Northwest Georgia Republican House members are pushing for a resolution by the 14th District GOP Congress “exhorting” lawmakers to support General Assembly legislation aimed at improving access to mental health care in the Peach State.
The 14th District consists of Catoosa, Chattooga, Dade, Floyd, Gordon, Murray, Polk, Walker counties in northwestern Georgia and part of Cobb and Paulding counties.
In addition to disappointing 11 District 14 members who voted in favor of the bill, the resolution also expressed gratitude to Mitchell Horner, R-Ringgold, for voting against it. House Bill 520 passed the state house, but was introduced to the Senate during the Georgia Assembly session, which ended March 29.
District 14 Republican Party chairperson Denise Burns said in a written statement that she was disappointed that state reps Steven Tarvin, R-Chickamauga, and Mike Cameron, R-Rossville, two lawmakers mentioned in the resolution, decided to ban the to leave Congress instead of staying and defending their votes.
“Both claim that their understanding of the bill contained inflammatory untruths about the bill,” she said. “And yet, instead of addressing the untruths, they withdrew from all discussion and allowed the congressional body to pass what they view as untrue.”
Resolutions are non-binding statements voted on by attendees at the Republican Party’s District 14 convention held in Trion, Georgia late last month. About 245 was the highest number of people voting at the convention, Burns said, and about 200 stayed to vote on the 10 resolutions that passed.
The resolution said that mental health legislation was immoral and socialist to expand Medicaid, violated the principle of individual responsibility by forgiving student loans for some health care workers, included federal funding for abortions and gender identity procedures, and opposed a violating due process by providing up to a 90-day jail term for those awaiting a mental health competency test.
The measure, which expands on last year’s Mental Health Parity Act, would address data sharing between government agencies, examine existing mental health care resources and expand a loan forgiveness program for some health care workers.
(READ MORE: A Georgia bill to increase mental health funding failed the Senate. What happened and what’s next?)
If the state accepts federal funding to expand Medicare/Medicaid, Burns said in defense of the resolution, state officials must accept federal policies regarding abortion and gender-affirming care. And the federal law would take precedence over recent state laws regarding the practices, she said.
Cameron said that was not factual. The 11 legislatures are pro-life conservatives and ban gender-affirming childcare, Cameron said, and would not support legislation allowing those practices.
The officials supporting the mental health care bill aren’t big government figures, he said, they’re just trying to help their neighbors. HB 520 will be reviewed again by the State Senate when the 2024 session begins in January, he said.
“The main thing is we have to do something about mental health in Georgia,” Cameron said in a phone interview. “If we don’t do that, it will overtake us. The fentanyl drug abuse problems and sheriff’s departments are not equipped.”
Cameron said he works extensively with the Dade County Sheriff’s Office and his prisons are full of people who need mental health treatment. Other sheriff’s offices in Northwest Georgia face the same problem, he said, because North Georgia’s 30 counties have only 17 mental health treatment beds.
In reading the bill, Tarvin said he couldn’t believe any of the resolution’s allegations were true, but added he needed to learn more about how receiving federal grants relates to abortion and gender-affirming care. He said he was open to further discussions with critics.
Cameron said the conflict over resolution was a mess and tearing the party apart.
“It was a second class smash job from a bunch of extremists,” Cameron said of the resolution. “That’s exactly what it was.”
Critics have waited until the district convention to express concerns about the law, Cameron said, rather than having a discussion while the law is under review by the General Assembly. Both he and Tarvin left the gathering, he said, because he didn’t want to make a scene.
Tarvin said in a phone interview that rather than “changing with every wind,” he votes based on what is constitutional and will help the people of Georgia. He said he left the convention because he did not want to influence a debate about him, and voters can decide whether he should serve them in the general assembly.
But Tarvin said he received more encouragement to vote yes than no on HB 520.
(READ MORE: New Northwest Georgia elected officials speak on values and plans for the legislature)
Cameron said he’s open to speaking to anyone about legislation as there are points he might miss. He said he only heard one complaint about the bill, but the caller couldn’t cite their concerns about the legislation.
Sandi Marcus, executive director and founder of the Georgia Coalition for Vaccine Choice, said over the phone that her organization ran a campaign that organized thousands of voters to contact their representatives and urge them to vote against HB 520. She is a Bartow County resident. Coalition records said Cameron received 15 emails from lawmakers’ constituents as part of the organization’s campaign.
In response, Cameron said he doesn’t generally see emails from some automated advocacy campaigns and thinks those emails may end up in his junk folder.
Cameron said the criticism came from the Georgia Republican Assembly, a small conservative government organization that helped lawmakers like Horner and Senator Colton Moore, R-Trenton, win the Republican primary in May 2022. Burns and Jackie Harling, who ran against Cameron in last year’s primary, are members of the group. Cameron won 75.9% of the primary votes, defeating Harling, who lives on Lookout Mountain in Georgia.
Cameron said in an email that Gov. Brian Kemp and lawmakers will stand by their legislation regarding abortion and gender-affirming care, regardless of the source of funding for mental health treatment.
Harling is the recently elected chairwoman of the Walker County Republican Party, and she said the District 14 GOP conference was a wonderful gathering of like-minded, patriotic people open to lively debate.
(READ MORE: Catoosa County Republican Party Convention attendees debate school choice)
The mental health bill gives the government too much power, Harling said in a phone call, and she was glad it was defeated.
She agreed that mental health in Georgia prisons is a problem, but solving that problem could be simple – but politicians have unnecessarily added more provisions. It’s another example of elected officials trying to control people, she said.
Dismissing concerns of freedom advocates by saying they are in the pre-existing Georgia code is no excuse, Harling said, since the legislation can and should be updated as needed.
Harling said she was disappointed that Tarvin and Cameron left Congress and that the representatives — who were also county delegates — weren’t there to vote on other district matters. Everyone has a chance to debate the resolution, she said, but no one stood up.
“What I would have liked to see is that in the face of criticism, they would have been brave and stood up and picked up a mic and made their case and explained to us why they voted the way they did,” Harling said.
In addition to a well-run session, Harling said the food was excellent and the speakers shared truths seldom heard. Because her two state representatives left Congress early, Harling said she took her lunch to eat later.
Contact Andrew Wilkins at awilkins@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6659.
