State lawmakers ended the 2024 legislative session with a flurry of votes that lasted into the early morning hours.
But the evening ended with some of the most closely watched bills – such as a bill to ban puberty blockers for minors and a proposal to put sports betting on the ballot this fall – fizzled out in the House of Representatives.
The final votes took place well after the traditional midnight deadline and in a fog of confusion.
Paper airplanes, balls and rags were already flying through the House as lawmakers waited impatiently for the speaker to call “Sine Die!” Some House members had already left the chamber when they were called back to their desks shortly before 1 a.m. to pass a bill to rename streets and another to increase the state's property tax exemption to give property owners some tax relief.
House members wait for an opportunity to throw away shredded bills and other documents early Friday morning, as is customary in Georgia. Jill Nolin/Georgia Recorder
But the final day also offered its share of controversial bills. Republican lawmakers passed a sweeping ballot measure on Thursday, prompting the ACLU of Georgia to immediately issue a statement announcing it would file a lawsuit if the governor signed the bill.
And GOP leadership pushed through a bill that would punish sheriffs who fail to enforce federal immigration laws, although another similar bill did not survive. Those laws gained momentum after the death of a nursing student on the University of Georgia campus that has become a national political flashpoint.
One of the most important issues of the session, however, ended last week. After months of debate, a Senate committee failed to pass a proposal to fully expand Medicaid. Instead, lawmakers passed changes to state health care regulations and created a commission to look into fully expanding Medicaid.
“I've gotten in trouble for saying this, but I'll say it again: There's nothing the House can't talk about, that we can't debate,” Speaker Jon Burns told reporters early Friday morning. “And we can look at the facts about it to see what impact it might have on our state.”
Burns said those discussions will continue this summer as the commission begins its work. But he also said he thinks the governor's partial expansion plan is “gaining some momentum.” About 3,500 people have signed up for Pathways to Coverage, which launched last summer.
Still no statue for Chief Justice Clarence Thomas
House members did not vote on a proposal to erect a statue of Georgia-born U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas.
The proposed tribute to the controversial figure has faced fierce opposition in the Senate over the past two years. State senators wanted to place the statue on the Capitol grounds as a great honor.
House members have been considering alternatives this week. One proposal floated earlier this week was to place Thomas' statue in the nearby Nathan Deal Judicial Center, along with statues of other Georgia Supreme Court justices. Three other justices reside in Georgia.
A revised House plan would have limited the honor to Thomas but kept it at the Justice Center. The Senate mimicked that idea and added it to another bill, but in the end the proposal was never called for a vote in the House.
Attempts to protect Okefenokee from mining are failing
A late attempt to impose a three-year moratorium on new mining permits near the Okefenokee Swamp failed in the Senate.
Under pressure, House members used a legislative maneuver on Tuesday to push the proposal through.
The bill was a scaled-down version of another House proposal that had faced opposition from environmental groups. Specifically, it calls for a moratorium on dragline construction – the method Alabama-based company Twin Pines Minerals plans to use at Trail Ridge – in previously untouched areas like Trail Ridge.
Lawmakers throw away paper after adjournment of 2024 legislative session. Toni Odejimi/Georgia Recorder
Like other proposals, this proposal would not have stopped Twin Pines from mining titanium dioxide and zirconium on a 600-acre demonstration site about three miles from the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge.
Republican Rep. Lynn Smith of Newnan, who chairs the House Natural Resources and Environment Committee, said the bill should help “calm things down.” Another bill that would permanently block new or expanded mining permits for Trail Ridge stalled in Smith's committee despite being supported by more than 91 co-signers – enough support to pass the full House.
The bill passed the House of Representatives on Tuesday by a vote of 167 to 4, although some voted with reservations.
“While I'm not really enthusiastic about this bill and I never will be pro-mining … this is the only thing we can do right now to save the swamp. It's the only option,” said Rep. Debbie Buckner, a Democrat from Junction City.
Buckner expressed hope that a three-year moratorium would at least give opponents of mining near the Okefenokee some time to find a way to “save the swamp.”
But the bill met with an even cooler response in the Senate. Majority Leader Steve Gooch said Thursday in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution's “Political Georgia” podcast that he believes the state's environmental protection agency should decide on its own what to do.
The EPD issued draft permits last month and is in the process of gathering public input on these permits. These permits have faced strong public opposition.
“If we start bypassing the legislators and regulators on this issue, the next problems are landfills, quarries, water treatment, wastewater treatment, and the list goes on,” said the Dahlonega Republican.
