Pubdate: Fri, 28 Mar 2014
Source: Chattanooga Times Free Press (TN)
Copyright: 2014 Chattanooga Publishing Company, Inc.
Contact:  http://www.timesfreepress.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/992
Page: B1
Note: Atlanta Journal-Constitution editorial

DEAL CONSIDERS EXECUTIVE ORDERS TO DO WHAT LEGISLATURE DID NOT

Republican infighting doomed legislation that would have allowed
limited use of medical marijuana and started to privatize the state's
beleaguered child welfare system. Now Gov. Nathan Deal is exploring
administrative changes to carry out what lawmakers failed to do.

Deal has consulted with state agency heads about steps that would
allow Georgia families to use cannabis oil to treat medical disorders
until lawmakers return to Atlanta next year. And he said he's
considering signing an executive order to jump-start the foster care
privatization push that failed last week.

The governor is sticking to a pattern of finding workarounds to back
politically sensitive legislation that doesn't reach his desk. But he
also risks charges of overstepping his office's authority - not to
mention drawing comparisons to President Barack Obama, who is often
attacked by conservatives when he issues executive orders for plans
that don't get legislative approval.

Deal and his aides, though, signal that the political payoff might be
worth the risk. Even fellow Republicans warned that the failure to
pass these proposals during the past legislative session could haunt
the GOP in November and embolden Democrats, who call Deal's medical
marijuana embrace an election-year change of heart.

Both legislative proposals fell victim to surprisingly public disputes
between rival Republicans. The push to privatize the state's child
welfare system gained momentum this year after The Atlanta Journal-
Constitution uncovered widespread failings by the state's Division of
Family and Children Services. Deal initially endorsed the effort to
privatize the bulk of Georgia's child welfare system but withdrew his
support near the session's end. Senate sponsors who pushed ahead were
blocked by House allies of the governor.

Deal said this week that he was worried that lawmakers had a "knee-
jerk reaction" and expressed concern that private firms may not be
ready to assume broader state responsibilities. But he said he is
considering signing an order to create a scaled-back pilot program to
test privatization, much like a version of the legislation that failed
to pass.

"I think a pilot project can give us a chance to expand and address
problems," he said.

The medical marijuana bill took an equally twisted path before it was
scuttled.

Powerful House lawmakers backed the medical marijuana bill, but Senate
leaders who wanted to require insurance plans to cover autism
treatment in young children tied the two proposals together. Both
failed amid opposition in the House from power brokers who viewed the
autism piece as an unfunded mandate.

The tiff boiled over on the Senate floor, where legislators from both
chambers argued as the clock ticked toward midnight. Shortly before
the session was gaveled to an end, state Sen. Fran Millar, R-Dunwoody,
lamented his party's failure to pass the legislation while adopting a
sweeping firearms bill.

"We did nothing for kids, but we passed a gun bill," Millar
said.

Finding a workaround on this thorny issue won't be so simple for the
governor's office. Deal said he's mindful that loosening marijuana
restrictions could run afoul of federal law, a dicey prospect with
elections looming. Still, he said, the state "needs to address" the
issue, preferably before lawmakers return to Atlanta next year.

"All of us were moved by the families and the children that were
involved with the medical marijuana bill, and I certainly think that
all of us want to try to figure out if there's something we can do to
provide them with the kind of assistance they need," Deal said.

With these moves, Deal is taking a similar tack he did last year when
he pushed health officials to ban state employee insurance policies
from covering abortion after lawmakers failed to pass similar
legislation. And, like abortion, medical marijuana is fraught with
emotion.

Janae Cox, whose 4- year-old daughter, Haleigh, typically suffers
from hundreds of debilitating seizures a day, said the number dropped
to only a handful after using the cannabis oil. She was among the
parents prodding lawmakers to back the legislation, and she said
Haleigh and other children were used as little more than "political
pawns."

"The state of Georgia let our children down," Cox said. "But to hear
that Governor Deal is looking into other avenues to finding the
assistance our children need gives so many parents in Georgia hope."

Democrats see a cold political calculus at play. Democratic state Sen.
Jason Carter, his party's candidate for governor, said the bill died
because the governor "failed to show any leadership" in the medical
marijuana debate during the session.

"To do it now is nothing more than an election year about-face
because he is afraid that Georgia voters will hold him accountable for
his failures," Carter said.

State Rep. Allen Peake, the measure's chief sponsor, also bemoaned the
legislative head-butting that made his proposal little more than a
"bargaining chip." But he praised the governor for trying to intervene
where the legislative branch failed.

"When it comes to providing relief and hope to families and children
in this state, I'm going to support any initiative that helps get this
done," said Peake, a Republican from Macon. "If it takes an executive
order from the governor, by God we ought to be doing it."
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MAP posted-by: Matt