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Opposition to a recently approved tort reform bill may have cost Georgia Rep. Vance Smith, Jr his job.

Smith was recently removed as president of the Harris County Chamber of Commerce by its Executive Committee just hours after voting against Senate Bill 68, the tort reform measure backed by the governor.

Gov. Brian Kemp’s tort reform bill was recently passed by the GA House by a narrow 91-82 margin. The bill needed 91 votes to pass and received 91. 

Rep. Smith (R) represents the western half of Troup County and a portion of LaGrange, including the Hollis Hand and Northside communities, along with a majority of Harris County, where he is a founding member of the chamber of commerce.

Smith said he had concerns about the legislation’s impact on judicial authority and wanted further discussion, but the bill advanced to the Senate, where it also passed.

The vote was on March 20. The following day, Smith received a text message asking him to a Zoom meeting with the chamber.

“I said. ‘You wanna do this in person? It must be important,’” Smith said. “We did a Zoom call, and in that Zoom, I was told that we want to part ways.”

“That was a big shock to me. It was to anybody, I guess. I was shocked,” the ousted chamber president said.

Smith is a Harris County native and co-founded the chamber 40 years ago. He had stepped in as interim president during a leadership transition before his official appointment to the role.

According to Smith, Board Chair Theresa Garcia Robertson convened the special meeting, which led to the parting of ways, saying his stance did not align with the organization’s vision.

Robertson declined to comment on the reasons for Smith’s dismissal, saying she could not comment on personnel matters.

“We hold Vance in high esteem and regard and wish him the best moving forward,” Robertson said.

Smith believes his vote may have had something to do with his firing.

“I know what they said, and it’s just coincidental I guess that it was just 24 hours after I voted on the tort reform,” Smith.

Smith indicated he wasn’t necessarily against all of the bill or tort reform in general, but he had a few concerns. One concern was letting judges control their own courtrooms. The bill limits what lawyers can say to juries in civil cases when asking for monetary compensation.

“Judges run their courtrooms,” Smith said. But in certain cases, their docket is influenced by the lawyers in the courtroom. I kind of consider the judge the one in charge of the courtroom, and he can instruct the jury.”

Smith said he wasn’t sure the bill would help bring or keep insurance companies in the state, noting that while Georgia is considered negative for its judicial system, it’s been the number one state to do business for 11 years in a row.

“That doesn’t seem to add up, in my opinion. That’s kind of contradictory. We’re the number one state to do business, but we’re a judicial hell hole. How does that work? Why would people want to come here if the judicial system is bad?” Smith said.

Smith said he plans to finish up his work at the Georgia Capitol before deciding what to do in the future.