Gold Dome

Gold Dome 2023, hosted by the Georgia First Amendment Foundation and the Atlanta Press Club, provided an insider’s perspective on hot topics and big trends in the 2023 General Assembly session.

The Jan. 26 virtual event began with a conversation with elected officials, journalists and open government experts about legislative proposals and Georgians’ right to know what their state, county and city governments are doing.

Legislative Breakfast panelists:

• Sarah Brewerton-Palmer, GFAF Legislative Chair and First Amendment attorney at Caplan Cobb (moderator)
• Chairwoman Lisa Cupid, Cobb County Commission
• Sen. Josh McLaurin, Georgia General Assembly
• Jill Nolin, Georgia Recorder

In the second half, journalists who cover the Capitol explored legislative priorities and politics.

Reporters’ Roundtable panelists:

• Donna Lowry, Georgia Public Broadcasting (moderator)
• Richard Elliot, WSB-TV
• Sam Gringlas, WABE
• Maya Prabhu, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

>> Watch and share a video of Gold Dome 2023.

The free virtual event hosted by the Georgia First Amendment Foundation and the Atlanta Press Club drew more than 230 attendees. The event, which happened 8-9:30 a.m. on Jan. 27, 2022, began with elected officials and open government experts exploring how legislative proposals could help or hurt Georgians’ right to know what their state, county and city governments are doing. In the second half, journalists who cover the Capitol discussed legislative priorities and election-year politics.

Legislative Breakfast panelists

• Chairwoman Lisa Cupid, Cobb County Commission
• Rep. Todd Jones, Georgia House of Representatives
• Rep. Mary Margaret Oliver, Georgia House of Representatives
• Sarah Brewerton-Palmer, Caplan Cobb, GFAF Legislative Committee chair (moderator)

Reporters Roundtable panelists

• Riley Bunch, Georgia Public Broadcasting
• Stanley Dunlap, Georgia Recorder
• Patricia Murphy, The Atlanta Journal-Constitition
• Rahul Bali, WABE News, APC board member (moderator)

>> See a video of the Legislative Breakfast event on Jan. 27, 2022.

>> Check out a video of the post-session Gold Dome Recap on April 11, 2022.

Our virtual event on Thursday, Jan. 28, featured a robust discussion about how the pandemic, partisanship and limited transparency into the General Assembly’s business is eroding Georgians’ right to know. Wide-ranging topics included legislative proposals designed to increase public access to police records and video and to ensure government meetings are fully accessible in a virtual environment. We also got a behind-the-scenes view of what it’s like to be a lawmaker or a journalist working in this masks-required, socially distant legislative session.

On the panel:

• Rep. Josh McLaurin, Georgia House of Representatives
• Cobb Chair Lisa Cupid, Cobb County Commission
• James Salzer, Atlanta Journal-Constitution statehouse journalist
• Sarah Brewerton-Palmer, First Amendment attorney, Caplan Cobb LLP

WATCH THE VIDEO

Transparency implications of proposed legislation dominated the discussion at the Georgia First Amendment Foundation’s annual Legislative Breakfast on Jan. 23. The breakfast was held at the Georgia State University College of Law in downtown Atlanta. It was co-sponsored by student chapters of the American Constitution Society and the Black Law Students Association.

State Sen. Jen Jordan, state Rep. Josh McLaurin, Atlanta Journal-Constitution journalist James Salzer and First Amendment attorneys Tom Clyde and Peter Canfield examined issues emerging in the General Assembly session, including bills that would:

• Limit public access to criminal records
• Impose restrictions on journalists
• Require “truth-in-taxation” transparency
• Curb private companies’ control over access to public records
• Require all-party consent for recording non-public conversations

The lawmakers gave their take on the viability of these measures and offered behind-the-scenes perspectives on how business gets done under the Gold Dome.

• Watch the Legislative Breakfast video to see what you missed and hear some great quotes.
• Go to GFAF’s Legislative Watch to track bills with an impact on your right to know.

A panel of elected officials, First Amendment lawyers and a seasoned Gold Dome journalist weighed in on potential transparency threats emerging in the 2019 General Assembly session during the Georgia First Amendment Foundation’s annual Legislative Breakfast on Jan. 24. On the agenda: New rules for filing sexual harassment complaints against lawmakers. Big changes to Georgia’s voting system and a potential $150 million price tag. Eroding access to public school operations and performance. And a move to add visibility to the business operations of many hospitals. The lively discussion took place at the Georgia State University College of Law. Co-sponsors of the event were the GSU chapters of the National Lawyers Guild, the Black Law Student Association and the Latinx & Caribbean Law Student Association. First Amendment attorney and GFAF board member Cynthia Counts moderated the discussion.

Check out video clips from the event:

• State Sen. Jennifer Jordan laments the proposed new sexual harassment policy lawmakers unveiled as the 2019 session started.

• The Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s longtime statehouse journalist James Salzer wants the Legislature to abide by the same transparency laws that lawmakers have placed on local governments.
• Marissa Dodson, public policy director of the Southern Center for Human Rights, talks about the role of statewide Accountability Courts and data available to the public to measure their success.
• First Amendment attorney and GFAF board member Tom Clyde weighs in emerging open government issues, including the loss of transparency in school testing and possible added insight into the business operations of many of Georgia’s hospitals.
• Clyde also lays out what Georgians don’t know about the proposed changes to voting processes and new voting machines.

The Georgia First Amendment Foundation’s 2018 Legislative Breakfast on Feb. 1 at the Georgia State University College of Law drew a mix of First Amendment lawyers, reporters, law students, interested citizens and public officials. A panel of our board members and a lawmaker who sponsored legislation with government transparency implications led the discussion. Hot topics covered included a bill giving big lottery winners anonymity; how much state and local governments must disclose about tax incentives to win Amazon’s HQ2; and an elected official’s advice on how to get the public information you want.

Check out video clips from the event:

• Body cam video access, investigative exceptions to open records laws and court reporter recordings used in true-crime podcasts all make the bills-to-watch
• First Amendment attorney Tom Clyde discusses secrecy surrounding state and local government tax incentives in Georgia’s bid for Amazon HQ2.
• State Rep. Wendell Willard makes a case against a bill that aims to give big lottery winners anonymity.
• Cobb County Commissioner Lisa Cupid offers an elected official’s perspective on how the public can best access public records.

The Georgia First Amendment Foundation’s 2017 Legislative Breakfast on Jan. 26 at CNN drew a crowd of attendees interested in open government issues in the state. A panel of public officials, media representatives and First Amendment lawyers dove into hot topics, among them access to police body camera videos, judicial oversight, drones and privacy and citizens’ rights to public records.

Check out video clips from the event:

• State Rep. Wendell Willard details legislative efforts to recreate the state Judicial Qualifications Commission.
• Cobb County Commissioner Lisa Cupid discusses public access to police body camera footage and how the issue is playing out for local governments.
• CNN’s Drew Shenkman explores how Georgia laws affect access to police body camera videos.
• CNN’s Emily Avant explains how the news network is working with regulators to balance access to drone-collected video with privacy concerns.
• First Amendment attorney Tom Clyde describes the problems with open records exemptions for college sports organizations in Georgia.