Georgia Politics, Campaigns, and Elections for August 6, 2014

On August 6, 1787, delegates to the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia began debating the first draft of the Constitution of the United States.

On August 6, 1958 the wagon train carrying gold from Dahlonega to gild the State Capitol dome reached Atlanta, where city officials were not prepared to receive them.

On August 6, 1965, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act; Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. was in attendance and was given one of the pens Johnson used to sign the Act. Here is an auction for one of the pens used in the VRA signing.

John Hughes, director of every meaningful teen angst movie of the 1980s (except Say Anything) died on August 6, 2009.

Georgia Politics, Campaigns, and Elections

Yesterday, the Georgia legislative Joint Committee on Critical Transportation Infrastructure Funding met to begin a series of public input meetings. From the dynamic duo of Michelle Wirth and Jonathan Shapiro at WABE,

As lawmakers look to meet those needs, committee co-chairman Sen. Steve Gooch, R- Dahlonega, said all funding options are on the table.

“Part of the challenge is that people don’t want to see increased taxes, and we’re not necessarily asking today to increase taxes. We’re going to look at what is our current tax structure, how can we make it better and how can we make the dollar go further.”

Here is a short audio file of Senator Gooch discussing the Committee’s work. Former U.S. Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood, currently Chairman of Building America’s Future said the answer to the issue is raising the gas tax. From Erica Techo at Morris News:

Former U.S. Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood recommended a federal gas-tax hike of 10 cents per gallon and automatic increases tied to the cost of living during a news conference Tuesday. “If that had been done two decades ago, in 1993 when the gas tax was last raised, we probably wouldn’t be having this debate,” he said. “But raising the gas tax is absolutely critical to the future of Georgia.”

LaHood isn’t the only one sounding the call for higher transportation taxes. The Georgia Transportation Alliance, a branch of the Georgia Chamber of Commerce made up of transportation-related businesses, sponsored his visit. The campaign, which is OK with a boost in the state gas tax as well, is also supported by the American Council of Engineering Companies of Georgia.

“I feel confident that I can tell you that the Georgia business community will be there to support you,” said Steve Green, a Savannah developer and former Chamber chairman.

Not everyone believes upping the gas tax is the best option.

“Raising the gas tax cannot be an option until Georgia’s policymakers are using our tax dollars wisely,” said Julianne Thompson, Atlanta Tea Party chair.

Here is our exclusive audio of LaHood advocating for an increase in the federal gas tax.

LaHood acknowledges that he may be tilting at windmills, according to Dave Williams with the Atlanta Business Chronicle:

LaHood said he sees no political will in Congress to increase the gasoline tax.

Likewise, Georgia lawmakers aren’t expected to support raising the state’s gas tax, one of the lowest in the nation.

But that doesn’t mean they won’t at least talk about it.

On Tuesday, Georgia Rep. Jay Roberts, R-Ocilla, the study committee’s co-chairman, promised an open debate in the coming months. “We’re willing to listen,” he said. “That’s what we’re here for.”

The committee is due to make recommendations to the full legislature by Nov. 30.

In Georgia, predictably, many predict problems with any solution that include a tax hike. From the AJC:

Tuesday, State Sen. David Lucas, D-Macon, asked a representative from the Georgia Chamber of Commerce if the group will support legislators if they have to explain to tax-averse constituents why they should raise the state motor fuel tax.

The chamber rep, Michael Sullivan, [actually, Sully represents the American Council of Engineering Companies of Georgia] assured him that it would. “We’ll be in front of the line, taking the bullets for you” Sullivan said, if a good case can be made for doing so.

Others, like Benita Dodd of the Georgia Public Policy Foundation, a limited-government think tank, urged the group to look at other alternatives. Dodd recommended public-private partnerships and imposing more user fees, such as tolls on new and existing roads.

The Joint Committee will take its public hearings on the road, according to the Gainesville Times:

The committee will hold seven other meetings Aug. 25-Oct. 29 in Columbus, Tifton, Macon, Augusta, Savannah, Rome and Blue Ridge.

The goal is to come up with recommendations to present to the General Assembly, which reconvenes in January.

“In order to maintain the kind of quality of roads we have in Georgia and to continue to expand some of our roads to handle the congestion, we’ve got to look for more dependable and long-term solutions for funding,” said state Sen. Steve Gooch, R-Dahlonega, co-chairman of the joint committee. “We’re not necessarily looking to increase taxes, but we’re looking to create a dependable, steady revenue stream.”

Georgia DOT wants you to take a survey on the gas tax. From Walter Jones at Morris News:

Transportation Commissioner Keith Golden said many people believe they pay much more in taxes than they probably do. For instance, a person who averages the typical 12,000 miles per year at 23 miles per gallon pays $85 in taxes to state transportation yearly, about one-third of the combined state, local and federal tax on gasoline.

“For $85 to the state, people want the roads to be perfect, no congestion, all the traffic signals to be synchronized and the grass mowed,” Golden said.

Members of a legislative committee appointed to study ways to boost transportation funding recognize that taxes aren’t popular.

“We’ve got people that think they pay thousands of dollars,” said committee member Rep. Mark Hamilton, R-Cumming.

The next meetings of the legislative committee studying the issue are in Columbus on Aug. 25, Tifton on Sept. 2, Macon on Sept. 3, Augusta on Sept. 30, Savannah on Oct. 1. The committee will visit Rome and Blue Ridge later in October.

A reader wrote in with a clarification on how the sales tax on gasoline is currently collected. An article in the Atlanta Journal Constitution wrote about the state sales tax:

One idea to generate more in-state revenue for transportation projects is to claw back the fourth penny of Georgia’s 4-cents-per-gallon motor fuel sales tax. That penny adds up to about $180 million a year, but it currently goes into the general fund to be spent elsewhere.

But the reader says that’s inaccurate:

The reality is that Georgia charges sales tax on motor fuel at the 4 PERCENT rate, which equates to much more than 4 cents per gallon, based on today’s prices.  Currently 3 percent is dedicated to DOT and the last 1 percent goes into the general fund.  Georgia charges also charges a 7 1/2 CENTS per gallon motor fuel tax.  The combined state and local sales taxes on motor fuel equals approximately 20 cents per gallon PLUS the 7 1/2. At today’s prices the “extra penny” equals approximately 3 cents per gallon.

The next frontier in third party campaign spending

Tennessee has seen one million dollars spent in the fight over reshaping the state’s Supreme Court.

Lt. Gov. Ron Ramsey (R) has played an outsized role in the campaign against the three incumbent Democrats, Chief Justice Gary Wade and Justices Cornelia Clark and Sharon Lee.

A political action committee he set up, RAAMPAC, contributed $425,000 to anti-retention efforts, according to a Friday review of campaign disclosures by the nonpartisan nonprofit group Justice at Stake.

The national Republican State Leadership Committee has also spent nearly $200,000 fighting retention, while Americans for Prosperity and the State Government Leadership Foundation, a partner group of the RSLC, have spent undisclosed amounts. The justices themselves have raised slightly more than $1 million since the start of the year.

At least $987,000 had been spent by both sides on television ad spending, according to the group’s Friday review of FCC filings. Pro-retention groups spent more than $562,000 and those opposed spent more than $425,000. Since 2000, Justice at Stake along with the nonpartisan Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law and National Institute on Money in State Politics have issued annual reports on spending in judicial elections.

“This is part of a pattern that’s been popping up around the country for a number of years now and 2000 was the year it really exploded,” Brandenburg said.

In Georgia, third-party spending in the United States Senate general election got real as the National Republican Senatorial Committee plunked down $2.5 million. From Daniel Malloy at the AJC:

The National Republican Senatorial Committee is escalating Georgia’s U.S. Senate race ad war with $2.5 million worth of television ad time in the next few weeks, according to two people monitoring ad buys in the state.

The buy runs for five weeks entirely in Atlanta starting Tuesday and appears to be the first strike of the general election for the NRSC anywhere in the country. It’s the latest sign that the race between Republican David Perdue and Democrat Michelle Nunn is firmly on the national radar, and the GOP is taking the fight seriously.

The NRSC, which would not officially confirm the Georgia buy until the public paperwork is filed, has reserved TV air time in five other states but is not yet on the air in any of them. The committee’s biggest TV reservations so far have been $2.66 million in Alaska, $2.59 million in North Carolina and $2.20 million in Colorado.

Texas Governor Rick Perry has set up RickPAC as a federal committee with Georgia ties.

“It was set up to help fund candidates who agree with the governor’s priorities,” said spokesman Mark Miner.

It also could be used to help the governor if he makes the leap to national candidate again.

“If he does decide to run [for president], he’ll be prepared,” Miner said.

Perry has $4 million left in his state campaign account, which he can already legally use as contributions to other conservatives around the country.

The treasurer of RickPAC, Stefan Passantino, is the head of the political law section of the Washington law firm McKenna Long & Aldridge. He is also a longtime legal adviser to Newt Gingrich. The assistant treasurer, Corry Bliss, has served in statewide political campaigns in Vermont and Georgia, and his aggressive, bare-knuckled political style has been compared to Karl Rove.

Stefan Passantino is prominent in Georgia politics, representing a wide variety of campaigns and other organizations; Corry Bliss was campaign manager for Karen Handel this year.

 

Newsbites

Former Gwinnett County Commissioner Kevin Kenerly pleaded no contest to bribery charges and will pay $10,000 in fines and spend no time in jail.

Kenerly pleaded no contest to a single count of bribery Tuesday, nearly four years after his original arrest and resignation in light of allegations involving shady land deals. In a compromise reached with Gwinnett County District Attorney Danny Porter, the four-term county commissioner will pay a $10,000 fine and spend the next decade on probation.

He will not be incarcerated.

“I think we resolved the case and took an albatross from around the neck of the county,” Porter said. “There are going to be people who disagree with it, but given the condition of (Kenerly’s) wife and given the condition of the case, and everything else I had to take into account — what is it? ‘The definition of a compromise is nobody’s happy’? That may be where we are.”

Kenerly’s wife, Beth, found out in recent months that she has Stage IV breast cancer with “multiple complications.” Her condition — and the fact the couple still has one child in middle school, two in high school and another in college — was a major factor in the prison-less sentence, Porter said.

Even after Tuesday’s plea, Kenerly and attorney Pat McDonough continued to maintain the ex-commissioner’s innocence, saying he had merely grown weary of fighting the charges.

Also in Gwinnett County, former Dacula City Council Member Greg Reeves pled guilty to misuse of a purchasing card.

Reeves entered a negotiated guilty plea Tuesday to a misdemeanor charge for using the card for personal purposes from January 2013 to March 2014, in part to pay for a rental car so he could fulfill his duties as a pizza deliveryman.

Judge Valeria Head sentenced the former councilman to one year of probation and ordered him to pay $3,178.49 to the city within the next 60 days. Reeves will also have to pay a $1,000 fine and court costs.

Macon-Bibb Commissioners voted unanimously to allow sales of beer in 32-64 ounce growlers – Macon Telegraph.

An agreement was reached to pay more than $186,000 in back taxes on a twelve-acre parcel previously owned by State Rep. Jimm Pruett in time to prevent its being auctioned off to settle the tax bill – Macon Telegraph.

In Augusta, tickets to the premiere of “Get On Up,” a new James Brown biopic, are causing issues as Augusta Commissioner Bill Fennoy says an offer of tickets was withdrawn after he didn’t support a hiring decision – Augusta Chronicle.

Georgia’s Department of Natural Resources Wildlife Resource Division is holding public meetings for input into the 10-year deer management plan – Forsyth County News.

Events this week

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 Sen. Johnny Isakson: U.S. Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs Field Hearing – Atlanta

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Lamar County GOP Meeting

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Gwinnett GOP: Victory Training

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Jackson County GOP Meeting

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12th District GOP Unity Tour with David Perdue and Rick Allen

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N. Fulton GOP Breakfast

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Hall County GOP: Conservative Forum

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GA-12 Bus Tour: Dublin – Candidate Meet and Greet David Perdue / Rick Allen

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GA GOP 9th District: Grassroots Training – Commerce

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12th District GOP Unity Tour – Lyons –

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12th District GOP Unity Tour – Dublin –

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12th District GOP Unity Tour – Waynesboro –

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12th District GOP Unity Tour – Augusta –