by Dave Williams | Aug 22, 2024 | Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA – Nearly two dozen current or former inmates in the state prison system as well as outside conspirators have been charged with using drones to deliver illegal drugs and cellphones inside prison walls.
Two federal indictments unsealed Wednesday accuse the 23 defendants of taking part in two networks of inmates and outside conspirators that delivered large quantities of methamphetamine and marijuana as well as cellphones and other contraband to Smith State Prison in Glennville, Telfair State Prison in McRae and various other state prisons. The conspiracies began as early as 2019 and continued through last month.
The indictments follow investigations spearheaded by Operation Night Drop, an effort mounted by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and the Georgia Department of Corrections Criminal Investigation and Intelligence divisions, working with multiple local law-enforcement agencies.
“These indictments indicate networks of individuals determined to introduce into prisons controlled substances and other contraband that compromise the safety and security of individuals who are held in those facilities and those employed there,” said Jill Steinberg, U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Georgia.
“We’re grateful to the many federal, state and local law enforcement agencies whose cooperative work unraveled these criminal operations.”
The primary charge in each indictment, conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute marijuana and methamphetamine, carries a penalty of 10 years to life in prison, along with substantial fines and at least five years of supervised release upon completion of any prison term.
Some of the defendants also were charged with unlawful use of a communication facility for using cellphones to coordinate the delivery and sale of the drugs. Text messages and Facebook posts included aerial images of prisons, drug quantities and prices, and photos of drones, drugs, and material and equipment used for packaging contraband.
The indictments include notices that the government is seeking the forfeiture of 10 drones and 21 firearms seized during the investigation.
by Dave Williams | Aug 21, 2024 | Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA – Chronic delays in mail processing and delivery Georgians have been experiencing for months have cropped up again in connection with federal tax payments.
U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff, D-Ga., launched an inquiry Wednesday with the Internal Revenue Service after hearing from constituents who are being charged penalties and interest fees on late or missing payments they mailed to the IRS on time.
“These tax filings are not arriving by statutory deadlines due to ongoing USPS (United States Postal Service) performance issues, and some filings even remain unaccounted for,” Ossoff wrote in a letter to IRS Commissioner Daniel Werfel.
“Additionally, many of my constituents continue to experience financial hardships as a result of tax refund processing delays arising from ongoing problems with USPS management in Georgia.”
Ossoff questioned Postmaster General Louis DeJoy at a Senate committee hearing in April after receiving reports that only 36% of inbound mail processed by the Atlanta Regional Processing and Distribution Center was being delivered on time.
DeJoy blamed the delays on problems rolling out a USPS restructuring plan aimed at making the postal service financially self-sufficient and better able to compete with private shippers. He moved to address the delays by bringing more than 100 employees from other mail processing centers to the Atlanta-area facility in Palmetto and revising transportation schedules between the regional center and other processing centers to increase local trips.
In June, DeJoy reported that on-time mail delivery was improving, but Georgians continued to complain about delays sending and receiving mail.
Ossoff is urging the IRS to waive penalties and interest fees incurred as a direct result of USPS delays, adjust taxpayer accounts in a timely manner so penalties and fees don’t accumulate, and to accelerate the processing of tax refunds for filers affected by the USPS delays.
by Dave Williams | Aug 21, 2024 | Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA – Local election officials across Georgia urged the State Election Board Wednesday to stop changing election rules so close to the November election.
Members of the Georgia Association of Voter Registration and Election Officials are worried that significant changes to the rules such as those the Republican-controlled board has adopted in recent weeks will disrupt preparations already underway for absentee, early, and Election Day voting.
“We are already in the midst of extensive training preparation for our poll workers and preparing for one of the biggest and most scrutinized elections in years,” Travis Doss Jr., the association’s president, wrote in a prepared statement.
“Any last-minute changes to the rules risk undermining the public’s trust in the electoral process and place undue pressure on the individuals responsible for managing the polls and administering the election. This could ultimately lead to errors or delays in voting, which is the last thing anyone wants.”
The board’s three Republican members voted this week to require local election officials to submit to the secretary of state a report reconciling the total number of ballots cast in each precinct with the total number of voters who received credit for voting before election results can be certified.
That 3-2 vote followed another change the board approved by an identical margin two weeks ago giving local election officials the discretion to conduct a “reasonable inquiry” if they have doubts that election results are accurate before certifying those results.
In both cases, opponents have argued that certifying election results is a non-discretionary function that county election superintendents must perform.
Democrats have charged Republicans with pushing the rules changes to sow chaos in Georgia’s elections if former President Donald Trump fails to carry the Peach State and put the results in doubt. Republicans have countered that they’re simply taking steps to ensure the integrity of elections.
The State Election Board is expected to consider additional GOP-backed election rules changes at its next meeting Sept. 20.
by Dave Williams | Aug 21, 2024 | Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA – Georgia’s 1% tax on strip clubs to raise money to combat child sex trafficking singles out the wrong target, a lawyer for the Georgia Association of Club Executives told the state Supreme Court Wednesday.
The General Assembly passed the Safe Harbor Act in 2015 to generate a source of revenue to support rehabilitative care and other social services for sexually exploited children. Georgia voters overwhelmingly approved a referendum the following year to add the act to the state Constitution.
But the tax unfairly punishes owners of businesses that aren’t responsible for child sex trafficking because minors aren’t allowed in the clubs either as dancers or customers, Alexander Volokh argued during a hearing challenging the constitutionality of the law. Massage parlors and lingerie modeling studios would be more appropriate targets for such a tax, he said.
“Everybody knows adult entertainment establishments are horrible,” Volokh told the justices. “(But) the legislature lumped very dissimilar entities together. Certainly, child sex trafficking is a problem, but it’s not the adult entertainment establishments.”
But Georgia Deputy Solicitor General Ross Bergethon said lawmakers relied on studies linking prostitution with strip clubs in passing the bill. Therefore, taxing adult entertainment businesses is appropriate, he said.
“The state is trying to mitigate the negative social effects of these businesses,” he said.
Volokh also argued the law is a form of “content-discriminatory taxation” that violates First Amendment protection of freedom of procession long upheld by the courts.
Bergethon countered that the state has the same right to tax strip clubs as it does other entertainment venues including movie theaters and sports stadiums.
“Strip clubs have no more constitutional protection than these other activities,” he said.
The case came to the state Supreme Court after the association of more than a dozen adult entertainment establishments appealed a ruling from a Fulton County trial court dismissing their lawsuit against the state and Georgia Revenue Commissioner Frank O’Connell.
by Dave Williams | Aug 21, 2024 | Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA – The Federal Aviation Administration has awarded two grants to help accelerate the development of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) in Georgia.
LanzaJet, a SAF producer, will receive nearly $3.1 million to support its new production facility in Soperton, U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff, D-Ga., announced Tuesday.
Another $240,000 will go to Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport to strengthen the regional supply chains and infrastructure needed to deploy SAF at the world’s busiest airport.
SAF is a biofuel that can reduce greenhouse gas emissions up to 85% compared with conventional petroleum-based jet fuel. It was described during a state Senate study committee meeting last week as a new market for Georgia’s timber industry, which is being buffeted by declining prices brought on by the closing of pulp and paper mills.
“Georgia should lead the nation in clean energy and renewable energy technology,” Ossoff said. “LanzaJet and Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport are a key part of that effort.”
“SAF is the best opportunity aviation has to decarbonize,” LanzaJet CEO Jimmy Samartzis added. “Funding like this will be instrumental in achieving aviation’s net zero targets while also supporting domestic energy security and economic development by investing in rural communities across the country.”
Europe is leading the way in deploying sustainable aviation fuel. The European Union will require commercial aircraft to burn at least 6% SAF by 2030, a percentage that will increase gradually each year until it reaches 70% in 2050.
by Dave Williams | Aug 20, 2024 | Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA – State energy regulators gave final approval Tuesday to Georgia Power’s plan to build three new “dual-fuel” turbines at Plant Yates near Newnan.
The Georgia Public Service Commission (PSC) signed off on the proposal unanimously after officials with the Atlanta-based utility pitched the plan as necessary to meet the growing need for energy generating capacity prompted by an unanticipated demand for power. Much of that increased demand stems from an influx of power-hungry data centers cropping up across the state.
Environmental groups opposed the project as an unwelcome continuation of Georgia Power’s reliance on fossil fuels for power generation at a time utilities are moving away from coal and gas toward renewable sources of electricity.
The new turbines will run mostly on natural gas but switch to ultra low-sulfur diesel fuel when gas is unavailable.
The project’s opponents asked the PSC in recent weeks to hold off on certifying the turbines until an all-source request for proposals (RFP) Georgia Power is pursuing determines whether other less costly, lower-polluting options might be available.
But Georgia Power officials argued that any alternative sources of electricity the RFP produces wouldn’t be ready in time to meet the capacity needs of customers starting in the winter of 2026.
During negotiations that led to the commission’s staff endorsing the project, Georgia Power agreed to submit semi-annual construction monitoring reports updating the status of the work. However, unlike the monitoring process that took place during construction of the nuclear expansion at the utility’s Plant Vogtle, the PSC doesn’t anticipate holding hearings on each report.
The turbines project generated extensive back-and-forth during last week’s meeting of the commission’s Energy Committee. As a result, Tuesday’s vote took place with little discussion.
