Gov. Nathan Deal began the legislative session by unveiling a sweeping proposal for a state takeover of failing schools. He ended it by setting the guidelines for next year’s certain revival of controversial “religious freedom” legislation that fizzled in the session’s final days.
The Republican governor’s fingerprints are all over dozens of bills that reached his desk this legislative session. Fresh off his November re-election victory, he used his clout to secure nearly all of his legislative priorities, from the schools overhaul to arcane agency changes, and he pushed through the brunt of his spending plan.
He and his aides corralled just enough support for his school takeover proposal, his top priority this session, to pass the two-thirds threshold it needed. He helped broker a consensus between dueling factions to legalize medical marijuana. He also worked behind-the-scenes to facilitate a truce on a plan to raise nearly $1 billion for transportation improvements.
The governor also played a deeply personal role on more minor proposals. He intervened on behalf of judges seeking hefty pay raises and muscled through an expansion of the Court of Appeals. He engineered a new state agency to oversee probation and parole supervision, and he was the driving force behind legislation that could be used to help lure a Volvo plant.
It means that the governor will spend the next 40 days weighing bills often shaped by him and his aides, leaving few of the vexing questions that challenged him in the aftermath of his four previous legislative sessions. Any legislation that he doesn’t sign or veto during the window automatically becomes law.
“The one thing that people like to say about Republicans is that they don’t know how to govern,” Deal said in an interview in his office shortly before the session’s final gavel. “I think this session put that myth to rest. We are willing to face difficult issues. We are willing to make choices that would be easier to simply avoid.”
Even his fiercest critics gave Deal their begrudging respect.
“The person who wields the budget pen, who can sign bills or veto them, is the pre-eminent power,” said state Sen. Nan Orrock, D-Atlanta. “And he employed every means at hand to use it with threats or offers to secure votes. He certainly knows how to use that power.”
Unconventional session
It was an unusual legislative session for Georgia Republicans, their first since consolidating their power in last year’s statewide election, and they used it to accomplish what you might least expect.
Republicans backed tax increases for transportation, passed legislation to legalize medical marijuana, set the stage for two new bureaucracies and thumbed their nose at a religious freedom, or "religious liberty," bill that sparked controversies in Arkansas and Indiana.
Gone were the hallmarks of past sessions under GOP rule. There were no sweeping firearms bills, immigration crackdowns or abortion restrictions that gin up the conservative base. Last-ditch attempts to do so were often defeated at the hands of fellow Republicans with Democratic support.
“Those other issues, they might wait until next year,” Republican state Sen. Charlie Bethel said. “We’ve got 40 days and there’s a limited amount of time to get our work done.”
The counterintuitive work was a result of Deal and other GOP leaders using their political muscle at what could be a high point. Deal risks “lame-duck” status as he ventures deeper into his final term in office, and the jockeying for his coveted seat could complicate the united front by Republican leaders that made this year’s agenda possible.
They also benefited from a political lull. Next year’s presidential vote promises to lead to a more divisive session, as lawmakers from both parties sharpen their attacks and churn out more red-meat proposals to drive out their supporters on Election Day.
Tough decisions
The governor still faces tough decisions. He must weigh whether to legalize the sale of fireworks amid criticism that it would endanger children's safety. He'll consider legislation that would require insurance companies to cover treatment of some children with autism, which business groups have fiercely fought as an unfunded mandate.
A package of tax incentives that would cost the state treasury more than $100 million goes to his desk, including a break for Truett-McConnell College championed by a lawmaker who is a trustee of the school. And a proposal to let MARTA spend more money on expansion projects, which passed after years of debate, remains divisive to some conservatives.
But perhaps the most blowback will be reserved for the sweeping plan to raise more than $900 million for transportation. It is fueled by a new $5 tax tacked on to hotel and motel stays, annual fees for heavy-duty trucks and an overhaul of the gas taxing formula.
Deal said he would sign the plan, which was pitched as an economic development and public safety imperative, but it faces considerable opposition from conservatives. State Sen. Josh McKoon, R-Columbus, labeled it a “massive tax increase” hashed out in back rooms, and tea party groups have threatened to challenge Republicans who voted for it.
“This was a departure from what you usually see out of Republicans,” said state Rep. Scot Turner, a Holly Springs Republican who voted against the measure. “We need to do some serious soul-searching.”
The governor must also navigate the aftermath of the failure to pass a religious liberty bill coveted by some Republicans as a crucial safeguard against government intrusion on religious freedom, but loathed by critics who view it as a legal loophole that could lead to discrimination against gays.
As the session's final moments ticked down, Deal urged the bill's sponsors to include an anti-discrimination clause to sap some of the "hyperbole" out of the debate. And he took quiet stock of a session that left him with plenty of victories, even if they involve battles a Republican wouldn't typically pick.
“You have to take on tough tasks, and that’s what Republicans are learning,” he said. “You have to ask your members to make hard choices.”
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