The Georgia General Assembly had a historic session in 2022, with several key conservative initiatives passing. The bill that has gotten the most press was SB 319, which will make Georgia the 25th state to allow constitutional carry as soon as Gov. Brian Kemp signs it.
The General Assembly is refunding some tax money from the state’s budget surplus back to hardworking Georgians, and they passed an income tax cut of a half percent that will take place in 2024. Legislators suspended the state gas tax to make a dent in runaway fuel prices and passed a bill allowing the Georgia Bureau of Investigation to look into irregularities in elections.
Other bills allowed churches rather than the state to set up firearms policies on church property, helped non-profits secure housing for pregnant women and their children, made it easier for churches and non-profits to help those struggling with their mental health, and removed state investments in Russia. The General Assembly passed an anti-human trafficking measure and defeated a workplace anti-discrimination bill that would have actually discriminated against people of faith.
Two big initiatives that the General Assembly passed continue to solidify Georgia as a state free from COVID-19 tyranny. One bill bans vaccine passports, while another leaves the decision to mask children in the hands of parents rather than schools.
Some of the most important bills that the General Assembly passed benefited parents of schoolchildren. The Parent’s Bill of Rights, a huge initiative of Gov. Kemp, recognizes the rights of parents to take charge of their kids’ education, including reviewing curriculum and opting out of sex education. One passed bill combats obscene material in school libraries, while another provides $120 million for school choice scholarships and yet another protects the First Amendment on Georgia’s college campuses by allowing free speech all over campuses, rather than in designated “free speech zones.”
Related: Georgia General Assembly Passes Constitutional Carry Law
But the biggest parental victory took place in the final hours of the legislative session with the passing of a bill that bans the teaching of “divisive concepts” like critical race theory. An 11th-hour amendment also helps open the door to saving girls’ sports by empowering the Georgia High School Association to protect girls from competing against boys pretending to be girls. Republicans in the legislature will work on further legislation next year to solidify the protection of female athletes.
Kemp hasn’t signed all of these bills into law, but he will soon. Why has 2022 turned into such a bold year for conservative achievements? The issue at hand is the governor’s race, particularly the GOP primary between Kemp and former Sen. David Perdue.
Several state legislators confirmed to Erick Erickson that they faced pressure to support Perdue or face a primary challenge. So they resisted and instead doubled down on Kemp’s legislative agenda.
“Not only did Perdue not get those endorsements, but those state legislators also escaped primaries and were so thoroughly pissed off by the pressure that they helped Governor Kemp get his agenda over the line, including a few votes they might not have otherwise sided with Kemp on,” Erickson writes.
“The Republicans in the legislature largely rallied to Kemp’s agenda signaling Perdue will not get the endorsements he desired and Perdue’s entry gives Kemp some major wins on which to campaign,” he continues. “The Republican legislators, who usually cannot agree on much of anything, handed Kemp a series of serious policy wins he will now tour the state signing into law.”
Perdue’s early entry into the 2022 race, his pressuring state legislators to support him, and his refusal to debate Kemp have hurt him both with fundraising and polling; most experts believe that Kemp should coast through the primary.
Fortunately, the best result of Perdue’s antics is a legislative session that stands to benefit the people of Georgia tremendously.
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