Congressman Doug Collins speaks outside the Georgia House of Representatives on Jan. 28, 2020. (Photo by Beau Evans)
ATLANTA – High-stakes rule changes for a U.S. Senate election in Georgia sped through a state House committee Tuesday morning, hours after news broke that a major contender is poised to enter the race against appointed U.S. Sen. Kelly Loeffler.
Congressman Doug Collins, a Gainesville
Republican who is among President Donald Trump’s staunchest allies, will likely
enter the race to complete former Sen. Johnny Isakson’s term, several media
outlets reported Monday night. Isakson resigned at year’s end due to health
complications from Parkinson’s disease.
A Baptist pastor and U.S. Air Force
Reserve chaplain, Collins did not announce his candidacy when asked Tuesday
morning at the Capitol. He was there to deliver the morning sermon in the
Georgia House of Representatives.
“There’ll be more coming later,” he said.
Collins’ entry in the race would put him
and powerful supporters like Georgia House Speaker David Ralston on a collision
course with Kemp. While Ralston hailed his Collins as a steadfast friend in the
House, Kemp rallied support for his pick in Loeffler in an emailed statement
touting her anti-abortion stance and support for Trump’s agenda.
“Kelly is a life-long Republican who
shares our conservative values and vision for a safer, stronger Georgia,” the
governor said.
Introduced on Monday, House Bill 757
would do away with the free-for-all “jungle” primary that Georgia law requires
for special elections, in which all candidates – Democratic and Republican
alike – compete on the same ballot. The measure would restore the traditional
party primaries in May, followed by a November general election between the
primary winners.
The wife of a billionaire financier and
herself formerly head of a bitcoin company, Loeffler has millions of dollars at
her disposal in the campaign to keep her appointed seat. But Collins hails from
a conservative stronghold in the state, has elevated his national profile over
the past year and was Trump’s favored pick for the Senate seat.
If passed, the special-election bill
moving through the state legislature would greatly reduce chances for a runoff
in a jungle primary, which likely would result in votes being split between
several strong candidates all competing at once. The top candidate in the
free-for-all format would need more than 50% of the vote to avoid a runoff with
the second-highest vote getter.
The rule change revises a less sweeping
bill as an amendment brought by House Governmental Affairs Committee Chairman
Shaw Blackmon, R-Bonaire. At a committee meeting Tuesday, Blackmon said
avoiding a runoff would cost Georgia taxpayers less money.
“We are absolutely certain to have an
extra cost for a runoff” with a jungle primary, Blackmon said.
The measure faced opposition from Rep.
Scot Turner, R-Holly Springs, who said revising the election format is
unnecessary and would prompt harmful “inter-party squabbling.”
“There are going to be a lot of hard
choices to make because of the sides lining up on this issue,” Turner said.
The amended bill passed and is on track
for debate on the House floor.
GBI Director Vic Reynolds talks about criminal gangs at the State Capitol on Jan. 27, 2020. (Photo by Beau Evans)
Georgia law enforcement officials are urging
state lawmakers to boost funding for a new criminal gang task force and
database to track tens of thousands of gang members in the state.
Gov. Brian Kemp’s budget calls for nearly
$1.6 million this fiscal year and next to add seven agents and analysts to the
gang task force, more than doubling its current staff.
It would also pump $420,000 into a gang
database created in 2010 that has gone unfunded. The database would allow local
sheriff’s offices and city police departments to better share information on
gang activity in the state, officials say.
Georgia has more than 71,000 gang members
at large plus another roughly 30,000 in prison or on parole, according to
Georgia Bureau of Investigation Director Vic Reynolds. It’s likely the actual
number of gang members is higher, he said.
“This is the major issue facing law
enforcement today,” Reynolds told a joint hearing of the House and Senate
Public Safety committees on Monday.
The gang-member figures were collected
from most of the state’s local jurisdictions by the Georgia Gang Investigators
Association, Reynolds said.
Georgia anti-gang law sets up to 20 years
in prison for a conviction. It’s among the toughest penalties in the country,
officials say.
Senate Public Safety Committee Chairman
John Albers said lawmakers have not yet settled on what, if any, new anti-gang
bills should be introduced during the 2020 legislative session.
Speaking Monday, Reynolds also said the
state needs to pay more attention to gang-intervention efforts and provide more
funding for school resource officers.
Sen. Valencia Seay agreed, saying schools
serve as prime training grounds for youth gang involvement along with juvenile
detention centers.
“They are recruiting from the schools,”
said Seay, D-Riverdale. “So we do need to have that.”
Sen. Randy Robertson, a retired major
with the Muscogee County Sheriff’s Office, said last week he supports cracking
down on gangs in Georgia but worries that could prompt a spike in juvenile
arrests. Tougher enforcement should be paired with legislation to deal with the
potential juvenile inmate increase, he said.
“What we’ll see is an influx on an
already taxed justice system,” said Robertson, R-Cataula.
Tougher state anti-gang law enforcement
has been a major plank of Kemp’s agenda since his gubernatorial campaign in
2018. He launched the new task force last year under the Georgia Bureau of
Investigation.
This legislative session, the governor
wants lawmakers to back giving prosecutors more tools to target gangs and to
boost funding for the statewide gang database.
“While Georgia already has tough gang
statutes on the books, there’s more that we can do to stop violence in our
state,” Kemp said in his Jan. 16 “State of the State” speech.
Gov. Brian Kemp appointed Kelly Loeffler (right) to the U.S. Senate last month.
ATLANTA – A Georgia
House subcommittee approved an elections bill Monday that could put Speaker
David Ralston on a collision course with Gov. Brian Kemp.
The legislation
would do away with the so-called “jungle primary” U.S. Sen. Kelly Loeffler,
R-Ga., otherwise would face in a November special election to retain the seat
held by former Sen. Johnny Isakson. Kemp appointed the Atlanta businesswoman to
the Senate last month when Isakson retired due to health problems.
Unless the law is
changed, Loeffler and every other candidate wishing to run for the Senate seat
– Republicans and Democrats – would face off on the same ballot in November. If
no candidate in the likely crowded field receives more than 50% of the vote, a
runoff would be held early next January.
But on Monday, the
Elections Subcommittee of the House Governmental Affairs Committee voted 8-2 to
scrap the jungle primary and treat Loeffler the same as fellow U.S. Sen. David
Perdue, R-Ga., who is seeking re-election to a second term. Under the legislation,
party primaries for both Senate seats would be held in May, and the Republican
and Democratic nominees would face off in November.
Getting rid of the
jungle primary would protect the two-party system in Georgia, said Rep. Shaw
Blackmon, R-Bonaire, the Governmental Affairs Committee’s chairman.
“It benefits the
party process, which is an integral part of our elections process,” he said.
But Rep. Scot
Turner, R-Holly Springs, who voted against the bill, said the measure was
prompted by Ralston’s opposition to Kemp’s appointment of Loeffler. U.S. Rep.
Doug Collins, R-Gainesville, a former member of the Georgia House with close
ties to House leadership, has talked about challenging Loeffler.
“I get really
hesitant when we try to change the law around here because of one person’s
opinion,” Turner said.
Ralston, R-Blue
Ridge, issued a statement defending the bill.
“It stands to
reason that the electoral process for this special election can mirror that of
other offices,” he said. “The underlying principle of this legislation is a
fair, comparable playing field for all those seeking elected office. Surely,
that is something we can all agree on.”
Democrats on the
subcommittee joined Republican leaders in supporting the legislation.
House Minority
Leader Robert Trammell, D-Luthersville, said eliminating the jungle primary
would make the special election less confusing for voters.
“Anytime you have a
general election with one candidate for each party, it provides voters with a
clear opportunity to evaluate the candidates and a clear contrast between the
candidates,” he said.
Rep. Barry Fleming,
R-Harlem, who also voted against the legislation, said he doesn’t oppose
eliminating the jungle primary. However, he said he would have preferred the
issue be taken up in a separate bill.
The jungle primary
provision was added to an underlying bill sponsored by Fleming that dealt with
other election issues.
The legislation now
heads to full House Governmental Affairs Committee.
ATLANTA – Georgia House Speaker David Ralston has warned his legislative colleagues repeatedly this month the need for painful spending cuts means the 2020 General Assembly session likely will last longer than usual.
Three days of hearings Jan. 21-23 on Gov. Brian Kemp’s proposed mid-year budget adjustments for this fiscal year and his $28.1 billion fiscal 2021 budget plan dramatically demonstrated Ralston’s point.
One after another, state agency heads
painted a bleak picture of what across-the-board budget cuts Kemp is
recommending to offset sluggish state tax collections would do to programs and
services under their jurisdiction.
“Many budget cuts will have debilitating
effects on services, especially in rural communities,” said Taifa Smith Butler,
president and CEO of the Georgia Budget and Policy Institute, an Atlanta-based
public policy nonprofit.
With state revenues growing much slower
than projected during the past year and actually declining in some months, Kemp
ordered state agencies last summer to reduce spending by 4% during the current
fiscal year and 6% in fiscal 2021, beginning July 1.
Department heads submitted more than $210
million in cuts in their mid-year budgets and another $300 million in
reductions for fiscal 2021.
Some agency heads told members of the Georgia House and Senate Appropriations committees last week they could hit those targets without hurting programs and services by not filling vacant positions, eliminating most travel and through various efficiencies.
But others said the first mandatory spending cuts in state government since the Great Recession would deprive Georgians of vital services, particularly low-income families and people suffering from mental illness.
“What it takes us to is that need to take
cuts in painful places,” said Commissioner Judy Fitzgerald, who oversees state
mental health services at the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental
Disabilities. “The safety net is stretched to the max.”
While some of the budget austerity
results from slower economic growth in Georgia, a major culprit is the tax cut
the General Assembly passed two years ago. Lawmakers reduced the state’s income
tax rate for the first time since 1937 from 6% to 5.75%.
Then-Gov. Nathan Deal steered the tax cut
through the legislature to make sure taxpayers received the benefit of a
revenue windfall the state was expecting as a result of the federal tax reforms
Congress passed late in 2017.
But Kemp has been cool to the idea,
citing the tight budget climate. Passing the second phase of the tax cut this
year would cost about $500 million.
Senate Finance Committee Chairman Chuck
Hufstetler, said the state can’t afford that kind of revenue hit this year.
“We’re looking at some severe budget
cuts,” Hufstetler said Friday. “I don’t see the math there right now.”
Lawmakers would be “wise to look before
they leap” when considering cuts to sensitive programs like accountability
courts and mental health, said Kyle Wingfield, president of the conservative
Georgia Public Policy Foundation.
But keeping those programs funded should
not be done by raising taxes, he said, especially as Georgia’s economy rebounds
from hurricane-caused crop losses in 2018 and easing trade tensions with China.
“This is an economy that’s running really
fast right now,” Wingfield said. “It would be better to trim back where we can
in the short term than to raise taxes.”
Nearly $9 million would be pulled from several programs aimed at training doctors to help close a severe physician shortage in Georgia, particularly in rural areas.
That caught the attention of several
influential Republican lawmakers, including Senate Appropriations Committee
Chairman Jack Hill. He noted the legislature singled out those programs in
recent years to receive more money, not less.
“It was obvious that the cuts focused on
new money, on things that had been put into practice recently,” said Hill,
R-Reidsville. “For them to cut those out in the beginning, it certainly got the
attention of folks in the rural areas.”
County health agencies would lose out on
roughly $17.5 million in cuts to grants funded by the Department of Public
Health, which Director Kathleen Toomey said might be covered by other sources
like private and federal grants. But many lawmakers worry counties could still
suffer.
“Some of these counties have a difficult
time keeping their lights on,” said Rep. Clay Pirkle, R-Ashburn. “Cuts of this
magnitude to our county health departments will be difficult.”
Officials also said cuts of about $80 million for mental health programs would force more money to be pumped into handling crisis emergency health situations instead of working to prevent them.
Other reductions between $80 million and $100 million would affect the state’s prisons, courts, police and public-defender agencies.
Particularly troubling for criminal justice advocates are proposed cuts of about $3.5 million to the state’s accountability courts, a popular program created under Deal that provides alternative sentencing for thousands of inmates.
“These cuts symbolize a big step backward,” said Sara Totonchi, executive director of the nonprofit Southern Center for Human Rights. “I’m deeply concerned about the short-sighted approach toward criminal justice.”
Amid concerns, many lawmakers praised the
agencies for homing in on non-personnel spending cuts like eliminating vacant
staff positions and upgrading technology. Those sorts of cuts were what Kemp
called on agencies to make shortly after ordering reductions last summer.
“Overall, I’ve heard a lot about smart things the departments have done to reduce waste,” said Sen. Brian Strickland, R-McDonough, one of the governor’s floor leaders. “It’s a good exercise.”
Kemp’s office pushed back on criticism of
some of the cuts. Candice Broce, a spokeswoman for the governor, noted the cuts
were presented after state budgeting staff “conducted an in-depth,
comprehensive analysis of every agency’s budget submission.”
Meanwhile, budget veterans stressed that it’s
still early in the process. The state’s longest-serving lawmaker, Rep. Calvin
Smyre, said the trick will be to make cuts that steer clear of affecting
everyday Georgians.
With luck, state revenues will climb back
up and perhaps many of the cuts won’t be needed, he said.
“I think a lot of these things will take care of themselves,” said Smyre, D-Columbus. “I’d just like to continue to look at it in a very responsible manner as we go along.”
__________
BY THE NUMBERS
The following state agencies would absorb
the largest spending cuts under Gov. Brian Kemp’s $28.1 billion fiscal 2021
budget plan:
$54 million: Department of Corrections
$35 million: Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities
Student athletes in Georgia could see
their pockets a little more packed if a pair of bills filed by state House
Democratic lawmakers clear the 2020 legislative session.
One bill would allow college athletes to
be paid for having their image or name used in advertisements. Another would
set up an escrow fund students could draw from after graduating.
If passed, the Georgia bills would follow
California’s “Fair Pay to Play Act” compensating athletes for commercial uses
of their likeness. That act, which the California State Legislature passed last
fall, takes effect in 2023.
House Bill 743, sponsored by Rep. Billy Mitchell, would overturn a ban in Georgia on paying student athletes for marketing work. The bill would not require schools to provide compensation, but it would let students sign marketing contracts and hire agents for business and legal representation.
“This an idea whose time has come,” said
Mitchell, D-Stone Mountain. “Georgia schools would be at a decisive
disadvantage when it comes to recruiting with other states that join California
in implementing this act, if we fail to do the same.”
The student-athlete escrow account created under House Bill 766 would collect 33% of all revenues from college and university athletic competitions in Georgia, payable after graduation. Its sponsor, Rep. Sandra Scott, said the bill aims to give a square deal and graduation incentive for student athletes whose efforts have raised big revenues for schools.
“These young athletes make millions of
dollars for our colleges and universities,” said Scott, D-Rex. “Now it is time
that we make it right for them.”
Opposition to similar
athlete-compensation bills in other states has stemmed from concerns that
wealthier colleges could wage bidding wars to lure prospective students and
distract from the overall learning experience. Several California universities
opposed that state’s legislation, as did the National Collegiate Athletic
Association.
“The bill threatens to alter materially
the principles of intercollegiate athletics and create local differences that
would make it impossible to host fair national championships,” NCAA President
Mark Emmert wrote in a letter to California lawmakers in June.
The legislative session in Georgia begins
its second week on Monday.
