Georgia currently does not allow any form of citizen initiated ballot measures, so all ballot measures must be referred by the legislature. The state legislative session ran from January 11 through March 25, 2016, during which time the Georgia legislature was able to place legislatively referred constitutional amendments on the ballot. The legislature can put a proposed amendment on the ballot upon a two-thirds majority vote in both the legislative chambers. Constitutional amendments must be approved by a majority of the electorate. East Cobbers, along with their fellow Georgians, will get the chance to vote on the following four proposed amendments to the State Constitution this Nov. 8.
AMENDMENT 1 – The Georgia Authorization of the State Government to Intervene in Failing Local Schools. Approval of the amendment by voters was designed to trigger the implementation of Senate Bill 133. SB 133 provides for three governance models of schools under an “Opportunity School District” (OSD) agency:
- direct management by the OSD;
- shared governance between the OSD and local board of education; and
- transformation of the school into a charter school.
SB 133 was also written to give the OSD power to close schools as the “intervention of last resort.” No more than 20 schools would be taken in by the OSD per year, and no more than 100 schools would be governed by the district at any one time. Schools would stay in the district for five to ten years. Schools would be considered “persistently failing schools” that could fall under the purview of the OSD if they score below 60 on the Georgia Department of Education accountability measure.
According to the Athens Banner-Herald and Gov. Deal’s office, the amendment was modeled after the Recovery School District in Louisiana and the Achievement School District in Tennessee.
In 2015, a study done by Education Week ranked Georgia 31st out of the 50 states in terms of education quality, giving the state an overall grade of “C minus.” Georgia has more than 2,200 schools, and according to Georgia Leads on Education, 127 are considered to be “failing” by the Governor’s Office of Student Achievement.
A “yes” vote supports authorizing the state to form an Opportunity School District that would govern certain elementary and secondary schools determined to be “chronically failing.”
A “no” vote opposes authorizing the state to form an Opportunity School District that would govern certain elementary and secondary schools determined to be “chronically failing,” thereby continuing to have school boards/districts supervise respective schools.
To read the proposed amendment in full and a more detailed analysis, click here.
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AMENDMENT 2– The Georgia Additional Penalties for Sex Crimes to Fund Services for Sexually Exploited Children. Addresses generating revenue for the Safe Harbor for Sexually Exploited Children Fund. Allows the state legislature to provide for additional penalties or fees to a court case in which a person is found guilty “of keeping a place of prostitution, pimping, pandering, pandering by compulsion, solicitation of sodomy, masturbation for hire, trafficking of persons for sexual servitude, or sexual exploitation of children.” It would also allow the legislature to impose assessments on adult entertainment establishments. Revenue from these penalties, fees, and assessments would be allocated to the Safe Harbor for Sexually Exploited Children Fund.
A “yes” vote supports providing penalties for court cases involving certain sex crimes in order to allocate the generated revenue for the Safe Harbor for Sexually Exploited Children Fund.
A “no” vote opposes providing penalties for court cases involving certain sex crimes in order to allocate the generated revenue for the Safe Harbor for Sexually Exploited Children Fund.
To read the proposed amendment in full and a more detailed analysis, click here.
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AMENDMENT 3– The Georgia Replacement of the Judicial Qualifications Commission. The Judicial Qualifications Commission was created via a legislatively referred constitutional amendment in 1972. Sponsors of Amendment 3’s corresponding legislation argue that the commission has lost credibility and therefore needs to be overhauled.
A “yes” vote supports replacing the Judicial Qualifications Commission with a new commission designed and governed by the General Assembly.
A “no” vote opposes replacing the Judicial Qualifications Commission with a new commission designed and governed by the General Assembly, thereby keeping the current commission operational.
To read the proposed amendment in full and a more detailed analysis, click here.
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AMENDMENT 4- The Georgia Uses of Revenue from Taxes on Fireworks. The Georgia State Legislature legalized the sale of fireworks in 2015 through House Bill 110. The approval of this constitutional amendment was designed to allow the implementation of Senate Bill 350 and Senate Resolution 558.Senate Resolution 558 was designed to call for the proceeds of excise taxes raised from fireworks sales to be used for trauma care, fire services, and local public safety purposes. Senate Bill 350 was designed to specify the percentage of the proceeds that each of these areas would receive. Senate Bill 350 was designed to allocate revenue generated from fireworks sale excise taxes in the following way:
- 55 percent of revenue would go toward the Georgia Trauma Care Network Commission;
- 40 percent of revenue would go toward the Georgia Firefighter Standards and Training Council; Specifically, the revenue would be used to fund a grant program for improving the equipment and training of Georgia firefighters;
- 5 percent of revenue would go toward local governments, to be used specifically for public safety purposes.
A “yes” vote would dedicate revenue from fireworks sales taxes to trauma care, fire protection services and public safety.
A “no” vote would not dedicate revenue from fireworks sales taxes to trauma care, fire protection services and public safety.
To read the proposed amendment in full and a more detailed analysis, click here.
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(Information pulled from ballotopia.com)
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