Today, we had a tremendous turnout for ACLU of Georgia’s Student Lobby Day. Students from East Coweta High School, Georgia Southern University, Emory University, and other schools learned about the legislative process and helped inform lawmakers about several high-priority pieces of legislation.
Evan Malbrough, our Voter Access Project Fellow, led an early morning workshop at Central Presbyterian Church focused on ACLU of Georgia priority bills that center students such as:
- A student ID bill, which would expand the use of student IDs from just public colleges to those issued by private colleges and universities to be used for voting;
- A student surveillance technology acquisition standards bill, aimed at establishing protocols for school boards to assess the veracity of claims made by companies selling products like facial recognition software and body cameras;
- House Bill 5, which would require the University System of Georgia and the Technical College System of Georgia to make menstrual hygiene products available at no cost to students.
Rep. Park Cannon, who serves District 58, also joined our workshop to encourage civic engagement among Georgia’s youth. She explained how to research bills using the Georgia General Assembly website, and reminded students that meaningful change can happen when they rally their peers.
Staff worked to bring students from across Georgia to the Capitol for this important learning experience. Thank you to all of our sponsors for making it possible:
- Protect the Vote GA
- Fair Fight
- Partnership for Southern Equity
- Peach Concerned Citizens
- Rep GA
- Georgia Youth Justice Coalition
- The Andrew Goodman Foundation
- Campus Vote Project