Capitol Recap: Georgia colleges’ tuition could increase to fill budget hole

Regents delay decision to consider options after $66 million cut

Tuition increases are among the options University System of Georgia officials are considering after state lawmakers cut its funding by $66 million for the next fiscal year.

Normally, the Georgia Board of Regents would make decisions about tuition this month. The regents, however, will wait until May to determine whether to raise tuition and fees for the state’s 26 public colleges.

Until then, officials will review their options to raise revenue to close the hole in the University System’s $3.1 billion budget that lawmakers approved on the last day of the General Assembly’s legislative session.

Other possibilities include allocating state funds to schools most in need and dipping into a portion of “carry forward” funds left over in college budgets.

Lawmakers suggested using some of those “carry forward” funds — which total about $504 million — as a way to absorb the impact of the cut.

But Chancellor Sonny Perdue said “there was a good bit of misinformation” spread during the legislative session about how those funds can be used.

The University System said most of that money is concentrated at just six schools and can’t be moved around. Officials said the funds can help in emergencies, but much of it is committed to research, faculty recruitment and other investments.

Many of the state’s public colleges face other funding difficulties brought on by declining enrollment. In the fall, enrollment in the University System fell by 1.8%, or 6,179 students, marking the second straight year those numbers dipped.

Only eight of the 26 schools saw a gain in students over the same semester in 2021. The biggest problems were at smaller, regional colleges.

The enrollment picture did not improve this spring. Numbers released this past week showed a drop of 0.9%, or 2,834 students, from spring 2022.

This semester, 15 schools saw enrollment decline, with Clayton State University experiencing the biggest loss at 11.7%.

Eleven schools enrolled more students, with Gordon State College posting the biggest gain at 7.8%.

University System officials did not say how big potential tuition increases could be.

The regents have been resistant to tuition increases, holding the rates in five of the past seven years. Since 2016, the average annual tuition increase across the system has been 0.72%. That was in constrast to tuition doubling during Perdue’s tenure as governor.

Credit: TNS

Credit: TNS

Fulton prosecutors say immunity was offered to some fake electors

Fulton County prosecutors stated in a motion this past week that in July they offered immunity to some of the fake electors who tried to cast the state’s 2020 electoral votes for Donald Trump.

The prosecutors allege that through recent interviews with those fake electors — “targets” in a special grand jury investigation into Trump’s efforts to overturn the results of Georgia’s 2020 election — they found out that the attorneys for the electors never told their clients about the offers of immunity.

That, the prosecutors said, contradicts what they were told in early August, when attorneys Kimberly Bourroughs Debrow and Holly Pierson reported that none of their clients were interested in an immunity deal.

During those same recent interviews, the prosecutors say, some of Debrow’s clients accused another client of violating Georgia law. The motion did not provide specifics, but it raises the possibility that some of Debrow’s clients are potential witnesses against another client. That means Debrow could face a conflict in representing the interests of each client.

The motion was a move by the Fulton County district attorney’s office to dismiss Debrow from the case.

“It is unfathomable how Ms. Debrow can offer competent and adequate counsel to her client who has been accused of further crimes,” the motion states. “(A)ny claim of all 10 of her clients being similarly situated has gone out the window.”

Prosecutors made a similar effort in October to dismiss Debrow and Pierson when, together, they were representing 11 of the fake electors, including Georgia GOP Chair David Shafer.

Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney, who is overseeing the grand jury, ruled in November that Debrow and Pierson could represent Shafer or the other 10 electors, but not both since they were “substantially differently situated” in terms of the criminal investigation.

Pierson now represents Shafer. Debrow remains the attorney for the other 10, including state Sen. Shawn Still, state GOP treasurer Joseph Brannan and state GOP assistant treasurer Vikki Consiglio.

Debrow called the prosecutors’ new motion “baseless, false, and offensive” and said she “ethically and professionally represented my clients at all times.”

She added in a written statement that “each interview referred to was recorded, and the Court will be able to hear for itself how the DA’s Office has completely misrepresented the facts.”

Debrow’s clients were part of a larger group of 16, including Shafer, who signed documents claiming to be Georgia’s duly elected Electoral College representatives.

All 16 were informed last summer that they were targets of the special grand jury’s investigation examining criminal interference in Georgia’s 2020 elections. The Fulton DA’s office was later barred from pursuing one of those fake electors, Lt. Gov. Burt Jones, due to a political conflict of interest. (The Prosecuting Attorneys’ Council of Georgia will ultimately decide whether a special prosecutor should investigate Jones.)

Fulton District Attorney Fani Willis is now trying to decide whether to bring criminal charges against Trump, the electors or anyone else involved in the case. Indictment decisions could be announced as soon as next month.

Credit: Natrice Miller / Natrice.Miller@ajc.com

Appellate judge says his punishment in ethics case should end with reprimand

A public reprimand ought to do it.

That’s what Georgia Court of Appeals Judge Christian Coomer says after a yearslong ethics investigation produced allegations that he borrowed hundreds of thousands of dollars from a client and used campaign funds to supplement family vacations to Hawaii and Israel.

Coomer agreed in January 2021 to a suspension in pay, which has totaled about $400,000 in taxpayers’ money over that period.

Now, Coomer is asking to be reinstated.

That is not the judge’s decision, though. The state Supreme Court has the final say.

Up to now, the state’s Judicial Qualifications Commission has done a lot of the talking since it opened its investigation into Coomer, a former legislator.

The watchdog agency, for the first time in a case involving a state appellate court judge, has recommended Coomer’s removal from the bench, citing a “shocking pattern of (his) financial exploitation of a vulnerable client through unconscionable loans.”

“The judicial system, the smallest and most fragile branch of government, can function only if the people trust the women and men who populate the judiciary,” the recommendation for removal said. “Because the public cannot and should not have faith in (Coomer’s) ability to fairly dispense justice and uphold the law in light of his repeated violations ... (he) should be removed from office.”

Coomer’s attorneys see it differently.

“The record shows a lifelong history of good conduct, good character, and public service,” they told the JQC panel overseeing the case. “The record also reveals Judge Coomer’s remorse and acceptance of responsibility for his mistakes.”

In seeking his reinstatement, Coomer called the accusations against him “disproven allegations of fraud and deceit.” He said his reputation has been damaged as a result of the ethics inquiry and media reports, and he feels he’s been punished enough.

The state Supreme Court appeared to side with Coomer last month when it sent back the JQC panel’s recommendation. It said Coomer can’t be disciplined for alleged ethical breaches committed before his appointment to the bench.

Instead, the high court asked the panel to review the case further and decide whether he acted in “bad faith” when he allegedly took advantage of his former client and violated state campaign finance laws.

The hearing panel has another month to submit its second recommendation to the Supreme Court.

April could be crucial month for state’s tax collections after drop-off in March

It’s looking a little more likely that the huge surpluses the state has enjoyed at the end of the past two fiscal years will not be followed by a third.

The state’s most recent revenue report, for March, showed tax collections down by 3% from the same month a year earlier — or nearly $83 million. It was the first dip after month after month of gains since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic.

The more ominous statistic was individual income tax collections, the largest single source of money for the state. They dropped by 25%, or $400 million, from March 2022.

Gross sales tax collections, the state’s second-largest source of revenue, were up 6%. Historically, that represents a decent performance, although it was less than what the state frequently collected in recent years.

The March numbers are the first sign that Gov. Brian Kemp’s economic and budget teams could be right in predicting a drop-off in state tax collections.

The true test could come this month, when tax returns were due.

The state’s fiscal economist, Jeffrey Dorfman of the University of Georgia, told lawmakers in January that stock declines in 2022 could drive down revenue from capital gains taxes by $3 billion.

The state saw a record $6.6 billion surplus in fiscal 2022, when capital gains income taxes were based on earnings in 2021, when the S&P 500 index returned 26.61%. But in 2022, the S&P 500 did almost a complete about-face, dropping by nearly 20%. That does not bode well for the final report when fiscal 2023 ends June 30.

At present, after gains in the first nine months of fiscal 2023, the state’s overall collections are up about $1 billion. But if Dorfman’s stormy forecast proves true, that positive could quickly become a negative.

Credit: arvin.temkar@ajc.com

Walker dispenses some of his leftover campaign funds to charities and allies

Herschel Walker has mostly let his checkbook do the talking since the Republican’s defeat in the December U.S. Senate runoff.

Walker’s campaign has spent more than $1.5 million since November.

The cash has mostly gone to help favorite charities or boost political allies, according to recent federal campaign finance disclosures.

The former football star still has more than $4.3 million left in his account.

Federal campaign finance law allows candidates to donate campaign funds to charitable groups as long as the organization is operated exclusively for “religious, charitable, scientific, literary or educational” purposes, said Jeremy Berry, an election law attorney. He said the law also forbids the charitable donations from being “converted in any way for the candidate’s personal use.”

The biggest contribution was a $1 million gift to the Georgia GOP shortly after the November general election. The party was among Walker’s most important allies in Georgia since many elected officials initially steered clear of his campaign.

The campaign gave $250,000 to the Horatio Alger Association, which annually bestows awards to about a dozen recipients. Walker received such an award in 2022, and he cited the ceremony he attended last year as a reason for skipping a key debate.

This year, the foundation listed Walker and his wife, Julie Blanchard, as “eagle flight” sponsors who gave at least $250,000 — the same amount his campaign contributed to the charity group.

The campaign gave $100,000 to the National Republican Senatorial Committee, which spent more than $7 million last year promoting Walker’s candidacy.

Other contributions include $75,000 to a North Carolina camp for children with medical conditions, $50,000 to the Herschel 34 and the Johnson County Class of 1980 and $15,000 to a Baptist ministry near Walker’s hometown of Wrightsville.

Walker has kept a low profile since losing to Democratic U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock in a December runoff. A half-dozen of his former campaign staffers told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution that they’ve lost touch with him since the election.

Political expedience

Greene seeks questioning of Fulton sheriff: U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Rome, has called on Fulton County Sheriff Pat Labat to provide answers to Congress about the death of Lashawn Thompson, whose body was found in one of the county’s jail cells covered by bed bugs. Labat recently announced that some top staff resigned following the outrage over Thompson’s death. The sheriff is also attempting to change the jail’s medical provider. Greene asked Labat to respond by April 30 to a series of questions about Thompson’s death, the ensuing investigation and what steps he has taken to correct the issues.
Group says Okefenokee at risk: South Georgia’s Okefenokee Swamp was named one of the nation’s most endangered waterways in an annual report from the nonprofit American Rivers. Waterways are placed on the list based on their biodiversity, the level of risk they face and whether a decision is looming that could affect their fate. American Rivers said the Okefenokee met all three criteria. An Alabama-based company called Twin Pines Minerals wants to strip mine for titanium on Trail Ridge, a sand dune complex that forms the eastern border of the swamp. Twin Pines and regulators at the Georgia Environmental Protection Division say the planned 580-acre mine won’t lower water levels in the swamp or harm wildlife. But federal officials, hydrologists and environmentalists warn that the project could create permanent damage.
Loeffler joins legislative campaign panel: Former U.S. Sen. Kelly Loeffler has been named to the board of the Republican State Leadership Committee, a Washington-based group that aims to win control of state legislative chambers across the country. She led such an effort in Georgia ahead of the 2022 elections to maintain the GOP’s grip on the state Senate. The committee funds state Republican candidates across the country.
Ex-congresswoman finds new job: Former U.S. Rep. Carolyn Bourdeaux will serve as a consultant on special projects for the management team of the Gateway85 Community Improvement District. Bourdeaux’s work will focus on increasing the number of electric-vehicle charging stations in the area and seeking improvements to Jimmy Carter Boulevard. Bourdeaux, a Suwanee Democrat, served one term in Congress before falling to U.S. Rep. Lucy McBath in a 2022 primary.