Last week, we closed out the 2024 Legislative Session. These past few months were brutal as we defended the civil liberties and rights of all Georgians.
We stopped attacks on voting rights, protest rights, religious extremism, and transgender youth. However, at every turn, the Georgia Legislature skirted the legislative process and ran afoul of their own rules.
Two controversial anti-transgender bills passed by the Senate were attached to unrelated House bills in the eleventh hour. The bills would have barred biological males from participating in girls sports, and prohibited medical providers from prescribing puberty blockers to minors.
Thanks to a cohort of advocacy groups countering misinformation and standing together with medical experts and families from across the state, both harmful bills failed.
Other harmful bills left on the table and not passed this year include the latest iteration of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, which would have created a license to discriminate against the LGBTQ+ community.
Lawmakers also unsuccessfully proposed bills that sought to make it harder for students to access books with gay themes in libraries and restrict teachers’ ability to talk about gender issues to their students.
We’d be remiss not to mention that the ACLU of Georgia advocated against a poorly crafted consumer protection bill. Privacy-violating mega-corporations supported Senate Bill 473 because it would have been ineffective.
The bill created the appearance of privacy protection while including large loopholes for companies to profit off Georgians’ biological data–like fingerprints and faceprints. We’re happy to share that it never came up for a vote by the end of Sine Die.
Unfortunately, some harmful bills got through:
Senate Bill 63 criminalizes bail funds and requires cash bail for 30-plus offenses.
Senate Bill 189 requires all advance and absentee ballots to be counted within an hour of the polls closing and changes ballot design and makes harmful changes for unhoused individuals plus makes it easier to challenge a voter.
Senate Bill 351 violates privacy by requiring age verification for everyone to access most areas of the internet.
House Bill 1207 discriminates against non-citizens by not allowing them to lawfully work the polls.
Call Governor Kemp and tell him to veto all these bills! We made it easy, all you have to do is click here.
Thank you for supporting our work this legislative session.
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Georgia cash bail expansion passes on Sine Die, heads to governor’s office for signature, veto
