ATLANTA – Georgia filed another lawsuit Tuesday over President Joe Biden’s controversial OVID vaccine mandates, this time for health care workers.
Gov. Brian Kemp and Attorney General Chris Carr are seeking to prevent the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) from enforcing the mandate on workers at Medicare and Medicaid-certified facilities.
Like previous court challenges filed by Kemp and Camp, the new lawsuit asserts the vaccine mandate is unlawful and unconstitutional.
According to the lawsuit, the mandate:
Exceeds CMS’ statutory authority under the Social Security Act.
Involves an unlawful attempt to supervise or control the practice of medicine in violation of federal law.
Was issued without statutorily required public notice and comment, violates the Congressional Review Act and is arbitrary and capricious.
Was issued without consulting the appropriate state and local agencies in violation of federal law.
Was issued without public notice and comment for all new rules that will have a significant impact on rural hospitals.
Violates the Spending Clause by placing an unconstitutional condition on receipt of federal funds.
Violates the Anti-Commandeering Doctrine by directing state officers to administer federal law.
Violates the 10th Amendment because the federal government lacks the power to mandate vaccines.
“After health-care heroes went above and beyond the call of duty to keep Americans safe and healthy throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, Joe Biden is now threatening their livelihood if they refuse COVID-19 vaccination,” said Kemp.
“Yet another unlawful mandate from this administration will only worsen worker shortages in a critical-need area as we continue to balance the everyday healthcare needs of hardworking Georgians and fighting COVID-19.”
“President Biden’s reckless ‘one-size-fits-most’ approach to governing continues to create immense disruption and uncertainty for Georgia businesses and employees,” Carr added. “Georgia health-care providers, particularly those located in our rural areas, cannot afford to lose workers or lessen care services due to the unlawful actions of the federal government.”
Georgia has joined 11 other Republican-led states in filing the lawsuit with the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana.
Last month, Kemp and Carr filed suit in the Southern District of Georgia challenging the vaccine mandate for federal contractors. A hearing on the plaintiffs’ request for a preliminary injunction is scheduled for Dec. 7.
Earlier this month, Kemp and Carr also filed suit in the U.S. 11th Circuit Court of Appeals to challenge a vaccine mandate for employers with 100 or more workers.
This story is available through a news partnership with Capitol Beat News Service, a project of the Georgia Press Educational Foundation.
ATLANTA – Georgia Senate President Pro Tempore Butch Miller pre-filed legislation Monday calling for the repeal of the state income tax.
Miller, R-Gainesville, who is running for lieutenant governor, cited the large budget surplus the state posted at the end of the last fiscal year in June, which is likely to continue through the current year.
“We must figure out a way to only tax what is needed and no more,” Miller said in a prepared statement. “Georgians know how to use their hard-earned money more than we do, and in order for Georgia to continue building on its reputation and attract top businesses and talent, we must do more to limit the financial burden placed on our citizens.”
Georgia’s income tax rate stood at 6% for decades until 2018, when the Republican-controlled General Assembly lowered it to 5.75%. Last year, legislative leaders held off on a proposal to further reduce the tax rate, arguing the fiscal uncertainty raised by the coronavirus pandemic made it the wrong time to reduce state tax revenues.
With the pandemic now on the wane, GOP leaders are expected to push legislation during the 2022 session starting in January to further reduce the tax rate to 5.5% or even lower, but Miller’s repeal proposal promises to lend a new element to that debate.
Florida and Texas, states that compete with Georgia for jobs, do not collect state income taxes, and neighboring Tennessee doesn’t tax wages.
While other states in the region do impose an income tax, some including North Carolina charge a lower tax rate than Georgia.
Miller’s proposal likely will get pushback from legislative Democrats, who have warned in recent debates on tax policy that many critical state services – including education and health care – are chronically underfunded.
Monday marked the first day members of the General Assembly could pre-file bills for consideration during the 2022 legislative session.
This story is available through a news partnership with Capitol Beat News Service, a project of the Georgia Press Educational Foundation.
ATLANTA – A suspended Chattahoochee Judicial Circuit district attorney has pleaded guilty to four felony charges.
Mark Preston Jones will serve one year in prison and four years on probation, according to the sentence handed down Monday by Superior Court Judge Katherine Lumsden.
Jones also has resigned his position as district attorney.
“Public servants are trusted to discharge their duties ethically and honestly and when they do not, we will hold them accountable for their actions,” said Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr.
“By abusing his power and abdicating his responsibility as district attorney, Mark Jones did a disservice to those he was elected to protect and put our very justice system at risk. This outcome is a victory for integrity in prosecutions and the rule of law.”
Jones pleaded guilty to two counts of attempted violation of oath by a public officer, one count of violation of oath by a public officer and one count of influencing witnesses.
Jones was indicted after being accused of trying to convince a law enforcement officer to testify that the defendant in a Muscogee County case, Elijah Farrel, believed deceased victim Sara Holtrop was cheating on him. That would have provided a motive allowing Farrel to be charged with murder.
This story is available through a news partnership with Capitol Beat News Service, a project of the Georgia Press Educational Foundation.
ATLANTA – The Georgia House of Representatives Monday adopted a new map of state Senate districts drawn by majority Republicans over the objections of minority Democrats.
The 96-70 House vote nearly along party lines sent the bill to Gov. Brian Kemp’s desk, ending once-a-decade legislative redistricting carried out by the General Assembly. The Georgia Senate approved a new House map last week.
As has been the case throughout the special redistricting session lawmakers began nearly two weeks ago, Democrats accused Republicans of drawing district boundaries to the GOP’s advantage while ignoring minority population growth during the last decade that favors Democrats.
“We are a 50-50 state. We are a battleground state,” Rep. Bee Nguyen, D-Atlanta, told her House colleagues, referring to the close margins of recent statewide elections. “This map creates a 60-40 split with the advantage to the Republican Party.”
Nguyen, who is running for secretary of state, and other Democrats singled out several Senate districts as examples of what they called Republican gerrymandering. She said the Senate map changes Senate District 48 now served by Sen. Michelle Au, D-Johns Creek, the Senate’s only Asian woman, from a minority voting-age population (VAP) of 60% to a district with a slight white majority VAP.
Rep. Debra Bazemore, D-South Fulton, the House’s chief deputy whip, pointed to major partisan changes in the 6th Senate District in Fulton and Cobb counties as well as a dilution of Black voting strength in two Senate districts taking in portions of Henry County.
But Rep. Bonnie Rich, R-Suwanee, chairman of the House Legislative & Congressional Reapportionment Committee, said the Senate map complies with the federal Voting Rights Act and splits fewer counties than the Senate map that has been in place since the last redistricting in 2011.
In other business Monday, the House overwhelmingly passed a resolution ratifying an executive order Kemp issued last May temporarily suspending the collection of the state gasoline tax after the Colonial Pipeline was hit by a ransomware attack and forced to shut down. The suspension lasted from May 10 until June 2.
Next up for the special session is consideration of a proposed map for Georgia’s 14 congressional districts.
This story is available through a news partnership with Capitol Beat News Service, a project of the Georgia Press Educational Foundation.
President Joe Biden has nominated Ryan Buchanan to serve as U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Georgia, a move that has drawn the praise of the state’s two Democratic U.S. senators.
Buchanan has served as assistant U.S. attorney for the district since 2013.
“Ryan Buchanan’s extensive experience as a federal prosecutor makes him a stellar nominee for this important post,” Sen. Raphael Warnock said. “He has dealt with everything from organized crime to foreign terrorist organizations over the course of his accomplished career, and few people in our state can match the scope of his legal expertise in securing justice and keeping Americans safe.”
“I am pleased that President Biden has accepted my and Sen. Warnock’s recommendation for this key federal law enforcement position,” Sen. Jon Ossoff said. “I expect and am confident that Mr. Buchanan will perform his duties with impartiality and professionalism, guided by commitments to truth, integrity, and justice.”
Buchanan has served as deputy chief of the Violent Crime and National Security Section since 2018 and as national security and anti-terrorism advisory council coordinator since 2017.
He previously served as an assistant U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Alabama from 2010 to 2013.
From 2006 to 2010, Buchanan was an associate at the law firm McGuireWoods LLP, in Charlotte and Atlanta, where he focused on labor and employment litigation.
Buchanan succeeds Byung J. “BJay” Pak, a former member of the Georgia House of Representatives who served as U.S. attorney during the Trump administration. Pak resigned last January after being pressured to back then-President Donald Trump’s election fraud claims.
This story is available through a news partnership with Capitol Beat News Service, a project of the Georgia Press Educational Foundation.
