Here is what is trending in politics around Georgia and across the nation on Tuesday.
1. GOP health care bill collapses; Republicans say they will repeal now, replace later
Republican plans to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act ground to a halt late Monday after two GOP senators announced they would not vote for the revised health care plan. Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, (R-Kentucky), said the Senate would move ahead with a bill to repeal the health care legislation with a two-year delay, and put off a vote on replacing President Barack Obama's signature legislation.
2. Taking their names off the roll
Georgia election officials say they are fielding calls from some voters anxious about information requested by President Donald Trump's election fraud commission. A spokeswoman for the Georgia Secretary of State's office said Monday that the office has received calls from Georgians who want to cancel their registration and have their information deleted from the state's voter rolls. Vice President Mike Pence, who heads the commission, said the group is asking only for information on voters that is currently available to the public. In Georgia, that means a voter's home address, race, gender and whether someone voted in a Democratic or Republican primary.
3. New NAFTA goals announced
The White House announced on Monday plans to renegotiate the North Atlantic Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA.) The administration wants to insert a chapter into the agreement addressing the digital economy along with a new provision that calls for more products to be traded from the United States. Under NAFTA, Georgia imports $4.2 billion and exports $6.4 billion to Canada each year.
4. Nearly a quarter million Georgia voters can't vote
A little more than 6 million people in the United States are disenfranchised because they have been convicted of a felony, according to a report from the Sentencing Project, a research and advocacy center that promotes criminal justice reform. Of that number, 4.5 million live in the South. In some states, such as Florida, you can be permanently disenfranchised if you have a felony conviction on your record. In Georgia, if you are convicted of a felony, you are disenfranchised during incarceration and while on probation or parole. As of the end of last year, 248,751 Georgians were barred from voting because of a felony conviction.
In case you missed it:
Defense spending bill is good for Georgia, supported by GOP reps
All 10 Georgia Republican Representatives and two Democratic ones supported defense spending legislation passed in the U.S. House last week. The bill includes funding for Georgia's eight major military installations.
Hudgens won't run for re-election
Ralph Hudgens, Georgia's insurance commissioner, says he will not run for re-election next year. Hudgens, who has served two terms as commissioner, has been criticized as insurance rates in the state have risen and after insurance companies donated to his campaign.
Georgia 2018: Lobbyists are voting with their wallet in governor race
Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle has taken in 10 times as much campaign money from lobbyists and political action committees as the other three leading GOP candidates combined, according to a story from the AJC.
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