Georgia Lawmakers Table Campus Sexual Assault Bill

January 24th, 2018

College students protested HB 51 at the Georgia Capitol last year. Critics said it protected accused assailants more than alleged victims. Proponents said it provided equal due process.

Martha Dalton / WABE

Lawmakers have tabled House Bill 51, which addresses sexual assault investigations on Georgia’s college campuses.

Senate higher education committee chair Fran Millar, R-Dunwoody, made the announcement at a joint committee meeting Tuesday. Millar said lawmakers are waiting for new guidance from the U.S. Education Department.

“Until those regulations are promulgated, there’s not much point in this committee — at least from the Senate’s perspective — certainly going forward and doing anything with this particular bill,” he said.

In September, U.S. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos rescinded Obama-era guidance on sexual assault claims. DeVos issued interim guidance until her department develops new rules.

HB 51, sponsored by state Rep. Earl Ehrhart, R-Powder Springs, stirred controversy last year.

Ehrhart said the bill’s intent was to provide equal due process protections for both parties involved in an alleged assault. However, victims’ rights advocates argued the bill protected the accused assailants at the expense of survivors.

During the meeting, representatives from the university system, technical college system and independent colleges association updated lawmakers on their sexual assault policies and procedures. The university system recently modified its processes and now requires training and preventive education for all students.

State Rep. Rick Jasperse, R-Jasper, chairs the House’s higher education committee. He thanked all colleges for trying to improve their reporting and investigation processes.

“I commend you for taking what [Ehrhart said] to heart and really refining a process that had some flaws and probably damaged some people,” Jasperse said. “[You] have … made a better situation, and I commend you for that.”