Rep. Viola Davis: A Double Standard on Work: More Requirements for the Poor, Less Work for Their Elected Officials

By State Representative Viola Davis (D-Stone Mountain)

(602 words)

Georgia families are being told something very clear: if you need help putting food on the table, you must work-or prove you are working or training-to keep receiving assistance.

At the same time, elected officials under the Gold Dome have been told something very different: there is a limit on how many bills most House members may introduce.

Think about that.

We are increasing work requirements for people who need food, while limiting the legislative work elected officials can introduce to help the people who sent us to the Capitol. How does that make sense?

New federal SNAP requirements require certain adults to demonstrate work or qualifying activities to continue receiving food assistance. Georgia food banks are preparing for the consequences. A recent news report says Georgia faces an estimated $47 million in additional SNAP administrative costs next fiscal year.

These are not just numbers. They are people working low-wage jobs, looking for employment, struggling with transportation or living one emergency away from financial disaster.

When SNAP dollars disappear, the effects do not stop at the kitchen table. Food banks may face greater demand. Grocery stores and small businesses can lose customers. Communities feel the impact.

Yet, while government demands greater proof of work from people seeking help, the Georgia House adopted a rule limiting most representatives to 10 bills per year, with exceptions and a process for seeking permission to exceed the limit.

That contradiction should concern every taxpayer and voter. My constituents did not elect me to address only the problems that fit within an arbitrary number. They elected me to work.

A senior struggling to remain in her home does not stop needing help because I reached bill number 10. Neither does a mother concerned about maternal mortality, a homeowner fighting abusive practices, a veteran needing assistance or a family struggling to afford water, electricity, housing or healthcare.

Problems do not arrive at the Capitol 10 at a time.

I understand the argument behind work requirements: those able to work should be encouraged toward employment and self-sufficiency. But if government believes so strongly in the dignity and responsibility of work, shouldn't government hold itself to the same principle?

Why tell a struggling Georgian, "You must do more to receive help," while telling an elected representative, "You may only introduce so much legislation to help them?"

That is a double standard worth examining.

I have not simply spoken against limiting legislators' work. I introduced legislation to stop it. I drafted House Bill 713, the Georgia Legislative Integrity and Representation Act of 2025, to oppose restrictions limiting legislators to 10 bills per year, or 20 during a two-year term. HB 713 reflects a basic principle: the number of problems facing our constituents cannot be predetermined by an arbitrary numerical cap.

Legislation should be serious, researched and necessary. But whether a constituent's problem deserves a legislative solution should be determined by elected representatives and the people they serve, not an arbitrary ceiling.

I have said for years: taxpayers and voters are the employers. Elected officials are the employees in this non-profit, public business called government.

If government believes employees should work, that principle should start with us. Our constituents should be able to demand more work from their elected officials, not less.

This issue is bigger than SNAP. It is about what we demand from people who need government and what we demand from those who run it.

We cannot tell hungry people to work more, while telling their representatives to legislate less. If work is the standard, let the people work, and let their elected officials work for them.

*Editor's note: Rep. Davis has provided a graphic included below.

Representative Viola Davis represents the citizens of District 87, which includes a portion of DeKalb County. She was first elected to the House of Representatives in 2018 and currently serves on the Defense & Veterans Affairs, Health, Insurance, Natural Resources & Environment and Urban Affairs committees

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