With the completion of the legislative day 22, we are more than halfway through the session and just six days away from Crossover Day. The focus this week was ensuring we were passing as many good pieces of legislation as possible, something we excelled at with 19 bills being heard on the Senate floor.

Of special importance and emphasis to us this week were our state’s law enforcement officers. On Wednesday, the Senate passed four bills, Senate Bills 366, 367, 368 and 369, that were part of a law enforcement package passed through the Senate. The ideas for these bills were conceived in the Compensation of Police and Sheriffs (COPS) Task Force, a group I am honored to be part of. The bills would do several things including:

• requiring local governments to perform wage compensation studies and creating a grant program to help counties lessen wage disparities among law enforcement agencies
  
• allowing indemnification (money paid when a law enforcement officer dies in the line of duty) to be paid to his or her estate
  
• allowing the Criminal Justice Coordinating Council to provide assistance to local law enforcement groups through programs such as grant assistance, training and equipment
  
• requiring five dollars of every pre-trial diversion fee to be paid to the Peace Officers’ Annuity and Benefit Fund (a sort of retirement fund for law enforcement officers).
  

The most important thing about these bills is that they support our law enforcement officers. These men and women work day in and out to provide us with the peace of mind we enjoy but often take for granted. They are not paid enough, but I am hopeful that this legislation represents the beginning of a change in the way our law enforcement officers are compensated. I am happy that these bills passed through the Senate with bipartisan support and I look forward to continuing to work with the COPS Task Force to look at other ways we can support our men and women in blue.

In addition to these bills benefitting law enforcement, we also passed legislation to help local and small business owners. Senate Bill 17 was introduced last year as what many will know as the “brunch bill.” This legislation passed in the Senate on Tuesday and would allow local governments to vote by referendum on whether to permit or deny local businesses from selling alcohol on Sundays beginning at 11 a.m. This legislation allows people to have the final say-so on this issue, and I think it is a good measure to help promote and allow businesses to prosper.

In addition to these bills being heard on the Senate floor, we also welcomed several guests to the Senate chamber. We heard from Atlanta Mayor, Keisha Lance Bottoms, on the importance of working in tandem with cities to pass legislation and support our citizens. We were also blessed to have Dr. Bernice King, daughter of Martin Luther King, Jr., share a message about supporting and passing legislation that will truly have a positive impact on our constituents and ignoring political rhetoric that tells us to vote based on party. As we pass the halfway point of this session, I am thankful for reminders of the influence my position has from these two influential women.

If there is anything that I can ever do for you, please do not hesitate to contact me or my office. We’re more than happy to answer any questions you have or host you at the Capitol!

Senator Tonya Anderson represents the 43rd Senate District, which includes portions of DeKalb, Rockdale and Newton counties. She may be reached by email at tonya.anderson@senate.ga.gov.

.