Georgia lawmakers are eying proposals to increase the amount longstanding state legislators receive in retirement benefits once they leave office, potentially upping the monthly payout by hundreds of dollars.
Four retirement bills filed late in the 2021 legislative session call for increasing the formula for calculating lawmakers’ retirement benefits, tweaking the pension allowance for the Georgia House speaker and shifting business-court judges to a different payment tier.
Supporters who considered the bills Tuesday at a House Retirement Committee meeting said boosting retirement benefits would help lawmakers who devote large chunks of time to bill-wrangling while also holding down full-time jobs, as well as attract Georgians to run for office who might not otherwise be able to afford it.
“I think this is really just a starting point of maybe how we can adjust the retirement part of what we do to try to attract some more talent, some more people who are willing to take time out of their lives to serve,” said Rep. Dominic LaRiccia, R-Douglas.
The measures were introduced in March during the closing weeks of the annual legislative session shortly after lawmakers shot down a separate proposal to raise salaries across the board for General Assembly members by several thousand dollars per year.
Two of the new bills would increase the dollar amount lawmakers receive upon retirement from the current allotment of $36 per month multiplied by their number of years in office. Lawmakers must serve in the General Assembly for at least eight years to qualify for benefits that they can start receiving at age 62.
One measure, sponsored by Rep. Wes Cantrell, R-Woodstock, would increase the formula from $36 to $60 per month, times years of service. The bill is co-sponsored by Rep. Billy Mitchell, D-Stone Mountain, indicating it has some level of support among Democrats in the Republican-controlled House.
Cantrell said the proposed $60-multiplier was a high figure that could be revised lower when lawmakers take up his bill next year. He added the larger benefit should not hit taxpayers’ wallets since the legislative retirement plan is already overfunded.
Another bill sponsored by Rep. Tom Kirby, R-Loganville, would set the formula at either $50 or 38% of a lawmaker’s average monthly salary, whichever is the higher amount. Kirby’s bill also calls for increasing the lawmakers’ contribution to their pension fund from 7.5% to 9.5% of their monthly salary.
A third measure debated Tuesday and sponsored by Rep. Barry Fleming, R-Harlem, would set House speakers’ retirement allowances at 38% of their monthly salaries, so long as they have served at least two years in the chamber’s top post. It would affect benefits for current House Speaker David Ralston, R-Blue Ridge, and former Speakers Glenn Richardson and Terry Coleman.
A fourth bill sponsored by Rep. Rob Leverett, R-Elberton, would place judges in the statewide business court under the retirement plan for state appeals-court judges. It would apply to Judge Walt Davis, who is the only judge currently in the statewide business court system the legislature created in 2019.
Lawmakers did not vote on the bills Tuesday since the General Assembly is not currently in session. The four bills will have to wind through the legislative process once lawmakers reconvene for the 2022 session next January.
ATLANTA – Sports betting hasn’t come to Georgia yet, but the sports betting industry is on its way.
FanDuel Group plans to open a technology campus in Atlanta, an investment of more than $15 million that will create more than 900 jobs during the next five years, Gov. Brian Kemp announced Tuesday.
The center will focus primarily on supporting the New York-based company’s product development and IT operations.
“FanDuel’s decision to open a tech hub in Georgia is a testament to our world-class universities and tech training programs, as well as the diverse ecosystem of professional sports leagues and teams we’ve cultivated here,” Kemp said in a prepared statement.
As part of FanDuel’s commitment to building a diverse workforce, the company will support a training system that will include the University System of Georgia, the state’s private colleges and Georgia’s Historically Black Colleges and Universities.
FanDuel Group also will establish partnerships with community organizations across Atlanta to provide resume-building workshops, mock interview sessions and mentorship programs.
“This center will not only expand the city’s digital media and e-entertainment sectors, but it will also provide new job opportunities for more Atlantans in software development and other promising fields,” Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms said.
FanDuel’s 68,0000-square-foot tech center will be located in Atlanta’s Midtown area. New job opportunities will be focused on software engineering, product development, information technology, user experience and user interface design.
“As we grow our business in a very competitive industry, it’s critical we have access to a diverse talent pool needed to build the most innovative platform in the sector,” said Sarah Butterfass, FanDuel Group’s chief product officer. “During this process, it became clear that Atlanta provided FanDuel with a winning combination of access to a thriving tech cluster, respected educational institutions we could partner with and a diverse and welcoming community.”
Founded in 2009, FanDuel has grown into a portfolio of brands across the gaming and fantasy sports industries and boasts America’s No.-1 online sports book. The company has more than 12 million customers across the nation.
At least for now, Georgians won’t be among FanDuel’s sports betting customers. Legislation asking Georgia voters to decide whether to legalize online sports betting in the Peach State failed to make it through the General Assembly this year for the second year in a row.
ATLANTA – Georgia energy regulators will decide this fall how much of the costs of building the first of two additional nuclear reactors at Plant Vogtle Georgia Power can recover from customers.
The state Public Service Commission (PSC) voted unanimously Tuesday to schedule two days of hearings in mid-October to hear from representatives of the Atlanta-based utility, the PSC’s advocacy staff and business, environmental and consumer advocacy groups participating in the case. The commission will make a final decision Nov. 2.
The first of two new reactors under construction at the plant south of Augusta is due to be in service by the end of November.
But Commissioner Lauren “Bubba” McDonald said last week that Unit 3 probably won’t be ready before next March or April.
The Plant Vogtle expansion has long been plagued by delays and cost overruns. Originally expected to cost $14 billion when the PSC approved the project 12 years ago, the price tag has nearly doubled mostly due to the bankruptcy of Westinghouse Electric, the original prime contractor.
Unit 3 originally had been expected to go into service in 2016, followed a year later by Unit 4.
The project has seen substantial progress in recent weeks. Hot functional testing has begun at Unit 3, a process conducted to make sure the reactor is ready for fuel loading.
Also, all modules for the two reactors have been set in place.
Environmental organizations following the case said last week they support the hearings schedule.
“We’re glad these issues will be addressed in a public proceeding with an opportunity to engage,” Jill Kysor, a senior attorney with the Southern Environmental Law Center, said during a meeting of the commission’s Energy Committee.
The costs the commission decides should be passed on to Georgia Power’s customers do not represent the full cost of building Unit 3. A portion of the costs will not be recovered until after the Unit 4 reactor goes into service and the PSC holds a “prudency” hearing on those costs, which won’t be until late 2022 at the earliest.
The new rates related to the construction of Unit 3 will take effect one month after the reactor begins operations.
ATLANTA – U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock, D-Ga., is urging the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to slow down its review of a plan to build a commercial spaceport in southeastern Georgia.
In a letter to the federal agency dated Monday, Warnock raised concerns about the FAA’s review of the environmental impacts of the proposed Spaceport Camden.
The FAA is expected to release a final environmental impact statement on the project by the end of this month and decide by the end of next month whether to grant Spaceport Camden a launch site operator license.
Warnock indicated in his letter he has heard from a number of Georgians that the FAA’s review has been inadequate, particularly since the Camden County Commission changed the project’s initial design from launching medium-to-large rockets to small rockets.
The county’s revised application revealed that 20% of small rockets launched from Spaceport Camden would likely fail, a much larger failure rate than would occur with medium-to-large rockets, the senator wrote.
“Spaceport Camden would be located … immediately inland from Cumberland Island National Seashore,” Warnock wrote. “One of the largest protected barrier islands on the Eastern Seaboard, Cumberland Island is a jewel of the National Park System.
“Every year, tens of thousands of people travel from across the country to experience its pristine beaches, maritime forests, unique wildlife and the solitude of its wildernesses.”
Warnock also noted that a number of private homes and historic sites are located on Cumberland and Little Cumberland islands.
The FAA announced in May of last year that it would prepare a revised environmental impact statement to reflect the design changes.
But the agency reversed course last September and announced it would skip the revised review, based on an executive order from then-President Donald Trump aimed at streamlining such reviews to accelerate job creation during the coronavirus pandemic. Supporters say Spaceport Camden would generate up to 2,000 jobs, many of them high-paying.
In his letter, Warnock noted that President Joe Biden has revoked Trump’s executive order and issued a new order requiring the FAA to make decisions based on science.
“This is not the time to cut corners on environmental review or cut out public participation in the evaluation of this project,” Warnock wrote. “The incoming FAA leadership should be given the opportunity to evaluate fully these issues with the benefit of public input before moving forward with a final decision.”
John Simpson, a spokesman for Spaceport Camden, could not be reached immediately for comment.
Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan outlines his agenda for the 2020 legislative session at the State Capitol on January 13, 2020. (Photo by Beau Evans)
Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan announced Monday he will not seek reelection to another term as Georgia’s second-highest state elected official, opening the door for a fierce 2022 campaign between Republicans and Democrats vying to replace him.
In a statement, Duncan – a Republican – said he plans to create a political organization called “GOP 2.0” aimed at “healing and rebuilding” the national Republican Party amid the fallout from former President Donald Trump’s continued claims of voter fraud in the 2020 elections.
Duncan’s pivot away from Trump via public statements and television news appearances since the November 2020 general election pitted him against the former president and his allies who continue to hold a large influence over the state’s Republican Party and conservative voters in Georgia.
“The national events of the last six months have deeply affected my family in ways I would have never imagined when I first asked for their support to run for lieutenant governor in 2017,” Duncan said Monday.
“Through all of the highs and lows of the last six months, they have never left my side and are once again united behind me in my pursuit of a better way forward for our conservative party – a GOP 2.0.”
Duncan, a former health-care executive and Minor League Baseball player who served three terms in the Georgia House of Representatives, has focused much of his tenure as lieutenant governor pushing for investments and policy initiatives to position Georgia as what he calls “the technology capital of the East Coast.”
He has presided over three legislative sessions as head of the Georgia Senate since winning election over Democrat Sarah Riggs Amico by a narrow margin in 2018. Duncan said Monday he plans to preside over redistricting efforts in the Senate later this year as well as during the 2022 legislative session.
Duncan’s absence from campaigning next year will likely prompt stiff competition among Republicans during the 2022 primary. Several Democratic contenders have already thrown their hats in the ring including state Reps. Erick Allen of Smyrna and Derrick Jackson of Tyrone.
State Democratic leaders pounced on Duncan’s announcement Monday to bash Georgia Republicans as too tied to Trump, whose insistence that the 2020 presidential election was fraudulent without solid proof fueled violent rioting at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6.
“Donald Trump and the far-right have completely taken over the Republican Party with extreme rhetoric, racist voter suppression policies and a barrage of blatant lies about our presidential election,” said Scott Hogan, executive director of the Democratic Party of Georgia.
“While Republicans try in vain to salvage their broken party, Democrats are focused on electing new, forward-looking leadership to the lieutenant governor’s office and [other] statewide offices in 2022.”
Democrats have already rolled out a roster of candidates for statewide offices beyond lieutenant governor including attorney general, secretary of state, insurance and labor. Democratic 2018 gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams has not yet announced whether she will launch a rematch against Republican Gov. Brian Kemp in 2022.
