Convention of States supporters in Tennessee, Georgia, and Oklahoma celebrated three major victories last week pertaining to hot-button topics, including school choice, parental rights, and ranked choice voting.
In the Volunteer State, the Tennessee General Assembly passed SB 2749, the Families’ Rights and Responsibilities Act, through both legislative chambers with the assistance of our grassroots team.
“I hate the fact that we have to codify rights that should be natural rights for parents,” Tennessee State Director John Taylor explained. “But this is a step to say, look, we’re calling attention to those rights which we think are natural, God-given rights that we want protected.” Moreover, he said, these efforts help boost self-governance in the state by encouraging concerned citizens to stay engaged in the legislative process.
According to the bill summary, the act affirms “the liberty of a parent to the care, custody, and control of the parent’s child, including the right to direct the upbringing, education, health care, and mental health of the child, is a fundamental right.”
SEE ALSO: Tennessee State Director shares inside scoop about fight for parental rights in Tennessee
In the Peach State, SB 233, the Georgia Promise Scholarship Act, received overwhelming support in the state legislature before garnering Governor Brian Kemp’s signature on April 23, 2024.
The school choice bill, which was supported by the grassroots team in Georgia, grants students “greater freedom and choice in their education,” providing $6,500 scholarships to students in underperforming schools.
“There is nothing more important to the continued success of our state than safeguarding and strengthening the lives, education and future of our students, and that can only be accomplished by ensuring Georgia students have access to as many opportunities and choices as possible that will set them up for success,” Kemp declared.
SEE ALSO: COS Time Capsule: First state in history passes COS resolution
In the Sooner State, Oklahoma supporters championed HB 3156, prohibiting ranked choice voting, which secured final passage last week. While proponents of ranked choice voting argue that it offers voters more choices at the ballot box, opponents, including members of the Oklahoma team, counter that it primarily benefits the most “radical” candidate.
COS Legislative Liaison for Oklahoma, Kevin Tutty, explained, “This model essentially” undercuts “the voter’s ability to re-evaluate their candidates' position as they would in a traditional runoff election. In runoff elections, we… get to see what candidates believe about issues that are important to us that we would not see in the first election. The ability to re-evaluate candidates with the highest percentage of votes is taken away from the voter.”
Moreover, he added, “Oklahoma already has one of the best voting systems in the country,” and ranked choice voting threatens to complicate that process.
“I think we all agree that… election integrity is important,” he said, “and this bill goes a long way to ensure elections are kept in the voter’s hands.”
These monumental victories demonstrate the overwhelming power of our volunteer army to enact change and drive progress on the grassroots level. Even as we strive daily to call the first-ever Article V convention, our trained political operatives make their presence known in every state legislature. We will continue to leverage that influence to advance liberty and self-governance in America.
To join that army, sign the Convention of States petition below!
COS grassroots celebrate THREE groundbreaking victories
Published in Blog on April 30, 2024 by Jakob Fay
