Jason Chauncey Spencer (born November 14, 1974) is an American physician assistant and Republican politician.
Spencer was elected to the Georgia House of Representatives in 2010, representing district 180, and serving into July 2018. He was defeated by Steven Sainz in the May 2018 Republican primary for Georgia House of Representatives District 180. He strongly opposed the Affordable Care Act and helped prevent Medicaid expansion in Georgia.
Spencer faced widespread criticism in July 2018 for his behavior during an episode of the satirical television show Who Is America? in which British comedian Sacha Baron Cohen, disguised as an Israeli counter-terrorist expert, led Spencer to drop his pants and shout multiple racial slurs. Criticized by Republican leaders, Spencer announced later that month that he would resign from the Georgia House of Representatives, and was replaced by Steven Sainz.
Early life
Jason Chauncey Spencer was born into a military family at Offutt Air Force Base in Nebraska on November 14, 1974. The family moved in 1978 to Moody Air Force Base in Valdosta, Georgia, and a year later to Alapaha, Georgia. Spencer graduated from Berrien High School in 1993. He attended Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College before transferring to Alabama State University, a historically black college (HBCU), on a full athletic scholarship for tennis. He transferred again to the University of Georgia, from which he graduated in 1997 with a degree in exercise & sport science. Spencer studied and trained as a physician assistant, receiving a second bachelor's degree from South University in Savannah and a master's degree in physician assistant studies from the University of Nebraska Medical Center in 2005.
Political career
Electoral history
An active member of the Tea Party movement in coastal Georgia, Spencer was first elected to the Georgia House of Representatives in 2010 after defeating incumbent Cecily Hill in a primary runoff. His district centers on Woodbine in southeastern Georgia. He was reelected in 2012, 2014, and 2016.
Legislative mentions
Spencer served on the following committees in the Georgia State House: Science and Technology; Games, Fish and Parks; Juvenile Justice; Human Aging and Relations, and served as the Secretary to the House Special Rules Committee. He voted for legislation that relaxed “live-aboard” boating restrictions and legalized home brew beer competitions in Georgia.
Spencer served as an advocate for survivors of child sexual abuse, introducing and gaining passage in 2015 of a landmark civil statute of limitations (SOL) reform legislation, known as the Georgia Hidden Predator Act (HB 17, 2015). This legislation removed or extended the civil SOL so survivors can gain justice and expose the identities of hidden child abusers in the state of Georgia. The Hidden Predator Act was instrumental in leading to the unraveling of one of the largest sex scandals in U.S. sports history: the exposure of Dr. Larry Nassar, who was later convicted of serial child molestation committed while serving the USA Gymnastics organization. Rep. Spencer received Voice Today's "Voice of Gratitude Award" for his efforts authoring the legislation.
In 2018, Spencer attempted to amend this 2015 law to strengthen it and provide more time for survivors to file cases, but the bill was weakened by lobbying efforts from the Atlanta Archdiocese of the Catholic Church, the Boy Scouts of America, and other powerful interest groups. It narrowly failed to pass on the last day of the 2018 legislative session.
In 2017, Spencer introduced and passed legislation, known as the Georgia Space Flight Act (House Bill 1, 2017), to attract the commercial space industry to Georgia as part of an ongoing effort to establish the state's first commercial spaceport.
Issues during tenure
Spencer was one of the strongest opponents in the Georgia House to President Barack Obama's administration's Affordable Care Act (ACA). He authored legislation that effectively blocked Medicaid expansion in Georgia. Spencer also blocked the establishment of the state's insurance marketplace, and forced the University of Georgia to terminate its "Obamacare" Navigator program under the Act. In 2014, Spencer introduced legislation to block the state from "using of its resources to implement any portions of the health care law." When this legislation was tabled by Senate Majority Whip Cecil Station (R-Macon) and other opponents in committee, Spencer issued a press release blaming fellow Republicans for an "eleventh hour betrayal" and likening them to "Benedict Arnolds, the King George the Third and his myrmidons."