Political hardball got Georgia tort damage limits passed. Now comes the collateral damage.

Yahoo

26-03-2025

State Rep. Vance Smith, a Pine Mountain Republican, was ousted from his position as CEO of the Harris County Chamber of Commerce during a Friday afternoon Zoom call. He tearfully recounted his dismissal during a speech in the House chamber Tuesday. Ross Williams/Georgia Recorder (file photo)
Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp's big 2025 legislative push to pass lawsuit damage limits is ready for his victory lap, but as the dust settles in the wake of Thursday's razor-close House vote on Senate Bill 68, some legislators' nerves are still frayed and one longtime lawmaker lost his job over his vote.
Lawmakers in both parties are beginning to feel the fallout of their votes on the pivotal bill aimed at overhauling Georgia's civil litigation system as party leaders and powerful business interests take note of who toed the party line and who crossed it. In the House, where the bill passed along razor-thin margins, eight Republicans broke ranks to vote against the legislation and three Democrats joined the majority to secure the bill's passage. In the final Senate vote, two Democrats crossed party lines to vote in support of the legislation, and one Republican opposed it.
State Rep. Vance Smith, a Pine Mountain Republican, was ousted from his position as CEO of the Harris County Chamber of Commerce during a Friday afternoon Zoom call. He tearfully recounted his dismissal during a speech in the House chamber Tuesday.
Though SB 68 successfully cleared both chambers, Kemp repeatedly twisted arms throughout the session to coerce lawmakers into passing the bill. At the start of the 2025 session, he had pledged to drag lawmakers back to Atlanta for a special session if 'meaningful, impactful' changes were not made to the state's civil justice system by the end of the regular session on April 4. A key lieutenant also threatened the governor would use his substantial campaign warchest to back primary challengers to any Republicans who opposed the bill, and ahead of the final Senate vote, Republicans briefly paused floor proceedings to assemble for a caucus meeting attended by Kemp.
Republicans in both chambers might have to wait until the 2026 election season to see if Kemp makes good on his promise.
Smith, whose west Georgia district spans parts of Harris, Muscogee and Troup counties, first joined the Georgia Legislature in 1993. He has long been a reliable member of the Republican caucus, making his vote on Thursday somewhat unexpected. In an emotional speech on the House floor Tuesday morning, Smith made veiled references to the fallout from his decision.
'A lot of things have transpired since last week when we left,' he said, thanking his family and members of the house for their support over the past few days. He also tearfully quoted the Bible verse Jeremiah 29:11, ''for I know the plans I have for you,' declares the Lord, 'plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.''
Though Smith expressed surprise over the Harris County Chamber of Commerce's abrupt decision to fire him, he told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that he did not regret his vote. The Georgia Chamber of Commerce and local chambers formed a powerful alliance in the fight to get a bill passed intended to limit jury payouts for medical malpractice and negligent property owners.
House leaders also addressed the strong reactions to Thursday's vote, with House Majority Caucus Whip James Burchett, a Waycross Republican who sponsored the bill in the House, urging Georgia residents to 'hold legislators accountable for their votes under the Gold Dome at the ballot box – not by taking aim at their ability to support their families.'
'Numerous members have suffered threats to their livelihoods and independence because of their votes on Senate Bill 68,' Burchett said in a statement issued Tuesday afternoon. 'These retaliations undermine the strengths of our citizen legislature, which depends on members voting their conscience after fully weighing the issues and determining what they think is best for their communities and our state.'
Democrats are also grappling with the aftermath of SB 68's passage, with House minority leaders sharply criticizing the members of their caucus who broke ranks to vote for the legislation.
'We were sent here to make hard decisions, and hard decisions are hard because you have to look people in the eye that you disappoint,' said Rep. Stacey Evans, an Atlanta Democrat, shortly after the bill passed in the House. 'Those victims won't be here every day, but the chamber will be here. Insurance companies will be here, and I think too many of my colleagues were worried about walking down the hall and looking them in the eye and not worried about the people back home.'
Rep. Mack Jackson, a Sandersville Democrat who is Black with a history of splitting from his party on pivotal votes, criticized the House Democratic caucus in a speech on the House floor last Friday, comparing an unnamed Democratic colleague to segregation-era figures like Bull Connor and George Wallace.
'I realized that somewhere in her subconscious mind, she thought that she had bought me and my freedom to choose,' he said, referencing a conversation in which the unnamed colleague brought up her contribution to his most recent re-election campaign. 'I gave her her money back because I don't want anyone to think that they own me and can talk down to me as if I'm a child.'
He also described other conversations with fellow Democrats who expressed disappointment with his vote, and requested that their campaign contributions be refunded.
'I'll refund everything, because I don't ever want anybody to think that they own me,' he said.
Rep. Michelle Au, a Johns Creek Democrat and doctor who also voted in favor of the bill, took to social media to explain her decision, posting a two-page statement on the social media site X (formerly Twitter).
'It is by no means a perfect bill,' Au wrote. 'There are elements I object to. But on balance I think it protects our fair, equal access for all to our justice system while hopefully addressing the ways our litigation environment has become untenable for many.'
The second part of Kemp's tort package, Senate Bill 69 that would increase regulations around third-party lawsuit financing, passed the House Rules Subcommittee on Lawsuit Reform Tuesday evening. It is expected to come up for a vote on the House floor later this week.
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