This is a bill that makes reasonable revisions to our Civil Practice Act and reasonable revisions to our evidentiary code, as well as reasonable revisions to build third party negligent security liability.

And, Mr. Speaker, that's the bill.

Please don't go a dope.

It ain't about premiums.

Don't be there, folk.

Look at it.

The only insurance most people who are hard working Georgians have is a homeowner's policy.

A car policy, and health policy.

That's it.

This is not for hard working Georgians.

This is for good living Georgians who want to live better.

In the house.

The Tort reform is fiercely debated by.

By a slim margin.

It's the closest vote in the House so far this session.

Good evening, and welcome to Lawmakers on this.

More on tort reform.

Coming up.

Georgia is a prime destination for conventions.

It has a busy interstate system for transporting goods by trucks, and it's home to the world's busiest airport.

But these same highlights contribute to making Georgia a hotspot for human trafficking.

Tonight, I sit down with Georgia's First Lady, Marty Kemp, to talk about her anti-trafficking fight and the results.

She continues to produce.

It's a bipartisan battle, and two lawmakers join the show who share her passion for meaningful change.

First correspondent Sarah Kallis has today's Capitol Report.

Hi, Donna.

Today was Bucky's day at the Capitol, and the House debated tort reform.

The day started with a final push against SB 68.

The robust lawsuit reform bill that would limit Georgia's ability to sue businesses for crimes that occur on their property, stops attorneys from recovering fees twice for the same case, and allows separate trials for assigning responsibilities and damages.

Right now, Georgia law protects innocent victims like me.

Victims who have a constitutional right to a jury trial.

Right now, Georgia law holds owners and managers of properties accountable for the crimes that they turned a blind eye to.

This gives these apartments motivation to keep the apartments safe.

SB 68 was written by insurance lobbyists and strip victims like me of their rights.

The House then took up the bill, one of the most debated pieces of legislation this session.

The tort reform bill was named as Governor Kemp top legislative priority.

This is a bill that makes reasonable revisions to our Civil Practice Act and reasonable revisions to our evidentiary code, as well as reasonable revisions to our liability, third party negligence, security, liability.

And, Mr. Speaker, that's the bill.

Opponents of the bill were quick to say it does not guarantee lower insurance rates.

The proponents of this bill have spent millions of dollars preying on our stress and frustration, telling us that this bill will reduce our rates, stabilize our rates, keep providers from leaving the state.

It's simply not true.

But supporters say it strikes a balance between insurance companies and citizens.

This protects businesses from unjust lawsuits while maintaining accountability for genuine negligence.

Most Democrats said it only makes it harder for victims to receive justice.

This bill hurts the 92-year-old elderly woman who died in her bed because she was devoured by fire ants.

This bill hurts the four year old baby who went in for a random tonsillectomy.

His wound wasn't sutured properly, and by the time he got to the driveway of his home, he bled to death in front of his mother and his brother and his sister.

These are the people, the backs upon whom this bill.

But Republicans pushed back.

There's not one line in this bill.

Nowhere that does not allow a rape victim to bring a claim.

Not one.

Not one line in this bill does that.

Nowhere.

It is disingenuous to say so.

The bill passed 91-82 just barely reaching the votes required for passage.

A handful of representatives voted across party lines.

SB 68 was immediately transmitted back to the Senate for final approval of the House.

Changes, which included exceptions for sex trafficking victims.

Speaker of the House Jon Burns praised the passage of the bill and said the House will continue to work to curb insurance costs.

That's the reason we are creating a House study Committee on Insurance Market reform.

We all know that insurance coverage is vital for the success of well-being and the well-being of individuals, individuals, and businesses.

And for too long, insurance premiums have been increasing at an alarming rate.

The Senate took up two House bills dealing with state taxes.

HB 111 will reduce the state tax rate from the current 5.3 9-5 0.19%, with an additional 0.1 percentage every year until it reaches 4.99.

While other states are raising taxes on their citizens at a time when they're facing sky high prices and can least afford it.

We are doing the opposite here in Georgia.

We're putting money back in the hands of Georgians, which this bill, HB 111, does.

Democrats say that this tax reduction bill just benefits the rich.

This legislation will cost 748 million.

Only 33% of it will go to 80% of Georgians.

67% of it will go to the top 20%.

Again, another way of putting it, but it's a tax cut for the rich.

HB 112 will provide from $250 to $500 rebates.

If you file state taxes during 2024 and 2025.

Both bills were passed.

HB 423 would move the existing state 911 system to a more modern Internet Protocol, or IP system, allowing different electronic devices and systems to communicate with each other.

Moving this to the next generation, as most other states have already done, will allow us to significantly upgrade the availability of 911 operations.

The ability in order to have business continuity between multiple 911 centers and really bring us into the 21st century.

The new system should be better equipped to handle more callers without any wait time for essential services.

And if your horse hates fireworks, you are not alone.

HB 614 would allow municipalities and counties to outlaw fireworks within 200 yards of stables or other equine facilities.

The loud, sudden noise near horse farms are dangerous to the people that own and ride horses, and to the horses themselves.

There's also a fire threat from fireworks.

Since many horses are housed in wooden barns with bales of hay.

The bill was overwhelmingly passed, but did receive one nay.

Tomorrow, the Senate is expected to consider the House's amendments to Senate Bill 68.

That's all from my Capitol report, Donna.

Thanks, Sarah.

When Marty Kemp became Georgia's first lady in 2019, she knew where she wanted to make a difference in the state.

When I spoke to her recently, the mother of three girls told me that her interest in fighting human trafficking began before her husband was elected governor.

We went to the Atlantic Station, where they were having a, you know, a press conference pretty much just talking about human trafficking.

They had 72 school busses, which represented the 3,600 kids that were taken into trafficking a year every year in Georgia.

And I was like, that cannot happen.

That that can't be.

You know, we've been traveling, campaigning around the state for two and a half years, and I've never heard anything about this.

I started learning more about it.

The team brought it to me.

We formed the Grace Commission, which brought all the experts to the table.

Law enforcement, nonprofit, businesses, corporations, and just really talked about it like, what is what's going on?

What is everybody doing?

What do we need to do?

And it needed to have more education and awareness, and we needed to have harsher penalties.

And we have done that.

Explain the what the acronym Grace is.

So it's Georgians for refuge, action, compassion and education.

So we have now Grace's Place, which is a facility that intake where we have survivors come and get the wraparound services that they need.

So that's been an operation for a year.

And I pretty much want that.

Would love to have that facility be a model for the country because it has everything that they need.

And so that that would be very helpful for other states to take that on.

So we're hopefully going to build our third facility before he gets out of office, which I'd like to see, you know, five or six.

Unfortunately they're needed.

But it's also getting the survivors the help that they need that they deserve.

One of the things that surprised me was how pervasive this is.

We tend to think that it is a metro Atlanta problem, right?

But it's not.

Right.

It is not.

And I remember I think the statistic they gave me back in, maybe we talked about it in 21 was, you know, it was in 140 or 147 of 159 counties.

And I said from the beginning, it's in 159 counties.

We just don't know how to recognize it.

So we have also taught law enforcement.

We have a training that's just 30 minutes.

It's on the website of the governor's office under the First Lady Grace Commission.

And it just shows you the things to look for and what to recognize.

It's 30 minutes in your everyday life.

If you're out shopping, going to the airport, traveling, whatever it is, if you see something, say something.

If you're wrong, that's okay.

You call law enforcement and you're you're wrong.

That's fine.

But what if you save somebody's life?

I mean, what if you can call and get that individual out of harm's way would be fabulous.

How many people do you estimate you've trained over the.

Last few years?

Well, Brian wanted to have the training back, and I guess we did that back in 2020 or 21 to to really encourage, not mandate or, you know, make people take it, but encourage people to take it for all state employees.

And I think there's 83,000 state employees.

And the agencies took that upon and did have their individual employer employees take it.

So I mean that right there.

But I know, I mean, I have people come up to me all the time and say, how can I help?

How can I get involved?

And I said, take the training.

And they do.

And I've had, you know, I encourage them to tell their people that they worship with, that they work with.

Just take it.

It's 30 minutes and it's.

The education and awareness that you really have.

You've been able to bring to light for so many people.

I know that must be something you're proud of.

Well, I am proud of it.

I have people come up and talk to me about it all the time, and I'm really glad it's it's an ugly topic.

Nobody wants to talk about it.

And I completely understand that.

But I like to take on topics that are, you know, that people don't want to talk about.

I'm not afraid of that ugliness because these individuals, you know, have had a very tough childhood life, and they deserve somebody standing up and fighting for them.

And I'm going to do that.

And I've told them that I've had survivors come to the Grace Commission meetings.

And at the end we have open public comments.

And I had a couple of them come down and really rake me over the coals and tell me I didn't know what I was talking about.

And I said, you know, you're exactly right.

I don't I don't know the hell that you have been through, but I am here to help you.

And if I only help one person, if we only help one person, it's worth it to me.

But you can sit at this table.

You can sit on the Grace Commission and put your.

Give us your input.

And they were a huge part of the vacant bill.

We had them come in and talk to our policy team, and they were a huge part of that.

And they said, you know, nobody's ever asked us.

Nobody has ever asked how we thought.

And I'm like, how could we not learn from, you know, we can learn so much from them if they're willing to talk about it.

And if they don't want to talk about it, I completely understand, but I had a group of them come to lunch at the mansion, and we sat there and talked with some other nonprofit organizations.

It was very eye opening to me, and it was very tough.

And Brian came home that night and he said, are you okay?

And I said, no, this is an ugly topic, but we're going to it's not going to knock me down.

We're going to talk about it and we're going to we're going to get these people and put them in jail for a long time.

I'm sure it's been tough to take it all in.

Right.

You know, and.

You know, it's tough to talk to them and I hug them and and just feel for them that, you know, people don't understand in their everyday life that they're going on what's actually going on in their life.

You know, it's just really, really tough and just really ugly.

I think the best thing is, you said they came to you because they know that you're involved in this topic.

That has made it easier, I bet.

I think so.

You know, I feel like people like when I travel around the state with Brian, which people make fun of me for traveling everywhere.

But I feel like, you know, people feel like they can come up and ask me things, and they can also share things with me that they may not feel as comfortable going to talk to him about.

Even though he's very approachable, I think.

But, you know, they feel like they can come speak to me about issues.

And, you know, we've had everything from, you know, making your CDL license, taking it away for good.

If you're caught using your you know, truck as a human trafficking tool, you know, to, to entice young girls, but that, that takes it away for life.

I mean, it's it's not just a slap on the hand.

We mean business here.

And I want people to know that if, as Brian said, in the state of the state, if you mess with our children, we're coming after you.

Yeah.

You've hit all levels from the truck drivers you mentioned to helping the girls, to going after the pimps.

Absolutely.

And anybody that profits, you know, the hotel clerk that is at the front desk, they're seeing everything that's going on.

So they need to know that they can be a part of our team, not a part of that team.

And if they are a part of that team, they can get sued as well.

And I and there is a lawsuit right now that is because of our bill.

And it this this young individual was trafficked in 2014.

So we're going back and trying helping them, you know, get some compensation.

They have nothing when they come out.

They don't even barely have the clothes on their back.

So we want to try to help them in any way possible.

And that was one thing that was very important, was not only having the harsher penalties, but not forgetting about these victims.

Once they get out, we need to take care of them.

They deserve that.

And so we've we've tried to do that.

Is there something you're most proud of in all of this?

I think just people being aware and feeling like they can talk about it, you know, we've had the utility companies, we've had the beer and wholesales.

They want to put stickers on their car.

I mean, everybody is is joined together and want to be a part of the team to try to help these victims, because I think a lot of people felt like, oh, that doesn't that doesn't apply to me, that that hadn't happened.

That doesn't that's not going to happen to me.

Well, it can it can happen to anybody.

It does not have a hall pass at all.

So, you know, with our big busy airports, we have a PSA there that the mayor and Representative Bazemore, Brian and I and Tyler Perry all joined together and talking about it.

So it's a it's a, you know, nonpartizan issue that we are all coming together.

And like I said, the legislators have passed that unanimously.

So they are all on board.

So that's very good.

Is there more that you want to see done?

You know, I would like to see more facilities.

I would like to see individuals get helped more.

And just have, you know, there's businesses that have come forward that want to help, you know, have employment for them.

So just talking about that more, but having the facilities to have them heal and just they need to feel safe.

And I want them to feel safe and know that there is an outlet, there is an option to this.

And we're coming after the perpetrators.

We're coming after the bad people.

We're going to put them away for a long time.

I mean, the Attorney General's office has rescued almost 200 victims.

I mean, that's great.

200 victims that are out of that life.

That makes me proud.

The first lady says the amended budget that the governor signed recently adds another $1.2 million to the human trafficking prosecution unit.

She says they're so busy, they requested another prosecutor.

I want to thank her for that interview, but the first lady is not finished trying to change laws to stop human trafficking.

Coming up, we'll talk with legislators from both sides of the aisle about the bills she's pushing.

Now.

We'll hear from a Republican senator and from the House Democratic representative, Stacey Evans.

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Saddle my horse immediately.

She's a female trailblazer.

We did it by acknowledging our own worth.

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Welcome back to Lawmakers.

I'm Donna Lowry.

Over the years, First Lady Marty Kemp has pushed for nine anti-trafficking bills that have become laws, and she's working on the tenth.

Among the laws, one that makes it a felony to groom a minor.

Another allows human trafficking survivors to petition courts to have their sentences vacated for crimes committed while they were victimized.

And there's now a law that requires certain businesses to display the human trafficking hotline.

Now, the sponsor of the tenth bill, SB 42, is Republican Senator Bo Hatchett of Cornelia.

I spoke with him earlier this afternoon about it.

First off.

I want to thank First Lady Kemp for all she's done in the state for sex trafficking victims.

It's really she took on a lion's task and has done an incredible job.

So I was honored to carry her tenth bill, which deals with issue in the law called the rule of Lenity.

And it basically means if there are two crimes that are similar enough to where they could overlap, that a judge has to give the defendant the lesser penalty.

And what we found was when you're dealing with sex trafficking a minor, there have been two judges that have stated that the that crime overlaps with pimping and pandering of a minor, and what we basically have to do is make that correction so that when someone does sex trafficking a minor, that they will get the fullest extent of the penalty available.

As I understand it, prosecutors came to the first lady about this.

That's right.

They did.

It's because there's been two judges, one in Cherokee County and one in Cobb County, that brought this rule of Lenity issue to us, or to the First lady.

And then we were able to craft legislation around it to make sure that when someone does sex trafficking a minor, they are punished to the full extent of the law.

And this technicality doesn't allow them to get off a little bit easier.

The good thing about all of this is the attention that's been drawn to it.

It's making people within the system understand what's needed to be able to get you guys to do what you need to do to make the laws stronger, right?

That's right.

I mean, the Grace Commission and other advocates around the state, not just for this issue, but other issues.

That's they bring us ideas and they bring us issues that we don't always see.

And I think it's an important message to send to people.

If you do have an issue, get engaged, get involved, reach out to your legislator because you never know what could be a what could be written into a piece of legislation and what could be brought up next session.

And they think the great thing about this in the Senate, overwhelming support.

Oh, yeah, I don't think there was a no vote.

It was a great piece of legislation moving through the House now, and hopefully we'll get it passed definitely before signing day.

But I'd like to see it passed tomorrow if we can get it.

Tip my hat to Marty Kemp and all that she's doing.

She took on a very important issue in the state, and her efforts are being seen and saving lives.

And it's not an easy issue.

It's it's something a lot of people don't want to talk about.

No.

You're right, and it's uncomfortable.

But I'll say that in my years here, the victims that have come forward and that have testified in committee and shown their bravery have has made a huge impact.

And the stories that they've been able to tell have helped us continue to craft legislation to protect future victims.

So I want to thank them and thank the governor and the First lady for all, all the work that they've done, because this is a very important issue.

And I want to thank Senator Hatchett for that interview.

Now, his bill is now in the House where our next guest will vote on it.

Democratic Representative Stacey Evans of Atlanta.

Her committee in the House include appropriations, judiciary and rules.

And thank you for coming on the show.

Thank you so much for having me.

So let's start a little bit with Senator Hatch's bill, this SB 42 and what it might do.

What can you tell us anything more.

It's a great bill and it's a great example, Donna, of why it's important for if you see something, say something.

Knowing that law enforcement figured out this issue and brought it to the First lady, and then we were able to act upon it, because there are so many ways that our laws work together, that those of us under the dome may not realize if we don't work in that area, if we're just not aware of it.

And so I always tell people, if you see something, say something, don't assume that I know what you know.

Bring it to me.

And this is a great example of that working out really well to make sure that we close the loophole and that we hold these people accountable as much as we can.

Yeah.

What are your thoughts overall on what the First lady has done with the tent?

This is her tenth bill over the years on this topic of human trafficking.

It's amazing.

I mean, I am so grateful for Georgia, for these victims that we have.

Firstly, Marty Kemp and her whole heart and her whole effort is into this.

And and we have her to thank.

I remember when I first came to the Capitol in 2011, that was my first session, and people didn't even want to say the words sex trafficking.

Nobody wanted to talk about it.

And slowly but surely we started.

But then when Governor Kemp was elected and Marty Kemp became our first lady, it's just exploded.

The the help for these victims.

And it's amazing.

And they don't feel like they have to hide from her at least and get getting that information out.

So it's taken away some shame.

I want to talk about another bill.

You're a signer on Representative Debra Bazemore bill, HB 490.

That would require hotels to provide human trafficking training programs.

Talk about that a little bit.

It's a great piece of legislation that just complements all that's going on.

These sex trafficking victims are brought into these motels by their pimps, and the hotel receptionist, the folks that work there that might clean the rooms that do security, they need to know what to look out for.

And so I think this would just be a great way to have more eyes on the problem, to try to catch things before they get out of hand, or certainly to save these women from from this harm that's happening to them.

Unfortunately, that bill did not move in the House, but obviously we're in the first year of a two year session.

And so we'll look forward to hopefully passing that out next year.

Or if our friends in the Senate see fit to add it to something that's moving over there, or we can add it on to something on our side, I hope that we will.

Okay, well, let's get on to your an attorney and you presented the minority report today on the tort reform bill.

And one of the areas you addressed is the carve out for sex trafficking victims that came out up after the Senate passed it.

Tell us what you think of that part of the legislation.

So Senate Bill 68 is a big rewrite of some of our civil justice laws, civil procedure, and one specific area that's addressed is what's known as premises liability.

And how you hold owners and occupiers liable when people get hurt on their property, when they have dropped the ball on security and allow folks to get hurt, even though they're inviting customers onto their property.

And so for sex trafficking, this relates mostly to the motels and the way that the bill was written before would have made it nearly impossible for sex trafficking victims to hold the hotels accountable.

And I can't say enough how much I appreciate that.

Governor Kemp and Senator Kennedy and those that were working on this bill, made this carve out so that the new higher standards and the new conditions that you have to meet to bring a negligent security case will not apply if you are a victim of sex trafficking.

And it's good.

But what I said from the well and what I'll say here is that I appreciate being able to protect these victims, but I don't understand why we are just picking this certain class of victims to protect.

To me, it's an acknowledgment that the law goes too far, that it hurts victims.

And if we're going to carve out victims of sex trafficking to make sure that their claims can still go through.

What about victims of sexual assault?

What about victims of rape in a stairwell?

What about other crime?

Victims of murders and beatings and stabbings and things like that?

I really wish that we could have slowed down and helped all those victims.

Yeah.

I want to get into something else you talked about in terms of tort reform form, a lot of what we've heard with tort reform has to do with insurance reform, that it's needed and it is likely to come up next year.

We keep hearing that you don't believe that will happen.

I hope it happens.

Hope springs eternal.

I Speaker Burns announced that today.

I had not heard of that until today.

But here's my question for the speaker and others at home.

If we were so certain that premiums were rising because of lawsuits and that was creating this insurance crisis why do we need an insurance study to find out whether that's true or not?

It seems like we should have done that first, instead of doing this wholesale rewrite of our Civil Practice act.

It seems like we put the cart before the horse because it seems like if we do an honest study of insurance reform, we may find out that insurers were not being as truthful to us as we had hoped they would be.

In telling us why premiums were rising.

That's something that happened in Florida.

And the speaker of the House has has called for an investigation and says we got duped.

Basically, they came to us and said there was this crisis.

And if we didn't do lawsuit reform, then all the insurers were going to have to leave the state because they were losing money.

So they stopped and did an investigation.

We decided to follow their lead and also do lawsuit reform, believing the insurers that we had this crisis.

And now we're going to find out if it's true or not.

That just doesn't make sense to me.

Now, I know you did not vote for it.

It was a close vote.

Did it surprise you how close it was?

No.

I knew it would be close.

It did surprise me that it passed.

I thought I thought we had the votes to to beat it, and that was disappointing.

I'm disappointed for Georgia and those that need access to the courts.

And honestly, I'm.

I'm feeling a little bad for our judges right now because they're going to have a little bit of a mess on, on their hands trying to figure out all the changes that we've just done and that are going to go into effect immediately upon the governor's signature.

That's very different.

They usually don't go into effect right away.

Okay.

Well, thanks so much for coming.

That does it for today for Lawmakers.

Thank you so much for joining us.

We'll see you next Tuesday.

Bye bye.