Georgia's Republicans will vote on a chairman and debate the future of "religious liberty" legislation next month in Athens. They'll also get a chance to take stock of Republicans seeking the presidency.
GAGOP chairman John Padgett tells us there will be more than one 2016 hopeful attending the state convention May 15-16, but it's not going to be a full-blown cattle call because of a simultaneous Republican National Committee meeting in Arizona.
Padgett would not reveal who will be there. Phil Kent writes on InsiderAdvantage that U.S. Sens. Marco Rubio of Florida and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina will make the voyage from their bordering states.
We also hear that former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee is a possibility. At that point, the social conservative favorite will be coming off a May 5 formal presidential announcement.
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Buzz Brockway is a contributor to PeachPundit.com. He's also a state House member (R-Lawrenceville). Today he mixes his two inclinations with a post on a measure he introduced late last session, aimed at growing commuter rail in the 'burbs. A portion:
Shall the Constitution of Georgia be amended so as provide for the creation of transit community improvement districts in which property, with the consent of the owners thereof, may be subject to taxes, fees, and assessments for the purpose of providing extensions of existing transit rail infrastructure, including rail lines, terminals, rail cars, and other associated capital expenditures?"
... So why allow for the creation of a TCID? Funding for transit, especially expansion of rail, has been a vexing question for a number of years. In the wake of the failure of the TSPLOST measure in 2010, it became clear to me that the discussion of funding transit needed to be separated from the discussion about funding roads and bridges. The debate over this year's transportation funding bill further cemented my thinking. The interests of pro-transit people and pro-roads and bridges people are at odds. You can argue they shouldn't be but the reality is they are. I can also assure you that the desire to take up the subject of funding transportation will not be very high on next year's Legislative priority list. So, pro-transit folks disappointed with HB170 will have to stay disappointed unless a different funding mechanism can be found (like HR830).
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From way up in north Georgia, we have word of an old debt being repaid. From the press release:
"We are delighted to welcome James to campus," said YHC President Cathy Cox. "Since the opening of the new Zell and Shirley Miller Library, James and his wife, Mary Matalin, have expressed interest in coming to the College to honor Gov. Miller— who happened to perform the marriage ceremony for the couple 22 years ago."
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This morning, University of Georgia student Adam Veale faces a student judiciary hearing on accusations that he violated the school's code of conduct when he was arrested at the state Capitol on March 2 during a Moral Monday protest.
The hearing is held behind closed doors, so we don't know the specific allegations the UGA political science major is facing. But we do know that state Sen. Vincent Fort, D-Atlanta, will be on hand to testify on Veale's behalf.
Fort told The Red & Black that he still can't come to terms with the charges.
"A university is supposed to make students better citizens," Fort told the student paper. "It is supposed to teach critical thinking but is also supposed to teach students to have responsibility."
UGA spokesman Tom Jackson wouldn't comment on individual student matters, but he did offer us this statement:
"While we cannot comment on an individual student, I can assure you that the University does not discipline students for engaging in lawful protests or for the content of constitutionally protected expression."
Expect more details to trickle out Friday. Veale is set to speak to reporters at UGA's Arch at 1 p.m.
Updated at 5:30 p.m.: Fort sends word that Veale was found not in violation of UGA's student code of conduct.
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A years-long struggle by parents and advocacy groups to require insurance companies to provide coverage to children with autism will soon come to an end.
Gov. Nathan Deal is set to sign the legislation at a ceremony on Wednesday. WSAV reports that Anna Bullard, the Toombs County mother who led the campaign, is set to celebrate the event with the governor at the statehouse.
The measure, House Bill 429, earned final approval on the session's final day after legislators negotiated the end to a bitter stalemate. House leaders held up the bill for years over concerns the mandate would hurt small businesses that provide insurance coverage for employees.
A compromise version that passed the Senate unanimously requires insurance companies to provide up to $30,000 a year of coverage for children age 6 and under.
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We're told that Rafer Johnson, a program manager of in-flight services for Delta Air Lines, has filed the paperwork to start raising money for a Democratic campaign for House District 62, now held by Ladawn Blackett Jones, D-Atlanta.
Jones has said she doesn’t intend to run for re-election.
If elected Johnson would be the first openly gay man elected to the Legislature.
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The fiscally conservative Club for Growth is out to get U.S. Rep. Buddy Carter -- again.
The freshman Pooler Republican is one of four U.S. House Republicans being hit with television ads urging them to kill the Export-Import Bank, the long-running fight between the party's Chamber of Commerce and tea party wings.
The Club says each of the four are being targeted with six-figure ad buys on broadcast and cable. A reader monitoring ad buys sent us data showing the Club bought $23,000 worth of cable spots over the next 10 days throughout the sprawling First District on ESPN, the History Channel, USA, HGTV and, of course, Fox News.
The Club last year spent several hundred thousand dollars on ads attacking Carter during his GOP runoff against Savannah surgeon Bob Johnson, but Carter prevailed.
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U.S. Rep. Tom Graves, R-Ranger, is moving his first bill as a House Appropriations "cardinal," freezing Legislative Branch spending at last year's $3.3 billion level.
The sum is $172 million less than President Barack Obama requested. Graves eliminates the Open World Leadership Center and cuts funding for the Government Publishing Office and the Architect of the Capitol, while allowing an increase for the Capitol Police.
The bill cleared Graves' subcommittee Thursday and heads to the full committee next week. Added Graves in a press release:
"The United States Capitol is a source of pride for every American and a symbol of freedom that is recognized around the world. This bill preserves the beauty and structures of the Capitol grounds, provides essential security for visitors and employees, and ensures that the people's business is carried out in a fiscally responsible way. I'm grateful to all the subcommittee members for working in a thoughtful and bipartisan way to craft a bill that honors and respects taxpayers today and preserves this institution for future generations."
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Graves also picked up a cameo role in the salacious drama surrounding Transportation chairman Bill Shuster, R-Pa., and his relationship with an airline lobbyist.
The bill had gone nowhere under Graves (R-Ga.) — it didn't even muster a hearing in committee. Once the Pennsylvania congressman took over, though, it moved at lightning speed: He introduced a revised version of the bill in March of last year, the same day he met with an airline industry group that supported it. A month later, Shuster shepherded the measure through his transportation panel in roughly 10 minutes. It sailed through the full House three months later without a roll call vote.
The legislation wasn't only a priority for Shuster: It was a top issue for Airlines for America, and for Shuster's girlfriend, Shelley Rubino, the organization's vice president and a top airline lobbyist. Shuster's panel oversees the airline industry, and Rubino's group spends millions of dollars lobbying Congress on behalf of major U.S. airlines. Rubino herself lobbied for the legislation, according to disclosure forms.
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