‘It affects my family’: Georgia Senator speaks on losing job after voting against lawsuit reform

ATLANTA, Ga. (Atlanta News First) – A Georgia state lawmaker lost his day job after voting against the contentious lawsuit reform bill aimed at curbing business liability lawsuits and large insurance payouts.

“It affects my family,” state Rep. Vance Smith (R-Pine Mountain) said. “It was a very negative effect on my wife and my whole family.”

Smith said he was fired as the CEO of the Harris County Chamber of Commerce in a Zoom call Friday, the day after he voted against Senate Bill 68.

“My vote wasn’t taking the chamber in the direction that they wanted to go, and therefore we’d had to part ways,” he said, paraphrasing what the chamber’s board chair Theresa Garcia Robertson told him.

In a sit-down interview with Atlanta News First Investigates, Smith said he sat in four of the hours-long subcommittee sessions to hear the testimony and debate regarding the bill and how it would affect Georgians’ everyday lives.

“I’m a small business. I’ve got an LLC. I’m a member of my own chamber. I definitely think about small business on the issues that I vote on, it affects me directly and affects everybody else in the community across the state,” Smith said. “I didn’t know the outcome was going to lead to where we are now.”

The bill passed on Friday, a day after the House approved a substitute in a 91-82 vote.

Smith said he can’t even count the number of texts, calls and emails he’s gotten since.

 “I want to thank you. This is a family in here,” he told the House chamber Tuesday. “I can’t tell you how much I appreciate it.”

Democrat representatives rushed up to comfort him as he began to choke up.

“I guess I’m kind of a sentimental guy,” Smith told Atlanta News First Investigates.

Smith said he had a few concerns about the bill and had been asking a lot of questions.

For example, he had asked for representatives with insurance companies to call him to explain what they would do going forward.

“Looking at this bill, will this bill entice companies to come back to Georgia? Will it ease the fears of companies that are here in Georgia to that they’ll stay in Georgia?” he asked, but said to this day, he hasn’t heard from anyone from the insurance side.

“I said, ‘Well, you know, if we can make this a better bill, I think I’ll vote no now so we can work on that bill some more,‘” Smith said.

He had no idea it would cost him his job representing businesses in Harris County.

“My position here is very important to me. I want to do what’s right,” he said.

Garcia Robertson, who fired Smith, is the wife of one of the bill’s sponsors, Sen. Randy Robertson. Some have asked Smith if he believes losing his position was also party retaliation for his vote.

“I honestly will not speculate,” he said. “We’ve got legislation to do. I’ve got to work ‘til April the 4th midnight, passing bills that are meaningful to my area of the state and in, actually to the whole state. So I’ve got to concentrate on that.”

Garcia Robertson told Atlanta News First Investigates in an email statement, “We do not comment on personnel matters. What we can tell you is that we hold Vance in high regard personally and appreciate his service to our community and his district.”

Smith said he helped start the Harris County Chamber of Commerce in the early 1990s and had been CEO for almost three years.

This is his 24th year as a Georgia lawmaker.

House Majority Whip James Burchett, who also co-sponsored SB 68,addressed Smith’s firing in a release.

“Numerous members have suffered threats to their livelihoods and independence because of their votes on Senate Bill 68,” he wrote. “We should hold legislators accountable for their votes at the ballot box – not by taking aim at their ability to support their families.”

Atlanta News First Investigates also reached out to the Georgia Senate’s press office for a comment from Sen. Robertson. We are still waiting to hear back.

Atlanta News First Investigates previously reported on online “threats” made to businesses that supported SB 68.

One example is a story post on Facebook from a personal injury attorney, who said: “I cannot wait to sue businesses who blindly support tort reform. Not only will I give you a lesson on how insurance works, but I will punish you for your pathetic attempt to put profits over people. Welcome to the show.”

The attorney told Atlanta News First Investigates, “While admittedly zealous, my post reflects my thoughts that if the businesses that blindly supported tort reform and spread misinformation end up in lawsuits because their carriers failed to resolve claims fairly.”

The bill was heavily supported by the business community, which said insurance premiums were rising so rapidly that some small businesses couldn’t afford to have them anymore.

Small business owners in the state said they’re frustrated with constantly having to pay huge settlements over lawsuits they feel are frivolous.

Opponents of the bill also noted that nothing in its language actually required insurance companies to lower their rates.

The last day of this year’s Georgia General Assembly is set for Friday, April 4, 2025.

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