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There will not be an online version of the below committee sub unless the bill is passed out of there committee. Bonus video here.
A suggestion for voters who actually go to the polls and cast a vote in person: When the poll worker asks you for I.D and you pull out your drivers license, ask them if they would have accepted your license if it read “LIMITED TERM” across the top.
Spoiler: The answer will be “yes, we accept all Georgia drivers licenses.”
Because that’s the law.
“Section 21-2-417 – Presentation of proper identification to poll workers; “…each elector shall present proper identification to a poll worker at or prior to completion of a voter’s certificate at any polling place and prior to such person’s admission to the enclosed space at such polling place. Proper identification shall consist of any one of the following: (1) A Georgia driver’s license which was properly issued by the appropriate state agency…”
There is nothing in Georgia law that excludes the “LIMITED TERM” drivers license or state ID card from being regarded as “proper identification’ at the polls.
What are the LIMITED TERM drivers licenses and official state ID Cards?
They are the driving/ID credentials issued to non-U.S. citizens by Georgia’s Dept. of Drivers Services (DDS). This includes students here on temporary visas, Mercedes Benz executives on visas – and illegal aliens who are still benefitting from the protections of deferred deportation proceedings illegally conferred by Barack Obama in 2012 as part of his pandering re-election campaign.
There have been several attempts under the Gold Dome to rectify this needless lapse in common sense and security. None of them were allowed to pass.
The most recent try was in 2021 with HB 228 sponsored by Cherokee County Republican Rep. Charlice Byrd and an impressive list of powerful cosponsors. The bill was well-written and simple. It would have added wording to the law that excluded drivers licenses and ID Cards issued to foreigners. The bill would have added words across the top of the credentials that read: ‘BEARER NOT A U.S. CITIZEN — NOT VOTER ID’.” For mail in voting protections the legislation would have required DDS to create a document numbering system in which all non-citizen’s document numbers began with “NC” alerting all concerned to the non-citizens status of the bearer.
Readers may remember the climate of the nation, state and legislative session in 2021 after the 2020 election results. The short end of this story is that HB 228 was not allowed so much as a vote in the House Special Committee on Election Integrity. We had to fight to even get an abbreviated, Friday PM hearing. Taking a goofy talking point from the far-left, Republican opponents told us the change would be branding non-citizens with a “Scarlett Letter.”
The bill died after much push back by Ryan Germany, then General Counsel at the Georgia Secretary of State office.
Voters may want to ask their Republican legislators to reintroduce the bill and easily solve a needless – and mindless – lapse in security.
I end by suggesting readers check out the star in the righthand corner of the current LIMITED TERM drivers license issued in Georgia. That denotes it is REAL ID Act compliant. It’s not only U.S. citizens who are given that status on their licenses.
REAL ID Act approval allows the bearer to enter nuclear power facilities, federal buildings and to board airliners in the post- 9/11 America. Google it.
–> Update: January 31, 2022 Breitbart has pick up the story on the below bills and our work here in Georgia. We hope you read it!
Update: August 28, 2022 This will be an issue next session, say the corporate-funded lobbyists, here.
Cause of death? It’s an election year and we know too much.
SR 376 was designed to create a special senate “study committee” to begin the process of creating legislation for next year to “relax” current state laws on verifying legal immigration status before issuing occupational and professional licenses. It came from the same people and had the same agenda as this Dog and Pony show in the House from last year.
Senate Resolution 376
By: Senators Thompson of the 14th, Brass of the 28th, Kirkpatrick of the 32nd, Cowsert of the 46th, Summers of the 13th and others
A RESOLUTION
Creating the Senate Occupational Licensing Study Committee; and for other purposes.
WHEREAS, the Georgia General Assembly strives to foster a robust workforce and thriving business environment in this state; and
WHEREAS, onerous occupational licensing requirements can inhibit economic mobility, limit job prospects, and hinder small businesses; and WHEREAS, research has shown that Georgia has some of the country’s most burdensome occupational licensing laws; and
WHEREAS, it is in the state’s best interests to examine its current occupational licensing laws and requirements to determine if they should be modified or restructured so as to encourage, promote, and foster employment and healthy business growth in this state; an
WHEREAS, it is important to review how other states have responsibly reformed occupational licensing to streamline processes, reduce barriers to work, and eliminate unnecessary rules and regulations to determine if Georgia could benefit from similar reforms.
The bill was not heard on Monday, but was passed out in a one-hour, 9:00 AM meeting on Tuesday, March 8, 2022 with a 6-4 vote. No public comment was allowed. Much more here.
The Dustin Inman Society opposes SB 601
HB 999 would create a state funded alternative K-12 school system for all student who have spent six weeks in a public school and have a parent, guardian or custodian living in Georgia. A new “Promise Scholarship” payment of $6000 per school year would be sent from state coffers directly to an account set up for the student. Parents/guardians/custodians would be in charge of distributing the funds. A committee made up of parents would be appointed to oversee compliance with the state’s scholarship laws. The bill is being sold as “school choice” and is gaining support. Radio personality Erick Erickson is pitching it on his national radio show. Nothing in the language of the legislation as presented mentions or deals with the fact that Georgia’s public schools are packed with illegal aliens who also have illegal alien parents. The scenario if passed as introduced would be that the state of Georgia sends money directly to the account of an illegal aliens child, an illegal alien parent has authority to disburse those funds and could easily be appointed to be a member of the oversight committee.Read more here.
K-12 private school scholarship should be limited to U.S. citizens and Lawful Permanent Residents HB 999 HB 60. Here is the fix
The Dustin Inman Society opposes HB 999.
Last year a federal judge ruled the DACA program to be unlawful. The 11th circuit appellate court ruled in 2019 that illegal aliens with DACA are still illegal aliens. They do not have legal status and are removable at any time. The Georgia Attorney General’s office takes a similar position. There are about 20K DACA recipients in GA.
Republican Rep. Kasey Carpenter introduced HB 120 in 2021. It puts DACA illegal aliens in front of Americans and legal immigrants. We regard that as un-American. The instate tuition for illegals concept is publicly pushed by the Georgia Chamber of Commerce because it would lower wages for Americans and raise corporate profits.
The Dustin Inman Society opposes HB120.
would allow refugees, foreigners here on Special Immigrant Visas (SIV) and Afghans on “humanitarian parole” to be excluded from the current state law and BOR policy that says newly arrived college students must be GA residents for 12 months before they can access the much lower instate tuition rate in Georgia’s public colleges and tech schools. (The Special Immigrant Visa grants permanent residence to foreign nationals who claim to have helped the U.S. government abroad).
HB 932 does not cover Americans and immigrants outside the above description who move to Georgia from other states– they would still be required to pay the higher tuition rate for public colleges/tech schools for the first year of their residence. HB 932 is sponsored by Republican Rep Wes Cantrell and has Democrat cosponsors. We regard HB 932 as un-American.
The Dustin Inman Society opposes HB 932.
The Dustin Inman supports HB 228.
More information is easily accessed at ImmigrationPoliticsGA.com and NewDustinInmanSociety.org.
Rep Kasey Carpenter (R–Dalton) is determined enough to pass his legislation granting special, reduced public college tuition rates to illegal aliens with DACA living in Georgia that he attacked his own county Republican party from the floor of the House Chamber last year (video).
Conservative voters should share his level of interest – and remember the DACA scheme is illegal.
We offer a review of Carpenter’s bill (HB 120) and another immigration related Gold Dome measure that may escape coverage in “the news.”
HB 120 – “Equity” in public college tuition rates for illegal aliens
As we explained in November, the Georgia Chamber of Commerce has joined the Mark Zuckerburg-founded, pro-amnesty (Build Back Better!) FWD.us lobbying enterprise in advocating for illegal alien Georgia residents with a DACA deferral on deportation to receive lower tuition rates than Americans and legal immigrants from other states. Carpenter’s bill would change state law so that could happen.
Another active backer is Jaime Rangel, an illegal alien with DACA who lobbies for FWD.us in the state Capitol.
Georgia Senate president Pro Tem and candidate for Lt. Governor, Sen. Butch Miller (R- Gainesville), also supports the tuition amnesty concept according to a January 7, 2022 news report in the Gainesville Times.
As Carpenter’s experience with his county GOP illustrates, the idea is wildly unpopular with Republican voters.
With more Democrat cosponsors than Republicans, HB 120 advanced out of the GOP-controlled House Higher Education Committee last March. The vote record is quite interesting – Rep Calvin Smyre (D, Columbus), “Dean of the General Assembly” voted “present.”
The bill must start the committee process over again this year to make it to a vote in the full House.
It helps to know that for academic year 2020-2021, the average tuition & fees for colleges in Georgia was $4,739 for instate and $17,008 for out-of-state according to experts at collegetuition.com. In Carpenter’s bill an American from Michigan (for example) would pay the higher rate while a covered illegal alien living in Georgia would pay no more than an additional 10% of the instate rate. This is apparently the new “equity.”
It’s not too early to ask every candidate for governor if they would sign such a bill into law.
HB 228 – Closing a needless loophole on non-citizen ID in election law
The drivers licenses and official ID Cards that Georgia issues to foreign nationals are almost exactly like the ones commonly given to U.S. citizens. The difference between the ID credentials for citizens and non-citizens – like guest workers, green card holders, foreign students, DACA recipients (yes, DACA recipients ) – is that the non-citizens get a card with the words “LIMITED – TERM,” printed across the top.
As state Rep Charlice Byrd wrote for Insider Advantage GA in October (Secure Non-Citizens ID Now – Before New Elections), she has sponsored a “no brainer” bill (HB 228) to change the fact that there is nothing in state law that specifically excludes the non-U.S. citizen ID credentials from consideration as “proper identification” for voter ID purposes.
Last year the most strident Capitol opponent of Rep. Byrd’s legislation was Republican Rep. Bonnie Rich (Suwanee). As a sub-committee Chair in the House Special Committee on Election Integrity she refused to grant Byrd a hearing on the bill. The Chairman of the full committee, Rep. Barry Fleming, was a hero to voter security advocates when he decided to preside over an abbreviated hearing for HB 228 himself.
That hearing illustrated a remarkable lack of knowledge on the part of committee members and the General Counsel at the Secretary of State’s office. There was no vote.
The heated objections to Byrd’s bill from Rich were that it was unnecessary because “non-citizens cannot register to vote” – so there is no need to add wording to state law making foreigner’s drivers license or ID Card ID ineligible as voter ID. Rich’s belief is contradicted by NPR, the Associated Press and reports from Michigan on the Motor Voter registration process also used in Georgia.
We doubt it will change Rep Rich’s mind or attitude, but voters need to know that last year a woman who is not a U.S. citizen was fined for voting illegally in Georgia in 2012 and 2016 according to the liberal AJC last week.
Byrd’s bill requires the warning “BEARER NOT U.S. CITIZEN – NOT VOTER ID” to be added to the front of the LIMITED TERM credentials. Also, as mail-in vote security, the Department of Driver Services would begin a system in which the first two characters of the drivers license/ID Card numbers be “NC” on the cards issued to non-citizens. We would catch up with Alabama on that one.
Taking a cue from the illegal alien lobby, Rep. Rich has informed curious constituents that the added wording to the ID credentials given to foreigners in Georgia is unreasonable and would be a modern day “scarlet letter.”
Recent developments
* Rep Byrd has been advised to meet with the Speaker David Ralston and Gov. Brian Kemp before she could expect a committee vote on her election ID safeguard legislation.
* Companion language to HB 228 is reportedly coming up in the Senate.
* HB 228 – current version here.
An independent voter, D.A. King is president of the Dustin Inman Society and proprietor of ImmigrationPoliticsGA.com
A version of this column was originally posted on the subscription news and opinion outlet Insider Advantage Georgia, Jan. 14, 2022.
“More than three months after the bill passed the senate you can evidently still read it before senate leadership does.”
By Inger Eberhart
My colleague D.A. King’s recent Insider Advantage column (‘GOP senators and another ‘Americans last’ tuition bill’) shined some much needed light on troubling Gold Dome legislation. But there is more.
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.
As an illustration, I offer the substance of another senate bill now pending in the House, SB 112 sponsored by Republican Sen Jason Anavitarte and a lengthy list of GOP cosponsors.
Apparently a “two-fer,” this one was presented as the “WorkforceEXCELerationAct” while Anavitarte explained that it would result in “more jobs and more workers!”
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…”
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.
*According to Sen Anavitarte, SB 112 would “…expand educational opportunities to Georgians which would in turn, create more jobs across the state.”
*We note that federal law prohibits employment of illegal aliens.
* State law prohibits illegal aliens from accessing taxpayer-funded Adult Education
*Only one Republican voted “NO” on the bill in the senate.
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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.
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.”
The bill is pushed by lead sponsor, Senator Jason Anivitarte (R – Dallas). You can see the bill’s other sponsors here. SB 112 was passed out of the senate Economic Development and Tourism Committee, Sen. Brandon Beach, Chairman.
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.
Vote record here. And below.
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*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: 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.
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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.
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.
* 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.
