Rep. Patty Bentley tests out a new voting machine during a demonstration at the Georgia State Fair. (Secretary of State’s office)
ATLANTA – Concern for the safety of voters and poll workers due to the spread of coronavirus was behind the decision to postpone Georgia’s presidential primary from March 24 until May 19, elections officials said Monday.
Around 250,000 ballots had already been cast during the early voting period for the partisan contest before the precincts were closed Saturday amid the COVID-19 scare, according to Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger’s office. Elections officials were facing their first major statewide test of Georgia’s 30,000 new ballot-marking voting machines, which have been rolled out since summer to replace the state’s old touchscreen devices.
But as last week wore on, growing
concerns about the health and safety of voters and workers at polling places
led many poll workers to quit or not show up for training, said Janine Eveler,
Cobb County’s election director. The average age for poll workers in Georgia is
70, leaving them more at risk for harmful effects from the respiratory virus
than younger age groups.
The “dam broke” on Thursday, Eveler said,
after Gov. Brian Kemp gave a public show of support for school districts that
decide to close temporarily. Many of them proceeded to do so.
“We eventually said this is really going
to compromise the election,” Eveler said at a news conference Monday.
Raffensperger, also speaking Monday, said
his office decided to push the presidential primary back to May 19, when
primary contests for dozens of seats in Congress and the General Assembly will
be held along with many local races. The choice was made despite other states
like Arizona and Florida that are poised to press forward with their
presidential primaries this Tuesday.
“We did not make this decision lightly,”
Raffensperger said. “We made the decision in the interest of public health,
safety and security.”
Georgians who have already cast ballots
in the early voting period will not need to vote again for the May 19 primary,
Raffensperger said. Voter registration cards needed to sign in at precincts
should automatically remember that a vote was cast in the presidential primary.
The cards should only list down-ballot state and local contests on a person’s
ballot.
“Again, I cannot stress this enough: If
you voted early, your vote will count,” Raffensperger said.
State elections officials expect the 2020
fall election to smash turnout records in Georgia, with potentially 5 million
or more voters casting ballots on the new machines. Purchased for $107 million,
the new devices involving touchscreens and scanners have faced intense scrutiny
in recent months over whether they will ready for prime time.
As of Monday afternoon, 121 cases of coronavirus
had been confirmed in Georgia including one death. Schools and businesses
across the state have pivoted to studying and working from home for the time
being. Big sports events including NCAA college basketball’s Final Four and The
Masters golf tournament have been canceled or postponed.
Health officials and hospitals are urging
people age 60 and older and those with chronic medical conditions to avoid
crowds, keep their hands sanitized and prepare to stay at home for the
foreseeable future.
Gov. Brian Kemp addresses a news conference on coronavirus this week. (Photo by Beau Evans)
ATLANTA – Gov. Brian Kemp will declare a public health emergency
for the state of Georgia Saturday morning, the governor announced late Friday
afternoon.
Kemp issued a statement following President Donald Trump’s declaration
of a national emergency, which will free up more federal aid to help with the
response to coronavirus.
“This [state] declaration will greatly assist health and
emergency management officials across Georgia by deploying all available
resources for the mitigation and treatment of COVID-19,” Kemp said.
The governor’s declaration is Georgia’s first ever public health
emergency, according to a review of state records by Kemp’s office.
“At this time, it is appropriate for faith-based
organizations and similar entities to consider cancellation of public events
and services,” Kemp said. “Contact your local public health office or consult
official sources, such as the [federal] Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention and the Georgia Department of Public Health, for helpful guidance on
decision-making.
“Elderly citizens and those with chronic, underlying health
conditions face a serious threat to their health, and we must do everything in
our power to reduce risk associated with this virus. Continue to support one
another, be mindful of potential exposure, use best practices to prevent
infection, and pray for your fellow Americans in the weeks ahead.”
Kemp said he will call the General Assembly back to the state
Capitol on Monday to ratify his action through a joint resolution. Legislative
leaders had suspended the current 40-day session on Friday, so lawmakers’
return to the Gold Dome likely will be brief.
As of
Friday afternoon, 42 cases of coronavirus had been confirmed in Georgia and one
person had died from it. State health officials have urged vulnerable
populations like people age 60 and older and those with chronic health issues
to avoid crowds, stock up on supplies and prepare to stay at home in the event
of a worse outbreak.
ATLANTA – Last
year, a General Assembly determined to bring the benefits of high-speed
internet to rural Georgia passed legislation authorizing the state’s electric
membership corporations (EMCs) to deploy broadband to rural customers.
Last week, a
bill that squeaked through the Georgia House of Representatives less than 90
minutes before the annual “Crossover Day” deadline fell aims to give telecom
companies the financial incentive to take advantage of the 2019 measure.
“This is a Hail
Mary attempt,” state Rep. Ron Stephens, R-Savannah, the bill’s chief sponsor, said
from the House floor just before 11 p.m. last Thursday night. “Let’s not leave
rural Georgia in the dark any more when it comes to broadband.”
While
high-speed internet has become commonplace in metro Atlanta and Georgia’s other
urban and suburban communities, school kids in parts of rural Georgia are
forced to go to the local library so they can go online and do their homework.
Lack of
adequate internet service makes it difficult for rural development authorities
and chambers of commerce to attract new businesses and retain existing ones, Jaeson
[CQ] Smith of the Tallapoosa Development Authority in Haralson County told
members of a state Senate committee this month.
“We’ve had
the issue of brain drain for the last 50 years, and it’s beginning to choke
us,” he said. “We got to have internet. We got to have it a month ago.”
Broadband
enthusiasts attacked the problem last year with Senate Bill 2, which authorized
EMCs to deploy broadband service to their customers. Georgia’s 41 EMCs serve
more than 4 million customers, primarily in rural communities.
But with
EMCs charging telecom providers $20 and more to attach broadband wire or cable
to each utility pole, the providers have been reluctant to take the plunge.
Lobbyists
for the telecom industry told lawmakers they would be willing to launch a major
investment in rural broadband if the EMCs lowered pole attachment prices. In a
letter late last month, officials with Comcast revealed plans to spend $20
million on broadband deployment in rural Georgia if the attachment fees were
reduced enough to justify the cost.
Michael
Power, executive director of the Georgia Cable Association, said lower
attachment fees would free up savings to provide broadband to 35,000 homes and
businesses.
“Every
dollar we save [on pole attachment fees] would allow the business of cable to
deploy [broadband] in Georgia,” he said.
Sen. John
Kennedy, R-Macon, introduced legislation last month requiring pole attachment
fees to comply with a standard set by the Federal Communications Commission, which
would represent a significant reduction from the fees EMCs have been
collecting.
However, representatives
of the EMCs complained a major drop in the fees would cause revenue losses they
would have to pass on to their customers. As nonprofits, EMCs have no
shareholders to absorb such costs.
The
situation was further complicated when Sen. Steve Gooch, R-Dahlonega, who has
made expanding rural broadband a top priority, pushed through a substitute to
Kennedy’s bill this month requiring EMCs to provide pole attachments for free.
However, the offer was to apply only in rural areas lacking broadband service,
meaning telecom providers would have to pay EMCs the going rate to run
broadband through suburban communities to get to those unserved rural areas.
Lobbyists for
both the EMCs and the telecom industry had reason for concern about the new
substitute. With the two sides unable to agree, the full Senate tabled the bill
on the afternoon of Crossover Day, and the push for rural broadband appeared to
be dead.
That left it
to the House to resurrect the legislation. After sitting on the sidelines
throughout the session, supporters in the House grabbed a bill left over from
last year and essentially rewrote it.
As Stephens
explained it Thursday night, the legislation calls for the Georgia Public
Service Commission (PSC) to set pole attachment rates after all current
contracts between EMCs and telecom providers expire. He said representatives of
both sides had agreed with the bill’s provisions.
“A lot of
plans have been put on the table,” House Majority Leader Jon Burns,
R-Newington, said during Thursday’s night brief floor debate. “This seems to be
the one that’s got the most traction.”
Despite the
airing of concerns over the new regulatory authority the bill would give the
PSC, the House passed it 116-44. The legislation now moves to the Senate.
The Capitol building in Atlanta looms on “crossover” eve on March 12, 2020. (Photo by Beau Evans)
ATLANTA – As the Georgia Senate gaveled out Thursday, capping the most hectic day so far this legislative session, state lawmakers left the chamber wondering what’s next as the coronavirus outbreak grows in Georgia and the U.S.
The state legislature’s shutdown at the
height of its busiest stretch due to COVID-19 is one of the strangest things to
happen in the 27-year political career of Sen. Ed Harbison. He agreed lawmakers
ought to disperse, but sensed the moment was unique in the history of Georgia
politics.
“It is something entirely new for me,”
said Harbison, D-Columbus, one of the Senate’s longest tenured members. “It’s
got a funny feeling to it, I’ll tell you.”
As of Friday afternoon, 42 cases of the
respiratory virus had been confirmed in Georgia and one person had died from
it. State health officials have urged vulnerable populations like people age 60
and older and those with chronic health issues to avoid crowds, stock up on
supplies and prepare to stay at home in the event of a worse outbreak.
The General Assembly ground to an
indefinite halt after quick perfunctory floor meetings Friday morning.
Lawmakers now join several school districts across the state, the national
college basketball championship and the beloved Masters golf tournament in
Augusta in deciding to disband for the foreseeable future.
But the legislature, which wrapped up the
29th day of its 40-day session Friday, still managed to push out numerous bills
on the final “crossover” deadline by which legislation originating in one
chamber must advance to the other. Lawmakers passed measures on college hazing
crimes, voter precinct changes, anti-gang penalties and the ability of child
abuse victims to sue as adults.
“I think we got all of our work done,”
said Sen. Jen Jordan, D-Atlanta. “But it’s a mess. It’s a weird thing.”
The decision on when to resume for the
session’s home stretch will be up to Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan in the Senate and
Speaker David Ralston in the House. They said jointly Friday the legislature
would pick back up “at a future date to be determined.”
Legislation proposing changes to the
state’s foster care system, surprise hospital billing practices and a flat fee
on ride-hailing trips via Uber and Lyft hang in the balance without the General
Assembly in session. Lawmakers also still need to wrap up debate and adoption
of the state’s fiscal 2021 budget, which is their only legal duty under the
Georgia Constitution.
Budget makers in the legislature will
also be watching for signs of a slowdown in state tax collections should the
virus scare send consumer spending plummeting in Georgia. Gov. Brian Kemp said
this week he will pull $100 million from the state’s $2.8 billion reserves to
fund coronavirus prevention and response efforts. That route is being taken
over asking state government agencies to further reduce their budgets, with
lawmakers already having approved millions of dollars in cuts through June 30.
Meanwhile, some state lawmakers are
worrying about the impact the session’s abeyance could have on their
fast-approaching bids for re-election. More than 40 sitting state lawmakers
have drawn opponents in the May 19 primaries, but Georgia law forbids General
Assembly members from fundraising while the legislature is in session – which,
technically, it still is.
Sen. David Lucas, who faces a primary
challenger in his Macon district, lamented that he and others vying to keep
their seats could be at a disadvantage while the session waits in limbo.
“It has a hell of an effect on elections
when your opponent can raise money and you can’t get out and campaign,” said
Lucas, D-Macon. “Hell, this is campaign season. I’ve got opposition.”
For others, the danger coronavirus poses
to vulnerable Georgians cast a shadow on the daily humdrum of bill wrangling at
the state Capitol. Sen. Renee Unterman, who has served in the legislature since
1999, said the tense atmosphere created by the virus reminded her of how the Sept.
11, 2001, terrorist attacks brought a humbling perspective to the work involved
in chiseling Georgia law.
“It’s the same exact feeling,” said
Unterman, R-Buford. “Anytime there’s an emergency, automatically you become so
consumed with health, safety and welfare that other things become trivial.”
Casino backers failed in the General Assembly again this year.
ATLANTA – It
looks like proponents of legalizing gambling in Georgia are going to have to
wait yet another year before getting a crack at putting the issue before
voters.
The Georgia
House of Representatives wrapped up the annual “Crossover Day” session minutes
after midnight Friday morning without taking up a constitutional amendment to
legalize all three forms of legal gambling supporters have been pushing in
recent years: casinos, pari-mutuel betting on horse racing and sports betting.
Until the
day before Crossover Day, the deadline for bills to make it through at least
one legislative chamber to remain alive for the year, only sports betting had
gained any traction in the General Assembly.
A bill
focused solely on sports betting was introduced in the state Senate and heard
in committee. However, it wasn’t among the measures the Senate took up on
Crossover Day Thursday before adjourning at the dinner hour.
That left it
up to the House. Rep. Alan Powell, R-Hartwell, chairman of the House Regulated
Industries Committee, trotted out the constitutional amendment embracing all
three forms of legalized gambling on Wednesday. It got through his committee
and made it onto the calendar for action on Crossover Day, but the House didn’t
take it up before quitting for the night.
A host of
other bills introduced in the General Assembly this year met a similar fate.
Some made it through committees only to fall by the wayside on Crossover Day.
Others floated early in this year’s session didn’t garner enough support to get
a committee hearing.
Here is a
list of significant legislation that failed to make the Crossover Day cut:
Right to Farm Act – This
controversial measure ran into opposition from the farmers supporters said it
was intended to protect. Pitched as a way to protect farmers from nuisance
lawsuits from neighbors, environmental groups argued it would make it harder to
keep out large agricultural operations such as chicken houses and pig farms
that generate offensive smells and pollute nearby waterways.
Tort reform – While one narrowly
drawn tort reform bill related to lawsuit settlement agreements made it through
the Senate, more comprehensive legislation was shelved by a narrow margin on
Crossover Day.
Tobacco, vaping taxes – A bid to
raise Georgia’s tobacco tax, one of the nation’s lowest, went nowhere as usual
in the General Assembly. Legislation to impose an excise tax on vaping products
for the first time fared better, but it was shot down on the House floor on the
evening of Crossover Day.
Dreamers – Legislation to offer
in-state tuition to Georgia’s public colleges and universities to undocumented
Georgians protected from deportation under the federal Deferred Action for
Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program was killed in a Senate committee the day
before Crossover Day.
Adoption – A Senate bill allowing
faith-based adoption agencies to deny services in Georgia based on religious
preferences failed to get through the Senate Judiciary Committee. Opponents
argued it would discriminate against foster parents of various sexual
orientations and gender identities that don’t conform with the agencies’
religious or moral beliefs.
Title pawns – A bill capping rates charged
by Georgia’s auto-title pawn industry cleared the Senate Finance Committee but
failed to reach the Senate floor for a vote.
Seatbelts – Legislation requiring
Georgians to wear seatbelts no matter where they are sitting in a motor vehicle
– not just the front seat – was on the Senate calendar for a vote on Crossover
Day but was not taken up.
Paying college athletes – Two bills
introduced by House Democrats early in the session calling for college athletes
participating in revenue-generating sports to be paid failed to get a hearing
in the House Higher Education Committee.
It’s worth
noting that nothing is ever irrevocably dead in the General Assembly until
lawmakers adjourn for the year. If supporters are determined enough in the
session’s waning days, they often can find bills that are still alive on which to
attach their legislation.
With 11 days
remaining in the 2020 session when lawmakers return to the Capitol from the
recess forced upon them by the coronavirus, there will be plenty of time for
such gaming of the system.
