By Penn Law<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The fight over Senate Bill 68 in Georgia is not about justice, fairness, or balancing the civil justice system. Instead, it is about dark money, corporate influence, protecting historic profits, and major conflicts of interest. This bill, which aims to strip Georgians of their constitutional rights in favor of insurance companies and big business, is being propped up by millions in secret funding.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Competitive Georgia: A Secretive Corporate Powerhouse<\/p>\n\n\n\n
First, consider Competitive Georgia, a shadowy 501(c)(3) nonprofit with 500 corporate members that has pledged millions of dollars to support SB68. Their justification? The usual misleading buzzwords: \u201cThe weaponization and abuse of Georgia\u2019s civil justice system\u201d and \u201ca hostile environment for job creators.\u201d Yet, they provide zero evidence to support these claims \u2013 instead relying on the one thing we all agree on as their evidence: insurance premiums are too high. The intentional disconnect is that lawsuits don\u2019t raise your premiums and they know this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Instead of making their case with facts, they are funding a multimillion-dollar media campaign designed to deceive the public with distorted statistics and outright falsehoods. Expect to see TV commercials, digital ads, and mailers pushing their narrative that SB68 is necessary to \u201csave businesses.\u201d The truth? It is a blatant effort to increase already historic corporate profits at the expense of everyday Georgians.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But what makes Competitive Georgia particularly troubling is its deep ties to Governor Brian Kemp\u2019s office and a powerful law firm that stands to benefit from SB68. The Governor\u2019s Executive Counsel, Sam Hatcher, previously worked at Troutman Pepper Locke, a prestigious silk stocking law firm that shares an address with Competitive Georgia. The CEO of Competitive Georgia, Kade Cullefer, is also the Director of State Affairs at Troutman Strategies, the lobbying arm of Troutman Pepper Locke. That\u2019s right\u2014Competitive Georgia is not some independent advocacy group. It is an extension of one of the most powerful law firms in the state.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And it gets worse. Governor Kemp\u2019s former Executive Counsel, Kristyn Long, just left her position and will begin working as General Counsel for the Georgia Hospital Association on February 14. The Georgia Hospital Association is a major proponent of SB68 and has been lobbying aggressively for its passage. This clear revolving door between government officials and pro-tort reform lobbyists raises serious ethical concerns.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
With staff stacked like this, is it really a surprise that Governor Kemp has decided to champion SB68?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
PACT: An Out-of-State Money Machine with No Ties to Georgia<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As if Competitive Georgia\u2019s influence weren\u2019t enough, another mysterious dark money group has appeared overnight in Georgia: Protecting American Consumers Together (PACT).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Registered in Virginia, PACT pledged $1 million to support SB68 on the very day the Governor announced the bill.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But why would an out-of-state group suddenly care about Georgia\u2019s tort laws? The answer is simple: It\u2019s not about protecting Georgia consumers\u2014it\u2019s about protecting corporate profits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
PACT\u2019s real mission becomes even clearer when you examine its leadership:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u00b7 Tim Capowski, a longtime insurance defense lawyer in Florida.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u00b7 Paul Renner, the former Speaker of the Florida House of Representatives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Both of these men helped Florida pass similar tort reform measures in 2023, promising that it would lower insurance premiums and help consumers. But what actually happened?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u00b7 Insurance premiums did not go down \u2013 they went up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u00b7 Consumers did not benefit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u00b7 The rights of hardworking Floridians and small business owners were stripped away.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Even President Donald Trump has condemned this type of tort reform, calling it \u201cthe biggest insurance scam in the history of the world\u201d and \u201cnothing more than an insurance company bailout.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Florida Warning: Georgia Is Next If We Don\u2019t Stop SB68<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We don\u2019t have to guess what will happen if SB68 becomes law\u2014we only need to look south to Florida, where similar tort reform has already played out:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u00b7 Insurance rates remain high despite all the promises of lower costs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u00b7 Injured victims and small businesses have found it harder to hold bad actors accountable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u00b7 Insurance companies are reporting record profits while ordinary people suffer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If SB68 passes, Georgia citizens will suffer the same fate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Follow the Money\u2014Not the Rhetoric<\/p>\n\n\n\n
SB68 is not about protecting small businesses or consumers. It is about protecting the profits of insurance companies and the corporations that support them. Millions of dollars in dark money from Competitive Georgia and PACT are being used to deceive the public into believing this bill is necessary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So ask yourself:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u00b7 Why are out-of-state groups suddenly interested in Georgia\u2019s tort laws?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u00b7 Why are high-powered law firms and lobbyists so deeply embedded in this fight?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u00b7 If tort reform in Florida and other states failed to lower insurance premiums, why would it work in Georgia?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We Must Reject SB68 and the Dark Money Behind It<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Georgia citizens deserve honest, transparent policymaking\u2014not backroom deals funded by secretive corporate interests. SB68 is a direct attack on your constitutional rights. It is being sold with lies and funded with millions from anonymous donors who do not have your best interests at heart.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Georgians, now is the time to reject this blatant money grab. Contact your representatives. Let them know you see through the deception and won\u2019t be fooled by corporate propaganda.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Say NO to Senate Bill 68. Say NO to dark money. Say YES to protecting Georgia\u2019s hardworking citizens and small business owners.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
By Penn Law The fight over Senate Bill 68 in Georgia is not about justice, fairness, or balancing the civil justice system. Instead, it is about dark money, corporate influence, protecting historic profits, and major conflicts of interest. This bill, which aims to strip Georgians of their constitutional rights in favor of insurance companies and …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-534","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pennlawgroup.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/534","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pennlawgroup.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pennlawgroup.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pennlawgroup.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pennlawgroup.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=534"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.pennlawgroup.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/534\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":535,"href":"https:\/\/www.pennlawgroup.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/534\/revisions\/535"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pennlawgroup.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=534"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pennlawgroup.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=534"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pennlawgroup.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=534"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}