Elected in November 2018, Georgia Governor Brian Kemp (R) has begun his second of four years in his term as governor. 2019 turned out to be a contentious year for Kemp from charges of voter suppression alleged by Democratic candidate Stacey Abrams to controversial legislation. One of the major pieces of legislation which Kemp signed into law, despite strong media and celebrity resistance, was the “Heartbeat Bill.” This bill protected unborn babies after six weeks, which is the relative time an unborn baby’s heartbeat can be detected.
As 2020 begins, Governor Kemp’s administration has put out a list of several general categories which he wishes to focus on for Georgia. One large front is combatting the prevalence of human trafficking. The Calhoun Times reported that giving law enforcement agencies more power and tools to crack down on human trafficking is one of Kemp’s goals for the year.
“We’ve also got to help stiffen penalties so we can go after these perpetrators more harshly,” he told Brad Means in an interview with WJBF. Kemp also expressed a desire to help develop programs to aid those who had been victimized by human trafficking.
Helping to fix Georgia’s foster care and adoption system by making it less cumbersome is another of Kemp’s aspirations for the year.
“We’ve got to make it easier for people to adopt foster children,” Kemp said, “We’ve got to make it less expensive… get rid of some of the red tape and bureaucracy.”
Funding for Kemp’s goals could prove to be a problem though. According to the Calhoun Times, state taxes did not bring in as much revenue as projected. This could make funding tight, especially for the new initiatives Kemp is attempting to implement.
These initiatives include providing funds for newly created task forces to counteract gang activity. Part of this attempt to combat gangs includes the formation of a gang database.
Kempt told WJBF that the database was created to “… make us much more efficient of knowing who these people are, where they’re operating, and then how we go after them.”
Continuing to fund education and also making Georgia an attractive state for new industries continues to remain top priorities for Kemp. The success of how Georgia does economically could have major ramifications as national 2020 election campaigns approach.