The.

Senate Bill 39, in no uncertain terms, makes clear that you cannot use state taxpayer dollars in any form for transgender surgeries.

That is the simplicity of it.

That is the complexity of it.

That is the entire bill.

Republican senators passed legislation that restricts the use of state funded health insurance for transgender care.

Good evening.

It's day 15 of the legislative session.

Welcome to Lawmakers.

I'm Donna Lowry in Atlanta.

We have a detailed rundown of the bills that have passed in both chambers.

Coming up, the longest trial in Georgia's history ended last fall, but its impact lingers and has led to new legislation.

The nearly two year trial of rapper Young Thug and Fulton County has faced intense backlash from the creative community, which argues that it's an attack on artistic expression in response to bipartisan bills have emerged and will have the authors of both measures joining us on the show.

Plus, we'll dive into an interesting discussion about cell phones and electronic devices in schools.

Are they too much of a distraction?

Should school systems consider banning them?

For students in kindergarten through eighth grade?

We'll hear insights from two legislators.

But first, our Capitol correspondent, Sarah Kallis tells us what happened today under the gold Dome.

Reporter.

Hi, Donna.

The Senate took up another controversial bill, and the House approved several measures unanimously.

Another controversial transgender bill was on the Senate floor today.

Senate Bill 39 would prohibit state employee health insurance and benefits plans from paying for gender affirming medical care.

The Republican backed bill was proposed under the premise that state taxpayers wouldn't want their tax dollars going to this type of medical care.

However, legal loopholes have permitted minors to receive such treatments even after bills banning procedures were passed.

The reason we had to say state taxpayer dollars now is because what has happened through judicial rule, settlements or otherwise, we've said, hey, while the General Assembly has spoken and spoken clearly and said loudly, we do not think that these surgeries should occur in our state.

There's a back door that's happened here, the back door that's happened is through settlements, court decisions.

Otherwise we are paying for those surgeries and we're not well, we are allowing those surgeries on minors, and we're not just allowing those surgeries on Georgia minors.

We're paying for those surgeries on Georgia minors, transgender surgeries on Georgia minors paid for with Georgia taxpayer dollars.

But since we've banned them in Georgia, guess what?

We pay for them at out of state.

Democrats countered that this was just another mean spirited example of Republicans trying to discriminate against the transgender community.

I have in my hand a letter signed by over 200 doctors in less than 24 hours.

They're the ones that should be making this decision, but instead we're telling them, no, we're going to take that power and that responsibility away from you and all those years that you have put into making wise decisions to ensure the better health of society, we're going to take that away from you.

We wanted to make that decision here in the Senate chamber.

Y'all please stop.

We need to stop with this mean spirited attack on the trans community.

They also say that it will be legally challenged like similar previous bills and likely lose in court.

SB 39 directly violates at least two court cases.

Rich v Georgia and Bostock v Clayton.

Bostock makes it clear that employees cannot be treated differently solely based on their identity.

That decision was decided on a 63 by the Republican dominated Supreme Court.

And SB 39 seeks to undo a legal settlement.

A Democratic amendment was proposed that would allow therapy for children seeking mental health care regarding gender dysphoria.

That amendment failed, but SB 39 was passed 33-19 along party lines, and on a lighter note, two new special license plates were approved honoring the Shepherd center and the Georgia Transplant Foundation.

Both organizations would each receive a portion of the plate fee.

So today, while a license plate bill might not seem like the most important thing that happens, it's an opportunity for us to support two great organizations, and the exposure will have more people be aware of being an organ donor.

Know what it's like to be an organ recipient, and those who might struggle and need assistance.

From the Shepherd center.

The bill passed unanimously.

Also in the Senate, all of the governor's 2025 appointees, along with the Judicial Qualification Commission and the Judicial Legal Defense Fund, were passed mostly unanimously over in the House.

Another license plate bill and others received the body's unanimous approval.

A bill to create separate license plates for ambulances and hearses received a ringing endorsement from the funeral Home Caucus.

Isn't it not true that I just want to make sure that the new members of this House of Representatives know that I am the chair of the funeral Home Caucus, and is it not further true that I want the new members to know that I am the strawberry queen of this?

Georgia's House of Representatives?

And is it not further true that I want all members of this House of Representatives to know that I really appreciate your love and support as I'm on this health journey, because I know this is only temporary, because I know I have the love and support of all of you in this House of Representatives.

One bill aligned safety rules for operating commercial vehicles with updated federal standards, and two more dealt with routine updates to state owned property.

Members also recognize the Tree Farmer of the year, who thanked them for passing the mid-year budget, which includes disaster relief funds for farmers impacted by storms.

We are so thankful to you all for what you do and just glad to be a part of Georgia Forestry number one forestry state in the nation.

Today was also Sex Trafficking Awareness Day at the Capitol.

Sex trafficking is a form of modern day slavery where people profit from the control and exploitation of others in a horrific crime perpetuated against women and children.

Please, if you would stand to recognize Brooke Ruffin with Street Grace, as well as the amazing people that are working for this cause.

Also today, senators in the Children and Families Committee heard from education advocates about the impact of cell phones in schools.

You will hear more from that next from Donna.

That's my Capitol report.

Thanks, Sarah.

And we're going to dive into children and the use of mobile devices, especially in schools.

In 2023, a study by Common Sense Media found 97% of 11-17 year olds use their phones during the school day.

The daily median screen time was 43 minutes, and overall, students picked up their phones.

A median of 51 times per day, both in and out of school.

And we're going to talk about cell phone use with two lawmakers.

Republican Representative Scott Hilton of Peachtree Corners.

He's chair of the Information and Audits Committee and Democratic Representative Demetrius Douglas of Stockbridge.

Among his committees are health insurance and motor vehicles.

Welcome to lawmakers.

To both of you.

Thank you.

Great to be here.

Okay.

This is a topic.

We're going to dive right into.

And let's start with the fact that you've seen children with cell phones.

Talk about what made you even want to have this bill.

Yeah.

As a father of three young kids, I know firsthand the impact cell phones can have, especially when it comes to learning.

And those numbers you shared.

It's staggering how often children are accessing their phone at school, and they can't learn in that type of environment.

So we drafted House Bill 340 to address the issue and to remove that distraction from the classroom so kids can learn, focus on their academic performance as well as their mental health.

Okay.

We're going to dig deeper into what the bill is about, but I wanted to get your your background is has been with schools and all and you're not now.

But what have you seen with kids and their cell phones?

Well, basically the cell phones have been a major distraction inside the classroom.

Now, when I went back to recess, the kids put the phones down and was able to play.

And when they came in, they had more energy.

And I said, Scott came to me.

Mr. Chairman came to me and said, hey, I got a bill for not banning, but just putting up cell phones while you're in class.

And I was like, let's do it.

Yeah.

So when you mentioned recess, you had a recess bill.

Yes.

Remind people of what happened with that bill.

Well, it.

You got it.

Yeah.

I got across the finish line.

But it took me a while.

It took me about six years, but I passed it to get vetoed.

And then I waited until the appropriate time to to drop it again.

And it passed.

Yeah.

So, you know, when, when kids go out of recess and if they don't have their phones, then they are they're actually playing.

Absolutely.

And and the thing about it is the kids are our future.

And I'm thinking about not just us.

I'm thinking about the people that's coming behind us.

Can we make them better?

And and where we are in life.

And that's that's very important to me.

Okay.

So let's get back to HB 340.

You're not actually saying ban cell phones in all schools.

What are you what are you telling if, if, if this passes what would happen?

Great question.

So we believe in a cell phone free environment in school.

And so what the bill outlines is bell to bell no cell.

So beginning of the school day the kids put put the cell phone up.

At the end of the day they get access to the phone.

This is through K through eight.

We figured that was a great place to start.

And then really from there, the bill allows a lot of flexibility for the locals to decide what program works best for them.

A school in Decatur may be a lot different than one in Valdosta, and so we want them to decide a program that works best for their teachers, their parents, and their students.

Yeah, so we're talking about K through eighth grade.

K through eight.

Yes.

Did you consider high schools?

We did.

And there's obviously issues there.

But it's it's a lot more complex.

And what we wanted to do was create a cell phone free culture and kind of K through eight and then build on that in the years to come.

As, as we think about high school and addressing that in the future.

But it's certainly an issue there and one that needs to be addressed at some point.

I guess if you get kids young into the habit of not having their phones around, it might work in high school, too.

It's very um, I would say, um.

Trans transformative.

It's like if you start doing something, what's the saying?

You do something for 30 days, it becomes a habit.

And so this is gearing up pretty much like recess.

It's gearing the kids up to get active.

And this is is teaching our kids communication.

Uh, the kids that we come in contact with now don't know how to shake a hand, communicate, say hello.

And they're very shy and standoffish.

We want them to be able to interact with any type of individual.

Okay, well, I have to ask you both about the argument against cell phones.

And that, of course, is taking away the phones.

And parents want them to have them in an emergency.

How do you respond to that?

You know, again, as a father of three kids who drops my kid off at school every single day, safety is top of mind.

And we have done so much in terms of school safety in the house.

And so as I've talked to dozens of safety experts, they say in the case of an emergency, really, you want a child focused on whoever that expert is that's leading them through that, that emergency.

And so the ideal position is not to have them on their phone distracted, but listening to clear directions.

And I'd also say from a safety standpoint, a lot of times the phones in schools are used to organize fights, film fights in the hallways.

So schools that have implemented this policy have seen a drastic reduction in school fights and violence within the building.

And so this is a really I see it as a pro public safety bill.

But again, it includes measures to allow the locals to decide in the case of an emergency, how do we want to adapt and adjust the program that we have locally.

That works for us?

Yeah.

And, you know, we know of some school districts that have done that.

First of all, I want to say I hadn't thought about the fact that they're distracted in an emergency, so busy on their phones that they're not listening to get out of the school, that kind of thing.

So I can see that point in that.

But you, you know that there are some schools that are already doing some school districts.

Yes.

And one of them is Fayette County.

Yes.

Marietta Marietta city schools.

And then down in Liberty County in South Georgia.

Who would have ever thought that?

I know, I know, and just listening to Scott talk and his passion for this bill is, is the same passion I had when I was doing mine.

And you got a great wingman, Scott.

Keep doing it.

Keep keep working on this, man.

I'm there to the finish line and we're going to get this across.

Yeah.

Well, the schools that I've talked to, I talked to the superintendent Marietta it is completely transformed their school, the cafeteria at lunchtime, instead of being quiet, kids are talking, they're interacting.

They're socializing.

As we think about mental health of our children.

I mean, this is really going to transform that aspect as well as help the teachers with a clear, defined policy so they can spend their time teaching and not having to worry about taking a cell phone away.

We haven't talked about the bullying aspect, that recording things, that kind of thing.

You've seen it happen.

Yes, I've seen it happen.

Like Scott said earlier, they're on their phones and setting up fights during school time.

And so when the bell rings, everybody's running to the specific site that they said on the phone.

If they don't have those phones, it's just another distraction for our kids.

I want to make a note to the bill does make an exclusion for children with special needs.

Those who require maybe a diabetes program.

So we make important carve outs for those that absolutely need it for health reasons.

Yeah, I wondered about that.

How it works.

Now, the schools that have banned it, they're doing different things.

Like some of them put them in pouches, that kind of thing.

What else have you seen?

We've seen the pouches.

Something as rudimentary as just a box.

At the beginning of the day.

It really doesn't need to cost anything.

But what we've seen, and studies have been done nationally and are beginning to be done locally here.

The trends are incredible in terms of academic performance and improvement and just the overall health and well-being of the school and the student.

Yeah.

So and how what kind of support are you getting other than.

Representative Douglasville?

How are other lawmakers.

Looking at this?

Well.

It's been amazing.

Just the outpouring of people from all over the state.

My colleagues, this is a great bipartisan and a great example of what we do here in Georgia.

While Washington may be dysfunctional here in Georgia, we're getting things done.

We care about our students.

We care about their their health, their well-being, their mental health.

And so it's I'd love to have a partner, uh, here and Demetrius.

And we're excited to get this across the finish line.

So we've talked about cell phones, but what about the tablets or even watches, those kinds of things.

Have you looked into that.

Or.

That is a fantastic question.

And this this is starting to go through the committee process.

So if you're watching this program and you're interested and this appeals to you, let us know.

We'd love to hear about that.

The bill does address smartwatches because this can get to be a distraction as well.

So it includes that.

But yes, please do reach out to us as we work this bill and perfected over over the legislative process.

Which committee is going to have it.

So this is assigned to the education committee.

Okay.

And then right now you don't know when that hearings might take place.

No.

That's on the the chairman's term okay.

You know, okay.

The chairman of the committee controls that.

And so we can just ask and hopefully he can put us on the list.

Okay then.

Well, you've asked so.

We'll see.

Yes.

Well, thank you both for being here.

We'll keep up with this one.

I'm sure it's one that a lot of parents want to hear about.

Thank you.

Thanks for having us.

Kids who might be watching, huh?

Yes.

All righty.

Well, coming up, the pieces of legislation directed at prohibiting prosecutors from going after artistic expression.

Two Georgia House members want to make some lyrics and other creative works.

Inadmissible in court.

You're watching lawmakers.

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

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

Georgia Farm Bureau, the Voice of Georgia farmers.

It's good to have everyone back 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 of tea?

I was.

Thinking more.

A double whiskey.

Harriet.

Freshly baked biscuits.

Always.

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

I got my head out the sunroof.

Whoa whoa whoa la la la la la la la la.

Understanding the past gives a sense of the future.

Heart like a lion.

This is the first time that anyone has seen this in 2000 years.

Oh, stop.

The big is happening.

So hurry up.

We're diving in.

What?

This is amazing.

Well, I'm excited now.

Pompeii is a battle against time.

Eyes wide open.

Oh.

You think I'm joking?

But look at this.

It did really happen.

Don't let anybody tell you who you are.

Yeah.

I love this life.

History teaches us to honor the past.

Witch.

In with our eyes wide open.

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

This is something that's actually altering the course of history.

You're charged with keeping these stories alive.

I wanna know, did you?

Welcome back to Lawmakers.

In the fall of 2022, rapper Young Thug, whose name is Jeffrey Williams, went on trial in Fulton County.

Prosecutors allege the rapper oversaw a criminal street gang and charged him under Georgia's Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Law, or Rico.

After two years of the costly trial, he accepted a plea deal.

From the beginning, the artistic and creative community nationwide blasted prosecutors for going after artistic expression.

In November of 2022, artists and industry leaders from Warner Music and Sony Music to Spotify and Sirius XM took out a full page ad in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and The New York Times titled Art of the Trial Protect Black Art.

The ad said the use of lyrics against artists in this way is un-American and simply wrong, and called it an obvious disregard for free speech and creative expression protected by the First Amendment.

Dozens of artists signed on to the ad, including Alicia Keys, Christina Aguilera, Coldplay, Black Eyed Peas and here in Atlanta, T.I., Quavo, killer Mike and more.

And here to talk about this topic is the chairman of the House Creative Arts and Entertainment Committee, Republican Representative Kasey Carpenter.

And also here is Democratic Representative Eric Bell of Jonesboro.

His committees include Defense and Veterans Affairs and Business Development.

Welcome to Lawmakers.

Thank you.

Let's dive into this a little bit.

I gave you some of the background.

You both have bills on this.

So it just shows you an bipartisan interest in doing something with this.

And I'm going to start with you, Representative Bell.

Let's talk about your bill because you you first introduced it last year.

Yes, ma'am.

And 1990.

And we talked.

About partnership with Chairman Carpenter.

Okay.

Tell me about it.

So the bill came about last year because if you know, Georgia is a film economy, music economy has really grown leaps and bounds over the years and with the with the young thug case, we saw what I saw was the chairman danger to that where we have billions of dollars coming to our state, families growing, learning and educating themselves, all due because of the entertainment industry here.

And with that, with what we saw in the Young Thug trial posed a great threat to that, not only to the industry, but to families that have come to Georgia and created a home here.

And they now call Georgia home.

Yeah.

So tell me, tell me your thoughts.

On this.

Yeah.

So I actually came about from a different from a different perspective, obviously, as the chairman of Creative Arts and entertainment, it's important for me to do everything I can to foster creativity and the entertainment industry.

And not only was there issues in Atlanta, but it's stuff that's been going on around the United States.

I tell people all the time, I grew up listening to outlaw country music, and Willie Nelson and Johnny Cash said some pretty cutting edge.

Merle Haggard said a lot of cutting edge things on their albums that never got used against them in court.

I'm sure Willie Nelson got arrested for smoking marijuana, and he and he sang songs about smoking marijuana.

So let's let's allow people that are creative to be creative, have the protection of the First Amendment right.

And at the end of the day, so they can be they can express themselves the way they they intend to.

Yeah.

But we have had over the years and actually doing some research on this, I mean, going back to Nirvana and well, long before you were born and other groups where what they said in their lyrics and impacted whether or not they were sued, that kind of thing.

I was talking to you today and you mentioned some other groups.

Motley Crue two, Live Crew, everyone knows Tupac.

And then the Devil Goes Down to Georgia, the Johnny Williams, if I'm not mistaken, the Johnny Williams Band.

There's over the span of American history, we've seen artists, creatives show shed different lights on all types of lifestyles and not being thrown and not having that thrown against them in court.

And it's just honestly is a threat to not to everyone who's a creative, a threat to our industry here.

So as long as we can protect a thriving industry in Georgia, a thriving industry not only locally but nationally, Atlanta, Georgia has became a birthplace or a home of film arts and all these other creative things that have seen Georgia on A has grown to international destination place.

So why would we want to stop that?

Why would we put something in place that obviously seen as creative?

Obviously it's fictional and use that against someone as a judgment of character.

When someone's playing a say, how many times a the guy that played Michael Myers, if he would have got arrested for killing people on TV, or if someone played a bad man or a cop or a robber in a movie and you use that against them, it's the same premise.

So your bill actually talks about, excuse me, video recordings or films and all of that too.

So you're not just talking about lyrics, right?

Both bills aren't just talking about.

Lyrics, okay?

It's talk.

About that.

It's lyrics, it's lyrics, it's art, it's dance, it's film.

It's it's all it's the entire industry.

And I think that's that's an important point, right.

Yes.

There's some issues going on in Atlanta around hip hop, but this is bigger than just hip hop.

It's all forms of creative expression.

Okay.

And so are you saying it can't be used in a trial?

So what we're saying is that they have to the prosecutors have to prove to the judge and the other counsel that it needs to be before they present it to the jury, because the jury, if they present it to the jury first and taint the jury before they even know if it's going to be admissible or not, it's an issue.

Isn't that part of the the way things work now?

It's not they can they can just present this information and then later on and taint the jury.

That's right.

I mean, because you present something.

Right?

And then they say, sorry, that's inadmissible.

Too late.

The jury has already heard.

Okay.

Right.

So so what we're saying is let's have a discussion, a pretrial, a pretrial discussion about about it to see if it's valid enough to be presented in front of the jury.

You wanted to.

Add something.

And both bills addressed that, that obviously fiction or there has to be a burden of proof that the prosecutor has to prove.

Obviously, if there's a song or a music video and someone shoots a person and you obviously see that person getting shot, obviously that's not fiction.

If there's a murder that happens and someone paints a painting about it and it says the date, the time, and the person who's in it and how the body is laid out, that's obviously not a fictional thing.

So it's a burden of proof.

It's not only a burden of proof that's based, that's put on the person.

Okay.

But I want to talk about the other side of it.

So I know both of you have your thoughts on the argument that some lyrics, some artistic expression influenced listeners or viewers to act on what they hear.

You know, there have been of cases where listeners have filed lawsuits against artists because someone was hurt or someone committed suicide.

We've we've had those lawsuits.

So what is what do you say to people who say, hey, you know, especially young people listening to music?

I think that I think the issues you're speaking of are civil issues and not criminal issues.

And this this bill addresses more of the criminal.

Just the.

Criminal part.

Of it.

It's a it's a lifestyle.

I believe what you're hinting to.

That's something that needs to be dealt in the household through parenting, through pre-intervention programs, or just having a good structure behind you to realize what's fiction and what's not.

So are we talking about that kind of thing might fall under tort reform, what we're talking about or those kind of things.

Yeah.

You don't want to get into.

That kind of stuff.

But I got some good.

Tort reform.

Stuff I'd like to talk about.

Whenever you're.

Ready, there's some attorneys you should talk to, but I don't know.

Whenever you're.

Ready, I've got a I got a bucket.

List.

Yeah.

So have you.

Have you talked to anybody who's supporting your bill?

Who encouraged you, encouraged you to.

Have.

Other than the two gentlemen here, one of the one of the Democratic, one of my Democratic signers, Inga Willis.

She's actually a Grammy Award winning writer.

So it's not just coming from two guys that like music.

It's coming from people working in the industry.

As well.

Yeah.

We actually tried to get her on the show tonight, but she was not able to be here.

We'll try to get her to come back here.

But.

But anybody else.

That you.

Yeah, absolutely.

The entire industry, you know, whether it's film, music et cetera.

These are these are major issues for those folks protecting their people.

So, um, and there's I mean, there's Republicans and Democrats, it's a bipartisan legislation for sure.

So one of the other things that I mentioned was, and I don't have the figures, but the cost of this trial has has that figured into what you're talking about?

Um, it should.

It should.

Young Thug trial.

In particular.

I mean, honestly, that should have been shouldn't have been a trial that went to it.

Should have been it should have been tried based on music or it shouldn't.

It shouldn't even come up.

Uh, the fact that it's been drawn out so long, it's just, again, a travesty to the court system.

Yeah.

And the fact that it was under Rico, too.

I think.

Yeah.

I mean.

There was some, you know, I'm not well versed in the, in the case itself.

Um, but I will say, listen, if, if as a prosecutor, if your entire case is based on what a guy said on to sell rap albums.

Yeah.

That I'm not sure what kind of case you have.

So there's got to be some other stuff out there.

Okay.

I asked you earlier if there was a difference between your two bills, and you said basically they're same, then why have two bills?

Well.

I mean, you know, it's a it's a, it's a, it's a crazy world.

The we the Republicans are in control.

So if we want this, if we're true and we really want this legislation to go through, it obviously helps if the chairman of the committee that it's going to or the Judiciary Committee, uh, guys signed it as well.

That's kind of important to help stuff move along.

Yeah.

It's all about what has legs.

For me.

It's not about the glory.

It's about the idea.

Um, so we work together, we figure out if there's a problem, let's get a solution and find out how we're going to fix it.

And I believe we found a solution to it.

And so you're okay if his bill moves through?

I found it.

Oh.

You did.

I mean, you both signed each other.

Yeah.

So so so just for clarity, he dropped it last year and we talked about it last year.

And I was like, that's a great idea.

And so it didn't get it didn't get as far as he wanted to last year.

So I said I'll be glad to help out if that.

If that'll help you, it may hurt you.

It may help you to say, but.

Your committee will look at this then.

Yeah.

If it comes.

It's actually going to judiciary.

But I was hoping it would go to creative arts entertainment.

But obviously there's some there's some legal stuff at play.

So how are you going to go sit in the room, go.

Sit in the room with lawyers and let them beat me up a.

Little bit.

How do you think it's going to do?

I don't know, I feel pretty good about it.

I mean, I think it's I think both parties like First Amendment, so.

Okay.

All right.

Well that's all the time we have for today.

Thank you for coming on.

That's Lawmakers today.

We'll be back tomorrow and look at more legislation.

Have a good evening.