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Erick Erickson on GA Republicans funding private school for illegal aliens with tax dollars – Jan 28, 2022 WSB radio

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“I’m fairly certain the Republicans aren’t gonna wanna fund illegal aliens going to private school…”

The below exchange is from an on air call into the Erick Erickson Show, January 28, 2022. Erickson had earlier spent considerable time promoting then pending “school choice!” legislation in the Georgia Capitol. A total of three such bills died that session.

*Note: The audio below is much higher quality in this post.

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Eric Erickson, host (00:02):

“…Libertyga.com… To the phones, we go; D.A., [inaudible 00:00:05]. Welcome to the program.

D.A. King, caller (00:08):

Thank you very much, Eric. I’m glad to be here. I’m, I’m a long-time listener part of the day, and I agree with you part of the time.

Eric Erickson (00:14):

Excellent.

D.A. King (00:16):

I wanted to call and offer some input on the Georgia State bill that you promoted a little while ago, House Bill 999.

Eric Erickson (00:24):

Uh-huh.

D.A. King (00:26):

And there’s a couple of holes in it. Um, m- m- a lot of people will support “school choice.” Most people here in Georgia are not going to support the contents of the bill that allow direct payments from the State to accounts set up for illegal alien students to be distributed by illegal alien parents who are also given an opportunity to be, uh, have oversight in the compliance for the language of this law. So it needs a lot of tweaks. I hope you’ll include that the next time you pitch it.

Eric Erickson (00:59):

Yeah. Well, u- u- you know, I suspect through the committee process, they will work those, uh, particular issues out. Um, I’m fairly certain the Republicans aren’t gonna wanna fund illegal aliens going to private school, but it’s definitely gonna be one of those issues they’re gonna have to vet at the committee process, but-…

  • The entire call and remarks from Erickson here.

Legislation for a Georgia-operated guest worker program now in place

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Rep Matt Reeves (on right) and wage and hour attorney Les A. Schneider explain HB 1432, House Industry and Labor subcommittee, March 19, 2024.

 

Video record of the presentation of HB 1432 to the House Industry and Labor subcommittee today – here.

From the “what could go wrong?” department: While we wait for the Republicans under the Gold Dome to pass Rep Jesse Petrea’s now celebrated pro-enforcement immigration legislation (HB 1105), we note the post-Crossover Day introduction of a bill from Matt Reeves (R – Duluth).  Petrea’s effort can easily be described as a bill that says we will finally enforce some of the state illegal immigration-related laws passed nearly two decades ago.

Reeves is promising future enforcement of a long list of new state immigration laws he wants to put in place next year. He wants to create a Georgia guest worker program. I am not joking – neither is Reeves.

From HB 1432: “The state administered guest worker program shall be for the purpose of filling needed labor shortages in the State of Georgia through the hiring by employers within this state of willing citizens of other nations to perform work in this state for limited periods of time.”

Here it should be noted that there are at least eleven different visa categories in place today owned and operated by the federal government.

Reeves’ new work force expansion program would allow a Georgia-directed temporary foreign worker to bring a spouse and minor children, all of whom would be issued a Georgia “guest worker ID card.”

Some of the new enforcement requirements would entail collecting a fee from a participating Georgia employer to offset the costs of administering the guest worker program; to check that the employer provides health insurance for the guest worker – and to verify the guest worker has health insurance in place for his family that come with him to the Peach State.

The employer would also “agree to provide housing for such temporary and accompanying family members through housing provided by the employer or other rental or public housing.”  The employer would “agree to provide each guest worker with three meals a day or furnish free and convenient cooking and kitchen facilities to the guest workers that will enable the guest workers to prepare their own meals.”

Reeves is tacitly promising that the proposed state-created guest workers will be treated better in Georgia than the federally supervised foreign workers. We doubt it.

We are duty bound to remind all concerned that when a state action aimed at sanctions for illegal employment or “undocumented workers” arises, either the business lobby or the corporate-funded, ethnic-hustlers invariably howl that “immigration and enforcement is a federal issue!”

According to the 2023 edition of the federal ‘Entry/Exit Overstay Report’ 853,955 temporary visa holders refused to go home when their temporary visas expired in 2022.

*  Related reading: “There is nothing more permanent than a temporary worker.”

Reeves’ promises five years in prison and a large fine for guest workers who don’t return to their home countries upon termination of their state guest worker status. Apparently, the Georgia Department of Labor would get into the temporary foreign worker tracking business.

One can’t help but imagine the news coverage of a “temporary worker” brought here by the Georgia government who refuses to leave while screaming “my kid was born here and is an American citizen – we won’t leave! – gimme our taxpayer-funded private school, ‘school choice’ tuition!”

In case it is relevant, it should at least be mentioned that Mexico’s Foreign Affairs Secretary said in a sharply worded statement that his country would refuse to take anyone back who is ordered to leave the U.S. under a state law and that it “categorically rejects” any state or local government enforcement of immigration laws according to a recent AP report.

In addition to Reeves, the signers on HB 1432 are Reps Reynaldo Martinez (R – Loganville), Derrick Jackson (D- Tyrone), Shelly Hutchinson (D- Snellville), Mary Margaret Oliver (D – Decatur), Alan Powell (R- Hartwell), Saira Draper (D – Atlanta), Farooq Mughal (D- Dacula), Steve Tarvin (R- Chickamauga), Yasmin Neal (D- Jonesboro), Derrick McCollum (R-Chestnut Mountain) and Kasey Carpenter (R- Dalton).

What could go wrong?

 

D.A. King is president of the Dustin Inman Society and proprietor of ImmigrationPoliticsGA.com .

On the air: Lt. Gov. Burt Jones talks about rolling back regulation to help GA business

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  • UPDATE, May 6, 2024: As we feared, Lt. Gov. Burt Jones put SB 354 on the Senate floor after being educated from here on the fact that it dismantled the existing process that requires the verification of lawful presence for applicants for covered occupational licenses. According to Gov. Kemp’s website, SB 354 was a a “high priority” for Lt. Gov. Jones. Kemp signed SB 354 into law on May 2. Readers can catch up on SB 354 here.

 

“I think right now, we’ve got more laws on the books than we can enforce, and I think this ought to be a good time, now more than ever, to, uh, show that we are really conservatives, and we are really about small government, and that’s about, uh, repealing useless pieces of legislation, things of that nature.” – Lt Gov Burt Jones

Georgia Lieutenant Governor Burt Jones was a guest on the Martha Zoller radio show, Nov.6, 2023 to talk about his rollout of the effort to reduce regulation and make businesses more efficient. He calls it the “Red Tape Rollback initiative.”

  • Note: We hope and trust that the Lt. Gov will not help pass the sure-to-come efforts to dismantle laws that we fought hard to put in place to deter illegal employment and illegal immigration – like OCGA 50-36-1 as an example. And we are happy to hear about concerns with public safety. Maybe this means there will be a focus on strengthening and beginning to enforce our anti-sanctuary city laws. Because we now have sanctuary counties.

Audio here. Transcript by Rev.com below.

My cost: $22.00 and about an hour.

Update: Nov 8, 2023: Later in the day many state Senators stood with Lt. Gov Jones to support his Roll Back Regs for business initiative. Photo below.

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Martha Zoller:

It is the Martha Zoller show. We’re gonna continue our discussion on what is happening in Israel with Hamas and all of that, but we’re gonna bring it back closer to home right now, because the best thing we can do, as Americans, as Georgians, is to do the best we can with what we have here in this country. Uh, there are a lot of things that are out of our control, and I know that that is frustrating to people.

And joining me right now is Lieutenant Governor Burt Jones, who has been working hard in the off session, uh, on kind of letting people know what his plans are gonna be going forward into the next legislative session. Uh, Lieutenant Governor Jones, thank you for being with me today.

GA Lt. Gov Burt Jones:

Hey, Martha. Good to be with you. Hope you’re doing well this morning-

Republican radio show host Martha Zoller says illegal immigration has increased so much that Gov. Brian Kemp “had to change his tactics” and abandon his campaign promises on “criminal illegals” and ending sanctuary cities.

Martha Zoller:

Thank-

GA Lt. Gov Burt Jones:

… and thank you for having me on.

Martha Zoller:

Sure thing. Tell us about this red tape rollback initiative and what it’s going to do.

GA Lt. Gov Burt Jones:

Yeah. I mean, it’s a pretty simple concept. We always talk about being conservative, uh, Republicans and have less government and things of that nature. But you know, every year, ever since I’ve been up in the legislature, we always pass more and more bills, more and more legislative, uh, that people have to, uh, abide by either, either from a business standpoint or individually.

And I said, “You know what? The second half of the biennial, uh, why don’t we, uh, start, uh, taking some, some, uh, legislation off the books and useless, uh, uh, regulations and things of that nature?”

Uh, because I think right now, we’ve got more laws on the books than we can enforce, and I think this ought to be a good time, now more than ever, to, uh, show that we are really conservatives, and we are really about small government, and that’s about, uh, repealing useless pieces of legislation, things of that nature.

And, uh, it’s gonna range from, I, I gave the Senators a, uh, I gave ’em kind of free, free fall, just told ’em to, you know, “Bring to us what you think, uh, uh, in, in your area doesn’t, doesn’t warrant, uh, uh, being on the books, and we’ll look at it and talk, uh, look at [inaudible 00:02:00] repealing it, uh, this upcoming session.”

Martha Zoller:

You know, in Texas, they do two-year budgets, and in the off year, they do oversight. They just, they go basically through the budget looking th- for problems like you’re talking about.

GA Lt. Gov Burt Jones:

Mm-hmm.

Martha Zoller:

Senator Isakson, before his death, he had introduced that a number of times in, um, the United States Senate on the federal level. And you know, I don’t, it’s not, it didn’t go anywhere. But you know, it’s not a bad idea, and we used to, a long time ago, have this thing where e- a department a year went through kind of an up and down view of almost every line in their budget. So I love this idea of looking for where we’ve overlapped, looking for regulations, all of that sort of thing, because there are some tools in place that we could use that would really make us more efficient.

GA Lt. Gov Burt Jones:

Oh, no question. Yeah. Looking at agencies and duplication of services and things of that nature [inaudible 00:02:55] definitely s- something that I’m glad you told me that, uh, Johnny Isakson, that was his i- his idea at the federal level, because you know, I’ve always, uh, admired, uh, his service to our state and everything.

And, and, uh, you know, and it does. It needs to be looked at every, uh, um, o- occasionally, you know. What are we doing? How can we, uh, serve the people of Georgia better, uh, whether it be through, uh, eliminating some regulatory things that are not needed, duplication of services and things of that nature?

And I, I figured there’s no better time than the second half of a biennial, when a lot of people are looking at their reelections and things of that nature, um, that it, it’d be nice for ’em to be able to go home and, and tell people, “Instead of, instead of more restraints that we’ve put on, uh, citizens, there, here’s some of the things that we did to, uh, to alleviate some of the burdens that we might have and, uh, whether it be an interpersonal level or business level or whatever.” So we’re excited about it and, uh, I appreciate you having me on to showcase it.

Martha Zoller:

Well, one of the things you’re also looking at is expanding the definition of small business. And we know that most Georgians work for what’s defined as a small business. So how would that help? And how would that work?

GA Lt. Gov Burt Jones:

Well, you know, I mean, yeah. I don’t know how, how you can, uh, you know, I, I consider, uh, my business a small business, you know, but I, but some people might not, uh, consider that.

But I will say this, uh, because the things that, um, when, when companies are trying to get permitting or, and, and things of that nature, either at the local level or through Secretary of State’s Office, uh, th- they need to, I always tell people, “There needs to be a, some sort of a timeframe in which they know that they can, uh, expect a result.”

You know, and, uh, so many times, I see businesses held up, uh, by either local, uh, permitting processes or engineering processes, things of that nature, or the Secretary of State’s level, where they’re just trying to get somebody to call ’em back and, and, and issue a, a renewal license, things of that nature.

So we’re, we’re gonna look at all those things and see what, what we can do better. Uh, there’s always places that we can improve. And, um, and, uh, and so that’s what, that’s what the nature of this exercise is and the, and the upcoming session is gonna be about.

Martha Zoller:

So school safety, I know, is something you’re focusing on, you talked about last week.

GA Lt. Gov Burt Jones:

Sure.

Martha Zoller:

And, um, uh, I’m on the State Board of Education and, and I, you know, it’s something we think about. And I will tell you, too, that Will Schofield, who’s the longest serving superintendent in the state of Georgia, he, he’s the superintendent for Hall County, one of the things he’s doing is he says, “If you look at school shootings, it’s usually somebody we know. It’s somebody who was-“

GA Lt. Gov Burt Jones:

Mm-hmm.

Martha Zoller:

“… affiliated with our school, maybe went to our school, worked at our school.” G- Generally, it’s not-

GA Lt. Gov Burt Jones:

Sure.

Martha Zoller:

… some random person that just comes into the school. And what they’re doing is, um, teaching, from teachers all the way down to students, how to interact, how to deal with difficult situations, how to, how to deal with their feelings and all of that kind of stuff. So he’s all for hardening schools and doing those ki- things, but he’s making huge, uh, progress in lowering the level of violence in the schools in Hall County across the board by teaching these skills. And I think that’s something worth looking at.

GA Lt. Gov Burt Jones:

Mm-hmm. No. I’d definitely love to speak with him about that, Martha. Maybe you could fac- can facilitate that [inaudible 00:06:15].

Martha Zoller:

I would absolutely do that. (laughs)

GA Lt. Gov Burt Jones:

What, what we, uh, what we rolled out, uh, it was a grant program that, it really got misconstrued, misrepresented-

Martha Zoller:

I agree. Yeah.

GA Lt. Gov Burt Jones:

… in the media is, uh, is i- it was, it was basically a grant program for those school systems’ school boards that would want to participate, uh, and, and they could use dollars to, uh, to beef up security, to hire off-duty police officers, things of that nature.

And, uh, and also, if, if they so choose, they could, they could have a staff member, uh, who would be, um, uh, if, if gone through the proper training, could, training, could be, also serve as the on-staff, uh, security [inaudible 00:06:54] as well. But of course, you know, the, the liberal media blew it up as if we were trying to arm every schoolteacher.

And at the end of the day, we’re not taking anything away from the local school boards and what their abilities are, uh, in governing, uh, school systems. All we were trying to do is for those systems that really can’t afford, uh, to be able to have, uh, extra security, law enforcement agencies on, on the staff, uh, then they would be able to be given a, a grant that could potentially help ’em do that.

So, um, but I love your concept about what your Hall County Superintendent’s doing and would love to… All, all we’re trying to do is find the best way possible that we can ensure that our schools are safe, our kids and our teachers are safe. And, and we’re gonna explore every option, uh, there is out there to do so.

Martha Zoller:

Absolutely. So tell us a little more about what you’re working on for this next session, because I know we’re, we’re in the throes of hearings and study groups and all that kind of stuff. What’s on your radar?

GA Lt. Gov Burt Jones:

Uh, I know. I know. Well, you know, well, well, we’ve got a special session coming up, obviously, with the, um, you know, having to look at the maps that a judge, uh, you know, ruled, uh, against the maps we’d drawn, so we’re gonna have to do that here in a couple weeks right after, um, Thanksgiving, I guess.

But, uh, you know, this coming session, it’s gonna be a lot like sessions in the past. We’re gonna look at, uh, you know, how we can, uh, continue to make, uh, the, um, uh, Georgia economy one of the best and the state to do business in.

We’re gonna look at how we can improve our K-12 education. I’m a big proponent of, of, uh, of the school choice measure that we put forth this past year.

And obviously, public safety is a huge, a huge thing every year. And we’re gonna continue to do things to see how we can la- help local and state governments with, uh, public safety.

And, and, uh, and so, um, you know, those are all, those are all a- all measures that are, that are, um, that are at the legislature every, every session. And we’ll, we’ll continue to look at how we can best put our, put our spin and touches on the, on the whatever the final p- product looks like at the end of the session.

Martha Zoller:

If people need to interact with your office, uh, Lieutenant Governor, how can they do that?

GA Lt. Gov Burt Jones:

Oh, yeah. They can go to, uh, Burt, uh, Jones for GA, burtjonesforga.com, uh, or they can, uh, go to lieutenant governor for Jones, uh, for, on the, uh, official side, luca- luca- lieutenantgovernorburtjones.com on the official side. And, and, uh, and we’re one of those, um, Martha, we’re one of those that we aim to please. We’ve got a great, uh, customer service or public relations, uh, team that ne- any time somebody has an issue, they can give us a call. We’ll be happy to, uh, uh, try to, try to best assist ’em in whatever their issues are.

Martha Zoller:

Yeah. I mean, I’m getting great feedback on your constituent services through your office, so I wanted to make sure people knew how they could do that.

GA Lt. Gov Burt Jones:

Sure. Absolutely. Well, I appreciate you having me on today, Martha.

Martha Zoller:

Thanks.

GA Lt. Gov Burt Jones:

And always a, always a pleasure to be with you.

Martha Zoller:

Thank you so much. Lieutenant Governor Burt Jones, about his rollout of trying to reduce regulation and make businesses more efficient. This is one of the things he promised to voters when he was elected, and it’s one of the things he’s, he is trying to do now. We’ll be back on the Martha Zoller show.

Sen. Greg Dolezal omits requirement that students in SB 233 be U.S. citizens or green card holders in bill presentation – Video & transcript

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House Education committee 8:00 AM meeting, March 21, 2023 Left: Rep Todd Jones, (R) Sen. Greg Dolezal in 8:00 AM House Education committee hearing.

Why do you think Sen Dolezal didn’t tell the committee and the world about the illegal immigration component of his bill?

Eligible students must be U.S. citizens or green card holders. Why doesn’t the bill have the same requirement for the “parents?” We’ll tell you in another post.

  • Related: A line-by-line look at the role of parents in the proposed new state “Promise Scholarship” grant 

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Sen. Greg Dolezal (R- Cumming) Lead sponsor, SB 233 “school choice” – presenting the bill as passed by the senate to the House Education committee. Partial transcript. This begins after start of presentation and stops well before the end.

“Um, I thought I would start, Mr. Chairman, the same way I started in the subcommittee yesterday, which is simply to talk about this bill from a high level, what this bill does, who it does it for, how it will function, and what it is that we’re doing.

Senate Bill 233 is the Georgia Promise Scholarship Act, and from… At a high level, it takes the state funding for students who are currently enrolled in public school, it allows their parents to redirect those funds to an educational outcome, and a pathway of their choice.

That can be homeschool, virtual school, private school, co-ops, and as the education industry continues to innovate, hopefully we’ll continue to see further opportunities for parents to pursue excellent education outcomes for their children as we move into the future.

So, in the colloquial terms, as we’ve heard these… This term bantered about, it’s a money follows the child program. Mr. Chairman, I think it’s important to just talk through a high level of how schools are funded in the state of Georgia.

You have three buckets of funding, federal funding, state funding, and then the local funding, the local funding comes from the tax digest. The state funding is appropriated on a per capita basis, as you know, and it is designed to cover the marginal costs of adding a student to a system, so therefor the state funding for every school system in the state of Georgia fluctuates as the head count fluctuates, which is almost guaranteed to be some fluctuation year over year as you have [inaudible 00:01:36] student that move through the system.

The local funding, which comes from the local tax digest is designed to cover the fixed cost. That’s your building costs, and other hard costs that tend to be more static in nature, and don’t fluctuate as much via head count.

That funding is obviously based on the tax digest, and not at all tied to head count. What the bill, as it passed the Senate will do, it was… It will allow students to take $6,000, which is slightly less than the average that the state spends per student, uh, in the K through 12 public education system, and allow them to pursue one of those opportunities.

–>Who is eligible for the program? Like I mentioned, the students who are currently enrolled in public school, or those entering public school for the first time, and then the students who were attending a school that would be deemed to be in the bottom 25%, so the bottom quartile of schools in the state of Georgia *(actually, lines 71 & 72 create the requirement that the student be a U.S. citizen or Lawful Permanent Resident (green card holder) – also found on lines 82 & 83 in the latest version of the bill).

  • Update, March 22, 2023 6:20 AM: The Republican-majority House Education committee passed the latest version of SB 233 out on an unaccountable voice vote yesterday.

How is the funding spent? If you’re familiar with FSA programs, or other things that are administered by a third party, this would be very similar. These, uh… The state finance commissioner would stand up a third party administrator, and the, the funds would flow through that, that third party…”

end of transcript.

 

Free car wash for Scott Ryfun listeners who help us stop bad GOP bills under the Gold Dome – ACTION INFO

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Welcome Straight Talk with Scott Ryfun listeners!

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 for all 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.

 

 

Illegal immigration in GA: Republicans at work under the Gold Dome *Updated with Crossover Day results

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Rep Jesse Petrea presenting his HB 136 – House Homeland Security Committee hearing, Feb.10, 2023

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“It looks like Biden’s illegal parolees (formerly known as illegal aliens) numbered nearly 380,000 in the official statistics from October 2021 to September 2022. Many of them are here in GA.”

  • 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.

 

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.

D.A. King is proprietor of ImmigrationPoliticsGA.com and president of the Dustin Inman Society @DAKDIS – Twitter

Call 404-656-1776 for help on fighting “criminal illegals” in Georgia #BrianKemp

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The Dustin Inman Society offers a reward for information leading to the discovery of a mention of illegal immigration or “criminal illegals” in Georgia by Gov. Brian Kemp since 2018.

 

When asked why he robbed so many banks for so many years, the infamous 20th century thief Willie Sutton is said to have replied, “…because that’s where the money is.”

I have a similar response for people who ask why I often write about Gov Brian Kemp’s defiance on his campaign pledge and his oath of office regarding “criminal illegals,” sanctuary cities (and counties) and the scourge of illegal immigration in Georgia: “Because that’s where guilt” is my unapologetic answer.

William Francis Sutton is one of America’s most famous bank robbers.

On that, if nobody else is going to ask, I will. Again. Why aren’t more conservatives openly outraged, and taking loud public note of Kemp’s dangerous dereliction of duty? Why aren’t newspaper editors, “journalists,” radio show hosts and more Republican officials constantly pushing Kemp to honor his oath of office and enforce the laws aimed at illegal immigration? Why isn’t Kemp in “the news” for something besides “number one for business…” and “he’s never been more popular?”

What about the innocent Georgians who trusted him to protect them from “criminal illegals”? Those are rhetorical questions. There is a cost of doing business to consider for a lot of folks.

I bluntly asked a county GOP chairman here in the Atlanta area last fall why illegal immigration had dropped off the topic list in that group. “Because Gov. Kemp doesn’t like that issue…” was the quick, honest, and educated reply. Indeed.

Ga Gov. Brian Kemp
  • Gov. Kemp’s office phone number in Atlanta is 404-656-1776. Email Gov Kemp here.

Great respect and a well-deserved mention of retired immigration enforcement officer and former Border Patrol agent Bob Trent of St. Mary’s. If you missed Bob’s letter to the editor (“Kemp backs down on immigration”) recently published in the Glynn County paper of record, it’s worth your time to find it. You can also read it on our IPG website.

Forget the loss of ‘the rule of law,’ I am hearing that some readers don’t want to believe that illegal aliens present a danger. Here is a sample of some of the “criminal illegals” that did not escape capture here in Georgia. As of December 31, 2022, there were about 1500 criminal “undocumented workers” in the state prison system. Some of the charges and numbers go like this: Child molestation: 230, Murder: 176, Rape: 157, Armed robbery: 78, Cruelty to children: 7, Kidnapping: 47, Trafficking meth: 99, Vehicular homicide: 10, Aggravated sodomy: 12… the list goes on. That data is courtesy of the Dept. of Corrections via a concerned Republican state Representative.

Totals as of Dec. 31, 2022 from GA. Dept. of Corrections – illegal aliens with ICE detainers in GA prison system.

The complete list from the DOC is posted on the Dustin Inman Society website.

For those who don’t know, the Dustin Inman Society is named after a Woodstock GA youth who is forever 16 years-old because an illegal alien who had been in close contact with local law enforcement agencies multiple times was always released before he finally separated the Inman family forever.

The goal of the Dustin Inman Society is to educate the public and to work to make Georgia as unattractive to illegal immigration as possible. There was a time when that was a goal of most Republican legislators under the Gold Dome. But that was back when most Republican voters didn’t depend on or allow their legislators  – or the governor – to determine “the issues.”

The Dustin Inman Society is completely dependent on donations to operate. We have been struggling here since 2005.

I planned on writing about the push by the big money lobby in Atlanta to pass “school choice” legislation that would make private school tuition a state benefit for illegal alien families today. Maybe next time. If you have an interest in learning more now, please see several relevant posts on ImmigrationPoliticsGA.com.

  • A version of the above option column is also published in The Islander newspaper in Glynn County, GA. today.

I am blocked at the call-in number of the Erick Erickson radio show

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 “The party you are trying to reach is not accepting calls at this time.”

My cell phone number may be is  blocked from calling the Erick Erickson radio show 

 

UPDATE: Feb. 9, 2023: Still blocked as per attempt to call in today.

UPDATE: Feb. 23, 2023: Still blocked and I can’t stop laughing.

UPDATE: March 28, 2023: Yep, still blocked.

UPDATE: May 9, 2023. Still blocked from participating win Erick’s show.

UPDATE: June 13, 2023. Yep, still blocked

UPDATE: September 26, 2023 – still blocked from joining the Erick Erickson Show.

UPDATE: August 5, 2024 – still blocked.

  • Bonus: Erick Erickson to GOP: ‘Do school choice as an entitlement!’ – transcript & audio

The below is related to the Erick Erickson radio show from WSB-radio in Atlanta, *Jan 24, 2023. Podcast here – S12 Episode 16, Hour 2.  Transcript on the bottom. Audio below. Below that, audio of the results of me trying to go on the air to ask Erickson about illegal aliens and state-funded private school tuition. I had a statewide column posted that day.

 

 

The below is most of an Erickson segment on “entitlements” and school choice. It’s Erickson’s advice to Republicans – focused further down on Republican state legislators in Georgia. I listen to the show only sporadically but have heard this same idea presented three or four times since last January (our legislature starts up in January) when I called in to suggest Erickson qualify that Georgia taxpayers should not be paying for private school tuition for illegal alien students or families. At the time he was selling the ridiculous HB 999 in the Georgia state House.

Using my iPhone, as I did last year, I tried to call in for this January segment too – I got a recording saying that “the party you are trying to reach is not accepting calls at this time.” I tried it several times. Same recording. You can hear it in the below 10 second audio recording. Here is a photo of my iPhone screen after several tries.

Then I tried my land line. It went right through to Erickson’s call screener who asked me what I wanted to say and then my name, then told me to hang on for Erick. That was a little before 2:00 PM.

  • Related: Not accepting calls at this time – Recipient is blocking the caller
  • Update: 12:25, Jan 25: With a guest host on Erickson’s show today I used my iPhone to call Erickson’s call in number again. I got the same recording as yesterday. Then I tried using two land lines and my wife’s cellphone. Our calls rang through on all of them except my iPhone. My apologies to the call screener – yep, that was me.

I put the call on speaker and listened as Erickson took four or five calls, including two on school choice. He didn’t put me on the air. The show was over at 3:00 pm. I tried to get on again about three months ago using my iPhone, but stayed on hold for about forty-five minutes before the show was over without being “picked.”

I may have been blocked by Erick Erickson on his show call-in number    877-973-7425.

I can get to the call screener with a land line on a number I have never used to call in, but not on the iPhone number I usually use. I am wondering if Erick Erickson, Republican, conservative, national radio show host has blocked me. Could be…he is also a shameless Brian Kemp protector. I am not. I don’t think either one of them like my determination to expose Kemp, who is also shielded by the Georgia media – including the liberal AJC newspaper. There is no doubt that I am blocked at the AJC.

I follow Erickson on Twitter. I’m not blocked there yet:

  • Erickson file here.
  • (Part of) AJC file here.

__

Transcript by Rev.com. My cost $20.00 and about 4 hours.

Erick Erickson radio host:

“…Actually did show up in the election and vote. The- the people who voted early, the people who voted on election day, they’re surveyed; we have lists of those people. Media agencies go out and find those people. And what we’re finding is that, uh, the cultural conservative values of the GOP, and particularly as the Democratic Party becomes Whiter and Whiter, the culturally conservative values of the GOP are resonating more and more with Black voters.

But, to Michelle’s point, it doesn’t seem like it’s significant because when you’re… when you go from 90% voting Democrat to 85% voting Democrat, you still got 85% voting Democrat. But to put this in further perspective, Brian Kemp got almost half of the Hispanic vote. In 2018, he only got 38% of it. That was a pretty significant shift. He also did better with Black… among Black men in 2022, than 2018.

Put it to you this way, if Republicans continue to improve with the Hispanic vote, Brian Kemp is term-limited, but if the next Republican governor in Georgia does the same in the Hispanic community and the same in the… in the White vote, he’s still gonna win. Republicans in Georgia are shifting the state and I firmly believe, those of you listening in Atlanta, in the state legislature right now, if you would pursue school choice, that issue resonates in the Black and the Hispanic community. You give an entitlement, these voters aren’t gonna walk back that entitlement. This is something you need to pursue.

Time for me to get on my soapbox. Let’s take a Republican and Democratic theory at face value. When you give an entitlement, that entitlement will not go away. Democrats have given Medicare and Medicaid, and Social Security, and healthcare, and you name it, and Republicans had never got rid of them. So, Republicans, here is an entitlement to give voters, give families, give citizens, and that is: The opportunity to pick the school of their choice for their children.

You give school choice to the kids; That’s an entitlement. And it is the one entitlement the Democrats hate. So, you will see Democrats campaign on getting rid of it and fighting it. We see this with Katie Hobbs in Arizona; The Republicans gave school choice to parents, Katie Hobbs has come in, she beat Kari Lake, she’s now the governor, and she wants to defund it. There’s already a voter backlash in the Hispanic community against Katie Hobbs for taking away their new entitlement.

You do this in a place like Georgia where Republicans are beginning to make ground with Hispanic voters and Black voters, you’re gonna lock Republicans in for the next several decades because no Democrat running in 2026 is going to campaign on school choice; They’re gonna campaign on getting rid of it. They’re gonna claim, “It killed the public schools.” And you know what? All those parents, whose kids are suddenly getting a good education, they’re gonna vote Republican. This is how Ron DeSantis won in Florida; Andrew Gillum, his opponent, campaigned on finally getting rid of Jeb Bush’s school choice reforms. And Ron DeSantis won enough Black women and Hispanic women, that he barely won the governorship, but he did. And look what happened four years later? He improved school choice, he bolstered it, he strengthened it, he funded those schools.

You all focused on the culture war stuff. The people in Florida, they’re focusing on who we navigated COVID, how we navigated the economy and what he did for school choice. And they all voted for him. That Republicans nationwide are not rushing to school choice is… just shows you how stupid so many people in the party are. Democrats have, for years, given everything to voters and dared Republicans to take it all back. And when Republicans campaign on taking it all back, they lose. That’s why Donald Trump is out right now telling Republicans, “Don’t campaign on cutting Social Security. Don’t campaign on cutting and reforming Medicare and Medicaid. Don’t you dare do it, you’ll lose.” And Republicans are listening to him.

So, give parents hope for their kid’s future. Give parents the opportunity to get their kids out of failing public schools; Where the schools are now more interested in- in turning your kids woke, than helping your kids not be broke. They want your kids to be indoctrinated, not educated. They want your kids to be down with left-wing groupthink. They don’t want your kids to be on entrepreneurial. They don’t want your kids to learn individual responsibility. They don’t want your kids to learn the basics skills to get a job as an entrepreneur and compete against the big business, no, they want your child enslaved to big business. Teaching them Common Core maths, so they can’t get out on their own. Binding them to the administrative governmental state.

You give parents school choice and watch the GOP become the dominant party, and watch the kids thrive. This is the civil right issue of the day, and I cannot believe Republicans aren’t with the program. I can’t believe Republicans nationwide aren’t pushing this. In my state of Georgia, there’s a headline in the newspaper today, that there’s a renewed push to expand Georgia’s private school tuition subsidies. They want a hundred million dollar increase to Georgia’s Student Scholarship Program. So far, they only secured 20 million dollars. The chief architect of the scale back legislation, John Carson of Marietta, is proposing to expand the cap on the Tax Credit Program from a 120 million to 200 million dollars.

The American Federation of Teachers and The, uh, National Education Association are opposed, but the American Federation for Children supports it. Y’all, I- I can’t emphasize this enough: You’ve got to give school choice. You’ve got to allow parents to get their kids out of these public schools. Do you know where I am in Georgia? On Valentine’s Day last year, an elementary school gym teacher decided, on Valentine’s Day, to bring his first grade students into the gym and show them a video on same-sex love. I’m not making that up.

Parents, many of them didn’t know about it until I talked about it on this program. They found out from their first graders, that’s what happened at that elementary school. And the superintendent of the county education system sent me a very indignant letter.

Erick Erickson radio host:

Upset that I exposed what happened. There are a lot of private schools in that county. There are a lot of private schools that would love to take in Black and Hispanic students who are in those failing public schools, but it’s the Republicans who are blocking them. The Democrats don’t have the votes to stop it. The Republicans could embrace full school choice, and these private schools would bring these kids in, allow them in. Don’t- don’t punish the private schools that are Christian and run according to Christian guidelines, you don’t have to do that. Let ’em in and grow. Let ’em in and grow. Support them. You gotta do that.

This is the civil rights issue of our time. Republicans are failing on this. Don’t heap poor kids in failing public schools, when you have the opportunity to give them access to a private school where they can get a great education and become tomorrow’s entrepreneur. You support your job force, your workforce, your future by giving these kids school choice. Whenever you are nationwide, if you’ve got a Republican legislature and a Republican governor, and that’s the majority of the nation, you should be doing this. So, support tomorrow, today.

Now, you should go to edenpuredeals.com and get an EdenPURE Thunderstorm. You can get three of them for less than $200. You’re saving $200, and you get free shipping at edenpuredeals.com. You’ll be greeted with a discount code box. You can put in Erick…

 

AFP/LIBRE Initiative-Georgia is holding an amnesty sales seminar and pushing an easier life in GA for illegal aliens – David Casas, Director of Grassroots Operations

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Image: Libre Initiative- Georgia Facebook page.

The pro-amnesty LIBRE Initiative – a project of Americans for Prosperity (AFP)

David Casas. Photo: Gwinnett Daily Post.

Former Republican state Rep David Casas is Director of Grassroots Operations LIBRE Initiative – Georgia. See Casas bio on Ballotpedia. 

* UPDATE: Sign up here to attend the LIBRE Initiative Georgia “yes to amnesty” event. Don’t miss the terms and conditions for attendance. 

**UPDATE AGAIN: It seems that a group in Washington D.C. (since 1995) calling itself “America’s Future” is proud to be cohost (?) of the LIBRE-Georgia event.

____

David Casas Lobbies for the LIBRE Initiative Corporation. Below is a short version of what Casas pushed during the last state legislative session.

HB 120 – 2021/2022 attempt to change GA law so that illegal aliens could access much lower instate tuition rates in taxpayer-funded colleges than Americans and legal immigrants from other states. HB 120 was a hustle in that the first two versions (of three) did not actually contain the “DACA” language the sponsor, Rep Kasey Carpenter (R), told the House was in it. BTW: DACA recipients are illegal aliens. See written testimony from a retired senior INS/Border Patrol agent. The management at Libre GA knew all of this. So did the legislators who voted the bill out of committee. HB 120 was stopped before it could see a floor vote.

See the House video of David Casas lobbying for HB 120.

David Casas. Photo: LIBRE Initiative-Georgia Facebook page.
  • Related (with video): David Casas, Director of Grassroots Operations for The LIBRE Initiative Georgia on Univision: “Immigration reform (amnesty) will come from an effort of the people.”

 HB 60 (see also HB 999) – 2021/2022 Legislation labeled “school choice!” from Rep Wes Cantrell (R) that would have provided a small fraction of Georgia K-12 students with a taxpayer-funded “Promise Scholarship” to attend private schools. The bills would have created accounts for parents to pay schools with state funds and put parents on an oversight committee to decide eligible expenses. The original language did not exclude or mention the 400K-ish illegal aliens in Georgia. The amended versions contained language that was sold as excluding illegal aliens. It didn’t. See here for more info. The bills would have created a scenario in which private school tuition was funded for some illegal aliens while some American students were left out.

Video of LIBRE Georgia’s David Casas lobbying for HB 60 here.

SB 601 – 2022 – From the same people who designed HB 60/HB 999. Senator Butch Miller (R). sponsor. The bill did not contain a real tool to exclude illegal alien students or parents/families. The bill made it all the way from the hopper to the Senate floor in twelve days. The Senate Higher Education Committee Chairman, Sen Chuck Payne (R), did not allow any public comment. The bill would have created a scenario in which private school tuition was funded for some illegal aliens while some American students were left out. See the statement of support from Libre GA spokesman David Casas here.

After we made it clear that we had spread the word on the contents regarding illegal immigration, the bill was voted down on the floor 29-20.

  • Related: (with video) LIBRE Initiative Georgia’s David Casas on Univision for the 10-year anniversary of Obama’s illegal DACA scam.

 * More video: David Casas on Univision peddles a repeat of the failed 1986 amnesty for illegal aliens while Biden administration operates an open border to the world. Follow the money. Like the Chamber of Commerce, Casas is pushing additional foreign labor in the U.S.

  • A March, 2022 post with more on David Casas, the LIBRE Initiative – Georgia, HB 932, the liberal AJC and the push for amnesty… here.

 

HB 999 & HB 60 from Rep Wes Cantrell and the Cato Institute (via the Federation for Children) are as dead as Pancho Villa

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March 18, 2022. These bills are officially dead.

Update: Feb 25: Hold the Happy Dance.

In two days, radio talker and part time conservative Erick Erickson has flipped from condemning the Federation for Children for sending the below mentioned flyer attacking Republicans who opposed the “school choice” HB 999 to doing exactly that himself. He is now urging voters to call Reps to revive the bill that does not actually exclude illegal alien students or illegal aliens parents from participating in the $6 k a yr K-12 scholarship. Neither is he telling listeners that it was the Cato-tied Federation for Children who supplied the model language for Cantrell’s bills.

 

 

Happy Dance here!

With special “thanks for the help!”” to Christy Riggins and Cory DeAngelis

More tomorrow. But HB 999 is dead and so is HB 60. To see our educational work on these bills use the search box and bill numbers on this website. An even more extensive list of groups that lobbied for these bills and cosponsors coming soon as well.

Related: More on Rep Wes Cantrell’s HB 60 & HB 999 – his secret verification system will not work

______

An “educational” lobbying group killed their own legislation through direct mail, according to the AJC.

“A national advocacy group promoting school vouchers bombarded conservative Georgia voters with glossy mailers tying their Republican state legislator to Stacey Abrams and other “radical left” figures. It backfired in spectacular fashion.

Just days after the American Federation for Children financed the mailers in about 16 Republican-controlled legislative districts, House Speaker David Ralston told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution that the voucher proposal the group sought to pass is dead for the year.”