Latest news with #Bill397
Yahoo
03-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Georgia Senate GOP muscles through election overhaul to allow hand-marked paper ballots
Georgia State Election Board Chairman John Fervier, far right, and Democratic Board Member Sara Tindall Ghazal, far left, cast votes at the Friday Sept. 20, board meeting opposing a new rule mandating the hand counting of ballots cast at each polling place on Election Day. The rule was passed with the support of conservative board member Janelle King, second from left. Ross Williams/Georgia Recorder (file) A pair of election bills the Georgia Senate passed Wednesday propose new State Election Board powers, remove Georgia from multi-state voter rolls sharing databases and allow voters to request hand-marked paper ballots. The Senate voted along party lines Wednesday for the sweeping voting rules changes proposed in House Bill 397 as well as Senate Bill 214, which aims to encourage voters to use pencils or pens to complete ballots instead of electronic voting machines as is the primary option now. Sen. Jason Esteves, an Atlanta Democrat, criticized plans in the bill sponsored by Rep. Tim Fleming, a Covington Republican, that would force the state to withdraw from the Electronic Registration Information Center (ERIC), a system that backers including Republican Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger contend helps Georgia maintain more accurate voter rolls by sharing voter data across multiple states. The Fleming bill would need a final House vote by Friday to clear both chambers. Esteves said a new system of multiple bilateral agreements to replace ERIC would be much more expensive and inefficient than the status quo. Republican lawmakers argue the state should withdraw from a third-party system that could lead to voter privacy concerns. Some Democratic members of the House have voiced opposition to a bill restricting counties from accepting hand-delivered absentee ballots on the weekend before an election, arguing that this could prevent college students and military personnel from voting. Duluth Democratic Sen. Nabilah Islam Parkes slammed the bill for not securing elections but instead sabotaging them by 'sewing distress, empowering conspiracy theorists, and silencing the voices of everyday Georgians.' 'Why are we tossing out a system that works and replacing it with political theater? she said. 'HB 397 makes it harder, again, for folks to vote by mail.' There are also several provisions in the bill aimed at expanding the power of the State Election Board, which has been under fire for its rulemaking in the run-up to the general election in 2024. The bill would place the election board under the administration of the state accounting office instead of the secretary of state's office. State election officials would also have access to all state investigative reports and communications between the secretary of state and the local election superintendents. The bill would also spell out State Election Board rulemaking powers with proposed year-round authority to adopt election rules so long as they don't take effect within 60 days of an election, according to the legislation. Cumming Republican Sen. Dolezal rejected claims the legislation as the latest Republican voter suppression effort. Dolezal said the increased minority voter participation since the passage of the Senate Bill 202 election law overhaul in 2021 demonstrates the law does not discourage minority voting. 'This bill in front of us here deals with processes by which we review who has moved out of the state,' Dolezal said. 'We go through the tabulation process and when the election board is going to post information. 'Bringing up this debunked notion that was floated first by Stacey Abrams and then floated by Joe Biden and used to weaponize Major League Baseball to leave the state for a state who has very similar voting laws that we have, was ridiculous then is ridiculous today,' Dolezal said Last week, Republican legislators advanced lHB 397 out of the Senate Ethics Committee, after making some last-minute changes were made that its sponsors said should alleviate some concerns heard during public meetings. The current version of the bill no longer includes new mandates for requiring local election officials to hand count ballots as voting precincts are closing down for Election Day. It no longer includes a provision that would have allowed the State Election Board to hear appeals to a controversial mass voter challenge after complaints are settled by county election boards. Paper ballots expansion spurs debate Sylvania Republican Sen. Max Burns defended his Senate Bill 214 hand marked ballot measure as being significantly less costly than the projected $66 million needed to upgrade the current electronic voting system. Burns said the legislation gives Georgians casting ballots during early voting and election days the option of paper ballots or the electronic touchscreen system that's been used for statewide elections since 2020. Burns said Wednesday that the cost of acquiring new scanners and implementing the new system is estimated to be less than half that of enhancing the current system. Under the new legislation, the state would be required to use new voting equipment that features optical scanning systems for scanning and tabulating hand-marked paper ballots. The new process would allow voters to request ballots similar to absentee ballots when they visit a polling place during early voting or on an Election. Day. 'The ballot itself is marked by the individual voter,' Burns said. 'The voter uses a hand marking device, often called the pen, that marks the ballot that they can read. There is no QR code. They take that hand-marked paper ballot and they submit it to a scanner, a tabulator that senses the mark on the ballot.' Sen. Sally Harrell, an Atlanta Democrat, cautioned against expressed hesitation in rushing through a significant change in the state's election system at this late stage in the legislative process, which could result in further financial mismanagement. Friday is the last day of the 2025 Georgia General Assembly. Harrell wondered aloud why Republican senators rejected her amendment proposing hand-marked paper ballots when lawmakers voted in 2019 to switch to an electronic voting system. The state has spent more than $107 million on the Dominion Voting Systems that's been used in statewide elections since 2020. Harrell requested more information regarding the costs associated with implementing Burns' new ballot plan while the state is still under a 20-year contract to pay off the Dominion machines until 2040. Currently, President Donald Trump's administration is advocating a major overhaul of elections, including guidance advising states against using barcodes or QR codes to tabulate votes. 'I have some of the same concerns (Esteves) raised about things coming from the federal government about what we can and can't do over and over again,' Harrell said. 'We are deciding to spend money on certain types of machines that we aren't going to use long enough to justify the expenses. We made that mistake in 2019 and we're making that same mistake now.' SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Yahoo
25-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Georgia Republicans want to limit early voting sites to just 1 location per county in revised bill
Channel 2 Action News has learned there's a new push by Georgia Senate Republicans to restrict advance early voting to just one location per county. Channel 2's Richard Elliot learned that Democrats got wind of the move early Tuesday morning. Senate republicans took a voting-related bill that passed the House, stripped it, and put it back together again to include some controversial portions. Even some county elections directors aren't happy about the move. House Bill 397 was once a simple bill that dealt with Saturday voting. But now Senate Republicans have tacked on a number of other provisions. It would eliminate counties from setting up multiple early voting sites, instead requiring early voters to go to one centralized location. Given that 71% of Georgia voters voted early, that's a concern for Paulding County elections director Deidra Holden. TRENDING STORIES: High-level officials at Atlanta-based CDC announce departure Northwest GA pair accused of trying to meet 14-year-old girl for sex Man places cardboard trap inside USPS blue box to steal $96,000 in checks 'You know, that's disenfranchisement at its best because our voters depend on that. Not everybody's schedule allows them to vote on Election Day. Some want to vote by paper,' Holden said. Atlanta Democratic state Sen. Jason Esteves thinks the idea of limited advanced early voting to a single location leads only to long lines and frustrated voters. 'For early voting, that's going to restrict the number of people who are going to participate in early voting which means more people will vote the day of the election,' Esteves said. 'I'm looking forward to 397. I think it's got some good components. I know we've worked hard on that one,' Sylvania Republican state Sen. Max Burns said. Burns said he supports what he's seen of the bill so far, even the section on limited advance early voting. But he admits, the bill is still a work in progress, and he wants to see the finished product. 'At the end of the day, I need to look at the current version. I've seen some earlier versions. I know that everyone is a little bit interested. We hope to get it out, hopefully this evening,' Burns said. The bill would also require poll workers at each precinct to hand-count every ballot, a rule the Republican-dominated state elections board tried to implement last year but couldn't because the courts intervened. We expect a Senate committee hearing on this sometime on Wednesday.
Yahoo
27-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Baby's first bond? Competing bills would set aside money for New Mexico-born children
Alexandra Alarcon, a Silver City single mother of three, lives day to day. Juggling her daughters' schooling, sports and her own work, the 33-year-old said saving for her children's futures is a challenge. But a $6,000 baby bond her youngest daughter, Adryan Raye, received last year as part of a statewide pilot program was like a weight lifted off Alarcon's shoulders. 'It's such a relief,' she said of the bond, which is expected to grow as her daughter ages so she can use it when she's older. '… It's going to be such a proud moment to know that she's going to be 100% stable enough to do what she wants when she becomes of age.' That pilot program, launched by a coalition of community organizations across New Mexico, has been touted as a way to test the waters for Senate Bill 397 and House Bill 7, two bills making their way through the Roundhouse aimed at establishing similar programs for children statewide. Though both bills would create mechanisms to invest in the futures of New Mexico children far down the line, they each have distinct approaches to making those investments — including broad differences in how much startup money they would initially set aside and which children would qualify for the investments. Teresa Madrid, deputy director of Partnership for Community Action, which helped establish the pilot program, said baby bonds provide an 'opportunity for hope for New Mexico's children and families.' 'We really believe that baby bonds is one of the solutions to bring families out of cycles of poverty, that it is a solution to build generational wealth for children in New Mexico,' she said. The bills could reach tens of thousands of children. That said, births in New Mexico have steadily declined for over 10 years, according to a recent Legislative Finance Committee presentation. In 2023, just over 21,000 babies were born in the state, down from nearly 27,800 in 2010. SB 397, sponsored by Sens. Leo Jaramillo, D-Española, and Moe Maestas, D-Albuquerque, would establish two funds: the Next Generation Trust Fund and the Baby Bonds Fund. Under the bill, the former would receive a $500 million seed investment to provide children born in New Mexico on or after July 1, 2025, with $7,000 baby bonds. The money would be invested and grow until they become adults, and in 2043, a portion of the trust fund partly based on the number of children turning 18 that year would be shifted to the Baby Bonds Fund for distribution. State Treasurer Laura Montoya said in an interview that by the time those children turn 18, the baby bonds are expected to grow to between $20,000 and $25,000. By the time they're 35, that number could shoot up close to $75,000. 'We will be building up our own economy and investing in our own people and families,' Montoya said of the bill. It's not clear if the proposed $500 million appropriation will actually make it through the Roundhouse. SB 397, though, faces some rivalry in HB 7, a measure sponsored by three House Democrats, including House Speaker Javier Martínez, that would create the 'Children's Future Fund' with a $5 million appropriation in seed money. That bill would apply to children born in New Mexico this year, who, upon graduating from a New Mexico high school, could use money from the fund to pay for their education, housing and other costs. Under the bill, a task force would further analyze how to refine the program. One of the bill's sponsors, Rep. Linda Serrato, D-Santa Fe, said that while New Mexico has done much to help low-income families in their day to day lives, the Children's Future Fund 'really acknowledges the fact that we have a poor state.' 'This is helping them envision their future and investing in that future,' she said. Montoya, however, has publicly expressed concerns with HB 7, including the eligibility requirements the measure lays out for children. She argued HB 7 would cut out young people who opt for a different path than finishing high school who should still benefit from baby bonds (SB 397 still has an education component, but instead requires young people to take a state-approved financial literacy course before claiming their bonds). Montoya also argued against a requirement in HB 7 that children must have continuously lived in New Mexico, saying that mandate would exclude many people, including those whose families may have left the state for a period of time because of service in the military or a medical field. Under SB 397, any child whose parents had lived in New Mexico for at least five years prior to their birth, or those placed in the custody of the state Children, Youth and Families Department, would be eligible for a baby bond. Serrato, however, said the current eligibility parameters for HB 7 ensure children who spent their formative years in New Mexico are benefiting from the fund. The bills each face concerns they would violate the anti-donation clause in the state constitution. In separate analyses of each bill, Legislative Finance Committee staff wrote that distributing money to individual beneficiaries 'could be an unconstitutional donation of public resources.' Montoya and Serrato each acknowledged the concerns, saying the task force — or changes to the constitution — could help determine how baby bonds fit in with the clause. 'We're trying to be respectful of where we're at today in the rules, but we also want to be thoughtful about what tomorrow might look like,' Montoya said.
Yahoo
27-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Baby's first bond? Competing bills would set aside money for New Mexico-born children
Alexandra Alarcon, a Silver City single mother of three, lives day to day. Juggling her daughters' schooling, sports and her own work, the 33-year-old said saving for her children's futures is a challenge. But a $6,000 baby bond her youngest daughter, Adryan Raye, received last year as part of a statewide pilot program was like a weight lifted off Alarcon's shoulders. 'It's such a relief,' she said of the bond, which is expected to grow as her daughter ages so she can use it when she's older. '… It's going to be such a proud moment to know that she's going to be 100% stable enough to do what she wants when she becomes of age.' That pilot program, launched by a coalition of community organizations across New Mexico, has been touted as a way to test the waters for Senate Bill 397 and House Bill 7, two bills making their way through the Roundhouse aimed at establishing similar programs for children statewide. Though both bills would create mechanisms to invest in the futures of New Mexico children far down the line, they each have distinct approaches to making those investments — including broad differences in how much startup money they would initially set aside and which children would qualify for the investments. Teresa Madrid, deputy director of Partnership for Community Action, which helped establish the pilot program, said baby bonds provide an 'opportunity for hope for New Mexico's children and families.' 'We really believe that baby bonds is one of the solutions to bring families out of cycles of poverty, that it is a solution to build generational wealth for children in New Mexico,' she said. The bills could reach tens of thousands of children. That said, births in New Mexico have steadily declined for over 10 years, according to a recent Legislative Finance Committee presentation. In 2023, just over 21,000 babies were born in the state, down from nearly 27,800 in 2010. SB 397, sponsored by Sens. Leo Jaramillo, D-Española, and Moe Maestas, D-Albuquerque, would establish two funds: the Next Generation Trust Fund and the Baby Bonds Fund. Under the bill, the former would receive a $500 million seed investment to provide children born in New Mexico on or after July 1, 2025, with $7,000 baby bonds. The money would be invested and grow until they become adults, and in 2043, a portion of the trust fund partly based on the number of children turning 18 that year would be shifted to the Baby Bonds Fund for distribution. State Treasurer Laura Montoya said in an interview that by the time those children turn 18, the baby bonds are expected to grow to between $20,000 and $25,000. By the time they're 35, that number could shoot up close to $75,000. 'We will be building up our own economy and investing in our own people and families,' Montoya said of the bill. It's not clear if the proposed $500 million appropriation will actually make it through the Roundhouse. SB 397, though, faces some rivalry in HB 7, a measure sponsored by three House Democrats, including House Speaker Javier Martínez, that would create the 'Children's Future Fund' with a $5 million appropriation in seed money. That bill would apply to children born in New Mexico this year, who, upon graduating from a New Mexico high school, could use money from the fund to pay for their education, housing and other costs. Under the bill, a task force would further analyze how to refine the program. One of the bill's sponsors, Rep. Linda Serrato, D-Santa Fe, said that while New Mexico has done much to help low-income families in their day to day lives, the Children's Future Fund 'really acknowledges the fact that we have a poor state.' 'This is helping them envision their future and investing in that future,' she said. Montoya, however, has publicly expressed concerns with HB 7, including the eligibility requirements the measure lays out for children. She argued HB 7 would cut out young people who opt for a different path than finishing high school who should still benefit from baby bonds (SB 397 still has an education component, but instead requires young people to take a state-approved financial literacy course before claiming their bonds). Montoya also argued against a requirement in HB 7 that children must have continuously lived in New Mexico, saying that mandate would exclude many people, including those whose families may have left the state for a period of time because of service in the military or a medical field. Under SB 397, any child whose parents had lived in New Mexico for at least five years prior to their birth, or those placed in the custody of the state Children, Youth and Families Department, would be eligible for a baby bond. Serrato, however, said the current eligibility parameters for HB 7 ensure children who spent their formative years in New Mexico are benefiting from the fund. The bills each face concerns they would violate the anti-donation clause in the state constitution. In separate analyses of each bill, Legislative Finance Committee staff wrote that distributing money to individual beneficiaries 'could be an unconstitutional donation of public resources.' Montoya and Serrato each acknowledged the concerns, saying the task force — or changes to the constitution — could help determine how baby bonds fit in with the clause. 'We're trying to be respectful of where we're at today in the rules, but we also want to be thoughtful about what tomorrow might look like,' Montoya said.
