Democrats predict Georgia could gain another seat in Congress after 2030
Today’s newsletter highlights:
- President Trump’s ‘big, beautiful bill’ would add to national debt.
- Gov. Brian Kemp nominates a chief judge for new tax court.
- Brian Strickland says he’s raised $400,000 for his attorney general bid.
Growth track
Democrats are predicting that Georgia could gain a seat in Congress in a few years because of the Peach State’s population growth.
The president of the National Democratic Redistricting Committee said in a memo Tuesday that Georgia is projected to add a 15th member of the U.S. House after the 2030 Census. The NDRC’s estimate is based on data from Environmental Systems Research Institute that show nationwide population shifts that could affect representation.
Along with Georgia, other states that could gain congressional seats include Arizona, Florida, Idaho, Texas and Utah. Several Democratic-leaning states that are losing population — and therefore could lose seats — are California, Illinois, Minnesota and New York.
Georgia’s congressional delegation remained at 14 members after the 2020 census, when population growth of 10% over the previous decade wasn’t enough to merit another representative. Nine of Georgia’s U.S. House members are Republicans and five are Democrats.
“We must act with urgency to prevent significant gerrymandering of the congressional map and to produce representation in the U.S. House of Representatives that actually reflects the will of the people,” said the memo from NDRC President John Bisognano.
Things to know
Good morning! Today is the 61st anniversary of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which former President Lyndon Johnson signed into law while Atlanta native Martin Luther King Jr. looked on.
Here are three things to know today:
- Jason Esteves raised $1.1 million in the two months since launching his Democratic bid for governor, Greg Bluestein reports.
- A Georgia financial institution with ties to longtime conservative activists ceased all business operations over the weekend, sending ripple effects across the state’s Republican establishment, Bluestein and J. Scott Trubey report.
- U.S. Senate Republicans navigated sharp internal rifts to narrowly pass a massive tax and spending package that implements much of President Donald Trump’s domestic agenda. Georgia Republicans aren’t nearly as divided over the high-stakes legislation, Bluestein writes.
Debt problems
President Donald Trump likes to say his reconciliation bill is big and beautiful. It’s also expensive.
The version that passed the U.S. Senate on Tuesday is expected to increase the deficit by $3.3 billion over the next decade, adding more than $2.4 trillion to the national debt.
That sounds bad. But the national debt is already $36 trillion. Would a few trillion more make a big difference?
To make sense of this, we asked Jeffrey Humphreys, director of the Selig Center for Economic Growth at the Terry College of Business at the University of Georgia. He says for much of its history, the U.S. government has funded its debt “relatively inexpensively.”
But for many years, the nation’s debt has grown faster than its economy. At some point, investors will demand a higher rate of return, which will make carrying that debt a lot more painful.
“We may be getting close to a tipping point,” he said. “I can’t predict exactly what the tipping point is. I’d be foolish to do so. The market will determine that.”
Criticism of the national debt usually fluctuates between Democrats and Republicans, depending on who is in power. On Tuesday, U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff, D-Ga., pointed to the national debt when explaining why he voted against Trump’s bill. Some critics even fanned out to a dozen congressional field offices across Georgia to protest the votes.
But so far, all of Georgia’s Republican members of Congress have voted for it. Their ideas for how to get rid of the debt vary. U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Rome, wants the government to create an investment fund and use the profits to pay down debt.
Tax court
Georgia’s new tax court could soon have its first judge.
Gov. Brian Kemp on Tuesday nominated Department of Revenue Commissioner Frank O’Connell to be the chief judge of the Georgia Tax Court.
The tax court is exactly what it sounds like — a court to resolve disputes about tax bills. It will replace the Georgia Tax Tribunal, which has handled disputes since 2013.
What’s the difference between the court and the tribunal? Mainly, where they are housed. The tribunal is part of the executive branch. That means any appeals must first go to the superior court, which in these cases means Fulton County.
The tax court will be part of the judicial branch. Any appeals of its decisions would go directly to the state Court of Appeals. State lawmakers thought that was better because it would reduce the workload for busy Fulton County judges. Voters approved the change last year.
O’Connell must first be approved by a majority vote of the judiciary committees of the state House and Senate. But that vote will likely be just a formality. Lt. Gov. Burt Jones and House Speaker Jon Burns have both endorsed O’Connell’s nomination.
Still, the new position could come with a pay cut. State law says the chief judge will earn $174,500. State records show O’Connell made more than $206,000 last year as the Department of Revenue commissioner.
Masking controversy
A little-known Georgia law banning people from wearing masks in public was meant to prevent Ku Klux Klan members from hiding their identities.
But Savannah officials cited the law last month when they arrested a man who wore a traditional Arabic scarf during a “No Kings” protest in Savannah and refused to remove it when asked by police.
The Savannah Morning News’ Ansley Franco reports Luvrio Wilkerson faces misdemeanor charges stemming from the June 14th protest.
Wilkerson said he didn’t know about the law. He said he wore the scarf, known as a keffiyeh, to prevent being photographed or showing up on other people’s social media feeds.
Wilkerson said he lowered his scarf initially when asked by police, but then immediately raised it. He then ran from police when they approached him again.
A Savannah Police Department spokesperson said Wilkerson would not have been charged for wearing a mask if he had not tried to run away.
Campaign watch
Republican Brian Strickland says he has raised more than $400,000 in the first four weeks since formally announcing his campaign for attorney general, the AJC’s Michelle Baruchman reports.
The Republican state senator from McDonough filed to run in April. His full financial disclosure report won’t be available until later this month.
“No one will outwork us, and every dollar raised will go toward spreading our message of protecting faith, family and freedom across Georgia,” Strickland said, in a statement.
Strickland is competing with state Sen. Bill Cowsert, R-Athens, for the Republican nomination. Former Democratic House leader Bob Trammell filed paperwork Tuesday to seek the Democratic nomination.
Listen up
Today on the “Politically Georgia” podcast, Stanford law professor Fred Smith joins the show to explain the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent ruling about birthright citizenship.
You can listen and subscribe to the show for free at Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.
Have a question or comment for the show? Email us at politicallygeorgia@ajc.com or give us a call at 770-810-5297 and you could be featured on a future episode.
House in flux
Two Republicans on the U.S. House Rules Committee voted against advancing President Donald Trump’s “big, beautiful bill” to the House floor for a final vote. But there were still enough GOP lawmakers in favor that the motion carried around 1 a.m.
Republican leaders in the House want to vote on the tax and spending bill today to send it to Trump before the July 4th holiday. But first they have to make sure they have enough votes for it to pass.
Some hard-right Republicans are upset about the Senate’s version of the bill because it would increase the federal budget deficit by $1 trillion dollars more compared to the proposal that the House passed in May.
Meanwhile, moderate Republicans from blue states are worried about the bill’s cuts to Medicaid and a shorter window for an expanded tax deduction for state and local taxes.
As a result, the House schedule for today is unclear. Making matters more complicated: storms in D.C. caused some flight delays and cancellations Tuesday. While the House technically begins its business day at 9 a.m., attendance issues could also affect the timing of any votes.
Today in Washington
- President Donald Trump has no public events on his schedule but is expected to work behind the scenes to rally support for the reconciliation bill.
- The House could take votes on the reconciliation bill.
- The Senate is out for the rest of the week.
More Lanier parks reopen
Just in time for Independence Day, six more parks around Lake Lanier have reopened, according to WSB-TV. Officials in Hall and Forsyth counties agreed to help manage the parks as part of the agreement allowing the public to have access.
In May, the federal government announced that 20 parks around Lake Lanier would close because of staff shortages. Republicans who represent the reservoir and popular recreational destination in North Georgia successfully lobbied the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to reduce the closures to 11.
They argued that limiting access to Lake Lanier would inconvenience visitors just as the Memorial Day celebrations marked the start of summer.
Shoutouts
Today’s birthday:
- U.S. Rep. Mike Collins, R-Jackson.
Accolade:
- Avery Low Jr., a Savannah-area World War II veteran who took part in the D-Day invasion, received the French Legion of Honor award Monday.
Transition:
- Ben Jarrard will be Senate Majority Leader Jason Anavitarte’s chief of staff. Jarrard held the same position for former Majority Leader Steve Gooch, R-Dahlonega. Anavitarte, R-Dallas, was elected majority leader last month.
Want a birthday shoutout in the Politically Georgia newsletter? There’s a form for that. Click here to submit the shoutouts. It’s not just birthdays. We’re also interested in new jobs, engagements, birth announcements, etc.
Before you go
Paramount has agreed to pay $16 million to settle a lawsuit filed by President Donald Trump over the editing of CBS’ “60 Minutes” interview with then-Vice President Kamala Harris.
That’ll do it for us today. As always, you can send your best scoops, gossip and insider info to greg.bluestein@ajc.comtia.mitchell@ajc.com, patricia.murphy@ajc.com and adam.beam@ajc.com.
About the Authors
Greg Bluestein is the Atlanta Journal Constitution's chief political reporter. He is also an author, TV analyst and co-host of the Politically Georgia podcast.
Tia Mitchell is the AJC’s Washington Bureau Chief and a co-host of the "Politically Georgia" podcast. She writes about Georgia’s congressional delegation, campaigns, elections and the impact that decisions made in D.C. have on residents of the Peach State.
Patricia Murphy is the AJC's senior political columnist. She was previously a nationally syndicated columnist for CQ Roll Call, national political reporter for the Daily Beast and Politics Daily, and wrote for The Washington Post and Garden & Gun. She graduated from Vanderbilt and holds a master’s degree in journalism from Columbia University.
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