Georgia Politics, Campaigns, and Elections for March 5, 2021

On March 5, 1735, James Oglethorpe presented a budget to the trustees of Georgia and proposed seeking an appropriation from Parliament, thus beginning the addiction of the Georgia government to Other People’s Money.

On March 6, 1857, the United States Supreme Court published its opinion in Sanford v. Dred Scott.

the Court held that African Americans, whether slave or free, could not be American citizens and therefore had no standing to sue in federal court,and that the federal government had no power to regulate slavery in the federal territories acquired after the creation of the United States. Dred Scott, an African American slave who had been taken by his owners to free states and territories, attempted to sue for his freedom. In a 7–2 decision written by Chief Justice Roger B. Taney, the Court denied Scott’s request and in doing so, ruled an Act of Congress in this case—the Missouri Compromise of 1820 which prohibited slavery north of the parallel 36°30′ north—to be unconstitutional for the second time in its history.

The decision would prove to be an indirect catalyst for the American Civil War and was functionally superseded by the post-war Reconstruction Amendments. It is now widely regarded as the worst decision ever made by the Supreme Court.

One member of the Court that decided Dred Scott was Associate Justice James M Wayne, who was born in Savannah and served in Congress from Georgia from 1829 to 1835.

On March 7, 1861, delegates to the Georgia Secession Convention reconvened in Savannah to adopt a new state Constitution. A resolution offering to host the Confederate Capitol did not pass.

On March 5, 1869, the United States Congress refused to seat Georgia’s elected members of the House and Senate.

On March 6, 1946, the Fifth Circuit United States Court of Appeals ruled in King v. Chapman that Georgia’s all white Democratic Primary violated the 14th, 15th, and 17th Amendments to the U.S. Constitution. Primus E. King of Columbus, Georgia brought the lawsuit against the Muscogee County Democratic Party Executive Committee Chair Joseph E. Chapman.

On March 7, 1965, a group of marchers led by Martin Luther King, Jr., met Alabama State Troopers on the Edmund Pettis Bridge in Selma, Alabama.

“I was hit in the head by a state trooper with a nightstick… I thought I saw death.”

—John Lewis, SNCC leader

John Lewis, who later served as the United States Congressman from the Fifth District from 1987 to his death in 2020, was in the front row wearing a light-colored overcoat and backpack.

GaVoice talked to Lewis about what was in his backpack on that day.

https://youtu.be/jSVNPHi4MQc

On March 5, 1977, President Jimmy Carter held the first “Dial-A-President” radio broadcast in which he fielded questions from radio listeners.

https://youtu.be/-68iTvhWNB0

Ron Daniels brings you more on the Presidential Q&A from 1977.

Regardless of Carter’s policy positions and his answers to questions, “Ask President Carter” was a truly historic broadcast. Never before had the President been accessible via telephone on a live radio broadcast. And the questions presented to the President weren’t confined to one or two issues that he had been prepared to handle. One can argue that the American people were also fascinated with the concept of calling and speaking directly to Carter; nine million people called into the broadcast trying to reach him.

The President seemed to enjoy the broadcast as well, remarking: “[t]he questions that come in from people all over the country are the kind that you would never get in a press conference. The news people would never raise them, like the Ottawa Indian question. And I think it’s very good for me to understand directly from the American people what they are concerned about and questions that have never been asked of me and reported through the news media.”

Georgia Politics, Campaigns, and Elections

LEGISLATIVE COMMITTEE MEETING SCHEDULE

8:00 AM HOUSE GOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS – 406 CLOB
8:30 AM HOUSE RULES – 341 CAP
9:30 AM HOUSE FLOOR SESSION (LD27) – House Chamber
10:00 AM Senate Floor Session – Senate Chamber
12:30 PM HOUSE SPECIAL COMMITTEE ON ACCESS TO THE CIVIL JUSTICE SYSTEM – 132 CAP
TBD Senate Rules Upon Adjournment – 450 CAP

SENATE RULES CALENDAR

SB 220 – “The Georgia Civics Renewal Act”; enact (Substitute)(ED&Y-54th)

SR 84 – Airport Infrastructure and Improvements; create Joint Study Committee (Substitute)(RULES-7th)

SB 246 – “The Learning Pod Protection Act”; exemptions applicable to learning pods, student attendance, administrative and judicial proceedings; provide (ED&Y-28th)

SB 92 – Controlled Substances; sale to and by minors of drug products containing dextromethorphan; prohibit (Substitute)(JUDY-29th)

SB 255 – “OneGeorgia Authority Act”; grant program to support border region retail and tourism projects; provide (ED&T-53rd)

SB 153 – “Graduation Opportunities and Advanced Learning (GOAL) Act”; enact (Substitute)(ED&Y-27th)

SB 156 – Labor and Industrial Relations; appointment, oath, bond, power, duties, and authority of a chief labor officer; provide (Substitute)(I&L-16th)

SB 163 – Judicial Emergency; suspension of statutory speedy trial requirements; provide (Substitute)(JUDY-17th)

SB 200 – Emergency Powers of the Governor; certain business and religious institutions may continue to resume operations; certain states of emergency; provide (Substitute)(GvtO-31st)

SR 135 – Sports Betting; related matters; provide -CA (Substitute)(RI&U-53rd)

SB 142 – Lottery for Education; lottery game of sports wagering in this state; provide (Substitute)(RI&U-53rd)

SB 165 – Motor Vehicles; autonomous vehicles from certain vehicle equipment requirements; exempt (Substitute)(TRANS-51st)

SB 210 – Motor Vehicles and Traffic; definitions relative to registration and licensing of motor vehicles; provide (Substitute)(S&T-29th)

SB 219 – Alcoholic Beverages; regulation of the manufacture, distribution, and sale of malt beverages; provide (Substitute)(RI&U-47th)

SR 143 – General Assembly Chaplain; honorary position; appoint (RULES-16th)

SB 152 – State and Other Flags; pledge of allegiance to the state flag; add language (GvtO-29th)

SB 145 – Distilled Spirits; initiating a referendum election for the authorization of the issuance of licenses for the package sale of distilled spirits; modify the petition requirements (RI&U-28th)

SB 236 – Alcoholic Beverages; food service establishments to sell mixed drinks for off-premises consumption in approved containers under certain conditions; allow (RI&U-28th)

SB 78 – Invasion of Privacy; prohibition on electronically transmitting or posting nude or sexually explicit photographs or videos for purposes of harassing the depicted person; revise (Substitute)(JUDY-22nd)

SB 75 – Termination of Residential Lease; victims of stalking; (Substitute)(JUDY-41st)

SR 39 – Charlotte Nash Intersection; Gwinnett County; dedicate (TRANS-45th)

HOUSE RULES CALENDAR

Modified Open Rule

HB 81 – General appropriations; State Fiscal Year July 1, 2021 -June 30, 2022 (Substitute)(App-Ralston-7th)

Modified Structured Rule

HB 60 – Georgia Educational Scholarship Act; enact (Substitute)(Ed-Cantrell-22nd)(Rules Committee Substitute LC49 0485S)

HB 92 – Health; transfer of vital records to State Archives; revise provisions (GAff-Gambill-15th)

HB 316 – Pharmacies; increase pharmacist to pharmacy technician ratio for providing direct supervision at any time (H&HS-Stephens-164th)HB 333Ethics in Government Act of 2021; enact (Substitute)(Judy-Efstration-104th)

HB 364 – Professions and businesses; exempt persons having completed Georgia Peace Officer Standards and Training from required fingerprint submission for application to be licensed as a private guard, watchman, or patrolman (Substitute)(RegI-Collins-68th)

HB 369 – Physicians; job description submission to Georgia Composite Medical Board; provisions (Substitute)(RegI-Powell-32nd)

HB 450 – Low THC Oil Patient Registry; authorize Department of Public Health to release deidentified data to government entities for research (Substitute)(H&HS-Newton-123rd)

HB 554 – Property; revise when an action may operate as a lis pendens (Substitute)(Judy-Gunter-8th)

HB 577 – Highways, bridges, and ferries; proposal guaranty for bids upon certain projects; provide (Trans-Carpenter-4th)

HB 591 – Mental health; marriage and family therapists to perform certain acts which physicians and others are authorized to perform; authorize (H&HS-Hogan-179th)

HB 601 – Crimes and offenses; low THC oil, marijuana, and tetrahydrocannabinols do not include certain federally approved products; provide (JudyNC-Stephens-164th)

HB 605 – Health; provide for authorized electronic monitoring in long-term care facilities (Substitute)(HumR-Cooper-43rd)

HB 606 – HOPE scholarships; add Georgia Independent School Association to the list of accrediting agencies (Ed-Nix-69th)

HB 620 – Guardian and ward; payment of certain settlementsinvolving claims of minors; clarify and revise procedures and requirements (Substitute)(Judy-Leverett-33rd)

HB 645 – Crimes and offenses; medical cannabis; update and revise provisions (RegI-Gravley-67th)

HB 647 – Solid waste management; post-closure ground-water monitoring at closed coal combustion residual impoundments; provide (Substitute)(NR&E-Smith-133rd)

Structured Rule

HB 451 – Ad valorem tax; property; fair market value applicable to inventor; provisions (W&M-Lumsden-12th)

HB 469 – Income tax; rehabilitation of historic structures; revise tax credits (Substitute)(W&M-Stephens-164th)

Governor Brian Kemp issued Executive Order 03.04.21.01, renewing the Public Health State of Emergency through April 5, 2021.

I hope we’re getting to the point where Gov. Kemp is able to either issue an EO ending the Public Health State of Emergency, or to simply let it expire. But I’m worried about declaring victory too soon and allowing the virus to regain a foothold. I hope you’ll join me in praying for the Governor and his advisors to have wisdom and discernment in this.

Gov. Kemp will visit the mass vaccination site in Clarkesville, Georgia next week, according to AccessWDUN.

Officials with the Georgia Emergency Management Agency (GEMA) announced this morning that Kemp will be at the Habersham County Fairgrounds on Monday, March 8 for a facility tour and a press conference.

The Clarkesville site was one of four mass vaccination locations that opened on March 22 in an effort to vaccinate more Georgians against the virus. The first week, health officials administered 5,537 vaccines at the Clarkesville location, which was the second highest amount administered.

Georgia state legislators are considering nearly doubling their pay, according to the Statesboro Herald.

Georgia’s House speaker is backing a plan that would nearly double pay for lawmakers and also boost pay for all statewide officials except the governor.

Base pay for the 180 House members and 56 senators would rise from $16,200 a year to $29,908.

Lawmaker pay hasn’t changed since 1999, according to the State Compensation Commission. Consumer prices have risen 59% since then, according to federal figures.

Rep. Wes Cantrell, who is sponsoring House Bill 675 to implement the pay raises beginning after the 2022 elections, told the House Rules Committee on Wednesday that many people can’t afford to seek election because of low pay, and that what is supposed to be a part-time job eats up a lot of time even when lawmakers aren’t in Atlanta. The committee voted unanimously to send the bill to the full House.

“We need to open it up so that more Georgians can have the possibility of public service, especially in the General Assembly,” said Cantrell, a Woodstock Republican. “It shouldn’t cost money to serve. We lose some of our best each year because it costs money for them to serve.”

The measure would not increase retirement payments for lawmakers, but Cantrell said if the General Assembly passes his bill, he will seek to increase retirement for lawmakers next year.

The lieutenant governor’s salary would rise from $91,609 to $135,000, while the House speaker’s salary would rise from about $99,000 to $135,000. The House speaker pro tem and Senate president pro tem would get an extra $6,000 a year over regular legislative salaries.

From the Valdosta Daily Times:

“I don’t really know anyone that wants a legislative chamber to be made up exclusively of people that are independently wealthy or they’re retired,” Ralston told reporters Wednesday. “So, if we’re going to have people who are lawyers and doctors and teachers and business owners and farmers, then I think this is the right thing to do, frankly.”

“A reasonable pay increase would open up the possibility of public service in the legislature for more Georgians,” Cantrell said Wednesday. “Right now, when you look around the chamber, it appears that it’s limited to the rich, the poor, those who are married to someone with a good salary, and people like those of us in this room this morning who love our state so much, they will serve — no matter what.”

Cantrell said there is no fiscal note but by his calculations it would cost about $3.2 million for the year.

Rep. Al Williams, D- Midway, said with the prevalence of social media, a lawmaker’s job doesn’t stop at the end of the day or even end of the session.

From the Associated Press via AccessWDUN:

The governor’s salary would remain $175,000 per year, and state Supreme Court justices wouldn’t get raises. But all other statewide officers would get the following raises:

• Attorney General: $139,168 to $165,6111.
• Secretary of State: $123,640 to $147,128.
• Agriculture Commissioner: $123,998 to $144,653.
• Insurance Commissioner: $120,394 to $143,269.
• Labor Commissioner: $122,786 to $146,115.
• State School Superintendent: $123,270 to $146,691.
• Public Service Commissioners: $121,757 to $138,974.

“I think there’s the appetite to do this this year,” Cantrell said. “If we don’t do it this year, it may never happen. I think it’s very appropriate and easily defensible.”

The House Appropriations Committee voted to recommend passage of House Bill 81, the state budget for the next fiscal year, according to AccessWDUN.

The state would spend $27.2 billion in state tax money, plus billions more in federal money and money raised in fees and tuition. That’s up from $26.6 billion this year.

Gov. Brian Kemp had already proposed spending $22 million more on mental health, but House members want an increase of $58 million. The House would spend more on service providers, including $12.3 million for a 5% rate increase for providers of adult intellectual and developmental disability services.

“We will make a significant statement as it relates to mental health this year,” House Appropriations Committee Chairman Terry England, an Auburn Republican, told committee members.

Many of the increases throughout the budget consist of putting money back that was cut during last year’s budget process. Fearing a steep drop in revenue, lawmakers cut $2.2 billion from what they had planned to spend this year. They put about $650 billion of that back into the current year’s budget earlier this year, restoring about 60% of what had been cut from the state’s K-12 funding formula.

In the coming year, the House proposes to restore funding to state universities, raising total funding by $148 million, which is $17 million more than Kemp proposed.

The State House is likely to vote on the budget today.

From the Capitol Beat News Service via the Rome News Tribune:

The House Appropriations Committee supported Gov. Brian Kemp’s recommendation to restore $567.5 million in “austerity” cuts to the state’s public schools. The fiscal 2021 mid-year budget Kemp signed last month already had put back more than $1 billion in reductions to K-12 schools lawmakers approved last June at the height of the coronavirus pandemic.

Nursing homes, which have been hit particularly hard with patient hospitalizations and deaths from COVID-19, would get $7.4 million to “stabilize” staffing. Another $11.9 million would go toward a 2% rate increase for skilled nursing centers.

The House also added $25.3 million to pay for a 10% increase for home- and community-based services, while the Department of Public Health would receive $1.5 million to track the state’s COVID-19 vaccine rollout.

Two House adds to the Secretary of State’s office include $150,000 to help cover the costs of processing temporary licenses for nurses who have come to Georgia from out of state to work with coronavirus patients, and $667,642 to help jump-start Georgia’s medical cannabis initiative.

The Department of Driver Services would receive $250,000 for a new program to provide free IDs to Georgians who now have to pay $32 for the cards. Georgians who don’t have a driver’s license could use the card to comply with voter ID requirements.

House Bill 479, to repeal citizens arrest rights, was recommended for passage by the State House Judiciary Committee, according to the AJC.

House Bill 479 would repeal citizen’s arrest from state law while still allowing employees at businesses, security officers, private investigators and inspectors at truck scales to detain someone they believe has committed a crime. The bill also would allow law enforcement officers to make arrests outside their jurisdictions.

House Judiciary Chairman Chuck Efstration said it was important that Georgia be the first state in the country to remove citizen’s arrest from the state’s law.

“Frankly, I was surprised to learn there was such a law,” the Dacula Republican said.

State Rep. Bert Reeves, a Marietta Republican, sponsor of HB 479, said he wanted to be clear that nothing in Kemp’s proposal would take away a person’s right to defend himself or herself.

“Citizen’s arrest is a very different concept than the concept of self-defense,” he said. “Citizens arrest is an offensive act.”

In a letter, the Georgia Sheriff’s Association said it opposed expanding the powers of police officers past their jurisdictions because it could create confusion between law enforcement officers. It was the only organization to publicly oppose the measure.

From the Capitol Beat News Service via the Augusta Chronicle:

Sponsored by Rep. Bert Reeves, R-Marietta, the bill has broad support from advocacy groups including the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and the NAACP, as well as state Democratic leaders.

It follows passage of a landmark anti-hate crimes bill in Georgia last year and marks the most significant piece of criminal-justice legislation to emerge so far in the 2021 legislative session that has bipartisan support in the Republican-controlled General Assembly.

“We do not want private citizens, untrained, playing police officer,” Reeves said at a House Judiciary (Civil) Committee hearing on Thursday.

Reeves’ bill would scrap a state law in effect since 1863 that lets private citizens arrest someone who commits a crime in their presence or during an escape attempt, while still permitting off-duty police officers and business owners to detain those believed to have committed a crime on their property.

The changes would not affect Georgia’s self-defense and stand-your-ground laws, which require different legal standards for people to use reasonable force to protect themselves than the broad leeway to detain under the current citizen’s arrest law, Reeves said.

Glynn County Commissioners will consider two resolutions opposing or supporting legislation before the Georgia General Assembly, according to The Brunswick News.

Glynn County commissioners added two resolutions to the list of items they considered Thursday, one opposing Georgia House Bill 286 and another supporting House Bill 479.

HB 286 would ban county governments from reducing the budget of police departments by more than five percent in a fiscal year or the equivalent of the county’s overall budget decrease. The rule does not include large budget increases for one-time purchases.

District 2 Commissioner Cap Fendig called for the resolution opposing it, saying the bill constituted a violation of home rule.

“It’s the right and the need of local government to adjust their budgets up and down, especially in police departments,” Fendig said.

District 5 Commissioner Allen Booker said he asked for the resolution in support of HB 479, the citizen’s arrest repeal.

“The citizen’s arrest law was used by (Gregory and Travis McMichael), who in my opinion murdered Ahmaud Arbery, and obviously the state House agrees that this can no longer be used to kill unarmed, innocent people,” Booker said. “I ask the commissioners to support our state delegation and this committee that just passed the bill to repeal this.”

Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger spoke to GPB News about election reform proposals in the state legislature.

About 80 bills and resolutions in the legislature deal with voting and elections, but only a handful have gained traction and attention for their proposed changes. A 66-page omnibus passed the House this week that would remove the secretary of state as chair of the State Election Board, narrow the window voters can request an absentee ballot and require a driver’s license number, state ID number or copy of acceptable voter ID, among other changes.

Adding photo ID is one of the few things that leaders in the House, Senate and governor’s office have agreed on, and Raffensperger said it was a common-sense method to secure the vote.

“A year ago we were being sued by the Democrats; they did not like signature match, they said it was unconstitutional and now the Republicans are saying the same thing,” he said. “Well, you guys are both singing off the same song sheet now, so maybe now we need a verifiable photo ID component with the absentee ballot process.”

“We need to make sure that the General Assembly doesn’t react to the past election, and they really look at ‘How can I secure and give people confidence in the accuracy of the results,’” he said.

Raffensperger said (and many Democratic lawmakers would agree) that county officials need to be included more in the legislative process, especially after managing the pandemic-ridden election process in the last year. That’s where his support for limiting who can vote by mail comes into play.

“The counties are really, in effect, running three elections: They’re running an absentee ballot program, then they’re running 16 days of early voting and then they’re also running the Election Day program,” he said. “It placed a tremendous burden on the counties. So we really have to look at what could we do.”

“I think our legacy would be that we’ve secured the vote with a verifiable paper ballot and we’ll have photo ID for absentee ballot balloting going forward,” he said. “And people need to understand that if they’re looking for a good referee that’s going to call balls and strikes and not play games with their vote, then I’ll be your candidate in 2022.”

Forsyth County will offer rent relief from federal COVID funding, according to AccessWDUN.

A website has been set up, as well as a call center. Anyone with questions can call 678-273-2972 between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. on weekdays. Additional information will be available in Simple Chinese, Spanish, Korean and Hindi, as well as English.

“We strongly encourage those that are in need of assistance of paying their rent or utilities during the pandemic to reach out through this program,” said Forsyth County Manager Kevin Tanner.

A total of $7.35M in grant funds for eligible Forsyth County residents is made possible through the U.S. Treasury’s Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act and the Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act of 2021

To determine if you qualify, go to forsythco.com/rentrelief.