Legislators Return for a Big Year

Presidential election years are always the worst under the Gold Dome, as polarization is at its highest and elected officials look to throw some red meat to their base.

December 30, 2023

Tharon Johnson,

January can be a rough time for a lot of people. The holidays are over; we’re all still pretending that we’re going to make progress on our New Year’s resolutions, and it’s about as cold as it ever gets in Georgia. Still, take a moment to be grateful that you’re not heading to our state’s Capitol for the legislative session in a presidential election year.

Presidential election years are always the worst under the Gold Dome, as polarization is at its highest and elected officials look to throw some red meat to their base. Even more now than four or eight years ago, compromise is a dirty word that invites primary challengers, often stymieing any hopes of bipartisan cooperation in either the Georgia House of Representatives or Senate. However, there are still a few areas where legislators could come together to deliver real change for Georgians

The first is healthcare. Georgia continues to rank very low in terms of healthcare quality and access – 41 out of 50 overall, according to U.S. News & World Report. It is no secret that the path to coverage is often obfuscated in our state and that costs are too high, even with insurance. The lack of access to preventive care, in particular, has knock-on effects, costing the state millions of dollars in health problems down the line.

One of the simplest, most immediate solutions remains the full expansion of Medicaid. The Georgia Medicaid waiver program that was passed by Republican legislators and recently implemented has been an unmitigated failure. In the program’s first months, when the estimated 100,000 uninsured Georgians who are eligible for this limited program should have been rushing to sign up, only 1,300 people were approved for coverage. Applicants must document 80 hours of work or other qualifying activities to be approved. Expanding Medicaid properly, as 41 other states have done with no problems, would save not only Georgia lives but also state money because the federal government would pay 90% of the cost as an incentive. The Georgia Budget and Policy Institute says that would generate $1.5 billion for the state while serving a much larger number of uninsured — up to 500,000 people.

Education is an area where members of both parties have found some common ground. The pay raises for teachers in the last few years have been a significant step in the right direction, and we should continue to support them by investing more in our schools to modernize materials and reduce class sizes. We must end the culture wars that defined a lot of education policy just last year. We should trust parents and teachers, not politicians, when it comes to what our kids read and what our teachers teach. If there is any one area where the fervor of the presidential election should be walled off from decisions at the state Capitol, it’s education.

There is no shortage of opportunities in the transit space, as well. Georgia is growing quickly, and we must broaden our thinking when it comes to how we move people around our state. As any driver knows, traffic only continues to get worse regardless of how many billions of dollars we pour into new lanes and interchanges.

It’s time to think big and bold. Our neighbor to the south recently set an example of what new transit solutions can look like with the launch of the Brightline rail that runs from Orlando to Miami. Florida’s 235-mile line stops at multiple major cities, creating new opportunities for commuters and residents alike. For comparison, that’s almost exactly the distance from Atlanta to Savannah.

Finally, we can’t lose sight of the kitchen-table issues. Even as the economy experiences a strong recovery, we should work together to make sure the benefits are shared among all Georgians, not just a select few. As our state coffers fill up to unprecedented levels, we should spend that money to help the hundreds of thousands of Georgians who can barely feed their families or put a roof over their heads. When we lift up the people at the bottom, it benefits us all.

My hope is that we can do things a little differently in this legislative session. My hope is that we can rise above the partisanship of typical election years and show not just the country but the world that Georgia can do things differently. We have the opportunity to be a leader, and there is no reason not to take it.