by Dave Williams | Mar 17, 2025 | Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA – All 1,100 sworn officers at the Georgia Department of Public Safety (DPS) will receive training from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to help identify and apprehend illegal immigrants considered a public safety risk, Gov. Brian Kemp announced Monday.
DPS Commissioner Billy Hitchens has submitted a Memorandum of Agreement request to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, which oversees ICE, to participate in the federal 287(g) program.
“We take the safety of Georgians and travelers to this state very seriously,” Hitchens said Monday. “This training and collaboration between agencies increases our ability to keep our communities safe.”
The 287(g) program, authorized by the 1996 Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act, enables ICE to delegate to state and local law enforcement officers the authority to act under the federal agency’s direction and oversight.
Also, an executive order issued by President Donald Trump requires ICE to utilize the program in partnership with state and local law enforcement.
The DPS isn’t the first state agency taking part in the program. The Georgia Department of Corrections has a longstanding agreement with ICE to enforce the 287(g) program inside state prisons.
Last week, ICE asked the corrections agency for two additional correctional officers to assist in the deportation of illegal immigrants who have committed crimes in addition to the sergeant and three correctional officers already taking part in the program.
While the Trump administration maintains the illegal immigrants it is deporting are criminals, lawyers representing some of those being deported say their clients’ only offense is being in the U.S. illegally, which under the law is a civil violation rather than a crime.
by Dave Williams | Mar 14, 2025 | Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA – Georgia’s two Democratic U.S. senators voted Friday against advancing a temporary spending bill to keep the federal government open through September, charging Republicans with ramming through a harmful “continuing resolution” without consulting Democrats.
Sens. Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock, however, were on the losing side, as nine Senate Democrats and one independent joined Republicans in a 62-38 vote to move forward with the bill. The measure was expected to gain final passage Friday night.
Warnock said Republicans put Democrats in an impossible position in forcing the Senate to vote on a bill that already had passed the House without a single Democratic vote.
“Instead of working together to actually improve people’s lives, craven politicians shut the door on bipartisan conversation and reemerged with an ultimatum: vote for a partisan government funding package or let the government shut down,” Warnock said.
“Make no mistake, this government funding bill is bad policy: it would spike grocery prices, cut investments in education and health care, and defund care for servicemembers exposed to burn pits.”
Ossoff suggested a better alternative for Republicans would have been to negotiate a 30-day stopgap funding bill to avoid a shutdown, giving Congress time to work out a bipartisan budget.
“The House bill … irresponsibly fails to impose any constraints on the reckless and out-of-control Trump administration,” Ossoff said. “The administration is gutting the CDC (the Atlanta-based Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) and the VA (Veterans Administration) while destabilizing the economy. Both parties in Congress must fulfill our constitutional obligation to check the president.”
Senate Democrats who voted to advance the bill – spearheaded by Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York – argued that a government shutdown would have played into President Donald Trump’s hands by allowing the president and advisor Elon Musk even freer rein to further dismantle federal government agencies and fire thousands of workers.
by Dave Williams | Mar 13, 2025 | Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA – Both sides of the controversial tort reform issue got their say at the Georgia Capitol Thursday, not on either the state House or Senate floors but in the hallways under the Gold Dome.
A group of business owners held a news conference Thursday morning to endorse legislation Gov. Brian Kemp has singled out as his top priority for the 2025 General Assembly session.
The comprehensive bill, which the Republican-controlled Senate passed last month mostly along party lines, is intended to reduce “runaway” jury awards in civil lawsuits that business owners complain are threatening to put them out of business.
“Our industry is under attack … by frivolous lawsuits,” said Haley Bower-Frank, chief marketing officer for Flowery Branch-based Clipper Petroleum, which operates convenience stores across North Georgia. “The current situation is absolutely crushing small businesses.”
Later Thursday, victims of human trafficking and lawyers who represent victims and their families in lawsuits against businesses where trafficking takes place, held a news conference of their own to criticize Senate Bill 68. Their opposition focused mainly on a provision in the bill that establishes “premises liability” guidelines for when plaintiffs can sue business owners for negligence due to injuries suffered from criminal acts committed by a third party outside of the defendant’s control.
“This bill will give total immunity to bad actors … no matter how many safety measures they fail to take,” said Natanya Brooks, a trial lawyer with an office in Peachtree Corners. “This bill is not good for Georgians. It will cost lives.”
Survivors of human trafficking aimed most of their complaints at hotels they said are aware that human trafficking is going on inside their premises but fail to act.
At the earlier news conference, a hotel executive defended the industry’s practices when it comes to preventing human trafficking.
“Safety and security of our properties is always at the forefront,” said Frank Phair, vice president of hotel operations for Legacy Ventures Hospitality, which operates several hotels in metro Atlanta.
The bill’s opponents also criticized a provision in Senate Bill 68 that would require liability in a civil suit to be determined before the jury considers damages if either the plaintiff or defendant requests such “bifurcation” of trials. They said such bifurcation would force victims already traumatized by trafficking to testify multiple times in court.
After years of failing to push significant tort reform through the General Assembly, Republicans have built strong momentum this year, thanks in large part to Kemp’s pledge to call a special session of the legislature if lawmakers don’t act on the issue. Tort reform also is being heavily lobbied, with two business groups launching statewide ad campaigns in favor of the bill this week.
“Small businesses are the backbone of Georgia’s economy, but many local businesses are struggling under the weight of excessive litigation costs,” said Hunter Loggins, director of the state chapter of the National Federation of Independent Business. “Senate Bill 68 would help Main Street businesses focus on growth, job creation, and serving their communities instead of wasting time and money fighting unfair lawsuits.”
Meanwhile, an Atlanta personal injury law firm headed by former Democratic state Rep. Ronnie Mabra posted a billboard along the Downtown Connector in Atlanta urging a “no” vote on the bill.
The Senate bill now sits in the House Rules Committee, which formed a special subcommittee that has heard hours of testimony from both sides. It’s expected to reach the House floor for a vote next week..
Opponents said Thursday they plan to propose an amendment to the legislation to carve out human trafficking from the premises liability provision.
by Dave Williams | Mar 13, 2025 | Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA – Georgia’s unemployment rate held steady in January at 3.6%, despite declines in jobs, the size of the state’s labor force, and the number of employed.
The jobless rate in the Peach State in February was four-tenths of a point lower than the national unemployment rate.
“Georgia’s economy is built for the future, but to maintain our competitive edge, we must remain committed to making Georgia the top choice for businesses and talent,” said Louis DeBroux, interim commissioner of the state Department of Labor. “By continuing to invest in our people, expand opportunities, and drive innovation, we are ensuring Georgia remains the national leader in economic opportunity for all.”
Jobs were down by 28,200 in January, although some job sectors posted over-the-month gains. The durable goods manufacturing sector led the way by adding 1,800 jobs, while state government gained 1,400 jobs.
The transportation and warehousing sector lost the most jobs in January – 11,200 – while the accommodation and food services sector saw a loss 6,100 jobs, and the administrative and support services sector declined by 4,000 jobs.
Georgia’s labor force fell to 5.4 million, and the number of employed declined to 5.2 million.
However, fewer Georgians were unemployed in January as well. The state’s jobless ranks fell by 3,441 to 193,062.
Initial unemployment claims were up 3,448 to 34,494.
by Dave Williams | Mar 11, 2025 | Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA – The Georgia House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed Gov. Brian Kemp’s $37.7 billion fiscal 2026 state budget Tuesday, a spending plan that prioritizes prisons and education.
The budget, which cleared the House 171-4, is smaller than the record $40.5 billion fiscal 2025 mid-year budget lawmakers passed last week, which used $2.7 billion of the state’s $16 billion surplus. The 2026 spending plan, which takes effect July 1, does not count on surplus funding, a recognition that economic headwinds likely lie ahead.
“Things are tight,” House Appropriations Committee Chairman Matt Hatchett, R-Dublin, told his legislative colleagues before Tuesday’s vote. “The needs are great, and many worthy causes are competing for the same limited resources.”
The 2026 budget includes $250 million in new spending on Georgia prisons, the subject of a federal audit last fall that criticized the prison system for failing to protect inmates from violence. To reduce the ratio of inmates to correctional officers, the spending plan authorizes hiring more than 700 guards, while providing pay raises to the current correctional staff.
The House version of the budget added $98 million in education spending above the spending recommendations Kemp presented to the General Assembly in January. Most of that increase would go toward student safety and mental health in the wake of last September’s mass shooting at Apalachee High School in Barrow County.
“School safety and mental health go hand in hand,” Hatchett said.
The budget provides $62 million for a new program called “Student Support Services.” Of that total, $19.6 million would go to hire mental health counselors for middle schools and high schools, and $28 million would go to school districts to help low-income students.
The spending plan also includes $10.8 million to hire 116 literacy coaches. Georgia students’ poor reading scores have prompted the legislature in recent years to emphasize improving literacy.
With such a large budget surplus, Kemp and the General Assembly were able to authorize a series of building projects in the current budget to be financed with cash rather than the usual practice of borrowing the money. The fiscal ’26 budget continues that practice for $545 million in projects, but the House spending plans calls for funding an additional $321 million in building projects through bonds.
The budget now moves to the state Senate.
