey Fountain to explain what the grant would mean to Mt. Vernon and Montgomery County. I was proud for our area. Here’s a summary of a few other bills that passed the Senate this week: Parents Bill of Rights: Recently, we have heard widespread testimony from many parents of young children who have raised their concerns on what is being taught and what their children are being exposed to each day in school. On Tuesday, the Senate addressed these concerns again in the form of Senate Bill 449. It is important to ensure our young schoolchildren are receiving the highest level of education. However, we simply cannot discredit these children’s parents and their wishes for their children. We must ensure that parents have a say so in the curriculum that is being taught to their children. SB 449 grants parents explicit rights regarding oversight of their child’s education including: the right to direct the upbringing and the moral or religious training of their minor child and the right to review all instructional materials intended for use in the classroom. It is important that we respect parents right to raise their children as they see best and be included in the curriculum they are taught. Save Girl Sports Act: The Senate continued to carry the theme of providing protection to our young Georgians through Senate Bill 435. Known as the “Save Girls Sports Act,” SB 435 prohibits any individual whose birth certificate states that they were born as a male to participate on the same athletic teams as those who are born as females. SB 435 would give young females the opportunity to compete at a level that is equivalent to their own. Continuing Education for Communications Officers: Also on Thursday, the Senate shed light on a topic that every Georgian should be educated on, how to receive instruction on properly administering CPR to someone in need through Senate Bill 505. We have all experienced some level of tragedy in our lives. And often times, when tragedy strikes, the first person you will communicate with is a 911 operator or communications officer. First, I want to commend Georgia’s 911 operators for the exceptional work they do in providing calm and efficient assistance to panicked callers. SB 505 would require Telephone Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation Training for officers so that telephone operators are equipped with the necessary skills to properly talk a caller through how to perform CPR. Congressman Rick Allen Visits the Senate: The Senate also had the pleasure of welcoming another member of Georgia’s Congressional delegation to the Chamber on Thursday. Congressman Rick Allen (GA – 12) has represented Southeast Georgia and much of District 19 since 2015.

Many of you have asked about visiting. This week, the Capitol was as busy with groups and guests as I have seen it since Covid. It was nice to see so many visitors — too many to name all in here! If your group or class was wondering whether you could make it this year, the answer is YES, please come visit. From here on out, the work will only continue to pile on as Crossover Day is on the horizon. Monday has been set aside as the day to present Constitutional Carry, a bill many have asked about, on the Senate floor. I support it and believe it will pass. We will also take up the amended budget in Senate Appropriations Monday morning. Suffice to say, next week is shaping up to be extremely busy. If you have any questions or concerns about any piece of legislation you’ve seen here or questions about processes concerning the state budget, please do not hesitate to reach out to my office. It is always an honor to serve you under the Gold Dome.

Sen. Blake Tillery serves as Chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee. He represents the 19th Senate District, which includes Appling, Jeff Davis, Long, Montgomery, Telfair, Toombs, Treutlen, Wayne, and Wheeler counties and a portion of Liberty and Tattnall counties. The 19th District is expected to add Bacon and parts of Coffee County in 2023. He can be reached by email at blake.tillery@senate.ga.gov.

By Sen. Blake Tillery (R-Vidalia)