photo: Georgia senate

January 7, 2018

Ashley,

After having some time to review the letter you sent me this evening, I have some follow up questions.

I would appreciate it if you could get me a detailed response to the letter I have attached by the end of the week.

Best Regards,

Josh McKoon
_____

Ashley,

Thanks again for sending along the reply letter dated October 23, 2018 today to my inquiry of September 5, 2018. I have forwarded the information you sent to the Georgia citizen, D.A. King, who was unable to get an answer from your office to the questions I sent to the Chancellor.

While it was not part of my inquiry, I am surprised and troubled to learn that GSU has had more problems with verification and has awarded illegal aliens instate tuition as the Chancellor’s letter describes. I am hopeful that the newest plan to properly separate students who lack legal status from U.S. citizens and non-citizens who obeyed our immigration laws in the registration and tuition determination process is finally successful.

The Chancellor reports that in May, 2018 it became known that GSU had applied an incorrect designation to “a few students” and these students were able to pay instate tuition. Please tell me exactly how many students were involved in this misclassification, how long they were allowed to pay instate tuition and if there is an effort to reclaim the underpaid amount of tuition.

Were any other USG schools found to have misclassified the immigration status of students or applicants in addition to GSU?

Also, while I am grateful to the Chancellor for his detailed response, I am still not clear on answers to my previous questions. Please see these inquiries again below and provide me answers to all questions in this letter before Friday?

*Is there any merit-based tuition reduction waiver that would or has applied to illegal aliens in the USG system as the NBC News piece that I cited reports?

*Does the USG system use the federal SAVE program to verify the immigration status of student applicants?

*If the SAVE system is used at USG admissions or elsewhere, please provide my office with the exact code and response to a USG query for applicants who are recipients of the federal DACA amnesty program.

Sincerely,

Senator Josh McKoon
District 29

From: Ashley Jones <Ashley.Jones@usg.edu>
Date: January 7, 2019 at 7:32:33 PM EST
To: “jrm2016@yahoo.com” <jrm2016@yahoo.com>
Subject: Response

Senator McKoon,

I saw an article today on social media from DA King referencing the Board of Regent’s lack of response to a letter your sent. Have you not received the attached response? SKM_C654e19010719470

Please let me know if you would like to discuss further,

Ashley

January 7, 2018

Ashley,

Thank you for the letter.

As you can see from the below correspondence as of November 28, 2018 we had not received the letter.

Best Regards,

Josh McKoon

Sent from my iPhone

Begin forwarded message:

From: Ashley Jones <Ashley.Jones@usg.edu>
Date: November 28, 2018 at 8:43:36 AM EST
To: “Nealey, Donna” <Donna.Nealey@senate.ga.gov>
Cc: “jrm2016@yahoo.com” <jrm2016@yahoo.com>
Subject: Re: REQUEST FOR USG – Reduced tuition at USG institutions for illegal aliens – Senator Josh McKoon

Hi Donna,

Let me go back and find the response. I think someone in our office was going to call Sen. McKoon about this. I should have followed up again and apologize if he has t received a response. Let me check and I will be back in touch ASAP.

Ashley

On Nov 28, 2018, at 8:38 AM, Nealey, Donna <Donna.Nealey@senate.ga.gov> wrote:

Ashley,

How are you doing?  We are just checking on this request from September.

I checked my emails just to make sure I didn’t miss a response.

We appreciate you checking on this for us.  I am attaching the letter just in

case you need it.

By the way, how is your mom doing?

Thank you as always for your help.

Donna Nealey

Senate Legislative Assistant

Senator Fran Millar – Chairman Senate Higher Education

Senator Josh McKoon

18 Capital Square

319 CLOB

Atlanta,  GA 30334

404-656-7872 – office

770-315-4060 – cell

404-657-3217 – fax

donna.nealey@senate.ga.gov

From: Ashley Jones <Ashley.Jones@usg.edu>
Sent: Tuesday, September 25, 2018 01:53 PM
To: Nealey, Donna <Donna.Nealey@senate.ga.gov>
Cc: jrm2016@yahoo.com
Subject: Re: REQUEST FOR USG – Reduced tuition at USG institutions for illegal aliens – Senator Josh McKoon

Good afternoon Donna,

Just wanted to follow-up with you and Sen. McKoon on this inquiry. We will have a response this week for Sen. McKoon.

Thank you,
Ashley

From: “Nealey, Donna” <Donna.Nealey@senate.ga.gov>
Date: Wednesday, September 5, 2018 at 1:15 PM
To: Ashley Jones <Ashley.Jones@usg.edu>, Rollin Downs <Rollin.Downs@usg.edu>
Cc: “jrm2016@yahoo.com” <jrm2016@yahoo.com>
Subject: REQUEST FOR USG – Reduced tuition at USG institutions for illegal aliens – Senator Josh McKoon

Please find attached a letter of request from Senator Josh McKoon to Dr. Stephen Wrigley

in reference to reduced tuition at USG institutions for illegal aliens.

Thank for your response to the questions and requests he has in his letter.

Donna Nealey

Senate Legislative Assistant

Senator Fran Millar – Chairman Senate Higher Education

Senator Josh McKoon

18 Capital Square

319 CLOB

Atlanta,  GA 30334

404-656-7872 – office

770-315-4060 – cell

404-657-3217 – fax

donna.nealey@senate.ga.gov

<USG Wrigley reduced tuition illegal aliens.pdf>

• Senator McKoon’s original letter to Col. McDonough here 
• Original ICE/DPS 287(g) MOU here.

Click on page to view full document.

Link to entire NBC news report mentioned below – here.

Official USCIS statement on status of DACA recipients – here.

We received this statement from Sen. McKoon this afternoon:

“The issue of driver’s licenses being issued to illegal aliens in Georgia is not up for debate. The Department of Drivers Services has acknowledged in a letter to me this year that over 48,000 Georgia Driver’s Licenses have been issued to illegal aliens.

This creates an enormous problem with respect to the integrity of our voter list in Georgia because when one applies for a driver’s license they are automatically registered to vote unless they choose to opt out. This means we have the potential for thousands of illegal aliens to be both registered to vote and in possession of a government issued photo ID valid for voting under Georgia law.

The only responsible thing to do, short of ceasing the issuance of driver’s licenses to illegal aliens, is to immediately begin making the licenses that are issued clearly and unambiguously to reflect that the holder is not eligible to vote nor is a citizen nor do they have lawful status.

As the next Secretary of State, I will make this a legislative priority.”

(Senator Josh McKoon)

Georgia state Senator Josh McKoon, author and sponsor of SR587  photo: Georgia senate

Thank you, to state Senator Josh McKoon and his 30-ish co-signers!

The politicians under the Gold Dome can vote to allow us to answer the below question on the ballot when we vote in November. It must pass the state senate and the state house with a 2/3rds majority. If you want the ability to vote on it, you need to tell your state legislators every week from now until March. Senate contact info here. House contact info here.

• Georgia now has a very weak law from 1996 that says English is our official language. But it allows any department head to ignore that designation. Example? The Georgia DDS offers the written road rules  exam in twelve (12) languages. 
• The illegal alien, anti-English lobby is trying to force various counties in Georgia to conduct elections in foreign languages even where fed law doe snot require that lunacy..

You will know when you run up on a dishonest, anti-English opponent when they describe this as “English only.” It isn’t English only, it is English as official. Comprende? 

Proposed ballot question:

“Shall the constitution of Georgia be amended to provide that English is the official language of the State of Georgia?”

YES or NO.

Georgia state Senator Josh McKoon on illegal aliens and Georgia drivers licenses – exposing the fake facts distributed by Department of Drivers Services (DDS). March 3, 2017

Atlanta Journal Constitution

Letters to the editor

SR 24 will change archaic Senate rule

In the Georgia State Senate, the archaic default method for approving amendments to legislation that has already cleared public scrutiny in the committee process is an unrecorded, hand vote. On these floor amendments, there is no record of any member’s vote on the vote tally machine or in the permanent Senate Journal.

Current rules require a total of five senators to request a traditional, recorded vote on floor amendments. Most such votes go unrecorded.

In an effort to add to the transparency of state government and to eliminate the possibility of confusion on any senator’s vote in the senate chamber, I have filed Senate Resolution 24, which would change the existing senate rule so that any one senator could ask for a recorded vote on floor amendments.

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. Passage of my proposed rule change will require a two-thirds majority if SR 24 is allowed to go to the full senate. Under current rules, the vote on changing the rule could be done with an unrecorded vote.

SEN. JOSH MCKOON, OF DISTRICT 29

HERE

• Update: 9:30 AM – State Senator Hunter Hill has asked to be cosponsor and first co signer on SR24. “It’s a good bill” says Sen. Hill.

Insider Advantage Georgia

January 16, 2017

SR 24 Would Change Rule on Unrecorded Senate Votes: Goes to Committee on Rules for Floor Vote

Josh McKoon

Georgia state Senator Josh McKoon

Like most Georgians, it is my opinion that all votes under the Gold Dome should be recorded and the record readily available to the public.

As D.A. King has noted on InsiderAdvantage (‘State Senate rule allowing unrecorded votes should be scrapped’, January 4), in the Georgia Senate, the default method for approving amendments to legislation that has already cleared public scrutiny in the committee process is an unrecorded, hand vote. When this happens, there is no record of the vote from any member on the vote machine or in the permanent Senate Journal.

Current rules require a total of five senators to request a traditional, recorded vote on floor amendments. Most such votes go unrecorded.

In an effort to add to the transparency of state government and eliminate the possibility of confusion on any senator’s vote in the senate chamber, I have filed Senate Resolution 24. It would change the existing Senate rule so that any one senator could ask for a recorded, Roll Call vote on floor amendments.

SR 24 is open for co-signers and I hope for full bipartisan support from the 56 Senate members next week when we return to business. I also hope that voters will make their support for SR 24 clear to their own state senators, regardless of party affiliation.

It is my experienced opinion that changing this outdated Senate rule will protect all members and aid in the public’s ability to understand the legislative process. Passage of my proposed rule change requires a two-thirds majority if SR 24 is allowed to go to the full Senate.

Georgians of all political views need to know that unless five senators say otherwise, a vote on changing the unrecorded rule could be done with an unrecorded vote — if SR 24 makes it to the senate floor.

Josh McKoon, R-Columbus, represents Georgia Senate District 29.   HERE