Latest news with #SenateBill61
Yahoo
11-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Gov. Kemp's amended budget includes $50 million in school safety grants
ATLANTA (WJBF) – The Georgia Senate has given the green light on three legislative bills to improve school safety in the state. Georgia's Lieutenant Governor Burt Jones said these bills will build on school safety initiatives to keep both students and teachers safe. Just last week, Governor Brian Kemp signed the FY 2025 amended budget which allocates $50 million dollars for school safety grants. Senate Bill 17, or Ricky and Alyssa's Law, will require all Georgia schools to have mobile panic alarms to alert first responders. Senate Bill 61 will strengthen the state's law so attempted murders and terror acts towards schools by juveniles will be tried as adults. Senate Bill 179 will require transferring students to show their academic and disciplinary records to the new school within 10 days, and let the parents or guardian to know about the transfer within 5 days. Lawmakers are using the school shooting last year at Appalachee High School on how to strengthen safety. 'In this situation at Apalachee High School, that was not as appropriate as it could have been. Certainly the security officers limited the mortality related to that shooting,' said State Senator Ben Watson. State house lawmakers will review the bills in committee and may add changes to the legislation, but will have to do so before session ends up on April 4. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
26-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Jackley's government-corruption package moves forward
PIERRE, S.D. (KELO) — Four measures intended to discourage corruption in state government and provide protection for state employees who blow the whistle are advancing in the South Dakota Legislature. Three will be up for final legislative approval on Thursday from the state House of Representatives. Senate panel approves expanding hunting safety zones But the fourth piece of the package — Senate Bill 61, which would modify the authority of the Board of Internal Controls — was amended on Wednesday by the House State Affairs Committee. Because SB 61 was amended, the earliest that the House could consider it is Monday. Depending on what the House does, it could need to return to the Senate — and then could wind up in a House-Senate conference committee — and in the end could possibly die. State Attorney General Marty Jackley brought the package. Jackley says he's responding to recent cases of state government employees enriching themselves at taxpayers' expense, as well as past EB-5 and GEAR UP scandals. Here is what each proposes to do: Senate Bill 60 would expand the access and investigatory authority of the state auditor. The Senate approved it 35-0, and on Wednesday the House committee endorsed it 13-0. Jackley, State Auditor Rich Sattgast and citizen Rick Weible of Elkton spoke in support Wednesday. There were no opponents. , which calls for modifying the seven-member Board of Internal Controls, had passed the Senate 31-2. On Wednesday, it received an amendment from Republican Rep. Spencer Gosch. Currently the commissioner for the state Bureau of Finance and Management chairs the board, the governor appoints three other members, the Supreme Court chief justice appoints a member, the Board of Regents has a member. The state auditor is the seventh member. Jackley wants to stiffen the board's requirements, such as proposing that each agency go through an annual review of its internal controls. He also wants eliminate the state courts' seat on the board, because the courts are a separate branch of government, and then have the governor make four appointments. Gosch's amendment would designate the state auditor as the chair and give the state treasurer the courts' current seat. The board, established in 2016, hasn't yet worked through all of the executive branch. 'Seven years and only 50 percent of our agencies have gone through the process of internal control — I think we can do better,' Gosch said. Auditor Sattgast and state Finance Commissioner Jim Terwilliger said they didn't support the Gosch amendment. The auditor and treasurer are elected offices, but the candidates are nominated every four years at state political-party conventions, rather than chosen in party primary elections. 'I would like to remove the politics out of the checks and balances of it,' Sattgast said. Terwilliger said that, looking back, the board should have had more staff. He said putting the auditor in charge would probably be a violation of auditing standards. The committee nonetheless voted 7-6 to make Gosch's changes, and then voted 12-1 to send it forward. Because of a procedural hiccup, the committee later reconsidered the matter and ultimately voted 11-2 to move it ahead. Senate Bill 62 would establish mandatory reporting requirements for supervisors related to improper governmental conduct and crime. The Senate passed it 33-2. Jackley wants failure by a supervisor to forward a report of suspicious activity to the attorney general and the state Department of Legislative Audit to be a Class 6 felony, punishable by up to two years in prison and a $4,000 fine. Katie Hruska, the governor's general counsel, disagreed. She said it should remain a Class 1 misdemeanor, punishable by up to one year in jail and a $2,000 fine. Terra Larson, representing the South Dakota Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, agreed. 'This is a felony for remaining silent. That is concerning to us,' Larson told the committee. Jackley asked the committee to hold firm on the felony penalty. 'I really believe this nonsense will stop,' he said. But Republican Rep. Tim Reisch, who served a total of 17 years as cabinet secretary for the state Department of Corrections and the state Department of the Military, pointed out that many of the people convicted of Class 6 felonies serve little time, if any, behind bars. 'People don't know what the punishments are for crimes. They don't,' Reisch said. Hruska's proposed amendment was rejected. The committee then voted 13-0 to send SB 62 forward to the House. would establish protections for state employees who report improper governmental conduct and crime. The Senate had passed it 35-0. This time, Hruska fully agreed with Jackley. 'These are good additions,' she said. The House committee sent it out 13-0. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
11-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
GA Senate bill would charge children accused of making school threats as adults
A Senate bill aimed at improving school safety would send a child accused of making a school threat to the adult court system. Currently, children 13 to 17 accused of making a threat are considered juveniles. A district attorney could move the child to the Superior Court system if necessary. Senate Bill 61 would put the child in Superior Court first. Then, a district attorney could move the case to juvenile court after investigating. If passed, the law would apply in cases of a '…terroristic threat of a school or terroristic act upon a school.' Steve Gray called it a 'step in the right direction.' [DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks] His daughter survived the Apalachee High School shooting five months ago, and he's been pushing district leaders to support stricter punishments for children who make school threats. 'The more that kids know we are not playing around, you're going to be treated like an adult, nobody is going to talk to you nice, you're going to be handcuffed, taken to jail, the whole nine, I think it will make kids think,' Gray told Channel 2′s Courtney Francisco. Noah Pines is a defense attorney and former prosecutor who worked in Dekalb and Fulton County juvenile court systems. He said judges in the adult court system have a lot on their calendars. 'Putting juvenile cases in front of them is not going to give them more attention, it's actually going to give them less attention,' Pine said. 'These juvenile courts hold court every day, and they have so much more resources to deal with juveniles.' Under current law, he argues, cases involving children can be moved to adult court if deemed necessary by attorneys. 'There are laws that handle it already,' said Pines. He said the wording of the bill concerns him. He gave the following example: 'Two 13-year-olds are playing basketball, and one says to the other, 'I'm going to kick your 'A'. That's a crime of violence, potentially, a terroristic threat, and this bill, if passed, means that kid gets locked up, put in detention, and has to then see a Superior Court,' said Pines. 'You say, 'Oh, that's not really what it's for.' Well, I'm the one who represents those kids who get prosecuted for that all the time.' Gray said the bill's language may need to be tweaked, but he is not against a scare tactic. 'It may not fix the problem, but it's certainly better than doing nothing,' Gray said. The bill also states that 'A transferring student applying for admission to a grade higher than the sixth grade shall as a prerequisite to admission present a certified copy of his or her academic transcript and disciplinary record from the school previously attended.' Senate Bill 61 has 16 sponsors and co-sponsors. All are Republican except for one Democrat from Macon. Six of the 16 represent the metro Atlanta area. To read the 16-page bill, click here: TRENDING STORIES: Suspect in Roswell police killing captured on Ring camera harassing neighbor months earlier Men found guilty of home invasion turned murder in Lithia Springs South Fulton mayor defends controversial spending during 'Mayor Mondays' event [SIGN UP: WSB-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter]
Yahoo
06-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Anti-corruption bill clears Senate, but second fails
PIERRE, S.D. (KELO) — Legislation intended to strengthen the South Dakota Board of Internal Control in heading off corruption by state government employees has passed its first major test. The state Senate voted 32-1 on Wednesday for Senate Bill 61. House now says no to US constitutional convention Senate Republican leader Jim Mehlhaff described it as a combination of proposals from state Attorney General Marty Jackley and the governor's budget office, officially known as the state Bureau of Finance and Management. The BFM commissioner chairs the board. The amended version of SB 61 now heads to the state House of Representatives for further action. The Senate however failed to approve a second anti-corruption bill that the attorney general brought. Senate Bill 60 was intended to give more investigative authority to the state auditor. Needing 18 to pass, and with two senators excused, SB 60 fell two ayes short. Republican Sen. Sue Peterson gave notice of her intent to have the bill reconsidered. That came after the 33 senators who were present had split 17-16 on an amendment offered by Republican Sen. Steve Kolbeck. Kolbeck and Mehlhaff said the attorney general had agreed to Kolbeck's amendment. But Republican Sen. Kevin Jensen and Republican Sen. Taffy Howard led the resistance, saying they wanted the already-amended version that came out of the Senate State Affairs Committee on a 9-0 vote. After Kolbeck's amendment failed, he and Mehlhaff called for the Senate to defeat SB 60. The vote to pass it was 16 yes and 17 no. State government already has the state Department of Legislative Audit that conducts annual audits. The state Division of Criminal Investigation looks into specific allegations of criminal activity. During the past year, at least four former or current state government employees were arrested. The state Department of Social Services reportedly had more than $1.7 million stolen from its office of child protection while Lonna Carroll worked at the main office in Pierre. She currently is in jail awaiting trial. Another DSS employee, Amalia Escalante Barrientos of Brookings, pleaded guilty to converting a grocery voucher to her own use. And two employees of the Motor Vehicles Division in the state Department of Revenue lost their jobs and were charged with crimes associated with falsifying vehicle titles. Lynne Hunsley of Pierre pleaded guilty, while Danielle Degenstein of Pierre was scheduled for a trial later this year. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
