Friends,
We’re back!
This past Monday marked the start of another 40 day legislative session at the Georgia State Capitol, and while the beginning of the session usually starts off slow, we’ve hit the ground running and have had an incredibly productive week.
Let’s see what we’ve been up to under the Gold Dome!
2025 GUN SAFETY BILL SLATE
Our government works best when our constituents are engaged in the lawmaking process.
Everytown for Gun Safety
Georgia has some of the weakest gun laws in the nation. Since my first term in office, I have been working to pass meaningful gun safety legislation in this state, in particular after the CDC put out a report in 2020 showing that gun violence was now the top cause of death in children and teenagers in this country.
Gun safety needs to be a priority. And there is no better way to show that then by making sure our gun safety bills were the first ones filed in the Georgia State House this term.
(It turns out filing the first bills of the term is relatively easy if you’re an anesthesiologist–you just have to wake up for work at 5:00am, which is kind of business as usual.)
We are proud to introduce our gun safety slate for the term. These include:
HB 1: The Pediatric Health Safe Storage Act
This bill requires that any gun that can be readily accessed by an unsupervised minor be stored securely, e.g. in a lockbox or gun safe. More than half the states in this country have some form of child access or secure storage law (including Florida and Texas). Georgia is not among them.
(Everytown for Gun Safety: Secure Storage)
This issue has particular salience after the Apalachee High School shooting this past September, the deadliest school shooting in Georgia’s history. In that case, the shooter was only 14 years old. And just last week, yet another 14 year old at Apalachee brought a gun to school, though thankfully no one was injured.
Mike Steward/AP (Read full article here)
I first introduced this bill in 2023, my first term in the state House, where it received a historic hearing in the 2A subcommittee of the House Public Safety and Homeland Security. However, the Republican majority refused to let this bill come to a committee vote.
Ross Williams/Georgia Recorder (Read full article here)
Ignoring this issue, or the proven solutions in front of us, is frankly an insult to its urgency and the families that continue to beg us to do more. HB 1 is our #1 priority and I will continue to work as long as it takes to get this passed.
HB 2: The Safe Storage Tax Credit Act
This bill would offer up to a $300 tax credit for purchase of firearm secure storage equipment. It was based on legislation that passed with bipartisan support in Virginia, where it was signed into law by Governor Glenn Younkin in 2023.
(Read Georgia 2A’s endorsement of my bill)
I first pre-filed this bill in November of 2023, after which point it was endorsed by Georgia 2A. A Republican version of this bill (HB 971, which I cosponsored) passed nearly unanimously out of the House in 2024. The Senate declined, however, to bring this bill to a vote before the end of session that year.
In addition to HB 2 I would also keep an eye on HB 79, this year’s Republican-led iteration, and on which I am again a cosponsor.
HB 3: Universal Background Checks
Under federal law, everyone purchasing a gun through a federally licensed firearm dealer must undergo a background check. However, guns purchased through private gun sales and transfers are not subject to this background check requirement, which precludes convicted felons and those with a history of serious mental illness, among others, from being able to readily purchase guns.
Research shows roughly 40% of those who purchase guns do so without first undergoing a background check. HB 3 would aim to close that loophole.
I originally filed this bill my first year in the state Senate, and attempted to add the language of the bill as an amendment to Governor Kemp’s permitless carry law to act as a safety check precluding unscreened individuals from carrying loaded guns in public. The Republican majority killed the amendment while passing permitless carry.
HB 4: Three-day waiting period for purchase of new firearms
This bill requires all a three day waiting period for purchase of a new firearm. Waiting periods improve public safety by allowing for background checks and creating a “cooling off” period to defuse impulsive gun violence or allow time for intervention in the case of a mental health crisis.
Sarah Kallis/GPB News (Read full article here)
I first introduced this bill in 2021 as part of a slate introduced by the nascent AAPI Caucus following what are colloquially known as the Atlanta Spa Shootings. Georgians in particular may remember that the gunman in that case purchased a gun that morning and, by that evening, had used it to murder eight people. While this bill has not progressed historically in the Georgia General Assembly, I feel it does need to be part of our multifaceted gun safety slate, especially given that many other states (including Florida!) have such waiting period laws in place.
Megan Varner/Getty Images (Read full article here)
After the tragic Apalachee High School shooting this past fall, the deadliest school shooting in state history, Republican leadership in the state House expressed an openness to real progress on gun safety. It is my hope that this interest and political will has not faded in the intervening months, and that even as we look at strengthening school security measures and increasing funding for school counselors, we can also work on substantive, bipartisan gun safety reform this year.
STATE CIGARETTE AND VAPING TAX
A change to the House rules this year limits each lawmaker to primarily sponsoring 10 bills per year. While this may not be a problem for some, our office has historically been quite policy focused, so we have had to do some triage in determining which of our bills drafts will get priority.
However, one issue we have focused on for years is another public health bill, which proposes to raise the state tax for cigarettes and vaping products. I filed HB 83 and HB 84 as our fifth and sixth bills for the session with a bipartisan slate of cosponsors.
Some history on the issue. Georgia has the second lowest tobacco tax in the nation. The national average tax for a pack of cigarettes is $1.93. Here in Georgia it is only 37 cents, and has not changed in more than two decades.
Raising the state tobacco tax would accomplish several key priorities for Georgia.
1.) Lower smoking rates, especially in younger smokers.
Raising the price of tobacco products is a proven way to disincentivize smoking, and one way that states can do that is by raising the tax on products like cigarettes. This effect is particularly potent for younger smokers, who are more sensitive to price, and are less likely addicted than adult smokers. Research has shown that a 10% increase in the price of cigarettes reduces adult smoking by 2%, young adult smoking by 3.5%, and adolescent smoking by 6 to 7%.
2.) Reducing state spending on tobacco-related healthcare costs.
Tobacco use is the leading preventable cause of death in the United States, and cigarette smoking causes about 1 in 5 deaths in the country annually. This is of particular salience as we look to our state Medicaid program, which could save billions of dollars in spending long term.
Action on Smoking and Health
(U.S. Healthcare Spending attributable to cigarette smoking in 2014.
Journal of Preventive Medicine)
3.) Increase state revenue to reinvest in community health.
Let me be clear, the primary goal of raising the state tobacco tax would not be to generate more revenue. Ideally, all patients would abstain from this costly and unhealthy behavior and the increase in tax revenue would be zero. However, recognizing that some patients will in fact continue to smoke, it makes sense to earmark the new revenue from an increase in the cigarette tax to address health issues for Georgia residents (such as tobacco cessation, medical prevention programs, and increasing healthcare access).
(Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, December 16, 2024 / Ann Boonn)
HB 83 would propose to raise the state tobacco tax up from 37 cents to 57 cents, or an increase of one cent per cigarette. This very modest increase was calculated by looking at the cigarette taxes in all our neighboring states, dropping the highest and the lowest (Florida and North Carolina respectively–it should be noted that none of our neighboring states actually has a tobacco tax lower than ours), and averaging the rest.
While this may feel like a tepid increase, the strategy of a regionally averaged tax increase defuses the argument pushed by some powerful interest groups that Georgians will simply drive to a neighboring state to buy cigarettes.
National Youth Tobacco Survey, 2024
HB 84 would propose to raise the state tax for vaping products from the current 7% to 15%. While vapes and e-cigarettes are a relatively new product (sometimes marketed as a tool for cigarette smoking cessation), large scale study reports have found that these products cause significant health harms, including lung damage, cardiovascular disease, and addiction, particularly among young people.
Given that cigarette smoking and vaping are the two predominantly used tobacco products in this country among middle and high school students, these paired bills aim to mitigate the health harms from these costly exposures.
AAPI CAUCUS UPDATE
Aeleah McConnell/Georgia Recorder (Read full article here)
In 2023, a bipartisan, bicameral group of Georgia legislators formed our state’s first ever Legislative Asian American Pacific Islander Caucus. It was the honor of my life to serve as its inaugural Chair for the Caucus’ first term. I am also proud to show that our Caucus prioritizes rotating leadership, and giving a new crop of legislators the opportunity to guide our community in the next two years.
Introducing the new leadership team of Georgia’s Legislative AAPI Caucus for the 2025-2026 term:
CHAIR: Representative Long Tran
VICE CHAIR: Representative Soo Hong
TREASURER: Senator Sheikh Rahman
SECRETARY: Representative Marvin Lim
Join our entire AAPI Caucus on Wednesday January 29th for our marquee event of the season, the second annual Lunar New Year Day at the Capitol! We will again be featuring a traditional lion dance and a community recognition ceremony. This event is free and open to all, please RSVP here for more details and info!
TEAM AU IN ACTION
GOLD DOME BLOOD DRIVE
Our first Gold Dome Blood Drive of the 2025 year was an incredible success, with a record number of donors from every corner of the Capitol! In the end we were able to help 60 patients in critical need of blood components! Thank you to everyone who gave, including our friend, AJC’s Greg Bluestein, who gave a double red unit!
Mark your calendar, the next Gold Dome Blood Drive will be THURSDAY, MARCH 13th. (We counted out more than 56 days on the calendar, so if you donated at this last blood drive, you will be allowed to donate again!)
MOREHOUSE SCHOOL OF MEDICINE
Each year I look forward to meeting with students from the Morehouse School of Medicine on their health policy rotation!
This week I met with a future psychiatrist, OB-Gyn, anesthesiologist, and aerospace medicine specialist. Some of their health policy interests included increasing mental health access, addressing our maternal mortality crisis, and gun safety legislation. I look forward to welcoming these future doctors to the team, and hope they will choose to train and practice here in Georgia!
CAPITOL CONDITIONING FORUM
On January 5th I hosted a “Capitol Conditioning” forum to give Georgians a tutorial on the workings of their state legislature. This hybrid educational event was extremely well attended both in person and online, and it was a great way for our Legislative Fellows to get a crash course in lawaking!
Among other things, we discussed the legislative calendar, how to use the Georgia General Assembly website to track bills, live stream committee meetings, and interact with legislators. A full video of the program is archived here.
GEORGIA ROTARY PROFESSIONAL ALLIANCE
I was honored to be invited to speak to the Georgia Rotary Professional Alliance in Alpharetta right before the start of session last week. I deeply admire our Roterians’ commitment to public service, and was excited to talk with them on ways they could become more engaged with their state legislature!
GEORGIA MAJORITY FOR GUN SAFETY
Gun safety advocacy work is about building broad coalitions, making personal connections, and tenacity. I am so proud of the work of Georgia Majority for Gun Safety, who have been tireless champions of bills like this year’s HB 1, the Pediatric Health Safe Storage Act. This year they will continue their work at the Capitol, meeting with lawmakers and representing the majority of Georgians who want to see meaningful gun safety reform pass out of the state legislature.
Are you interested in joining this work? Sign up here. There is also an advocacy group for medical professionals known as Georgia Clinicians for Gun Safety. Personal conversations are the best way to connect with lawmakers and advance this important issue; it’s satisfying and meaningful work that I encourage everyone to consider!
Thank you Georgia Majority for your dedication!
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It has never been more important to pay attention to the work of state legislatures. Thank you as ever for your support so that we can keep doing this most important work together.
As always, please do not hesitate to reach out to our office should you need any assistance, or if you have any concerns you’d like me to address on your behalf.
It is my honor to be your voice in the Georgia House of Representatives.
In service,
