Three out of four state amendments passed in the election: what are they?
Four amendments to the Constitution of the State of Georgia were on the ballot this year, with three out of the four passing. Here’s what that means. The first amendment, called Georgia Authorization of the State Government to Intervene in Failing Local Schools, was a controversial proposal that would have given the state government the power to directly oversee “chronically failing” public schools. The process of selection for reviewing the need for this transition was based upon the academic success, or lack thereof, by individual schools. These schools would have been overseen by a single unelected official with the power to close schools, turn them into for-profit or charter schools, oversee curriculum and fire or hire teachers. Critics, including most teachers’ associations, considered it a state overreach with little accountability to the local communities it would affect. Supporters, including Governor Nathan Deal, said that it was a way to finally make failing schools accountable for the money they are given every year. The amendment was the only one to fail at the ballot box. Amendment 2, which passed, was designed to collect additional legal penalties from those guilty of “keeping a place of prostitution, pimping, pandering, pandering by compulsion, solicitation of sodomy, masturbation for hire, trafficking of persons for sexual servitude, or sexual exploitation of children” and use the money to treat and rehabilitate victims of sex crimes. It also allows the state to collect an additional tax on adult businesses like strip clubs. Supporters say that the amendment provides much needed funds to sexual assault treatment and prevention programs. Opponents say that it should have been a law, not an amendment, and that the extra tax on adult businesses is burdensome. The controversial Amendment 3 eliminated the Judicial Qualifications Commission, a group that acted as an oversight board of judges throughout the state, with the power to remove, retire or discipline judges. The language of the amendment eliminates the group and passes on that power to the state. Supporters, such as House Judiciary Committee Chairman Wendell Willard, accused the current committee of acting like a “more like a star chamber than a judicial commission.” Critics called the amendment a gross violation of the separation of powers that “introduces politics into a sphere where politics shouldn’t govern,” said Sara Totonchi, executive director of the Southern Center for Human Rights. The amendment passed. The final amendment created a provision to take funding from revenue generated through the sale of newly-legalized fireworks and apply the funding to trauma care, fire services and public safety programs. Amendment 4 passed as well.
