House Speaker David Ralston is open to, if wary of, the coming debate over legalizing casino gambling in Georgia.
But he also offers the reminder that the discussion over horse-racing,
, has already made some inroads among skeptical lawmakers. Said Ralston on Tuesday:
"There's been a lot of interest in pari-mutuel betting in the House for a number of years now, and some people have the view for that to be successful you have to have casinos to supplement them. I don't have the answer to that ... In my view, it comes out of the whole horse-racing discussion. There seems to be a split of opinion about whether horse racing, standing alone, can be financially viable or whether you need both."
A study committee meeting this year is tasked with investigating, but it sets up a prickly problem. The Georgia Horse Racing Coalition and other backers of pari-mutuel wagering will have to decide whether to ally with MGM and other casino magnates bursting onto the scene or to go it alone.
Ralston, for one, said he's "open to positive ideas," but that it's early yet. "I'm not advocating for it," he hastened to add.
***
How's this for a conversation starter at August town hall meetings across Georgia?
U.S. Rep. Mark Meadows, R-N.C., filed a motion to remove House Speaker John Boehner on Tuesday. Roll Call reports that Meadows used a procedure that would send the motion first to the Rules Committee -- run by Boehner, so it will sit -- and did not even give arch-conservative pals a heads-up. What gives?
Either way, Republican leadership will probably ignore this particular motion, unless it gets 218 signatures in a discharge petition. But, as members noted to CQ Roll Call Tuesday night, any member can get a vote on a motion to vacate the chair. It's just a matter of whether there's support for such a tactic. And the August recess, when members return to their districts, is a good time to find out.
Remember the entire Georgia GOP delegation voted for Boehner as speaker on the floor in January, a move seen as a behind-the-scenes win for Rep. Lynn Westmoreland in keeping the delegation together. Will freshmen such as Jody Hice and Barry Loudermilk stick with Boehner this time?
***
Our old friend Joe Earle, now with Reporter Newspapers, writes that the two surviving candidates in the special election for House District 80 have agreed to a joint appearance:
Democrat Taylor Bennett, a lawyer and former Georgia Tech football player, and J.Max Davis, a [Republican] lawyer and the former mayor of Brookhaven, collected the most votes in the four-candidate field seeking the post in the July 14 runoff.
Given the chance of a possible Democratic pick-up on Aug. 11, Republicans have clearly called for all hands on deck. The press release from GOPer consultant Todd Rehm:
Hosts include DeKalb County Commissioner Nancy Jester, State Rep. Tom Taylor (R-Dunwoody) and State Senators Judson Hill (R-Marietta) and Fran Millar (R-Dunwoody).
***
The Georgia Chamber reports that Frank Luntz, the GOP pollster who elicited Donald Trump's John-McCain-is-no-hero comment on an Iowa stage earlier this month, will be the featured speaker at its annual congressional luncheon in Macon. Clear your calendar for Aug. 25.
***
Tuesday brought new twists in the ongoing tug-of-war over a State Department training facility, which the administration wants to build in Virginia but Georgians and fiscal hawks want to put at an existing facility near Brunswick.
First, the Washington Post's Colby Itkowitz scored some White House documents showing that even the administration determined Georgia would be the more cost-effective location:
"While Fort Pickett would have an advantage for location and interagency synergies, the [OMB's resource management office] does not believe that the difference is substantial enough to rule out FLETC… FASTC at FLETC would ultimately have more capabilities than FASTC at Fort Pickett at a lower cost."
[Deputy Secretary of State Heather] Higginbottom wrote to [OMB's Steve] Kosiak wanting to discuss State's "appeal" of that decision. Kosiak responded that he didn't understand State's "reluctance to consider FLETC." They met in February 2014 and FASTC was suddenly back on track.
Then the Senate Homeland Security Committee held a hearing to thwack administration officials over the decision -- Congress is withholding money from the project pending more cost justification -- and Republicans picked up an ally on the other side of the aisle in Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., who ripped into the administration:
"This is a business decision. It is called a cost benefit analysis. It is very clear to me that the State Department said in the beginning we want to be here [Virginia] and we don't really need to do the cost benefit analysis that anybody should do if they are going to spend this kind of money."
Sen. David Perdue, R-Ga., is not on the committee, but sent his thoughts in a statement:
"The State Department continues to ignore the full taxpayer costs associated with constructing and supporting a brand new facility. I'm encouraged to see my Senate colleagues join our efforts to stop such costly duplication from Washington, and as Chairman of the State Department Oversight Subcommittee, I will continue pressing for real answers."
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The Washington Post delved into how the Senate's bipartisan education bill got done, and Sen. Johnny Isakson, R-Ga., gets a piece of the credit for working out a dispute on early childhood education between primary negotiators Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., and Patty Murray, D-Wash. From Lyndsey Layton's story:
Then Alexander got an idea. If Murray could work out a preschool proposal with Sen. Johnny Isakson (R-Ga.), a committee member she knew and had worked with in the past, Alexander said he would accept it. If Isakson signed on, Alexander knew it would get some support among Republicans. That enabled Alexander to "not own it, but to allow it, in a bipartisan way," Murray said.
Murray and Isakson wrote an amendment that would create competitive grants for states to help them coordinate various state, federal and local early childhood programs. The amendment was adopted by the committee and added to the bill. It wasn't as strong as Murray wanted, but it was something, she said.
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It appears the highway bill standoff will be put off until October. Rejoice. From Roll Call:
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said Tuesday the Senate will take up the highway extension from the House that will run to Oct. 29. He also said the House will pass a long-term bill that will ultimately go to conference with the Senate's long-term bill.
And he confirmed a vote on defunding Planned Parenthood before recess.
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