General Assembly
Here’s everything you need to know about which bills passed or failed in the Senate on Crossover Day.
Yet another bill by a suburban Atlanta Republican to limit local governments’ ability to serve their citizens has been shot down by the State House.
The Georgia House of Representatives voted down a bill that would have prevented some cities from offering public broadband service. House Bill 282, dubbed the Municipal Broadband Investment Act, failed 70-94 Thursday night.
Its sponsor, Rep. Mark Hamilton, R-Cumming, said he hoped to spur private enterprise by preventing local cities and authorities from interfering.
Critics including local leaders, consumers and corporate giants like Google criticized the bill as bad for rural Georgians who are largely dealing with slow Internet speeds.
Windstream Communications lobbied for the bill which, if it had passed, could have eliminated a source of competition to the television, phone and Internet provider.
A 2.0 GPA will suffice to keep the HOPE Grant (not the HOPE Scholarship) in order to help fill seats in Georgia’s technical colleges, and in recognition of the facts that tech school students tend to be older, single parents with lower incomes. Congratulations to State Rep. Stacey Evans (D-Cobb).
The bill heads to the Senate and is likely to pass because it has bipartisan support and the backing of legislative leaders and Republican Gov. Nathan Deal.
Supporters say an increase in lottery revenues allows for the change, and the move could benefit several thousand students at an estimated cost of $5 million to $8 million annually.
Voluntarily entering treatment for mental health or substance abuse issues will not necessarily prevent Georgians from receiving permits to carry if legislation by State Rep. Rick Jasperse passes the Senate and is passed by Governor Deal.
Judges in Georgia now have discretion over whether to grant a license to carry a weapon to anyone who has received inpatient treatment at a mental hospital or substance abuse treatment center in the last five years, whether it’s voluntary or not.
“Simply being hospitalized doesn’t make a person a criminal or a threat,” said Rep. Rick Jasperse, R-Jasper, the bill sponsor, in a statement. The legislation now heads to the state Senate.
The House bill also broadens the areas where permit-holders may lawfully carry.
State Rep. Earl Ehrhart (R-Powder Springs) said the legislation that passed the House on Thursday is “a gun personal protection safety issue.”
“People can now defend themselves in more places than ever before on college campuses, in places of worship in more public places,” Ehrhart said. “I think it was an excellent piece of legislation. I’m proud to vote for it.”
State Rep. Stacey Evans (D-Smyrna) opposed the bill, saying that college presidents are against the idea of having guns on campus.
Evans said the bill also restricts a bar owner’s rights. Existing law allows a bar owner to decide whether to allow guns to be brought into the establishment or not, she said.
State Rep. Alisha Thomas Morgan (D-Austell), who voted against the bill, called it bad policy to combine so many different aspects related to guns into one bill.
“I am most concerned about the fact that in K-12 schools that there will be some adults who will have a gun, and I don’t think there is an adequate process in place to make sure that parents have a say in that,” Morgan said.
But the bill will face serious scrutiny in the Senate.
Senate President Pro Tem David Shafer, R-Duluth, indicated his chamber may not do anything else on guns for the year.
“We passed a bill (Senate Bill 101) that is supported by the National Rifle Association,” Shafer told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “We passed a very strong, pro-Second Amendment piece of legislation. If the House has additional ideas, we will certainly consider them.”
SB 101, among other provisions, would keep the names and personal details of those licensed to carry a weapon secret and would prohibit local officials from banning guns in public housing.
HB 512 was backed not by the NRA, but by the 7,300-member Georgia Carry advocacy group. Jerry Henry, the executive director of Georgia Carry, said the organization was thankful for the House vote.
Legislation that passed the State House would move pharmacy and dental licensing boards from the Secretary of State’s Office to the Department of Community Health.
According to [State Rep. Lee] Hawkins, Kemp’s office can’t keep up, with more than 100,000 phone callers to the office in the last three months hanging up while they were on hold before their calls were answered.
Kemp said the reason is that the Professional Licensing Division of his office has had its staff cut 30 percent since 2008 due to budget reductions while its job has gotten harder when it had to begin checking the citizenship of all 500,000 holders of professional licenses.
Retired legislators may be able to order a special car tag under legislation that passed the Senate.
“Many of you have had the opportunity to serve 10, 20, 30 years, and many in the community know you,” he told his colleagues before the vote. “This gives you the opportunity to be honored by your community.” Sen. John Albers, R-Roswell, said he liked that plate better than the one he is allowed to have on his car now as a serving legislator.
Instead of the county name or “In God We Trust,” they’ll say “Get Off My Lawn!” Because parking anywhere you damn well please is more important as you grow older, and having people kiss your ass for 10, 20, 30 years just isn’t enough.
[Senator Bill] Cowsert reminded [Democratic Senator Steve] Henson that Georgia passed a resolution calling for a convention in 1976 when Democrats controlled the state.
“Do you think we could get back to the (President Bill) Clinton days when we had a balanced budget?” Henson shot back.
Cowsert is also sponsoring Senate Bill 206 which would instruct Georgia’s delegation to a constitutional convention to limit activity to budget concerns. It passed 45-8 an hour late.
Sen. Tommie Williams, R-Lyons, said the issue is critical to the nation’s security, comparing it to a family earning $21,000 annually with $102,000 in credit card debt.
“How long do you think the bank would put up with that? They’d be calling your note immediately. The problem is the Chinese are holding our note,” he said.
Governor Deal 2014 Reelection
When an Atlanta Journal-Consitution reporter asked me if Governor Deal’s reelection next year is in jeopardy, not only did I say no, but
Todd Rehm, a GOP consultant, said ratings in the 40s for a governor in the midst of a down economy still put him in an unusually strong position. And Democrats are still years away from competing in the state they once dominated, he said.
“I’d put our third-tier statewide candidates against the best Democratic candidate, and we’d whip them every time,” he said.
The polls gave Deal relatively weak support among voters who consider themselves independent or moderate — voting blocs that typically provide Republicans crucial support in Georgia. Yet he retained high marks among the Republicans who vote overwhelmingly in the GOP primary, where the governor’s race could be decided.
I’m working on a piece discussing this at length for Monday.
Georgia Republican Party County Conventions Tomorrow
Click here for links to information on tomorrow’s Georgia Republican Party County Conventions.
Pro-tip: when they say Conventions start at a certain time, that is a hard start, not a reception start, and you need to be registered and inside the room when the Convention begins.
Here’s your County Convention Drinking Game: one shot everytime a candidate for something uses the following phrases:
- grassroots
- social media, or any form of social media
Two shots for every pair of those shoes with individual toes on a Delegate or Alternate.
Tweet using the hashtag #gagop or #gacc.
Former Senator Seth Harp has been sending out regular updates to explain his plan to Keep Georgia Red:
I believe Republicans in Georgia deserve a Chairman dedicated to working with, and listening to, the grassroots of our Party.
As your next state Chairman, I will hold office hours in local GOP Headquarters around the state – in counties without a permanent GOP HQ; I will work with the local GOP chair to secure a location.
I will have your state GOP staff schedule staff office hours in each of the 14 congressional districts across Georgia on a regular basis as a matter of operating policy.
Additionally, I will manage training sessions and attend local meetings but, more than this, I will have working strategy sessions with county and district GOP officers and grassroots activists.
Earlier this week, Harp discussed his plans for staffing the GAGOP:
I will maintain the current positions at the staff level of the Georgia Republican Party.
Additionally, we will expand our full-time, senior staff positions with two new posts to include the following year round, full-time senior staff positions:
State Grassroots Director
[T]he Georgia Republican Party will have a full-time State Grassroots Director working everyday with active GOP grassroots leaders and our coalition partners.Political Director
[T]he Georgia Republican Party will have a full- time State Political Director. It is essential that the Georgia Republican Party have a dedicated professional working every day with our elected officials, our candidates, our local parties and auxiliaries, and our strategic political partners to advance and focus on our political efforts – we are a political party.
Greg Williams, who is seeking election as Second Vice Chair has written about how he plans to help grow the Republican Party in Georgia.
“How do you plan to grow the GOP in Georgia.”
That my friends, is the pertinent question one should ask of any candidate for State office. As we approach the County conventions on March 9, I thought it appropriate to present my plan to grow the State of Georgia GOP using my experience as Chairman of the Buckhead Young Republicans and Co-chair of the Fulton County GOP Bucksprings Breakfast. Both of these groups have experienced significant growth the past few years and I’ve also had the opportunity to observe some “best practices” utilized by all sorts of successful GOP groups in Georgia.
So how do you grow a County Party?
1. Host regular events/meetings at consistent locations
2. Invite Compelling Speakers to keynote your events
3. Closing the Deal
4. Use New Media
5. Get involved in Your Community
6. Establish Media Relations
Penalty Box
Former State School Superintendent Linda Schrenko was released from federal prison into a halfway house after serving nearly eight years for embezzling money from the Department of Education. It’s too bad we didn’t have a cap on lobbyist spending to prevent ethics problems like this.
Grady County State Court Judge J. William Bass Sr. settled the case against him by the Judicial Qualifications Commission by agreeing to not seek reelection in 2014, or ever seek judicial office again.
In addition, Bass agreed to a 60 day suspension without pay, effective immediately. He will also receive a public reprimand from a Superior Court judge in Grady County, which will likely be issued in the next 60 days. And he is on probation for the remainder of his term in office.
Former Democratic Member of Congress Denise Majette will seek to keep her license to practice law in a hearing today before the Georgia State Bar’s disciplinary board.
Former U.S. Rep. Denise Majette should be disbarred from practicing law because of “inexcusable” conduct involving unsubstantiated legal billings, a special master for the State Bar of Georgia is recommending.
Since Majette’s former client filed a bar complaint in 2010, Majette has characterized the dispute as a disagreement about fees and has refused to accept responsibility for her actions, Daniel wrote. Majette offered no substantive evidence to rebut allegations that she failed to account for fees already paid to her, submitted inaccurate and fraudulent bills to her client, and committed perjury or fraud when filing a court motion seeking fees, the report said.
Majette served as a DeKalb County State Court judge from 1993 until 2002, when she resigned to run for Congress. In 2003, she defeated incumbent Cynthia McKinney in the Democratic primary and won election to the U.S. House of Representatives.
Majette resigned after one term to run for the U.S. Senate and lost to Johnny Isakson in the general election.
In 2008, she sought office again, but lost her bid to unseat state School Superintendent Kathy Cox.
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