Decision Maker
Georgia State Senate
The Georgia State Senate is one of the two chambers of the Georgia General Assembly, the other being the House of Representatives. Comprising 56 members who are elected for two-year terms, the Georgia State Senate is vested with all legislative responsibilities by the state constitution except for revenue-related matters, which must be initiated by the House. Senators are responsible for passing state laws, regulating statewide institutions, and appropriating funds for different aspects of state governance. It serves as a key part of the legislative process and plays a significant role in shaping the laws and policies of the state.
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- Responses (3)
- Petitions (642)
If you have not done so already, I encourage you to sign this petition to Governor Deal about vetoing HB 859 and keeping guns off college campuses in Georgia: http://petitions.moveon.org/sign/tell-gov-deal-to-veto.fb48?source=s.icn.fb&r_by=3895933.
Thank you for your concern,
Senator Elena ParentRead more
8 years ago
I have consistently worked in favor of MEDICAID expansion in Georgia and will continue to make every effort to accomplish this policy change for Georgians! Thank you for your participation in this effort as well. I am cautiously optimistic that we may see a breakthrough in 2017 in Georgia, post-elections. Thank you.Read more
8 years ago
Hello,
Thank you all for your efforts through your Safety Committee and this petition to make Scott Boulevard a safer place for parents and students. I appreciate you all reaching out and support the recommendations in your report. Please let my office know how we can help to increase safety in this area.
Sincerely,
Senator Elena Parent
District 42
elena@elenaparent.comRead more
8 years ago
Georgia State House, Georgia State Senate, Georgia Governor, Michael Williams
There is a movement to remove the Confederate Faces from Stone Mountain. With all of the violence that has come about in recent days we must move to nonviolently protect these monuments and prosecute vandals who believe in defacing them. It is important to not be blinded by the politics and remember that HISTORY cannot be racist or a bigot but only can state facts. If we destroy part of the facts is it even history anymore? Do we wanna forget about the men and women who died. Do we wanna forget about the slaves or the Confederacy? I believe once we forget it makes it far easier to repeat our mistakes? Will you stand with me to protect this Monument, not as Republican or Democrat but as an american who is proud of what we have become considering where we have come from. We are asking that you will ensure state law enforcement resources if it becomes necessary to protect this landmark. I grew up with this Monument and would hate to see it destroyed. Thank you!Read more
Dylan JMurfreesboro, TN, United States
84,529
8/16/17
Georgia State Senate, Brian Kemp, Georgia State House, Lt Govenor Duncan
We are raising our voices to support the passage of Georgia House Bill 426 HATE CRIME LEGISLATION. Please sign the petition!
"Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that." -- Martin Luther King, Jr.
We stand together to petition the Senate Judiciary Committee to continue the execution without delay or amendment. The State of Georgia is only one of four states in the United States that does not have formal hate crime legislation. It is time for our State Leaders to stand up and declare that Georgia will stand for love and will not tolerate hate.
We have made a commitment to each other, our families, our colleagues, our classmates and to our communities to stand together and stand up for love and stand against hate. As we stand together, we stand up for justice and stand against injustice.
Regardless of our upbringing, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, cultural background, country of origin or the color of our skin, we have pledged publicly and to one another that we will raise our voices and advocate for those that do not have the platform to advocate for themselves. We have pledged to use our influence and leverage our networks and platforms to ensure that every community across the state of Georgia is a place where all our citizens live in harmony, have equal protection, equal opportunity, and equal justice.
Please support by adding your name and powerful voice in unison with PROJECT LIGHT. Let's support our leaders in getting it passed by end of session June 2020.Read more
conn jacksonAtlanta, GA, United States
84,422
5/18/20
Georgia State House, Georgia State Senate, Brian Kemp
Insulin prices for the insured and uninsured are at a record high. People often have to go without or ration their insulin, leading to complications and/or death. A cap on insulin prices in the state of Georgia will help many people who wonder how they will get the one thing that they need to live.
It is not fair that big pharmaceutical companies are able to charge as much as they do for the life-sustaining drug. The same drug is available for much less across the border in Mexico. It’s the same exact product that is sold in the states, yet it is substantially cheaper. Not everyone can make a trip across the border when in need of a medication that is needed to live. Being diabetic comes with enough problems, not being able to afford the medication needed to live, should not be one of them.
Diabetics that are unable to afford their insulin run the risk of many health problems. Blindness, kidney failure, nerve damage, limb loss, depression, and death to name a few. This petition is not asking for free insulin. It is asking for fair pricing for medications that are needed to sustain life. Only we, the people of the United States of America can change things. Only we, are able to make our voices heard, raise awareness, and put a cap on what a diabetic has to spend monthly on a medication that they need to live and be a functional member of society. Read more
Jason KarrMcDonough, GA, United States
61,655
8/10/19
Georgia State House, Georgia State Senate, President of the United States, U.S. Senate, United States Supreme Court
Matthew Baker (pictured above) could be executed for someone else’s crime.
October 27, 2016 Matthew Hicks, 18, Keith Gibson, 29, and Sophia Bullard, 20, were shot and killed following a bonfire party. Destiny Olinger, 20, was found inside the home suffering from at least one gunshot wound. She died two days later at the hospital. Jacob Kosky pleaded guilty to the crimes claiming mental insanity to avoid the death penalty and is currently serving 4 life sentences in Augusta State Medical Prison in Georgia.
Matthew Baker was arrested the following morning after the incident. He told the police he saw what happened, but didn’t have any part in it. However, they still decided to arrest him and charge him the exact same as Jacob Kosky. He has been sitting in the Henry County Jail for SIX YEARS waiting for trial. His options are to go to trial and potentially face the death penalty or sign a plea of four life sentences.
According to his pre-trial hearings, no evidence or DNA connects him to the scene of the crime. Only one of the two firearms used was recovered and it was connected to Jacob. Matthew had no prior knowledge of what was going to happen when he approached the house moments before the shooting. Jacob also threatened him at gunpoint to not call 911.
However, the state wants to paint Matthew in the image of a calculated criminal instead of a witness who’s life was also threatened. His public defense team has dwindled down to one person and they’ve told him the best they could do is get him life in prison despite the remarkable lack of evidence incriminating him. They also expressed an extreme disinterest in taking him to trial.
This story will make your head spin. For more information, read this article.
Please help save Matthew! SIGN this petition, DONATE HERE to his legal fund and FOLLOW @justiceformatthewbaker on Facebook/Instagram to follow this journey to justice. Read more
Sarah Brielle JohnsonAthens, TX, United States
57,262
7/18/21
Victory!
Georgia State House, Georgia State Senate, Brian Kemp, Sanford D. Bishop Jr., David Scott, Gerald E Greene, Henry C. "Hank" Johnson Jr., Buddy Carter, Barry Loudermilk, Jody Hice, Rick Allen, Austi...
We want to make sure that Captain Jay Baker, of the Cherokee County Sheriff's Office submits the shooting of 6 Asian women as a hate crime.
From NBC News:
At a news conference Wednesday, Capt. Jay Baker, a spokesman for the Cherokee County Sheriff's Office, said that Robert Aaron Long, who has been charged with eight counts of murder, "was pretty much fed up and kind of at the end of his rope" and that Tuesday "was a really bad day for him, and this is what he did."
The comments were criticized as inappropriate and insensitive to the victims.
Baker said Long told investigators that the attacks were not racially motivated. "He apparently has an issue, what he considers a sex addiction, and sees these locations as something that allows him to go to these places, and it's a temptation for him that he wanted to eliminate," Baker told reporters.
After the remarks, screenshots surfaced from a March 2020 Facebook post by Baker that promoted anti-Asian T-shirts.
"Place your order while they last," Baker wrote above the photo of two T-shirts that said, "Covid 19 IMPORTED VIRUS FROM CHY-NA."
Baker did not immediately respond to requests for comment Wednesday, and the Facebook page appears to no longer be available.
Read more
Stephanie ChengManhattan, NY, United States
51,689
3/18/21
Georgia State House, Georgia State Senate, Brian Kemp
***After the recent election, the governor of Georgia was re-elected. The same man who signed and passed the 6 week heartbeat bill. Most do not find out that they are pregnant until almost 5 weeks, usually after a missed period. Many may question what the future holds for those with uteruses and where to go from here. We — as a collective — must make changes so future generations don’t have to feel the fear that we do. Now is the time to push our representatives to hear our voice.***With the recent turn of events as Roe v Wade was overturned in the Supreme Court, it is now up to the states to decide how they regulate abortion rights for women and those who biologically have a uterus. That includes medical abortions that endanger the lives of those if they had to carry the pregnancy to full term. That includes those who fall victim to rape and/or incest. The human right to these procedures could be taken away and lead to injury or death for those who cannot get to a proper medical treatment, but also cause long lasting emotional and mental trauma. With this petition, I hope to keep one of our basic fundamental rights as humans to body autonomy here in the state of Georgia. If we could get enough voices to be heard, our congressman need to solidify the safety of the citizens of this state.Read more
Hannah CarterNewnan, GA, United States
38,982
6/26/22
Donald Trump, U.S. Senate, U.S. House of Representatives, Department of Veterans Affairs, Alabama State Senate, Alabama State House, Alabama Governor, Florida State Senate, Florida State House, Flo...
I’m Jenifer Bass, a U.S. Navy veteran, who served for 10 years, one-third in the Asia-Pacific region. It was due to my travel between ports in countries like Japan and Thailand that I first encountered amerasian children, and descendants, of U.S. service members and civilian contractors previously stationed overseas. Filipino Amerasians are abandoned and neglected biracial children of Filipino mothers and American fathers (mostly members of the US armed forces).
In the Philippines alone, more than 52,000-plus children were born and left behind after the U.S. Navy withdrew the last of its military personnel in 1992. Right now, the U.S. government won’t legally recognize them as U.S. citizens, despite having been born to an American parent. The Philippine Embassy won't help them either.
As a former US colony between 1898 and 1946, the Philippines was home to millions of US soldiers and their dependents, even after its independence. Until 1992, the country hosted two of the largest US military facilities outside the US – Clark Air Base and Subic Naval Base, which played major roles during the Vietnam and first Gulf wars.
In 1982 US Public Law 97-359, or the Amerasian Act of 1982, allowed children from Korea, Vietnam, Laos, Kampuchea, or Thailand to move to the US and eventually become American citizens, but those who were from the Philippines were excluded from the law, an exclusion which was upheld by the US Senate on the basis that many Filipino Amerasians were “conceived from illicit affairs and prostitution”, and were born during peacetime. Today, there are estimated to be more than 250,000-plus children.
Many amerasians are caught in a no-man’s land of discrimination and poverty -- most left behind by U.S. service members who are unaware that they’ve fathered children overseas. My friend John Haines is one of these sailors. In 2011, John discovered he was the father of a half-Filipino daughter, Jannette. He attempted to unite with her through the American Homecoming Act -- but was frustrated to learn that the Act did not apply to Filipino children of U.S. service members.
Today, all John wants is to be united with his daughter and grandchildren. He, like so many other veterans are living with a “hole in their hearts” as they search for ways to unite with their children. There is hope. The Uniting Families Act of 2018, HR 1520, creates a specialized visa allowing military veterans and eligible civilian contractors to sponsor their children and grandchildren for U.S. citizenship. Currently, blood relationship must be proven by DNA test and the total number of visas granted will be capped at 5,000 each year.
The issue takes on more urgency as so many of our veterans from our wars in Southeast Asia are getting older and dying each day -- without the chance to connect, or in some cases, reconnect with their own children.
John’s daughter Jannette has already undertaken the DNA testing process, conclusively proving her relationship to her American father. All she’s waiting for is the opportunity to permanently unite with her father.
There is a PBS documentary, "Left by the Ship" (2010), documenting a day in the life and the personal struggles as a Filipino amerasian on the never ending search for identity and their struggles to connect to their American military families.
Please sign this petition to tell Congress that these families cannot wait another day. Pass the Uniting Families Act of 2017, HR 1520, now!Read more
Jenifer BassMilton, FL, United States
34,701
10/23/16
U.S. House of Representatives, U.S. Senate, Georgia State Senate, Georgia State House
Medical marijuana is not smoked. It comes as a liquid. It is either inhaled with a vaporizer or placed under the tongue to be absorbed or in the form of a lozenge. The first method enters the blood stream the fastest but the second and third have a longer and stronger effect.
Marijuana consists of two main parts, THC the hallucinogenic part of marijuana and the CDBs oils, both are important parts of medical marijuana.
The main question is: what help does it provide and to whom?Nearly two decades of research have shown that marijuana can be beneficial in alleviating pain and inflammation, and symptoms associated with an array of illnesses, including: cancer’s, mitigating side effects of Chimo, PTSD, migraines, multiple sclerosis, epilepsy, Parkinson’s, eating disorders, chrones, and leg cramps to name a few. And yes there are others. This drug seems to works better with less side affects then drugs currently on the market. Since it is a natural cure, it is non-patentable.
A study led by Dr. Marcus A. Bachhuber, published in August 2014 in JAMA Internal Medicine, found that from 1999 to 2010, states across the country had steep increases in opioid overdose deaths. But in states where medical marijuana was legal, mortality linked to opioid use declined steadily in the years after implementation of the marijuana law -- down by almost 25 percent -- compared to states where marijuana was not legally available http://abcnews.go.com/business/story?id=2735017&page=1
The number of people that could approach normalcy by using medical marijuana is quit large. Many illnesses could be address by the use of this natural product.
Epilepsy is a debilitating disease found in children. What Medical marijuana does for some children is nothing short of amazing. Let me pass along a factual story from a neurologist. He started using the drug for medical purposes on 10 children that were being treated with mainline drugs for epilepsy. They were still each subject to up to 100 seizures a day. Once they were put on marijuana marijuana therapy the seizures reduced in 6 of the children to ZERO a day, thats right ZERO a day. First hand knowledge.
People with Parkinson’s (like me) also find that the use of medical marijuana can change their life. It significantly reduces involuntary movements associated with Parkinsons’, reducing the need to stronger pills. It improves depression, it increases appetite, it aids in sleep and it overall reduces pain and inflammation in joints allowing the person much more freedom of movement. All this from a small amount of medical marijuana taken at bedtime. Remember this is factual account. This does not mean it will help everyone! You MUST contact your Dr. for advice and direction on any medication you take. The following link with Michael J, Fox is worth a million words
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y_xpi8-WbJs&t=25s
The list is quite long. Governments say is it not been tested. So test it! But in reality is has been tested for years.
What we need: The US congress and Senate to approve the legalization the is of medical marijuana. This will pave the way for states to legalize medical marijuana.
We have three things we need to do.1.We have got to change the classification of the drug so it can be sent across lines2.This change will allow states to conduct clinical trials on the med which are way overdue3. Change Ga law to allow for growth and production4. Set up controls and taxes to fund this ( it will be a massive influx of tax revenue to the state)Millions of people in the US will be helped or cured by this legalization.
Tax it, control it vigorously, allow only certified doctors to prescribe it! It could change YOUR life for the better. Not to mention ease our national debt by trillions.Read more
Mike PrivenGeorgia, United States
23,474
10/16/17
Georgia State House, Georgia State Senate
Peer lead Recovery Support has an enormous impact in the state of Georgia for those suffering from substance use disorders .
Recovery Community organizations all across Georgia bridge the gap between medical institutions, law enforcement, human service agencies and judicial systems. They provide a cost effective solution to hold space for individuals entering or reentering recovery.
As a woman in long term recovery ( 14 years) I realize how vital these peer driven services are. Our center serves Women leaving the sex trade, survivors of trafficking and individuals overcoming addiction. 23 years ago when I escaped the sex trade there was no such thing as peer lead organizations or a recovery movement. Where will we be if we turn back the hands of time 20 years...in the midst of a Pandemic?? Our partners that have founded other Recovery Centers are also people in long term, successful recovery with equally powerful stories of redemption.
If the proposed state budget cuts pass, the state will pay for it ten fold on the back end of COVID-19 and there will certainly be casualties along the way.
Vote “No” to the proposed 4 million dollar shut down of Addiction Recovery Centers and the other vital, life saving services connected to peer lead services in the mental health and substance abuse space.Read more
DIVAS Who Win Freedom CenterAthens, GA, United States
23,277
5/30/20
Georgia State House, Georgia State Senate, Brian Kemp, Doug Collins, Tom Graves, David Scott, John Lewis, Henry C. "Hank" Johnson Jr., Vance Smith, Randy Robertson, Matt Brass, Bob Trammell Jr
As of 5/8/2020, Georgia is only 1 of 4 states in the United States that DO NOT HAVE LAWS AGAINST HATE CRIMES. Hate Crime Law: A specific statute that criminalizes acts motivated by the victim's identity with a particular group or groups. Often these groups include race, religion, national origin, and disability.Every resident of the State of Georgia deserves to protect. Any person that commits a crime again a person based on the previously stated deserves the extra layer of punishment by being charged with Hate Crime Laws. It is time for our state to evolve. We can't stand for this anymore but we can unite and stand for what is right. The right is punishing those who bring harm to those who specifically target individuals based on their identity. Please sign this petition and share so we can show the Georgia General Assembly and Governer Brian Kemp that THE TIME FOR CHANGE IS NOW. We, the people of Georgia, deserve better. Sign the petition. Share the petition! Lets make a difference!Read more
Beth JacksonHogansville, GA, United States
22,835
5/8/20