Latest news with #EmanuelJones
Fox News
26-02-2025
- Business
- Fox News
Georgia bill passed in state Senate likened to 'DOGE Lite'
The Georgia state Senate passed a bill on Monday that they are referring to as "DOGE lite." Senate Bill 28, Red Tape Rollback Act of 2025, has the goal of reducing costs and increasing accountability for state agencies by having them review and update rules and regulations every four years. During the vote, Democrats were against the measure, accusing Republicans of trying to bring DOGE to Georgia. "DOGE" refers to the Department of Government of Efficiency, headed by SpaceX CEO Elon Musk and aimed at shrinking the federal government. "This is a power grab. Plain and simple, this is DOGE coming to Georgia," said state Sen. Emanuel Jones (D-Decatur) during the debate. The bill is also aimed at small businesses and requires state agencies to evaluate the cost-effectiveness of rules and will solicit the public's input regarding whether rules are justified and if the government can further reduce those costs. The vote was split between party lines, but the majority was Republican. "Now that Donald Trump is president, we need to feign outrage about a commonsense bill," claimed Sen. Greg Dolezal following the vote. "That's just the state of play in Georgia politics." Dolezal says there has been some mischaracterization of the bill. He went on to say before President Trump was reelected that a similar bill passed with bipartisan support last year. Overall, Senate Democrats believe the bill will be effective in aggressive cost-cutting, much like at the federal level. The bill will now go to the House for consideration.
Yahoo
28-01-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Georgia Democratic senator's bill would create statewide database to flag students who pose a threat
From left, Sen. Elena Parent, Senate Minority Leader Harold Jones and Sen. Emanuel Jones announce their party's agenda on guns. Ross Williams/Georgia Recorder The chair of a Senate committee tasked with reducing gun deaths among Georgia children has filed legislation to create a statewide database to notify districts of safety concerns from transfer students and to install a 'gun czar' to oversee gun safety. 'Georgia has the eighth highest rate of unintentional shootings by children in the United States, and I hope that kind of sinks in with members that are present here today,' said Sen. Emanuel Jones, a Decatur Democrat. 'And it should also be stated that the highest incidence of pediatric deaths in Georgia is caused by unintentional gun shootings. To me, those numbers are just staggering and really unacceptable, and Georgia can do better.' Atlanta Democratic Sen. Rashaun Kemp, a former teacher and principal, said administrators need to be aware of potential threats. 'As a high school principal, we all know that it's important to get information about our students' academics, but also it's even more critically important to ensure that we are getting information as to issues and concerns that schools have had with their students. It is critically important for all parents to know that their children are in safe environments. And as a former educator who had a student bring a gun to school, having information shared between schools is critically important and can't just stop at academics. The debate over gun safety became more immediate for many Georgians when in September, two students and two teachers were killed in a shooting at Apalachee High School. The 14-year-old accused gunman had allegedly been interviewed by the FBI in connection with shooting threats at a different school in another district more than a year before the attack, leading some to call for greater communication between districts. The idea could find support from top Republicans, including House Speaker Jon Burns and State Superintendent Richard Woods, who have both called for legislation to increase record sharing among school districts as a way to bolster safety. Jones said under his bill, the program would be administered by the Department of Education and data would be passed along like other information that moves along with a transfer student. 'I don't see any privacy concerns that should be addressed or could even possibly be that big of a concern when it comes to a child needing medical attention, needing quality care that they may have received at their previous school system,' Jones said. 'And I would hope that the parents would expect that their child will continue to receive that same quality of care at the incoming school system, so I do not see that as a privacy concern, I see it more as a safety concern.' Jones' gun czar position would oversee efforts to promote gun safety. 'This person, this czar, as I call it, will have responsibilities to disseminate information to all of our schools, K through 12, this person will have the responsibility of working with industry and defining best practices and this person will have the responsibility of working with the legislators to ensure that as we move forward, that we are focusing on those issues that are critical in ensuring the safety of our kids throughout our school system.' Jones said similar ideas have been successful in other states, including conservative ones. 'This is not anything new as it pertains to gun safety,' he said. 'As a matter of fact, the states of Texas has been doing this for well over 20 years. North Carolina, Utah, and even other red states have a position very similar to this in their legislative branch.' Atlanta Democratic Sen. Elena Parent, chair of the Senate Democratic caucus, also announced a pair of bills aimed at gun safety, both based on previous efforts. The first would make it more difficult to purge someone who has been involuntarily committed for mental health purposes from the FBI database that determines whether one is eligible to purchase a firearm. Under it, being taken off the list would require a hearing rather than simply being removed after five years. Parent's other bill would create a misdemeanor penalty for failing to properly secure a firearm if a minor accesses it and hurts someone. In recent years, the House and Senate passed separate bipartisan plans that aimed to encourage Georgian gun owners to lock up their weapons through tax incentives rather than punishment. Both passed their own chambers with wide margins, but neither chamber approved the other's plan. Parent said she prefers the punitive approach, but she indicated she may be open to an incentive-based bill. 'By not saying 'That is not something that you are legally allowed to do under our state's code,' by that not being there, that sends a message,' she said. 'That sends a message, like, it's just fine to leave your gun lying around kids. So that, to me, is one of the reasons that it is important to have it stated in Georgia code that it is not legal to leave a gun around minors.' 'That is not to say that other ways to get at that problem don't have merit, but I do believe that part of what our laws do is they represent our values as a society, and if those laws are so at counter purposes with the way you want people to behave, then you need to look at that piece of it, too,' she added. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
