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Dear Decaturish,

It is important for the community to be aware of the leadership of Senator Sally Harrell and the impact made during her service in the General Assembly both as a Representative and a Senator.

Senator Harrell, during her early years as a State Representative in the early 2000s, became aware of the needs of individuals with significant intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) and their families. She educated herself on the issues, she talked and more importantly listened to the citizens. Senator Harrell’s work and advocacy on their behalf since that time has positively impacted the lives of tens of thousands of these individuals and their families.

Specifically, as a member of the House of Representative, she successfully advocated for funding to help begin to reduce the waiting list (7,000+) of vulnerable citizens, by securing additional funding for services. While Georgia’s population has grown, addressing the waiting list and expanding funding has remained a constant issue that the now Senator Harrell, has been a champion of.

Upon being elected Senator in 2018, Sally Harrell has crafted impactful pieces of legislation which have not only had bipartisan support but more importantly, which make a meaningful difference to our neighbors and friends, our fellow Georgians, living with IDD. Her legislative successes for these citizens include the establishment of the Senate Study Committee (SR770) which analyzed the state of our state with respect to services to this population. This Committee’s final report (12/22) created a coherent road map for Georgia to enhance service and support those with IDD and their families. Some of the report’s recommendations are already being implemented, creating positive system change.

Senator Harrell made a major legislative contribution to the IDD community by crafting SB 610 to assure that the state evaluates reimbursement rates on a scheduled basis. This assures that there is adequate reimbursement to attract and keep providers of the services that this vulnerable population needs. In fact, Senator Harrell has been formally recognized statewide for her proactive and caring role in improving the quality of life of this population, who are all too often forgotten.

Just this session, which ended last week, Senator Harrell was again instrumental in the passage of the budget which included more funding to those with IDD to come off the waiting list. Equally as important, this session, is that her advocacy and support was vital in assuring that the FY 25 budget, which included new funding levels to assure quality care and support, remain intact until Sine Die.

It is one thing to talk about the needs of vulnerable citizens, but it is an entirely different matter to thoughtfully listen, study, and understand the needs of the citizens. Senator Harrell is the sort

of legislator one hopes for, one who does the work, analyzes each piece of legislation, considers potential unintended consequences, and then takes action.

The voters of District 40 have been very well represented by Senator Harrell. She is a thoughtful, insightful, experienced, and impactful representative of all citizens in the district. She gets things done! She has earned our trust and respect and should be returned to the Senate.

Respectfully submitted:

Diane Wilush, Sr. Director of Public Policy & Advocacy, United Cerebral Palsy of Georgia, and Service Providers Assoc. for Developmental Disabilities/Board Member

 

 

Dear Decaturish,

My late dad grew up in Chicago during the Depression; his father died at the age of 46 when my dad was 15 and he had to drop out of school in the eighth grade. I miss my dad; he was one of the smartest people I have ever known – both book smart and street smart. He was a business success and though he only had an 8th grade education, he admired people who were able to earn a degree and advanced degrees too.

As the most politically interested of my four siblings, I had over the years many good and many heated discussions regarding candidates and politics in general. When I reached voting age, he gave me some sage advice:  Support candidates based on their integrity, their character and, their platform. He warned of people who were single-issue voters.  Over the years I saw my dad vote for Eisenhower when my mother voted for Stevenson. They both voted for JFK. My dad voted for Nixon, much to my chagrin and, my mother for Humphry; they both voted for Carter which was the last election my dad voted in before he died.

I recall during the 1980 election when a neighbor in Miami, a young Jewish woman asked me if I had already voted and I said I had. She asked how I selected the candidates and I told her what my dad had taught me about integrity, character, and platform. She confided that she didn’t have time for that so she voted based on what she heard from friends and for anyone who had a name that sounded Jewish. I smiled and told her that was probably not the best way to select a candidate; what if Meyer Lansky, Bugsy Siegel, Micky Cohen were on the ballot?

I moved to Atlanta in 1985 and got involved with a group known as the Dunwoody-9 headed by Margie Simonoff and Michael Dalmat and we began working to elect Democrats to undo the damage done by Newt Gingrich and others. I like to think we helped over the many years to get Lucy McBath, Jon Ossoff, Raphael Warnock, Sally Harrell and, Esther Panitch into office.

At 75, I can boast that I am a proud American, a proud Jew, a US Army veteran and father of a now retired twice decorated combat veteran (2 Bronze Stars) Army Lieutenant Colonel. I recall the pledge I took in 1969 “to protect and defend the Constitution from all enemies, foreign and domestic.” There was nothing about religion.

This brings me to Sally Harrell; she has all the attributes my dad taught me so many years ago. Sally is honest and has great character and integrity evidenced by her voting her conscience even though it would have been easier for her to do otherwise. I know there are many in the Jewish community who are angry over Sally’s vote on HB-30 and while I do not want to belittle their opinion, I must note that some have claimed that only a Jew can understand; to quote our current President, “that’s malarkey.” The reality is that many mainstream Jewish organizations oppose codifying any definition of antisemitism and for legitimate, well-considered reasons. As a Jew, had I been in her place, I would have done as she did or perhaps voted against it outright because in its final form, it has the potential to be abused and turned against all of us. But even if I had disagreed with her position, I would be mindful of my father’s admonition to not judge a candidate by a singe vote or as single issue.

In the years that Sally has represented my area, she has been an exceptional legislator.  She represents the values I hold dear – values I inherited from my dad and that align with my progressive Jewish upbringing.  Sally strongly supports a woman’s right to make her own choices about her body; she advocates for Medicaid expansion; she supports reducing the cost of higher education; she defends the less fortunate and the persecuted, including gay and transgender Georgians; she works tirelessly to improve education for those with mental and physical disabilities.  Sally is an unapologetic fighter against discrimination and a bulwark against those who would seek to divide people and groups against one another, including those who do so in the name of religious values.  These are the reasons I will be voting for Sally Harrell.

— Elliott Server

 

Dear Decaturish,

I served as Senator Harrell’s policy intern for the 2024 Legislative Session. Sen. Harrell has helped students through her statewide policies. Like many other college students, I dread opening the financial portal to pay the numerous university fees associated with each semester of college. Recognizing this issue, Senator Harrell created the Study Committee of University Fees which resulted in the elimination of the Special Institutional Fee- around $500/semester at Georgia Tech! To me, $1000 a year is like winning the lottery. As connoisseurs of Facebook Marketplace, my roommate and I could definitely furnish our entire house next year with that kind of money.

For students who would use loans to pay this fee, they would end up paying interest on top of the $1000, and this, among other student loans, would likely take years to pay off. Senator Harrell’s dedication to improving accessibility in colleges and universities is clear to me from her initiatives and consistent action in the higher education committee.

Through my internship with Sen. Harrell, I was able to experience firsthand how the state government works. I reached out to Senator Harrell last fall asking if she had any need for an intern in her office, and she emphasized from our first meeting that she wanted me to engage in policy work relating to my interests rather than simply observing the session, which turned out to be one of the most amazing opportunities I’ve been given.

I had mentioned my interest in criminal justice reform, and given her past work in higher education policy, she suggested I look into higher education in prison to help expand her policy reach. She loaned me a book on the topic and facilitated meetings for me with experts and key policymakers, which made me realize the need for increasing prison education programs in Georgia. As there are few degree-seeking programs in our state, we decided a Study Committee on Higher Education in Prison was necessary to expand the research on the effects of education in prison and how opportunities for imprisoned students could be expanded.

My biggest project during my internship was drafting a Senate Resolution to create the Study Committee on Higher Education in Prison (SR770), and after editing the resolution and advocating to get it on the rules calendar, it was scheduled to be heard in the higher education committee. I contacted the experts I had consulted when drafting the resolution to testify for the committee alongside me, including the Executive Director of the Georgia Coalition for Higher Education in Prison, the Vice President of Life University (the first degree-seeking program in Georgia), and a formerly incarcerated Master’s student. The day turned out to be a long one, and although the committee meeting was pushed back three hours, Senator Harrell and I had an illuminating conversation with our speakers about further collaboration between the state government and prison education programs. Although I was anxious about testifying, the committee meeting went well, and the resolution with unanimous support.

Through my time spent at the Capitol, I’ve grown to fully appreciate Senator Harrell as my representative and as a mentor. From the first day, she ensured I got the most out of my experience by encouraging me to sit in on the legislative session and committee meetings, contact representatives at the ropes, and attend outside events. She was also able to set up meetings with other senators, sometimes even within a day, which most lobbyists could only dream of. I really enjoyed working in her office, our debriefs at the end of the session each day were informative and entertaining, not to mention she kept me in the loop about any opportunities for food around the Capitol! Perhaps one of the most important qualities of Senator Harrell is the energy she puts into listening to all her constituents, and making her decisions based on what she truly feels will be most beneficial. I have seen the real concern she shows for people who come to her with policy issues, and that makes me extremely proud to be both her intern and constituent.

— Lillian Hanson, Georgia Tech Public Policy Student

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