Today’s newsletter highlights:
- Jon Ossoff campaigns for Debra Shigley in state Senate race.
- CDC workers will return to the office one month after a deadly shooting.
- New documents appear to refute fraud allegations against Lisa Cook.
Vaccine question
Credit: Ben Gray for the AJC
Credit: Ben Gray for the AJC
Gov. Brian Kemp has mostly gone along with President Donald Trump’s second term policy priorities, including deploying the Georgia National Guard to aid his crackdown on crime and illegal immigration.
But the Kemp administration raised questions last week about whether it would go its own way when it comes to the COVID-19 vaccine, depending on the outcome of a high-stakes meeting in Atlanta this week.
The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices meets Thursday and Friday to consider guidelines for the vaccine. The meeting comes after Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. fired the 17 members of the committee. Many of those tapped to replace them share his skepticism of vaccines.
That alarmed Georgia’s experts on the state Board of Public Health, who last week questioned how the Kemp administration would respond.
“If it is really out of line with what we feel is appropriate, given the science and epidemiologic trends as we know it, we can make decisions then,” Department of Public Health Commissioner Kathleen Toomey said.
Many pharmacies and public health clinics in Georgia have halted this year’s COVID-19 booster shots amid the uncertainty, causing problems for patients. One riveting example from the AJC’s Ariel Hart: a cancer patient who needs the booster now but has been refused by a doctor, four nurses and a pharmacy.
On Friday, four Democrats — state Reps. David Wilkerson of Powder Springs, Marvin Lim of Norcross, Karen Lupton of Chamblee and Lisa Campbell of Kennesaw — wrote a letter to Kemp asking him to issue an executive order allowing Georgians access to the vaccine without prescriptions or qualifications.
“Rather than relying solely on unelected federal advisory bodies, we believe Georgia can — and should — lead by example,” the letter said.
Things to know
Good morning! Georgia had more than $26.3 billion in business investment in the last fiscal year, Gov. Brian Kemp announced today. He says that’s a new record that will support 23,200 private-sector jobs over the next few years.
Here are three other things to know for today:
- Before Georgia narrowly defeated Tennessee on Saturday, the AJC’s Michelle Baruchman spoke with Tennessee fans to gauge how they feel about their former football coach Derek Dooley running for the U.S. Senate in Georgia.
- Republican business executive Clark Dean has field paperwork to run for governor in Georgia, Greg Bluestein reports.
- The Trump administration’s immigration raid on a Hyundai plant in Georgia has caused the leaders of other foreign firms to say they now must consider the safety of their workers when making investment decisions, the AJC’s Zachary Hansen, Mirtha Donastorg and Kelly Yamanouchi report.
Campaign watch
Credit: Ben Gray for the AJC
Credit: Ben Gray for the AJC
Democrats are hoping a Sept. 23 Georgia Senate special election could give them an early boost heading into the midterms — and a test of voter sentiment on President Donald Trump’s tax and spending law.
U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff was the latest party leader to campaign for Democrat Debra Shigley, who’s trying to flip a GOP-held state Senate seat covering parts of Fulton and Cherokee counties. On the trail this weekend, Ossoff linked her race to his own reelection message, spotlighting the decision of St. Mary’s Sacred Heart Hospital in Lavonia to shift its labor and delivery services to Athens.
The hospital cited Medicaid cuts as part of its decision. Those cuts stem from the new Republican tax and spending law, which slashes $1 trillion from Medicaid over a decade to help finance tax reductions and increases in defense and immigration enforcement.
“You know we talk about these things in theory. This is real,” Ossoff said. “This is a hospital here in Georgia that is no longer going to be able to provide services to delivering mothers and newborn babies because of that terrible bill that they passed in Congress.”
CDC return
Credit: AP
Credit: AP
Employees at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will return to their offices today just over a month after a gunman fired more than 500 rounds into the agency’s Atlanta headquarters.
Democratic U.S. Sens. Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock have asked Jim O’Neill, acting CDC director, to review security protocols around the building to identify areas that might be prone to attack, the AJC’s Michelle Baruchman reports.
In a letter, they urged O’Neill to request emergency funding from Congress to bolster security improvements and support employees’ mental health needs. Plus, they asked him to investigate “the role that misinformation and disinformation about the CDC” had “in contributing to the volatile atmosphere before this attack.” That includes statements by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
The letter asks O’Neill for an update on these requests by Sept. 25.
Free parking
Credit: Jason Getz/AJC
Credit: Jason Getz/AJC
While Republicans under the Gold Dome have their eye on ending the state income tax, across the street at Atlanta City Hall one council member is looking to nix another annoying expense: parking fees.
City Council member Antonio Lewis wants parking to be free during public meetings at City Hall. He wrote a resolution directing Mayor Andre Dickens’ administration to take “whatever action” necessary to make this happen, suggesting they could just turn the meters off when the council was in session.
Lewis said the public shouldn’t be forced to pay $2.30 per hour just to speak to their elected officials, noting the costs can add up during some of the council’s marathon meetings.
“It’s kind of difficult … to see people come down and know that they truly can’t afford the $2.30 and all they wanted to do was tell us about their water bill that day,” Lewis said.
The idea conflicts with the council’s other priority of encouraging more people to use public transportation, including MARTA.
“I don’t think the city should be in the business of subsidizing storage of people’s privately owned vehicles,” Council member Jason Dozier said.
Other council members were sympathetic to the idea, but said it needed more work. They voted last week to hold the resolution in committee. Transportation Committee Chair Byron Amos urged Lewis to bring the resolution back up after working on it with the Dickens administration.
Term limits
More than a decade ago, members of Cobb County’s electric cooperative replaced the entire board of directors and imposed term limits after a former CEO was accused of defrauding the utility.
But as Saturday’s election showed, members’ appetite for change has dwindled in the years since the scandal.
Members voted to keep the same board on Saturday, plus extend term limits to five terms from four, the Marietta Daily Journal reported. The utility’s leadership had endorsed the change, arguing it would ensure more stability. Without extending term limits, the entire board would be replaced over the next two years.
Saturday’s in-person vote marked an end to what the news outlet described as the most contentious election in years for the Cobb Electric Membership Corporation, a utility owned by its members.
Board member Bryan Boyd defeated two challengers, while two other candidates were reelected without opposition. The proposal to extend term limits passed with more than 70% of the vote.
Kemp’s pet project
Credit: Courtesy photo
Credit: Courtesy photo
They say if you want a friend in politics, get a dog. But what if you could get a dog — or a cat — from politics? Your chance is coming up on Saturday, when first lady Marty Kemp will host her 7th annual Pet Adoption Day at the Governor’s Mansion in Buckhead.
The event has made multiple matches over the years between Kemp staffers and their new best pals, including former Kemp communications guru Garrison Douglas and his puppy, Mable Douglas.
But you don’t have to be a politico to attend. Along with loads of adoptable dogs and cats, the event will also feature Georgia Grown products from across the state.
Listen up
Credit: Rod Lamkey Jr./AP
Credit: Rod Lamkey Jr./AP
Today on the “Politically Georgia” podcast we answer questions from the listener mailbag about the assassination of Charlie Kirk, Gov. Brian Kemp’s response to the Hyundai immigration raid, and COVID-19 vaccines.
You can listen and subscribe to Politically Georgia 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.
Cook documents
Credit: Manuel Balce Ceneta/AP
Credit: Manuel Balce Ceneta/AP
Credit union records reviewed by Reuters appear to refute some of the allegations from President Donald Trump’s administration against Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook.
The records show Cook, a Georgia native, listed an Atlanta property that she owns as a “vacation home.” The Trump administration has accused Cook of listing the home as her primary residence to skirt tax laws.
Still, the Trump administration is pressing ahead with its emergency request for a federal appeals court to remove Cook from the board ahead of its next meeting on Tuesday, where governors could vote to lower interest rates.
Today in Washington
- President Donald Trump will meet at the White House with Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople, leader of Eastern Orthodox Christians. Trump will also sign a presidential memorandum.
- The House returns for evening votes.
- The Senate could vote to speed up confirmation of Trump nominees.
Shoutouts
Credit: Olivia Bowdoin for the AJC
Credit: Olivia Bowdoin for the AJC
Belated birthdays
- State Sen. Kay Kirkpatrick, R-Marietta (was Saturday).
- State Rep. Charlice Byrd, R-Woodstock (was Sunday).
- Former Tucker City Council member Anne Lerner (was Sunday).
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
Credit: File photo
Credit: File photo
Derek Dooley celebrated Georgia’s come-from-behind victory over Tennessee on Saturday. But some opponents of Dooley’s U.S. Senate campaign held signs up before the game highlighting his troubled tenure as University of Tennessee’s football coach, which were visible during ESPN’s “College GameDay” show from Knoxville.
That’ll do it for us today. As always, you can send your best scoops, gossip and insider info to greg.bluestein@ajc.com, tia.mitchell@ajc.com, patricia.murphy@ajc.com and adam.beam@ajc.com.
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