Day 8: “Affordable Care Act benefits Georgia”

Day 8: “Affordable Care Act benefits Georgia”

Thursday 01/31/2013. Eighth day of the Georgia Legislative Session. Hectic day, with tons of visitors at the Capitol. For starters, we got a School Choice rally in the outside (and then moving into the inside). We have a big and enthusiastic group of citizens lobbying to stop violence against women. It was Savannah Day too (with a big group of people from Savannah and Columbus University visiting the Capitol as well). We have the meeting of the Working Families Caucus (with a great report on budget and health by the Georgia Budget and Policy Institute). And to close, the press conference of the House Democratic Caucus to unveil their legislative platform for the session.

Something worth to mention of days like this is that having the Capitol this full is not unusual during the middle of the session, in times that talking with legislators regarding a bill to be in the floor is really needed. Ergo, if anybody is considering coming, be ready to encounter this kind of ‘bella caos’.

From the meeting with the Working Families Caucus, the most relevant was the presentation on the budget of Alan Essig from the Georgia Budget and Policy Institute. Among his best quotes:

• “The problem of Georgia is not expenditure; the problem of Georgia is revenue”
• “Four more Republican governors have decided to accept the increase in Medicaid coverage offered by the Federal government. Their reason is that it is good math. The benefits largely surpass the costs”

We can find many resources and reports on the webpage, among them, options to increase Georgia Revenue.

The day closed with a press conference by the Georgia House Democratic Caucus presenting their platform for this session. Interesting proposals, among them the repealing of the imposition of E-Verify and the prove of citizenship to renew business licenses every year, legislation against cyber bullying and mandatory licenses to sell guns at gun shows and background checks to buy them at gun shows as well. Also, the party is going to organize hearings to promote this legislation.