An effort to honor the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. with a monument on the state Capitol’s grounds moved ahead Monday with unanimous passage out of a state Senate committee after lawmakers added language to assure the slain civil rights leader’s family over their ownership of his image.
The Senate State Institutions and Property Committee also approved a separate proposal to erect a monument featuring the Ten Commandments.
Both proposals now go to the Senate Rules Committee, which will decide whether to send the bills to the full chamber for a floor vote.
The change to House Bill 1080, sponsored by Rep. Calvin Smyre, D-Columbus, came a week after King’s family sent a letter to Gov. Nathan Deal saying it wanted approval rights over any image used with the monument. The new language recognizes the intellectual property rights of the family, which has asked to be included in the planning stages.
“We understand and support the family’s legacy,” Smyre said, noting that the monument would be paid for with private funds. “We also want to protect the interests of the state and taxpayers, too.”
House Bill 702, by Rep. Greg Morris, R-Vidalia, calls for a monument that features the Ten Commandments but also includes portions of the Declaration of Independence and Georgia Constitution. It, too, would be paid for with private funds raised through the state’s Capitol Arts Standards Commission.
Like the MLK legislation, Morris’ monument has no design yet. The bill, however, would be an official OK to begin those efforts and get the ball rolling on where the monument will be placed.
Morris has said he introduced the bill after Deal had a statue of Tom Watson, a former U.S. senator and segregationist, moved from its prominent location near the front entrance of the Capitol. Deal said the move was a safety issue, as renovations are being done to the Capitol’s western steps.
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