One of Georgia’s most powerful Republican lawmakers wants the General Assembly to pick the state’s chief election official instead of voters following backlash over the 2020 presidential election.
Georgia House Speaker David Ralston, R-Blue Ridge, said Thursday he’ll seek a constitutional amendment in the upcoming legislative session that starts next month to let state lawmakers appoint Georgia’s secretary of state.
Ralston said his decision comes amid a flood of complaints from his North Georgia constituents over Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger’s handling of the presidential election. He cited Tennessee, Maine and New Hampshire as states where the legislature chooses the election chief.
“I think it’s the only way to right this ship,” Ralston said. “I don’t do this lightly. I don’t do this disrespectfully to the incumbent who I have personal regard for, but I do it because we have a job to do as members of the House and members of the Senate.”
Raffensperger has faced a storm of criticism from President Donald Trump and his allies for not re-verifying absentee ballot signatures as part of recent recounts that confirmed Trump lost to President-elect Joe Biden in Georgia by 11,779 votes.
Raffensperger’s office bashed the move by Ralston as a “power grab,” signaling the controversy over Georgia’s election is widening schisms between many of the state’s top Republican leaders.
“Ralston and the Trump campaign want to give the General Assembly the power to select winners of elections and violate the will of the people,” said Deputy Secretary of State Jordan Fuchs.
Raffensperger’s office skipped out on a Georgia House Governmental Affairs Committee hearing Thursday on election issues, citing ongoing litigation. Ralston called that absence “disappointing.”
Thursday’s hearing was the second over the past week in which former New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani – who is Trump’s personal attorney – and others aired hours of fraud claims that election officials have repeatedly dismissed and no court has found valid so far amid several lawsuits.
Democratic lawmakers condemned the hearing, calling it a sham put on by Republicans to stir emotions among Trump’s base of supporters rather than probe any actual election irregularities.
“Giving more fuel to this fire will do no one any good,” said outgoing House Minority Leader Bob Trammell, D-Luthersville. “Changing the rules simply because you lose an election is not good policy.”
The hearing also came as lawmakers gear up to propose revisions to Georgia’s absentee voter ID laws when the General Assembly meets for the 2021 legislative session starting next month.
Rudolph Giuliani lets loose with election fraud claims at a Georgia House hearing on Dec. 10, 2020. (Georgia House video)
Georgia lawmakers hosted former New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani on Thursday for a second time to air unchecked claims of fraud in Georgia’s presidential election.
Giuliani, who is President Donald Trump’s personal attorney, rolled out witnesses and experts involved in a lawsuit to overturn the election results at a Georgia House Governmental Affairs Committee hearing.
Many of those same witnesses spoke before a state Senate Judiciary subcommittee last Thursday, during which Giuliani urged the panel’s mostly Republican lawmakers to appoint electors to the Electoral College who would cast Georgia’s 16 electoral votes in Trump’s favor next week.
Representatives from Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger’s office did not attend Thursday’s hearing, citing ongoing litigation. Raffensperger and his deputies have repeatedly sought to debunk claims of machines flipping votes and alleged mail-in ballot fraud spread by Trump and his allies.
Certified election results that have undergone two recounts since mid-November show Trump lost to President-elect Joe Biden in Georgia by 11,779 votes. Trump has called the election “rigged” and pressured Gov. Brian Kemp to overturn the results in Georgia.
Speaking on video after contracting COVID-19, Giuliani hurled accusations of fraud that no court in Georgia has found valid so far and said Atlanta election workers shown in a controversial surveillance video “look like they’re passing out dope, not just ballots.”
“Every single vote should be taken away from Biden,” Giuliani said.
At one point, Giuliani could be heard in the background of Thursday’s hearing telling his legal team to send a video of election activities in Coffee County to right-wing news outlets Newsmax and One America News Network.
Georgia’s election system manager, Gabriel Sterling held a news conference Thursday afternoon to debunk many of the fraud claims made at the House hearing. He said the hearing format worsens doubt in the state’s election integrity since the claims do not face real questioning.
“Giving oxygen to this continued disinformation is leading to a continuing erosion of people’s belief in our elections and our processes,” Sterling said.
Democratic lawmakers condemned Thursday’s hearing, calling it a sham put on by Republicans to stir emotions among Trump’s base of supporters rather than probe any actual election irregularities.
“This is an embarrassing day in Georgia House of Representatives history,” said state Rep. Josh McLaurin, D-Sandy Springs.
The hearing came as lawmakers gear up to propose revisions for Georgia’s absentee voter ID laws when the General Assembly meets for the 2021 legislative session starting next month.
The Georgia Senate Republican Caucus has already called for requiring photo identification to vote by mail, banning absentee-ballot drop boxes and eliminating the ability of Georgians to request a mail-in ballot without a reason.
“I think it’s a very simple,” said state Rep. Rick Williams, R-Milledgeville. “We need a verification of the signatures in each one of the elections offices across the state.”
ATLANTA – First-time unemployment claims rose significantly in Georgia last week, mirroring a national increase in joblessness.
Initial claims in Georgia were up 13,850 to 33,003, the state Department of Labor reported Thursday.
Since mid-March, when the coronavirus pandemic began forcing Georgia businesses to close and lay off employees, the state has paid out $16.3 billion in state and federal unemployment benefits to more than 4.1 million Georgians, exceeding the last nine years combined.
But the federal portion of those benefits is uncertain going forward unless Congress passes a new economic stimulus package. All federal unemployment benefits authorized last March through the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act are due to expire the day after Christmas.
“There is no use speculating over what could potentially be passed by Congress,” Georgia Commissioner of Labor Mark Butler said Thursday. “While Congress continues to deliberate over the future of these programs, we will focus on issuing payments to all eligible Georgians as the original CARES Act comes to a close.”
Claimants are encouraged to continue requesting benefits after the CARES program ends in case Congress passes a new stimulus initiative or extends the current benefits.
During the week ending Dec. 5, the job sector that accounted for the most initial unemployment claims in Georgia was accommodation and food services with 7,075 claims. The manufacturing sector was next with 6,376 claims, followed by administrative and support services with 3,370.
More than 166,000 jobs are currently listed on EmployGeorgia, with more than half advertising annual salaries of more than $40,000. The labor department offers online resources for finding career opportunities, building a resume and assisting with other reemployment needs.
ATLANTA – Both of the main parties disputing the rollout of legislation aimed at expanding broadband service in rural Georgia criticized a new proposal brought to the state Public Service Commission (PSC) Thursday.
The PSC’s advisory staff is recommending that electric membership cooperatives (EMCs) in parts of Georgia lacking broadband significantly lower the fees they charge telecom providers to attach broadband technology to utility poles.
At the same time, EMCs in areas already served with broadband would be allowed to charge similar rates to what they are now collecting or even higher fees.
Such a bifurcated system would disproportionately harm EMCs and their customers in rural communities most in need of broadband, Robert Remar, a lawyer representing 38 Georgia EMCs, told members of the commission’s Telecommunications Committee Thursday.
For example, Cobb EMC, with a primarily urban and suburban customer base, would be able to charge telecom providers $25.42 per pole for attachments in the parts of its service area that already have broadband, under the staff proposal.
However, Moultrie-based Colquitt EMC, which serves a large number of rural customers without broadband, would be able to charge telecom providers only $3.86 per pole in unserved portions of its service area, the lowest pole-attachment rate in the staff plan.
“The poorest, most rural EMCs, will be subsidizing telecommunications companies,” Remar said. “That’s just not fair.”
But one of the main players on the telecom side isn’t happy with the PSC staff proposal, either.
Robert Highsmith, a lawyer representing the Georgia Cable Association, said failing to set a single statewide rate for pole attachments would result in such high rates that telecom providers wouldn’t be able to afford to live up to commitments they’ve made for significant investments in broadband projects in rural Georgia.
“Under this recommendation, those commitments are in jeopardy,” Highsmith said. “The eight-figure sums … programmed for Georgia will be deployed elsewhere.”
The General Assembly passed legislation last June aimed at expanding broadband in rural Georgia. House Bill 244 gave the PSC the task of setting pole attachment rates by the end of this year.
Highsmith suggested Thursday that, with the disputing parties so far apart, the commission put off a decision on rates until early next year. He noted the legislation isn’t due to take effect until July 1.
But having sat through four days of hearings on the issue last month, commissioners seemed anxious to move forward.
“Punting at this point is not the way to go,” Commissioner Tricia Pridemore said.
The PSC is schedule to vote on the staff plan next week.
Georgia Commissioner of Transportation Russell McMurry
ATLANTA – The coronavirus pandemic is generating all-time high truck traffic on Georgia’s interstate highways, state Commissioner of Transportation Russell McMurry said Thursday.
Georgians worried about exposure to COVID-19 have switched from shopping at brick-and-mortar stores and restaurant dining to ordering food and retail goods online.
“There’s a lot of freight being moved because … everything is on your doorstep,” McMurry told members of the State Transportation Board.
After a huge drop-off in traffic volumes early in the pandemic, overall traffic has recovered to near normal on the interstates and is down only 5% to 10% on state highways, McMurry said.
However, there is a difference in commuting patterns in metro Atlanta, he said.
“It doesn’t appear [commuters] are out as early as they used to be,” McMurry said. “But it builds up in the afternoons.”
Board member Johnny Floyd of Cordele said the growth in truck traffic is making it increasingly difficult for truck drivers to find places to park.
What to do about the shortage of truck parking is expected to be among the recommendations of the Georgia Freight & Logistics Commission when it issues its final report later this month.
The panel of Georgia lawmakers, local government officials and logistics industry executives has been meeting for the last two years to look for ways to move freight more efficiently through Georgia.
