ATLANTA – The Republican-controlled Georgia Senate voted Friday to investigate allegations that Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis was involved in an improper relationship with the special prosecutor she hired in the election interference case against Donald Trump.
A resolution senators passed 30-19 along party lines will create a special committee with subpoena power to probe the allegations against Willis, who obtained an indictment last August accusing Trump and 18 others of trying to overturn the 2020 presidential election in Georgia that saw Democrat Joe Biden carry the Peach State over then-President Trump.
The allegations against Willis surfaced earlier this month in a motion filed in Fulton County Superior Court on behalf of Michael Roman, one of the defendants charged in the case. Willis has yet to respond directly to the charges but is expected to file a response with the court by a Feb. 2 deadline.
On Friday, Senate Republicans said investigating Willis’ alleged improper involvement with special prosecutor Nathan Wade is a proper role for Georgia lawmakers because Wade has been paid nearly $654,000 in legal fees to pursue the case since January 2022.
“I am deeply troubled by the poor judgement of our D.A., Fani Willis,” Sen. Brandon Beach, R-Alpharetta, told his colleagues on the Senate floor before Friday’s vote. “I believe this scheme … was a fraud against the court and a fraud against the taxpayer.”
But Senate Democrats said there are existing processes for investigating the allegations against Willis, both the court system itself and the Senate Ethics Committee.
Sen. Josh McLaurin, D-Sandy Springs, accused Republicans of engaging in “political theater” by forming a special committee specifically to go after Willis.
“Why are we creating a new entity with extraordinary subpoena power and the ability to put people under oath for only this issue?” McLaurin asked.
“We’ve got a system to deal with it,” added Sen. David Lucas, D-Macon. “Let it play out.”
But Sen. Greg Dolezal, R-Cumming, the resolution’s chief sponsor, said the legislature’s duty to oversee the spending of tax dollars gives lawmakers the right to investigate the allegations against Willis.
“This resolution is about an officer of the state of Georgia … and how they are using state funds,” Dolezal said. “This falls squarely within what we should be talking about and what we should be addressing.”
The special committee will consist of nine senators, three of whom must be from the chamber’s minority party.
Meanwhile, on a separate front, state Rep. Charlice Byrd, R-Woodstock, has introduced a resolution calling for the Georgia House of Representatives to vote impeachment proceedings against Willis.
House Resolution 872 cites not only the improper relationship allegations surrounding the Fulton district attorney but accuses her of launching a “wrongful criminal prosecution” of Trump and the other 18 defendants.
Byrd signed a petition floated by Republican state Sen. Colton Moore last September asking Gov. Brian Kemp to call a special session of the General Assembly to investigate and potentially impeach Willis over the Trump indictment. However, Kemp refused to schedule a special session, calling Moore a “grifter” during a news conference.
If the House’s Republican majority passes Byrd’s resolution, it would face an uphill climb in the state Senate. Convicting Willis following a House impeachment would require a two-thirds vote in the Senate, where minority Democrats have enough votes to quash it.
ATLANTA – The General Assembly overwhelmingly passed legislation Thursday defining antisemitism and incorporating it into Georgia’s hate crimes law.
The state Senate approved the bill 44-6 after a nearly two-hour debate. The Georgia House of Representatives followed in a 129-5 vote.
The House had passed a similar version of the legislation last year, only to have it die in the Senate. Since then, however, incidents of antisemitism have been on the rise across Georgia, sparked by the Oct. 7 massacre of Israeli civilians by Hamas militants and its aftermath, Senate President Pro Tempore John Kennedy, R-Macon, told his colleagues Thursday.
Kennedy cited the spreading of antisemitic flyers in Jewish neighborhoods by what he described as “outside agitators” and the hanging in effigy of a Jew outside a synagogue in Macon.
“The Oct. 7 attack on the Jewish state and our ally … highlighted the nearly nonstop threat our Jewish brothers and sisters face,” Kennedy said. “This is the antithesis of what our great state and our great nation are all about.”
“Certain things rise above politics,” added Rep. John Carson, R-Marietta, who sponsored the bill in the House. “It’s time to get this done.”
The legislation, now headed to Gov. Brian Kemp’s desk, would establish as part of state law the definition of antisemitism used by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance, an intergovernmental organization founded by Sweden’s prime minister in 1998.
The bill allows prosecutors to seek enhanced penalties when crimes have been committed because the victim is Jewish.
While only one Republican – Sen. Colton Moore of Trenton – voted against the legislation in the Senate, it split the Senate Democratic Caucus.
Senate Minority Leader Gloria Butler, D-Stone Mountain, supported the measure, citing a long history of antisemitism in Georgia including the 1915 lynching of factory superintendent Leo Frank after he was convicted of murdering a 13-year-old employee – which a consensus of historians now believe was a miscarriage of justice – and the bombing of an Atlanta temple in 1958.
But some Democrats argued the bill violates the First Amendment right to free speech because it would allow Georgians to be charged with a hate crime for simply criticizing the Israeli government’s war on Hamas that has killed thousands of Palestinian civilians.
Sen. Nikki Merritt, D-Grayson, tried unsuccessfully to amend the bill to clarify that criticism of Israel may not be deemed antisemitic.
“This is not an anti-hate bill,” Merritt said. “This is an anti-speech bill.”
But Sen. Brian Strickland, R-McDonough, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, which unanimously approved the bill on Monday, said it is not aimed at speech. He cited a portion of the legislation that specifically states it is not to be construed as infringing on free speech rights.
“You can continue to say anything you want in this state. This bill protects that,” Strickland said. “(But) you can’t go and hit somebody in the face because you don’t like what the country they identify with is doing.”
Sen. Harold Jones, D-Augusta, said the bill is guilty of “picking and choosing” because it singles out Jews for protection but does not address violence motivated by Islamophobia or hatred of other immigrant groups.
But Kennedy said Jews in Georgia have been particularly vulnerable to hate-motivated violence.
“The Jewish community in our state is crying out for this,” he said. “This bill is needed.”
ATLANTA – Legislation that would do away with QR codes on paper ballots in Georgia cleared the state Senate Ethics Committee Thursday.
Under Senate Bill 189, only the text portions of paper ballots would be counted.
“We’re simply taking the ballot as it’s currently printed and eliminating the QR code,” said Sen. Max Burns, R-Sylvania, the committee’s chairman and the bill’s chief sponsor.
The General Assembly passed legislation five years ago providing for a paper backup to electronic ballots, a move aimed at giving Georgians more confidence their votes are being recorded accurately. But some voters have complained that the QR codes that accompany paper ballots are confusing and impose a barrier on transparency.
Burns said implementing the legislation would require the state to invest about $15 million to buy 3,400 to 3,500 new scanners capable of reading text from paper ballots.
“I believe the investment would be worth the achievement,” he said.
Senate Republicans have been urging Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to expedite a planned software upgrade that would allow the state to get rid of QR codes. But Raffensperger has said there’s not enough time to roll out new software before this year’s elections.
Chip Trowbridge, chief technology officer for Boston-based Clear Ballot, a vendor of voting equipment, said his company could produce text-only paper ballots in six to seven months.
Senate Minority Leader Gloria Butler, D-Stone Mountain, suggested it might be wise to undertake a pilot project with the new technology before rolling it out statewide.
Burns said Raffensperger and the State Election Board might decide to do just that.
Sen. Derek Mallow, D-Savannah, said the cost of getting rid of the QR codes could overburden local elections agencies.
“Local taxpayers would have to foot the bill,” he said.
But Burns said the state likely would provide the funding to implement his bill.
Legislative Republicans have pushed eliminating QR codes as part of a broader agenda to assuage voter concerns over the integrity and accuracy of recent elections, particularly the 2020 presidential election that saw Democrat Joe Biden carry Georgia by a narrow margin over then-Republican President Donald Trump.
Democrats have countered that there’s been no evidence of widespread voter fraud in Georgia and have accused Republicans of looking for solutions to a problem that doesn’t exist. Two Democrats voted against Burns’ bill Thursday, which cleared the committee 8-2.
The legislation heads next to the Senate Rules Committee, which will decide whether it reaches the full Senate for a vote.
ATLANTA – Georgia House Republican leaders rolled out a tax cut package Wednesday aimed at parents and homeowners specifically but also benefiting all taxpayers.
“Taken together, these bills will provide significant tax relief for Georgia taxpayers … and continue to boost the economy,” House Speaker Jon Burns, R-Newington, told reporters during a news conference at the state Capitol.
The four-bill package includes legislation increasing Georgia’s child-tax credit from $3,000 to $4,000, doubling the state’s homestead tax exemption from $2,000 to $4,000, and removing the cap on Georgia’s “rainy-day” budget reserves.
Burns also lent his support to Gov. Brian Kemp’s proposal to accelerate the state income tax cut that took effect this year, which would roll back the income tax rate from 5.49% to 5.39%.
Rep. Matt Reeves, R-Duluth, who will sponsor the homestead tax exemption bill, pointed to high mortgage rates as a reason to give Georgia homeowners additional tax relief.
“We want to lessen the financial burden for Georgians to purchase a home,” he said. “This sends a message to current homeowners and young people in their twenties and thirties.”
The state’s reserves have long been capped at 15% of the previous fiscal year’s tax revenue.
Rep. Shaw Blackmon, R-Bonaire, chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, said removing the cap would help protect Georgia from future economic slowdowns..
“This gives us better insurance looking forward to the future,” he said.
Burns said the new package of bills would come in addition to $5 billion in tax relief the governor and General Assembly have provided during the last four years.
“We’re not going to take our feet off the pedal,” he said.
ATLANTA – The Alabama-based company planning to mine titanium near the Okefenokee Swamp has been fined $20,000 in connection with the drilling of exploratory boreholes at the site.
Twin Pines Minerals (TPM) agreed Tuesday to pay the penalty without admitting wrongdoing for drilling boreholes on 107 days in 2018 and 2019 without obtaining a performance bond or letter of credit and drilling on 24 days without the supervision of either a professional engineer or professional geologist, both in violation of state law.
Twin Pines Minerals is seeking state permits to mine titanium dioxide on Trail Ridge, the Okefenokee’s eastern hydrologic boundary.
While company executives have said the project would not harm the swamp, scientific studies have concluded the proposed mine would significantly damage one of the world’s largest intact freshwater wetlands by drawing down its water level and increasing the risk of drought and fires.
Opponents of the project are citing Tuesday’s consent order as reason for the Georgia Environmental Protection Division (EPD) to force Twin Pines to redo its initial sampling.
“EPD could have used this to shut down the permit once and for all,” Josh Marks, an environmental attorney and president of Georgians for the Okefenokee, wrote in an email to Capitol Beat. “The fact they didn’t, and are only slapping TPM’s wrist, tells me they will definitely move forward with issuance of the draft permit very soon.”
Meanwhile, sponsors of legislation in the state House of Representatives banning surface mining near the Okefenokee are working to revive the bill. The measure failed to gain headway in the General Assembly last year despite being cosponsored by 91 of the 180 House lawmakers.
