Georgia Politics, Campaigns, and Elections for January 23, 2015

On January 23, 1775, the Georgia Commons House elected three delegates to the Second Continental Congress.

On January 23, 1861, Georgia’s members of the United States House of Representatives resigned following passage of the Secession Ordinance; her Senators had resigned earlier.

On January 23, 1849, Elizabeth Blackwell was granted a medical degree from Geneva College in New York and became the first female M.D. in the United States.

On January 23, 1923, Georgia ratified the Twentieth Amendment to the US Constitution, which ended Presidential terms on January 20th following an election and those of Congress to January 3d.

On January 23, 1973, President Richard M. Nixon announced that terms had been reached to settle the Vietnam War, a document known as the “Paris Peace Accords.”

On January 23, 1983, The A-Team was shown for the first time on NBC.

Georgia Politics

Yesterday saw Georgia Right to Life host the inaugural rally at Liberty Plaza across the street from the Georgia Capitol. It’s a great venue, and much better than the area previously used for large gatherings. Interestingly, a Google search showed no mainstream media coverage of the event, though the AJC Political Insider mentioned it beforehand.

Georgia Congressman Tom Price issued a statement in support of GRTL’s March for Life.

“It is an honor to join with so many Americans all across the country today in showing our support and commitment to defending the sanctity of life. We have an obligation to stand up and be a voice for the innocent and the unborn, to protect that most precious gift. At the very least, Congress must take action to ensure that taxpayer dollars are not used to fund abortions. A majority of the American people support such a prohibition, and I was proud to stand with a bipartisan majority of my colleagues in voting today to prevent taxpayer funding of abortions.”

Statements regarding the federal bill were also issued by Congressman Lynn Westmoreland and Congressman Tom Graves.

Governor Deal addressed the Joint Appropriations Committee to discuss his priorities for the state budget. We’ve got a photo journal of the event on the website.

And reactions from three members of the Georgia General Assembly.

Senator Bill Cowsert (R-Athens) sent out an Op-Ed on his priorities for the state budget.

As the economy recovers, our revenues are growing more than they have in many years, allowing us to restore funding in many areas of state government. We are seeing that Georgia – through budget cuts and thoughtful planning – has emerged from the recession stronger than most states. We are in an excellent position to prosper even more in the coming years.

This past week, the General Assembly has been in recess to allow the House and Senate Appropriation Committees to review proposed mid-year adjustments to the 2015 budget and to review the Governor’s proposed budget for the 2016 fiscal year. Mid-year adjustments for 2015 include approximately $134 million to cover school enrollment growth, $75 million towards economic development programs administered through the Department of Community Affairs, and $39 million in additional health care spending.

This year, I am proud to say, Gov. Nathan Deal has proposed a budget that focuses your money on the education of our children, on the health of our children, on public safety, and on the continuation of his economic development initiatives that will cultivate an atmosphere for economic growth so Georgia’s industries can create more and better jobs.

The proposed budget for 2016 includes expected total revenues of nearly $21.8 billion. Of this, nearly $12 billion is budgeted for education funding (pre-kindergarten through higher education), almost $5 billion for health care programs, and approximately $1.8 billion on public safety. These three areas alone make up more than 85 percent of our total budget.

Jonathan Shapiro of WABE 90.1 FM writes about Gov. Deal’s focus on criminal justice reform in his budget speech.

“We are conveying to our fellow Georgians that the mistakes of their past have not sentenced them to a life of despair, that if they work hard and pay their dues then upon release they’ll have a chance to move on from what they’ve done,” said Deal.

Seven in 10 inmates in Georgia are high school dropouts. Deal’s budget calls for an extra $15 million so prisons can hire 28 full-time teachers and principals. Those new staffers would work with two charter schools to help inmates get diplomas and GEDs. Deal also wants more money for job training and counseling services to keep former inmates out of trouble.

Kathleen Foody of the Associated Press discussed the dog that didn’t bark in Gov. Deal’s budget address.

Deal didn’t mention one element of the budget proposal that has unsettled some members: eliminating state health insurance coverage for school district employees working less than 30 hours a week and without a professional certificate. Education groups said that often includes cafeteria employees and bus drivers.

Deal later said lawmakers should consider “in fairness” that state employees in other agencies working less than 30 hours are not eligible for state health insurance coverage.

At the Gainesville Times, Jeff Gill writes about the impact of transportation budgeting issues on the Port of Savannah, due to begin dredging to accomodate larger container ships that will put more boxes on Georgia’s roads and rails.

Communities pushing industrial sites for economic development might lose out if they don’t have adequate road networks “to get to those primary arteries in and out of our ports,” said James McCurry Jr., government affairs director for the Georgia Ports Authority.

“It’s the roads in between and the mix in commercial and commuter traffic where those investments in roadways are so important,” he said. “That’s (the case) throughout the state and not just at the Port of Savannah or Port of Brunswick.”

For now, the port isn’t seeing the level of congestion as other ports in the country are “because of Georgia’s foresight of investment in infrastructure,” McCurry said.

“We have an infrastructure almost in place to give four-lane, limited access to the port from two interstates,” said Jim Walters, a Gainesville businessman and chairman of the authority’s board of directors. “And we’re the only port on the East Coast that has two railheads, so it’s a very accessible port.”

McCurry added: “We’re uniquely well positioned to not only continue to do the robust business we’re doing now but to grow. The weak spot comes with the deepening — that’s why that project is so critical.”

Georgia has set aside $266 million for deepening the Savannah Harbor from 42 to 47 feet….

Our friend Ron Daniels, a fine trial attorney in Warner Robins took to the pages of the Eastman Examiner to discuss issues related to the state budget including Matlock-appropriate metaphors.

You may have heard that the Georgia General Assembly is back in session. As always, their first task is to set Georgia’s fiscal budget for the next year. They are truly figuring out where our money goes.  Managing that money is a daunting task. Our legislators know that those monies come from our pockets and purses. That imbues a certain level of responsibility that our legislators have typically tried to adopt.

I suggest that the task has become more difficult in the past decade. To be sure, if the State were flush with cash, there would be less scrutiny on what department received funding for what project. I won’t suggest that that level of scrutiny shouldn’t be present. We aren’t flush with cash. Further complicating matters are taxes. Taxes have become a dirty word, almost suitable for banning by the FCC. I don’t like them. I don’t know anybody who really does like the idea of giving up money.

Therein lies the problem. We have legislators—at both the state and federal level—who have taken “no tax increase” pledges. They’ve been elected on the premise that they will ardently combat any attempt to raise taxes. At the same time, these legislators have sought to increase spending.

[A]re we backed into a corner like a hemmed up cat? No one wants to pay more in taxes. No one wants certain programs or projects cut from the budget. This is a Hobson ’s choice. Either option we take as a state and a country won’t make everyone happy. But just like your household budget, we can’t keep cutting our income and spending more.

Jeff Northway, who in 2011 was removed from office as Mayor of Springfield, Georgia, pled guilty to charges relating to his 2009 campaign for that office.

Northway was elected mayor in 2009 and resigned in July of 2012 amid claims he was a convicted felon.

The charges of false swearing stem from Northway’s filing of a notice of candidacy for the mayor’s post.

The indictment said Northway “knowingly and willingly” made a false statement in that document when he said he’d never been convicted and sentenced for a felony involving moral turpitude.

In count two of the indictment, Northway was charged with perjury for answering, “No,” when asked under oath in a deposition if he had ever been arrested, and when asked if he had ever been convicted of a crime.

The deposition was taken in litigation following the filing of a petition by Springfield’s city council to remove Northway from office based on accusations of malpractice in office, willful neglect of duty and gross and willful abuse of powers.

Here’s an ad from that campaign:

Congressmen Austin Scott (R-Tifton) and Sanford Bishop (D-Albany) have introduced federal legislation to create Ocmulgee Mounds National Historical Park, converting the current National Monument to the state’s first National Historical Park and nearly tripling its size.

Former Crawford County Commission Chair Doug Spillers has been hospitalized with a bullet wound which then hit another person in his hand.

You won’t find me swimming off Georgia’s coast any time soon, since two Great White Sharks have been spotted nearby.

[T]wo large great white sharks have been tracking off Hilton Head Island over the last few days. Both Mary Lee and Katharine have been equipped by the nonprofit Ocearch with satellite tags that ping when they surface.

Mary Lee is the larger of the two at 16 feet long and 3,500 pounds when she was tagged in September 2012 off Cape Cod. She’s presumably grown since then. That’s a big girl. She’s represented by the orange dot farther offshore.

Katharine is closer to shore in this map. She’s smaller, though at 14 feet and 2,300 pounds she’s nobody’s idea of dainty.

I apologize in advance for this bad joke, but is that a T-bone steak in your pocket or are you just happy to see us? A Hephzibah man was arrested after allegedly sticking two packages of T-bone steaks down his trousers.

Grovetown, Georgia is becoming a little slice of Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s Arizona as inmates will be wearing hot pink uniforms while in the pokey.

[Chief Gary] Jones believes Grovetown is the first police department in Georgia to adopt the idea of its inmates wearing pink.

“I took the idea from the police department in Maricopa County, Arizona,” Jones said.

“First of all, we want to demonstrate that we run the jail, not the inmates. Secondly, we hope this helps make sure no one reoffends.”

“We want our inmates to be seen picking up [roadside] trash in highly visible uniforms,” Jones said.

“We want people to drive by and say, ‘We never want to be in that position.’ ”

Ed Grisamore of the Macon Telegraph writes that bow ties are once again fashionable. Ahh, Macon, still behind the fashion curve, I see.