by Dave Williams | Apr 24, 2025 | Capitol Beat News Service
ROSWELL – Extending the tax cuts Congress passed early in Republican President Donald Trump’s first term will be the first order of business when federal lawmakers return to Washington next week from the Easter recess, U.S. Rep. Rich McCormick said Thursday.
The tax cuts, which are due to expire at the end of this year without congressional action, played out to former President Joe Biden’s advantage when the Democrat gained the White House four years ago, McCormick, R-Suwanee, said after hosting a roundtable for North Fulton business owners at the offices of Axis Infrastructure.
“The impacts gave Biden a pretty decent economy,” he said.
McCormick gave the business owners a sense of hope that the uncertainty plaguing the business climate in the wake of Trump’s roller-coaster tariffs will settle down.
“Everybody understands that what we see now is not what we’re going to get,” he said. “Hopefully, the EU (European Union) tariffs will zero out. The big unknown will be China.”
However, McCormick said the tariffs are likely to produce supply-chain disruptions when the dust settles.
“A lot of people are withholding orders right now,” he said. “When the market reopens, there’s going to be a glut of orders and a shortage of supplies. That’s what happened with COVID.”
McCormick said there’s widespread agreement in the House Republican Caucus on the need to maintain the 21% top marginal tax rate on corporate income the 2017 tax cuts put in place. How to pay for removing taxes on tips and Social Security, as Trump promised on the campaign trail last year, is less certain, he said.
Congressional Democrats oppose extending the tax cuts, arguing it would benefit primarily upper-income Americans while threatening the social safety net.
But McCormick said programs including Social Security and Medicare will go bankrupt by the middle of the next decade unless federal policy makers take action to control entitlement spending, which makes up 76% of the federal budget. But he called warnings by Democrats of looming cuts to Medicare and Medicaid “scare tactics.”
Republicans only have three votes to spare from their narrow House majority in order to extend the Trump tax cuts. In the Senate, use of the “reconciliation” process means only a simple majority vote will be required to pass the legislation.
by Dave Williams | Apr 24, 2025 | Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA – Cybercrime is on the rise in Georgia and around the country.
Georgia ranked 11th in internet-related complaints last year, up from 13th in 2023, according to the FBI’s newly released Internet Crime Report 2024. The potential losses of $420 million represented a 40% increase between 2023 and last year.
Nationally, internet crime complaints rose to 859,532 in 2024, with related losses topping $16.6 billion up by 33% over the previous year.
The top three cybercrimes nationwide measured by the number of complaints reported, were phishing/spoofing, extortion, and personal data breaches. However, losses related to cryptocurrency far exceeded any other category.
“While the top threats facing Georgia and the nation from cyber criminals and fraudsters continue to evolve, their main goal remains stealing your hard-earned money,” said Paul Brown, special agent in charge at the Atlanta FBI office. “The cornerstone of the FBI’s mission remains to protect American citizens.”
Elderly Georgians are particularly vulnerable to cybercrime. Internet crime complaints lodged by adults ages 60 and older soared by 71% last year, while reported losses increased by 89%.
Reports of cryptocurrency-related crimes in Georgia jumped even more in 2024 – by 122% – while estimated losses were up by 66% from 2023.
by Dave Williams | Apr 24, 2025 | Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA – The Georgia Department of Driver Services (DDS) has a new commissioner.
The agency’s board has approved Gov. Brian Kemp’s nomination of Angelique McClendon to take the top post at the department. She will succeed outgoing Commissioner Spencer Moore on May 1.
McClendon first joined the DDS a decade ago as general counsel and later was promoted to assistant deputy commissioner of legal and regulatory affairs.
Her legal career began in 2005 as an assistant solicitor in DeKalb County. She went from there to served as an assistant state attorney general from 2008 until 2015.
“With an extensive career serving both DDS and the people of our state, I know she will be a great asset in ensuring that those who interact with one of our most prominent state agencies have an efficient and smooth experience,” Kemp said Wednesday.
McClendon graduated from Xavier University of Louisiana with a bachelor’s degree in chemistry, and earned a law degree from the Georgia State University College of Law.
Kemp praised Moore for modernizing operations at the DDS, which will have a budget of $89.3 million during fiscal 2026 beginning July 1.
by Ty Tagami | Apr 23, 2025 | Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA – A second candidate has raised his hand to become Georgia’s next attorney general, as incumbent Chris Carr campaigns for the governor’s office.
Both of the candidates who have filed paperwork to raise funds to campaign for attorney general are Republican state senators.
Sen. Brian Strickland, R-McDonough, a lawyer who chairs the Senate Judiciary Committee, registered with the Georgia Ethics Commissions’ campaign finance system in late March. Sen. Bill Cowsert, R-Athens, a lawyer who chairs the Senate Regulated Industries and Utilities Committee, registered Wednesday.
Neither reported collecting any money yet.
Strickland, who chaired a study committee on the affordability of child care last year, was the chief co-sponsor of legislation that sought tax credits for parents of young children. The legislation did not pass. Lawmakers instead sent a general tax credit of between $250 and $500 to Gov. Brian Kemp, who signed that measure last week.
Cowsert, who chairs a committee that has been investigating Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, was recently granted authority by the Senate to expand his scope to include groups founded by former gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams. Cowsert also sponsored Senate Bill 255, which seeks to give his committee subpoena powers. It passed the Senate and the House of Representatives after bitter partisan debate, with one leading Democrat labeling it “authoritarianism.” It awaits Kemp’s signature.
by Dave Williams | Apr 23, 2025 | Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA – Metro Atlanta suffers the third-worst levels of ozone pollution, otherwise known as smog, in the Southeast, according to a study released Wednesday by the American Lung Association.
The group’s annual “State of the Air” report also ranks the Atlanta region fourth-worst in the Southeast for particle pollution, known colloquially as soot.
The new report measured air quality across the country from 2021 through 2023. It found that nearly half of the U.S. population live in areas with unhealthy levels of air pollution.
“Unfortunately, too many people in the Atlanta metro area are living with unhealthy levels of ozone and particle pollution,” said Danna Thompson, advocacy director for the lung association in Georgia. “This air pollution is a threat to human health at every stage of life – increasing the risk of premature birth and low birth-weight babies … causing or worsening lung and heart disease, (and) shortening lives.”
The lung association urged Georgians to support the work of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), which is being hit with budget cuts by the Trump administration.
“Without EPA staff and programs, Georgians won’t know what’s in the air they’re breathing, and efforts to clean up air pollution will be undone,” Thompson said.
The new report also ranked the Augusta area fourth-worst in the Southeast for soot, although the study also found that part of Georgia to be among the cleanest in the nation for smog.
Smog is worsening in the Savannah area, according to the report, dropping from “A” to “B.”
