Georgia Politics, Campaigns, and Elections for June 30, 2023

On June 30, 1665, England’s King Charles signed a royal charter for Carolina, defining its southern border and also claiming all land in what is now Georgia.

On June 30, 1775, the Continental Congress passed the Articles of War, laying out complaints against Britain’s Parliament.

“The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States.”

The Second Continental Congress met in Philadelphia on July 1, 1776 to debate a resolution by Richard Henry Lee that the colonies declare their independence of Britain.

On July 2, 1776, the Second Continental Congress adopted a resolution by Richard Henry Lee (father of Robert E. Lee) calling for independence from Britain. The delegations of twelve colonies voted in favor, while New York’s abstained, not knowing how their constituents would wish them to vote.

On July 2, 1826, representatives from Georgia and Alabama met to begin surveying the border between the two.

The first U.S. Postage stamps were issued on July 1, 1847 in New York City.

The Battle of Gettysburg began on July 1, 1863. July 2, 1863 saw day 2 of the Battle of Gettysburg, with Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia attacking Meade’s Army of the Potomac.

Theodore Roosevelt and the Rough Riders charged San Juan Hill in Cuba during the Spanish-American War on July 1, 1898.

On July 2, 1898, the first pot of delicious Brunswick Stew was made in Brunswick, Georgia.

Coca-Cola marketed its current formula for the first time on July 1, 1916.

Construction of USS Augusta, a cruiser, began on July 2, 1928, according to the Augusta Chronicle.

She would be completed and launched in February 1930, “sponsored” by Evelyn McDaniel, of Augusta, who would later become the wife of a Superior Court judge.

Augusta saw service in the Pacific and later became a command ship during Operation Overlord and the D-Day invasion. Presidents Franklin D. Roosevelt and Harry Truman traveled aboard her during wartime treaty endeavors, and the latter would publicly announce the nuclear bombing of Hiroshima from his office aboard the ship.

USS Augusta was built at Newport News Shipbuilding, where my father worked when I was a child, and where we occasionally attended christenings and launches.

Today could well be called Intermodal Transportation History Day in Georgia. The first four-lane highway in Georgia was announced on June 30, 1937 from Atlanta to Marietta. The first C5 air flight took place from Dobbins in Marietta on June 30, 1968 and MARTA rail service began on June 30, 1979.

Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell first went on sale on June 30, 1936; on June 30, 1986, the United States Postal Service issued a stamp commemorating Margaret Mitchell.

Superman made his first appearance in Action Comics #1 on June 30, 1938.

On July 1, 1956, a new Georgia flag bearing the state seal and a version of the Confederate Battle Flag became effective after being adopted by the Georgia General Assembly in the 1956 Session.

President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act of 1964 on July 2, 1964. Major provisions included outlawing discriminatory application of voting laws, prohibiting racial discrimination in public accomodations, allowing the Attorney General to join lawsuits against states operating segregated public schools, and prohibiting discrimination by state and local governments or agencies receiving federal funds.

Martin Luther King, Jr. was a witness to Johnson’s signature, standing behind the President in the Oval Office. Johnson presented King with one of the 72 pens used in signing the legislation.

Occasionally, pens from the Civil Rights Act signing come onto the collectors’ market. A collection of 50 pens used to sign legislation by Presidents Kennedy and Johnson went across the block in November 2013. This pen went unsold.

As a student of Dr. Merle Black in the political science department at Emory, we began our study of Southern politics from the premise that race relations and the legacy of racial discrimination shaped Southern politics. One book we read every year was The Longest Debate: A Legislative History of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, which belongs on the bookshelf of any serious student of American politics, political history, and legislative process.

Ohio became the 39th state to ratify the 26th Amendment on June 30, 1971, lowering the voting age to 18.

The current Georgia Constitution became effective on July 1, 1983 after its approval in a referendum during the November 1982 General Election.

Spike Lee’s Do the Right Thing was released on June 30, 1989. Lee was born in Atlanta and graduated from Morehouse College.

Georgia native Clarence Thomas was nominated to the United States Supreme Court by President George H.W. Bush on July 1, 1991.

Georgia Politics, Campaigns, and Elections

And they say runoff elections are goofy. Donald Trump won election as President of the United States Hubbard, Oregon’s Fire District Board Director Position No. 3 after the dungeon master elections director busted out a twelve-sided die. From WJBF:

Following the Oregon Special Election held on Tuesday, May 16, the Statesman Journal reports that five write-in candidates received two votes for Hubbard Fire District Board Director Position No. 3.

Fire Chief Michael Kahrmann says 45th President Donald Trump was one of those candidates.

Officials rolled a 12-sided die multiple times to determine which of the individuals would take over the position. After representatives stood in for the other five candidates, none of whom were present during the meeting, Trump was declared the winner of the tiebreaker.

“The next step for the Hubbard Fire District is to determine if any of the other candidates are interested in the position,” Kahrmann told Nexstar’s KOIN. “There is a requirement that Board Directors must either live in or own property in the Hubbard Fire District.”

Several Georgia families filed a lawsuit against the state alleging new legislation that bans some gender-affirming care is unconstitutional, according to the AJC.

Two days before a law banning certain treatments for transgender minors is set to take effect, several Georgia families filed federal a lawsuit against the state late Thursday asking the courts to stop the measure from taking effect, saying it takes away the rights of parents to make health care decisions about their children.

Republican lawmakers made it a priority this year to pass a bill to ban health care providers from providing certain hormones or surgical treatment to children to align with their gender identity, as legislators did in several other GOP-led states.

Gov. Brian Kemp signed Senate Bill 140 into law two days after it passed the General Assembly on a party-line vote. State law grants the governor 40 days after the end of a legislative session to sign or veto bills.

Supporters of SB 140 say it protects children from taking steps toward gender transition that are permanent. Opponents say the law goes against published medical “standards of care” and will end up hurting transgender children, who commit suicide at a higher rate than their nontransgender peers.

The families accuse the state, identified as the directors and board members of the Department of Community Health and the Georgia Composite Medical Board in the lawsuit, of depriving “parents of the fundamental right to obtain established medical care for their children,” in violation of the 14th Amendment — the equal protection clause.

“The ban violates the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment by singling out transgender minors and prohibiting them from obtaining medically necessary treatment,” attorneys representing the families wrote in the lawsuit.

Georgia’s version of Medicaid expansion will go into effect, according to the Associated Press via the Valdosta Daily Times.

Georgia is one of 10 remaining states that hasn’t expanded Medicaid eligibility to include individuals and families earning up to 138% of the federal poverty line, or $20,120 annually for a single person and $41,400 for a family of four.

Medicaid expansion was a key part of President Barack Obama’s health care overhaul in 2010, but many Republicans have fought it, including Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp, a Republican.

Instead, Kemp is limiting expanded coverage to adults earning up to 100% of the poverty line — $14,580 for a single person or $30,000 for a family of four. And coverage is only available if able-bodied adults document they are working, volunteering, studying or in vocational rehabilitation for 80 hours per month.

“In our state, we want more people to be covered at a lower cost with more options for patients,” Kemp said in his State of the State speech in January.

Those who earn more will remain eligible for subsidized coverage, often with no premium cost, on the federal marketplace. Kemp’s administration argues commercial coverage is better because it pays providers more than state-set Medicaid rates.

The Trump administration ultimately gave permission to 13 states to impose work requirements on some Medicaid recipients. The Biden administration revoked all those waivers in 2021, ruling work isn’t a primary purpose of Medicaid. But Kemp’s administration won a federal court fight last year to preserve Georgia’s plan, in part because it applies to new enrollees and not current Medicaid recipients.

Caylee Noggle, commissioner of the Department of Community Health, told The Associated Press this week that Pathways to Coverage is a “Georgia-specific approach” that could insure up to 100,000 people in its first year.

But 100,000 is far less than the nearly 450,000 uninsured Georgians that the Urban Institute estimates could gain coverage with a full Medicaid expansion.

But those who treat uninsured people say many can’t work because they are in poor health.

“The reason they have their challenges, that they can’t work, is because they’ve got a mental illness or they’ve got a medical illness that is affecting their ability to do that,” said Dr. Reed Pitre, an addiction psychiatrist and interim chief medical officer at Mercy Care, a federally subsidized nonprofit in Atlanta.

The Kemp administration anticipates the program will serve people in low-wage jobs who can’t afford employer insurance, as well as students. The state also is redetermining eligibility for 2.4 million adults and children now covered by Medicaid.

UTV owners will not be able to register their vehicles until later in the year, according to WALB.

The date to register your Multipurpose Off-Highway Motor Vehicles in Georgia is being pushed back from July 1, 2023, until December 1, 2023, according to the Georgia Department of Revenue.

In May, Governor Brian Kemp signed a bill into law to allow these vehicles to be operated on county roads.

Tift County Tax Commissioner Chad Alexander says the date change came by surprise. He says due to the high volume of variety of UTVs, the Department of Revenue just needs more time.

“The Department of Revenue is not ready to initiate the actual plan, because they don’t have a tag available for these. So the earliest date will be December 1st,” Alexander said.

The new law has contributed to sales increasing in Georgia. However, Jay Laycock, owner of Offroad Powersports, says to operate these vehicles on the roads needs intensive requirements prior to obtaining a tag. One requirement is having insurance.

House Bill 188, the Georgia Dangerous Sexual Predator Prevention Act, goes into effect tomorrow with new restrictions on sex offenders, according to the AJC.

The Georgia Dangerous Sexual Predator Act, which takes effect Saturday, requires newly released offenders to wear ankle monitors that can be tracked by GPS while officials review their risk for committing new crimes. The law also mandates minimum sentences for repeat offenders.

Known as “Mariam’s Law,” the measure was enacted this year in response to the 2021 abduction and killing of Mariam Abdulrab, a 27-year-old Atlanta bartender. Her accused killer, Demarcus Brinkley, had served seven years in prison for committing sex crimes against two young girls and was placed on the Georgia sex offender registry upon his release. He faces a slew of charges including murder, kidnapping and attempted rape. He is being held at the Fulton County Jail.

When Abdulrab’s family learned of Brinkley’s past, they began raising questions about the Sexual Offender Risk Review Board, a state agency that classifies sexual offenders based on their likelihood of committing new crimes. Because of a backlog of cases, Brinkley had never been assessed, leaving the community unaware of the danger he may pose and his chances of re-offending upon his release.

Funding and personnel issues have plagued the board since it was created in 2006, Tracy Alvord, the agency’s executive director, said in an interview.

The agency is responsible not only for the more than 37,500 offenders on the registry, it must also classify hundreds of offenders each month: newly released parolees, new offenders who have been sentenced, and out of state offenders who move to Georgia and ask to be removed from the registry.

“The public registry really needs to be about who are the really dangerous people,” she said. “Let’s use our resources for the people who really need to be monitored strongly.”

Georgia ranked low on the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy ranking of state electric policies, according to the Georgia Recorder via the Dalton Daily Citizen News.

Georgia is ranked 39th on the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy’s 15th annual efficiency scorecard released Wednesday.

The 2022 scorecard gives Georgia 6.5 points out of 50 based on six policy areas: utility programs, transportation, building energy codes, state initiatives, industrial energy efficiency and appliance standards.

A new addition to the report focuses more on how states implement policies that reduce energy costs for low-income households and underserved communities.

The nonprofit analysis also credits the state for making a tax credit available to businesses that manufacture energy products for use in battery, biofuel and electric vehicles. However, the annual fees charged to EV owners is discouraging more people from buying battery-powered cars, the analysis said.

Earlier this year, Georgia lawmakers passed a bill that changes how EV owners pay to recharge their cars. Critics claim the measure also unfairly adds taxes on top of the $217 annual registration fee electric vehicle owners pay to help maintain the roads and bridges in their state.

“Its burdensome EV registration fee is among the highest in the United States and impedes consumer EV adoption,” the report said. “Focusing on efficiency policies across the buildings, state government, and industrial sectors could significantly improve Georgia’s standing in the State Scorecard.”

Georgia’s low score can also be attributed to the fact that utility electricity savings continue to lag behind other states.

“The state has performance incentives for utilities, which help to encourage some investment in energy efficiency,” the report said.

However, while Georgia Power promotes ways for consumers to reduce their energy consumption, the company’s level of investment in energy efficiency programs have been relatively low, according to the report.

As the state’s largest electricity supplier transitions away from its heavy reliance on coal-fired power plants to cleaner sources of energy, the utility has been criticized for high utility bills that some experts predict could result in the typical household paying $45 more each month by 2025.

But Georgia now has more “clean energy” jobs, according to the AJC.

Clean energy jobs are on the rise in every state, with the sector in Georgia accounting for more than 80,000 jobs — and growing, according to a report from the U.S. Department of Energy.

The report showed jobs growing by 3.8% between 2021 and 2022, faster than the pace of overall employment growth during that time, with expansion in every state.

Georgia’s manufacturing sector, which has now surpassed its pre-pandemic level, has seen private spending in clean energy follow government spending, an “industrial strategy” that should spur continued growth, Jared Bernstein, chair of the White House Council of Economic Advisers, told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

“When you build a factory, you hire manufacturing workers and you are investing in a long-term project,” Bernstein said. “That’s not a monthly or quarterly investment. That is for the long-haul.”

Some of the incentives are federal, included in several large packages that provide billions of dollars in new spending as well as tax credits. Some incentives are statewide, including support for worker training and tax advantages. Some are local, like the $700 million in property tax breaks to Rivian for its plant east of Atlanta.

Georgia currently ranks 16th among states with 80,710 clean energy jobs, according to the Department of Energy.

That puts the state far behind the leaders, especially California, which has more than a half-million clean energy jobs, and Texas, which has a quarter of a million. Georgia is 16,000 jobs behind Number 11 Virginia, but is fewer than 700 jobs from the Number 12 spot.

In the past two years, makers of electric vehicles and their suppliers have announced more than 40 projects in Georgia totaling more than 28,400 announced jobs and $22.7 billion in anticipated investment, according to the state Office of Economic Development.

United States Senator Jon Ossoff (D-Atlanta) will attend a “Service of Love and Unity” in Macon this weekend, according to 13WMAZ.

A Unity Service that was planned in response to several anti-Semitic demonstrations at Temple Beth Israel in Macon and in Warner Robins has changed locations.

It will now be held on July 2nd at 2 p.m. at Mulberry Methodist Church, located at 719 Mulberry Street.

After an Anti-Semitic group demonstrated at the temple on Friday, a group of Macon business owners, religious groups, and individuals showed up outside Temple Beth Israel in Macon on Saturday to show their support for the synagogue.

Albany Commissioners adopted a budget that includes broad pay raises, according to WALB.

The first was the approval of a retention incentive for full and part-time employees. The city commission unanimously approved the $1,000 incentive. The incentive does not include sworn Albany police officers because of their approved budgeted raise, according to city officials.

The second was an increase in pension contributions for employees. The city commission unanimously approved a 0.5% increase.

In the approval of the city’s fiscal year 2024 budget, a 6.1% increase for all employees was included. Sworn Albany Police Department officers will see a 13.51% increase.

The commission approved the budget in a 4-3 vote.

Tybee Island has called in reinforcements ahead of an anticipated “unpermitted event,” according to WTOC.

They are preparing not just for typical July 4th crowds this weekend, but also an unpermitted event that’s being advertised as similar to April’s Orange Crush.

Orange Crush in April saw over 40,000 people flock to the island, and as a result, traffic was gridlocked, effectively shutting down the island.

City officials have also talked about how emergency services were overwhelmed by the sheer amount of people and they’re determined not to experience the same thing this weekend.

According to Tybee Island Mayor Shirley Sessions, the city will be getting help from the Georgia State Patrol, as well as the Chatham County Sheriff’s Office and even the Department of Natural Resources to help protect the dunes.

Mayor Sessions says that all in all, the city has spent around $180,000 beefing up public safety measures for this weekend.

“We have taken every step that we can. There are still things that are out of our control. Our state and the county still have much more influence than Tybee does, but we have used all of our partnerships and relationships to ensure that we have that additional protection,” Mayor Sessions said.

Dougherty County Commissioners violated the state’s Open Records act in firing County Administrator Mike McCoy, according to the Albany Herald.

As word has filtered down from state officials that the Dougherty County Commission, in the form of Chairman Lorenzo Heard and Commissioners Victor Edwards, Gloria Gaines and Clinton Johnson, broke state law when its membership voted to terminate County Administrator Mike McCoy, local officials said the action is grounds for a recall of the commissioners.

“They broke the law; that’s been confirmed,” a local official close to the issue, who asked that his name not be used in this article, said. “This is definitely grounds for a recall.”

McCoy and his attorney, Maurice King of Albany, also said Thursday they are preparing a lawsuit against the county that will accuse the four commissioners of firing McCoy because he hired a white man, Barry Brooks, to serve as assistant county administrator.

“It’s odd,” McCoy said shortly after the four commissioners voted, illegally as it turns out, to fire McCoy at a commission work session when not even the discussion of such action was placed on the session’s agenda. “Just a few weeks ago I named an African American woman (Erica Potts) to head the county’s HR department. Not a word has been said about that.”

“Then, when we held a national search to name the assistant county administrator — and I did not even take part in the interviews — and Barry came up as the second-ranked candidate (the first, an African American woman, was offered the job but turned it down), I, as County Code directs, named him assistant administrator. And for that, I was fired.”

The County Commission, after receiving notice from Carr’s office that there were concerns about the way McCoy’s firing was conducted, revoted at a June 5 meeting — again 4-3 — to fire McCoy. That same vote, by the same four board members, was reaffirmed Monday after an almost-six-hour public hearing requested by McCoy.

From WALB:

In a letter dated on Wednesday and addressed to Dougherty County Attorney Alex Shalishali, the attorney general’s office says the May 22 vote to terminate former County Administrator Michael McCoy was not in compliance with the Open Meetings Act and was “voidable” and “non-binding.” The letter states, “There appears to be no facts and circumstances that justify the Commission’s failure to comply with the terms of the Open Meetings Act at their May 22nd meeting concerning the personnel action taken as to the County Administrator.”

And though the meeting and vote to terminate McCoy on June 5 complied with the Open Meetings Act, according to the attorney general, “the Commission is not absolved of liability under the Open Meetings Act, as a violation of the Act still occurred and May 22, 2023,” per a document sent to Shalishali.

Rincon City Council heard an appeal of the suspension of City manager Jonathan Lynn, according to WTOC.

The appeal comes after city council voted 5-2 to suspend Lynn from his position earlier this month. WTOC previously reported Lynn filed a law enforcement investigation into another city employee, and sent out a whistleblower complaint shortly before his termination.

Thursday’s appeal lasted just under four hours with the first two being a presentation of evidence by city attorney Raymond Dickey against Lynn.

After residents spoke up in support of Lynn, councilmember Michelle Taylor made a motion for the extension, but did not receive a second.

Councilmember Levi Scott then proposed a motion to fire Lynn as City Manager. The motion went to a vote, resulting in a decision of three against Lynn’s termination, with two for it and one abstained.

The council then went into an executive session with Lynn to discuss his position as manager.

Augusta Commissioners are moving forward to hire a new City Administrator, according to the Augusta Chronicle.

Last year the prior administrator,  Odie Donald II, left to take a job with Atlanta, and Takiyah Douse took on the role of interim administrator. On Thursday,16 months later, the commissioners were mostly ready to vote on beginning the search for a full-time replacement.

Commissioner Jordan Johnson firmly opposed the motion, saying his colleagues were “rushing the process.”

“It’s been 16 months. It’s not a rush,” said Commissioner Alvin Mason, before putting forward a compromise substitute motion to request a regional, not a national, search to be begun within two weeks.

The commission finally voted on Mason’s motion, asking to find an outside firm within two weeks for a regional search. The final vote was 8-1, with Johnson voting against it. The process would involve the outside firm selecting 12 candidates, and the commission would select and interview seven of these.

The Floyd County Board of Elections has proposed a new precinct map that consolidates some voting places, according to the Rome News Tribune.

The proposal was crafted after looking at demographic changes in Floyd County as well as with an eye to save taxpayer dollars.

For instance, [Elections Supervisor Akyn Trudnak] said, currently both the Garden Lakes and Mount Alto North precincts vote at Anthony Recreation Center, so it makes sense to combine the two.

“By law we have to have three poll workers at every polling location,” Trudnak said. “We always go above and beyond that, but when you have two polling locations in the same building, you now have a minimum of six (poll workers) there.”

“Overall, it’s saving money on taxes. It’s saving voter driving distance, poll worker pay… We’re going from 25 managers to 19 managers,” she said.