Georgia Politics, Campaigns, and Elections for January 7, 2020

Georgia voted for George Washington for President on January 7, 1789. Technically, they elected Presidential Electors who would later meet in Augusta and cast their ballots for Washington.

On January 7, 1795, Georgia Governor George Matthews signed the Yazoo Act, passed after four land companies bribed members of the General Assembly to vote for legislation selling more than 35 million acres of land for less than 2 cents per acre.

Georgia Congressman Newt Gingrich (R) was re-elected Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives on January 7, 1997. In the election for a second term, nine Republicans voted against the incumbent Speaker.

Georgia Politics, Campaigns, and Elections

Governor Brian Kemp is open to working with legislators on changes to the film industry tax incentives, according to the AJC.

In an interview with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Gov. Brian Kemp refused to rule out legislation that could seek changes with the lucrative credits, which cost the state an estimated $870 million in revenue in 2019.

“Legislators passed the film tax credit to start with, so if there are some that want to review it or have reservations about it or want to add to it, this certainly is their prerogative and we’ll be glad to work with them,” he said.

The governor was responding to buzz about a Georgia Tech study on the impact of the film tax credit that’s already set tongues wagging under the Gold Dome. State Sen. Lindsey Tippins, R-Marietta, is one of several influential Republicans looking at reducing the credits this year to avoid steeper budget cuts.

In the interview, Kemp said he would “hold judgment” on those ideas until the report is released. And he chuckled at the idea of pre-emptively telling Tippins or other Republicans to steer clear of the credits.

“Well, I don’t know if I told them that, if they would listen,” he said, adding. “I guess probably said more than I needed to have how supportive I’ve been of the industry. It’s kind of hard to weigh in on something I haven’t seen. I’ve been around long enough to know there’s agenda-driven reports.”

Governor Kemp spoke to WABE about the state budget.

“I think, you know, we’re in a little bit of a dramatic situation, if you will, with our revenues just flattening out. We haven’t seen the growth that we have in years past. …The facts are we just don’t have as much money coming in as we’ve had in our budget. Every year has growth in it from the new kids coming into the educational system, new people that are coming into the health care system because of our state’s growing. And then we have other, you know, government programs that have been implemented over the years that, you know, we have to deal with.

“And so for us to be able to continue to fund our priorities in state government, we had to reduce the budget. And so I’ve ordered the executive branch agencies to do that. And I’ll tell you, it’s been a great exercise. I campaigned on making government smaller and more efficient. So we’ve used this opportunity to get rid of things that we don’t need to be doing to make agencies more efficient, to really take a hard look at, you know, how many telephone lines we have, how many cellphone lines, how many computers, you know, renegotiate and contract, just really creative things that agencies have come up with to meet the cuts. And I think taxpayers can be very proud of that. Because of that work, we’re going to balance our budget again. But we’ll also be able to continue to fund our priorities, like fully fund the education formula, being able to fund public safety and higher education and our health care programs and make sure we’re providing the services that we need to in our state.”

Why Are State Revenues Down?

“I think it’s a lot of different things. We have more to pay for now, too, with the existing revenues that we have, when you look at the holes to fill, because we’ve had the full implementation of the tax cut, which was about a half a billion dollars. We had a change in the TVAT tax, which has I think, cost the state $150 to $200 million of revenue that’s now going to the counties. We’ve certainly got the Hurricane Michael damage on the agriculture economy in southwest Georgia.

“Certainly the trade issues that we have had been very helpful for some Georgia companies and, you know, have been tough on others Even though I think we need to be fighting that fight, I think we’re going to be better off in the long run, I think there may have been some short term repercussions of that, especially in commodity prices. That seems to be turning now, which I think is good for our state.

“So, I mean, those are a few of the things, but even though we’re at record unemployment, a record number of people working in our state, we’re not seeing as many new jobs coming as we have in years past. And I think it’s just because we’re basically at almost full employment.

Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger went to South Georgia to observe the first day of early voting – using new voting machines – in State House District 171, according to the Albany Herald.

“The first day of early voting, I wanted to make sure everything is working smoothly,” Raffensperger said during a telephone interview after he left the Colquitt County Courthouse Annex building, site of early voting in the county. “Everything is going smoothly.”

“We (also) can do physical recounts and they can do audits,” the secretary of state said.

The first use of the machines in fall 2019 included six counties, including Decatur and Lowndes. Decatur County residents are among those voting in the House District 171 special election to replace state Rep. Jay Powell, R-Camilla, who died in November.

The district also includes Mitchell County and a portion of Colquitt County.

The special election will be held on Jan. 28, and the winner will serve out the remaining year of Powell’s term. A runoff, if necessary, would be held on Feb. 25.

Three candidates qualified in the Special Election for State Senate District 13, according to the Secretary of State’s website.

Mary Egler, Democrat, Leesburg

Jim Quinn, Republican, Leesburg

Carden H. Summers, Republican, Cordele

Former Governor Roy Barnes became the second prominent Democrat to switch endorsements in the 7th Congressional District, according to the AJC.

Former Gov. Roy Barnes flipped his endorsement Tuesday in Georgia’s 7th District to Democrat Zahra Karinshak, making him the second high-profile politician to back the state senator’s bid for the Gwinnett-based seat.

Barnes was an early supporter of Carolyn Bourdeaux, a public policy professor who was narrowly defeated in a 2018 bid for the seat. But he said he decided to back Karinshak because of her “conviction, fearlessness and fighting spirit” when she served as his deputy executive counsel.

“Zahra is a no-nonsense get-things-done kind of leader who can move our state and country forward,” he said in a statement.

The flip comes days after former U.S. Sen. Max Cleland had a similar change of heart, rescinding his endorsement in favor of Karinshak, who entered the race in August.

Savannah Mayor Van Johnson said a proposed move of the “Waving Girl” statue will be put on hold, according to the Savannah Morning News.

Johnson said the newly sworn-in council will evaluate all the plans and make a final determination at a regularly scheduled council meeting.

The monument was installed in 1972 at the east end of River Street at Morrell Park. It was commissioned by the Altrusa Club and designed by sculptor Felix De Weldon, best known for his Iwo Jima monument in Arlington, Virginia.

Dalton City Council tabled a vote on putting a Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (SPLOST) on the ballot to gain leverage see what happens in talks with Whitfield County on Inter-Governmental Agreements, according to the Dalton Daily Citizen News.

Members of the Dalton City Council said Monday night that mediation planned for Tuesday concerning the service delivery agreement could have an impact on a potential Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (SPLOST) vote later this year.

The council voted 4-0 Monday to table an intergovernmental agreement that would spell out how a four-year, $66 million SPLOST would be spent. Mayor David Pennington typically votes only in the event of a tie.

“We need more time to study this agreement,” said council member Gary Crews. “And we also need to see if the mediation will have any effect on any of the projects the SPLOST would fund.”

Officials have been looking at putting a SPLOST referendum on the May general primary ballot.

David Pennington was sworn in again as Mayor of Dalton, according to the Dalton Daily Citizen News.

Rebecca Benton was sworn in as Mayor of Pooler, the first woman to serve in that position, according to the Savannah Morning News.

Juli Clay will be sworn in as a new member of Gainesville City Council today, according to the Gainesville Times.