Moving On From The Adoption Bill

The Senate today has passed a compromise adoption bill today 53-2, along the lines of an agreement reached last Thursday. The bill can now move to the Governor’s desk for signature, and Georgia’s children can become permanent members of their new families sooner and with less government bureaucracy involved. Representative Bert Reeves of Marietta needs to be thanked for this, as that’s all he set out to do a couple of years ago when he began the mundane process of update Georgia’s code. He never lost sight of his goal when other saw his work as a political opportunity. The entire House backed him by passing his bill unanimously. Three Times.

Much has been written about the bill itself, and what the bill does and doesn’t do is important. That said, for our readers, what is also significant is that it allows the House and Senate to move forward to other business. The term “legislative armageddon” was being tossed about the Capitol last week when it seemed that the compromise agreement may not hold. No one really knows exactly what that meant, but everyone paying attention knows it wasn’t going to be pretty.

Instead, the legislature moves forward. There are other significant issues on the table: Transit, rural broadband, Medicaid & healthcare, School Choice/Student Scholarship Organizations’ funding, passing a budget, and a host of other measures that won’t make major headlines, but have the opportunity to make a difference.

The importance of this passage is that Georgia’s most vulnerable children won’t be used any longer as a political football, and Georgia’s leaders can get back to the work of solving problems instead of trying to manufacture points.