With the 2021 session of the Georgia General Assembly now concluded, a local state representative is speaking out about some of the key bills that were passed before Sine Die.
Georgia House District 29 Representative Matt Dubnik said he feels like a lot of big initiatives were pushed across the finish line.
“Another income tax cut that will affect all Georgians, abolishing and repealing the citizen's arrest law that dates back to 1863, standing up to show our support against the defund the police movement … I think the paid parental leave for our state employees is a huge deal,” Dubnik said.
Dubnik also referenced a bill that was passed that criminalizes porch piracy, the controversial election reform bill, and the state budget as several other key bills that were passed during the session.
“Obviously, it’s always a challenge with the budget,” Dubnik said. “This is a bad analogy, but when you see how many mouths there are to feed and how many hands there are trying to get a piece of the budget, it is a monumental accomplishment every year to pass a balanced budget.”
Dubnik said he fully supports the election reform bill, which requires a photo ID to vote absentee by mail.
“I just, unfortunately, think there’s been so many misguided and misinformed statements that have come out across the state and across the country from so many folks who have just not seen what this bill really does,” Dubnik said. “I’m a firm believe this helps to ensure those fair, accurate and secure elections but it goes so far in expanding access and hours and times and locations, etc. and I’m just really proud of what we were able to accomplish with the bill.”
There were several bills that Dubnik pointed out he was particularly proud of as the chairman of the House Education Committee, including one that relates to special needs students.
“Just a couple of things very much that I was proud of, expanding and broadening our special needs scholarship for K-12 students, for the first time ever allowing home school students to participate in athletics, fine arts, etc. with their local school districts.”
Dubnik said he felt fortunate, as he said he was able to complete a lot of what he was working on during this year’s session.
“I literally think everything on my checklist, we were able to get pushed across the finish line.”
As the COVID-19 pandemic continues, Dubnik said he was proud of how much the General Assembly was able to accomplish while following safety protocols related to the virus.
“Typically, we’re in Atlanta January, February and March, so the fact that we wrapped up in the month of March I think is a huge credit to the testing that we went through and the protocols that we went through.”
