Author Archives: Admin

April 2018 Newsletter

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Bills: Some Lived, Some Died, Some Were Gutted

While death-by-committee is the fate of most legislation, it is, simultaneously, good or bad depending on what the bill was introduced to do. Based on their subject, bills and resolutions are assigned to committees to accelerate their disposition. Meanwhile, legislators convene for a fraction of each of 40 days to handle on-the-floor responsibilities. Then, they attend committee meetings before and after the floor sessions to decide which bills and resolutions are favorably reported out of committee onto the Senate floor or House floor, where they pass or die. Bills left in committee die, also.

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April 13, 2018 Radio Commentary

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Day of Dialogue vs. Day of Silence

Radio Commentary, 90.7, 91.7 New Life FM, April 13, 2018 – By Sue Ella Deadwyler

The Day of Silence was founded in 1996 at the University of Virginia to promote alternate lifestyles in colleges. A year later, almost 100 colleges and universities participated and by 2008 over 8,000 middle schools, high schools, colleges and universities were registered as participants. The Gay Lesbian and Straight Education Network that sponsors the event provides for registration on the Internet.

Sixteen years ago, the day of silence was observed on April 10th in 15 Georgia high schools and five colleges – Georgia Tech, Spelman, West Georgia State University, the University of Georgia and Wesleyan College. No doubt, those numbers have increased dramatically. The goal of the observance is to squelch all opposition to homosexuality, bisexuality and other lifestyles.

Calls to several Georgia schools that year revealed that some knew and approved of the observance; others said students had listed their schools; East Paulding High was on spring break; Rabun Gap Nacoochee alerted teachers that students might participate; and Villa Rica tried to remove the school name from the list, but couldn’t. Continue reading →

April 6, 2018 Radio Commentary

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When “Dying in Committee” Is a Good Thing

Radio Commentary, 90.7, 91.7 New Life FM, April 6, 2018 – By Sue Ella Deadwyler

You might think bills and resolutions that die are defeated by House or Senate votes, but whether good or bad, most bills die in committee. The committee system is necessary to handle the 2500 bills and resolutions introduced every session.

This year, committees stopped two bills that would have weakened Georgia laws protecting monuments and state symbols. So, state monument laws remain as they were and so do local laws. A local law that remains in effect originated on September 14, 2017 when the Atlanta City Council established an Atlanta advisory committee to recommend the replacing or removal of confederate monuments and street names. The committee’s working list of Atlanta street names includes the twelve that have already been renamed and eighteen under consideration for change.

Committees, also, stopped two resolutions that proposed marijuana amendments to the state constitution. One resolution authorized in-state cultivation of marijuana and the other would have legalized the cultivation of hemp. Hemp is marijuana that has a very low level of THC, the hallucinogenic substance in all marijuana plants. Continue reading →

March 30, 2018 Radio Commentary

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2018 Legislative Session is Over!

Radio Commentary, 90.7, 91.7 New Life FM, March 30, 2018 – By Sue Ella Deadwyler

Yesterday was the last day of the 2018 legislative session, but it’ll be several days before we know the status of all the bills. Meanwhile, today’s topic is four bills that passed early enough for me to tell you about them today.

It’s sad, but culture had become so bad 16 years ago, that the legislature passed the Safe Place for Newborns Act of 2002 that authorizesmothers to drop off their newborns at a fire station or police station with no questions asked and no strings attached. It was enacted to prevent the injury or death of newborns whose mothers abandon them.

That law was amended in 2008 to specify medical facilities and sheriff’s offices as additional legal drop-off locations. This year, H.B. 513 passed to amend it again. The new language requires the Department of Human Services to develop a standard sign to be posted at all authorized drop-off facilities. DHS will decide the size and type of the signs and where they should be posted. Unless it’s vetoed, H.B. 513 becomes law on July 1st. Continue reading →