2006 LEGISLATIVE REPORTS
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2006 LEGISLATIVE REPORTS |
| January 13, 2006 Changes fail to ‘fix’ Georgia’s voter ID law
By Rep. Quincy Murphy
During the first week of the 2006 session of the Georgia General Assembly, it was almost amusing to watch supporters of the state’s new law requiring voters to produce photo identification when they go to the polls rushing to make changes to the legislation. Amusing, because many of us in the legislature told them last year about the many flaws in the bill and they refused to listen.
Only after a federal judge, on constitutional grounds, prohibited the law from being enforced in the November 2005 municipal elections and after some embarrassing revelations from the U.S. Justice Department’s investigation into the legislation did the bill’s sponsors see the need to try to improve it. One of these revelations, if you recall, was the bill’s chief sponsor being quoted as telling Justice Department officials that African American voters in the Augusta area vote only when they are paid to do so.
The changes approved by the Republican majority in the House this week, aimed at surviving future court challenges, would provide the photo IDs free of charge to voters who do not have them and to make them accessible in each of Georgia’s 159 counties. But those changes were like putting makeup and perfume on a hog. No matter how you dress it up, it’s still a hog.
I voted against the measure – the most restrictive in the nation – because it still places an undue burden on senior citizens who do not have photo IDs in order to exercise their constitutional right to vote, and it does not address the real source of voter fraud, which is in the absentee balloting process. This law would only accomplish one thing: keeping otherwise eligible and registered voters from participating on Election Day.
The first week also brought Gov. Sonny Perdue’s proposed state budget plan for fiscal year 2007, which for the first time during his administration reflects a significant investment in public education. During the previous three years, the governor initiated a total of nearly $1.1 billion in education funding cuts, resulting in delays in reducing class sizes, little or no increases in teacher pay and local property tax increases in more than 80 school districts across the state. But Wednesday, the governor asked lawmakers to approve an election-year budget that includes additional funds for education, including a 4 percent pay raise for educators and a $100 “gift card” for every teacher that will enable them to buy classroom supplies for their students. The governor is also proposing additional funds for the State Health Benefit Plan to keep educators from suffering new increases in insurance premiums. The governor also proposed an increase in classroom construction spending and funds to pay for class size reductions in grades K-8. During the previous three years, the governor and his supporters in the General Assembly enacted legislation that delayed class size reductions that were mandated by the state’s education reform act. Unfortunately, the governor’s plan still includes nearly $170 million in further cuts to the state’s basic funding formula for schools, which hopefully will be corrected during the appropriations process in the legislature. The House also voted this week to ratify the governor’s action last month to reduce the state sales tax on natural gas from 4 percent to 2 percent, a move that will save Georgia consumers $2 on a monthly $100 home heating bill.
I am appreciative of the opportunity to bring you these weekly legislative reports so that you can stay informed on all of the actions we take on the issues that are important to the people of Augusta, Richmond County and the entire state.
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