Lt. Governor’s PAC reportedly kicks in $250,000 for narrow victory
Jason Anavitarte, controversial candidate for the Republican ballot in Georgia’s state senate District 31 primary contest has apparently squeaked past opponent Boyd Austin, a former mayor.
Austin has criticized Anavitarte as representing “outside interests” rather than the district; “…a breakdown of Anavitarte’s contributions from both his April 30th report as well as his latest one bear this out. In the April document 94 percent of Anavitarte’s contributions come from outside the district (with many from lobbyists). In the latest report, outside-the-district donations make up 97 percent of Anavitarte’s total. Only six individuals in the district gave a monetary contribution” according to a July note at Insider Advantage Georgia.
As of August 22, the Secretary of State website still shows results of the August 11TH primary contest as “Unofficial Results – Totals may not include all Absentee or Provisional Ballots” but watchers agree that Anavitarte will likely prevail in the final vote tally.
UPDATE: Final and official results show that Anavitarte won 10,574 to 10,348, a margin of 226 votes.
Anavitarte has drawn considerable attention since it was revealed that from 2006 -2009 he served on the board of the radical GALEO Inc. GALEO is well known as a corporate-funded force against immigration enforcement, ICE holds, 287(g), voter ID and official English. In 2006, the same year Anavitarte joined the board of directors, GALEO teamed with the ACLU, MALDEF, and the ADL in a protest rally against state immigration enforcement.
GALEO Director Jerry Gonzalez has illustrated the group’s mission with antics such as escorting admitted illegal aliens into the Georgia senate Chamber in an effort to stop passage of a 2006 bill, the Georgia Security and Immigration Compliance Act (SB529) – aimed at reducing Georgia’s attractiveness as a destination for illegal immigration. Gonzalez has also been criticized for badgering a diminutive female state Rep, Katie Dempsey, for her pro-enforcement position on E-Verify in a Rome, Ga. public forum.
GALEO’s Jerry Gonzalez. Photo: Dustin Inman Society
In early 2016, another former GALEO board member and state court judge, Dax Lopez, was passed over for confirmation after an Obama nomination for a lifetime seat on the federal bench due to his ties to GALEO. This writer was proudly credited with leading the opposition to the Lopez nomination with the research series ‘A Beginner’s Guide to GALEO’ posted on the Dustin Inman Society website in 2015 and 2016.
On its political blog, the Atlanta Journal Constitution has reported that a PAC, ‘Advance Georgia,’ founded by Georgia’s Republican Lt. Governor and president of the senate Geoff Duncan helped Anavitarte’s slim victory with a $250,000 infusion:
“Jason Anavitarte might owe Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan a thank-you note for his apparent narrow GOP runoff victory over Boyd Austin in the contest to replace state Sen. Bill Heath, R-Bremen. The lieutenant governor’s PAC pumped about $250,000 into Anavitarte’s bid. He’s currently up by about 200 votes – a 1% margin says the liberal AJC Political Insider blog.
Georgia’s Lt. Governor and President of the Senate, Geoff Duncan. Photo: AJC.
“Jason Anavitarte is a former member of the Paulding County School Board and candidate for Senate District 31 in the Georgia Legislature. Most recently, Jason served as Senior Adviser of Lt. Governor Geoff Duncan’s campaign and served on the state finance committee for Governor Brian Kemp during the 2018 election. Jason has been named one of the 50 Most Influential Latinos in Georgia” according to Anavitarte’s campaign website, Campaign website (August 19, 2020).
Anavitarte, who has described himself as an admirer and supporter of Senator Marco Rubio, is a former Doraville City Council member and in 2005 filed to run for the state House as a Democrat. In the recent primary he was endorsed by the Georgia Chamber of Commerce and originally did not mention illegal immigration on his campaign site as an issue.
That changed after he drew the attention of pro-enforcement conservatives and the media. He now has stated policy positions on immigration that are curiously tailored to a candidate for federal office as opposed to a state senate seat, but has assured voters he is supports legal immigration without offering limits. From JasonAnavitarte.com:
“I support legal immigration and I want to see our current immigration laws upheld. I support the following reforms:
End chain migration. Stop the original immigrant from petitioning to bring their extended families into the USA.
Move to a merit-based skill categories system. This system would put an emphasis on education and skill as a basis for acceptance into the country.
Reform welfare. Deny welfare to anyone with a green card or visa.
NO AMNESTY! Enforcement of deportation will stop people from coming to our borders.
I support the use of e-verify by our businesses. We need to hire people that are legal to work here in Georgia.
No in-state tuition for illegal immigrants.”
Lt Governor Duncan’s PAC was the topic of AJC coverage in October, which included the observation: “the financial haul could also help Duncan exert more influence over a fractious Republican caucus that sporadically sparred during his first legislative session. Duncan said he preferred to view it as a “partnership” to support Republicans.”
According to the most recent estimates from DHS, Georgia is home to more illegal aliens than Arizona and enforcement of laws designed to deny jobs, benefits and services to illegals is routinely ignored by the Republicans who have run the state for *more than a decade nearly two decades.
Anavitarte and his committee and floor votes on illegal immigration-related matters will be the focus of much attention from conservative writers and voters when he becomes a state senator.
Republican Lt. Governor Geoff Duncan has endorsed a candidate for state senate who is a former board member of a leftist organization that lobbies against immigration enforcement, voter ID, ICE holds and official English for government.
State Senate District 31 hopeful Jason Anavitarte served on the board of directors of the Georgia Association of Latino Elected Officials (GALEO) from 2006 to 2009. During that time, GALEO lobbied against passage of the nationally noted SB529, the Georgia Security and Immigration Compliance Act which established a requirement that public employers and their contractors sort out newly hired blackmarket labor with use of the federal employment verification system now known as E-Verify.
The legislation also required state use of the federal 287(g) program that allows local law enforcement to screen jail inmates for immigration status and report illegal alien prisoners to ICE for deportation proceedings. The bill, now law, that GALEO vehemently opposed also requires that local and county governments verify the legal status of people applying for local, state and federal public benefits.
GALEO Executive Director and former Democrat fundraiser, Jerry Gonzalez, drew much attention during the lobbying frenzy against the 2006 state immigration enforcement measure when he escorted self-described illegal aliens into the gold-domed state Capitol telling legislators they should regard the illegal aliens as “constituents.” Gonzalez described the illegals as merely “immigrants.” The staged and pre-announced GALEO transporting and encouragement of the illegals made a memorable note for pro-enforcement groups and news in the Atlanta Journal Constitution.
A February Twitter post from Lt. Governor Duncan describes Anavitarte as a “proven conservative…”
Photo: @GeoffDuncanGA Twitter feed
The endorsement from Duncan has raised eyebrows in conservative quarters of the state’s Republican Party not only because GALEO is well known for its corporate-funded opposition to immigration enforcement, but because candidate Anavitarte, now running as a Republican, filed to run for state House in 2006 as a Democrat.
The Lt. Governor also serves as president of the state senate.
Jason Anavitarte. Photo: Rome-News Tribune
Perhaps the most jarring surprise for pro-enforcement voters in Duncan’s endorsement is the fact that in 2016, U.S. Senator David Perdue terminated the Judiciary Committee’s confirmation process of another former GALEO board member and State Court Judge, Dax Lopez, who was nominated for a federal judgeship by former President Barack Obama. Perdue made it clear that his office investigated the nominee’s ties to the controversial GALEO and ended the chances of confirmation because of that relationship.
“After a thorough review of the professional and judicial record of DeKalb County Judge Dax Lopez, I have become uncomfortable with his longstanding participation in a controversial organization including his service on its board of directors” Perdue wrote in his statement on the matter.
The obvious – and many say troubling – difference in judgment between Georgia’s Republican Lt. Governor and its senior U.S. Senator is not going un-noticed by grassroots GOP voters.
According to the left-leaning Georgia Budget and Policy Institute, Georgia is home to more illegal aliens than green card holders.
Georgia’s governor, Brian Kemp, snared a primary endorsement from President Donald Trump in 2018 due in large part to Kemp’s tough talk and campaign promises on illegal immigration. Kemp has not mentioned immigration since the November, 2018 election.
Ballotpedia lists four Republican candidates for Georgia’s senate District 31.
Explainer, the short version : The GA state Senate has passed a bill (SB 112) that creates a new Adult Education pilot program aimed at “Workforce EXCELeration” (get it?) that sends ‘the undiploma-ed’ Georgia residents aged twenty-one and over to the state technical college system for classes that result in a high school diploma.
The bill says existing state laws that prohibit this goal may be waived – federal laws too.
If there is an exclusion for illegal aliens, we don’t see it (there isn’t). You may want to ask your state senator to direct you to the line number that contains that exclusion. I sent an email to my own state senator, Dr. Kay Kirkpatrick, asking that question.
GA state Sen. Dr. Kay Kirkpatrick.GA state Sen.Jason Anavitarte (R- Dallas).
Her response to me:
“Don’t see it. Better talk to Senator Anavitarte because he’ll present it on House side. I can mention it to him too.”
Related: Former Dem candidate and board member on anti-enforcement immigration lobby group wins GOP primary for Georgia state senate — Jason Anavitarte
The video of the twelve-ish minute committee hearing is here, (see 2/13/23). It’s the first bill heard. The bill passed committee unanimously and has been passed by the full senate. Only one Republican voted against the bill.
*Related: The Georgia Chamber of Commerce is pushing this bill. See also Goodwill Industries.
From SB 112:
Establish High School Diplomas for Adult Learners Program
”…relating to vocational, technical, and adult education, so as to provide for a pilot program whereby qualifying private nonprofit entities provide instruction and other services for eligible students 21 years of age and older to attain a high school diploma; to provide for program requirements; to provide for waivers and variances; …”
(Line 28) “It is the intent of the Georgia General Assembly that by empowering Georgians to obtain their high school diplomas and obtain industry recognized certifications, they can excel in the workforce and improve the life trajectory for themselves and their families.”
“Chapter 4 of Title 20 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to vocational, technical, and adult education, is amended by adding a new article to read as follows…”
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More details
To be an eligible student, an individual shall: “Reside in this state; be 21 years of age or older; and have not attained a high school diploma.”
The Technical College System of Georgia is authorized to establish a pilot program to allow eligible students to qualify for enrollment in the High School Diploma Program for Adult Learners. Students would be awarded a high school diploma upon completion. The goal is to judge the feasibility of implementing a state-funded program for individuals residing in this state who are 21 years of age or older and who have not attained a high school diploma to enroll and participate in a program.
There would be no cost to the participating students. We see no provision that excludes illegal aliens – who are prohibited by state law from accessing Adult Education and by federal law from employment…even if the senate goal is “Workforce EXCELeration.”
The TCSG would be authorized to provide funds appropriated by the General Assembly for the implementation of the pilot program to private nonprofit entities to instruction to the “adult learners.”
The “pilot program” would run for six years. Two years after Brian Kemp is out of the Governor’s office.
The bill contains language that allows the TCSG and the State Board of Education to “waive or provide variances to state laws, rules, regulations, policies, and procedures…” that may be necessary to meet the measure’s goals. Ditto for federal laws that get in the way.
Update: Feb 10, 2023. Esteves is now a state senator in Georgia.
Jason Esteves immediate past Chairman of GALEO board
Add this name to the long watch list in Georgia’s increasingly turbulent political scene. Jason Esteves, former Chair and a current “board member at large” of the far-left, corporate-funded GALEO Inc. has launched his campaign for the state senate. Esteves is currently the Atlanta School Board president.
Jason Esteves. Photo: Ballotopedia
Current state Sen. Jen Jordan is leaving her Senate district to run for state attorney general. Esteves seeks to replace her in the east Cobb/Fulton County District 6.
Readers may remember that another GALEO board member, then State Court Judge Dax Lopez, saw his Obama nomination for a seat on the U.S. District Court in Georgia’s Northern District sink in early 2016 as a direct result of his ties to the extremist outfit. Now candidate for governor and then U.S. Senator and Judiciary Committee member David Perdue bravely nixed the confirmation in the face of the establishment push for Republican Lopez’ approval.
GALEO is known for advancing the cause of driver’s licenses for illegal aliens and lobbying against immigration enforcement, voter ID, official English for government and ICE holds. But they do support immigration amnesty. While smearing law enforcement officers, GALEO leadership joined the ACLU and the SPLC in a lawsuit against Georgia’ 2011 (HB 87) ‘Illegal Immigration Reform and Enforcement Act.’
Full disclosure: Including with our “Beginner’s Guide to GALEO,” the Dustin Inman Society of which this writer is president and founder led the fight against putting a GALEO board member and fundraiser on the federal bench.
Related: History and agenda of the above mentioned MALDEF
GALEO’s CEO Jerry Gonzalez brought focus to the group after he escorted illegal aliens into the state senate chamber to lobby against a 2006 bill (SB 529) targeting illegal immigration. In 2011 the Rome Tribune reported that security officials had escorted an angry Gonzalez from Coosa Country Club after he screamed at diminutive state Rep. Katie Dempsey at a lunch meeting focused on use of the E-Verify system for employment eligibility verification.
Voters may want to gauge judgment and priorities by noting that their reputation did not stop senate candidate Jason Esteves from later joining the GALEO board.
Esteves is also chairman of GALEO’s innocuously named but well funded ‘Latino Development Fund,’ which is dedicated to training future community organizers to follow up on the path set by Gonzalez.
Sam Zamarripa, who went on to become a state senator known for opposition to immigration enforcement founded GALEO in 2003. Jane Fonda is but one American luminary on the long (and perhaps surprising, to many) list of “Founding Friends’ (#32).
*Update, Dec 17, 2021. Related: GALEO CEO Jerry Gonzalez wrote a guest column posted Dec. 15 on the liberal Georgia Recorder website urging the U.S. Senate to pass the amnesty provisions in the Democrat “Build Back Better” bill and to use that as a “stepping stone” to “passing citizenship for all.” That’s right. All. Everybody. Including the illegal aliens flooding the southern border right now. And tomorrow. And next year. It’s open borders. Read Jerry’s words here. We happily note that the Senate parliamentarian killed the amnesty provision in the ‘BBB’ bill last night.
Sam Zamarripa. Photo: The Daily Caller
“I’m running for state senate to fight for a brighter future,” says Esteves who serves as Treasurer of the Democratic Party of Georgia. “In his first year (as Atlanta School Board Chair – 2018), the Board adopted an Equity Policy and Anti-Racism Resolution that eventually led to the creation of the Center for Equity and Social Justice. He oversaw the process of renaming buildings with hurtful legacies,” reads his campaign site.
We may have lost count, but it appears that if he were to be elected, it would make at least three GALEO-associated state senators. Esteves would join former GALEO board member and Founding Friend Jason Anavitarte and Founding Friend Nan Orrock in the Georgia senate.
Update: To none’s surprise, Gov. Kemp quietly signed SB 354 into law on May 2, 2024
Pro-enforcement readers have a chance to take an active role in preventing the Republicans in the state Capitol from dismantling long-standing state law aimed at illegal immigration. I respectfully urge you to take advantage of the opportunity.
Maybe the illegal aliens most members of the General Assembly have invited to Georgia won’t murder another college co-ed. You never know, right? For all but two Republican legislators under the Gold Dome, that possibility is merely the cost of “workforce development,” Georgia being “number one for business!” and obedience of directives from the Georgia Chamber of Commerce.
Senate Bill 354 is an anti-enforcement bill concocted by the Georgia Chamber and sponsored by Senators Larry Walker (R- Perry), Brian Strickland (R-McDonough), Jason Anavitarte (R- Dallas), Kay Kirkpatrick (R-Marietta), Kim Jackson (D-Atlanta), Steve Gooch (R- Dahlonega), John F. Kennedy (R-Macon), and Randy Robertson (R- Cataula). The stated goal is to make it easier to go to work in Georgia.
What does SB 354 do? It dismantles state law put in place in 2006 that requires all applicants for occupational licenses to swear on an affidavit that they are not an illegal alien. False swearing is a felony. The law is OCGA 50-36-1 – “verification of lawful presence.” It’s part of the occupational licensing process – if the licensing process goes away, the immigration check goes too. Which, again, is exactly what SB 354 does for covered jobs.
Gov. Kemp’s Capitol office phone number is 404-656-1776
The legislation applies to low skilled personnel in the barbering/cosmetology industry and removes the requirement for accessing an occupational license for the covered workers. Next year’s edition will be aimed at more occupations because according to a Sen. Larry Walker-sponsored Resolution passed by the GOP-ruled Senate last year, occupational licensing in Georgia is “burdensome and onerous.”
Despite this writer’s frantic effort to stop the bill by explaining all this to key Republican lawmakers, the bill was sent to Gov. Kemp’s desk on March 26. Only two Republicans in the General Assembly voted against the measure – House Reps Sharon Cooper (R-Marietta) and Kimberly New (R- Villa Rica). Yes, you read that correctly – zero Republican state senators voted “no” and only two Republicans in the House.
Related reading: Email to GA Rep Alan Powell on SB 354 as instructed by his assistant
It should be noted that the immigration verification law under attack from the “anything-for-a-buck” crowd under the Gold Dome was put in place as part of SB 529, the ‘Georgia Security and Immigration Compliance Act of 2006.’ It was signed by Republican Governor Sonny Perdue that year. It began the committee process in the Senate Public Safety committee chaired by then state Senator Brian Kemp who told the liberal Atlanta Journal Constitution at the time that many Georgians are “fed up” with illegal immigration. Indeed.
Will Kemp sign a bill that dismantles state illegal immigration laws that he helped put on the books? The smart money says “yes”, unless he knows a lot of GOP voters are watching.
The bottom line is this: Only a veto from Kemp can stop SB 354 from becoming law in Georgia. If that happens, we should all grasp that more bills with the same goals will pass next year and thereafter. Gov. Brian Kemp will not veto this bill without public pressure.
Honest.
Please call the Capitol office of Gov. Brian Kemp (404-656-1776) and leave a message with the staffer asking him to veto SB 354.
I’ll wash your car if you speak up.
The above column was published in the Coastal Georgia newspaper The Islander on April 8, 2024.
D.A. quoted from an article I wrote for IA last year on the same topic (‘Vote on HB 932 putting refugees ahead of Americans’) in which I sarcastically urged House leaders to put a near duplicate bill on the floor so voters could see “who’s who” in a recorded vote. Happily for “America First” Georgians and thanks to House Higher Education Committee Chairman Chuck Martin, the bill expired without a committee vote.
I will not be offering the state Senate the same challenge because there is no reason to think such a special interest – propelled measure would not quickly receive a “yes” vote from the Republican senators.
Less informed voters should know that when it comes to immigration-related bills blindly passed in the senate as a result of the endless “we need more workers” howls from corporate lobbyists, the current senate is an amazingly obedient body that approaches ‘rubber stamp’ territory.
Apparently a “two-fer,” this one was presented as the “WorkforceEXCELerationAct” while Anavitarte explained that it would result in “more jobs and more workers!”
Flier promoting Sen Anavitarte’s SB 112 after it passed the GOP-led state senate.
Aimed at creating “Pilot Program” to create a new and apparently additional system of taxpayer-financed Adult Education, SB 112 would send adults without one to the Technical College System of Georgia to obtain a high school diploma. The wording on eligibility (line 46): “…individuals residing in this state who are 21 years of age or older and who have not attained a high school diploma…”
The bill says existing state law that prohibit this goal may be waived – federal laws too.
There was no language that would exclude the tens of thousands of illegal aliens matching that description who call Georgia home from the new state benefit. And yes, it is still a violation of federal law to hire illegal aliens.
But in a move we don’t see every day, Anavitarte’s bill does include a memorable mention of federal law – an intention to “waive” it. Lines 55-57: … “the state board and the State Board of Education shall be authorized to seek waivers or variances of federal laws, rules, regulations, policies, and procedures that may be reasonably necessary to meet the goals of the pilot program.”
The bill also put in place language to waive state laws (lines 51-55).
It is a violation of state law (OCGA 50-36-1) to reward illegals with Adult Education.
Nevertheless, Sen Anavitarte’s “more jobs and workers” bill passed the senate (Senate Vote 54) on February 16, 2023 with only one Republican voting against it (Freshman Colton Moore of Trenton). To be fair, only three Democrats voted “nay.”
The language as passed by the senate is here. More than three months after the bill passed the senate you can evidently still read it before senate leadership does.
Voters concerned about the fact that Georgia is home to more illegal aliens than Arizona while the GOP-led legislature offers encouragement for more to come and the looming budget crunch may want to mention all of this to their own state legislators.
Anavitarte’s bizarrely written SB 112 is alive in the House Higher Education Committee but has been cleaned up by attentive leadership there. Illegal aliens are no longer included in the proposed new benefit. We think the problem now is that nobody can offer a lucid explanation of why we need an additional Adult Education program.
An independent voter, Inger Eberhart is the communications director at the Dustin Inman Society and a founding member of its board of advisors.
Please see the “ACTION NEEDED” instructions in red below.
Below: Two bad GOP illegal immigration-related bills and a bonus (GOP) bill that creates a new tax in Georgia.
A reminder: Georgia is home to more illegal aliens than Arizona and more illegals than green card holders. Conservative logic is that we should not do anything to make our state more attractive to illegal immigration.
Nearing the end of the 2023 legislative session this is likely the week GOP leadership will make decisions on what bills they want to see passed – and which ones they know voters don’t want. Please make your voices heard in Atlanta? Please see the “ACTION NEEDED” instructions in red below.
Talking back really does make a difference! I’ll wash your car. D.A. King (Thanks, Scott).
SB 233 (Sen. Greg Dolezal, R -Cumming) this bill creates a new state grant called a “Promise Scholarship” that pays $6000.00 per year for private school tuition for K-12 students after a parent, custodian or guardian files an application with the state. The students can be foreigners who were inadmissible into the U.S. but are here in Georgia because they were illegally granted entry at the border through Biden’s mass “parole” scam. It was found to be illegal by a federal judge in Florida last week. There is nothing in the bill that requires the “parents” to have any type of legal immigration status. If this bill becomes law illegal alien parents could begin the application process for the family to access the $6000 annual state grant, serve on an oversight committee that decides on eligible grant expenses and collect reimbursement for any unforeseen out-of-pocket expenses from the state of Georgia. See here for more information on “parents.”
The senate is calling this bill “school choice.” We call it needlessly rewarding and encouraging illegal immigration into our state. It is easy to have “school choice” without including illegal aliens.
To avoid future Democrat border scams and insure security and common sense use of state taxpayer dollars, these “Promise Scholarships” should only go to U.S. citizens and green card holders – and illegal alien parents should not have the ability to apply to the state for the scholarship or participate in any part of the administration of the proposed new state grant.
Note: SB 233 was rushed through before most people – including many senators – could learn about its contents. It passed in the senate with every Republican voting “YES.” It is now in the House committee system (House Education committee).
–>ACTION NEEDED TODAY AND EVERYDAY THIS WEEK: Please call the office of the speaker of the House (404-656-5020) and leave a short, polite message with the nice young staffer: “Please tell the Speaker I heard about SB 233 from D.A. King on Scott Ryfun’s ‘Straight Talk’ radio show and urge him to hold the rushed-up bill until next year so that all legislators can be educated on the illegal immigration aspect and have time to change the bill language so that only U.S. citizens and green card holder have anything to do with the new proposed scholarship benefits. Please slow down on “school choice.”
Then call your own state Rep’s office with the same message. Contact info forall state Reps here.
You can also email the Speaker’s office: jon.burns@house.ga.gov with the same message. If you call and email, I will wash your car.
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SB 112(Sen Jason Anavitarte, R – Dallas) “Workforce EXCELeration” creates a new “Adult Education” taxpayer-funded benefit being called the “High School Diplomas for Adult Learners” pilot program that would send applicants aged twenty-one and over to the Technical College System of Georgia for classes that result in a high school diploma. As are most bills ordered up by the Georgia Chamber of Commerce, it is aimed at increasing the number of workers in the state. The bill does not exclude illegal aliens. It is a violation of federal law to knowingly hire illegal aliens. It is a violation of longstanding state law to allow illegal aliens access to Adult Education.
Note: This bill has passed the GOP-controlled Senate. Only one GOP senator voted “NO” The bill is scheduled to be heard in the House Higher Education Committee Wednesday after lunch.
–>ACTION NEEDED TODAY: Please call the office of the Speaker of Houseagain (404-656-5020) and leave a message with the staffer: “Please tell the Speaker I called to say SB 112 as passed the senate is a ridiculous effort that includes illegal aliens and would help Joe Biden settle more illegals in Georgia. The proposed new Adult Education benefit should only go to U.S. citizens and green card holders. Please remind him that it is illegal to hire illegal aliens. Change the bill or kill it.”
You can also email the Speaker’s office: jon.burns@house.ga.gov with the same message. If you call and email, I will wash your car.
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BONUS ALERT – Do you want a new state tax?
HB 170 (Rep Kasey Carpenter, R – Dalton) : This Republican bill actually creates a new state tax. This time on downloaded digital products. You can see a 20 second explanation of the bill from the sponsor here. It quietly passed the House with only four Republicans voting “NO.” It is now in the state senate committee system (Finance committee). A shameless tool of special interests, Rep Carpenter is the sponsor of the instate tuition plus 10% for illegal aliens with Obama’s illegal DACA status bill (HB 131) that we stopped for the year in the House. It would have required Americans from other states to pay higher public college tuition than illegal aliens with DACA who live in Georgia.
–>ACTION NEEDED TODAY: Please call the office of the Lt. Governor (404-656-5030) and leave a short, polite, message with the young staffer who answers the phone: “Please tell the Lt. Governor that we are watching to see if he puts bill that creates a new state tax up for a vote. We are watching HB 170. We have memories like elephants and we know he allowed a bill to pass the senate that includes illegal alien parents in the “school choice” bill, SB 233.”
You can also email the Lt. Governor’s office with the same message here. If you call and email, I will wash your car.
Updates below each bill explanation. Crossover Day was March 6.
Dear Georgians, here is a sample of what Republican legislators are doing at the State Capitol.
Rep Casey Carpenter (R-Dalton) lead sponsor, HB 131
HB 131(Kasey Carpenter, R- Dalton) Would change GA law to lower tuition rates in taxpayer-funded colleges for illegal aliens who are recipients of the illegal 2012 Obama ‘DACA’ program. The bill would create a new tier of tuition much lower than out-of-state tuition and would not be available to Americans and legal immigrants who attend public colleges in Georgia from other states. Example: An American from Michigan would pay about $7000.00 more in tuition for full time classes than an illegal alien from Mexico at KSU per semester. The sponsors are calling it “Opportunity Tuition” the illegal alien students are to be known as “Opportunity Students.” Committee Chairman Rep Chuck Martin is pushing hard to pass this one out. Update: March 2, 2023 – 5:45 PM: HB 131 did not make it out of House Higher education committee and is dead for the year.
Related: Retired INS & Border Patrol agent sent a letter to House Higher Education Committee Chairman,, Rep. Chuck Martin Re: HB 131.
Sen. Jason Anavitarte (R-Dallas) lead sponsor, SB 112.
SB 112(Sen Jason Anavitarte, R – Dallas) “Workforce EXCELeration” creates a new “Adult Education” taxpayer-funded benefit being called the “High School Diplomas for Adult Learners” pilot program that would send applicants aged twenty-one and over to the Technical College System of Georgia for classes that result in a high school diploma. As are most bills ordered up by the Georgia Chamber of Commerce, it is aimed at increasing the number of workers in the state. The bill does not exclude illegal aliens. It is a violation of federal law to knowingly hire illegal aliens. It is a violation of longstanding state law to allow illegal aliens access to Adult Education. Note: This bill has passed the GOP-controlled Senate. One GOP senator voted “NO”
Related: The Georgia Chamber of Commerce “Diversity Equity and Inclusion” page.
Rep Ron Stephens (R- Savannah) lead sponsor, HB 313.
HB 313 (Rep Ron Stephens, R- Savannah) “Workforce EXCELeration” again this is a House companion bill to SB 112 above. As I write, the author has not changed the language to exclude illegal aliens. We say again: It is illegal to hire illegal aliens, high school diploma or not. Both bills contain language that refers to waiving existing law (both state and federal) that is counter to the goal of the measures. Update: This bill did not make it out of committee and is dead for the year.
GA state Senator Greg Dolezal, lead sponsor of SB 233 – “school choice” 2023 edition.
SB 233 (Sen. Greg Dolezal R- Alpharetta) would allow illegal alien “parents” to begin the application process for eligible students to access the proposed “school choice” state benefit.” More in this post: School choice – SB 233: GOP lawmakers ignore warnings on attention to immigration status of ‘parents’ at their political peril, here.
Note: The above is a corrected version of my original and erroneous description of the bill. I regret the error.
Update and related: Sen. Greg Dolezal omits requirement that students in SB 233 be U.S. citizens or green card holders in bill presentation to House Education committee – Video & transcript
A good bill below
Rep Jesse Petrea, (R-Savannah) lead sponsor, HB 136.
HB 136(Rep Jesse Petrea, R- Savannah) would require the Georgia Dept. of Corrections to post a quarterly, public report informing Georgia taxpayers of the number of “criminal illegals” in the state prison system – along with the crimes they committed and home countries. Through the department’s legislative liaison, the Kemp administration is striving to dilute or stop the bill in committee. Similar legislation died in the Republican controlled House in 2019. Update: March 7, 2023 – this bill did not come out of the House Rules committee and is dead for the year.
Bonus facts on Georgia, Republican Gov Brian Kemp, presiding, Republican Chris Carr, Attorney General:
GA is not among the states suing to end Biden’s illegal “parole” hustle. Pictured: (L) -GA AG, Chris Carr, GA Gov. Brian Kemp.
Twenty GOP states are challenging Biden’s illegal border parole hustle in a Texas federal court. Georgia is not one of them.
Nine Republican states have filed in federal court to shut down the illegal DACA program. Georgia is not one of them.
Twenty-five GOP-led states ask SCOTUS to restore prohibition on encouraging illegal immigration. Georgia is not one of them.
Governor Kemp’s Capitol office phone number is 404-656-1776. We hope you already know how to contact your state legislators.
Silence is consent.
Note: A version of this column ran on the subscription news outlet Insider Advantage GA on Feb. 24, 2023 and is published in the Feb. 27, edition of The Islander newspaper in Glynn County, GA.
GALEO – a partial history as published in The Islander newspaper in Glynn Co., GA.
Part 1
The Islander
October 17, 2022
The illegal alien lobby in GA: An introduction to GALEO
“California is going to become a Hispanic state and if anyone doesn’t like it they should leave. They ought to go back to Europe.”— Mario Guerra Obledo, co-founder of MALDEF, on the Tom Likus radio show, 1998
To provide some insider insight into how our state government really works, here is an abbreviated outline of just one of the many corporate-funded, far left non-profits that have staff and lobbyists working against immigration enforcement around the state and in the Georgia Capitol. Space does not allow more than a partial storyline. But I cannot give readers an honest view of the innocuously named Georgia Association of Latino Elected Officials, known as ‘GALEO,’ without the above quote from a founder of the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF), Mario Obledo.
The CEO of the Atlanta-based GALEO is former Democrat Party fund raiser, community organizer and Biden supporter Jerry (Gerardo E.) Gonzalez. Before he was awarded with the leadership of GALEO, he was also a MALDEF lobbyist under the Gold Dome where he is known for his vitriolic outbursts at Republican legislators in committee hearings and hallways. Gonzalez and his anti-enforcement corporation have actively fought every immigration enforcement bill in the state legislature since 2003.
Gonzalez once brought the leader of the Socialist Workers party into Georgia to fight for driver’s licenses for illegal aliens.
Gonzalez boasts on the GALEO website that American luminary Jane Fonda was a GALEO “founding friend.” A leader in Atlanta’s LGBTQ community, Gonzalez is also noted for his antics at a 2011 business luncheon at the Coosa County Country Club focused on use of E-Verify to detect newly hired illegal aliens by private employers in Georgia. Gonzalez had angrily shouted at Rome’s diminutive Republican state Representative Katie Dempsey from the audience after the event and was escorted off the property by local police according to the Rome News Tribune.
I was in the state Capitol in 2011 when Capitol Police warned Gonzalez that he would be removed if he continued his hallway-screaming at GOP state Senator Renee Unterman after she spoke in favor of immigration enforcement. Jerry is not what most would call “tolerant.”
A condensed list of Gonzalez’s accomplishments running GALEO Inc. include fearlessly marching in the streets of Atlanta demanding amnesty for illegals and escorting a busload of illegal aliens into the state Senate Chamber. GALEO has actively opposed voter ID (it’s “anti-Hispanic”), English as the official language of government in Georgia (“it would be an insult to “our culture”), ICE holds for criminal illegals in Georgia jails (“…bad for communities”) and in 2011 joined the ACLU and the SPLC in a federal lawsuit to stop state implementation of HB 87, the “Illegal Immigration Reform and Enforcement Act of 2011” – apparently enforcement of immigration law is “anti-immigrant.”
After this writer and several other pro-enforcement citizens spoke in favor of HB 202 in the House Public Safety and Homeland Security committee in 2019, we watched as GALEO lobbyists joined the SPLC and the Hamas-linked Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) lobbyists in testifying against advancement of the bill. HB 202 would have required the Georgia Department of Corrections to publish a public, quarterly report on the number of foreigners in the state prison system, the number of that group who already are subjects of ICE detainers, their home nations and crimes committed along with the percentage of the entire prison population these aliens represent.
Sponsors at GALEO fund raisers have included the Coca Cola Co., Telemundo, Western Union, Cox Communications (parent company of the liberal Atlanta Journal Constitution newspaper), Georgia Power, State Farm Ins. Co., Univision, Atlanta’s Kilpatrick Townsend law firm and Southwest airlines.
I watched in person sometime about 2005 as Gonzalez marched in protest of then-CNN newsman Lou Dobbs with a large group of fellow travelers carrying signs calling Dobbs a “racist” with other placards reading “THIS IS OUR CONTINENT- GO BACK TO EUROPE!” I asked some of the group with Gonzalez to where my black friends who opposed illegal immigration should return. “Africa” was the quick, loud, and defiant reply.
I am out of space for now but not close to the end of the story. Please save this edition and see here next time for more recent information on how deeply GALEO is involved in Georgia politics and how our state government really works. You won’t get this from “the news.”
Part 2.
The Islander
October 31, 2022
More on the illegal alien lobby in Georgia – GALEO Inc. and our government
In my previous column here, we began an insider’s account and history of the corporate-funded GALEO Inc. as related to our government. As promised, here is some additional information. It’s worth the reader’s time to check out the October 17, 2022 edition of The Islander if you missed part one.
The innocuously named Georgia Association of Latino and Elected Officials Corp. (GALEO) is run by former MALDEF lobbyist and Biden-supporter Jerry (Gerardo E.) Gonzalez, who is known for badgering female Republican state legislators and escorting admitted illegal aliens into the state Senate Chamber. Gonzalez has been widely quoted in liberal news media as part of the effort to erase the obvious difference between illegal aliens and real immigrants – like this writer’s adopted sister. Gonzalez says use of the word “illegal” in the term illegal immigrant/alien is akin to use of “the N-word.”
It is imperative that readers understand a large part of the names of far-left groups are intended to provide a basis for mindless marginalization of critics. Example: “You don’t agree with us? You must be “anti-Latino.” “You oppose illegal immigration? – you are against Hispanics, and you are clearly “anti-immigrant.” Those of us who have been fighting for enforcement and sanity on immigration for decades were being attacked with the shameless race-baiting and name calling long before the Democrats and the liberal media took the practice mainstream and nationwide.
A 2015 press release from community organizer Gonzalez provides important insight into part of GALEO’s dangerous agenda: “On behalf of GALEO, I would like to commend Fulton County Commissioners’ leadership and resolution urging the Fulton County Sheriff to stop honoring the ICE hold requests in order to keep families together but to also enhance public safety. We urge the Fulton County Sheriff to move forward quickly and implement the recommendation.”
The liberal Atlanta Journal Constitution newspaper refers to GALEO as a “civil rights group.”
GALEO’s Institute for Leadership (“a nationally recognized Latinx leadership program”) conducts classes every year to train future leftist community organizers – in partnership with UGA’s J.W. Fanning Institute. Really.
In 2015 then President Barack Obama nominated GALEO board member, tactician, and fundraiser Dax Lopez for a lifetime seat on the federal bench in the Northern District of Georgia. Lopez was also a DeKalb County state court judge at the time. Happily, the confirmation process was stopped by then U.S. Senator David Perdue after Perdue was presented with irrefutable facts about GALEO by the Dustin Inman Society. Thank you, Senator Perdue.
Fast forward to 2022 Georgia: Dax Lopez was appointed to the prestigious and powerful state Judicial Qualifications Commission in June. The JQC educates Georgia judges about their ethical duties and conducts investigations and hearings regarding judges’ misconduct. Really.
Readers may have assumed that Georgia politicians, especially Republican elected officials who present themselves as conservatives would avoid all things GALEO Inc.
Consider this: GALEO board member and current Democrat candidate for state senate Jason Esteves (District 6, Fulton County area) is a favorite to win the seat Nov 8th. Current Republican state Senator Jason Anavitarte (Paulding Co) was a GALEO board member about the time he ran for the state House – as a Democrat. In June 2019, Gov Brian Kemp appointed then Doraville police chief John King as Georgia’s Insurance and Safety Fire Commissioner. An ecstatic Jerry Gonzalez boasted to the media that “several years ago, Chief John King served as a keynote speaker for one of GALEO’s Power Breakfasts, one of our annual fundraising events…we look forward to working alongside his leadership,” Gonzalez gushed.
In 2015 then Secretary of State Brian Kemp and Attorney General Sam Olens, Republicans both, attended the 12th annual GALEO “Power Breakfast.” Then Gov. Nathan Deal (R) was scheduled to attend but changed plans at the last minute. Another notable attendee that year was AJC political reporter and blogger Greg Bluestein who was captured in a GALEO promo photo wearing a name tag provided by one of the corporate sponsors – not the press ID that normally hangs from working reporter’s necks.
It is a sad truism that most people have no idea how their government really works. We have done a bare outline of just one corporate-funded leftist group here. Unless you already visit our websites, follow us on Facebook or me on Twitter (@DAKDIS), we are guessing you read it here first.
GALEO’s CEO Jerry Gonzalez brought focus to the group after he escorted illegal aliens into the state senate chamber to lobby against a 2006 bill (
