STATEMENT: Georgia Republicans Have Spent the Legislative Session Putting Politics Ahead of Delivering for Georgians

As the Georgia legislative session comes to a close, the Republican-controlled legislature does not have much to show for their work besides making it harder for Georgians to vote and making it easier to carry a gun, all while alienating Georgia’s top businesses. While focusing on appealing to their increasingly extreme right-wing base, Republican lawmakers failed to deliver on priorities that the majority of Georgian voters actually want, like expanding Medicaid.

Here’s what Georgia Republicans spent their time on this legislative session:

• Making it harder for Georgians to vote absentee
• Introducing bills to loosen gun restrictions amid a deadly mass shooting in Georgia
• Pushing to repeal automatic voter registration and end no-excuse absentee voting
• Advancing a bill that restricts the right to protest
• Banning the distribution of food and water to voters waiting in long lines
• Infringing on local municipalities’ rights to determine their own budget
• Attempting to financially punish a major Georgia employer in retaliation for speaking up against voting rights restrictions

“This legislative session has made it crystal clear that today’s Republican Party is putting near-authoritarian, partisan gamesmanship ahead of any policies that would actually improve Georgians’ lives,” said Congresswoman Nikema Williams, Chairwoman of the Democratic Party of Georgia. “That the GOP made attacking our sacred right to vote the focal point of their legislative priorities is shameful, pathetic, and nothing more than desperate retribution fueled by the Big Lie and fears of their increasingly extreme voter base. After witnessing the GOP gutting of voting rights and inaction on issues like expanding access to health care, Georgia voters are engaged, empowered, and know exactly who’s fighting against them. Georgia Republicans are in for a rude awakening in 2022.”

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