Last week, Georgians were denied the chance for public comment against the newly stripped HB 127, originally a teacher sick leave bill period now, the bill would ban diversity, equity, and inclusion at our K through 12 and higher Ed schools on threat of defunding them. HB 127 is scheduled for floor debate today. We oppose HB 127 because every young Georgian deserves access to clubs, programming, and courses that support them, and broaden their horizons.
1. Call Senate leadership and ask them to NOT bring HB127 up for a vote.
2. Call your senator and let them know you want them to OPPOSE HB127.
What happened with HB 127? See the description below of Zombie Bills. And read this WABE article describing what happened.
🚨 At the Georgia Capitol, the last few weeks of legislative session are when the real shenanigans start happening, as legislators attempt to get their bills passed to the Governor. The tactic we’re focusing on in this post is the “Zombification” 🧟♀️ of dead bills.
📝The language from bills that did not pass out of the House or Senate on time to be voted on in the other chamber (by Crossover Day) is copied and pasted over bills that did cross over as long as they’re changing the same code section of Georgia law, stripping the original bill of its meaning. The bill we highlight first in this post, the ban on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, is a great example of how this often occurs.
❌Last week, a committee room full of Georgians watched as HB 127, a bill originally meant to expand teacher sick leave, was presented as a stripped, rewritten version of the formerly dead K-16 ban on diversity, equity, and inclusion. These Georgians, including students and parents, were denied their opportunity to give public testimony against the dismissal of decades of progress in racial, gender, and LGBTQ+ equality. The disregard for democracy, truth, and our state’s history-the good and the bad-that we saw at that hearing was an abhorrent show of why we need to lean in to our practices of diversity, equity, and inclusion, rather than abandon them.
🗣️This system is confusing and hard to follow, which can be incredibly disheartening when our legislators seem unaccountable and uncaring of the real wants and needs of Georgians. But, with your calls, we can stop this bill.
Many thanks to IDRA for this information.
