Ralston and Gooch talk upcoming priorities at Eggs and Issues
Community, News October 19, 2021
BLUE RIDGE, Ga – Georgia Speaker of the House David Ralston and State Senator Steve Gooch spoke and goals for the 2022 legislative session at the Fannin Chamber of Commerce’s Eggs and Issues.
Increasing crime rates across the state will be one area of focus for Speaker Ralston who’s presenting a $50 million plan to increase spending for law enforcement and mental health capabilities.
Ralston stated Georgia’s seen an “unprecedented spike in homicides” and “record numbers of police officers resigning or taking early retirement.”
Speaker of the House David Ralston (R-Blue Ridge)
In the $50 million plan, $2 million would go toward accountability courts and a pay increase for those who work there. Accountability courts helps non-violent drug offenders through the rehabilitation process and resume a productive life in society. $7 million would be to help train those in crisis situations so they can properly respond to a mental health call.
$10 million would go toward a raise for state prosecutors.
$22 million would be delegated to the GBI (Georgia Bureau of Investigation) to speed up the processing of critical evidence. Additionally, the legislature will put forth a piece of legislation that gives the GBI original jurisdiction over election fraud cases.
“Currently, a county has to invite GBI in,” Ralston explained the election investigation process. “Tired of being told by Fulton County that the GBI isn’t welcome.”
Gooch added a lot of debate about crime in Georgia and how to resolve it will be a hot button issue.
“We have legislators who want to take money away from the police department in our state,” Gooch said. “I don’t believe the police departments are capable of enforcing their laws as long as their mayors and elected officials won’t back them up and support them.”
Redistricting
Ralston and Gooch discussed the upcoming special session for redistricting the state according to the 2020 Census Data. The session will begin on November 3 and could last two to three weeks.
They must adopt maps for the Federal and state offices which will most likely alter district sizes. North Georgia’s likely to see districts shrink due to more people moving into the area.
Ralston recounted 2011 when Georgia sent maps to a Democratic Justice Department, and they passed without one change. He also spoke about how in 1991 Fannin County was separated into two different districts with Hwy 515 as the dividing line.
“We have a model to go by and we’re going to follow that model, but you’re not going to hear much of that. You’ll hear all of the stuff of unfair politics, trying to pick your voters and all of that,” Ralston added.
Labor Shortage and Transportation
Gooch addressed Georgia’s ability to bounce back after the pandemic. In part, Governor Brian Kemp’s decision to reopen the state early aided in that comeback.
“At the Federal level, they saw fit to provide subsidies to sit at home instead of going back to work,” Gooch stated, “Georgia has cut some of those subsidies loose as of early Summer. We believe it’s time to go back to work.”
State Senator Steve Gooch (R-Dahlonega)
He added that employers across his district can’t find people to work and he doesn’t believe the federal government should be paying people to sit at home if they are capable of work.
“Next year is an election year. If you don’t like what you’re seeing in Washington right now, your recourse is to go vote,” Gooch stated.
Freight and logistics plans are also in the works.
“Literally hundreds of cargo ships are sitting out in the ocean waiting to be unloaded,” Gooch explained the freight problem in Georgia and across ports nationwide. Several Fannin County businesses rely on the port of Savannah and Brunswick for goods.
“We’re working on a logistics plan. It’s going to take several years to roll that out. It’s going to take a lot of funding, but we have to find ways to reduce the choke points in our traffic and congestion around the state. Also, we have to expand our Class One railroad capacity which is very important to us as we move that freight from Savannah up into north Georgia,” Gooch addressed.
The expansion of Hwy. 5 is moving forward according to Gooch. The bids have been taken on phase one of the project and contracts will soon be signed.
“Crisis in our state” Senator Gooch outlines plan to prevent voter fraud
Feature News, Featured, Featured Stories, State & National December 4, 2020
ELLIJAY, Ga – State Senator and Majority Whip Steve Gooch (R – Dahlonega) outlined the senate plan to prevent voter fraud accusations in the future.
The state senate is holding an Oversight Committee hearing on Thursday, December 3 at 10:00 a.m. in Room 450 of the State Capitol. They will be evaluating the election process to ensure the integrity of Georgia’s voting process.
Later, a Judiciary Special Subcommittee will convene on Thursday, December 3 at 1:00 p.m. in Room 450 of the State Capitol. They will take testimony of elections improprieties and evaluate the election process to ensure Georgia’s voting integrity.
Livestreaming will be available at https://livestream.com/accounts/26021522/events/8730585
“We will be able to look at the process of this election and all elections going forward,” Gooch explained. “We’ve got to start today. First, we’ve got to start today to get both Senators David Perdue (R) and Kelly Loeffler (R) reelected, but we also have to start today on election reform in Georgia.”
They want input from the public and people with evidence of any election wrongdoing to come forward so that they can take swift action. However, the state oversight committee doesn’t possess the same subpoena power enjoyed at the federal level.
The Georgia General Assembly can’t call a special session without a 3/5 majority unless the governor calls them back to the Capitol. Right now, the oversight committee hearing is their best option until the Assembly opens on January 11, 2021.
“We want to get to the bottom of some of the allegations put out there,” Gooch said. “If anyone has done anything wrong, they need to be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. I don’t care who that person is.”
According to Gooch, Governor Brian Kemp’s emergency powers are “narrowly defined” to only address the COVID-19 issue. He couldn’t call a special session to address the election using these powers. Also, Georgia Code 38-3-53 outlines that the General Assembly can meet “through the initiative of the members thereof following an emergency or disaster resulting from manmade or natural causes or enemy attack impending or affecting this state.” No mention of potential voter fraud or elections.
Also, the Democrats won’t vote to go into a special session to overturn election results.
“Can the Georgia State Senate overturn the results of November 3? I don’t think we can. Can a court system do that? Possibly. I think that’s where the course of action has to take place at this point in time. It has to come from the court system. I don’t know anything that we’re going to get done in the next eight to ten days that’s going to overturn what’s happened,” Gooch stated.
Georgia Voter Confidence
The Majority Whip went on to address the lost confidence in the voting system among Georgians.
“I believe voters have lost confidence in the system as it is today. They do not trust the integrity of the voting system that we have in place right now. Whether that is a correct feeling or not, that’s the assumption that I get when I hear from my constituents,” he said.
Gooch went on to say it was “imperative” that the judge’s rule on the election lawsuits as soon as possible. If the Dominion system proved corrupt, then there is a possibility of removing the machines before the runoff.
“We have to have that proof. We have to have that documentation,” Gooch affirmed. “We have to that ruling from a court system in order to establish the fact that those machines are tainted, and they can’t be relied upon in this January 5 election.”
According to Gooch, the most likely area for Georgia’s voter fraud occurred in the absentee ballots’ verification process. He added that no one in Georgia should be allowed to sign their name and send in an application to receive a ballot. Everyone should “show up in person and show a photo ID.”
“I personally would like to do back to the original way we voted, and that is everybody came and voted in person unless you were in the military or you had a specific reason why you could not show up to vote on election day,” Gooch explained.
He’s also against ballot drop boxes, calling them “a book drop at a public library.”
“January 5 has just become the most important election in our lifetime. We have to preserve some balance of power in the U.S. Congress. Otherwise, you have Democrats running the U.S. House, the U.S. Senate, and the Presidency, and that could have devastating impacts on us for decades into the future. We have to get out the vote,” he finished.