Georgia Politics, Campaigns, and Elections for March 25, 2016

The British Parliament closed the Port of Boston on March 25, 1774, passing the Boston Port Act in retaliation for the destruction of $1 million worth of tea in the Boston Tea Party.

Horton Smith won the first Masters tournament on March 25, 1934.

On March 25, 1937, Governor E.D. Rivers signed legislation creating the Georgia Department of Labor; in 1945, the Commissioner of Labor was upgraded from statutory office to Constitutional.

Atlanta Braves Pitcher and member of the Baseball Hall of Fame Tom Glavine celebrates his 50th Birthday today.

Flannery O’Connor was born on March 25, 1925 in Savannah, Georgia. She would come to be recognized as one of the greatest American fiction writers. O’Connor graduated from the Georgia State College for Women, now called Georgia College and State University. She returned to Milledgeville in 1951, living at the family farm, called Andalusia, until her death at age 39 in 1964.

At GCSU, the Flannery O’Connor Room is located in the GC Museum, the Flannery O’Connor Collection includes manuscripts, and the College includes a program in Flannery O’Connor Studies.

O’Connor died of Lupus, which also killed her father.

Georgia Politics, Campaigns, and Elections

The Georgia General Assembly adjourned Sine Die last night, meaning unless Governor Deal calls a Special Session, there will be no more legislation passed this year. Our attention now turns to the bills that Gov. Deal will sign, veto, or allow to become law without his signature. For an up-to-date list of 2016 legislation signed by Gov. Deal, click here.

Last night, the Georgia Senate voted to name the Adoptable Dog as the Official State Dog of Georgia. My personal thanks to all of our legislators who voted for it, and to those who voted against it for deeply-held reasons.

From the AJC’s Janel Davis,

In addition to showing some love to the needy animals, the bill also shows a little love and appreciation to the many animal shelters around the state and the work done by their staffs, said Sen. Burt Jones, R-Jackson, before the chamber’s 30-14 vote gave final passage to Senate Bill 168.

Earlier in the legislative session some lawmakers sought to name the English bulldog (think the University of Georgia’s Uga) as the officials mascot, but that effort failed to gain momentum.

Having passed both legislative chambers, the “adoptable dog” bill now moves to the governor’s desk to be signed.

The bill passed not in its original form, as House Bill 561, but as Senate Bill 168. After the original version was assigned to the Senate Government Oversight Committee in which it got neither a hearing nor a vote, the House amended Senate Bill 168 to insert the Official State Dog language. To his credit, Senator Burt Jones was willing to accept the changes to a bill he originally authored. Last night at about 10:30, Sen. Jones moved that the Senate accept the House changes and spoke from the well in favor of the legislation.

I anticipate Governor Deal will be willing to sign the Official State Dog legislation based on an interview I did with him in April 2015.

Legislation by State Sen. Fran Millar (R-Dunwoody) that would have restructured the DeKalb County Board of Commissioners and eliminated the CEO position died in the House without even a vote.

The Georgia House of Representatives declined to consider the measure on the last day of this year’s lawmaking session after hearing objections from legislators who said it was being hastily pushed through.

The legislation, Senate Bill 378, called for the CEO job to cease to exist in 2019 and be replaced by a politically weak county commission chairman. The 6,000-employee government would have been run by a county manager who would have answered to the County Commission.

House Minority Leader Stacey Abrams, D-Atlanta, said a citizen-led charter review commission should review DeKalb’s form of government before voters are asked about whether they want to abolish the CEO role.

“It’s putting the cart well in front of the horse,” Abrams said during a House Rules Committee meeting Thursday.

Legislation to specify how law enforcement handles rape kits passed the Senate last night, but expansion of medical marijuana failed.

Georgia lawmakers gave final approval Thursday to bills setting strict timelines for testing rape kits and creating state-funded grants to pregnancy resource centers that discourage women from getting abortions.

Thursday marked the 40th and final day of the legislative session, and lawmakers worked past midnight to send bills to Gov. Nathan Deal.

Meanwhile, the House and Senate remained at odds on a medical marijuana bill and never voted on a bill expanding the number of people eligible to use a medical marijuana derivative in Georgia. Macon Republican Rep. Allen Peake wanted to allow patients diagnosed with Tourette’s syndrome, autism and post-traumatic stress disorder, among other conditions, to possess cannabis oil.

House members [who supported] the measure tried to force a Senate floor vote but failed.

Republican Sen. Renee Unterman of Buford has said a federal grant will fix any backlogs of rape kit testing in Georgia and declined to act on Holcomb’s proposal. Holcomb used a legislative maneuver to get a Senate floor vote late Thursday night.

Other measures sent to the governor Thursday would:

• Prevent law enforcement officers facing indictment from testifying unchallenged during grand jury proceedings or being present throughout the session.

• Allow college students who are at least 18 to carry stun guns on state campuses.

• Prevent financial institutions from refusing services to legal gun or ammunition sellers.

• Require law enforcement to obtain search warrants before flying drones over personal property but allow private citizens to use the aircraft on personal property to film wildlife.

Savannah Mayor Eddie DeLoach helped deliver Meals on Wheels food as part of the organization’s 14th Annual March for Meals.

Tybee Island Mayor Jason Buelterman delivered the State of the City address.

Macon-Bibb County continued working to open two Early Voting locations for this year’s elections.

State Rep. Joe Wilkinson, sponsor of the Official State Dog legislation talked to the Reporter Newspapers about what he’ll do now that the session is wrapped up.

Wilkinson, whose district includes parts of Buckhead and Sandy Springs, was first elected in November 2000. The 69-year-old said Wednesday he has accepted a position as a managing partner with Fun Academy Motion Pictures Inc., a subsidiary of Cork, Ireland-based Labyrinth Media & Publishing. He will begin the new job Friday, a day after the current legislative session ends.

Wilkinson, who will work on a consulting basis and has worked with Labyrinth previously, said the company recently opened an Atlanta office. He will complete his current term as a representative before devoting himself full-time to the new job, which will require him to travel some, meaning he could not remain as a state representative in the future without missing parts of the annual session.

He said he was proud to have “never missed a day at the General Assembly” during his tenure, including special sessions. Wilkinson also said a reason for his retirement was his health. Twelve years ago his doctors said he was a good candidate for prostate cancer, and in 2014 he diagnosed with the disease at the Stage 2 level. Even though the treatments were successful and are now complete, his doctors asked him to “take it easy.”

But starting next year Wilkinson will remain in politics on a smaller scale. Gov. Nathan Deal has named him to the Technical College System of Georgia board, where he said his experience in the Navy and working for Coca-Cola will come in handy.

“They have an effort to recruit military members,” he said. “Georgia is the fifth largest state for military personnel. They have a strong effort to recruit people of all ages but mainly young people who are coming out of the military, keeping them in the state and helping them with the technical college program.

“Technical College System of Georgia Commissioner Gretchen Corbin, she and I have been colleagues for a long time. This is one of those things. They meet and have 10 board meetings a year and there’s one two-day board meeting and the rest are one day. That I can accommodate because I do want to contribute to the state.”