DARREL EALUM: Georgia voters will have final say on Opportunity School Districts

Although I have remained in touch through weekly updates, we cover too many issues in the General Assembly to explain them all in a newsletter. Therefore, as I return home later this week, I urge you to summon me to your meetings and gatherings, ask me the hard questions, and expect of me answers and explanations.

Together, we will share this legislative session in close, personal settings or in larger forums. Our Legislature has accomplished much for Albany, Dougherty County and Georgia, and I am anxious to share those accomplishments with you.

Not withstanding unforeseen circumstances, we will adjourn sine die Thursday, and the 2015 legislative session will be history at midnight. With just two days of the constitutionally limited 40-day session remaining, we are on track to complete a smooth and successful session.

Last week, we worked hard, even as the chamber temperament shifted from solemnity, to joviality, to festiveness. Floor debate on Senate Resolution 287 (SR 287), a proposed constitutional amendment on an Opportunity School District, was solemn and businesslike; debate on Senate Bill 134 (SB 134), “The Speed Trap Bill,” was jovial and lighthearted, and debate on Senate Bill 139 (SB 139), “The Bag Bill,” was often comical and festive.

SR 287 proposes an amendment to our Georgia Constitution that, if approved by you, the voters, will allow the General Assembly to authorize the establishment of an Opportunity School District to provide direct intervention into chronically failing schools. Before an Opportunity School District may intervene, the ailing school must have persistently failed for three or more years. In the House, we debated SR 287 with a businesslike, no-nonsense approach, and passed it with a constitutionally required two-thirds vote. I supported the amendment because I believe you, the voter, should decide if an Opportunity School District should be allowed to intervene with a chronically failing school.

Without equivocation, I know our School Board, school system, teachers and parents are steadfastly committed to uplifting our struggling schools. However, there are schools in our state where progress is not being made, and children in those schools are unfairly suffering the consequences. At the polls in November 2016, you, the Georgia voters, will decide if teachers, parents and students of these persistently failing schools deserve an alternate opportunity.

“The Speed Trap Bill,” as some of us fondly referred to SB 134, expands the rebuttable presumption against law enforcement agencies that derive more than 35 percent of their agency’s budget from detection-device speeding tickets. SB 134 is noteworthy for our area in that recently a neighboring community was highlighted for deriving a sizeable percentage of its revenue from speeding tickets. This bill will provide an added check and balance by tightening a loophole in Georgia’s speed-trap law. Citizens may more easily challenge a ticket issued in a speed-trap area.

Often, the House chamber atmosphere is unyielding and structured and a unique bill comes to the floor like “The Speed Trap Bill” that lightens the mood. Even the initial debate was cheerful and jovial, but when the bill received the exact constitutional majority of 91 yeas, the mood really lightened. The opposing legislative member immediately called for reconsideration, and then the vote to reconsider passed by only one vote. After the reconsideration vote and a second vote, SB 134 finally passed 104 yeas to 54 nays.

SB 139, “The Bag Bill,” was also unique and fostered a comical and festive debate; however, the real issue was whether local ordnance or general law should decide a local issue. The question was, should a local community be allowed to ban auxiliary containers such as disposal plastic bags, or should those items be regulated at the state level by general law? I sided with the local community, and the bill was defeated 67 yeas to 85 nays.

As I expressed in my opening paragraph, I urge you to invite me into your homes, your churches, and your meeting places to discuss this Session’s difficult issues. I will accept all invitation, and I look forward to addressing your difficult questions and providing you with honest, unvarnished answers. As this session comes to a close, please do not hesitate to call or email me.

Contact state Rep. Darrel Ealum, D-Albany, who represents House District 153, at (404) 656-0116 or emial [email protected].