Category Archives: Newsletters

January 2022 Newsletter

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Georgia General Assembly Convened January 10th

“In the event that a Member experiences any of these symptoms [listed below] after the start of the 2022 Legislative Session, he or she should immediately leave the Capitol Complex (if present there) and should not return to the Capitol Complex until they have visited a doctor and received clearance to return.”
– Georgia House of Representatives
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Cough, shortness of breath, difficulty breathing, fever, repeated shaking with chills, muscle pain, headache, sore throat, new loss of taste or smell

COVID-19 Requirements for the Capitol Complex

  • Members of the House Representatives were tested January 5th at the Capitol, while testing at other locations must have been done by Friday January 7th.
    House Staff were tested at the Capitol on January 5th.
  • Test results were sent to Human Resources Director Donald Cronin by January 10th.
  • The Speaker may remove from the House Chamber and Gallery those refusing to comply.
  • Masks must be worn by House Members and staff when in the House Chamber or Gallery.
  • Members, staff and public attendees must wear masks to enter committee meetings.
  • Committee and sub-committee meetings are live-streamed where technology is available.
  • Members who wish to participate virtually must give a 24-hour notice.
  • Public attendees of committee meetings must register name, address and contact numbers.
  • Registration lists may be used for contact-tracing when COVID-19 infection emerges.
  • Social distancing in the House requires 15 representatives to be seated in the Gallery.
  • Specifically programmed tablets allow members in the Gallery to vote, etc.
  • Food brought in must be covered in single-portion containers or individually wrapped.
  • Masks are encouraged for Members and staff, except when ingesting food or beverages.
  • Monday and Thursday are the twice-weekly test days. Except for the second week, testing will be on Tuesday and Thursday, after MLKJr holiday is observed Monday January 17th.

Capitol Complex Changes for Visitors and Volunteers

  • Entry into the Capitol is limited to approximately 800 visitors at any given time.
  • Capitol complex meeting spaces cannot be reserved for use by outside groups.
  • Vending machines for food and beverages are available on the first floor of the Capitol.
  • Masks are encouraged but not mandatory for entry into the Capitol.
  • There is no “rope line” or pages to allow prompt in-person communication with legislators.
  • Communication with legislators is available by appointment, but not by casual approach.
  • Black curtains restrict public access to the corridor outside the Chambers.
  • The Gallery is not accessible to the public and its corridor is not open to the public.
  • Personal aides and staff not paid by the House are not allowed to work in House offices.
  • A personal aid or chief of staff must work remotely or from public spaces in the Capitol.
  • To read the rest of this newsletter in PDF format, please click here.

December 2021 Newsletter

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John F. King, New Insurance Commissioner for Georgia

“Now, therefore, pursuant to the authority vested in me as Governor of the State of Georgia, it is hereby ordered that the Honorable John F. King is hearby appointed Commissioner of Insurance for the State of Georgia, for the term of office ending January 9, 2023. This 3rd day of December, 2021.”
– Governor Brian Kemp, December 3, 2021

Why was a new Commissioner of Insurance appointed? On December 2, 2021, former Insurance Commissioner Jim Beck reported to a federal prison at Maxwell Air Force Base in Montgomery, Alabama, to begin serving a seven years, three months sentence for 37 counts, including wire fraud, mail fraud, money laundering and tax fraud, through which he diverted over $2.5 million from the state-chartered Georgia Underwriting Association (GUA) into his own bank accounts. Prior to his election to public office, Beck was manager of GUA.

The former commissioner was under federal investigation before his 2018 election, and was indicted after taking office in 2019. After an eight-day trial, jurors found him guilty in less than two hours. In October District Judge Cohen sentenced Beck, but allowed him to be at home in Carrollton (electronically monitored) until after Thanksgiving. Then, he reported to prison.

  • To read the rest of this newsletter in PDF format, please click here.

October/November 2021 Newsletter

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DOJ to “Protect” Local School Boards from Parents

National School Board Association’s (NSBA) letter to President Biden September 29, 2021, asked that the federal Department of Justice repel extremist hate organizations showing up at school board meetings, with “the growing number of threats of violence and acts of intimidation occurring across the nation.” NSBA complained of parental opposition to curricula in certain states, such as Georgia and highly publicized local board hearings in Loudon County, Virginia.

In response, President Biden prompted Attorney General Merrick B. Garland’s October 4th press release, of the Department of Justice plan for a series of efforts to quell behavior NSBA identifies as “domestic terrorism.” DOJ will create (a) a task force from seven DOJ offices and give (b) specialized training for local school boards and school administrators to identify/report threats, while collecting and preserving evidence of “crimes” to be investigated and prosecuted.

Response to AG Garland’s Memo
The U.S. Senate responded to the DOJ plan on October 27, 2021 by requiring AG Garland to give sworn testimony before a Capitol Hill Senate Judiciary Committee hearing entitled, “Oversight of the United States Department of Justice.”

Governor-Elect Glenn Youngkin responded to parents’ complaints in Loudon County by promising to increase the number of charter schools in the state. However, charter schools aren’t the answer. In Georgia, parents deal with elected boards of education for traditional schools, charter schools are controlled by contract with the SBOE and an appointed committee.

  • To read the rest of this newsletter in PDF format, please click here.

September 2021 Newsletter

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Good News! Trump’s “Remain in Mexico” Agreement Reinstated

On his first day in office, President Joe Biden began dismantling former President Donald Trump‟s Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP). Result: Biden (a) delayed deportation for certain noncitizens and (b) suspended the “Remain in Mexico” (RIM) policy that required aliens seeking asylum to wait in Mexico until they had a U.S. court hearing.

RIM affected 60,000 or more aliens from the time it was implemented in January 2019 and January 20, 2021, when the Biden Administration took office and, promptly, suspended it.

Biden‟s move from suspension to rescission took a little over five months. On June 1, 2021, the Biden administration formally rescinded the highly successful Remain in Mexico program.

But the Court intervened! In August 2021, the MPP was reinstated by a Texas federal judge and, subsequently, upheld by the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that refused a request by the Biden Administration to put the ruling on hold.

On August 24th the U.S. Supreme Court denied the Administration’s request for a stay. A George W. Bush appointee to the Supreme Court, Justice Samuel Alito, issued an “Order in Pending Case: Biden, President of U.S., et al, v. Texas, et al,” a half-page, 100-word unsigned ruling that supports both lower court decisions. Justice Alito explained the opinion with this statement: “The applicants have failed to show a likelihood of success on the claim that the memorandum rescinding the Migrant Protection Protocols was not arbitrary and capricious.”

No other opinion was issued, but the last sentence in the Order listed Supreme Court Justices Breyer, Sotomayor, and Kagan as having disagreed with the majority opinion. Also on August 24th, the DHS declared that the decision would be vigorously challenged. So, it‟s not over, yet.

  • To read the rest of this newsletter in PDF format, please click here.