In Georgia Capitol, condemnation comes without name-calling

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State Rep. Tommy Benton, R-Jefferson, got the "he who shall not be named" treatment this past week in the General Assembly for speaking in defense of the Ku Klux Klan.

Benton had introduced three pieces of legislation aimed at honoring the Confederacy – House Bill 854, House Bill 855 and House Resolution 1179 – when he then offered some observations about the Klan in an interview with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. The retired middle school history teacher described the Klan as "not so much a racist thing but a vigilante thing" and said it had "made a lot of people straighten up."

What followed was an upbraiding. State Sen. Josh McKoon — while never naming Benton, only referring to him as "a member of this General Assembly" — called the legislator's comments worthy of "the strongest possible condemnation."

The Republican from Columbus also said: “The Klan was the original domestic terrorist organization. There is simply no excusing the murderous, terroristic campaign they waged against Americans.”

House Speaker David Ralston condemned Benton’s statements as “commentary that would seek to reverse the progress that we have made in the last century and a half.”

Ralston, however, did not go as far as some pressed him to do, allowing Benton to remain chairman of the House Committee on Human Relations and Aging.

Benton withdrew his bills, but he did not retract his statements.

Slow-going likely

for MARTA bill

MARTA got a helpful push this week when state Sen. Brandon Beach, R-Alpharetta, sponsored Senate Bill 313, which could allow the transit agency to nearly double its existing rail system.

But now the proposal, which would add a half-penny sales tax to residents of DeKalb and Fulton counties to support MARTA, finds itself chugging up a steep hill.

Beach's bill, which could enable an $8 billion expansion of the system, has been sent to a committee led by state Sen. John Albers. The Republican from Roswell says the proposal "makes no sense" because "in fact it will increase traffic and will take a decade to get there."

Albers’ committee is the State and Local Government Operations Committee, nicknamed SLO-GO.

Religious liberty’s friends,

foes put on the press

As it has all session, religious liberty maintained its strong presence at the Capitol, producing — if not a record, at least a remarkable — three press conferences on Wednesday.

The 1.3 million-member-strong Georgia Baptist Mission Board called for passage of legislation it said would protect religious viewpoints and prevent discrimination against religious groups.

Opponents of such legislation warn it could allow business owners to cite religious beliefs to deny people service, especially gays and lesbians. Lining up on their side were two groups. One, Georgia Republicans for the Future, said such legislation hurts the party’s brand, particularly with millennials. The second group included faith leaders from across metro Atlanta. One of them was Rabbi Joshua Heller, who said, “This legislation is like sending a bazooka after a fly.”

Countering that bazooka with a photon torpedo, “Star Trek’s” Mr. Sulu, George Takei, suggested that by passing religious liberty legislation, Georgia could be boldly going where Hoosiers have gone before.

“We beat this in Indiana,” Takei wrote in a tweet, referring to an uproar that broke out after a religious liberty bill passed there. He then urged his 1.8 million followers on Twitter to retweet “if you’ll join a boycott again.”

You could almost feel a shudder from Coca-Cola, Delta Air Lines and Home Depot, who all have sided against religious liberty bills.

What are you wearing?

Freedom or oppression?

This session, when it comes to head gear, the Legislature could both take it and leave it.

Let's start with the quick tale of Bundy Cobb, who a little more than a year ago made a bit of a fashion statement and created a conundrum in Douglas County when he went to the polls wearing a cap bearing the logo of the National Rifle Association. Elections officials told Cobb that because the NRA is closely aligned with GOP candidates, his chapeau violated a state law that bars the display of political speech in a polling place. Cobb took it off, but the NRA sent a letter of protest.

Enter state Sen. Rick Jeffares, R-McDonough, who introduced Senate Bill 199, which explicitly spells out that the law applies to speech that refers to a candidate or referendum question on the ballot, as well as a political party that has a nominee on the ballot. You can probably still wear the colors red or blue. The Senate approved SB 199, and it's now headed to the House for consideration.

Meanwhile, over in the other chamber, a committee hearing was held for House Bill 797, which would exempt motorcyclists over the age of 18 from wearing helmets.

Opponents of the bill included David Tatum, the public policy officer of Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta. Tatum pointed out that Georgia’s current motorcyclist fatality rate is 10 percent, while it’s 79 percent in South Carolina, where motorcyclists age 21 and older can shed their helmets.

“There is not enough commercial insurance in the world to pay for long-term traumatic brain injury and rehab,” Tatum said.

Testimony in favor of the bill introduced by state Rep. Tom Kirby, R-Loganville, covered a lot of ground, even posing a question about who really cherishes freedom.

“Why can ISIS drive around the desert not wearing helmets? Most impressive regime on earth, no helmet law. Before, there was the Taliban. No helmet law,” said Greg Alspach, who served on the Georgia Motorcycle Safety Program advisory board. “Then our troops come home to Georgia, and guess what? They got a helmet law.”