Good news to report from the Gold Dome!

As the legislative session pushed through another week, there was good news to report on several fronts and of course, some not so great news. Campus carry appears close to death, the House and Senate Democratic Caucuses released their legislative agenda, thousands of teachers are rallying against the state's changes to their health insurance plans, and Georgia was named one of the most corrupt states in the country.

Campus Carry on life support

Young Democrats rejoiced last week as the notorious campus carry bill went down in flames. It was a victory for all those that want our great college campuses to remain safe places that are institutions of higher learning.

What killed the bill was a rather unique quirk in the latest draft: an opt-out clause. Legislators were going to allow college presidents to opt-out of the campus carry provision. Turns out that's unconstitutional.

Former Democrat Rep. Alan Powell (R-Hartwell) lamented this to the AJC's Jim Galloway saying, "You cannot legislatively yield away legislative rights to individuals. It’s unconstitutional for us to give college presidents the right to decide [campus carry].”

Oops.

A new gun bill will hit this week, but according to Rep. Powell, it's unlikely to have a campus carry provision. While the defeat of campus carry--albeit at the hands of Republican legislators--is a victory, we must remain ready to fight any bill that doesn't promise to end the gun violence epidemic plaguing our country.

House and Senate Dems unveil agendas

The House and Senate Democratic Caucuses revealed their 2014 legislative agendas last week, with both putting a special emphasis on helping grow the middle class. Senate Democrats are proposing to nearly double the state minimum from $5.15 an hour (yes, our minimum wage is more than $2.00 less than the federal minimum wage) to $10.10 per hour.

Additionally, Senate Democrats want to expand Medicaid--something Gov. Deal and fellow Republicans will not do--providing access to affordable health care for an estimated 650,000 Georgians.

Senate Democrats also want to repeal the controversial voter I.D. law that was passed in 2006.

Democrats in the House are once again pushing for a stronger middle class by pursuing legislation that "promotes education opportunity, economic security, and share responsibility."

HOPE will once again take the spotlight, as Rep. Stacey Evans (D-Smyrna) pushes to restore full tuition payments for those receiving the HOPE grant. Additionally, House Democrats will continue to fight back against regressive GOP-led legislation that puts middle class Georgians behind the eight ball.

We are excited to see the great work conducted by Democrats in both houses and we look forward to doing what we can to help lobby strongly for their bills.

Stand with our teachers

At the beginning of the year, teachers and other state employees faced astronomically high health insurance costs as a result of changes to their plans. Over 650,000 employees saw their deductibles shoot through the roof, out-of-pocket costs rise, and many doctors were no longer in their network. Rather than providing options, the state forced 650,000 employees to use Blue Cross Blue Shield of Georgia with no alternative.

Gov. Deal conveniently timed the health insurances changes to start on January 1 to coincide with the start of the Affordable Care Act exchanges. His plan: have state employees blame the ACA instead of Gov. Deal.

The results were devastating and now teachers are ready to act.

Teachers banded together to form T.R.A.G.I.C. or Teachers Rally Against Georgia Insurance Changes. Teachers are fed up after 5 years without a cost-of-living raise, furlough days, and larger class sizes. The insurance change was the final straw.

Realizing that he erred, Gov. Deal now wants to tap into $100 million in state reserves to pay for the changes.

I see, so you're not willing to take federal dollars to expand Medicaid for thousands of Georgians, but you are willing to tap into our reserves to fix an election year blunder.

Stay classy, Governor.

Want to tell the Governor that he's wrong? Our friends at Better Georgia launched a petition calling on Gov. Deal to stop hurting our teachers and do what's right. Let's see if he listens...

Georgia named one of nation's most corrupt

Following the indictment of former Virginia governor Bob McDonnell, the Washington Post released a fun story about the most corrupt states in the country. Leading the way: you guessed it, Georgia.

Between Gov. Deal's shady handling of the Ethics Commission, to the recent Don Balfour trial, it seems as if corruption permeates through every crevasse of the Gold Dome. We could let this ranking get us down, or we could use it to lose our faith in government, now is the time to use the ranking as a galvanizing force to win elections for Democrats this fall.

Up and down the ballot, we need leadership who is looking out for the middle class, not themselves.

Register for YDG's 2014 Convention

The Young Democrats of Georgia are excited to announce that our annual convention will be held the weekend of April 12-14 in beautiful Columbus, Georgia! Registration is now open and the cost to attend is just $35 for the first 25 people to register. After that, registration fees will increase slightly to $45 for the weekend.

The convention promises to be a great time and this year we are committed to putting Boots on the Ground for a Blue Georgia!

Won't you join us?

Click here for additional information, including hotel accommodations and registration information.

Stay tuned...

As bills continue to wind their way through both chambers, we'll stay on top of it and let you know what's going on and what you can do to help. If you want the latest news on the Gold Dome, please make sure to like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.

Democratically yours,

Joel Mendelson
Vice President, Programs
Young Democrats of Georgia