LET ME BE CLEAR: WE ARE NOW BEING OPPOSED BY SENATE REPUBLICANS WHO ALLOW UNRECORDED VOTES ON AMENDMENTS THAT GUT HB 87
A gutted version of HB 87 passed the senate last night. This is not the great news we wanted. AP news story HERE
I am off, back down to the Capitol. I have no time to write up what happened in the Georgia Senate last night, other that what I put up late last night. It was very ugly. And sickening.
You now need to call your own state Senator ASAP to tell him to vote YES on the coming House challenge/response to the mess created by the senate on HB 87 last night. I am told the House will not agree to the Senate gutted bill.
“How did you vote on the amendments offered to HB 87 last night, and WHY did you not use your privilege under senate rules to demand the Republican Lt. Governor use the machine to record YEAS and NAYS on the amendments?”
“How does a freshman Democrat Senator get an amendment that guts enforcement passed in a Republican controlled senate…in an unrecorded vote?”
Many Republican senators should get used to the term ” primary opposition”. Ask me later which senators didn’t vote at all and were playing solitaire on their IPAD and posting on facebook… but not voting.
More later, PLEASE CALL YOUR STATE SENATOR NOW WITH THESE QUESTIONS. IT WILL HELP US GET A BETTER BILL PASSED
5-1.1 Votes Required for Passage
(a) No bill shall become law unless it shall receive a majority of the votes of all
the members to which each house is entitled, and such vote shall so appear on the
Journal of each house. (Ga. Const., art. III, sec. V, par. V.)
(b) In the event no specific vote is provided in these Rules for the passage of any
Senate amendment, motion or procedural matters and on all other matters not
otherwise provided for in these Rules, the vote for passage or adoption thereof
shall be a majority of those voting, provided the total vote constitutes a quorum.
(c) As to all resolutions not otherwise provided for in these Rules, the vote for
adoption shall be by a majority of the votes of all the members to which the Senate
is entitled.
5-1.2 Quorum
(a) A majority of the members to which the Senate is entitled shall constitute a
quorum to transact business. A smaller number may adjourn from day to day and
compel the presence of its absent members. (Ga. Const., art. III, sec. IV, par. III.)
(b) The power to compel the attendance of Senators, in order to keep or secure a
quorum, shall be vested in the President, and to this end he or she may have the
doors of the Senate closed. When the doors are so closed, no Senator shall be
allowed to retire from the Senate without first obtaining leave from the Senate.
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(c) The Sergeant at Arms of the Senate on order of the President may arrest any
absentees and bring them before the Senate when necessary to secure a quorum.
5-1.3 Voting, General
(a) No Senator shall be permitted to cast his or her vote on any motion, resolution,
amendment, bill, or other question, until the question is put to the Senate by the
President by voice vote, or division of the Senate, or until after the roll call has
begun.
(b) The President’s method of stating the question on any motion for a voice vote
shall be as follows: “All those who favor the motion shall rise, stand and be
counted”; after a count is had by the Secretary of the Senate, he or she shall call
upon the Senators to “Reverse your position,” and the President shall announce the
result.
(c) In either house, when ordered by the presiding officer or at the desire of onefifth
of the members present or a lesser number if so provided by the rules of
either house, a roll-call vote on any question shall be taken and shall be entered on
the Journal. (Ga. Const., art. III, sec. V, par. VI.) (d) Any Senator or the presiding officer may call for a division on any matter
before the Senate, and the presiding officer may order a roll call or any Senator
may call for the Yeas and Nays; if the call for the Yeas and Nays is sustained by
five (5) of the members voting, the vote shall be taken by the Yeas and Nays and
so entered on the Journal. A motion for the call of the Yeas and Nays shall be
decided without debate.
(e) Whenever on any question the Yeas and Nays shall have been ordered, the
Secretary shall also enter on the Journal the names of those members not voting.5-1.4 Final Passage
(a) On the final passage of all bills and resolutions having the effect of law, the
adoption of all Committee on Conference reports, or any action that would have
the effect of finalizing the Senate’s action on any general bill or resolution or
confirmation, there shall be a recorded vote.
(b) The yeas and nays in the Senate shall be recorded and entered on the Journal
upon the passage or rejection of any bill or resolution appropriating money and
whenever the Constitution requires a vote of two-thirds of either or both houses
for the passage of a bill or resolution. (Ga. Const., art. III, sec. V, par. VI.)
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5-1.5 Electronic Roll Call System
(a) In all instances where the Rules, statutes or Constitution provide for the Yeas
and Nays or a roll call, the electronic roll call system shall be used. The system
shall be set so that it automatically locks and records the vote sixty (60) seconds
after it is activated. When the presiding officer ascertains that the electronic roll
call system is inoperative, he or she shall order the Secretary of the Senate to call
the roll and the voice votes of each Senator recorded.
(b) The official roll call shall be printed by the electronic roll call system, and shall
never in any way be altered or the votes recorded thereon changed.
(c) When the electronic roll call system is used, the voting procedure shall be:
after the main question is put, the presiding officer shall state, “The question is on
(designating the matter to be voted upon), all in favor vote Yea, and all opposed,
Nay; the Secretary will unlock the machine”; after the machine is electronically
locked and records the vote, the presiding officer shall announce the vote and
declare the results.
5-1.6 Debate Prohibited During Voting
During a vote on any question, no debate shall be had.
5-1.7 Verification of Vote; Change of Vote
(a) On the call of the Yeas and Nays by voice vote, the Secretary of the Senate
shall read the names of the Senators after they have been called, and no Senator
shall be permitted to change his or her vote, unless he or she, declares that he or
she voted by mistake of the question. When the electronic roll call system is used,
this Rule shall be inoperative.
(b) When the electronic roll call system is used, no verification of the roll call is
required, but when a roll call vote is taken, it shall be verified unless suspended by
unanimous consent. No Senator shall be permitted to change his or her vote for
any reason.
5-1.8 Voting Prohibitions
(a) No Senator or person shall vote for or attempt to vote for another Senator on
any questions. Violation of this Rule shall be deemed to be disorderly behavior
and subject to punishment as provided by the Constitution and Rules of the Senate.
This Rule cannot be suspended by unanimous consent.
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(b) No pairing of members shall be recognized or allowed as an excuse for not
voting.
(c) In every case where the seat of a Senator is being contested, the sitting Senator
and the contestant shall both retire from the Senate before the vote is taken.
(d) No Senator shall vote upon any question if the Senator or any member of the
Senator’s immediate family has a direct pecuniary interest in the result of such
vote which interest is distinct, unique or peculiar to the Senator or the Senator’s
immediate family. Unanimous consent to be excused under this rule should be
moved verbally.
5-1.9 Explanation of Vote
No member shall be permitted to explain his or her vote during a roll call;
however, on all questions, except such as are not debatable, any Senator shall be
permitted to explain his or her vote by reducing his or her explanation to writing in
no more than two hundred-fifty (250) words. The writing shall not impugn the
motives of any other Senator, and if filed with the Secretary of the Senate before
the confirmation of the Journal on the day next succeeding such vote, shall be
entered on the Journal of that day.
5-1.10 No Quorum Present
(a) Whenever the result of a vote taken shall disclose the fact that no quorum of
the Senate is present, or when the President shall officially state the fact to the
Senate, it shall be in order for any Senator to make a motion for a call of the
Senate. When such motion is made, the President shall state the question as
follows: “Shall the motion for the call of the Senate prevail?” and if five of the
Senators present shall vote in the affirmative, the President shall order the
Secretary of the Senate to call the roll of Senators, and the absentees shall be
noted. The doors shall then be closed, after which the names of the absentees shall
again be called. Those who do not appear, and who are absent without leave, may,
by order of the majority of the Senators present, be sent for and arrested wherever
they may be found by officers to be appointed by the Sergeant at Arms for that
purpose, and their attendance secured, and the Senate shall determine upon what
conditions they shall be discharged.
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(b) When less than a quorum vote on any subject under consideration by the
Senate, the President may order the doors of the Senate be closed and the roll of
Senators called by the Secretary, or recorded on the electronic roll call system. If it
is ascertained that a quorum is present, either by answering to their names or by
their presence in the Senate, the refusal of any Senator present to vote, unless
excused, shall be deemed a contempt of the Senate.
ACTION NEEDED THIS LAST WEEK OF SESSION TO PASS HOUSE VERSION OF HB 87
This is it. Crunch time. Today (April 11) is day 38 of the forty day legislative session. The General Assembly is in session tomorrow and the last day will be Thursday.
The segment of the Republican controlled legislature that opposes enforcement of our immigration laws and is helping the business lobby that hires the illegals while Americans stand in unemployment lines has been successful in stalling until this last week. The bill to save jobs for Georgians will not get any YES votes in the senate from Democrats.
Their hope is that the HOUSE VERSION of HB 87 can be stalled in the Senate a little longer and that we will then accept the excuse that “we just ran out of time.” Note: the version of HB 87 that came out of the Senate Judiciary committee is unacceptable. The Chairman there altered the E-Verify section to create exceptions for most Georgia businesses – including agriculture (more on that after session) . WE MUST PASS THE HOUSE VERSION OF HB 87!
Or… there may be an attempt to pass a watered down bill to make it appear to the unaware that some real, effective enforcement bill has been passed. We must have E-Verify for all industries in the bill to stop illegal hiring because that is the root cause of illegal immigration. WE MUST PASS THE HOUSE VERSION OF HB 87!
There is no excuse for not sending Rep. Matt Ramsey’s bill to the governor’s desk before midnight Thursday. We will not forget what happens this week.
ACTION NEEDED: What we need now, in this last week is for all of Georgia to call, fax and email the Lt. Governor’s office, the President Pro Tem of the senate, Tommie Williams, and your own GOP state senator with a simple message.
“We are watching what happens in the Capitol and there will be no acceptable excuse for any failure to agree and pass the HOUSE VERSION OF REP. RAMSEY’S HB 87…please get the bill to the governor as the majority of us depend on you to protect us…”
Please call and email before lunch and after lunch each day until the bill is acted on. We must make it politically impossible to not pass this important legislation. We must make ourselves more feared than the Chamber of Commerce and the Farm Bureau or we will become Georgiafornia and our children will ask us why we didn’t do something to stop the madness.
Save jobs for Georgians. Please call and email now.
Contact info:
Lt. Governor Casey Cagle
240 State Capitol
Atlanta, GA 30334
TEL: (404) 656-5030
FAX: (404) 656-6739
Senate President Pro Tem Tommie Williams
tommie.williams@senate.ga.gov
Phone: (404) 656-0089
Fax: (404) 463-5220
Contact info for the Republican Ga. state SenatorsHERE
The open borders, illegal alien lobby is calling right now. See HERE
For me, this is the culmination of eight years of hard work. Thank you all for your own work, support and encouragement. Please help us. Pass this on to your family, friends, Tea Party organizers and your clubs and active organizations. Special thanks to the Madison Forum.
D.A. King: Coming weeks will define illegals (not my headline)
Marietta Daily Journal
Sunday Edition
April 10, 2011
D.A. King
columnist
By the end of this week, Georgia citizens will have much better view of the true priorities and intent of the state’s Republican-controlled legislative and executive branches of government on illegalimmigration.
In question is language in HB 87 authored by Rep Matt Ramsey (R-Peachtree City) that is truly comprehensive, effective and workable immigration reform. It makes Georgia a miserable place to be for illegal aliens, employers of illegals and the endless list of organizations with goals that include perpetuating the presence in Georgia of the fugitive victims of geography.
We should all pay attention to what happens with the best state immigration enforcement bill in the nation. And watch for any effort to dilute, delay or kill the bill that would cause a nearly immediate mass exodus of illegals from the Peach State.
HB 87 passed the House on March 3, day 23 of the session.
A look at two of the players and their positions will help understand the coming events.
The new governor, with a sterling pro-enforcement record as a long-time member of Congress, made clear promises during the campaign on the issue that is changing our language, busting the Georgia budget and causing the loss of jobs and wages for citizens and legal immigrants.
In this newspaper in August, then-candidate Nathan Deal answered an unequivocal “YES” to these questions:
* “Will you commit to using the power of the Governor’s office to put in place legislation that requires use of the no-cost federal E-Verify employment verification system to obtain or renew a business license/ ‘occupational tax certificate’ in Georgia?”
* “Will you commit to using the power of the Georgia Governor’s office to create, pass and sign into law legislation based on Arizona’s SB 1070, including making illegal immigration a state crime in Georgia?”
The majority of Georgians who demand passage of Ramsey’s bill are apparently in good hands as far as the governor’s office. It is a bit puzzling to listen to the governor’s silence on the issue since he took office.
Maybe he could reiterate his promise on adding enforcement language for the 2006 landmark state immigration law regarding public benefits going to illegals – which is included in HB 87.
“The cost of illegal immigration to the taxpayers of Georgia is immense. As governor, I will work to strengthen the law requiring identity and citizenship verification for all individuals seeking taxpayer-funded services and benefits.” That would go a long way in propelling the bill in these last days of session.
For the office of lieutenant governor, candidate Casey Cagle was adamant on enforcement of immigration laws and helped pass the 2006 law.
For many Capitol watchers, there is an element of confusion on Cagle’s true agenda in the current session, created in part by a January statement to a Georgia Chamber of Commerce breakfast.
“I believe the rule of law is important, but over-regulation of businesses would just not be right and we’re not going to see it happen this session” Cagle assured the crowd.
On “over-regulation,” many people think Cagle was speaking in code words about the part of Ramsey’s bill that expands the existing state law requiring public employer use of the federal E-Verify system to include private employers to save jobs for Georgians.
These doubters are likely wrong. Everyone knows that illegal immigration can’t be addressed without ending illegal hiring – so that probably isn’t it at all.
In a form response letter to citizens who have swamped his office insisting that the House passed version of HB 87 be guided through the Senate, Cagle offers apprehensive citizens reassuring words: “As a former State Senator and now as Lt. Governor, I have a proven record of supporting legislation that addresses the illegal immigration crisis and certainly support continuing to look for and implementing stricter controls in Georgia. It is my hope that the legislature will be able to implement these reforms this year and I look forward to insuring we are able to successfully pass this new law.”
It is altogether fitting and proper that Cagle hopes the legislature can implement Ramsey’s law. Most Georgians share that hope. But they aren’t president of the Senate.
To re-cap: The Gold Dome is controlled by Republicans. Illegal immigration is degrading Georgia. Illegal immigration is caused by illegal employment and HB 87 will curtail both.
Thursday is legislative day 40 of the forty day session.
Tick tock.
D.A. King is president of the Cobb-based Dustin Inman Society. He supports passage of the House version of HB 87.
KING: It’s crunch time for GOP-controlled Capitol, illegal immigration
D.A. King
By the end of the week, Georgia citizens will have much better view of the true priorities and intent of the state’s Republican-controlled legislative and executive branches of government on illegal immigration.
In question is language in HB 87 authored by Rep Matt Ramsey (R-Peachtree City) that is truly comprehensive, effective and workable immigration reform. It makes Georgia a miserable place to be for illegal aliens, illegal employers and the endless list of organizations with goals that include perpetuating the presence in Georgia of the fugitive victims of geography.
We should all pay attention to what happens with the best state immigration enforcement bill in the nation. And to watch for any effort to dilute, delay or kill the bill that would cause a nearly immediate mass exodus of illegals from the Peach State.
HB 87 passed the House on March 3rd. Day 23 of the session.
A look at two of the players and their positions will help understand the coming events.
The new governor, with a sterling pro-enforcement record as a long-time member of Congress made clear promises during the campaign on the issue that is changing our language, busting the Georgia budget and causing the loss of jobs and wages for citizens and legal immigrants.
During the campaign, candidate Nathan Deal answered an unequivocal “yes” to these questions:
• “Will you commit to using the power of the Governor’s office to put in place legislation that requires use of the no-cost federal E-Verify employment verification system to obtain or renew a business license/ “occupational tax certificate” in Georgia?
• And “will you commit to using the power of the Georgia Governor’s office to create, pass and sign into law legislation based on Arizona’s SB 1070, including making illegal immigration a state crime in Georgia?”
The majority of Georgians who demand passage of Ramsey’s bill are apparently in good hands as far as the governor’s office. It is a bit puzzling to listen to the Governor’s silence on the issue since he took office.
Maybe he could reiterate his promise on adding enforcement language for the 2006 landmark state immigration law regarding public benefits going to illegals — which is included in HB 87.
“The cost of illegal immigration to the taxpayers of Georgia is immense. As governor, I will work to strengthen the law requiring identity and citizenship verification for all individuals seeking taxpayer-funded services and benefits.” That would go a long way in propelling the bill in these last days of session.”
For the office of Lt. Governor, candidate Casey Cagle was adamant on enforcement of immigration laws and helped pass the 2006 law.
For many Capitol watchers, there is an element of confusion on the Lt. Governor’s true agenda in the current session, created in part by a January statement to a Georgia Chamber of Commerce breakfast: “I believe the rule of law is important, but over-regulation on businesses would just not be right and we’re not going to see it happen this session’’ Cagle assured the crowd.
On “over-regulation”, many people think Cagle was speaking in code words about the part of Ramsey’s bill that expands the existing state law requiring public employer use of the federal E-Verify system to include private employers to save jobs for Georgians.
These doubters are likely wrong. Everyone knows that illegal immigration can’t be addressed without ending illegal hiring — so that probably isn’t it at all.
In a form response letter to citizens who have swamped the Lt. Governor’s office insisting that the House-passed version of HB 87 be guided through the Senate, the Lt. Governor offers apprehensive citizens reassuring words. “As a former State Senator and now as Lt. Governor, I have a proven record of supporting legislation that addresses the illegal immigration crisis and certainly support continuing to look for and implementing stricter controls in Georgia. It is my hope that the legislature will be able to implement these reforms this year and I look forward to insuring we are able to successfully pass this new law.”
It is altogether fitting and proper that the Lt. Governor hopes the legislature can implement Ramsey’s law. Most Georgians share that hope. But they aren’t president of the Senate.
To recap: The Gold Dome is controlled by Republicans. Illegal immigration is degrading Georgia. Illegal immigration is caused by illegal employment and HB 87 will curtail both.
Thursday is legislative day 40 of the 40-day session.
Tick tock.
D.A. King is president of the Cobb-based Dustin Inman Society.
Some oppose bills as discriminatory; other blacks disagree.
Seeing some parallels to their own struggle, veterans of the civil rights movement from the 1960s have joined the fight against Arizona-style legislation targeting illegal immigration.
In Georgia, lawmakers are poised to vote on two bills that would empower police to investigate the immigration status of certain suspects and punish people caught transporting and harboring illegal immigrants.
Such legislation, civil rights activists warn, could bring about the same kind of discrimination and racial profiling African-Americans struggled against decades ago. They have been delivering fiery speeches against House Bill 87 and Senate Bill 40 and marching alongside Hispanic activists in Georgia and in other states in recent months.
There is a sharp division among blacks on this issue, however, with some arguing illegal immigrants are taking jobs away from African-Americans and burdening public schools and hospitals in black communities.
Both immigration bills could come up for votes in the final days of this year’s legislative session in Georgia next week.
Critics of these bills — including farmers, landscape companies and restaurant owners — have largely focused on the harm they say the legislation would inflict on the state’s economy, which relies heavily on migrant labor. But racial profiling and discrimination also have emerged as central themes in the debate, especially during recent marches and rallies in Atlanta.
Last month, civil rights icon and U.S. Rep. John Lewis, an Atlanta Democrat, joined thousands of people protesting the legislation outside the state Capitol. Quoting the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., Lewis expressed solidarity with Hispanic activists and said he was willing to go to jail with them in the fight against the state’s proposed immigration enforcement measures.
“We are all brothers and sisters. It doesn’t matter whether we are black, white, Latino, Asian-American, Native American. We are one people. We are one family,” Lewis said, eliciting cheers. “We all live in the same house. If any one of us is illegal, then we all are illegal. There are no illegal human beings.”
The Georgia State Conference of the NAACP and the Rev. Joseph Lowery’s Coalition for the People’s Agenda also have been outspoken against these bills.
On Tuesday, the Rev. Timothy McDonald III, a longtime civil rights activist, marched in downtown Atlanta with scores of demonstrators protesting restrictions targeting illegal immigrant students. Calling the debate over illegal immigration “the civil rights issue of the 21st century,” McDonald said he sees parallels between the struggles of the 1960s and today.
“Ultimately, it is about discrimination,” said McDonald, pastor of the First Iconium Baptist Church in Atlanta. “They are targeting a particular group as African-Americans were targeted.”
McDonald said he was struck by how some of the illegal immigrant students who demonstrated near Georgia State University on Tuesday blocked traffic for about an hour by sitting in the middle of the road. They were trying to bring national attention to their protest against a ban on illegal immigrants attending some Georgia colleges. Their act of civil disobedience reminded McDonald of King’s nonviolent tactics.
Other black civil rights activists, meanwhile, have been fighting similar measures across the nation. For example, the NAACP joined the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund last year in suing to block Arizona’s Senate Bill 1070 from taking effect.
The Atlanta area’s African-American community, meanwhile, is divided on HB 87 and SB 40.
Everett Robinson, an African-American salesman from Marietta, said the emphasis on civil rights is misplaced in Georgia’s debate.
“To compare it to a civil rights issue — in my mind, it is ludicrous to do that,” said Robinson, a board member with the Georgia-based Dustin Inman Society, which advocates enforcement of U.S. immigration and employment laws. “How can you do it? They aren’t citizens.”
Catherine Davis, an African-American who lives in Stone Mountain, has a similar view.
“I can see every day the impact that illegal immigration is having on the black community,” said Davis, the former director of minority outreach for Georgia Right to Life. “We have so many problems in our community, from education to employment to life. You name it.
“I scratch my head at many of our so-called black civil rights leaders that are so quick to accept that these people have come here illegally and to treat them as if they are entitled to the same measure of protection that we fight for every day in this country.”
We know that Governor Deal is as courageous as Governor Brewer of Arizona and will support passage of HB 87 and sign it into law. He will not back down from the open borders far, far left
——————————————————————————–
From: Kathrin Ivanovic mailto: thediversityprojekt@gmail.com
Sent: Thursday, April 07, 2011 2:22 PM
To:
Subject: Impending National Boycott of Georgia
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contacts:
Paulina Hernandez, Southerners on New Ground 919.323.2057
Xochitl Bervera, SomosGeorgia 404.861.0756
B. Loewe, National Day Laborers Organizing Network 773.791.4668
Russell Roybal, National Lesbian and Gay Task Force 202.306.3047
Sue Hyde, National Conference on LGBT Equality, Creating Change 617.320.6635
IMPENDING NATIONAL BOYCOTT OF GEORGIA
Local and national groups press Governor Deal to commit to veto Arizona-style anti-immigrant legislation
Allowing passage of Arizona-copycat law will cost Georgia millions
A national network of organizations instrumental in coordinating the boycott in Arizona after controversial anti-immigrant legislation passed there in 2009 has sent a letter to Governor Deal of Georgia “notifying [him] of efforts underway to organize a national boycott of Georgia, in the event that Georgia’s Arizona copycat legislation — HB 87 and SB 40 — should become law. “
The National Day Laborers Organizing Network (NDLON) and The Turning the Tide campaign sent the letter via facsimile early this morning. B. Loewe, a spokesperson for the organization, said “We are currently prepared to contact all conventions, organizations, companies, cities, counties, and states that participated in the Arizona boycott to advise them of the current status of Georgia’s legislation and tell them to be ready to change plans, divest, and/or issue travel alerts to avoid the state of Georgia.”
B. Loewe said that various organizations and community members of Georgia, including the SomosGeorgia/WeAreGeorgia campaign, notified them of the efforts by Georgia’s Republicans to drive immigrants out of the state. NDLON and Turning the Tide will wait for those groups to give the go-ahead in the event that the bills pass and the Governor does not issue a veto.
Georgia State Senator Vincent Fort said he and others will give just such a go-ahead. “If House bill 87 passes and the Governor refuses to veto it, we, in Georgia, will call for a boycott. These laws have devastating effects on families, students, workers, and entire communities. People of good conscience will find other places for their vacations and conventions until this state gets back on the right side of history.”
The National Lesbian and Gay Task Force is in support of the boycott, and also sent a letter to Governor Nathan Deal and Lt. Governor Casey Cagle, stressing that “should the State of Georgia follow Arizona down a regrettable path to codifying anti-immigrant bias in its laws, we would be forced to reconsider our choice of venue and host city for the 2013 Creating Change Conference.” The Creating Change Conference brings more than $4 million in revenue to host cities each year.
Supporters of the boycott state that Georgia has historically thrived in part because it’s a state with some of the largest and most minority-owned businesses in the Southern region. These businesses in particular will suffer economically if immigrant communities and people of color are driven out.
Referring to the recent New York Times report that Arizona had, less than six months after passage of the controversial HB1070, lost $45 million in convention revenue and stands to lose upwards of $750 million overall, Paulina Hernandez, co-Director of Southerners on New Ground said “A boycott will undoubtedly hurt the state of Georgia as it did the state of Arizona and our Governor will be squarely to blame if he does not do the right thing and commit to vetoing these anti-immigrant bills.”
Georgia Representative Virgil Fludd (D-66) commented on the economic impact of multiple pieces of legislation pending in the legislature. “Republican are proposing to turn down $175 million in unemployment benefits from the federal government for over 20,000 Georgians who are currently unemployed and looking for work. The current tax proposal we will be voting on next week has a fiscal note of $200 million–creating a massive hole in the state’s budget. Should an anti-immigrant Arizona style law pass, and a boycott ensue, the economic impact will simply be devastating. Georgia has always been known as a business friendly state and HB 87 is not business friendly. We cannot afford this.”
Members of the faith and nonprofit communities have also opposed HB 87 stating that provisions of this legislation create new, significant criminal and civil liabilities that will chill the work of communities of faith across Georgia who provide critical physical and spiritual support to some of the most vulnerable individuals in our communities.
###
We Are Georgia is a growing movement of individuals and organizations committed to immigrant and racial justice throughout the state of Georgia.
ADDED APRIL 9, 2011 – The video that was here has been made “private.” I can tell you what happened- Angry Jerry Gonzalez realized that too many Americans were getting far too much close up and real insight into the socialist, we-hate- America revolutionary agenda of his mob and told the young man who put up the video remove it from public view. Maybe someone made a copy… for later. 🙂
Below is a 4:47 minute video that I found proudly posted on the GALEO facebook page. These are the people who our children will have to deal with if we lose the fight with the Democrats, the ethnic hustlers like angry Jerry, the ACLU, Bryan Tolar and Zippy Duval et al and the Chamber of Commerce who will be able to buy some GOP votes. IF we can even get a vote on an effective bill which is the HOUSE VERSION of HB 87. Please pass it along to your state Senator and anyone else you want to educate.
