Latest news with #GregDolezal
Yahoo
25-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Republican regulatory bill likened to DOGE passes in Georgia Senate
The Brief The Republican-backed "Red Tape Rollback Act of 2025 bill" passed in the Georgia Senate on Monday following a lengthy debate. Democrats voted against the measure, calling it an attempt to bring DOGE to Georgia. Sen. Greg Dolezal (R-Cumming) is sponsoring the legislation. ATLANTA - DOGE was a hot topic of debate at the Georgia State Capitol as lawmakers clashed over the Red Tape Rollback Act of 2025 bill. Senate Democrats accused their Republican colleagues of trying to bring DOGE to Georgia. Republicans insisted the measure would benefit Georgians and small business owners. What we know Sen. Greg Dolezal (R-Cumming) is sponsoring the legislation. Dolezal said Senate Bill 28 aims to reduce costs and increase accountability among state agencies by requiring them to review and update their rules and regulations every four years. The measure would also require agencies to consider the economic impact of new regulations on small businesses. During the debate in the Senate Chamber, Sen. Dolezal told colleagues, "There's been some mischaracterization of this bill." The other side Sen. Emanuel Jones (D-Decatur) opposed the legislation, calling it, "...a solution in search of a problem. I hope you vote this bill down." Jones and his fellow Democrats compared the "Red Tape Rollback Act of 2025" bill to the Trump Administration's DOGE program. Senate Democrats believe the bill would lead to aggressive cost-cutting and mass job cuts like those now underway at the federal level. What's next The bill now goes to the House for consideration. The Senate passed similar legislation last year, but it stalled in the House. The Source FOX 5 Atlanta reporter Deidra Dukes interviewed Sen. Greg Dolezal (R-Cumming) and Sen. Emanuel Jones (D-Decatur) for this article.
Yahoo
20-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
GA Democrats vow to fight GA Republicans' ‘Red Tape Rollback Act'
State Republican Senators are backing a bill they claim will reduce red tape for Georgia businesses and state agencies. But Democrats insist it actually adds some red tape. Senate Democrats are promising a fight to stop what Republicans are calling the Red Tape Rollback Act from becoming law. In a morning hearing on Wednesday, Forsyth County Republican Sen. Greg Dolezal introduced the bill that he insists does not create a Georgia version of Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), but does create a level of legislative oversight for state agencies. 'What it doesn't do is place any sort of new agency in place or grow government in such a way that there's an agency over the shoulder of an existing agency,' Dolezal said. [DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks] Under this bill, if the legislature passes a rule or regulation for a state agency and an economic assessment shows it costs more than $1 million, that rule gets paused and it has to come back to the legislature for another approval. 'We definitely want to make sure that the rules that are expensive to comply with are adjudicated and then elected officials are the ones that are ultimately making that decision, not bureaucrats that nobody gets to see,' Dolezal said. But Democrats say all this bill does is slow down the process and give the general assembly more control over state agencies, leading to cuts and eventually elimination of those agencies. 'As Democrats, we're going to stand in the way. We're going to fight. We're going to continue to let the public know what the attempts are from the Lieutenant Governor as well as Republicans in the general assembly,' Emmanuel Jones said. The bill also requires state agencies to comb through its rules and regulations every four years to get rid of old, out-of-date rules or regulations. The bill passed out of that committee on Wednesday morning. TRENDING STORIES: 3 children killed in fire at Atlanta apartment complex A Cobb woman was killed in her home. Now her estranged boyfriend will spend his life in prison Suspect, victim in deadly shooting at McDonald's in Gwinnett were coworkers, police say [SIGN UP: WSB-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter]
Yahoo
20-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Georgia Democrats fear new Republican regulatory bill is DOGE 2.0
The Brief Sen. Greg Dolezal (R-Cumming) is sponsoring the Red Tape Roll Back bill (Senate Bill 28). Dolezal says the bill would reduce costs and increase accountability among state agencies. Democrats say Republicans are just trying to bring DOGE to Georgia. ATLANTA - Georgia Democrats are seeing red over the Red Tape Roll Back bill. They accused Senate Republicans of borrowing a page from Elon Musk's "DOGE" Playbook. What we know SB 28 would require state agencies to review and update their rules and regulations every four years and requires agencies to consider the economic impact of new regulations on small businesses. Agencies would have to conduct economic analyses for proposed rules that cost more than $1 million to implement. The other side Sen. Emanuel Jones (D-Decatur) and his colleagues voiced their concerns during Wednesday's Senate committee hearing. Senate Democrats believe the bill would lead to aggressive cost-cutting and allow Republicans to slash vital services. "When you look at Senate Bill 28, that's exactly what it's doing. It's a power grab," Sen. Jones maintained. "The next step is, 'Why do we need the agencies?' Then, the next step is to attempt to eliminate certain agencies, as well as cut employment in the great state." What they're saying Sen. Greg Dolezal (R-Cumming) is sponsoring the bill and says it will reduce costs and increase accountability. "It's in the spirit of DOGE, which I think is the recognition that we want to reduce the size and scope of government," Dolezal explained. "It is not in the spirit of DOGE in that there is no external agency that is auditing existing agencies or anything like that." The Source FOX 5 Atlanta reporter Deidra Dukes interviewed Sen. Emanuel Jones (D-Decatur) and Sen. Greg Dolezal (R-Cumming) to get both sides' views of Senate Bill 48, the Red Tape Roll Back bill.
Yahoo
07-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Georgia Senate advances bill to ban transgender athletes from girls' sports
The Brief The Georgia state Senate passed a bill that would bar transgender athletes from competing in girls' sports, moving it closer to becoming law. The vote was largely along party lines, with two Democratic Senators joining Republicans to support the bill. The bill will now proceed to the House for consideration, where similar legislation has already been introduced by House Republicans. ATLANTA - A state Senate bill that would bar transgender athletes from competing in girls' sports in Georgia moved one step closer to becoming law on Thursday. State Senators voted along party lines, with two Democratic Senators voting with their Republican colleagues to pass the controversial legislation. The backstory State Sen. Greg Dolezal, R-Cumming, sponsored the bill, which would prohibit biological males from competing in girls' sports and vice versa. Democratic Senate minority leaders issued a joint statement before the debate, expressing opposition to Senate Bill 1. They called the bill a hammer in search of a nail and noted the NCAA and Georgia High School Association already prohibit trans girls from playing girls' sports. What they're saying Proponents argue that biological males are more powerful than females due to anatomical and physiological differences. They say the bill promotes fairness and safety in competitive sports and ensures a level playing field for females in the state of Georgia. "We're making sure we take rights away from our most vulnerable students in this state. That makes up less than 1 percent of our population, so it's unfortunate that we are here," "I am thrilled we had bipartisan support to preserve female sports in the state of Georgia," remarked Sen. Dolezal, "and exclude male advantage and allow for fair competition for women in the state of Georgia." The other side Sen. RaShaun Kemp, D-Atlanta, told reporters. SB 1 would expand the ban to include public school children in grades K-12 and private colleges competing against Georgia public colleges and universities. What's next The bill now goes to the House for consideration. House Republicans introduced similar legislation earlier this week. The Source FOX 5 spoke with state Sen. Greg Dolezal, R-Cumming, about SB 1, which he sponsored. Sen. RaShaun Kemp, D-Atlanta, who opposed the measure, also gave response to the bill's passage in the Georgia Senate.
USA Today
06-02-2025
- Politics
- USA Today
Georgia Senate Republicans pass bill to ban transgender athletes from girls sports teams
Georgia Senate Republicans pass bill to ban transgender athletes from girls sports teams Show Caption Hide Caption WATCH: Augustans gather to join national 50501 protests Augustans gathered on Wednesday to join the 50501 protests happening across the nation. The protests oppose President Donald Trump and Project 2025. The Georgia Senate passed a bill barring transgender athletes from competing on female sports teams. Republicans cited "male advantage" as the reason for the bill, while Democrats called it a cynical ploy targeting a small minority. The bill now moves to the state House, where its passage is likely, potentially making Georgia the latest state to enact such a ban. ATLANTA – The Republican-controlled Georgia Senate moved to purge transgender athletes from female teams Thursday in a near party-line vote. Senate Bill 1 would prohibit public school and state college students from competing on teams that do not match the sex on their birth certificates. Private institutions that compete against them would be affected, too. Noncompliant public schools would risk loss of state funding and exposure to lawsuits for failure to comply. Public schools are already facing financial consequences at the federal level. On Wednesday, President Donald Trump signed an executive order banning transgender athletes. His 'Keeping Men Out of Women's Sports' order withholds federal funding from schools that do not 'oppose male competitive participation in women's sports … as a matter of safety, fairness, dignity, and truth.' Previously: Georgia Senate and House to propose bills targeting transgender athletes The U.S. House of Representatives narrowly passed its own bill with the same goal last month. The U.S. Senate has yet to consider it. On Thursday, Republican state senators said a state-level law is needed because of 'male advantage' in sport. 'Without a boundary around female sport that excludes male advantage, males would dominate every major sporting competition,' said Sen. Greg Dolezal, R-Cumming, the chief sponsor of SB 1. Sen. Brandon Beach, R-Alpharetta, said it was 'common sense' that males and females should not compete on the playing field. Democrats argued that Republicans are exploiting the issue from a 'cynical, strategic' standpoint. They said transgender people comprise a tiny fraction of the population and are not a real threat to female athletes, especially younger children. 'Why are you making these transgender girls into super girls that are just going to dominate everything?' said Senate Minority Leader Harold Jones II, D-Augusta. 'They just want to play. They just want to participate. Have you ever thought about that?' Legislative Republicans have repeatedly pointed to a 2022 NCAA swim meet at Georgia Tech where a transgender student born male dominated the women's competition. Legislation the General Assembly passed in 2022 empowering state athletic associations to ban transgender athletes has also eliminated such occurrences, but Republicans say a law is still needed. Democrats have taunted their GOP opponents over the fairness issue by pitching their own equity legislation. They have bills before the state House of Representatives and the Senate that seek to mandate equal funding for girls' sports teams in schools. They also tried, and failed, to amend SB 1 with such a requirement, then derided Republicans over their vote against it. 'My colleagues are not invested in truly leveling the playing field for girls' sports,' said Sen. Kim Jackson, D-Stone Mountain, a co-author of the failed amendment. SB 1 passed 35-17, with two Democrats crossing the aisle to support the measure. The measure now goes to the state House, where Republican leaders have their own legislation on the issue in House Bill 267. The support by the GOP leadership in both chambers hints at a likelihood that something will pass on the issue this year. Georgia would then join more than two dozen states with a similar prohibition on the participation of transgender athletes in school sports.
