Georgia Politics, Campaigns and Elections for February 19, 2014

Bob Casale, guitarist for Devo, died on Monday, February 17, 2014 of heart failure at the age of 61.

The original members of Devo grew up in Akron, Ohio, and were inspired form a band after personally witnessing the Kent State massacre in 1970. “We came of age in the middle of a huge cultural war. This country was basically in the midst of a new civil war — the lines were drawn very clearly,” Bob Casale said in a 2012 interview with Under the Radar. “[We formed the band because] it was a more immediate way of self-expression that required less money and no outside permission. You try to make a film and you have to come up with the money, you need a big crew, you need to ask people for favors and get permission. If you have an idea for a song you can pretty much go into your basement with your band mates and do it.”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IIEVqFB4WUo

On February 19, 1807, Aaron Burr, a former Vice President of the United States, was arrested for treason.

On February 19, 1942, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066, which empowered the United States military to remove any people for military areas. The military deemed the west coast of the United States a military area and began the internment of more than 110,000 Americans of Japanese ancestry in concentration camps. Sixty-two percent of the people interned under Executive Order 9066 were American citizens. The United States Census Bureau helped identify locations of American citizens of Japanese ancestry based on confidential information.

In 1988, President Ronald Reagan signed legislation that apologized for the mass detention of American citizens without any finding of guilt or disloyalty and based on “racial prejudice, war hysteria, and a failure of political leadership” and the government paid more than $1.6 billion in reparations to survivors.

On February 19, 1945, United States Marines landed on Iwo Jima, a pacific Island 660 miles from mainland Japan.

At 9 AM today, as part of the Georgia Fraternal Order of Police annual “Day on the Hill,” the Georgia General Assembly will honor FOP member Jim Chavers of Savannah, who landed on Iwo Jima 69 years ago today. Chavers is the last surviving member of the 4th Marine Division that landed at Iwo Jima.

The FOP day will include members discussing with legislators the need for pay raises for GBI agents and DNR rangers to achieve pay parity with other state officers. National FOP President Chuck Canterbury will attend.

Under the Gold Dome Today

Today is the 24th Legislative Day of the 2014 Session of the Georgia General Assembly. Crossover Day is expected to be March 3d, and is fast approaching.

We are now ninety days from the Primary Elections on May 20, 2014.

SENATE MEETING CALENDAR

TBD	RULES – UPON ADJOURNMENT	450 CAP
8:00 AM	APPROPRIATIONS – Natural Resources Subcommittee	341 CAP
1:00 PM	REGULATED INDUSTRIES & UTILITIES	307 CLOB
1:00 PM	STATE & LOCAL GOVERNMENTAL OPERATIONS	310 CLOB
2:00 PM	DOT BOARD ELECTION – 6th CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT	SENATE CHAMBER
2:00 PM	HEALTH & HUMAN SERVICES	450 CAP
2:00 PM	TRANSPORTATION	MEZZ
2:00 PM	APPROPRIATIONS – General Government Subcommittee	341 CAP
2:00 PM	Education & Youth Subcommittee on School Choice & Policy	307 CLOB
3:00 PM	DOT BOARD ELECTION – 12th CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT	SENATE CHAMBER
3:00 PM	JUDICIARY NON-CIVIL	307 CLOB
3:00 PM	APPROPRIATIONS – Education Subcommittee	310 CLOB
3:00 PM	APPROPRIATIONS – Judicial Subcommittee	MEZZ 1
3:30 PM	APPROPRIATIONS – Public Safety Subcommittee	341 CAP
4:00 PM	STATE INSTITUTIONS & PROPERTY – CANCELLED
4:00 PM	APPROPRIATIONS – Insurance Subcommittee	450 CAP

SENATE RULES CALENDAR

SB 342 – Evidence; disclosure of a person’s HIV status to certain health care providers (As Introduced) (H&HS-11th).

SR 788 – Property Conveyance; authorizing 13 counties; (As Introduced) (Substitute) (SI&P-56th).

SR 868 – Public Property; granting of restrictive and nonexclusive easements for operation/maintenance of facilities, utilities 12 counties (As Introduced) (SI&P-56th).

HOUSE MEETING CALENDAR

TBD	FLOOR SESSION (LD 24)	HOUSE
8:00 AM	AGRICULTURE & CONSUMER AFFAIRS	403 CAP
8:00 AM	Fleming Subcommittee of Judicairy Civil	132 CAP
8:00 AM	INSURANCE	606 CLOB
8:00 AM	Setzler Subcommittee of Judiciary Non-Civil	506 CLOB
9:00 AM	RULES	341 CAP
1:00 PM	JUDICIARY NON-CIVIL	132 CAP
2:00 PM	CODE REVISION	415 CLOB
2:00 PM	RETIREMENT	515 CLOB
2:00 PM	STATE PROPERTIES	403 CAP
2:00 PM	INDUSTRY & LABOR	606 CLOB
2:00 PM	BUDGET & FISCAL AFFAIRS	506 CLOB
3:00 PM	JUVENILE JUSTICE	406 CLOB
3:00 PM	EDUCATION	606 CLOB
3:00 PM	MOTOR VEHICLES	515 CLOB
3:00 PM	Jacobs Subcommittee of Judiciary Civil	403 CAP
3:00 PM	REGULATED INDUSTRIES	506 CLOB

HOUSE RULES CALENDAR

Modified Open Rule
HB 775 – Highways, bridges and ferries; creation of transit authority within metropolitan areas; repeal population provision (Substitute) (Trans-Carson-46th).

Modified Structured Rule
HB 697 – HOPE; revise amount of grants; equal student’s cost of tuition (Substitute)(App-Evans-42nd).

HB 788 – Ad valorem tax; property owned by University System of Georgia operated by third party; provide exemption (Substitute)(W&M-Riley-50th) (AM# 34 0626).

Structured Rule
HB 683 – Income tax; certain allocations to owners of certain entities shall be governed by Georgia law; provide (Substitute)(W&M-Carson-46th)

Yesterday in the General Assembly

Today is Legislative Day 24, of a maximum of forty days available in the Session. Any legislation that has not passed at least one chamber of the legislature by the 30th day, called Crossover Day, cannot pass this year unless it is amended onto legislation that did meet the Crossover Day deadline. Currently, the 30th Legislative Day is expected to be March 3d, earlier than any year I can remember. With seven legislative days available, time is getting scarce and the pace is quickening.

Because of the days missed during snow storms, and because a couple of legislative days were “burned” because they were scheduled for days that were snowed out, committee work got backed up.

So now, legislative days are becoming more valuable and committee work has stacked up. Yesterday, both chambers had long floor sessions dealing with contentious bills.

The House passed HB 875, a gun rights bill by 119-56 along party lines. That heated debate included a rare challenge by State Rep. Charles Gregory (R-Cobb) of a procedural ruling by Speaker David Ralston. Only two “yea” votes were cast on the challenge, those of nominally-Republican State Reps. Gregory and Sam Moore (R).

Georgia Public Broadcasting has more on House Bill 875:

After two hours of passionate debate, the House overwhelmingly passed the most sweeping gun rights measure in recent state history. It would, with a few caveats, broadly loosen restrictions to allow Georgians to carry guns in almost any place they go: bars, churches, local government offices and schools.

The bill no longer includes a provision that would have allowed guns on college campuses, although one lawmaker took the unusual step of proposing a last-minute amendment to expand firearm rights to universities. It failed; instead, the measure would decriminalize the act of bringing a gun onto university property so that violators would only face civil penalties and fines.

The bill’s backers stressed that the measure is for law-abiding Georgians who have obtained a license to carry firearms by agreeing to a background check and fingerprinting. They objected to what they see as the demonization of licensed gun owners, and said this bill takes steps to restore rights granted by the Constitution. And Rick Jasperse, the bill’s sponsor, included churches among those gaining a greater degree of control.

“By moving this, we get government out of churches’ business as 45 other states do now,” the Jasper Republican said. “These churches and bars get to decide what their policy is and do what they choose to enforce it. It’s private property.”

He also said gun-free zones only impact law-abiding citizens because criminals disregard laws anyway. He and others also stressed the importance of property rights in any debate about loosening firearm restrictions.

Lawmakers opposing the bill invoked a pantheon of issues: school safety, the potent combination of alcohol in bars and firearms, the sanctity of the church, and the fear the bill would pose an unfunded mandate to local governments.

They cited many members of the clergy, student groups, college officials and others who are against it. Much of the opposition stems From simple safety concerns. But local officials are also worried about administrative and financial implications of the bill. And one Democratic lawmaker christened the bill the GOP’s “get-out-the-vote” bill for the elections later this year.

The State Senate passed SB 350 by Senator Renee Unterman (R-Buford), to move the Department of Family and Childrens Services toward outsourcing of foster care. Coming after an already-full calendar, the bill saw seven amendments offered, each of which was subject to debate and a vote before the vote on final passage.

From the Atlanta Journal-Constitution coverage of Senate Bill 350:

Senate Bill 350 would require the Division of Family and Children Services to bid out primary functions such as case management, family preservation and independent living. DFCS would still conduct investigations and handle claims of child abuse and neglect.

Sen. Renee Unterman, R-Buford, who sponsored SB 350, said a vote against the legislation would be a vote in favor of bigger government.

“I’m sorry, bigger government doesn’t work,” she said in response to criticism from Democrats. “It’s a philosophical divide.”

Unterman flashed a picture of Emani Moss on an overhead projector while she made her case for the bill. Emani, a 10-year-old from Gwinnett County who starved to death last year, has become a symbol for the need for changes to the system.

But critics say the bill doesn’t address the state failures that led up to Emani’s death, and they accused Unterman and other lawmakers of using the disturbing details to drum up support for the changes. The state dismissed allegations of abuse in Emani’s home, but the bill does not change the state’s investigative role — known as the child protection system.

“I think it is cynical to use the deaths of these children for a bill that has nothing to do with the deaths,” said Sen. Vincent Fort, D-Atlanta.

While both chambers considered important legislation, the longer sessions meant that a full-slate of committee hearings started later than scheduled. When this occurs, the committee schedule tends to compress, as members need to be in multiple committees at the same time, and quorums become hard to maintain. Shortened committee meeting times and lost quorums exacerbate the congestion within the committee system.

Wither the Revolution?

Only six of the 73 Republican members of Congress who were elected in the Newt Gingrich-led Republican Revolution of 1994 still serve there.

Today, only five lawmakers have served with [Rep. Doc] Hastings [who announced he will retire], continually from the 1994 class: Rodney Frelinghuysen of New Jersey, Ed Whitfield of Kentucky, Frank LoBiondo of New Jersey, Walter B. Jones of North Carolina, and Mac Thornberry of Texas.

Three more members of the class left or were defeated but returned in later elections and are serving again: Matt Salmon of Arizona, Steve Chabot of Ohio, and Steve Stockman of Texas.

Several members of the 1994 House class also went on to serve in the U.S. Senate, but only Sens. Saxby Chambliss of Georgia, Tom Coburn of Oklahoma, Roger Wicker of Oklahoma, Richard Burr of North Carolina and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina remain today. Chambliss and Coburn are also retiring this year, while Graham faces a primary challenge.

Only Sen. Jim Inhofe, R-Okla., remains of the eight Republicans elected to the Senate in 1994.

The 1994 class famously clashed with President Clinton, but also ushered in an era of surprising bipartisan legislative achievements on the budget and an overhaul of the welfare system.

Hastings currently serves as the chairman of the House Natural Resources Committee which holds little power inside the Beltway but was important back home in his vast, central Washington congressional district.

His seat is safe Republican territory, so his retirement doesn’t shake up the 2014 landscape.

However, his departure serves as a reminder of how the Republican Party has shifted to the right. In 2009, before the 2010 Tea Party wave that again saw Republicans capture control of the House, Hastings was ranked by National Journal as the 72nd-most-conservative lawmaker in the House. In 2013, the same outfit ranked him as the 175th-most-conservative Republican.

Notably, Bob Barr, who was elected to Congress in 1994, is trying to make a comeback in the seat being vacated by Rep. Phil Gingrey.

Campaigns and Elections

At least three more Republican members of the Georgia State House are being challenged for reelection in their primaries. Rep. Tom Taylor has drawn a challenge from Brad Goodchild. We have heard that State Reps. Buzz Brockway and Mike Dudgeon, whom I refer to as the leaders of the “Geek Caucus,” will be challenged but we have not seen anything to confirm that.

John McCallum announced yesterday that Nancy Coverdell, wife of the late United States Senator Paul Coverdell, has joined his campaign for Congress as an Honorary Co-Chair. With a strong first quarter financial showing, and now this endorsement, McCallum is in the top tier of candidates for CD1.

Former Gwinnett County Commissioner Mike Beaudreau (R) is rumored to have filed paperwork with the Georgia State Ethics Government Transparency and Finance Commission to run for Senate District 9 against embattled incumbent Don Balfour (R).

Visit the GaPundit.com website

While the morning email is our most-read product, if you aren’t checking out the GaPundit.com website, you’re missing out on a lot of great news about Georgia politics. Yesterday, we had audio interviews with: