Jon Ossoff pushes for health care subsidies as US Senate vote looms
Today’s newsletter highlights:
- Marjorie Taylor Greene touts environmental concerns in her district.
- State Senate panel backs a need-based scholarship proposal.
- Georgia plans to put naloxone in every public school.
Ossoff gears up
The battle over whether to extend subsidies that make health insurance affordable for millions of Americans will come to a head in the U.S. Senate this week — and U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff is working to make it a defining issue of his reelection campaign.
Ossoff released a video this morning featuring voices of some of the more than 1 million Georgians who could see their insurance premiums rise if the subsidies lapse. It’s a preview of his strategy to put health care and affordability at the heart of his reelection push.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said his caucus is united behind a plan to pass a three-year extension of the subsidies, which were first approved in 2021 during the coronavirus pandemic.
The vote is part of an agreement Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., struck with eight Senate Democrats in exchange for their votes to end the federal government shutdown last month, which lasted a record 43 days.
But the legislation is doomed. Many Republican senators argue the pandemic-era subsidies were always meant to be temporary. Thune said the Democratic proposal was “designed to fail.”
U.S. Rep. Mike Collins of Jackson —one of Ossoff’s top Republican rivals —supports Thune’s stance.
“We need meaningful reforms to health care that increase competition and drive down premiums, not endless subsidies to the largest insurance companies on the globe,” the Jackson Republican said. “Obamacare has failed, and we need to open the government so we can find a permanent solution, not another short term band-aid.”
But Ossoff and other Democrats argue the loss of subsidies used by 24 million Americans will be a galvanizing issue for voters in next year’s midterms, when almost every statewide office in Georgia and control of U.S. Congress is at stake.
Ossoff told us last week that he sees the vote as “an opportunity for folks to put politics aside and do what’s right for Georgia families.”
Things to know
Good morning! We’re one day away from special elections for state House Districts 23 and 121. Georgia’s Legislative session starts in 35 days. The primary for U.S. Senate, governor and other races is in 162 days.
Here are three other things to know for today:
- Georgia Democrats enjoyed a string of victories in off-year elections by focusing on affordability. But Greg Bluestein writes the results also exposed the limits of appeals to the party’s progressive flank.
- State law says Georgia must eliminate QR codes from ballots by July. But the AJC’s Caleb Groves reports they haven’t figured out how to do it yet.
- The Trump administration’s aggressive push to deport people living in the country illegally could disrupt the broader economy, the AJC’s Lautaro Grinspan reports.
Speaking out
Marjorie Taylor Greene, environmental warrior?
That was the vibe coming from the Republican congresswoman last week when she showed up at a Murray County town hall to speak against a proposed bio-waste digester.
Greene railed against the proposal, saying it would disrupt habitat for bald eagles spotted in the area, which she noted are “a federally protected species.”
“This is a beautiful, rural county. Beautiful mountains, beautiful streams. People fish in these streams. They swim in these streams,” she said. “This is pristine, beautiful land. And don’t any one of you act like you care about the environment if you want to build that.”
The fiery speech was one of Greene’s first public appearances in her district since announcing she will resign from Congress on Jan. 5. She has missed votes in the House since announcing her decision, raising questions about how engaged she might be over the final weeks of her time in office.
Greene sought to put those concerns to rest in her speech, noting her office has been inundated with calls from people opposing the project.
She got a rowdy reception from the crowd, showing she’s still popular in her district despite a split with President Donald Trump. That popularity has prompted speculation Greene could be angling to run for another office once she leaves Congress. But she told “60 Minutes” that she is not planning another campaign.
“I have zero plans, zero desire to run for president,” Greene told Lesley Stahl in an interview that aired Sunday night. “I would hate the Senate. I’m not running for governor.”
Financial aid
Georgia has paid more than $30 billion over the past three decades to help students with college. But nearly all of that money is doled out based not on need, but how well students performed in school. Some state lawmakers want to change that.
A Senate Study Committee recently endorsed a plan to create a new need-based financial aid program for Georgia college students. The program would benefit more than 118,000 students at a cost of about $126 million.
“We’ve invested heavily in the HOPE scholarship and we know with the economy and the realities that does not even get the job done,” said Democratic state Sen. Nan Orrock of Atlanta, adding that some scholarship recipients have financial gaps of as much as $12,000 they have to cover to stay in school.
The committee’s report says Georgia could pay for this program by tapping into some of the Georgia Lottery’s $1.7 billion in reserves. Orrock noted the interest earned on those reserves is about $113 million per year.
Lawmakers have often looked to the lottery’s reserves as a funding source for various programs. Former state Sen. Jason Esteves, now a Democratic candidate for governor, has a plan to use the reserves to guarantee access to Georgia’s K-3 and K-4 programs.
Overdose kits
The state Legislature passed a law last year allowing public schools to obtain and administer naloxone, a drug that can reverse opioid overdoses. Now, state officials say the drug will soon be available in every public school.
State officials say they plan to finish distributing the drug to all of Georgia’s public schools by the spring. The money comes from Georgia’s share of a legal settlement with companies that contributed to the opioid crisis. Georgia is set to receive more than $1.1 billion over the next 16 years.
“Putting overdose reversal kits in every Georgia school is a practical, compassionate use of those dollars,” said Kevin Tanner, commissioner of the state Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities.
The drug is credited with saving countless lives of people suffering from an opioid overdose. But it doesn’t always work. A Dunwoody High student died from a fentanyl overdose in class last year. School officials attempted to revive her with naloxone and a defibrillator.
Listen up
Today on the “Politically Georgia” podcast the AJC’s Zachary Hansen breaks down Georgia’s fast-growing data center boom. Then we answer questions from the listener mailbag.
You can listen and subscribe to Politically Georgia for free an 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.
Stacey Abrams’ effect
Texas U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett is expected to announce today she will run for U.S. Senate instead of another term in the House, the Dallas Morning News reports.
Crockett, a progressive who is known for her sharply worded sound bites, will shake up the Democratic field. And it appears that Stacey Abrams played a part in this eleventh-hour decision.
CNN reported that Crockett spoke with Abrams “about expanding the electorate in a longtime red state that turned purple.”
While Democrats have won statewide in Georgia, most recently in two Public Service Commission races, they have had less success in Texas.
Today in Washington
Happenings:
- President Donald Trump will participate in a roundtable discussion. The topic has not been announced.
- The House and Senate will return on Tuesday.
Shoutouts
Today’s birthday:
- State Rep. Brent Cox, R-Dawsonville.
Belated birthday:
- Fred “Bubba” Longgrear, a Republican running for state school superintendent (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
National parks used to let people in for free on Martin Luther King Jr. Day and on Juneteenth. The Trump administration put a stop to that. But it has decided to let people in for free on Flag Day, which is also President Donald Trump’s birthday.
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.
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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