U.S. Rep. Nathan Deal, a Republican candidate for governor in 2010, has ended a nearly 20-year business arrangement with the state that earned his company about $300,000 a year.
State records show that Deal and his business partner Ken Cronan have chosen for now not to apply to be one of the Department of Revenue's locations where rebuilt salvaged vehicles are inspected.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported in August that Deal personally intervened with state leaders to preserve the obscure state program that granted him a regional monopoly. Deal on three occasions in the past year and a half met with Revenue Commissioner Bart Graham to question changes Graham wanted to make to the program. The state has, since 1982, required any vehicle that is totaled and rebuilt to pass a safety inspection before it can be given a new title.
Deal's chief of staff used his congressional e-mail account to contact Georgia Senate and Revenue Department staff to discuss the plans and to set appointments for Deal to meet with officials, including Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle.
Deal's efforts prompted a government watchdog organization, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, to file an ethics complaint against him with the U.S. House. That complaint is pending.
Deal said in August he did nothing wrong and was not using his public office for personal gain. Instead, he said, he was helping constituents and making sure an important state program continued to protect the safety of Georgians.
Deal could not be reached for comment on this article Tuesday. His campaign spokesman, Harris Blackwood, said he did not know whether Deal was still in the inspection business.
Despite Deal's efforts, Graham succeeded in changing the program, which has seen little change and no competition since it was established in the 1980s. While Graham's attempts to make changes through legislation and the state budget were stymied, he used his regulatory power as revenue commissioner to accomplish much the same thing.
Deal and Cronan own and operate Recovery Services Inc., also known as Gainesville Salvage & Disposal, which earned $1.5 million in fees from the state from 2004 through 2008, according to state records. The company provided a location and equipment for state inspectors to examine salvaged vehicles. Deal and Cronan never had to compete for the business, state officials said. Their company was one of five around the state allowed to host the inspections through informal agreements.
Deal personally earned up to $150,000 a year from the enterprise, according to reports he files with the U.S. House.
But new rules took effect in September that ended the state's relationship with the five firms that hosted the inspections. After Sept. 17, any business that wanted to host state inspectors had to apply to the Revenue Department. The new rules also limited to $50 the fee the businesses could charge owners to have their vehicles inspected by the state. Deal and Cronan had been charging twice that much.
Deal and Cronan initially applied under the new guidelines, state records show. But on Sept. 10 Cronan asked that their application be withdrawn, according to a letter the Department of Revenue sent Cronan. The AJC obtained the letter, and other documents, through Georgia's Open Records Act.
Eight firms are providing inspection locations, three of which also perform the inspections — another new aspect of the program. Previously, only state employees conducted the checks. Of the eight, four previously served as inspection stations.
There is no deadline for applications, however, meaning Deal and Cronan could choose to apply later for the business. According to Graham, anybody who applies and qualifies will be approved.
"We are getting inquiries on a regular basis, both for inspectors and for serving as [inspection] stations," Graham said. "This will be constant competition. Anybody who doesn't provide the service, other suppliers will be able to provide the service."
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