Sen. Ben Watson
Columnist
The Georgia State Senate had a busy week last week taking care of bills of particular importance as we near “crossover” day, the day when any bill must pass either the Senate or House in order for it to be considered by the other legislative body.
We have completed our first 17 days of the 40-day legislative session.
In our continuing effort to ensure that Georgia taxpayers are not responsible for paying the cost of an individual’s transition to the opposite sex, we have taken the legislative route of barring state employees from using the state-sponsored health plan to receive sex transition coverage such as hormone therapy. If passed and signed into law, state employees would be forbidden from using state taxpayer dollars to pay for gender-affirming care and transgender surgeries any longer. The bill would apply both to state employees on the plan, as well as their minor children. The Senate Committee on Health and Human Services approved a bill I introduced that would bar doctors from prescribing puberty blockers to children with gender dysphoria, a feeling of distress that comes from one’s gender identity not matching one’s body. My argument supporting this legislation is simple: the prescribing of puberty blockers breaks the Hippocratic Oath that doctors take to do no harm. In my study of the issue, puberty blockers do create harm because they change the bone structure and other parts of the human body in which they have been born. We also passed Senate Bill 21 out of the Senate, which now heads to the House for consideration.
S.B. 21 would waive sovereign immunity for local governments that adopt and implement “sanctuary” policies. Under SB 21, if a local governing body acts in violation of the prohibition on sanctuary policies, the sovereign immunity of the local governmental body and the governmental immunity of all local officials and employees is waived in cases arising from violations of the anti-sanctuary law.
Many Georgians are aware of the tragedy in which an illegal immigrant murdered Athens college student Laken Riley. The now-convicted illegal immigrant had previously been arrested on other criminal charges but had been released back into the public.
Compounding the tragedy, the City of Athens had previously voted to make itself a “sanctuary city” for immigrants.
The Senate Judiciary Committee took significant action in our effort to reduce frivolous lawsuits and continue to make our state the number one state in the nation in which to do business by passing senate bills 68 and 69.
These bills both work to corral wild litigation by reforming our tort laws in the state. Some of the items we would like to see enacted include:
• shield property owners from liability claims stemming from criminal acts committed by third parties outside of the owner’s control.
• allow lawyers for defendants in suits stemming from car accidents to introduce evidence showing the injured party was not wearing a seatbelt.
• require plaintiffs in liability cases to show the jury their actual medical costs when the jury is deliberating on compensation.
• limit third parties, including foreign adversaries like China and Russia, from financing tort litigation.
I will keep you updated on legislation affecting our community as we progress through the session. Thank you for your continued interest in the work of our General Assembly. As your public servant, feel free to visit me at the Capitol or to reach out by phone or email. I am in 325A Coverdell Legislative Office Building. My office phone number is (404) 656-7880, and my email is ben.watson@senate. ga.gov. I look forward to continuing to serve you.
