Georgia Politics, Campaigns, and Elections for March 31, 2022

On March 31, 1776, Abigail Adams wrote to her husband, John Adams, asking that he and his colleagues “remember the ladies” in the fight for Independence.

The future First Lady wrote in part, “I long to hear that you have declared an independency. And, by the way, in the new code of laws which I suppose it will be necessary for you to make, I desire you would remember the ladies and be more generous and favorable to them than your ancestors. Do not put such unlimited power into the hands of the husbands. Remember, all men would be tyrants if they could. If particular care and attention is not paid to the ladies, we are determined to foment a rebellion, and will not hold ourselves bound by any laws in which we have no voice or representation.”

On March 31, 1870, Thomas Mundy Peterson became the first African-American to vote after the passage of the Fifteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution.

The iconic vote was cast in a local election in Perth Amboy, New Jersey for the town’s charter.  Gary Sullivan of the News Tribune stated, “Exercising his right to vote in a local election on March 31, 1870.  Peterson became the first black man in the United States to cast a ballot.  The amendment had been ratified on February 3, 1870, and within just two months the Fifteenth Amendment was put to use.

An interview with Peterson showed who encouraged him to vote, “I was working for Mr. T. L. Kearny on the morning of the day of election, and did not think of voting until he came out to the stable where I was attending to the horses and advised me to go to the polls and exercise a citizen’s privilege.”  Peterson also revealed his vote in this election, “As I advanced to the polls one man offered me a ticket bearing the words “revised charter” and another one marked, “no charter.” I thought I would not vote to give up our charter after holding it so long: so I chose a revised charter ballot.”

On March 31, 1889, the Eiffel Tower opened in Paris.

The Eiffel Tower remained the world’s tallest man-made structure until the completion of the Chrysler Building in New York in 1930. Incredibly, the Eiffel Tower was almost demolished when the International Exposition’s 20-year lease on the land expired in 1909, but its value as an antenna for radio transmission saved it. It remains largely unchanged today and is one of the world’s premier tourist attractions.

On March 31, 1999, The Matrix opened in theaters.

Georgia Politics, Campaigns, and Elections

Under the Gold Dome Today – Committee Work Day

8:00 AM Senate Ethics Committee- canceled 307 CLOB

9:00 AM HOUSE STATE PLANNING & COMMUNITY AFFAIRS COMMITTEE 506 CLOB HYBRID

10:00 AM HOUSE Special Committee on Access to Quality Health Care 506 CLOB HYBRID

10:00 AM HOUSE PUBLIC SAFETY & HOMELAND SECURITY COMMITTEE 406 CLOB HYBRID

10:00 AM HOUSE EDUCATION COMMITTEE 341 CAP HYBRID

11:00 AM HOUSE JUDICIARY NON-CIVIL COMMITTEE 132 CAP HYBRID

12:00 PM HOUSE HEALTH & HUMAN SERVICES COMMITTEE 506 CLOB HYBRID

12:30 PM Senate Rules Committee 450 CAP

1:00 PM HOUSE HIGHER EDUCATION COMMITTEE 406 CLOB HYBRID

1:00 PM Senate Public Safety Committee- canceled Mezz 1

2:00 PM HOUSE Transportation Resolutions Sub-Committee 506 CLOB HYBRID

2:00 PM Senate Agriculture and Consumer Affairs Committee- canceled Mezz 1

2:00 PM Senate Transportation Committee- canceled 450 CAP

2:00 PM Senate Judiciary Committee- canceled 307 CLOB

2:15 PM HOUSE TRANSPORTATION COMMITTEE 506 CLOB HYBRID

3:00 PM HOUSE JUDICIARY NON-CIVIL COMMITTEE 132 CAP HYBRID

3:00 PM Senate Regulated Industries and Utilities Committee- canceled 450 CAP

4:00 PM Senate Government Oversight Committee- canceled 450 CAP

Governor Brian Kemp yesterday gave an update on state efforts to suppress crime, according to a press release.

Governor Brian P. Kemp and First Lady Marty Kemp, joined by leaders and members of the Multi-Agency Crime Suppression Unit (Crime Suppression Unit), [] provided updated figures and remarks regarding the unit’s success throughout its first year in operation. Responding to a rise in violent crime and criminal street racing activity, Governor Kemp directed the Georgia Department of Public Safety to put together a Crime Suppression Unit with local and state law enforcement officials. The detail is coordinated by the Georgia Department of Public Safety and now includes the Georgia State Patrol, the Motor Carrier Compliance Division, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, the Department of Natural Resources, the Department of Community Supervision, the Atlanta Police Department, and the Fulton County Sheriff’s Office. The detail conducted its first wave on April 9, 2021, and the numbers below represent a collaborative effort over the last year:

• Over 23,600 vehicle stops
• 588 DUI stops
• 213 drug arrests
• 572 pursuits
• Approximately 1,300 vehicles impounded
• Approximately 16,000 citations rendered
• 26 murder suspects apprehended
• 451 wanted persons arrested
• 342 stolen and missing weapons secured
• 312 stolen vehicles recovered, with a running value of almost 6.5 million dollars

The Crime Suppression Unit has also conducted operations in other cities – like Columbus and Macon. Please check with the Department of Public Safety for more information on those operations. Governor Kemp has pledged his support of the Crime Suppression Unit as long as it is needed to protect Georgians, and he and First Lady Marty Kemp would like to thank the following dedicated public safety leaders and their teams for carrying out this critically important work:

• Department of Public Safety Colonel Wright
• Georgia Bureau of Investigation Director Reynolds
• Department of Natural Resources Commissioner Williams
• Department of Community Supervision Commissioner Nail
• Atlanta Police Department Chief Bryant
• Fulton County Sheriff Labat

Please see an excerpt from Governor Kemp’s remarks at today’s press conference below:

“Thank you all again for what you’re doing to make Georgia safer, to take criminals off our streets, and to fulfill the paramount duty of government. We’re going to keep chopping, keep up the good work, and go even harder in taking the fight to the street gangs and criminals!”

“As we do so, I ask everyone here and all across Georgia to continue to pray for the safety of these men and women here today and law enforcement on all levels – no matter what uniform or badge they wear. We should also remember their families who give and risk so much for their communities in our daily prayers. May God protect them while they work to keep us safe, and may He continue to bless the great State of Georgia!”

Georgia Department of Public Safety Colonel Chris Wright also shared the following comments:

“As an example of our effective cooperation, we located a kidnapped victim in a grocery store and subsequently arrested the assailant. Together, we have arrested 9 major street racing organizers in the metro area. We are stronger together, and the results have helped make our Capitol City safer.”

“It was Governor Kemp who saw citizen’s lives in danger and their livelihoods at risk due to the reckless and criminal behavior plaguing the City of Atlanta. It was his vision to begin crime suppression operations to help combat crime; and his vision to create a full-time crime suppression unit. Proactive policing and high visibility patrols result in crime reduction and improve the quality of life for our citizens. We share the governor’s vision of reducing crime and making Georgia communities safer.”

“The work [our law enforcement officials] are doing is honorable, meaningful, and important. When you see a law enforcement officer, thank them for their courage and commitment to serve your community.”

Governor Kemp’s campaign has a new ad up criticizing former United States Senator David Perdue’s business record. From Fox News:

“Millionaire David Perdue got rich sending jobs to China,” the narrator in Kemp’s new ad claims.

The spot uses an old clip of Perdue, a former corporate chief executive officer before winning election to the Senate in 2014, saying, “I lived over there. I’ve been dealing with China for over 30 years,” and another clip from a Georgia Public Broadcasting interview where Perdue said, “We outsourced every single product that we sold in our stores.”

The narrator in the commercial, which was shared nationally first with Fox News on Wednesday, then charges “Perdue sent our jobs to China,” ahead of a clip of Trump saying “we have to stop our jobs from being stolen from us.”

“We have to stop David Perdue. He’s for himself, not Georgia,” the narrator argues.

Perdue trails Kemp in two key campaign metrics – fundraising and polling.

Kemp leads Perdue in the latest public opinion surveys, including a Fox News poll conducted March 2-6 that indicated Kemp led Perdue by 11 points among Republicans likely to vote in the May 24 primary.

House Bill 1013, Speaker Ralston’s top priority for the year, passed the Senate in a compromise form that won approval of the State House, according to the Capitol Beat News Service via the Albany Herald.

The Georgia Senate passed House Bill 1013 unanimously. The House of Representatives followed a short time later, also voting unanimously to agree with changes to the legislation made on the Senate side.

“Today, hope won,” said Ralston, R-Blue Ridge, to a standing ovation from the lawmakers. “Countless Georgians will know we’ve heard their despair and frustration.”

The legislation, which now heads to Gov. Brian Kemp for his signature, requires health insurance companies to cover mental illness the same way they cover physical illness. The parity provision also would apply to Georgia Medicaid and the State Health Benefit Plan.

The bill also creates a service-cancelable loan program to address a workforce shortage by offering loan forgiveness to several types of mental-health specialists as well as primary-care physicians.

The Senate left intact in the measure the current law requiring that a mentally disturbed person pose an “imminent” threat to themselves or others before they can be involuntarily committed for an evaluation at a mental-health care facility. The original House version of the bill had removed “imminent” from that provision.

The bill also includes legislation originally introduced into the House by Rep. Yasmin Neal, D-Jonesboro, authorizing the Georgia Public Safety Training Center in Forsyth to provide mental health training to police officers.

Also Wednesday, the House unanimously passed a related Senate bill allowing local law enforcement agencies to develop procedures for mental-health workers to join police in responding to 911 calls.

“If [police] find a mental-health crisis, they can call in a trained mental-health worker,” said Rep. Sharon Cooper, R-east Cobb, who carried Senate Bill 403 in the House. “This is the way we should be dealing with our mental-health people.”

From Georgia Health News via the Gwinnett Daily Post:

After the House vote, Ralston told his chamber, “Countless Georgians will know that we have heard their despair and frustration.”

“Few of you will ever cast a vote as consequential as your vote to pass House Bill 1013, and today it was you who gave hope to many, many Georgians,” he added.

“Georgia is taking on mental health reform,’’ said Sen. Brian Strickland, a McDonough Republican, in presenting the bill to the Senate. “We heard from people around this state,’’ he said. “We heard many stories from people that moved us.”

Sen. Michelle Au, a Johns Creek Democrat, cited Georgia’s low ranking among states in access to mental health services. “We can and must do better,’’ she told senators before the vote. She called the legislation “a bipartisan commitment to the people of Georgia that we recognize care for mental health and substance use disorder is essential as treatment for medical/surgical care.”

Added Republican Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan after the vote: “This is a great day for Georgia.”

The State House passed Senate Bill 319, the “Georgia Constitutional Carry Act of 2021,” dropping the requirment that concealed weapon carriers obtain a state permit, according to the AJC.

Senate Bill 319 passed 100-67, with the Republican majority supporting it and Democrats opposing it. The bill is similar to a House measure lawmakers passed earlier this month.

“(This bill) just removes the fee that citizens in this state have to pay to be able to exercise their Second Amendment rights,” [Rep. Mandi Ballinger] the Canton Republican said.

SB 319 would allow a “lawful weapons carrier” to carry a concealed handgun everywhere license holders currently are allowed — meaning guns will still be prohibited in places such as the secured areas of airports or government buildings that have security at the entrance, including the state Capitol. A lawful weapons carrier is defined as anyone who is now lawfully allowed to have a gun.

Supporters of the measure said it would remove an unnecessary barrier to their constitutional right to carry handguns.

Opponents said Republicans are pushing legislation to remove the handgun licensing process to play to the GOP base. But doing that, they said, would also make it easier for those who don’t have a legal right to possess and carry handguns to do so — leading to an increase in gun violence.

The state permitting process would remain in place to allow Georgians to take advantage of gun carry “reciprocity” with other states, an agreement that allows gun owners to carry concealed handguns in states that offer the same permissions.

Senate Bill 226, requiring local Boards of Education to put in place procedures to address parent complaints about books, passed the House, according to the Capitol Beat News Service via the Albany Herald.

Senate Bill 226 passed the Republican-controlled chamber 29-21 along party lines. It already had passed the state House of Representatives last week 97-61, also on a party-line vote.

Under the bill, school principals would have seven business days to review complaints from parents that a given book is obscene and “lacking in serious literary, artistic, political or scientific value for minors.”

Principals would have three additional days to determine whether a book should be removed from that school’s library and inform the parent of the decision.

Local school boards would have 30 calendar days to handle appeals of principals’ rulings.

The bill also requires school boards to post titles of books removed from the shelves on the system’s website within 15 business days of a determination.

Maybe the local school systems could create their ban lists using Amazon affiliate links to raise some money for education while they’re at it.

The Georgia Senate passed House Bill 1570, local creating another State Court judgeship for Gwinnett County, according to the Gwinnett Daily Post.

House Bill 1570 was filed by state Rep. Chuck Efstration, R-Dacula, earlier this month after an original effort led by state Rep. Sam Park, D-Lawrenceville, ran into opposition from House Republicans. GOP lawmakers were upset about public statements Park had made about the Republican Party earlier in the session during a controversial battle over redistricting for the Gwinnett County Board of Commissioners.

All of Gwinnett’s seven state senators backed House Bill 1570 once it reached the State Senate for consideration this week.

If Kemp signs the bill adding a new Gwinnett State Court judge seat into law, the new judge would be appointed by the governor for a term that would last from Jan. 1, 2023 until Dec. 31, 2024. The seat would begin coming up for election for regular four-year terms in the 2024 election cycle.

More on proposals to legalize gambling from the Associated Press via the Statesboro Herald:

The House Economic Development and Tourism Committee on Monday voted in favor of an amended version of Senate Resolution 135, as well as Senate Bill 142, which would legalize sports betting on college and pro sports.

The effort still faces long odds in the closing days of the session. The constitutional amendment must pass both the House and the Senate with a two-thirds majority. The Senate earlier this year rejected a proposed constitutional amendment that would have permitted only horse racing. However, the effort does have the backing of Atlanta’s professional sports teams, which are eager to legalize betting on their events in hopes of bolstering fan engagement.

“Those of you that that may know you can do sports betting today. It’s it’s on your phone. It’s an app, but keep in mind that money is going offshore to Antigua and some of these other places,” [Savannah Republican State Rep. Ron] Stephens said. “You’re taxing and regulating, and that’s all, because you’re already doing this particular sports betting.”

Opponents say state-sponsored gambling encourages addiction and other social harms, saying they don’t want to open the door beyond Georgia’s lottery, which voters legalized in 1992 and which collected $5.7 billion in wagers last year. Rep Randy Nix, a LaGrange Republican, called gambling “one of the most addictive things that people can do.”

“This is not something that the state of Georgia wants to its stamp of approval on,” Nix said. “The No. 1 state to do business, we don’t need this. This is what people do that are desperate, and this state is doing extremely well.”

The House proposal would tax sports betting proceeds at 20%, double the amount the Senate had previously proposed. Bettors would have to be 21, and betting on high school games would not be allowed.

Half of the money from sports betting would increase funds available for HOPE college scholarships and state subsidies for prekindergarten classes and child care. The other half would go to new financial aid aimed at people from households making less than the state median income of nearly $59,000. Each operator would also have to pay a $100,000-a-year license fee.

The constitutional amendment says half of any proceeds from casinos and horse race betting would go for health care programs. Of the remainder, 20% would go to economic development in economically distressed parts of the state, 15% to prekindergarten subsidies and 15% to college tuition for people making below the median income.

Savannah-area film industry leaders oppose limiting the tax credit for film production, according to WTOC.

Senators are taking the film tax credit cuts off the table for a vote Wednesday and back to the rules committee to possibly revise the parts with the controversial cuts.

There are a couple key reasons why the founder of the Savannah Film Alliance objects to the senate’s proposed revisions.

Savannah attorney and founder of the Savannah Film Alliance, Charles Bowen, says putting any restrictions on the states film tax credits, would put Georgia at a disadvantage.

“The second that you start making it more difficult for productions to film here, then they’re not going to say ‘ok, then I guess we have to set down roots. They’re just going to go to a different state. That’s what’s going to happen,” Bowen said.

Bowen’s other chief concern was the revision proposal that would eliminate production company’s ability to sell, or transfer tax credits.

“What you’re going to find is only the largest companies, say Apple, Netflix, the ones that may have huge tax liabilities in Georgia are the only ones that are then going to be able to benefit from the program,” Bowen said.

Georgia state Senator Lester Jackson says a rules committee will take a closer look at the proposals that include a cap on state film tax credit spending and eliminating production company’s ability to sell or transfer tax credits in a meeting Thursday afternoon.

Back to the rules committee meeting Thursday, one thing Sen. Jackson said he and a number of his colleagues are in favor of is implementing the film tax credit cap and doing away with company’s ability to sell or transfer tax credits for five years, and then letting those changes expire.

From the Rome News Tribune:

The bill also caps film tax credits at $900 million a year and makes them no longer transferable. Currently, production companies that don’t pay taxes in Georgia can sell their credits to other entities.

Hufstetler said the film industry accounts for less than 1% of the state’s economy “but we’ve been spending about 12% of our revenue” to bolster it.

“We’re paying about 30% of their costs. Any business in Georgia could thrive if we do that,” he said.

From the Associated Press via WRDW:

Georgia senators have proposed a much more modest income tax cut than the $1.1 billion plan passed by the House, and also want to sharply reduce tax breaks for film and television productions that have been credited with transforming the state into one of the world’s biggest filming hubs.

The Senate Finance Committee on Monday voted to make major changes to House Bill 1437, setting up what could be a showdown on a top priority of Republican House Speaker David Ralston of Blue Ridge with a week left in the 2022 regular session. The full Senate could debate the bill as soon as Wednesday, but Senate passage would only set the stage for the main event — negotiations between the Senate and House.

The Senate plan would by 2032 — or maybe later if state tax receipts falter — create a single flat state income tax of 4.99%. That’s a lower rate than the 5.25% proposed by the House. But whereas the House would eliminate many deductions, the Senate would keep current deductions.

The Georgia Senate also passed several other pieces of tax-related legislation, according to the Capitol Beat News Service via the Albany Herald.

House Bill 1041, which passed unanimously, would increase the annual cap on the state’s rural hospital tax credit program from the current $60 million a year to $75 million. The original version had called for raising the annual limit to $100 million.

Eight rural hospitals in Georgia have closed during the last decade for lack of operating funds, said Sen. Billy Hickman, R-Statesboro, who carried the House bill in the Senate.

“Without a rural hospital, a community is not viable,” he said. “And without being viable, a community dies.”

Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan, who was instrumental in creating the tax credit in 2016 as a member of the state House of Representatives, said the key to its success has been its flexibility.
“We don’t try to sit in this building and tell [rural hospitals] how to spend those dollars,” said Duncan, who presides over the Senate.

The Senate also voted 48-6 to exempt from state sales taxes the purchase of tickets to nonrecurring major sporting events held in Georgia.

Tybee Island challenged the voter registration of nine people, according to the Savannah Morning News.

After more than an hour of hearings, the Chatham County Board of Registrars upheld all nine of Tybee Island’s voter challenges. Tybee Island city clerk presented a body of evidence to show that each individual no longer lived on Tybee as their primary residence and, therefore, were no longer eligible to vote in the city.

The five-member board unanimously approved all nine cases.

Those individuals will now be moved into “challenge status” according to Sabrina German, director of voter registration. That doesn’t mean the voter will be deleted off the list, but if they were to vote at their Tybee address again, they would have to prove their residency.

But the main cause for concern is the large number of people who own second homes on Tybee, blurring the line between what is considered a primary residence, where one is supposed to be registered to vote.

An investigation into those concerns [is] currently underway by the Georgia Secretary of State’s Office.

During Wednesday’s board hearing, Tybee Island city clerk presented a combination of records for each individual indicating that they most likely no longer resided at their Tybee address. That includes property records that showed different ownership, utility records and homestead exemptions under a different name, and records of a new primary address.

City clerk Jan Leviner said she also had sent a letter to each individual to their registered address and either did not receive a response or had the letter bounce back.

Seventeen people were removed from Hall County voter rolls after an audit of citizenship, according to AccessWDUN.

17 people in Hall County were among 1,634 confirmed non-U.S. citizens who attempted to vote in recent Georgia elections, but were prevented from doing so by the state’s citizenship check procedures.

“Ensuring that only citizens are voting in Georgia’s elections is key to upholding the integrity of the vote in Georgia,” said Raffensperger in a Wednesday afternoon press release.

Raffensperger said the audit proved that Georgia’s citizenship check procedures are working and are vital to ensuring secure elections.

The review utilized the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services’ Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) program to identify non-citizens, or potential non-citizens, who had attempted to register to vote in Georgia.

A total of 2,258 voter registration applications were then labeled with a “pending citizenship” status.

None of the 2,258 individuals flagged by the Secretary of State’s Office cast a ballot in Georgia elections.

Bacon County spends Cheddar should read the headline. Bacon County will use COVID relief funds to buy school supplies, according to WTOC.

The school district announced they’ll use some of their federal COVID relief funds to provide school supplies during the next school year. Pencils, paper, notebooks, and some of the other materials that add up through the year.

Superintendent Judy Rowland says they want to help struggling families, but also their dedicated educators.

“Because our teachers have huge hearts and they always dig in their pockets and bring school supplies and other things for the students who’re unable to bring for themselves,” Rowland said.

“Our biggest thing is we need students here and ready to learn and we’re trying to remove any barriers that we can to allow them to do that.”

They’re still working out how they’ll give out supplies during the year after the initial distribution. But promise to have that done by the fall.

Is this the end of the Ballad of Mark Jones? The former District Attorney turned in his license to practice law, according to the Ledger-Enquirer.

The Georgia Supreme Court has accepted imprisoned ex-Columbus District Attorney Mark Preston Jones’ voluntary surrender of his law license.

Jones petitioned the court Jan. 27 for the voluntary license surrender. He sent a letter from prison, where he is serving after pleading guilty to four of the nine felony counts he faced for misconduct in office. The court accepted it Thursday. All of the justices concurred in the decision.

“We have reviewed the record and accept Jones’ petition for the voluntary surrender of his license,” the court wrote. “Accordingly, the name Mark Preston Jones hereby is removed from the rolls of persons entitled to practice law in the state of Georgia.”

Jones took office as district attorney in January 2021, after defeating incumbent Julia Slater in the 2020 elections. But he served only 10 months before Gov. Brian Kemp suspended him after his indictment on felony charges.

Georgia is suing the federal government over the continuing mask mandate for  publictransportation, according to the Capitol Beat News Service via the Albany Herald.

A lawsuit filed by Attorney General Chris Carr and Gov. Brian Kemp charges the mandate is an unconstitutional overreach of federal power.

The suit comes even as the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has walked back similar masking guidance, the White House itself has ended its mask mandate for federal buildings, and states with some of the most restrictive COVID-19 policies have lifted their mask mandates.

“This mask mandate was unlawful from the very beginning,” Carr said. “Yet, the Biden administration has once again inexplicably extended its policy despite recent science-based developments that would indicate otherwise.”

“The CDC does not have the authority to force everyone, including children, to wear a mask on public transportation, and to continue to do so is unnecessarily burdensome to both travelers and the industry alike.”