Today’s newsletter highlights:
- A new report highlights spending on Georgia Pathways program.
- State lawmakers pledge not to impose sales taxes on groceries.
- Barry Loudermilk seeks footage of the U.S. Capitol from Jan. 6, 2021.
Friday news quiz
Credit: Miguel Martinez/AJC
Credit: Miguel Martinez/AJC
Good morning! It’s time to test your knowledge of political news in Georgia and beyond. Stumped? You’ll find the answers at the bottom of the newsletter. Speaking of newsletters, don’t forget to sign up to have this one delivered to your inbox every weekday morning.
Georgia’s 2026 race for governor is filling up fast as three people announced their candidacies recently. Who has not entered the race?
- A) Geoff Duncan
- B) Clark Dean
- C) Brad Raffensperger
- D) Stacey Abrams
Ten historically Black colleges and universities in Georgia are likely to receive millions of dollars from the federal government. Where is most of the money coming from?
- A) Savings from the cuts passed in President Donald Trump’s new tax and spending law.
- B) A new grant program approved during former President Joe Biden’s administration.
- C) Funding the Trump administration cut from minority-serving institutions.
- D) A new fee on college textbooks.
A decision this week from the U.S. Department of Transportation will impact Georgia’s business community. What was it?
- A) Canceling funding for a major maintenance project on I-285 in Atlanta.
- B) Nixing a joint venture between Atlanta-based Delta Airlines and Aeromexico.
- C) Doubling the operating authority fee from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration.
- D) Approving funding to lengthen a runway at the Columbus Airport.
The Atlanta-based Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has laid off hundreds of workers. But another federal agency director came to Atlanta this week to say he is hiring. Who was it?
- A) Mehmet Oz, administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
- B) Kelly Loeffler, head of the Small Business Administration.
- C) Veterans Affairs Secretary Doug Collins.
- D) Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins.
Pathways costs
Georgia is the only state in the country that requires some people to work or go to school to be eligible government-funded health insurance. The program will go nationwide in 2027 since Republicans added it to the “big, beautiful” tax and spending bill passed over the summer.
But a new report from the Government Accountability Office found Georgia’s Pathways to Coverage program spent twice as much on administrative costs than it did on health coverage.
“Now the entire country can see what we in Georgia already know — Georgia’s Medicaid work reporting requirement program is the real waste, fraud and abuse,” U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock, D-Ga., said in a statement.
A spokesman for Republican Gov. Brian Kemp dismissed the report, noting it was requested by four Democrats, including Warnock and Georgia Democratic U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff, who have long criticized the program.
The Kemp administration went to court to get the program approved during the Biden administration. When it finally started, Georgia was bogged down in a time-intensive process to redetermine eligibility for everyone on the state’s Medicaid program following the pandemic.
“This report was requested by the same individuals who have no new or good ideas for addressing healthcare needs in Georgia,” the Kemp spokesperson said in a statement. “Democrats like Senators Ossoff and Warnock are trying to rewrite history after four years of inaction and blame for the State for costs associated with their own stonewalling.”
Protecting children
Credit: Adam Beam/AJC
Credit: Adam Beam/AJC
State legislatures across the country are restricting what children can download from app stores to protect kids from sexual predators. Now, some Georgia lawmakers are looking at changes to protect kids from ideological predators, too.
Authorities have said both the 16-year-old who shot two of his classmates in a Colorado school last week and the 22-year-old accused of killing conservative activist Charlie Kirk were “radicalized.”
“It makes me wonder whether all of us are being at least a little bit radicalized online,” said state Sen. Sally Harrell, D-Atlanta. “The Georgia motto recognizes wisdom, justice and moderation. There’s no moderation in the algorithms we all get stuck in. And I’ve never found an algorithm that makes me feel better.”
State lawmakers have already passed laws banning schools from disclosing students’ information to political campaigns and requiring social media companies to verify the ages of users — a law that has been temporarily blocked by a federal judge.
Advocates want Georgia to go further by passing a law limiting what children can download and consent to on app stores. Similar laws have been passed in Louisiana, Texas and Utah.
“What’s to prevent other people looking to indoctrinate our children to be able to use tools like Discord?” state Sen. Shawn Still, R-Johns Creek, asked about the popular group chat app focused on gaming.
Anti-corruption focus
Credit: Jason Getz/AJC
Credit: Jason Getz/AJC
U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff is among more than 80 Democrats who signed on to a new End Citizens United pledge that aims to prove their anti-corruption bona fides — and to draw a sharp contrast with President Donald Trump.
The group is launching Unrig Washington, a national campaign to ban congressional stock trading, reject corporate PAC money and crack down on dark money.
Ossoff, facing a tough reelection battle, was one of the first Democrats to join. He’s made anti-corruption measures a key part of his political identity, and has pushed legislation to ban members of Congress from trading stocks.
Red lines
Credit: Arvin Temkar/AJC
Credit: Arvin Temkar/AJC
State senators studying ways to eliminate the Georgia income tax are a long way from recommending how to do it. But we now know what they won’t do.
Income taxes are by far the largest source of state revenue. A big question is how the state will replace that money.
This week a study committee examining the issue voted they would not:
- Raise property taxes.
- Raise the gas tax.
- Charge sales taxes on groceries.
It’s probably easier for lawmakers to say what they won’t do than to settle on a final plan to eliminate the income tax — or even to agree on whether it’s a good idea.
Proponents say eliminating the tax will keep Georgia competitive with other states that are lowering their taxes or don’t tax income at all. Opponents — including some on the study committee — say eliminating the tax will require Georgia to raise sales or other taxes that will shift the tax burden onto low- and middle-income people.
The committee is expected to meet again in late October and produce a final report in December.
Listen up
There is no “Politically Georgia” podcast today. We’ll be back on Monday to answer questions from the listener mailbag.
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.
Happy trails
Credit: Courtesy photo
Credit: Courtesy photo
“Plugged In,” the politics podcast and radio show from WABE, will sign off today for the final time.
Co-hosted by Rahul Bali and Sam Gringlas, the weekly show took listeners behind the biggest headlines of the week every Friday.
Gringlas, a former producer for NPR’s “All Things Considered,” is leaving WABE. He is rejoining NPR as a congressional correspondent. Bali will stay with WABE.
Jan. 6 footage
Credit: Natrice Miller/AJC
Credit: Natrice Miller/AJC
U.S. Rep. Barry Loudermilk sent a letter to the U.S. Department of Justice, the University of Virginia and several private companies asking them to release videotapes and digitized documents related to the Jan. 6, 2021, breach of the U.S. Capitol.
The Cassville Republican is leading a subcommittee investigating the incident, the third iteration of the panel on Capitol Hill. Loudermilk believes this material was not archived by the first committee and might have been deleted.
“This is an important first step in unraveling the predetermined narrative the former January 6th Select Committee crafted to hurt President Donald J. Trump,” Loudermilk said in a statement.
Loudermilk said his goal is to uncover the truth of what happened when Trump supporters stormed the Capitol as Congress certified the 2020 election results. But his critics say the panel is an attempt to change the narrative around what happened that day.
Today in Washington
- President Donald Trump will receive an intelligence briefing and sign executive orders.
- The House will vote on legislation to fund the government and avoid a shutdown at the end of the month. Lawmakers will also vote on a resolution honoring the life of Charlie Kirk.
- The Senate could vote on the government funding bill if it passes in the House. They will continue to debate the National Defense Authorization Act.
Walker advances
Credit: Hyosub Shin/AJC
Credit: Hyosub Shin/AJC
The U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee has advanced the nomination of former football star Herschel Walker to be the next ambassador to the Bahamas.
There is a backlog of confirmations on the Senate’s schedule, but this means Walker is one step closer to being confirmed.
Republicans on Thursday confirmed 48 of President Donald Trump’s nominees in one vote. The move came after Republicans changed the rules to let senators vote on nominees as a group.
Shoutout
Credit: Arvin Temkar/AJC
Credit: Arvin Temkar/AJC
Today’s birthday:
- State Sen. Sam Watson, R-Moultrie.
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: Natrice Miller/AJC
Credit: Natrice Miller/AJC
Answers to this week’s quiz:
- D: Stacey Abrams. The two-time Democratic nominee for governor hasn’t ruled out running for a third time.
- C: Funding the Trump administration cut from minority-serving institutions. It means the HBCUs could benefit at the expense of other institutions, including technical colleges.
- B: Nixing a joint venture between Atlanta-based Delta Airlines and Aeromexico. The federal government has accused Mexico of distorting competition in the market.
- A: Mehmet Oz. His pitch to prospective workers at a health care conference stood as a sunny contrast to recent cuts throughout the Health and Human Services Department.
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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