Sometimes our investigative reporting gets results. And sometimes, Georgia politicians just don’t seem to care about how outrageous their behavior can look to average citizens.
So when the Legislature on its final day of the session refused to pass a law that AJC reporting had stopped in its tracks by putting a spotlight on it, all Georgians could see how important it is to shed light on the activities of our lawmakers, lest they misuse their power.
Let me explain.
A couple Sundays back, two of our best reporters, James Salzer and Aaron Gould Sheinin, wrote a front-page story about an insurance bill. Now I know you just read “insurance bill,” two words that invite you to stop reading and watch a cat video on Facebook.
But stick with me here.
You see, Salzer and Gould Sheinin, experienced hands in our Capitol Bureau, have a nose for a story. They knew everyone was distracted by the campus gun debate and the religious liberty argument and all the other shenanigans our lawmakers spend their time on so they can rush all the important stuff to a vote on the final day without even reading the bills.
In this case, a powerful member of the Georgia House of Representatives, Republican John Meadows, was pulling strings. He wanted a bill passed that would guarantee a certain commission for insurance agents when they sold health coverage.
Did I mention that Meadows is an insurance agent? Did I mention that the bill would benefit him directly?
How could he do this, you might wonder. Simple.
He just lined up a new member of the House, Republican Shaw Blackmon, to push the bill.
Salzer and Gould Sheinin exposed what was going on, including how even some legislators thought it outrageous that Georgia would have a law basically guaranteeing a rate of pay. Even more outrageous was this fact: many of the people on the committee considering the bill were insurance agents too.
Nice, huh? Wouldn’t it be great if in your job you got to pass a law on how much you should be paid?
The next day, I was sitting with Salzer and Gould Sheinin at the Capitol. Their story created a buzz — and strong reaction. Later that day, Salzer wrote:
“A key Georgia Senate panel stalled an insurance agents commission bill pushed by a powerful House leader Monday, the day after The Atlanta Journal-Constitution raised questions about the measure.”
“Nice work,” I said to them — something I say a lot to our folks at the Capitol. This is the kind of thing we know you want us doing: keeping an eye on what the Legislature does in the name of the citizens in Georgia.
But the story doesn’t end there, unfortunately.
First, Gould Sheinin was told by several sources at the Capitol that Meadows gave this instruction about the AJC to members of the Republican caucus:
“Don’t talk to those (expletive deleted).”
And here’s why he didn’t want anyone talking to our reporters.
Meadows is a powerful guy under the Gold Dome because he’s the chairman of the House Rules Committee. The time had come to reach into his bag of political maneuvers.
Again, I don’t want to lose you with a bunch of legislative mumbo-jumbo. But his bill was stalled because some legislators actually acknowledged they might have a conflict of interest — and refused to vote on it. Imagine that.
But you don’t mess with Meadows if you care about getting your bills passed. His bill moved out of the committee that was stalling it, because he has the power to stop any and every bill that the House is considering.
And he made it clear he would be stopping some bills.
So the Republican leaders just put some new, compliant members on the recalcitrant committee and moved Meadows’ bill.
By then, Gould Sheinin and Salzer predicted that Meadows would get his way. They know how things worked, but continued to follow the story:
“Georgia Senate leaders found a way around their colleagues’ initial squeamishness about passing a controversial minimum commission bill pushed by a powerful House insurance agent to get the measure moving again.”
Their story noted numerous problems and concerns some had with the bill.
Ultimately, on the last, last night of the session, the bill stalled again. And then died.
Gould Sheinin and Salzer will keep at this stuff, because there’s no telling when such a bill will come up again or where else in state government personal interests will collide with public interest.
While these kinds of stories seem routine, they take a special kind of reporter, and a dedication to the work.
They dig and dig, and not everyone is happy with what they find.
“Covering these folks day in and day out, it can be a real gut-check when we pop them with an investigative story like this,” said Gould Sheinin. “We rely on them as sources to find out what’s really happening, not just what the ‘show’ tells us.”
“Luckily, we have the resources and the space to make sure our stories are fair,” he added.
From there, it’s up to the citizens of Georgia to decide what’s right.
About the Author
