With only a few more days left to pass legislation, the state Legislature advanced two controversial Senate bills that would add new restrictions to gender affirming care.
State health plan ban gets inmate addition
Vidalia Republican Sen. Blake Tillery’s Senate Bill 39 passed through a House committee on a party line vote with a new amendment.
The original version of the bill, which had already passed the committee, barred transgender state employees or their dependents from receiving care on the state health insurance plan. The version that passed the House Health Committee Tuesday also specifically prohibits people in state correctional institutions from getting gender care.
There are currently about five people who are incarcerated in Georgia who receive this care, according to Cataula Republican Sen. Randy Robertson.
Rep. Marvin Lim, right. Ross Williams/Georgia Recorder
Norcross Democratic Rep. Marvin Lim argued that removing transgender health care from the plan would violate the law.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported in February that discrimination lawsuits and other complaints involving transgender people had cost taxpayers at least $4.1 million since 2015, including $2.1 million to settle claims and another $2 million in legal costs. Those numbers include $365,000 paid out in a 2023 settlement in which the state agreed to provide coverage for gender-affirming care and not to restrict it again.
“We feel very strongly that it would be an unconstitutional impairment of contracts to undo those settlements, let alone just an unconstitutional move to say that this wouldn’t violate Title VII, that this wouldn’t violate the equal protection clause,” he said.
Rep. Brent Cox. Ross Williams/Georgia Recorder
Lim was referring to Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, which prohibits employers from discriminating based on an employee’s sex, which includes whether they are transgender, and the equal protection clause in the 14th Amendment.
Dawsonville Republican Rep. Brent Cox, who is sponsoring the bill in the Senate, indicated that the law will be a message to the state judicial branch that the Legislature wants it to be legal to ban transgender health care.
“My belief is that it clears up for the judicial branch to be able to work within these guidelines on how they’re going to rule and move forward,” he said.
Lim said he was not convinced.
“It is not enough for us to say this is our policy,” he said. “This is a violation of the U.S. Constitution and federal statutory law on anti-discrimination. So we can pass whatever law we want at the state level and say ‘the attorney general can’t do this, the Department of Community Health can’t do this.’ But the argument has always been that this is violating higher law, the federal law, and specifically the U.S. Constitution.”
Democrats on the committee also argued the language in the bill could eliminate mental health treatments for transgender people, which Cox said was a misinterpretation.
The bill will need to pass through both chambers before Friday’s final deadline if it is to become law.
Standalone ban on jail treatment
Around the same time the House Health Committee passed SB 39, the House Public and Community Health took up Robertson’s Senate Bill 185, which also bans gender-affirming care for inmates but does not affect state employees.
Sen. Randy Robertson. Ross Williams/Georgia Recorder
Robertson’s bill passed out of the committee with a voice vote, teeing it for a potential final vote by the Legislature’s April 4 adjournment. Speaking to a reporter in the hallway after the committee approved his bill, Robertson said he hadn’t had time to see the latest revision on SB 39, but he supports Tillery’s state health plan ban and would likely be happy if either bill passed.
Republican supporters make the case that taxpayer money should not go toward gender-affirming care in state prisons.
“I understand individuals get upset when I say this, but I do mean it with all compassion: elective surgeries cannot be a part of our cost in the Georgia Department of Corrections,” Robertson said.
Opponents of the bill counter that gender-affirming care encompasses more than surgeries, is far from elective and can be necessary for a person’s wellbeing. Several speakers, including two attorneys with civil rights organizations, argued Tuesday that the measure is unconstitutional.
“If adopted, Senate Bill 185 would impose blanket bans on the provision of gender-affirming care to incarcerated people with gender dysphoria, regardless of needs,” said Emily C. R. Early with the Center for Constitutional Rights. “These blanket bans have repeatedly been found unconstitutional because they show deliberate indifference to the needs of incarcerated people.”
“This Senate bill puts lives at risk, and in so doing, would bring constitutional challenges,” she added.
Robertson was dismissive of those potential challenges to the state.
“We have the five individuals who are seeking the care, and then we have the lawsuits, and if you look at that, one of the failures within our system right now is the fact we do not have a policy against it,” Robertson said.
Rep. Michelle Au.. Ross Williams/Georgia Recorder
Tuesday’s debate also veered into discussion about the origin of the slate of bills targeting transgender Georgians this year. There are at least five bills gaining traction, and lawmakers have spent hours deliberating on them and hearing public input on them, and they are spending the final days of the session trying to finalize them.
Rep. Michelle Au, a Johns Creek Democrat, said House Republican colleagues have told her that she should support Robertson’s bill because the issue of inmates receiving gender-affirming care is why former Vice President Kamala Harris lost the presidential election last year.
A leading Senate Democrat representing an Atlanta district caused an uproar last month when she joined three other Democrats who voted for Robertson’s bill.
“That comment has been made to me several times, and I just have to put on the record that I really resent a subset of our patient population being used in this way for clearly political reasons, and I really wish that you would not put your voice behind this bill,” Au said to Robertson.
Robertson said politics wasn’t the motivation for him. But Rep. Scott Hilton, a Peachtree Corners Republican, acknowledged the influence of the 2024 election.
“Politics does inform policy as much as that politics reflect what our communities want,” Hilton said. “And I think if anything this last cycle, we learned that this was an 80/20 issue, not just in Georgia, but frankly America, and that folks were flabbergasted to learn that a small segment of our population opposed policies like this.”
But Bentley Hudgins, state director with the Human Rights Campaign, argued that exit polling showed that transgender issues ranked low on the list of voter priorities.
“We have seen time and time again in history where powerful people have used public opinion to excuse crimes against humanity,” Hudgins said.
“I do want to challenge that notion that just because, even if it were true that the majority of people think that this is a popular issue, it doesn’t give you the right to pass it.”
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www.thecentersquare.com – By Alan Wooten | The Center Square – (The Center Square – ) 2025-04-23 13:33:00
(The Center Square) – U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock says ethics questions about his housing and financial disclosures already have been answered.
A conservative nonprofit in Washington is asking the U.S. Senate Select Committee on Ethics for an investigation. The Foundation for Accountability and Civic Trust says information on his housing provided by Atlanta’s Ebenezer Baptist Church, where he’s been senior pastor since 2005, hasn’t been disclosed and his outside earned income is in question.
In an email to The Center Square, a statement from Warnock’s office says, “Reverend Warnock sought and received explicit approval from the bipartisan Senate Ethics Committee on this matter. The ministry-owned housing is not income. Rather, it is a customary benefit provided to the senator because of his ongoing position as senior pastor of Ebenezer Baptist Church, a position he has held for the past 20 years.”
The nonprofit said before moving into a $989,000 luxury home in Georgia provided by the church, he was receiving $7,400 in monthly housing allowance. It also said he sold his previous home to buy one in the Washington area.
Kendra Arnold, executive director of the Foundation for Accountability and Civic Trust, said she is hoping the committee will act promptly on the request.
“There are tax laws and ethics rules which allow for a senator to accept reasonable lodging or housing, but they are only applicable in a narrow set of circumstances – they are not an open-ended loophole that can be abused,” Arnold said in a statement. “Among other factors, it’s critical that the value of the housing provided be commensurate to the work done – and then the value be disclosed. It’s difficult to fathom any citizen could look at this situation (a U.S. Senator that is a part-time employee of an organization, which pays him a salary and then happens to buy him a million-dollar house to live in for free after he was elected to Congress) and not think something potentially wrong is afoot.”
www.thecentersquare.com – By Kim Jarrett | The Center Square – (The Center Square – ) 2025-04-22 12:06:00
(The Center Square) – An ethics organization is accusing Georgia Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock of accepting housing from his church and not including it on financial disclosures.
The Foundation for Accountability and Civic Trust is asking the U.S. Senate Select Committee on Ethics for an investigation, according to a letter on the organization’s website.
The complaint says Warnock moved into a $989,000 luxury home in Georgia provided to him by Atlanta’s Ebenezer Baptist Church, where the senator is pastor. Before Warnock moved into the residence, he was receiving a $7,400 monthly housing allowance from the church.
“Since moving into the luxury home, Sen. Warnock has not included any information about being provided housing on his financial disclosures,” the complaint said. “In addition to the undisclosed housing, he has reported receiving an annual income from the church just under the maximum outside earned income limit, for instance $31,815.12 in 2023.”
Warnock sold his former Georgia residence and purchased a home in Washington, the organization said.
Kendra Arnold, executive director of the Foundation for Accountability and Civic Trust, said she is hoping the committee will act promptly on the request.
“There are tax laws and ethics rules which allow for a senator to accept reasonable lodging or housing, but they are only applicable in a narrow set of circumstances – they are not an open-ended loophole that can be abused,” Arnold said in a statement. “Among other factors, it’s critical that the value of the housing provided be commensurate to the work done – and then the value be disclosed. It’s difficult to fathom any citizen could look at this situation (a U.S. Senator that is a part-time employee of an organization, which pays him a salary and then happens to buy him a million-dollar house to live in for free after he was elected to Congress) and not think something potentially wrong is afoot.”
The Center Square was unsuccessful getting comment from Warnock through his office prior to publication.
The 2026 race for Georgia governor is shaping up with candidates from both parties now entering the race.
Gov. Brian Kemp cannot run for a third term, leaving the keys to the governor’s mansion up for grabs.
Meet the declared candidates
Sen. Jason Esteves. Ross Williams/Georgia Recorder
Democratic Atlanta Sen. Jason Esteves announced his candidacy Monday with an introduction video highlighting his experience, including as a former teacher and chair of the Atlanta Public Schools Board of Education. In the video, titled “Underdog,” Esteves took aim at what he characterized as radical Republicans in the state government following the lead of President Donald Trump.
“I’ve had enough of families working harder than ever but still struggling and our kids falling behind instead of getting ahead,” Esteves said in his announcement video. “Yet extreme politicians in Georgia push Trump’s reckless agenda, rig the system for special interests and stick us with the bill.”
As Esteves read these lines, the screen flashed with images of Trump, Kemp, Lt. Gov. Burt Jones and Esteves’ only announced Republican rival, Attorney General Chris Carr, who became the first to throw his hat in the ring in November.
Attorney General Chris Carr speaks at the 2025 Georgia Faith and Freedom Luncheon in Atlanta. Ross Williams/Georgia Recorder
Carr’s campaign has highlighted his experience in law enforcement, especially operations targeting immigrants, gang members and human traffickers.
“For decades, we’ve been the best place to live, work, raise a family and build a business,” Carr said in his introductory video, titled “Keep Georgia Strong.” “That hasn’t happened by chance. It’s happened because we’ve had leaders who are willing to make tough decisions, put Georgians first and stood strong in the face of adversity. Progressive activists are trying to radically transform our values and our economy. As your attorney general, I’ve made it my mission to keep Georgia safe.”
Carr has been a vocal supporter of Trump’s second-term agenda, but their relationship hasn’t always been chummy. In 2022, Trump called Carr “a disaster every step of the way” and backed an unsuccessful primary challenge against him after Carr declined to investigate Trump’s baseless allegations of widespread voter fraud in Georgia’s 2020 election.
Meet the maybe candidates
Lt. Gov. Jones, a Republican who is widely considered likely to enter the governor’s race, is considered a more steadfast Trump ally – Jones was one of Georgia’s so-called fake electors, who met at the state Capitol in 2020 to cast votes for Trump even after his loss to Joe Biden was officially certified.
President Donald Trump and Lt. Gov. Burt Jones at a rally in Zebulon in 2024. Ross Williams/Georgia Recorder
Jones’ closeness to the president could benefit him in a Republican primary, but it’s less clear whether his tightness with Trump will help or hurt in a general race. How Trump shapes the race will likely depend on how Georgians’ view the chief executive during the buildup to next year’s election season.
“If the economy goes bad, if inflation is up, if unemployment is up, then some of the luster may be taken off of Trump,” said University of Georgia political science professor Charles Bullock. “Now, for the MAGA folks, it probably doesn’t matter, but for the critical element of independents and, in the general election, of white, college-educated voters, if Trump’s attractiveness has been substantially reduced, then that certainly works for the advantage of Democrats.”
Republican Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, another rumored but unconfirmed candidate, could also make a reasonable play as someone Trump-skeptical conservatives and independents could back.
Raffensperger was on the other end of the now-infamous 2021 phone call in which Trump called on him to “find” enough votes to overturn Georgia’s 2020 election. Raffensperger declined, earning the ire of Trump and many of his supporters.
Firebrand conservative Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene is another member of the maybe column – she told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s “Politically Georgia” podcast back in February that she was open to either a run for the governorship or for Democratic U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff’s seat, which is also on the ballot in 2026.
Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene. Ross Williams/Georgia Recorder
On the Democratic side, one much-speculated candidate seems less likely to have her eyes on Kemp’s job than she did last year.
Democratic Congresswoman Lucy McBath hasn’t ruled out a run entirely, but she announced late last month that she was suspending her bid as she focuses on the health of her husband, who recently underwent surgery for cancer.
Former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, who recently served as an advisor to former President Joe Biden, told 11Alive News early this month that she plans to run for governor.
Former DeKalb County CEO Michael Thurmond has not ruled out a run – and neither has former state House Minority Leader Stacey Abrams, who became a household name after narrowly losing to Kemp in 2018 and again by a wider margin in 2022.
A crowded Democratic primary could be just the thing to dash the Dems’ dreams, Bullock said, if the intra-party attacks get too intense.
“If they get into it, then a lot of money will be spent within the primary, and sooner or later, even though they may start out simply singing their own praises, there would be a tendency to go negative, especially if at least three serious candidates get into it so you have a run-off. That’s when attacks really become strong.”
The elephant in the room
Gov. Brian Kemp. Ross Williams/Georgia Recorder
Kemp is reportedly considering a run at Ossoff’s seat.
Many Republicans would be thrilled to see Kemp’s name on the ballot next to Ossoff’s – Kemp enjoys relatively high approval ratings and has shown he can win statewide races in campaigns for governor and secretary of state.
But Kemp – whose name has also been floated as a potential presidential candidate in the future – may see moving to the Senate as a downgrade, Bullock said.
As governor, Kemp has sway over all aspects of state government, but he would be one of 100 in the Senate, and as a newly elected senator, he’d be too low on the seniority rankings to chair any important committees.
“He’s going to be far less visible in that role, the scope of his influence is going to be tiny compared to what he has now,” Bullock said. “He’s not going to be living in a mansion. He’s going to be living probably in an apartment, maybe in the Watergate building. He’s not going to have an SUV and a state patrolman to drive him around.”
Sen. Jon Ossoff. Ross Williams/Georgia Recorder
Once Kemp makes a decision, expect plenty of dominoes to fall afterwards.
Georgia Fire and Insurance Commissioner John King has said he would consider a run for Senate if Kemp does not. Agriculture Commissioner Tyler Harper has also publicly teased the idea of running.
“Conceivably, virtually the entire hierarchy of statewide Republican officials could give up their current positions, which would be then just wildness in terms of primaries, probably on both sides, of candidates running for each of those statewide offices,” Bullock said. “You may well clear out a large share of the state Senate and some of the state House. It may be if you show up January of 2027 at the Capitol, you may not recognize anybody because they’ve all run for something, cleared out the state Legislature. So this could be an extraordinary election cycle in Georgia.”
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Georgia Recorder is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Georgia Recorder maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor John McCosh for questions: info@georgiarecorder.com.
Note: The following A.I. based commentary is not part of the original article, reproduced above, but is offered in the hopes that it will promote greater media literacy and critical thinking, by making any potential bias more visible to the reader –Staff Editor.
Political Bias Assessment: Center-Left
The content primarily focuses on the upcoming gubernatorial race in Georgia, presenting information about various candidates from both major political parties. It features a Democratic candidate, Sen. Jason Esteves, who is characterized as progressive, particularly in his criticism of Republican leaders and their alignment with Trump’s agenda. This framing suggests a critical stance towards the conservative party and its policies. Additionally, the article highlights the controversy surrounding Republican candidates and their affiliations with Trump, which may imply a negative viewpoint of these figures.
While the piece includes perspectives from both Democrats and Republicans, the emphasis on the Democrats’ campaign strategies and criticisms of Republicans gives it a Center-Left political bias. Overall, the content leans toward a more critical view of conservative politics while presenting Democratic candidates in a favorable light.
