Georgia Politics, Campaigns, and Elections for March 22, 2022

King George III approved of the passage of the Stamp Act legislation on March 22, 1765 designed to pay for some of the costs the UK incurred in protecting the colonies, but it would lead to the movement that culminated in the American Revolution.

President Franklin Delano Roosevelt signed the Beer and Wine Revenue Act on March 22, 1933, allowing the sale of alcoholic beverages, and later that year, the federal Prohibition was ended.

The first Masters golf tournament began on March 22, 1934 in Augusta, Georgia.

The state prohibition on all alcoholic beverages ended on March 22, 1935 with Governor Eugene Talmadge’s signature of the Alcoholic Beverage Control Act.

The United States Congress passed the Equal Rights Amendment on March 22, 1972; it would fail to garner enough state ratifications.

Georgia Politics, Campaigns, and Elections

Under the Gold Dome Today – Legislative Day 33

TBD Senate Rules Committee upon Adjournment 450 CAP

8:00 AM HOUSE Motor Vehicles Tags & Titles Subcommittee 606 CLOB HYBRID

8:00 AM HOUSE SMALL BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE 506 CLOB HYBRID

8:00 AM HOUSE Insurance Life & Health Subcommittee 406 CLOB HYBRID

8:30 AM HOUSE Insurance Property & Casualty Subcommittee 406 CLOB HYBRID

9:00 AM HOUSE RULES COMMITTEE 341 CAP

10:00 AM HOUSE FLOOR SESSION (LD 33) House Chamber

10:00 AM Senate Floor Session LD 33 Senate Chamber

1:00 PM HOUSE Judiciary Non-Civil Setzler Subcommittee 415 CLOB

1:00 PM HOUSE Public Safety & Homeland Security Subcommittee B 406 CLOB HYBRID

1:00 PM HOUSE SPECIAL RULES COMMITTEE 606 CLOB HYBRID

1:00 PM Senate Insurance and Labor Committee Mezz 1

1:00 PM Senate Higher Education Committee 450 CAP

1:30 PM HOUSE Ways & Means Public Finance & Policy Subcommittee 403 CAP HYBRID

1:30 PM HOUSE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE 132 CAP HYBRID

2:00 PM HOUSE HEALTH & HUMAN SERVICES COMMITTEE 606 CLOB HYBRID

2:00 PM HOUSE Regulated Industries Occupational / Professional Licensing Subcommittee 506 CLOB HYBRID

2:00 PM HOUSE Energy, Utilities & Telecommunications Telecommunications Subcommittee 341 CAP

2:00 PM Senate Agriculture and Consumer Affairs- Building and Housing Subcommittee 310 CLOB

2:00 PM Senate Health and Human Services Committee 450 CAP

2:00 PM Senate Public Safety Committee Mezz 1

3:00 PM HUMAN RELATIONS & AGING COMMITTEE 341 CAP

3:00 PM HOUSE ENERGY, UTILITIES & TELECOMMUNICATIONS COMMITTEE 403 CAP HYBRID

3:00 PM HOUSE RETIREMENT COMMITTEE 406 CLOB HYBRID

3:00 PM HOUSE JUDICIARY NON-CIVIL COMMITTEE 132 CAP HYBRID

3:00 PM Senate Agriculture and Consumer Affairs- Raw Milk Subcommittee Mezz 1a

3:00 PM Senate Regulated Industries and Utilities Committee 450 CAP

4:00 PM HOUSE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT & TOURISM COMMITTEE 406 CLOB

4:00 PM Senate State and Local Governmental Operations Committee 310 CLOB

4:00 PM Senate Judiciary Committee 307 CLOB

4:00 PM Senate Appropriations- Compensation Subcommittee 310 CLOB

“Fill it up with untaxed!” Gas price relief in the form of foregone state motor fuel tax collection is trickling out to drivers, according to The Brunwsick News.

The average cost of a gallon of regular unleaded gasoline in Georgia had dropped to $4.14 by Sunday. That is 15 cents less than it was a week ago, according to figures released by AAA.

It is still higher than the average cost this same time in February, 77 cents more to be exact. Compared to what it was a year ago, it is $1.40 higher.

“Georgians are starting to see some relief at the pumps compared to a week ago,” said Montrae Waiters, AAA spokeswoman. “The drop in gas demand and the decrease in crude oil prices has contributed to lower pump prices.”

It is not the only reason gas at the pumps is lower. The state removed its 28.7 cents per gallon gas tax Friday. It will remain suspended through May 31.

Unlike in past weeks, coastal gas outlets were not the highest average priced markets Sunday in Georgia. That dubious honor goes to Atlanta, $4.22; Athens, $4.19; and Gainesville, $4.16.

Lowest averages were found in Albany, $3.94; Warner Robins, $3.95; and the Catoosa-Dade-Walker metro area, $3.96.

State Rep. Steven Sainz (R-Woodbine) introduced legislation to dissolve the Camden County Spaceport Authority, according to The Brunswick News.

Sainz said the voters spoke during a special election on March 8 where more than 72 percent of the vote was to prohibit the county commission from closing on a deal to purchase the launch site from Union Carbide.

“It’s hard to ignore how the people vote,” Sainz said.

The move to disband the spaceport authority began hours after Camden County commissioners appointed their first members to the spaceport authority at a special called meeting on March 11 — three days after the special election.

People were concerned the county was trying to circumvent the referendum by appointing members to the authority for the first time since it was created through special legislation in 2019 sponsored by Sainz.

“If there is a referendum vote that signifies that the county commissioners cannot purchase this property, I will not stand aside and see that this piece of legislation created a few years ago be utilized in a way that allows the county to ignore the votes of my constituents,” Sainz said.

The Georgia State Ethics Government Transparency and Campaign Finance Commission will move forward with an investigation into charges against Augusta Mayor Hardie Davis, according to WJBF.

The Georgia Government Transparency and Campaign Finance Commission found probable cause for campaign billboard funds used in 2018 against Augusta Mayor Hardie Davis Jr, saying he did not properly register the entity and did not disclose where the money for the billboards came from.

It took commissioners nearly 2 hours at a state ethics hearing to find probable cause for a 2018 violation against Augusta’s Mayor.

Joe Cusack, Deputy General Counsel said, “The commission found probable cause that Mr. McKinnen and Mr. Davis were operating  the “Concerned Citizens of Richmond County” which has those billboards on Gordon Highway for the ballot committee on May 22, 2018 asking Augusta voters where should the new James Brown Arena be.”

“There is 2 things that require to register including you are advocating VOTE YES OR VOTE NO for certain things on the ballot or you spend $500 in expenditures. Now this billboard $3950 so they would have been required to register and it’s unclear as to how these were funded,” said Deputy Counsel Cusak.

Cusack said, “Who is involved, where you are getting your money from, who are you spending your money on  and giving the public transparency. That entity never registered but we found through that emails Mr. McKinnen and Mr. Davis were involved with funding that effort.”

An official statement from Mayor Hardie Davis Jr. regarding the decision said,

“The Ethic’s Commission made one vote today, finding probable cause to allow further investigation of whether I participated with an unregistered Ballot Committee that should have filed required Disclosures. I vehemently disagree with the Commission’s vote. The billboards were purchased by Cardinale Management, the owner of the Regency Mall property. I am disappointed that the Commission found probable cause even though they acknowledged that there was no obligation to register a Ballot Committee or to file disclosures if the Billboards were purchased by an individual or corporation, as they were in this matter.”

“The billboards that we are talking about four years later have a signed contract by the owner of the Regency Mall, and I am now held responsible for their action because the Ethics Commission has not been able to make contact with Cardinale Management. If you listened to today’s hearing, the Commission’s attorneys admitted that they had no evidence that Mayor Hardie Davis or Tonia Gibbons participated in a Dark Money Ballot Committee.”

From the Augusta Chronicle:

Augusta Mayor Hardie Davis faces charges he broke state laws  and fines of more than $800,000 after the state ethics commission found probable cause to move forward with two ethics complaints against him.

The Monday probable cause votes means the commission decided there was sufficient basis to move forward with prosecution and investigation, said David Emadi, executive director of the Georgia Government Transparency and Campaign Finance commission.

“Today, the commission voted unanimously that there was reasonable belief to believe the law had been violated in both Mr. Davis’ campaign case, and in the ballot committee case,” Emadi said.

It’s a slippery slope when hemp is legalized. From the AJC:

An unlikely Senate duo — a conservative South Georgia farmer running for higher office and a liberal Atlanta preacher — have teamed up to help cannabis farmers with a bill allowing more hemp products in a state where marijuana remains illegal.

Few people initially noticed their bill would have authorized a hemp derivative called Delta-8 THC, a product already sold in stores that gives users a recreational high. Retailers are selling Delta-8 under a federal hemp law that doesn’t specifically ban it.

“What we were doing is trying to find a way to clarify the law as best we can as long as it’s within the federal limits of less than 0.3% THC,” said Harper, a candidate for agriculture commissioner. “We tried to cross the divide that’s so often seen in national media” between Republicans and Democrats.

Prosecutors in Gwinnett County have threatened to treat Delta-8 as an illegal substance, but a judge last week issued a restraining order.

“When it came to our attention that there could be prosecutions of Delta-8, we felt it was important to make it explicit that Delta-8 is not illegal,” said Jackson, a Democrat from Stone Mountain. “I’m not opposed to a full hearing on it. I objected to the idea of killing the entire bill.”

The Georgia hemp legislation, Senate Bill 481, started as a proposal to allow hemp farming by Georgians who are currently barred because they had been convicted of a felony. The bill would have allowed hemp farming licenses to be issued to individuals as long as they haven’t been convicted of a felony related to a federally controlled substance within the previous 10 years.

The legislation cleared the Senate Agriculture Committee, and then Harper introduced a new version of the measure in the Senate Rules Committee that included a seemingly innocuous line that would have given the go-ahead to Delta-8 legalization:

“Hemp products shall not be considered controlled substances due to the presence of hemp or hemp derived cannabinoids,” the substitute bill stated.

[T]he Senate voted 28-20 along party lines to recommit the bill to Walker’s committee, likely ending its chances of passing this year.

New maps for Chatham County Commission and Board of Education districts passed the State Senate, according to the Savannah Morning News.

The latest map modifications were led by Democratic members of the state legislative delegation, said Georgia House Rep. Ron Stephens, a Republican and the chair of the local delegation. Rep. Carl Gillard, Chatham’s senior Democrat in the House, says he’s happy to finally reach an agreement among the delegation.

The bill, sponsored by Gilliard, managed to remain a local bill, only voted on by the eight members of the Chatham delegation — the alternative would’ve been a drawn-out vote of the entire House of Representatives, which swings heavily Republican.

The latter option is how most comparable counties’ redistricting went this year. Gilliard called those debates a “bloodbath.” Stephens said it was akin to “airing dirty laundry.”

A group of local governments wants to intervene in the Georgia Public Service Commission’s oversight of Georgia Power’s power planning process, according to the AJC.

The newly formed coalition — which includes the cities of Atlanta, Decatur and Savannah, plus Athens-Clarke, DeKalb and Fulton counties — represents some 2.1 million residents, or about one-fifth of Georgia’s total population. Those constituents consume tens of millions of megawatts of electricity each year, and local governments purchase large amounts of energy for their own operations as well.

Coalition members said they’ve never joined together to intervene in the Georgia Public Service Commission’s months-long consideration of Georgia Power’s integrated resource plan — which is updated every three years and guides the utility’s approach to providing electricity for consumers and businesses across the state.

The newest IRP — which proposes closing its remaining coal-fired plants and adding more renewables and natural gas — was filed in January. Hearings are scheduled to begin early next month.

With that in mind, the local governments are now asking for the ability to present testimony, cross-examine witnesses and file briefs just like the environmental, consumer and industry groups that have more traditionally participated in the process.

The Chatham-Savannah Counter Narcotics Team is working to reduce fentanyl overdoses, according to the Savannah Morning News.

During 2021 the Chatham-Savannah Counter Narcotics Team (CNT) seized nearly 20 kilograms of fentanyl, a drug so lethal that a fatal dose ranges from a mere 2 to 5 milligrams.

“We absolutely are making fentanyl a priority when it comes to our enforcement operations. We get wind of anything fentanyl related and the troops are out the door, trying to hunt it down,” CNT Director Michael Sarhatt told the Chatham County Commission last month.

As overdoses involving the synthetic and inexpensive opioid become more frequent across the county, CNT is rolling out a series of educational awareness programs to the public.

Gwinnett County Clerk of Courts Tiana Garner opened a new passport office, according to the Gwinnett Daily Post.

The Muscogee County Board of Education approved bonuses to help attract and retain staff, according to the Ledger-Enquirer.

The board will be giving a $500 recruitment bonus to any Muscogee County School District employee who recruits a potential employee to fill a vacant position.

“Most school districts throughout the country are looking for certified teachers and support staff and we feel like anything we can do and tonight’s recruitment stipend was one of several passed for the recruitment and retention of several teachers and support staff,” said Muscogee County School Superintendent Dr. David Lewis.

The board also approved a one-time pay-for-performance stipend for employees returning to schools that show improvement and a new proposed relocation stipend totaling $200,000 to assist in filling vacancies.

Erin Price announced she will run for Lowndes County Board of Education District 3, according to the Valdosta Daily Times.

Athens-Clarke County Mayor Kelly Girtz delivered his State of the City address, according to the Athens Banner Herald.