A Sacrifice Revives Rape Kit Testing Bill
I asked Scott Holcomb about his stalled rape kit bill last week in between hearings. “It’s not over,” he said. Around here, until the gavel falls on Sine Die, he’s always going to be right.
This afternoon, State Sen. Elena Parent’s gun background check bill was martyred in the name of testing rape kits.
State Rep. Scott Holcomb’s (D-Atlanta) bill to force local agencies to clear the backlog of untested rape kits accumulating around Georgia’s labs passed unanimously earlier this session only to be blocked by State Sen. Renee Unterman (R-Buford), chairwoman of the House Health and Human Services committee. Unterman’s explanation, that the issue is “over-politicized” and that “I don’t see a reason to write a law,” has been skewered eight ways to Sunday in local and national media, including an appearance on “Full Frontal with Samantha Bee” last week.
The House Judiciary Non-Civil committee stripped the language of Parent’s (D-Atlanta) SB 304 from her bill and replaced it with Holcomb’s rape kit bill. Because Parent’s bill has already passed the Senate, it will not necessarily be returned to a committee; it will go straight to the Senate floor. Unterman — who is a powerful figure in the Senate — will likely demand her caucus disagree with the rewrite, which will then set up a major floor fight in the final day of the session.
“We have a lot more work to do, but we’re not giving up,” Holcomb said.
The process is Byzantine, of course, and it reflects the kind of knife fighting any legislation proposed by Democrats has to go through to win passage in a Republican-dominated legislature.”I’ve never seen this happen before,” said State Rep. Dar’shun Kendrick (D-Lithonia) a member of the committee. “Scott has worked very hard on this. It’s gone through so many revisions and has so much bipartisan organizational support. It is definitely something that was needed.”
About Author
George Chidi
Former staff writer for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and other publications. Former Pine Lake city councilman, Former corporate spy. Occasional contributor to The Guardian.
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In other news, Sen. Unterman will be filing a Rape Kit Testing Bill in 2017.
LOL, Yep!
Haeeelp! According to Jon Richards on this site, The Gwinnett Daily Post, and Ballotpedia, Unterman is being primaried by a Todd Tyson of Dacula. The SoS website still shows Unterman as the only qualified candidate. While I am aware of the various past issues with the website does this mean Mr. Tyson hasn’t qualified or is it just another example of not having the sharpest knife in the drawer running this office? I would vote for the proverbial dog, yellow, blue, or even checkered before having to leave the box for Senate District 45 blank again.
I am told Mr. Tyson has withdrawn. I may be in error.
I guess I will write-in Willie Nelson as a protest vote this time then.
I wonder why he withdrew? He was actually considered a credible threat to her seat.
Anyone from the Hunting Grounds would work…
Who allowed this nut to gain so much power? She is single-handedly working to harm women and children by preventing the rape kit bill and cannabis legislation from seeing the light of day.
Samantha Bee for GA Senate!
I wonder what Renee thinks about being made a fool of to a national audience. I guess Renee doesnt think serial rapists are a problem either since these rape kits often help in convicting them. Someone needs to have a talk with her…really.
It’s unfortunate that it appears that politics are getting in the way of common sense in regards to this issue and the issue of expanding medicinal marijuana in our state. At the center of both issues appears to be this State Senator Renee Unterman.
I do not know Senator Unterman. I’ve never met her or had any interactions with her. However, it should be noted that this State Senator chairs the Senate Health and Human Services Committee while also working as an executive for a health insurer that receives billions of dollars a year from the state.
She has a conflict of interest, is blocking two pieces of legislation that would have a beneficial impact on the people of Georgia. It seems time to ask, who’s interests are Renee Unterman serving? Her constituents or her employer?
My guess is that she is a narcissist and has no real brains or real zest for public service. So….with that said any publicity is good publicity. She is and has always been a cog.
Nice attention grabbing bill, however, if they want to correct the problem then the crime labs need funding for facilities, people, and equipment. This isn’t just a rape kit problem, it is everything at the labs. Autopsies literally take weeks or months as well while families wait.