A little amendment to the last bill to pass the Georgia General Assembly this year could cause quite a stir if Gov. Brian Kemp signs it into law.
Or the Senate’s tweak to House Bill 1409 could do nothing, except give lawmakers pause about pursuing sex with a staffer.
The measure, which passed the Senate unanimously during the lunch hour on April 2, technically the last day of the legislative session, went on to pass the House 12 hours later, at 12:53 am, with broad bipartisan support.
The underlying bill updates a Georgia law that requires adults who interact with children to report suspected child abuse.
The amendment connects Georgia to recent events in Washington, D.C., where California Democrat Eric Swalwell and Texas Republican Tony Gonzales each resigned from the U.S. House on Tuesday.
Swalwell stepped down and suspended his campaign for California governor after he was accused of sexually assaulting a former staffer. Gonzales admitted in a radio interview to having an affair with an aide who later took her own life by lighting herself on fire.
Georgia state Sen. Randy Robertson, R-Cataula, said he was moved to introduce what lawmakers referred to as “the Epstein amendment” after he read about her death.
“I’m going to encourage our congressional delegation to look at what we did here and go up and take the same stand,” Robertson said this week after Swalwell and Gonzales resigned. “They represent us, so I think they have an obligation, the same as state senators and state representatives, to be transparent with the people who put them in office.”
Ty Tagami writes for Capitol Beat News Service
