Mayor of our capital city.

They just approved the raise.

Makes 237 or $36,000 a year.

But the governor of the entire state only makes 175.

That doesn't make good sense.

So this simply sets the governor's salary at $250,000, which I believe is most appropriate.

But then it falls in line with our constitutional officers and the speaker of the House.

So whether it be our lieutenant governor, the speaker of the House, the attorney general, the insurance commissioner, all those folks that are statewide elected, although I did not bring the PSC involved, would then be 80% of the governor's salary.

A proposed pay raise for Governor Brian Kemp would make him one of the highest paid governors in the country.

Good evening.

It's day 36 of the Georgia legislative session.

Welcome to Lawmakers.

I'm Donna Lowry in Atlanta.

More details about the raises coming up in our Capitol report.

If you've ever called 911 in Georgia and became frustrated by being put on hold, getting transferred to another jurisdiction, or waiting a long time during an emergency, help is on the way.

On the show, we'll learn how Georgia will spend more than $5 million to overhaul the 911 system.

It's part of a nationwide effort.

Also, education takes up more than half of the state's budget, and there are dozens of bills to help improve academic outcomes.

We'll hear from some of the sponsors this evening.

But as always, Sarah Kallis reports on the action at the Capitol today.

Hi, Donna.

Today the Capitol, both chambers stayed busy as the countdown until signing day is on.

In the house.

A surprise visit from the speaker's chief of staff, Terri England.

England was injured in a farming accident earlier this session and has been recovering at the Shepherd center.

Members then unanimously passed Senate Bill 72, which would allow terminally ill patients to access experimental treatments.

They also approved SB 85, which would create a scholarship grant program for Georgia youth in foster care.

These young individuals often find themselves at a disadvantage.

However, this bill gives us a chance to change that narrative.

After a lunch break, the house took up SB 233, which would add individuals with firsthand experience with addiction to the behavioral health reform and Innovation Commission.

The additions to the commission is set forth in 233.

We're recognizing the very strong.

Contributions, necessary contributions from the addiction community across Georgia.

This is always been a mental health and addiction commission effort, and the addition of additional addiction related professionals and addiction related family members is strong.

Members also debated Senate Bill nine, which would criminalize artificial intelligence videos designed to interfere with elections.

I would argue with you, the most important thing we can do for our constituents is to ensure that when they go into that box, when they are saying to themselves, I'm going to cast a ballot for this individual or for this referendum, the most important thing we can do for them is make sure that we have given them accurate information.

We cannot live in a world where our constituents, 10.7 million Georgians, almost 6 million voters, are asking themselves what I just saw.

Is it real or is it not real?

At that point, the integrity of the election, no matter if you fall on paper ballots or machine ballot, is gone.

It passed 150 2-12 The other tort reform bill also made it to the floor today.

SB 69 would set regulations around third parties financing lawsuits, such as banning foreign entities from being litigation financiers.

Currently, there are no provisions whatsoever that outline regulations on.

Litigation financing.

Nowhere in the code will you find it.

So what this bill seeks to do is put some guardrails and regulation on the industry.

The bill passed 98-69 The House unanimously approved SB 105, which would allow veterinarians to give tele advice to pet owners.

The Senate took up HB 428, which would codify into law access to in vitro fertilization.

The bill was crafted after the Alabama Supreme Court ruled that frozen embryos created with IVF should be treated as children, and banned the procedure until a similar bill was passed there.

Democratic Senator Josh McLaurin said that not only did he support the bill, but he also had a personal connection to it.

I myself am a donor.

Conceived person.

The technology was new around the time that this happened for me in the late 80s, but it's been a long journey and it's a really important realization for all of us to have when talking about this issue that many of our families are affected by this, are uplifted by this.

HB 86 would give pay raises to state judges, including state Supreme Court justices, but an amendment offered by Senator John Albers added pay increases for all of the state's executive officers, including Governor Brian Kemp, raising his pay to $250,000.

The mayor of our capital city, which represents about a half 1 million people, makes $236,000.

The governor, who represents 11 million people, makes $61,000 or less.

Think about that for just a moment.

That is just not right.

We shouldn't have people be paid so far out of balance, even though knowing that in the private marketplace, without a doubt they would get paid multiples more.

I think this strikes a nice balance and gets us on the right path.

Tying it to a percentage in the future.

Despite some pushback, the amendment was passed as well as the bill 45-10 It now returns to the House for final passage.

House Bill 307 would increase resources at schools to diagnose and help students with dyslexia.

The bill would also remove the three cueing systems as the primary instruction for teaching reading.

We learned that one in five people children experienced some form of dyslexia.

We didn't know that in the past, but but this mandates that we also have not only is a child identified as not proficient in reading, but but and also has dyslexia.

This all also mandates that that there be an intervention program set in place to help that child get proficient.

In Senate Resolution 292 would form a Republican led Senate Investigative committee to look into the New Georgia Project's illegal campaign contributions to its former founding member, Stacey Abrams.

During her 2018 gubernatorial campaign.

What this bill is going to do is let us investigate these type of activities and see what type of amendments or changes or new campaign finance laws or ethics laws we might need to kind of create more transparency and prohibit this illegal use of dark money in our campaigns.

Democrats say the investigation is unnecessary and more political.

Theater in Washington, D.C.

They spend a lot of time investigating political opponents while wasting taxpayer dollars without providing any benefit to the American people.

But for those politicians in D.C., it does get them headlines.

It does get them media coverage.

This bill is no different.

The resolution was passed 33-21 along party lines.

The House and Senate will convene tomorrow, when the House is expected to vote on a bill that would crack down on fentanyl trafficking and give final approval to protections for IVF.

That's my Capitol report.

Donna.

Thanks, Sarah.

Cell phones, the internet, the other technology all have turned Georgia's 911 system into a bit of a dinosaur.

New legislation, spearheaded by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration would modernize the system.

Next generation 911 reaches police, fire and emergency medical assistance from any phone in any location.

Allows voice, photos, videos and text messages.

Helps manage call overload.

Natural disasters and transfer of 911 calls based on caller location.

In the legislature, Republican Representative Will Wade of Dawsonville moved the bill in the House.

And Republican Senator John Albers led the bill through the Senate.

I spoke to both of them earlier today about the need for Georgia to upgrade its 911 system.

Over the summer, the House had a study committee, and I believe some senators that were involved as well.

Regarding the state's 911 system, and quite frankly, it's like a lot of parts of life technology enhancements the utilization and how people are living and moving and communicating has changed over the last few years.

And the 911 system is just it's old and it's outlived its useful life.

So it was time for us as state leaders to look around and say, okay, what solutions can we come up with?

And next Gen 911 is what demands the first, the 21st century need to be met with.

So we're excited that the house was able to introduce this Jima and Jirka, who are state agencies that help emergency management across the state.

They were engaged in the process kind of helping make the detailed case of why we need this.

And so I was happy to introduce the legislation and get it shepherd through the House and give it over to the great hands of Senator Albers, who can take care of it in the Senate.

And as a state, we've had different municipalities do some of this on their own.

But the lack of a statewide network to connect together, all these 911 centers has put it at a little bit of a disadvantage.

So this great piece of legislation that representative Wade sponsored, and I'm happy to help in the Senate, is going to allow us as a state to bring that entire foundation in place, that everyone can leverage that because people are at their most vulnerable moments when they call 911.

And we can't have that be an outage or a delay.

And they also need to use newer technology, texts and pictures, videos, all the ways we communicate in this day and age.

I think some people have done what I've done.

I saw an accident and then when I called in, they told me I called the wrong place and here I am thinking I'm helping somebody.

But it took a while.

That's this would prevent that, right?

That's correct.

And so what will happen is this will allow local communities think about Georgia 400.

I commuted every day.

If I'm in an accident or I see an accident or I'm sitting in traffic, I may not exactly know which county I'm in.

I might be in Forsyth or Fulton, or you just don't know.

And you see an accident, you call 911.

We want to make sure that as soon as they get that call, they can geolocate your cell phone where you are to make sure they're getting you to the right, quickest agency, whether it be police, fire, EMT, et cetera.

They will be able to serve you and know exactly where you are.

Just like the private industry is able to deliver you your, you know, Uber Eats or you know, your, your your supper or your meal at your office.

They're going to know exactly where you're calling from.

And it's very important.

And look, I'm sure the senator heard dozens of folks called me and said, look, I've been on 911 and had to hold folks, if you're in an emergency, that's like pouring gasoline on a fire.

And sometimes that's literally what's happening and people are sitting and waiting.

We can't allow that to continue.

This legislation will help arm communities to adopt next Gen 911.

We're funding 5.75 million in the first year of its implementation, so those early adopters can get engaged.

And it's going to help a lot of Georgians all across our state.

How long will it take to get it fully operating?

Take about five years for the entire platform to be set up, but it will happen iteratively.

And what's important is we've had 911 systems that have gone down power outages, network outages, and the phone companies are getting rid of their legacy technology.

So this has to be done.

But also it gives that continuity that we need so badly.

Where now, if you are calling here in Atlanta and for some reason there's a problem in that facility, they can dynamically be picking up at other places in order to get the response to be right away.

Add that with artificial intelligence tools, which can pick up every call on the first ring or absorb that information.

This way, when you're getting 200 calls, we don't have to slow down the dispatch process or first responders.

They'll be able to handle that all on the back end smoothly.

It also helps transition those calls that are not emergencies to make sure they're getting to the right places without stopping what really needs to be a true emergency response.

What does that mean in.

Terms of.

The workforce?

I'm sorry.

No, no, I'm just going to say one of the things I'm hopeful for is, you know, the state is spending a large amount of funds on expanding our mental health and crisis.

Line 988 is a tool that I think many Georgians are still not aware of.

I believe that we'll have an offer, an opportunity for those 911 centers to transfer to 988 until people start realizing 988 is also a tool when it's not typically the same type of emergency.

So that, I think, is another component that's going to be added along that five year plan.

Absolutely.

What can you tell me about the workforce in terms will it mean any changes in terms of dispatchers?

Other people are involved.

They will actually get some new more beneficial tools than they have today.

As we talked about texting, pictures, videos, what's going on?

Imagine that real time information coming into dispatch that they can relay to, law enforcement officers or to firefighters.

So they're going to have some new and enhanced tools.

Our 901 dispatchers who are really just a critical part of our first responder network, are very excited about this.

In fact, they have led the way along with Georgia Emergency Management and Georgia Emergency Communications to get this done.

This will really mean a lot when we have a natural disaster, like a storm, like Helene, that kind of thing.

Yeah, we had dozens of folks testify to had we had next Gen 91 prior to Hurricane Helene.

The response times for some of the most difficult situations would have been able to be addressed much more quickly.

And honestly, just being able to restore peace of mind more quickly helps temper those frustrations and tragic situations.

So it's going to be great.

Look, I think 911 centers across the state still have open spots.

There's a you know, they've got plenty of job opportunities.

So I think this is going to be exciting for the 21st century graduate who wants to be utilizing that technology.

And and speaks I the way.

Maybe you and I may not have that capability yet.

We're working on it, but I think it's going to be an attractive job for the next generation of workers to.

This is what teamwork is all about.

When you see things that tend to get backlogged in other states or other areas of government, here in the state of Georgia, we're a team.

We're getting things done to serve our citizens.

Well done sir.

Thank you, thank you.

Appreciate it.

HB 423 is on its way to the governor's desk.

During our conversation, I also asked Senator Albers, who chairs the Senate's Public Safety Committee, about a couple of his bills, including SB 27, which would criminalize doxing.

But first, I asked about a bill that would help ensure emergency organ transport vehicles have the same abilities as ambulance services.

His interest in promoting organ transplants is personal.

He donated a kidney to his son in 2021.

Senate Bill 58 allows for life saving organs when they're being transported from one medical facility to another, usually to look similar to like a fire chief's car or a smaller ambulance that sometimes they have to ride emergency because there's a sensitive time to get that organ.

Sometimes there's actually a medical team that is with that organ as well.

So in the times they need to be driving full emergency with a light and sirens, it allows those who are certified to do so and have the proper equipment to do that.

It's very important because not everybody was a fortunate.

As I was with my son, we were in operating rooms right next to each other.

So this makes sure no matter where that organ is getting to, it's going to get there timely.

We're going to save people's lives.

Let's talk about SB 27 really quick dealing with doxing.

Tell us about it.

So doxing is basically online stalking.

But it goes so much further with the tools we have today, whether it be social media or any other electronic communications, people are sharing people's specific location at times in order to do harm.

Some of it is traditional stalking that has made people very fearful and uncomfortable, but sometimes it's literally led to bodily harm and even death.

So this is an important issue that we modernize our law to keep up with the technology that's around us.

Many of us were swatted, a year and a half ago.

I was swatted twice, as was many folks in this building.

But it's not just about us.

This is the ex spouse in a bad marriage where someone's acting poorly.

This is a young girl who's a teenager in school, who's got somebody aggressive doing something terrible.

So this is to protect people.

That's what we're all about here.

First and foremost, is working together to make sure our citizens are safe.

The bill criminalizing doxing has passed in the Senate and in a House committee, so we can expect it on the House floor soon.

The legislation dealing with transporting organs has moved through both chambers and is awaiting the governor's signature.

I want to thank Chairman Albers and Representative Wade for our conversation.

Well, coming up, legislative efforts to improve outcomes for school children and to help Georgians looking to become first time homeowners.

Two House Democrats join us to talk about bills they feel passionate about as the session winds down.

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Welcome back to Lawmakers.

I'm Donna Lowry.

Our next guest will discuss legislation they've crafted on a variety of issues.

Joining us is Democratic Representative Imani Barnes of Tucker.

Her committees include higher education and Public and Community Health.

And Democratic Representative Bill O'Herlihy of Atlanta.

He's on the education, governmental affairs and information and audit committees.

They stay busy.

Welcome to Lawmakers.

To both of you.

You both have education bills.

So we'll start with that and then we'll get into some other things.

And let's start begin with your Healthy start act HB 60.

You've come on the show before to talk about this, that you want to make sure all children have access to school breakfast and school lunch.

You've pushed it for quite a few years.

Tell us where things stand.

This will be the third year that I've pushed the Healthy Start Act.

Fortunately, all three years we got the money in the budget, the Healthy Start Act is the law that would codify feeding our children free school breakfast and free school lunch.

So explain that so people don't understand.

The budget is one thing.

Actually having a law that requires this to happen on a regular basis is another thing.

That's another thing.

So we can fight for a budget line item that will get the money in the budget.

That will do the same thing as my bill, my legislation.

The legislation would codify would make it law.

So each year we don't have to fight for a budget line item.

Okay.

All right.

So let's talk about your education bill.

Representative O'Leary, you've also had the education bill called the Educational Opportunity Act, focusing on students living in poverty.

Tell us what that's all about.

Yeah.

So Georgia educational Opportunity Act would, for the first time in 40 plus years of our state's funding formula existence, it would provide additional resources to support children living in poverty.

We know that poverty is the greatest barrier standing in the way of our young people.

And educational outcomes and future success that we want for them, and this provides additional resources and tools for school leaders and educators to meet the unique needs of today's children.

And we know that the Quality Basic Education Act, or the funding formula has not been changed, as you said in 40 years.

So how are you feeling about this?

I know you didn't get it through at this point, but you're still keeping hope alive.

Well, you got it.

You got to keep at it.

And we had we had some great conversations.

It's a bipartisan bill.

Really appreciate the support of my colleague Tyler Paul Smith.

I want to say we had the first bipartisan or the probably the only bipartisan press conference just to bring some attention and awareness around the need to invest more fully in our public schools and get the resources into the hands of our educators doing so much with, with, with so very little so that we can help our young people thrive and be successful.

So the bill is still alive for next year, so we'll wait and see what happens.

I know you'll keep fighting with it.

Okay.

We're going to switch gears again to another.

Another of your education bills, HB 106 to bring back driver's education as an elective.

Is there a personal reason behind this?

I have a young teenager that's getting ready to get on the roads.

I had a feeling there was something to do with it.

Yeah.

And so tell me how things are going in terms of this.

Bill pretty.

Much interested.

When I was in high school, I took driver's ed.

I feel like it makes me a better driver on the road.

And we all know we've had a lot of teen deaths on the highway in the past few years, and just putting drivers back into the high school gives us more children who can't afford those personal driver ed services.

The opportunity to be taught how to safely drive on our Georgia roads.

Yeah, I think a lot of people feel the same way, but right now you have to pay for it.

So.

That's right.

And that's another one you're going to keep alive.

We're going to keep that one alive, too.

Yeah.

Okay.

Let's switch to another one.

Sticking with education.

Let's talk about your student teacher promotion act Bill.

Tell us about it.

Yeah.

HB 3310 I think.

HB 310.

And so currently college students who are on a path to earning their teacher certification and stepping into classrooms go through a practicum.

And so it's in classroom experience and work that allows them to build confidence and skills that are necessary for their preparation to stepping into that profession.

And they're dropping out of the program because they're not being compensated.

This is a 40 hour a week a minimum of 500 hours a semester.

And they're not being paid.

And inflationary pressures are affecting us all, including students who have to pay for tuition, who have to pay for gas to and from school, who are paying for groceries.

And this would bring us in line with other states who currently compensate student teachers for their work in classrooms.

And let's face it, we need teachers.

We we're really losing our teachers.

So this is one way of of keeping them.

So there's a fiscal note involved.

So is that part of the problem.

So no fiscal note as of yet okay.

But it would give student teachers up up to $7,500.

Upon completion of their student teaching portion.

That's likely to make a difference.

Okay.

We're going to switch to something else old school to I'm calling it that old school.

The back to school tax free holiday that used to allow you to have at least a weekend, sometimes to buy clothing and school supplies and no taxes.

I'd like to bring I'm trying to bring back to school tax free weekend back.

It's called Back to School Relief Act.

It would make school supplies, shoes, computers, things our children need to go back to school tax free.

The.

We just passed a a gun tax free piece of legislation, and my bill for tax free school weekend did not get a hearing, so.

But in October, I think we're still waiting to see what's happening with the gun bill.

It may have passed in both.

Both of us.

Yeah.

Okay.

That's another one you'll be fighting.

Yeah, we're trying to trying to help parents with the inflation and trying to get our kids back to school.

Food is expensive.

School supplies are expensive.

Laptops that children need.

So just bringing that back, we have one on the Senate side.

Nabilah Islam Parkes is carrying the Senate back to school tax free, and I'm carrying the House.

So hopefully we get some attention on that as well.

Okay.

We'll keep up with that one.

While we're talking about education, I know you want to talk a little bit about what's happening at the federal level with the Department of Education.

What are your thoughts?

Yeah, it's.

Dismantling it.

I should say.

It's it's unfortunate and disappointing.

We know that the state pulls in billions of dollars to support title one schools to support meals, programs to support children with disabilities.

And so, in the absence of this agency we're talking about hundreds of layoffs.

Who's going to be managing and administering these vital programs to our schools and our communities?

And you know, I had a friend liken it to smashing a fly with a hammer.

Probably not going to get the fly and you're going to cause a lot of damage in the process.

And that's what's happening.

I run a workforce development, youth focused nonprofit, next Generation men and women.

We operate exclusively at a title one high schools.

And it's hard.

A lot of that fear and uncertainty makes it difficult to plan.

It makes it difficult to keep morale up, to do the difficult work, the hard work that many educators and community partners, such as my own, is doing.

And so we could potentially be back for a special session to figure out what's the extent of the cuts.

What are we going to be left needing to cover in terms of funding to make sure that those vital programs are ongoing.

And not just for the Department of Education, but some other federal programs.

So definitely.

We'll see what happens with that.

I want to get in real quick that you have you have two programs that will deal with we want mobile units.

You have your Ampath bill that you've talked about before, but another mobile unit for postpartum women.

Talk about those.

We we have like maybe a minute, less than a minute.

The Healthy Mothers Act, the Healthy Mothers Act would provide mobile maternity units and our maternity deserts in the state of Georgia.

So the maternity deserts do not have OB gyns in the vicinity.

No hospitals and no obstetrician care in the vicinity.

And so we would provide mobile units to these areas, which will also mitigate some of the other diseases that come along with being pregnant.

You got high blood pressure, you could have diabetes.

And so sending mobile units to our rural and our districts without maternity care is of the utmost importance because we are number five on maternal mortality.

Ampath real quick, what would that be for?

The Georgia Ampath act is for mental health.

Putting a mental health, okay.

Addressing our mental health issues.

We'll have to have you come back.

All right, all right.

Thank you so much.

Thank you both for being here I appreciate that.

That does it for Lawmakers today.

We won't have a show tomorrow, but the legislature will meet for day 37.

So look for a Capitol report from Sarah Kallis tomorrow at the