OPINION

Marietta Daily Journal

February 1, 2017

Dear Editor:

I read with great interest state Sen. Josh McKoon’s recent letter in the MDJ about his resolution to dump the rule that allows the Georgia senate to hold unrecorded hand votes. As a matter of fact, along with several friends, I went to the Capitol in Atlanta and watched the committee hearing that decided if Sen. McKoon’s bill would get a vote in the full Senate. The senate rules committee, dominated by Republicans, killed the legislation.

Sen. McKoon wrote here that “it is my experienced opinion that changing this outdated Senate rule will protect the reputation of all Senate members and aid in the public’s ability to understand the legislative process.”

Trust me, that is not a popular view in the establishment. Sen. McKoon is a brave man.

The room where the committee hearing took place was packed. Standing room only, but I wish more voters could have seen what took place. The senior Republicans on the committee acted as if Sen. McKoon had lost his mind in suggesting that all votes be recorded so that all citizens could see them anytime.

After a brief discussion on how bad an idea it was, and with the Republican Senate Majority Leader Bill Cowsert asserting that the Senate was transparent enough already, Sen. Cowsert made a motion to kill the bill, which is exactly what happened.

The short version is that a resolution to stop unrecorded hand votes on important amendments in the state senate was killed in a senate committee — with a very quick, unrecorded voice vote.

I am so angry. It should be noted that Sen. McKoon’s Resolution, SR 24, only had one cosponsor supporter, a senator from Carrolton. There were no Cobb senators who cosigned to help Sen. McKoon. I watched as Sen. Judson Hill remained silent and texted on the iPad in his lap for the entire 30-minute hearing.

I dare the candidates to replace Sen. Judson Hill or the Cobb Republican party to ignore this as the primary debates begin, I will never forget what I saw under the Gold Dome on Monday.

Susan E. Stanton

Conservative Leadership Coalition

Kennesaw   HERE (paywall)