ATLANTA – The chairman of a state Senate committee formed to investigate allegations swirling around Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis’ election interference case against Donald Trump vowed Friday to oversee a fair but thorough probe.
“This is not going to be a partisan process,” Sen. Bill Cowsert, R-Athens, said during the initial meeting of the Senate Special Committee on Investigations. “It is not the charge of this committee to disqualify counsel … criminally prosecute anybody … (or) disbar anybody.
“Our job is to investigate these troubling allegations, determine what the facts are, and shine light on these facts.”
The Republican-controlled Senate voted along party lines late last month to form the committee after one of Trump’s co-defendants in the case filed a motion accusing Willis of being involved in an improper relationship with the special prosecutor she hired to pursue the investigation. Trump later joined the motion, which seeks to disqualify Willis from the case.
Willis responded to the allegations last week with a court filing in which she acknowledged a “personal relationship” with Nathan Wade but argued it does not constitute grounds for dismissing the racketeering indictment against Trump and 18 co-defendants or for disqualifying her. A federal court hearing on the motions is scheduled for Feb. 15.
The state Senate has the legal authority to launch investigations, including the power to subpoena witnesses and take depositions from witnesses testifying under oath.
But Cowsert noted senators have rarely sought to make use of that investigative authority. In light of that, he drafted a dozen rules that will govern the committee’s activities.
The rules guarantee that at least one minority Democrat must sit on each subcommittee the main panel decides to form, and that Democrats will be afforded the opportunity to attend depositions and ask questions. The nine-member committee includes three Democrats.
Senate Minority Leader Gloria Butler, D-Stone Mountain, a member of the committee, praised Cowsert for ensuring Democrats will have a say as the investigation moves forward.
“A political witch hunt or show trial would damage Georgians’ faith in our political system,” she said
After the committee approved the rules unanimously, Cowsert said he will begin hiring staff for the panel, including outside legal counsel.
He said the committee likely will meet within seven to 10 days to start its work and continue meeting every two weeks moving forward.
Cowsert promised the committee will take its work seriously and not use it to score political points.
“This will not be a public media circus,” he said. “We’re not doing this for publicity.”
ATLANTA – UNESCO World Heritage Site designation would double visitation at the Okefenokee Swamp Park, create about 750 long-term jobs, and deliver $60 million in annual economic impact, according to a new study.
The report, commissioned by The Conservation Fund, would generate an additional 800,000 annual visits to the Okefenokee in addition to the more than 800,000 who currently visit the swamp each year.
Three new improvements being planned at the park – a state-of-the-art nature center in Waycross, a cultural history center in Folkston, and an observatory in Fargo – packaged together as the Okefenokee Experience would produce another $46 million in annual economic impact and nearly 50 additional jobs, the study found.
Advocates for the Okefenokee have mounted a campaign to convince the Georgia Environmental Protection Division not to approve a proposed titanium mine along Trail Ridge near the swamp. Legislation banning mining near the Okefenokee is pending in the state House of Representatives.
The bill’s backers say the new study lends more ammunition to the argument to keep mining away from the swamp.
“This report is tremendous news that shows the strong ROI (return on investment) and economic impact that both the World Heritage Site designation and completion of the Okefenokee Experience improvements would have on our region,” said Kim Bednarek, executive director of the Okefenokee Swamp Park.
“We are simultaneously protecting the swamp, opening it up to new visitors and audiences, and creating more jobs and tax revenues.”
“Beyond the headline numbers, this data shows that World Heritage will open the door for new small businesses, help the area attract and retain talent, and spark a positive cycle of reinvestment in Southeast Georgia,” added Lance Gloss, manager of The Conservation Fund’s Natural Resources Economy Program.
Local governments in the region and elsewhere in Georgia have lent their support to protecting the swamp.
Resolutions supporting the Okefenokee have passed the city councils in Albany, Savannah, Waycross, Valdosta, Homeland, Kingsland, St. Marys, Jesup, and Brookhaven. County commission resolutions have passed in Clinch, Echols, Ware, and DeKalb counties.
ATLANTA – The Republican-controlled state Senate passed legislation Thursday Democrats charged would make it harder for unions to organize in Georgia.
Senate Bill 362, which passed 31-23 along party lines, would prohibit businesses seeking state economic development incentives from voluntarily recognizing the establishment of a union if a secret-ballot election option is available.
The measure also forbids companies from disclosing their workers’ contact information to union organizers without written permission.
Senate Republicans argued the bill, part of Gov. Brian Kemp’s 2024 legislative agenda, is aimed at protecting employees’ privacy rights, while guaranteeing secret ballot elections would make it more difficult for union organizers to intimidate workers.
“It does not prohibit a company’s employees from unionizing,” Sen. Mike Hodges, R-Brunswick, one of Kemp’s floor leaders in the Senate and the bill’s chief sponsor, told his Senate colleagues Thursday. “Each employee is free to vote in private without coercion, intimidation, or harassment.”
But Democrats turned that argument on its head by maintaining secret-ballot elections let company officials – not unions – intimidate their workers during campaigns that can drag out for months and often include “captive audience” meetings with employees to sway their votes.
“It discourages unions from expanding in this state … from holding big business accountable,” said Sen. Jason Esteves, D-Atlanta.
Sen. Donzella James, D-Atlanta, who was a member of the Professional Air Traffic Control Organization (PATCO) before then-President Ronald Reagan fired more than 11,000 PATCO members during a 1981 strike, said the bill is being pushed by business interests with political influence.
“This bill isn’t for hardworking Georgians,” she said. “It’s for those who have the governor on speed-dial.”
Other Senate Democrats charged the bill would violate the 1935 National Labor Relations Act by taking away the option of voluntary recognition of unions.
But Sen. Ed Setzler, R-Acworth, said secret-ballot elections play an important role in safeguarding America’s political system.
“This bill does not protect big business,” he said. “This bill protects the right to conscience. … The anonymity of the ballot is essential.”
ATLANTA – The Georgia House of Representatives unanimously passed an election-year tax relief package Thursday.
A measure introduced on behalf of Gov. Brian Kemp would accelerate a state income tax cut that took effect this year, rolling back the income tax rate from 5.49% to 5.39%. House Bill 1015 would save Georgia taxpayers about $1.1 billion this year, Rep. Lauren McDonald, R-Cumming, said on the House floor before Thursday’s vote.
Another bill in the package calls for doubling the state’s homestead tax exemption from $2,000 to $4,000. The exemption has remained unchanged since 1978, when the average home in Georgia cost $55,000, said Rep. Matt Reeves, R-Duluth, House Bill 1019’s chief sponsor.
“This gives good tax relief at a time it’s needed,” he said.
The third bill in the package – House Bill 1021 – would increase Georgia’s child-tax deduction from $3,000 to $4,000.
ATLANTA – Legislation introduced in the Georgia House of Representatives Thursday would place new limits on the state’s popular film tax credit and suspend the tax exemption aimed at encouraging the construction of high-tech data centers.
The bill is the product of the Joint Tax Credit Review Panel, a committee of state lawmakers formed last year to examine the various tax incentives Georgia offers and determine whether the state is getting a healthy return on the lost revenue.
“We believe these measures meet an accepted level of fiscal responsibility while at the same time preserving a very business-friendly, job-creating environment,” House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Shaw Blackmon, R-Bonaire, the bill’s chief sponsor, said Wednesday during a news conference at the Capitol.
The generous film tax credit the General Assembly passed in 2008 is widely credited with making Georgia one of the top movie and television production states in the nation. The tax credit generated $8.55 billion in economic impact in fiscal 2022, according to a study released late last year.
But the credit accounts for about $1 billion in lost state tax revenue each year, making it by far the most expensive on the books in Georgia.
Blackmon’s bill would add nine criteria production companies would have to meet to qualify for an additional 10% tax credit on top of the 20% base credit, raise the minimum companies would have to spend to earn the credit, and put new limits on the selling of credits.
“We want to make sure we streamline our tax credit to make sure we continue to get the absolute best return on that investment,” said House Speaker Jon Burns, R-Newington.
Suspending the tax exemption for data centers was prompted by their huge demand for electricity, which has escalated to the point that Georgia Power Co. has a request before the state Public Service Commission to increase the utility’s electrical generating capacity by about 6,600 megawatts.
“These data centers continue to use a disproportionate amount of our state’s energy,” Burns said.
Senate Finance Committee Chairman Chuck Hufstetler, R-Rome, said the Senate stands ready to take up the legislation after it gets through the House. By law, all legislation related to state tax revenue must originate in the lower chamber.
“This is all about using the taxpayers’ dollars in the most effective and efficient manner,” Hufstetler said.
