Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the State Designations topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Senate bill 348 hearing includes multiple state designations and a proposed neighborhood gun‑violence day; mother of a victim testifies
Summary
Senate Committee Substitute for SB 348, a package of state and local designation requests, was presented and heard in committee; the bill includes memorial and awareness provisions and drew emotional testimony from the mother of a gun‑violence victim.
Senator Travis Fitzwater presented Senate Committee Substitute for Senate Bill 348, a state-designation package that assembles multiple naming items and commemorative dates requested by senators and representatives.
Fitzwater described items in the bill that included a series of designation days and memorial namings — for example, a John Donaldson Day, an Emmett Kelly Day, Michael Collins Day, an Ovarian Cancer Awareness month provision, and a Celia Day tied to a posthumous pardon and a proposed Celia Memorial Highway through the area near Fulton. He cautioned the committee that designation bills sometimes accumulate many requests and urged colleagues to coordinate with the Senate so final conference bills are smooth. "When you add stuff here, if it hasn't had a hearing or had some consideration on the Senate side, sometimes it makes it a little trickier," Fitzwater said.
The committee heard in particular from a family member advocating for a neighborhood gun‑violence awareness day. Precious Jones, who identified herself as the mother of Preston Jones, recounted multiple family tragedies and urged the committee to adopt a day to honor victims and raise awareness. "We are tired, and I mean tired, of burying our children," Jones said. She described her son’s death in 2022 and said she has dedicated her life to advocacy aimed at preventing further gun violence.
Fitzwater and Representative Fountain Henderson said they would explore omnibus packaging and further coordination so that the underlying naming requests have the necessary consideration before moving forward. The transcript excerpt records supportive testimony for the Celia recognition, human-trafficking awareness week and other naming items; no formal committee votes on SB 348 are recorded in the excerpt.
Ending
The public hearing closed after testimony; committee members and the sponsor discussed possible omnibus treatment and additional vetting with Senate colleagues before final action.
