On December 25, 1776, Continental forces under General George Washington began crossing the Delaware River and the next day launched a suprise attack on Hessian soldiers at Trenton, New Jersey.
On December 21, 1829, Georgia Governor George Gilmer signed legislation outlawing the teaching of African-Americans to read or write. One year later to the day, he signed legislation claiming for the state all territory occupied by the Cherokee tribe.
On December 21, 1835, Oglethorpe University was incorporated near Macon, later moving to Atlanta.
Wesleyan College in Macon was chartered on December 23, 1836, becoming the first college chartered specifically to grant degrees to women.
On December 21, 1863, the Confederate government selected a site in Sumter County for construction of Camp Sumter, which would be better known by the name Andersonville Prison.
General William Tecumseh Sherman received the surrender of Savannah, Georgia on December 21, 1864.
On December 22, 1864, General Sherman wrote to President Lincoln,
“I beg to present you as a Christmas gift, the city of Savannah, with one hundred and fifty heavy guns and plenty of ammunition, and also about twenty-five thousand bales of cotton.”
On December 23, 1864, the Georgia General Assembly passed a resolution specifying that the Senate chamber should be lit by electricity for the next Session. That is the last time the legislature sought enlightenment before passing laws.
President Calvin Coolidge lit the first National Christmas Tree on the White House grounds on December 24, 1923.
U.S.S. Atlanta was commissioned on December 24, 1941 at the New York Navy Yard as the lead ship of a new class of Light Cruisers. USS Atlanta (CL-51) was sponsored by Margaret Mitchell, author of Gone With the Wind.
Mikhail Gorbachev resigned as President of the USSR on December 25, 1991, signalling the end of the Godless Communist regime.
Georgia Politics, Campaigns, and Elections
Mary Norwood has conceded the election for Mayor of Atlanta and will not continue to challenge the results.
Norwood announced her decision in a statement Wednesday night. She says it is time to move on “although there were some irregularities with the election.”
Results in the runoff were certified Saturday, making the numbers official in Keisha Lance Bottoms’ victory over Norwood.
Norwood had requested a recount after the results showed Bottoms winning the Dec. 5 runoff by a margin of less than 1 percent.
In the recount, Norwood picked up five votes and Bottoms lost six in Fulton County. DeKalb results remained the same, so no new certification was necessary.
Governor Nathan Deal announced some changes in senior administration staff.
Governor’s Office of Student Achievement (GOSA) Executive Director Martha Ann Todd will serve as Deputy Commissioner of the Technical College System of Georgia (TCSG) following the appointment of Matt Arthur as TCSG Commissioner. Following Todd’s departure, Deal appointed GOSA Deputy Director of Innovation and Academic Strategy Cayanna Good, Ph.D., to fill the position of GOSA Executive Director. Both changes are effective Jan. 2, 2018.
“Education is the gateway to a better life, and we have no greater responsibility than ensuring that every student has access to a supportive learning environment,” said Deal. “Martha Ann has demonstrated an unwavering commitment to Georgia’s students and her efforts at GOSA have proven instrumental in identifying and addressing the challenges facing our education system. Under her guidance, GOSA has invested in the classrooms of today to prepare the workforce of tomorrow.”
“Just as early childhood education provides a solid foundation for academic success, TCSG strengthens the classroom-to-career pipeline by introducing students to high-demand fields later in the process. Through TCSG, we are advancing workforce development initiatives and ensuring that Georgians can develop the skills needed to secure meaningful employment. I am confident that Dr. Good will continue GOSA’s critical work and that Martha Ann will continue to be an effective leader in her new role with TCSG.”
Gov. Deal also announced several appointments to local judicial and law enforcement offices.
Gov. Nathan Deal today announced the appointments of Jennifer E. Carver as Solicitor General of Bacon County and Robert M. Thomas as Solicitor General of Miller County. Deal also appointed Alisa Adams Johnson as District Attorney of the Rockdale Judicial Circuit.
Deal announced the appointment of Kathryn L. Powers to the Superior Court judgeship within the Clayton Judicial Circuit and Shalonda Jones-Parker to the State Court judgeship created by the appointment of Judge Powers to the Superior Court bench. Deal also appointed John A. “Trea” Pipkin III, Clint Bearden, Howard C. Kaufold, Jr. and T. Craig Earnest to Superior Court judgeships within the Flint, Northeastern, Oconee and Pataula Judicial Circuits, respectively.
Deal also appointed five members of the Board of Regents, two being re-appointments, and three new members. From the AJC:
The new members include Erin Hames, who has worked closely with Deal, albeit with some controversy.
Hames, the governor’s former deputy chief of staff, authored Deal’s Opportunity School District plan, which would have given the state the authority to take schools deemed to be “chronically failing” from the control of local school boards. Georgia voters rejected the proposal last year. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported in 2015 that Hames was going to make $30,000 over the next year consulting Deal on education policy while drawing $96,000 on a no-bid consulting contract with Atlanta Public Schools. Hames is on the Southern Regional Education Board and has been involved with several education advocacy organizations.
Deal spokeswoman Jen Talaber Ryan defended Hames’ appointment.
“Erin Hames is eminently qualified to serve, given her vast experience in Georgia’s education system,” she said. “As a former classroom teacher, attorney, education policy adviser and adjunct professor, Erin’s insight and perspective will be invaluable to our university system and its students.”
In addition to Hames, Deal appointed Barbara Rivera Holmes, president and chief executive officer of the Albany Area Chamber of Commerce, and W. Allen Gudenrath, a senior vice president of Morgan Stanley’s wealth management division. They replace Larry Walker, who recently announced he’s retiring, and Rusty Griffin Jr. and Doreen Stiles Poitevint, whose terms expire on New Year’s Day. Deal reappointed C. Thomas Hopkins and Don L. Waters.
The Georgia Department of Natural Resources extended the trawling season for shrimp through January 15, 2018.
Lindsay Aubart, a marine biologist with the DNR’s Coastal Resources Division, said there are enough shrimp to extend the season.
“Our coast-wide trawl survey showed shrimp abundance in the coastal waters of Georgia to be only slightly below the long-term average,” Aubart said.
The decision to recommend the extension was based on the survey and consultation with the Shrimp Advisory Panel, Aubart said.
Such extensions beyond the Dec. 31 closing date are common. Unless there is abnormally cold weather or the number of shrimp is below normal, the season goes on. Thus far, water temperatures and other conditions in Georgia’s estuaries are within the long term averages, the DNR said.
Reuters writes about the “battle of the Staceys” – Abrams and Evans – in the 2018 Democratic Primary for Governor.
Stacey Abrams, 44, wants to become the first African American female governor in the United States by mobilizing solidly Democratic black voters, who vote sporadically in elections, to form a winning coalition with white liberals.
Stacey Evans, 39, thinks the math does not add up without also appealing to white moderates, many of them outside urban areas, who voted for President Donald Trump last November. She is highlighting her crossover appeal as a white suburban mother with country roots.
As the party prepares for the 2018 congressional elections, there is disagreement over which voters to spend more time and money on – minority voters who are a fast-growing share of the electorate but do not reliably cast ballots, or blue-collar and suburban whites who swing between parties.
At the Abrams campaign headquarters, a poster titled “How We Win” points out that Democrats in Georgia have lost recent elections by some 200,000 votes. More than 1 million black voters did not cast ballots during the last governor’s race in 2014, state data shows.
“They don’t vote because we don’t ask, and this is a campaign that is going to keep asking,” Abrams said, speaking on a recent evening to an audience of three dozen volunteers.
A State Senate Task Force is considering increasing state funding to raise pay for local law enforcement.
A task force spearheaded by Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle wants local governments to rethink law-enforcement wages, but the panel did not endorse a call for the state to set a minimum pay for police officers and deputies.The panel also recommended in a report released Wednesday that the state allocate at least $7 million every year for grants to help governments and sheriff’s offices boost salaries, particularly those agencies that are financially distressed.
And the group also floated the idea of putting up to a 1 percent tax on all auto insurance policies issued in Georgia, with the revenue going to the Peace Officers’ Annuity and Benefit Fund.
“We will continue to work until every law-enforcement officer in the state of Georgia is appropriately compensated for the work they do – no matter which city, county or region of our state they call home,” Cagle, who is running for governor, said in a statement included with the report.
Lieutenant Governor Casey Cagle campaigned in Valdosta this week.
“My campaign is really about greater economic prosperity for the state, where no one is left behind,” Cagle said. “I want to see greater economic growth happen particularly in South Georgia, where we are seeing many areas losing population instead of gaining population.”
For South Georgia to see these and other benefits, he said there is no silver bullet to solve all of the problems but he would work to improve education and infrastructure. Broadband is a key infrastructure need for South Georgia, he said.
“We’re no longer bound by bricks and mortar,” he said. “We can do business anywhere in the world from any corner in our state if we have the connectivity to that super highway.”
Gwinnett County Commissioners approved replacing a crashed Sheriff’s Department helicopter.
County commissioners approved a request from the police department Tuesday to buy a new MD 530F helicopter from MD Helicopters Inc. for $2.8 million and avionics installation from Rotor Resources LLC for just under $1.1 million.
Insurance from the crashed helicopter will cover nearly $2.25 million while the remaining nearly $1.7 million will come from the Police Tax Contingency Fund.
“This request is to replace the helicopter that was destroyed in the crash on Sept. 1, 2017,” Police Chief Butch Ayers told commissioners.
The crash on Sept. 1 left Cpl. Michael Duncan paralyzed from the waist down. Officer George McLain was also severely injured in the crash but was not paralyzed.
Some newly elected State Representatives have received their committee assignments for 2018.
Rep. Kim Schofield – House Health & Human Services, Interstate Cooperation and Small Business Development
Rep. Teri Anulewicz – House Code Revision, Intragovernmental Coordination and Transportation
Rep. Deborah Gonzalez – House Code Revision, Intragovernmental Coordination and Judiciary Non-Civil
Rep. Kasey Carpenter – House Industry and Labor, Information and Audits, and Transportation
The Albany Herald looks at how some Georgia Members of Congress voted on the tax reform bill.
Both of Georgia’s U.S. senators — David Perdue, R-Sea Island, and Johnny Isakson, R-Marietta — supported passage of the bill in a 51-48 vote, with Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., not voting. No Democrats or independents supported the bill, and no Republicans voted against it.
In the House, U.S. Rep. Sanford Bishop, D-Albany, joined Democratic lawmakers from Georgia in opposing the bill, both in the initial vote and in Wednesday’s vote to approve the Senate-amended version. U.S. Rep. Austin Scott, R-Tifton, supported the measure in both votes with the state’s other GOP lawmakers.
No House Democrats supported the measure, which picked up opposition from a dozen Republican representatives Wednesday. Three Republicans and four Democrats did not vote.
“When you take a risk, at the end of that rainbow is a reward,” Isakson, who sits on the Senate Committee on Finance with jurisdiction over tax reform, said. “And in the case of risking lower taxes, the greater reward is more jobs, more opportunity, and a better America for our children and our grandchildren.”
“For the last eight years, America has suffered under big government bureaucrats’ vision of an America where the new norm is 2 percent economic growth,” Perdue said early Wednesday morning after the Senate vote. “Today Republicans said that’s not good enough.
“President Trump has been working tirelessly this year making it a priority to provide regulatory relief, unleash our energy potential, and change our tax code for one reason and one reason only: to get our economy growing again.”
“I have stated numerous times that I do support tax relief for Georgia families,” [Rep. Sanford] Bishop said. “However, it needs to be fair, balanced, and fiscally responsible both in the short and the long term. The benefits must be shared among Georgians of all income levels rather than just concentrated at the top. The tax legislation approved by the U.S. House of Representatives today fails this test.
Nuclear Fallout
The Georgia Public Service Commission today voted 5-0 to move forward with construction of two new nuclear reactors at Plant Vogtle.
Thursday’s unanimous decision by the state’s Public Service Commission will shape the future of the nation’s nuclear industry, partly because the reactors at Plant Vogtle were the first new ones to be licensed and to begin construction in the U.S. since 1978.
The project, co-owned by Georgia Power, Oglethorpe Power, MEAG Power and Dalton Utilities, has been plagued by delays and spiraling costs, compounded when the main contractor filed for bankruptcy. Westinghouse Electric Co., the U.S. nuclear unit of Japan’s Toshiba Corp., filed for bankruptcy in March.
In a statement, Georgia Power chairman, president and CEO Paul Bowers said the PSC “recognized that the Vogtle expansion is key to ensuring that our state has affordable and reliable energy today that will support economic growth now and for generations to come.”
Georgia Power spokesman Craig Bell said in an email that the projected peak rate impact to the utility’s retail customers is approximately 10 percent, with 5 percent related to the project already factored in the rates – well below original projections of approximately 12 percent.
Vice Chair Tim Echols made the lengthy motion to approve the capital cost of the project at $7.3 billion, the company’s request minus a $1.7 billion payment Georgia Power received through the former contractor on the project. But the motion also reduced what the company can collect from ratepayers for the project beginning 2021 that amounts to about $1.7 billion.
Georgia Power attorney Kevin Greene said the company would accept that and other conditions imposed by Echols’ motion. That motion also assumed Congress would pass an extension of nuclear production tax credits that were stripped out of the tax reform bill, which amount to about $800 million, and the commission can revisit its decision if that does not happen. Wise said he has assurances from both of Georgia’s U.S. senators as well as congressional leadership that it will be taken up in January.
“Georgians will look back and be as grateful for (this decision) as we are for the decision to complete (the first two),” [Commissioner Tim Echols] said.
Commissioner Chuck Eaton called the first two reactors “the crown jewels” of the state’s energy production.
“I still believe nuclear needs to be part of a diversified mix,” he said.
The news was welcomed by Augusta Technical College, whose nuclear engineering technology program was created seven years ago to help supply workers to Vogtle 3 and 4 as well as the existing two units and the neighboring Savannah River Site, a nuclear-intensive Department of Energy installation.
Jim Price, the college’s dean of industrial and engineering technology, said moving forward on 3 and 4 reinforces the need for the two-year program, which enables graduates to obtain mechanical, electrical and pre-operator jobs at nuclear plants throughout the Southeast.
“It gives it better credibility,” Price said Thursday. “This is good for Georgia and good for the country.”
Rep. Rick Allen, whose 12th congressional district encompasses the Vogtle site, said in a statement Thursday he was pleased to hear the project will move forward.
“Employing nearly 6,000 people in my district and continuing our dominance in the global nuclear industry, the importance of the Plant Vogtle project cannot be overstated,” he said in prepared remarks. “I believe this project is vital to our district, our state and America’s nuclear energy future.”
He said it is still “critical” that Congress modify the Nuclear Production Tax Credit to extend the 2020 sunset date, which is expected to be discussed early next year.
Governor Nathan Deal lauded the PSC’s decision:
“I commend the Public Service Commission for its vision and foresight in approving continuation of the Plant Vogtle expansion while holding the owners accountable to ratepayers,” said Deal. “Investing in clean, sustainable energy infrastructure is a worthwhile endeavor that will have a positive economic impact as well. Plant Vogtle Units 3 and 4 will provide affordable energy to Georgians for more than 60 years while creating 6,000 jobs during project construction and 800 well-paying, permanent ones after. It is important that we stay the course.”
PSC Members Tim Echols and Chuck Eaton wrote about their decision in the Atlanta Business Chronicle.
One thing was clear to most who know us. We wanted to finish this new nuclear plant — the only one of its kind in North America. We believe that nuclear energy makes sense in a day when baseload coal plants are disappearing due to early retirements and increased regulations. We also know that the United States must maintain nuclear superiority in an age when Russia and China are building dozens of reactors and exporting their technology. Georgia consumers benefit from the affordable and reliable energy made available from the diverse fuel mix we have throughout our state.
Let’s be honest. It was the bankruptcy of Westinghouse, the prime Vogtle project contractor and reactor designer, that has put us in the pickle we are in. All the protections we had built into their contract were made null and void by their self-serving action to walk away from their contract with Georgia Power. However, it is important to note that Toshiba, Westinghouse’s parent company, has paid a significant penalty for Westinghouse’s failure – $3.68 billion or 40 percent of the original contract price. This payment will reduce the cost of the project and that benefits customers. That payment made a difficult vote a little better.
We have appreciated the feedback from many in the communities we represent urging us to complete this important project. Doing so will help Georgia continue to be the best place to do business in America.
Commission chair Stan Wise said the decision came down to the importance of fuel diversity and the long term benefits the projecct would have on Georgians.
Georgia utility regulators on Thursday conditioned their approval of the Vogtle nuclear project on no small caveat: that Congress approves roughly $800 million worth of tax credits.
As part of its decision allowing Georgia Power and its partners to pass more project costs onto ratepayers, the Public Service Commission unanimously approved language that would allow the five-member body to reconsider if federal lawmakers do not greenlight the tax credits.
“My motion to go forward is based on the assumption that these (tax credits) will, in fact, be extended,” the PSC stated in an approved provision authored by Commission member Tim Echols. “But, if they are not, or if other conditions change and assumptions upon which the Company’s (Vogtle construction monitoring report) are based are either proven or disproven, the Commission may reconsider the decision to go forward.”
The U.S. Senate Finance Committee is considering legislation that would guarantee the $800 million tax credits in question.
The language, which Georgia’s congressional delegation has been lobbying hard for this year, would end the 2021 sunset date for the previously-promised nuclear production tax credits. Vogtle’s operators would receive the credits only after the new units go fully into operation.
The extension was needed since the project is not scheduled to be complete until 2022.
It is still unclear when both chambers of Congress will consider the legislation. Nuclear industry lobbyists have been pushing for lawmakers to consider the language as part of a must-pass government spending agreement later this week, but time on Capitol Hill is in short supply before the holiday break. U.S. Sen. Johnny Isakson suggested Tuesday that Congress could wait until January and then make the credits retroactive.
“I encourage my Senate colleagues to act quickly to prevent tax increases that could hamper America’s energy security,” Isakson said in a statement Wednesday.
“I remain committed to doing whatever I can to ensure that the Plant Vogtle project stays on track for completion,” he added.
Kristi Swartz reports that PSC Chairman Stan Wise emailed fellow commissioners to say that Speaker Paul Ryan gave assurances Congress will take up the tax credits for Vogtle.
PSC Chairman Stan Wise sent an email to the other utility regulators Friday, saying he received phone calls from the offices of Ryan and Sen. Johnny Isakson (R-Ga.). E&E News obtained the email this morning through the Georgia Open Records Act.
“I received a call from Speaker Ryan’s office a moment ago assuring me that both houses of Congress have agreed to take up the issue of PTC’s early next year (Jan.),” Wise wrote. “The call came from Senator Isakson, speaker Ryan and [Senate] Majority leader [Mitch] McConnell in agreement.”
He said, “I would caution all from getting your news from rumor mongers, reliable or not. I was asked to share with you, but not to release publicly.”
Officials from Ryan’s and Isakson’s offices did not respond to E&E News in time for publication.
The nuclear credit passed the House this summer as a stand-alone bill and was later folded into that chamber’s tax overhaul.
However, it was dropped in conference talks with the Senate, which wanted to avoid the annual skirmishing over extending energy tax breaks in the broader tax reform push.
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