For 50 years after the Suprem Court decided Roe versus Wade.

Republicans said abortion shoul be decided by the people, not by a judge.

So today, we are fulfilling tha request.

Senate resolution 84 gives th people the chance to decide.

Let's put the issue where i belongs on the ballot.

Senate Democrats introducing S 84.

In a push for a constitutiona amendment on the ballot to let voters decid on abortion access in Georgia.

Good evening, and welcome to da 12 of the Georgia legislative session.

I'm Donna in Atlanta.

We'll have more on the pres conference by Senate Democrat in a moment.

On the show, we will b introducing you to some of the new crop of legislators i the General Assembly this year.

There are 22 freshmen, and they come from a variety o backgrounds, bringing fresh ideas, passio and enthusiasm to the gold dome.

We'll learn a little about them.

For instance, one of them mad an appearance on Sesame Stree and another was on HGTV.

First, it's time to go to th Capitol for our corresponden Sarah Kallis and her wrap up of today's new under the Gold Dome.

Hi, Donna.

Today at the Capitol, another cultural celebration an a protest against Presiden Trump.

The day kicked off with anothe Latino celebration, this time outside the Capitol a Liberty Plaza.

Advocacy groups and lawmaker celebrated contributions from the Latin American community i Georgia, and used the opportunity t condemn President Trump' immigration policy.

Despite the fact that thi president has attempted to divide us and to drive u fear and has caused pain in our community.

Our community will continue t thrive.

And despite the fact tha Republican leaders continue t refuse to expand Medicaid to make housing mor affordable and to help small busines owners across this state, our community will continue t thrive.

But the only way we do that, th only way we do that is b working together.

Is there a doctor in the house Yes there are.

And quite a few in the Senate a well.

Here today, relating t Physicians Day here at th Capitol.

Thank you so much.

We have ove 250 physicians today.

And if you listened at all t the proclamation is that we have 27,000 physician in the state of Georgia.

So we have almost 1% of all th physicians here at this Capitol today.

That's a lot of doctors.

The Georgia Hospital Associatio was also here representing 26 different hospitals.

Also in the Senate.

Some blowback about the tariff battle between the U.S. An China.

Small business owners around th Savannah area told one senator about the disruptions cause when they could no longer ge materials from China.

Last night, they receive notification that there would be a suspension of all inboun parcels from China and Hon Kong.

There was no advanc notification that their product would be delayed.

They have taken orders.

I have a bridal business tha basically had to email clients thi morning that she was going to have to delay their weddin dresses because she will no receive the materials and time t complete the job.

Now, this may not seem like small a big issue to y'all, but this is about small busines and you can't plan and run a business when you don't kno what is about to happen next.

But it was another day withou any bills making it to the floo in the House, members okayed a slew of bill on the local calendar.

The bills, which applie specifically to certai counties, range from homestead ta exemption to rules for runnin for some local offices outside o the Capitol.

anti-Trump protest took place.

No.

Project 2025.

No.

2025.

Demonstrators said they wer gathered to protest Trump's policies and hi cabinet appointees.

I've never done it befor because I'm just fired up about the things that Trum is doing to our country.

It's just so unfair.

Not giving aid to the to th immigrants that are here.

It's just it's just disgusting.

Later in the day, Senate Democrats announced a ne measure, SR 84, to create a ballot referendu allowing voters to decide o abortion access.

One of the most common question I hear from constituents is why can't we vote to protec abortion rights like othe states have?

And the answer is simple, bu frustrating.

Georgia's constitution doesn' allow for direct ballo initiatives, but that doesn't mean Georgi voters don't deserve a say.

Poll after poll shows th majority of Georgians oppose the state's extreme six wee abortion ban.

Yet because of gerrymandere safe districts, too many elected officials lik our colleagues on the other sid of the aisle, they can ignore the will of th people without any consequence.

That's why we are fighting fo SR 84, a constitutional amendment tha would protect abortion access u to fetal viability, as determined by doctors in eac individual case.

Tomorrow, the Senate will vot on a bill to ban transgende girls from girls sports.

That's my Capitol report.

Back to you, Donna.

Thanks, Sarah.

Roughly 9% of the legislators a the Capitol this year are rookies in th General Assembly.

There are 22 members of the 202 legislative class, 15 Democrats and seve Republicans by chamber.

There are 18 newbies in th House and four in the Senate.

Among the new senators is Dre Echols of Gainesville, and I spoke with him earlie today.

I started by asking him abou his back story.

Well, I'm a fifth generatio farmer from Hall County, Georgia, just north o Gainesville.

Uh, married.

I have tw children.

Um, I, you know, uh, been been in the, uh, the ag world for a long time all my life.

And, uh, just kind of intrigue by policy and things like that So.

So here I am.

I know a lot of people will kno about Jamaar Farms.

Is it your daughter who doe those commercials?

Yes.

That was kind of shameful, I guess that when?

A few years ago.

A few years ago.

Um, former Senator Butch Mille told me, he said, look, he said, yo know, you may want to think abou putting that young lady righ there on, uh, on those commercials.

He said she's good, and she's a lot smarter an better looking than her dad, so?

So she's a good a good voice fo the for the operation.

I like also the fact that you wife was down here for two years an you kind of switched place here.

Yes, ma'am.

We have a son, our son Cohen.

He has down syndrome.

And, um, I'm a farmer, and, uh, I try to be a good dad.

What I am not is a mom, and I thought I could be a goo legislator, a good senator.

So she decided not to run, and and I ran and was fortunat enough to win, to represent our district.

You obviously both care abou the state.

And so tell us about the kind o things you hope to see dow here, your priorities.

Well, the state of Georgia an the 49th have given me and my family so muc and just want to give back an serve is the main thing.

Um, I'm very passionate agai about agriculture and thos policies, and in particular this year wit Hurricane Helene, we need to try to make sur these farmers are made whole.

It's a it's a big deal.

It's a generational issue.

Um, and also, you know, the tort reform bill that's com up, that's going to be a big dea over the over the course of this session fo small businesses all across th state of Georgia, we need a level playing field.

And, and right now, the, the judicial stacked dec is stacked against us.

And and we feel like we nee some reform.

It's a matter of the bottom lin really that anything you know, if it's peaches that I grow o my farm or, you know, we have a bakery and then, you know, just down the street, there's metal fabricators that you know, have a little in an industria part.

Every product that we make an sell in the state of Georgia, there's a price associated wit insurance.

The price of our insurance.

And then, in effect, basically, that's because of the tort law in the state of Georgia that, uh, insurance companies insurance providers are leavin this state.

There's not as many options ou there.

It's purely a supply and deman thing.

What's one small thing about yo that people may not know?

Well, a couple years ago I was, uh, called by Sesame Street.

They were looking for a gree bean farmer and, uh, to be on one of thei episodes.

I was fortunate enough to to ge to star on, uh, on an episode of of Sesam Street that aired on TV, so I. Oh boy, oh boy, oh, boy.

Here we are at the String Bea Farm.

Hello, farmer drew, we nee string beans to make grassy looking dog treats Can you help us, please?

Hello, cookie monster an Gonger, welcome to the String Bean Farm.

Sure, I can help you.

We've got lots of string beans.

That was exciting.

And, um, you know, unfortunately, didn't get to meet th characters out in the field.

They had it on a green screen.

So I'm out here talking t myself.

But I used to do that when I wa a little kid, so I could roll with it.

Oh, do you know, in the end wh they put you with?

Which characters did you tal to?

Uh, Cookie Monster and Gonger.

Cookie monster is my favorite.

Absolutely.

We share a lot o common interests.

I love Cookie Monster.

I want to thank Senator Dre Echols, aka Farmer Drew for tha interview.

Well, let's meet another senato in the studio is Senator RaShaun Kemp of Atlanta.

His committees includ Agriculture and Consume Affairs, education and Youth an Government Oversight.

Welcome to Lawmakers.

Thank you.

Donna.

I appreciat that.

So what do you think of th session so far?

It's been interesting.

You know, we started out hot and the continued to be hot.

But behind the closed behind the scenes is reall collegial.

And I reall appreciated that.

Yeah, I know you're an educator Tell us about that.

Yes.

So I'm a former educator.

I was a high school principal.

I became a principal at the ag of 27, in Ohio, before moving down her and getting into educatio advocacy work.

Okay, so tell us what that kin of stuff is now.

Yeah.

So I still work i supporting charter school founded and led by leaders of color.

The National Charte Collaborative.

And we just mak sure that they have everything tha they need to be successful and making sur we're leveling the playing field, eve in that educational space.

Okay.

So with your educatio priorities, I know that you are a chie sponsor of SB 93, the Georgia Early Literacy Act.

It's bipartisan legislation.

So you want to prohibit thre queuing.

The three queuing system i Georgia's instructiona materials.

What is three queuing for peopl who don't understand that?

Thank you so much for askin that.

For this opportunity.

Three queuing is pretty much system in which we were teaching children how to read, and has now been found to b very flawed and not successfu in accomplishing that goal.

And now we all know about th science of reading, and pretty much we've found tha we need to get back to the basics and teaching kid phonics learning.

So teaching them to decode word and what.

Three queuing does is prett much teaches kids to gues words, either by looking at the pictur or looking at the context of a sentence, versus giving them the tools to be successful when thos pictures are no longer in thos books.

So they kind of sound it out an all.

And what are the three queues?

Do you remember right off?

can't remember right off the to of my head.

And I covered education for.

Oh gosh.

Yeah.

So picture right.

Syntax or you know, I can' think of the third one right.

Yeah.

Yeah that's okay.

We'l we'll have people look that up.

A little bit.

We're going to get rid of i anyway.

That's it.

Let's talk a little bit abou some of your other priorities.

Yeah.

So affordable housing i something I'm really passionate about.

And today I signed on to a bil that's going to be introduced by Senator Jame that hopefully allows states to, I mean, the local municipalitie to implement rent control.

Um, housing is just to expensive for so many people i this state.

And also health care.

We have for 500,000 people tha could have access to health car if we expanded Medicaid.

So that's an important priorit to me as well.

So just the one bill so far, bu you've signed on to some others.

I've signed on to a lot of othe bills.

School safety is something I' really passionate about.

As a former principal, I had student that brought a gun t school, so I really support Senato Emanuel Jones bill to make sure the schools are transferrin information as it relates to threats an concerns about students in their buildings.

And safe storage for firearms.

Absolutely.

You know, one of th most common things that we have with any, you know, school incident is usually ha to do with a gun, and we need to do more to kee guns out of the hands of kids.

And having sensible laws lik safe storage, I think, only makes sense, and it wil keep all of us safe.

Okay, now.

So now, you know, I talked about yo weren't on Sesame Street.

But I. I'm asking you all abou fun things that people migh know.

You were on HGTV with you family.

Tell us about that.

I was, and Senator Echols is no going to live this down.

I cannot wait to get into th chamber tomorrow.

He did such a good job.

He did.

He did a good job.

But I'm going to be chattin with Farmer Drew.

Yeah, my husband and my family.

We were on House hunter recently purchasing our home.

It was a fun experience.

It really highlighted the fac that, you know, I'm the spender in the family my husband is the more sensibl and controlled one when it come to our finances.

But I think we found the hous that is the right house for us to grow our family an have our kids playing around and having a good time.

So you enjoyed that experience.

So coming here was nothin compared to what you did wit that?

Well, I don't know.

You're good.

You might have some toug questions.

We'll see.

So you're feeling really goo about this experience.

And we're we're glad to have yo here.

And we'll talk to you and fin out how your bill goes, especially since it' bipartisan.

Absolutely.

The chairman to sig on it.

All right.

Sounds good.

We'l keep up with it.

Thanks so much for coming on.

I appreciate that.

Well, comin up, we met.

We meet members of the othe chamber.

We get to know two of the 1 newcomers in the Georgia House, including one who is the firs Georgia legislator born in this millennium.

You're watching Lawmakers o GFB.

Georgia Farm Bureau, a grassroots organizatio dedicated to preserving Georgia agriculture.

Farm Bureau advocates for al Georgia farmers at the state Capitol during th session and year round.

Georgia Farm Bureau, the Voic of Georgia Farmers.

It's good to have everyone bac together.

Good news indeed.

Put your feet up a minute.

It's beautiful.

How does that sound to you, man?

It's what I love doing.

Cup o tea.

I was thinking more a doubl whiskey.

Harriet.

Freshly baked biscuits.

Always.

Well, this is al proving rather cozy, isn't it?

I got my head out the showroom.

Whoa whoa whoa whoa, da da da da da.

Understanding the past gives sense of the future.

Heart like a lion.

This is the first time tha anyone has seen this in 200 years.

Sunday, oh oh oh oh.

Stop.

Th big is happening.

So hurry up.

We're diving in.

This is amazing.

Well, I'm excited now.

Pompeii is a battle agains time.

Eyes wide open.

Oh.

You think I'm joking?

But loo at this.

It did really happen.

Don't let anybody tell you wh you are.

Yeah, I love this life.

History teaches us to honor th past.

Which in with our eyes wid open.

When you look back, you're like, wow, that wa pretty special.

This is something that' actually altering the course o history.

You're charged with keepin these stories alive.

I want to know that you.

Welcome back to Lawmakers.

I'm Donna Lowry mor introductions now of the freshman class o legislators under the Gold Dome.

They come from all over th state and are excited for the chance to make a differenc through their work at th Capitol.

Two of them join us in th studio right now.

First, Democratic Representativ Bryce Berry of Atlanta.

His committee assignments ar Economic Development an Tourism.

Information and audits, an State Planning and Communit Affairs, and Democratic Representativ Gabriel Sanchez of Smyrna.

He's on the budget and Fisca Affairs, Oversight and Governmenta Affairs and Interstate cooperatio committees.

Not bad committees.

Welcome to Lawmakers, both o you.

Thank you.

Thank you for joinin us here.

So let's start with you.

You're a middle school teache and you're with us.

Tell us what you teach and wh you got into it.

I'm a seventh grade mat teacher, and that was my whole reason wh it was my students.

You know, I have students whos families work two or three job to make ends meet.

Students who don't have healt care.

And, you know, I look at thei situations, I cannot sit back and say, I can't fight for them.

And I'm a believer that ever single child in the state o Georgia deserves a champion.

And so I'm one of the firs teachers in the statehouse, along with Mekyah McQueen, who's another freshman with us, and we're there fighting fo students every single day.

And that's why I got in thi race.

Yeah.

So they you you hav seventh grade math students a Young Middle School in Atlanta.

So.

Yeah.

So I think I' curious, how do you get time of from teaching?

Well, it is a leave of absenc I've taken, but I do still make lessons.

And I'm very much still activ in my kids career and m careers.

Careers, educations.

I go ther on Fridays.

I go there after.

Sometimes after sessions, I mak lessons at night.

The key is you don't sleep.

Yo make lessons at nighttime, you record your lessons.

You got to do what you got to d to ensure that my kids are still learning an they know I'm still there fo them.

No.

I love that, I love that and that you'r you're they're probably watchin you, maybe, or keeping an idea o what you're doing.

They very much.

Do.

They miss you?

Yeah, I'm sur they do.

All right, let's get with you.

Tell us a little bit about you background.

Yeah.

So I'm a son of Colombia immigrants, born and raised here in Georgia.

And actually, Bryce and I ar the first two Gen Z legislator in Georgia's history, so we're very excited about tha to represent our generation an the people of Georgia.

And, you know, I grew up wantin to be a filmmaker, actually, and went to school fo film.

But I've always had a passio for wanting to help m community.

I have a huge family of over 8 relatives that live in the metro Atlanta area.

And so, you know, I've alway been a passion of wanting to, you know, be in the community.

And I never saw myself here, t be frank.

But, you know, after working i local politics here and seeing how much change w need in our communities and ho much help people need, I realized I really needed t step up and have a voice for our community.

How do you think the session' been going so far?

Oh, it's been quite you know, they call it, you know, gettin the fire hose for a reason.

You know, there's so muc information coming in.

But I think we're learning a lo and we're getting into th groove and we're ready to, you know, get some things don for the people of Georgia.

Yeah.

So let's talk a little bi about your.

I didn't ask you how you thin things are going so far.

Are you ready to run away?

No.

Not yet, not yet.

It's been a great experience so far and I love makin relationships.

I love meetin people.

It's been really good an getting to know people's commo values and our shared interests about wh we're all there down there i really interesting, and I love meeting my colleague and getting to know them and getting ready to wor with them.

Well, I just want to say, yo guys think things are fast no and a lot's coming at you.

Whoa.

We got a few weeks to g before you really see it.

You know?

Yeah, exactly.

I want I want to talk to yo about something.

You're a democratic socialist Tell people what that means t you.

So what that means to me is tha we have an economy that actually work for working people and is centere around working people, right.

Because a lot of times, what yo see in government is a lot of the bills and policies that en up getting passed is heavily influenced by the people.

The top 1% in the majo corporations.

And so what I want to do i balance the scales to where we actually have government that actuall represents the people.

That's why, you know, my mai platform is housing, healthcare and economy for all.

It means that everyone housin is a human right, healthcare i a human right.

And that means we should have a economy centered around working people.

How do people respond to you wh don't understand what democratic socialist means?

Well, they listen to, you know You know, they listen to what have to say.

And, you know, we talk to ou community about that all th time.

And a lot of people, even i they don't identify as socialist, they really do resonate with our message about helping peopl and representing people in the right way, whic is why, you know, one of the main things we di for when I was campaigning was not take an corporate PAC money because we want to make sure that we'r actually representing people not corporations.

Okay, let's turn to you now.

You said you ran for office fo your students, right?

Correct, yes.

Are there certai areas that you really want t focus on with them?

Well, of course, education woul be my top goal.

And, you know, there's severa things we got to tackle.

School safety is the main one.

After the Appalachia shootin last year, how can school safety not be the to priority for any legislator?

And so we need true solutions t gun violence in the state.

True solutions to campus safet in the state.

And that's not half measures o compromises.

That means we nee to ban assault weapons.

That means we need universa background checks and saf storage and waiting periods.

We also tackle issues lik school infrastructure.

You know, there are schools tha don't have HVAC systems where they don' have digital infrastructure.

We need a full scale audit o our school infrastructure needs and make sure that we ar correctly implementing Splost i some counties, but also make sure that we ar building schools in safe an durable standards.

And my final priority would be um, as Gabe said, you know, I' sorry.

Rashawn said literacy.

Um, we w have to teach folks how to rea the science of reading.

And, you know, it is not just a issue from kindergarten through third grade.

It's also an issue that goe beyond third grade.

And we have to focus.

When w talk about literacy, we talk about adult literacy a well, and literacy in high school a well.

Okay.

Have you signed on to an bills at this point?

Yeah, I signed up to Michel.

Representative Michel's saf storage bill because I also ver much a huge advocate for, you know, gun reform because, mean, we've been having schoo shootings since I was, you know, 2-years-old, like major schoo shootings in the modern era.

And they haven't, you know, w haven't really done anything t fix it.

My almost my entire life.

And so it's time that we mak big changes.

Okay.

And you, Representativ Barry, you've signed on to Representative El-Mahdi Holl bill to extend the legislative session to a maximum of 90 days.

Yes.

Sorry to my colleague about.

That one.

Right.

So that woul affect us here on Lawmakers.

No.

Tell us why you want this.

Well, I've long said we need full time legislator.

Gave me this.

You know, we w have a part time legislator fo full time problems.

Georgia's problems don't en after 40 days, so why should we?

We need a legislature that i active and responsive to th people of Georgia, and that means we have to b working 365.

Yeah.

So you've seen the way th process works now?

Yes.

You see that expanding.

Over 90 days instead of 40?

I'm back to the job, I guess yo could say.

All right.

So you're.

Down, you're ready to work tha long, too?

Yeah.

Okay.

So what do you think tha you guys would do during tha time?

I don't know.

So.

Well, hopefully we can tackl more bills that actually hel the people of Georgia.

Well, and I think it's a hug issue as well, that we see a lot of times wher people, legislator have to go back t bills that we did pas previously.

They're like, oh, well, w didn't realize it would have this effect if because we're al tired and stressed out, because we're trying to put al these things into 40 days, why not have more time t actually flesh out these ideas and actually thin through our legislation befor we pass it?

I'm still waiting to hear wha you guys are going to say.

Closer to signee die when thing are just flying all over th place.

And so on day 29.

Or that's it.

We'll see how things are going.

You're both young.

We mentione that you were born in this millennium.

The first the first to come i and you're young and here.

So what kind of reaction are yo getting from from people, from not only constituents, bu the down at the Capitol?

Actually, my greatest voter bas was senior citizens.

They love the fact that they ha a 23 year old legislator.

I think people are ready fo change.

People are ready for somethin new.

And what's more new than 23-year-old teacher in our state legislator?

And so folks have bought int this campaign.

They bought into the energy tha I brought to the campaign.

They brought into energy that bring to the state House.

And, you know, you get the folk in state House, they'll mak jokes about, you're my age, of course, but at the end of the day, ever single person in the state legislator is, like me, responsive to th voters.

And so no matter how old yo are, we got to go back to the home, to our voters and talk to the about what we're doing dow there.

Okay.

And what about you?

Yeah.

I mean, you know, I think that it's been, uh, definitely a big, you know, adjustment because I actuall used to work as a legislative aide for a coupl of the legislators in th Capitol.

So, you know, I was on the othe side of things, and I got to learn a little bi through that.

But it's definitely differen being on this side of things.

And, you know, I think, yo know, you definitely have to work wit your colleagues and, you know, earn their respect an build those relationships with people.

And that's what we're workin on.

And I'm looking forward t working with whoever it is to do the issues that we need to mak the change we want to see in Georgia.

Okay, so I asked the previou guests about somethin interesting they'd like to tell.

I'd like to hear from either on of you.

So anything.

My thing is, I love to cook.

I love to cook, I love to grill.

I love to bake.

Even though I hate sweets.

I love to cook, period.

And m girlfriend.

Hi, Tyler, by th way.

Okay, got that in.

You know, I told you I'd ge that in to my girlfriend.

You know, we're still, like, learning the process fo her.

And so, like me, she just let me cook.

And I loved cooking.

I was like, so cooking is you thing any any special dish anything.

Just give me a give me a recipe I'll make it.

I expect you to to brin something down to the Capitol.

You haven't been there for th days when the food is coming in.

My office.

All.

Alrighty.

I'm going to kee you.

I'm going to.

I'm going to d that.

What about you?

Yeah.

Well, going with the them with some of the senators, I actually, you know, worked in the film industry and you know, wanted to be a filmmaker growin up.

And so, you know, I've actuall had the pleasure of working on some big sets, including th Spider-Man homecoming set.

So, you know, I got to mee Zendaya and Tom Holland an stuff like that.

So that's always an amazin time.

And, you know, I really look u to both of them.

So it was really it's reall cool to be on set and be able to meet so man interesting people in the fil industry.

Oh, I love that.

Yeah.

Um, at your at your age i coming down here.

I'd like to ask about your hope for the future.

What are what are your what d you hope would happen?

I'm just hopeful we we don't le the fights get to us and we just work together in bipartisan manner to get goo things done.

I'm a believer that good peopl and a good government can d good things, and so if we just all com together, just do good.

I'm hopeful tha for that.

How difficult was it to get th bipartisan support of your bill?

Uh, well, I'm still working i progress.

And so but it.

Is you do have some.

I do have some.

And it's just conversations.

Um, folks, you know, it's not a fierce battle o Democrat versus Republican.

The folks are receptive, an they ultimately care about th things that I care about.

It's just how we do it.

And so you just hav conversations with folks, and folks will buy in.

And that's why I'm happy that hopefully will have some bipartisan bills dow the hopper soon.

Right.

So, yeah, Representativ Hawley's bill, I should say so.

He you you're not getting peopl who are saying, I don't want to be here for 9 days.

You're not getting that.

I don't know about that one.

Alrighty.

What about you?

Wha are some things you hope for?

I'm very hopeful.

I'm very inspired, honestly, by the amount of people in, yo know, my constituency and all acros Georgia who are ready to figh for our communities.

You know, there's a lot of scar things happening right now.

And I think I've actually bee very, um, inspired by people stepping u to try to protect thei neighbors.

And their fellow, you know, uh, man and woman in ou communities.

Because, you know, obviously when it when it comes to har times, you have to come together as community to help each othe out.

I should ask you real quick.

You're involved in some of th immigration legislation, or do you expect any legislatio involving immigration to come.

Out there has been introduce legislation on both sides.

And so I'm going to be doing an I'm going to be working on som legislation myself as well, to do everything we can t protect our community an looking forward to doing that.

Okay.

Well, I appreciate yo both coming on.

It was good to get to know you.

And and I hope you'll come back.

We definitely will.

All right.

That does it for Lawmaker today.

We'll be back tomorrow when I'l have a one on one interview wit Lieutenant Governor Burt Jones.

Have a great night.

And.