In legislative news, your mental health information will now remain in the FBI’s National Instant Criminal Background Check System for life.

Senate Bill 99 passed the Georgia Senate yesterday with overwhelming support. The bill makes it illegal for Georgia’s mental health database to be wiped clean every 5 years.

This comes in the midst of an ongoing nationwide gun control debate positioning the stricter vetting of those with mental illness in the process of obtaining a firearm at the forefront of the conversation.
Students could now face punishment for interfering with protesters on their college campuses.

Senate Bill 339 holds that the public areas of universities are to be seen as traditional public forums. This means that any individual or group may protest in these areas as long as they are staying within the confines of the law.If a student is caught twice for interfering with a demonstration, the university now holds the right to expel them.

All Georgia voting ballots are turning back to paper by January 1, 2024. This move away from electronic ballots and back to paper comes at a time when fears of hacking and interference in local and national elections is at an all-time high.

Today is LGBT Lobby Day at the Georgia Capitol, and participants have a reason to protest.
The “Keep Faith in Adoption and Foster Care Act” is now headed to Governor Deal’s desk.

The controversial bill allows adoption agencies to deny services to same-sex couples based on religious grounds. GeorgiaEquality told me that Deal is expected to face pressure to veto the bill.

This pressure comes primarily from Georgia’s growing film industry, threatening the “Hollywood of the South’s” reputation should the bill be signed into law.

By Natalie Wickstrom

 

By Natalie Wickstrom