Georgia Politics, Campaigns, and Elections for August 4, 2025

On August 4, 1753, George Washington became a Master Mason at the Masonic Lodge No. 4 in Fredericksburg, Virginia.

On August 4, 1944, Anne Frank, her family, and two others were found by Nazis in a sealed area in an Amsterdam warehouse. They were sent first to a concentration camp in Holland, then most were sent to Auschwitz. Anne and her sister Margot died from Typhus in the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp in March of 1945.

On August 4, 1958, a wagon train left Dahlonega, headed to Atlanta to pay tribute to the mighty General Assembly deliver 43 ounces of gold to be used to coat the dome of the State Capitol. At the current price of $3,368.50 per ounce, that would be worth $144,845.50.

On August 4, 1993, Nolan Ryan, the greatest middleweight fighter pitcher in major league baseball history, hit Chicago White Sox third baseman Robin Ventura, and Ventura charged the mound.

The St Simons Island Lighthouse has been relit, according to The Brunswick News.

The St. Simons Island Lighthouse has been in continuous service for almost 153 years. It’s weathered many storms, but two lightning strikes only a month apart dimmed the beacon for the longest period in as many as 30 years.

On June 8, lightning struck the light and lens mechanism directly, said Allison Dupuis, a historian with the Coastal Georgia Historical Society. That was rectified quickly with repairs to the motor that turns a “flash plate,” creating the light beam’s flashing effect.

The Aids to Navigation Team in the U.S. Coast Guard’s Jacksonville post keeps spares and delivered one to St. Simons Island in short order.

Another bolt of lightning hit the mechanism again on July 10, Dupuis said.

Jeff Cole, one of five members of the local U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary post tasked with maintaining the light, said a second spare was not available at the time.

“It took a little while because it got struck once. They brought their spare, and it got struck again two days later and they didn’t have a spare,” Cole told The News.

The Coastal Georgia Historical Society owns the lighthouse structure, the lighthouse keeper’s house and the attached museum and conference space, Dupuis said.

Georgia Politics, Campaigns, and Elections

Local coffee shops may raise prices as tariffs affect their supply chains, according to 13WMAZ.

Tariffs on foreign countries are putting local coffee shops that rely on imported coffee beans on edge, and customers could soon feel the pinch when they order their favorite caffeinated drinks.

About one-third of the coffee consumed in the U.S. comes from Brazil, which is facing a new 50% import tax starting Wednesday. This sudden increase in cost could lead to higher prices for coffee lovers.

Beth Cleveland, owner of Morning by Morning Coffee in Perry, said the market has been “super volatile lately,” and that tariffs make it even harder to predict costs.

“Your cup of coffee may double,” Cleveland said.

To stay ahead, Cleveland has taken significant steps, ordering thousands of pounds of coffee ahead of the tariff deadline. She said that there’s likely around “15,000 pounds of coffee” in a climate-controlled room before she roasts them.

“This is probably about 15,000 pounds of coffee in here,” said Cleveland, referring to the beans stored in a climate-controlled room until they are roasted.

Cleveland said she typically roasts between 300 and 800 pounds of coffee a week. While the increase in beans have been an issue, there have been more supply issues due to tariff challenges.

“Cups, lids, (and) napkins are all things also imported from other countries,” Cleveland said. “Not only are there tariffs on coffee-producing countries, but there are also tariffs on our suppliers. They’re dependent on China and other countries, Taiwan, for some of their raw ingredients.”

Derek Dooley announced he is running for Governor in 2026, according to the Associated Press via WSAV.

Former University of Tennessee football coach Derek Dooley on Monday announced his 2026 Republican bid for the U.S. Senate in Georgia against Democratic incumbent Jon Ossoff.

The 57-year-old Dooley is backed by Gov. Brian Kemp and has been teasing a bid since June. He joins a GOP field that includes U.S. Reps. Buddy Carter and Mike Collins, as well as activist Reagan Box.

Kemp turned to Dooley after deciding not to run for the seat himself. Georgia Republicans are looking to topple Ossoff, considered the Senate’s most vulnerable Democratic incumbent seeking reelection next year.

“Professional politicians like Jon Ossoff are the problem,” Dooley said in a two-minute launch video “Lawlessness, open season on the border, inflation everywhere, woke stuff, that’s what they represent. We need new leadership in Georgia. That’s why I’m running for Senate.”

Kemp and Trump met and said they would try to agree on a preferred candidate. Anyone anointed by both would be stamped as the Republican front-runner. Kemp told Collins and others on July 24 that he would support Dooley, leading Georgia Insurance Commissioner John King to drop out of the race. But Trump isn’t ready to endorse yet and Dooley is moving forward without Trump’s blessing, an indication the joint effort may be faltering.

Dooley has never held elective office before. He says he’ll run as a political outsider, a lane David Perdue traveled in Georgia to win election to the Senate in 2014. Dooley said he would bring “good, old fashioned Georgia common sense,” and “work with President Trump, fight for you and always put Georgia first.”

Dooley is the son of legendary University of Georgia coach Vince Dooley and was a lawyer before he went into coaching. Derek Dooley was widely seen as a failure during his three years as head coach at Tennessee, compiling a 15-21 record with the Volunteers before he was fired in 2012. Since then, he has been an assistant coach with the Dallas Cowboys, the University of Missouri, the New York Giants and the University of Alabama.

As a teenager, Kemp was a frequent guest in the Dooley home, and he roomed with Derek’s older brother, Daniel Dooley, at the University of Georgia. Kemp has the most effective Republican political organization in Georgia, and Dooley has hired Kemp aides to run his race, including political strategist Cody Hall and fundraiser Chelsey Ruppersburg.

But a number of Republicans endorsed Collins after he entered the field last week, including former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich. Also backing the congressman are state senators including state Senate Majority Leader Jason Anavitarte. Even one of Kemp’s official floor leaders in the state House, Rep. Matthew Gambill, parted ways with the governor to endorse Collins.

Opponents have already lampooned Dooley for failing to publicly support Trump before now. Someone launched an anonymous University of Tennessee-themed website called “Dooley’s Volunteers” that criticizes Dooley for a lack of conservative credentials, interspersed with quotes from sports reporters panning Dooley’s coaching tenure.

It’s the latest high impact move to back a political novice for Kemp, who tapped Kelly Loeffler as a U.S. senator before she lost to Democrat Raphael Warnock in a 2021 runoff. Her campaign was plagued by conflict between Kemp and Trump, who preferred another candidate. Losses by Perdue and Loeffler to Ossoff and Warnock, respectively, handed control of the U.S. Senate to Democrats.

Then in 2022, Trump anointed Georgia football legend Herschel Walker as the Republican nominee. Walker’s candidacy proved flawed and Kemp only swung in to help in the runoff, which Warnock won.

Their effort to jointly screen 2026 candidates produced some results — U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene declined a Senate run after pressure from other Republicans.

Dooley would be far from the first football coach to run for office. His late father was frequently discussed as a possible candidate and his mother, Barbara Dooley, lost a Republican primary for Congress in 2002. Former Auburn University football coach Tommy Tuberville was elected to the Senate in 2020 from Alabama and is now running for governor. University of Nebraska coaching legend Tom Osborne served three terms in the U.S. House.

Dooley walked on at the University of Virginia and earned a scholarship as a wide receiver. He earned a law degree from the University of Georgia and briefly practiced law in Atlanta before working his way up the college coaching ladder, becoming head coach for three years at Louisiana Tech before Tennessee.

From Atlanta News First via WTOC:

Gov. Brian Kemp – who was urged by national GOP leaders to go after Ossoff’s seat but declined – is reportedly throwing the support of his political machine behind Dooley, who says he’s running as a “political outsider” in his news release on Monday.

Dooley, 57, played wide receiver at the University of Virginia from 1987-90. He began his coaching career as a graduate assistant at the University of Georgia. His first head coaching job came at Louisiana Tech from 2007-09.

He then moved onto the University of Tennessee as head coach from 2010-12, becoming the first son of a Southeastern Conference (SEC) head coach to become a head coach in the SEC himself.

From 2013-17, Dooley was a wide receivers coach for the Dallas Cowboys; then offensive coordinator for the University of Missouri from 2018-19; and was a University of Alabama’s offensive analyst in 2020.

From the AJC:

Dooley launched his campaign with an ad that highlights a coaching career creating “hope and opportunity” while enthusiastically embracing President Donald Trump’s agenda.

“I haven’t known a president in my lifetime who’s been able to achieve these kinds of results. That’s what the people want,” he said. “They want someone who is going to mean what they say, say what they mean and then go deliver results.”

He faces a steep climb. He has no political record, no public stances on hot-button issues and hasn’t held a public campaign event since first floating a bid to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution in June.

Yet Dooley enters the race with a famous pedigree — he’s the son of the late University of Georgia football legend Vince Dooley — and is expected to have the full-fledged support of Kemp, who is steering his donors and his political machine toward his longtime friend.

His opening ad, titled “Georgia First” in an echo of Trump’s campaign mantra, signals that Dooley has no plans to cede the MAGA lane to his GOP rivals: U.S. Reps. Mike Collins and Buddy Carter. Although he doesn’t mention them, he contrasts his background with others who spent time “climbing the D.C. political ladder.”

Dooley is building a political operation anchored by two of Kemp’s top strategists: Cody Hall, the governor’s longtime political adviser, and Chelsey Ruppersburg, a key Kemp fundraiser. Behind the scenes, Dooley has met with major GOP donors, state officials and Trump advisers to make his case.

But his candidacy throws the GOP’s lingering fault lines into sharper relief. Collins and Carter are chasing Trump’s MAGA base with fiery rhetoric and pledges of unshakable loyalty to the president. Dooley is also pitching himself as a Trump backer, but he may also follow Kemp’s playbook by pitching a broader brand of conservatism staked on his appeal as a political outsider.

Yet Dooley’s entry hasn’t cleared the field or calmed party unrest. Carter has pledged to spend more than $10 million on his bid. Collins has already unveiled a slate of endorsements that includes key Kemp allies.

The Collins camp wasted no time attacking their new rival early Monday. A video posted on a pro-Collins social media account said Dooley “just stayed in the locker room” when Trump needed support, including in the aftermath of the 2024 assassination attempt.

“He’s no fighter,” it concluded.

Some activists question why Kemp didn’t rally behind a more seasoned candidate. Others wonder whether a political novice can withstand a bruising primary shaped by hard-line Trump loyalty.

Dooley has tried to quell those concerns for months by quietly introducing himself to activists, donors and elected officials. Now he’s shifting to a broader audience, aiming to energize voters with a message about stepping off the sidelines and into the political fray.

Derek Dooley said his bid will be based partly on his coaching background, too, which he said was a natural fit for politics.

“You work hard, you play by the rules, you keep fighting when adversity hits, you have a fair shot at achieving your dreams,” Dooley said. “As a coach, I wanted that for all my players. As your next U.S. senator, I want that for all Georgians. And all Americans.”

Qualifying for November local elections in Whitfield County begins August 18, 2025, according to the Dalton Daily Citizen.

Qualifying for the Nov. 4 municipal elections in Whitfield County starts later this month. A number of seats will be contested in the counties’ different cities.

All races are nonpartisan. All are for four-year terms, and the deadline to register to vote in these elections is Oct. 6.

Advance voting for all cities will take place in the Whitfield County courthouse weekdays from Oct. 14 through Oct. 31 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m and Saturdays Oct. 18 and Oct. 25 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

• Dalton: Qualifying will take place at City Hall starting Monday, Aug. 18, at 8:30 a.m. and continue during normal business hours until Wednesday, Aug 20, at 4:30 p.m. On the City Council, the seats for Ward 2 (currently held by Nicky Lama) and Ward 4 (currently held by Steve Farrow) are up for election this year. The qualifying fee is $360.

In addition, the seats on the Dalton Board of Education currently held by Matt Evans and Manny Meza are up for election. The qualifying fee for all school board seats is $35.

• Cohutta: Qualifying will start Wednesday, Aug. 20, and conclude Friday, Aug., 22, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. each day in Town Hall.

The mayor’s seat held by Ron Shinnick and the council seats held by Sandy Clayborne and Randy Stanton are up for election. The two candidates with the most votes for the council seats will fill those positions. There is a $75 qualifying fee for all offices.

• Tunnel Hill: Qualifying will start Monday, Aug. 18, at 9 a.m. and continue during normal business hours until Wednesday, Aug. 20, at 4:30 p.m. at City Hall. City Council Post 3 (currently held by Liz Dennis), Post 4 (currently held by Jamey Middleton) and Post 5 (currently held by Mayor Ken Gowin) are up for election. The qualifying fee is $55.

• Varnell: Qualifying will take place Monday, Aug. 18, to Wednesday, Aug. 20, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. each day at City Hall. Mayor (currently held by Tom Dickson), City Council Seat 1 (currently held by Bob Roche) and Seat 2 (currently held by Bill Caylor) are up for election. The qualifying fee for all three seats is $35.

In addition to city council races, Whitfield County voters will vote in November on measures that would:

• Increase the homestead exemption for property taxes for Whitfield County residents 70 and older to $325,000 from $250,000 for county property taxes.

• Increase the homestead exemption for property taxes for Whitfield County residents 70 and older to $325,000 from $250,000 for county school property taxes.

• Bar school systems from opting out of a bill passed by voters last year that capped the increase in assessments for property tax purposes to the inflation rate.

And voters in Dalton will vote on measures that would:

• Increase the homestead exemption for property taxes for Dalton residents 70 and older to $325,000 from $250,000 for city property taxes.

• Increase the homestead exemption for property taxes for Dalton residents 70 and older to $325,000 from $250,000 for city school property taxes.

Rome and Cave City will also open candidate qualifying on August 18, according to the Rome News Tribune.

Columbus Columbus City member Joanne Cogle announced she is running for Mayor, according to WTVM.

Cogle serves as councilwoman for District 7.

From the Ledger-Enquirer:

Candidates have begun filing their paperwork to run for Columbus mayor in the 2026 election, a race that won’t have an incumbent because Mayor Skip Henderson is completing the last of his two terms.

The nonpartisan election for Columbus mayor will be May 19, 2026. The qualifying period will begin March 2 at 9 a.m. and finish March 6 at noon.

Cogle has served on the Columbus Council since 2022. She is a former educator and owns the Crossfit CSG gym.

She has focused her time on the council to transparency, safety and infracstructure, according to an Aug. 1 news release, and wants to deliver “practical solutions.”

• Her campaign for mayor will focus on:

• Improving public safety by expanding community-based solutions

• Fixing city infrastructure with attention to neglected neighborhoods

• Growing the local economy by supporting small businesses and workforce development

Cogle vows to meet with residents across the city over the campaign to “hear directly from them about what’s working and what’s not.” “I’m running for mayor because I believe we can make city government work better for everyone by focusing on common sense solutions, restoring trust and investing in the future of our city,” Cogle said in the news release.

Burke County residents seeking to recall Sheriff Alonzo Williams need to re-read the instructions and get back to work. From WRDW:

Notarization issues were found with the application for the recall.

The opponents will have to start again in a bid to collect 5,000 signatures on a recall petition.

The application required 100 sponsor signatures from valid voters, while the recall petition requires thousands more.

The notarization problem was uncovered due to a legal challenge from Williams.

Williams had said the notarial acts were performed by the supervisor of elections. Williams says the law doesn’t allow that person to perform notarial acts if they are a party to the document or transaction of which the notarial act is required.

Because of the way the application process was stopped, the opponents can start over again collecting signatures without waiting the six months that might have been required.

After Williams challenged the application, “the Burke County Board of Elections undertook a review of the application and determined that the application should not have been certified as legally sufficient,” recall organizers were told in a letter dated Aug. 1 from Burke County Elections Supervisor Brandon Garrett.

“Accordingly, the Board of Elections is hereby revoking the certification of the legal sufficiency of the application and the recall petition that was issued for circulation based thereon,” the letter stated.

Garrett said the decision is based “solely upon the legal sufficiency of the application and not upon the sufficiency of the ground or grounds for the recall or the fact or facts upon which such ground or grounds are based.”

In addition to that challenge, Williams found another alleged flaw.

He said two different statements were missing from the petition and that each person needs to be read or read those statements.

State Senator Jason Esteves (D-Atlanta) campaigned for Governor in Savannah, according to the Savannah Morning News.

Georgia Democratic Gubernatorial Candidate and Senator Jason Esteves arrived at Hotel Indigo at 3:30 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 2 for an open meet-and-greet with a modest crowd of about 30 people.

“Democrats can win in Georgia,” said a lively Esteves to the room, which reciprocated with murmurs of approval. “Democrats will win in Georgia.”

“We win by going across this state, not just in blue cities and blue counties, but red towns and red counties too,” he said. “By talking to people about how we are going to keep and grow the money in their pocket.”

“We deserve to have a governor that is going to invest as much in our small businesses as our governor today invests in a company like Hyundai,” said Esteves.

“When they meet me, and they see that I’m laser-focused on economic issues, laser focused on building a world-class healthcare system, a world-class education system, a lot of these folks have issues with that too,” he responded. “We need a governor that’s going to address the issues that have been plaguing Georgia for decades, long before Donald Trump was our president.”

On Sunday, Aug. 3, Esteves will visit two local Savannah churches and attend another meet-and-greet at 4 p.m. at the The 5 Spot Sandfly at 7360 Skidaway Rd.

“The coast has experienced significant growth, and it has beared the burden of keeping up with that growth,” said Esteves. Alleviating that burden means providing enough jobs that keep youth “out of trouble,” building infrastructure that can withstand flooding and climate change impacts, and providing affordable housing amid rapid development, he added.

“We need a governor that’s going to enforce the agreements that we have with Hyundai,” said Esteves, including those that promised hiring local contractors. “Right now we have a governor that’s putting business first instead of the people of the state.”

The Georgia gubernatorial race will take place Nov. 3, 2026. The primary election for Governor of Georgia will take place on May 19, 2026.

The State House and Senate Chambers are being refreshed this year, according to Georgia Recorder.

Lawmakers may be gone, but work is still being accomplished underneath Georgia’s Gold Dome this summer. With legislators away, architects have started to give both the House and Senate chambers a makeover.

Construction is also underway across the street, where a new legislative office is being built to house lawmaker offices and committee rooms. Both projects are a part of a $392 million renovation plan the Georgia General Assembly approved last year.

The Gold Dome has been a symbol of the state since its construction in 1889. Renovation plans are designed to preserve this history while simultaneously celebrating a new chapter.

“It’s a place of history as well as a place of government, and so the building itself should reflect that,” said Timothy Crimmins, co-author of “Democracy Restored: A History of the Georgia State Capitol.”

When the state Capitol was initially constructed, there was a strict $1 million dollar budget and a requirement that Georgia materials should be utilized when possible. Financial restraints made it difficult to locally source some construction materials. This led to Indiana limestone being used for the exterior of the Capitol and European carpets being imported for interior chambers.

The current renovation of the Capitol is being done in the same spirit. Backed by a $83 million restoration budget for the historic Capitol building alone, the project has already incorporated local materials from floor to ceiling.

Shaw Floors, a Dalton-based company, made the new carpet being installed in both the House and Senate chambers. Long dubbed the “Carpet Capital of the World,” Dalton is known for producing between 85 to 90% of U.S. carpet, according to state Rep. Kasey Carpenter, a Republican who represents Dalton.

“It’s a sense of pride obviously for northwest Georgia to make sure that we have a place in the Capitol,” Carpenter said.

Dalton isn’t the only city that has found a place to shine at the Capitol. Dahlonega gold was used last year when Georgia’s iconic dome was regilded during initial renovation stages.

While a lot of change has happened at the Capitol since 1889, Gerald Pilgrim, the Georgia Building Authority chief of staff who is overseeing renovations, said he hopes that by the end of the project, the Capitol will look and feel a lot like its early days.

To bring this vision back to life, Pilgrim and his team have emphasized historical accuracy by hiring historical preservation architects and a preservationist subtractor. Together, even small details like lighting and color schemes have been fact checked. Numerous light studies were conducted after restoring chandeliers from the 1900s to ensure that each bulb emits an appropriate glow.

Lawmakers’ desks are currently being refinished and will all receive a new USB port before returning to the Capitol. Chairs have been replaced with replicas, but old chairs will be kept in storage and be made available by seat-holder’s request.

Skybridge debate lingers
Construction at the new legislative office building has progressed and is on track to be finished by the end of next year.

“At the (Coverdell building) the offices were very small and cramped,” Pilgrim said. “Everybody’s (new) office is going to be the same size. They’re all going to be 226 square feet, which is about double what they currently have, and all (offices) have a window view of either the Capitol or downtown Atlanta, there’s not an obstructed view in the building.”

The eight-story building will also feature a skybridge meant to create an accessible way to move between the new offices on Martin Luther King Jr. Dr. SW and the Capitol building.

Constructing a bridge or tunnel has been a decades-long conversation at the statehouse. Crimmins said an earlier proposal to add a bridge from the Capitol to the current legislative office across Mitchell Street was ultimately rejected. Officials instead reduced traffic with street closures.

When conversations about a skybridge reemerged, the idea was met with concerns from preservationists. Pilgrim said the Georgia Building Authority considered alternatives before deciding that the skybridge was the best option.

“We looked at doing a tunnel with the cost being about four times more expensive,” Pilgrim said. “But more importantly, the tunnel was not going to improve accessibility.”

To address preservationists’ concerns, Pilgrim said the skybridge will bear its own weight and won’t require any demolition. This allows the bridge to be easily removed in future years if the project does not prove to be as successful as anticipated. Construction will use similar materials that match the Capitol’s existing aesthetic and include arches that mimic the building’s renaissance style architecture.

David Mitchell, executive director of the Atlanta Preservation Center, has been a vocal opponent of the skybridge. Comparing it to a “bizarre umbilical cord,” he argues that claims of improved accessibility are ironic considering the limited public awareness and outreach about renovations.

“You’re telling me you’re spending $10 million for something to be used for four months, if even,” Mitchell said, referring to the skybridge. “It’s not like it’s being used 12 months out of the year, and is helping multiple handicapped accessible people. We’re not talking about something like an ADA compliance, we’re talking about during the session when the greatest usage of this will take place.”

Despite continued debate over the skybridge, construction was approved in June when the Atlanta City Council signed over the air rights that will allow the bridge to be built next year.

Original library will be restored

If entering the Capitol from the skybridge, pedestrians will be welcomed through a soon-to-be-restored state library that was part of the original Capitol. The two-story library will bring a variety of books back to the statehouse and offer additional meeting spaces for public affairs.

The library was converted into office space around 1910 and was completely eliminated by 1950, according to Pilgrim. After the restoration, the current offices and copy room occupying the space will relocate to the first floor. An observation space is planned to give visitors a chance to watch the restoration process.

“We’ll have Plexiglas partitions in there so when school groups come in and tour, they’re going to see the artisans in there doing the work,” Pilgrim said.

Renovations and new construction are all on track to be completed by the end of 2027. The three-year project is not expected to interfere with next year’s legislative session.

The State Senate Special Committee on Eliminating Georgia’s Income Tax heard from proponents of eliminating the state sales tax, according to the Capitol Beat News Service via the Athens Banner Herald.

Policy wonks on both sides of an upcoming debate in the General Assembly over whether to eliminate Georgia’s income tax are advocating a cautious approach.

“That’s a very lofty goal,” said Danny Kanso, senior fiscal analyst with the progressive-leaning Georgia Budget & Policy Institute. “The income tax represents 56% of general-fund revenues. Nineteen billion dollars would leave a massive hole.”

“You can’t just cut spending,” added Kyle Wingfield, president and CEO of the Georgia Public Policy Foundation, a think tank that advocates free-market approaches to public-policy issues. “You have to be thoughtful about how to make the math work.”

Lt. Gov. Burt Jones, who presides over the Georgia Senate, has formed a legislative study committee to consider whether to get rid of the state income tax. Jones, a Republican, has made abolishing the tax a key platform plank as he seeks the GOP nomination for governor next year.

Republican governors and the legislature’s GOP majorities have moved in that direction in recent years, reducing the income tax rate from 6% to 5.75% in 2022, then ratcheting it down further to 5.49%, 5.39% and – this year – to 5.19%.

But Republicans have stopped short of attempting to repeal the tax altogether. State Sen. Blake Tillery, R-Vidalia, who will chair the study committee, pledged to rectify that during a news conference July 24, vowing to introduce legislation during the 2026 General Assembly session to get rid of the tax.

Tillery said nine states do not impose an income tax, including the neighboring states of Tennessee and Florida as well as the swing states of Nevada and New Hampshire and deep-blue Washington state.

“This is about competitiveness, economic freedom, and letting hardworking Georgians keep their money in their pockets,” he said.

Tillery promised to chart a “realistic and responsible path” toward ending the income tax, acknowledging the difficult task ahead.

Kanso said the incremental reductions in the income tax rate lawmakers have approved thus far were accomplished by cutting spending rather than increasing other taxes. Getting the income tax rate even close to zero would require additional sources of revenue, he said.

“They haven’t replaced income taxes with another tax,” he said.

The next-largest source of state revenue after income taxes – the sales tax – would be a logical place to look. Way back in 2010, a special committee of lawmakers and business leaders formed to overhaul Georgia’s tax system recommended that the state move more toward taxing consumption and away from relying as much on taxing income.

But the group’s report went nowhere amid opposition to politically unpopular proposals like taxing groceries or services.

“What you’re really saying is, ‘We’re going to start paying taxes on things we haven’t paid taxes on before,’” Kanso said. “It becomes a much more difficult position to sell.”

Wingfield cited a study the Georgia Public Policy Foundation conducted before the pandemic that concluded the state income tax rate could be lowered to 3% by taxing some services or raising the state sales tax rate from the current 4%.

He said one politically palatable way to begin taxing services would be to limit the tax to goods a business provides but not the service components of its operation, for example, an oil-change company that taxes only the oil but not the labor.

Wingfield also cautioned against taxing services in a way that would hurt a business’s ability to compete with businesses in neighboring states.

“The trick with services is they can be pretty mobile,” he said. “You don’t want a tax that would drive business to other states.”

Kanso said it’s poor timing to consider getting rid of Georgia’s income tax when the impact President Donald Trump’s budget bill will have on state budgets remains uncertain.

“New costs are going to be pushed on to the state,” he said. “It is an open question of how can we afford to do this?”

State Sen. Nan Orrock, D-Atlanta, a member of the study committee, said the Trump administration’s push to eliminate the Federal Emergency Management Agency is just one example of what could affect state budgets.

“We’re already grievously behind in getting federal money for a once-in-a-generation storm that swept our state,” said Orrock, referring to the devastation Hurricane Helene wreaked on Georgia farmers and businesses last September. “We’re in an era of climate change. … To cavalierly say the states are going to pick up the costs would leave us full of unanswered questions.”

Tillery said it’s premature at this point to determine how the state should replace the lost revenue from repealing the income tax. He said that’s what the study committee is for.

However, the upcoming debate won’t be so much about whether to abolish the tax but on how to accomplish it, Tillery said.

“It may not happen overnight,” he said. “[But] my goal is to move in this direction.”

Georgia Democrats discussed Trump’s “Big, Beautiful Bill” and its effects on nursing homes, according to the Capitol Beat News Service via the Dalton Citizen.

Georgia Democrats Wednesday criticized federal funding cuts to nursing homes included in President Donald Trump’s budget bill the Republican-controlled Congress passed.

But the head of an organization that represents Georgia nursing homes said the so-called “Big Beautiful Bill” won’t affect nursing homes because the final version of the measure exempted them from the cuts.

Democrats have focused on nursing home funding since the Brown University School of Public Health released a study earlier this summer identifying 579 nursing homes across the country at risk of closing because of cuts to Medicaid, including 37 in Georgia.

“To even allow one nursing home to close is unacceptable, but 37 is a moral failure,” state Rep. Bryce Berry, D-Atlanta, said Wednesday during a news conference inside the Georgia Capitol. “This is about our elders being evicted from the place they call home … (and) seniors being separated from their caregivers. This is how people die.”

“These cuts are cruel and heartless,” added U.S. Rep. Hank Johnson, D-Stone Mountain.

“These cuts will hurt not just poor people in metro areas but MAGA constituents in rural areas.” But Chris Downing, president and CEO of the Georgia Health Care Association, said the final version of Trump’s budget bill exempts the provider tax that helps fund nursing homes from the Medicaid cuts.

“They were on the menu at the beginning, but at the end, they were not,” he said. “Nursing homes are carved out of this bill. … We’re not going to see any cuts from this legislation.”

Downing said the Brown University study was released before the provision exempting nursing homes from the cuts was inserted into the bill, so its conclusions no longer apply.

“That study was sanctioned by (U.S.) Senate Democrats … to give their senators talking points to go out and say, ‘This bill is going to harm seniors,’ ” he said.

While the legislation lets nursing homes keep the provider tax intact, broader spending reductions in the bill could affect individual nursing home residents’ eligibility for Medicaid benefits.

However, Downing said it’s way too soon to assess the potential impacts of those cuts, which won’t take effect for several years.

The State House Blue-Ribbon Study Committee on Georgia’s Medical Marijuana and Hemp Policies heard testimony last week, according to the Capitol Beat News Service via the Dalton Daily Citizen.

Products from marijuana and hemp are either dangerous and should be banned or amazing and should be accessible to those who need and want them, a Georgia House study committee heard Tuesday.

Lawmakers heard conflicting assertions and opinions during their first hearing ahead of possible changes to state policies for medical marijuana and hemp derivatives.

Several parents testified about children who developed schizophrenia after prolonged consumption of high-dose, off-the-shelf products.

“This is the biggest regulatory failure of my lifetime,” testified one mother, who didn’t want to be identified. She said she discovered that her son had a discount code for frequent purchases at one store.

Dr. Colin Murphy, a psychiatrist, testified that increased potency was driving induced psychosis, with fellow critics saying teenagers are especially vulnerable.

But several medical marijuana advocates testified about the relief the plant delivered for pain, allowing them to avoid addictive opioids and other drugs.

“What about the good things about cannabis? Cannabis saved my life,” said Yolanda Bennett, co-founder of the Georgia Medical Cannabis Society who suffers from a hormonal disorder.

The committee is delving into an area of policy that is as complicated as it is divisive.

It is following on stalemated attempts during this year’s General Assembly session to both increase the potency of medical marijuana and ban hemp beverages.

The area is fraught because the federal government classifies marijuana as a Schedule 1 drug, making street use illegal. Georgia legalizes distribution with a doctor’s approval.

Yet, hemp, which comes from a related plant species, is legal under a 2018 federal law that allowed the plant to be used for products like rope. That federal law also allowed sales of the intoxicating part of the plant when limited to 3% of the product’s dry weight.

That has led to a hemp boom, from beverages to gummies.

The market is further complicated by synthetic derivatives that are not regulated. Last fall, the Georgia Department of Agriculture began focused regulatory enforcement of legal hemp regulations, but it was a largely unenforced area before then.

Katherine Russell, the agency’s policy director, said the industry is difficult to regulate because it is quickly evolving. She described a Florida company that is using orange peels to create cannabidiol, or CBD, a non-intoxicating compound also found in cannabis plants.

“You can regulate cannabis all day long, but if you can source your CBD from somewhere else, then the laws don’t actually cover that,” Russell said. “So the great thing about this emerging industry is that there are entrepreneurs involved, and it very much touches on the American spirit. But it also makes it very fast moving.” The committee’s next hearing will be Aug. 21 in Augusta.

Gwinnett County Commissioners announced they will carry over the FY 2025 property tax millage rate into FY 2026, according to AccessWDUN.

The Gwinnett County Board of Commissioners announced Friday it is considering keeping the general fund Millage rate at 6.950 mills, the same as the previous year.

Before a decision is reached, The Board will hold public hearings for residents to comment. The public hearings will be held in the auditorium of the Gwinnett Justice and Administration Center located at 75 Langley Drive in Lawrenceville on the following dates:

Tuesday, Aug. 12 at 11 a.m. and 6:30 p.m.
Tuesday, Aug. 19 at 11 a.m.

When the total digest of taxable property is prepared, Georgia law requires that a rollback millage rate be computed to produce the same total revenue on the current year’s digest that last year’s millage rate would have produced had no reassessments occurred.

For 2025, Gwinnett County’s rollback millage rate is calculated at 6.607 mills. The Board of Commissioners is considering a 2025 millage rate of 6.950, or 0.343 mills above the rollback millage rate. Therefore, state law requires commissioners to announce a property tax increase.

Required notices for the millage rate adoption will be published in the Gwinnett Daily Post, the County’s legal organ, beginning on Sunday, Aug. 3.

The Board of Commissioners adopted the 2025 budget assuming the current millage rate, not the calculated rollback rate, according to a release. The revenue raised from property taxes will  reportedly fund county services and needs that the Board approves.

“Just like our residents, Gwinnett County Government is facing increasing costs of basic materials essential for County operations,” Chairwoman Nicole Love Hendrickson said. “Through these challenges, we remain committed to being good stewards of the tax dollars that fund our operations. Our proposal to hold the millage rate steady for another year would enable us to continue delivering the high-quality government services residents expect and deserve.”

Commissioners will also consider millage rates for the County’s police, fire and emergency services, development and code enforcement, recreation and economic development funds.

Glynn County Board of Education members are also considering carrying over their FY 2025 property tax millage rate, according to The Brunswick News.

“By keeping the millage rate unchanged, we would receive approximately 688,200 more dollars than initially budgeted. I did want to note that the increase reflects a growth in the tax digest, not a rate hike,” Avery Coty, executive director for finance, said at the Wednesday meeting.

Rome and Floyd County will discuss placing a FLOST (Floating Local Option Sales Tax) on the ballot in November, according to WRGA News.

The goal is to have a referendum regarding the FLOST on the ballot this November.

The extra penny tax could lower property taxes by 40 percent, maybe more, according to some estimates.

“The penny tax is going to help cut them for the city and county—I heard 40 percent—but I think the city number when I calculated it was higher than that,” said State Senator Chuck Hufstetler, one of the sponsors of the legislation that makes the FLOST possible. “I guess it just depends on the ratio you guys do. However, I think about half the taxes will go away for the homeowners in the city and county if this passes in November.”

Hufstetler stressed that the penny, if approved, can only be used to offset property taxes.

“We put a five-year sunset on it and said we have to renew this in five years in case someone figures out a way to play games in one of these cities or counties around the state, and tries to use it for something other than straight property tax relief,” he said. “We are going to look at it in five years to make sure it does that.”

If the extra penny tax is approved, just like with the other sales taxes, an agreement has to be reached regarding the percentage that the city and county will receive and that’s the topic of the Joint Commission Meeting, which will be on Tuesday at 9:00 a.m. in the Fire Administration Center, located at 409 East 12th Street.

Gwinnett County Sheriff Keybo Taylor discussed how his office will address immigration issues after the passage of House Bill 1105, according to the Gwinnett Daily Post.

Gwinnett County Sheriff Keybo Taylor responded to questions about his office’s cooperation with federal immigration officials by saying he will comply with a state law that deals with law enforcement and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement relations.

House [Bill 1105], which is also known as Georgia Criminal Alien Track and Report Act of 2024, requires law enforcement agencies in Georgia to cooperate with ICE. In recent months, particularly in light of the situation involving ICE-detained local journalist Mario Guevara, organizations that work with the Asian-American and Hispanic communities have raised questions about how Gwinnett is acting under that law.

Taylor said his office will comply with the requirements outlined in the law, and report the names of people who have been booked into the Gwinnett county Jail. That does not mean, however, that deputies are now doing ICE’s work for federal officials, according to the sheriff.

“Our level of involvement with the federal government changed with 1105, however, the Sheriff’s Office does not conduct investigations into federal immigration,” Taylor said.

Taylor has come under fire from lawmakers in recent months, some of whom have accused him of not being transparent about how his office is operating under HB 1105.

The sheriff said his office is doing what it is required to do under the law.

“House Bill 1105, it clearly outlines certain guidelines as to where we are mandated as local law enforcement officers, as sheriffs, anybody in law enforcement what that level of involvement will be in conducting investigations with ICE, MOST agreements, those types of things,” Taylor said.

As far as reporting to ICE is concerned, the sheriff’s office said it will not initiate immigration investigations, but it has to recognize detainers ICE places on jail inmates.

“After 48 hours, if ICE has not picked them up, then we release them,” Taylor said of how long his office will hold someone that has an ICE detainer placed on them.