Donald Trump’s cuts to research funding put Chris Carr in a tough spot

Today’s newsletter highlights:

• Donald Trump gives Doug Collins additional work.
• State House budget includes money to process donated venison.
• Lawmakers consider timber tax break.

Georgia Republican Attorney General Chris Carr has not joined a lawsuit seeking to block the Trump administration’s cuts to biomedical research, despite Georgia hospitals and businesses receiving more than $780 million in recent funding responsible for nearly 12,000 jobs.

It’s a tough political situation for Carr, who is running for governor in 2026 in a state that voted for Trump in November. Two other swing states that Trump captured in November — Michigan and North Carolina — did join the lawsuit. But both states have Democratic attorneys general, making the politics more convenient.

Carr often had no qualms about challenging the Biden administration, even when it posed some political risk. He sued them last month just a few days before Trump took office seeking to block his order banning offshore oil drilling — an issue that hasn’t been popular in Georgia’s coastal communities.

Carr did not respond to a request for comment late Monday night. Democrats criticized him for not joining the lawsuit.

“Attorney General Chris Carr is missing in action, again, as Donald Trump tramples Georgians’ rights and recklessly slashes programs we rely on every day,” Democratic Party of Georgia spokesman Dave Hoffman said.

Carr got a reprieve, of sorts, on Tuesday when a federal judge blocked Trump’s order nationwide — meaning Georgia’s funding is safe, for now.

Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr has not joined a lawsuit challenging the Trump administration decision to cut funding for biomedical research.

The White House has argued the cuts don’t impact “actual research” at all, but instead limit what it calls bloated overhead spending on things like lab space, equipment and certain personnel expenses.

Emory University, which receives the most NIH funding in Georgia, said such overhead funding “is essential to our research enterprise,” noting that its medical breakthroughs are made possible by things like laboratory infrastructure.

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A judge on Monday rejected a request for a new election by Republican Tracy Wheeler in a House district won by Democratic state Rep. Mack Jackson of Sandersville.

GOOD MORNING! Don’t miss the AJC’s Black History Month series, including this story from Nancy Clayton about Elizabeth “Lizzie” McDuffie, a White House maid from Atlanta who had the ear of President Franklin D. Roosevelt.

Here are four things to know for today:

• A three-day trial last month verified 14 improper votes in a state House race last year that Democratic state Rep. Mack Jackson won by 48 votes. That wasn’t enough to convince a judge to order a new election, the AJC’s Mark Niesse writes.
• Gov. Brian Kemp’s push to limit civil lawsuits in Georgia passed its first test in the Republican-controlled Legislature on Monday when it cleared the Senate Judiciary Committee with an 8-3 vote. Some top Republicans expressed concerns, but they didn’t vote against it — even as Insurance Commissioner John King conceded it likely wouldn’t lead to an immediate drop in insurance premiums, Greg Bluestein reports.
• State agriculture officials lifted a ban on poultry activities after tests of nearly 50,000 chickens found no additional cases of a deadly strain of bird flu, the AJC’s Drew Kann reports.
• Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens sat down with the AJC editorial board on Monday ahead of his reelection campaign this year. “The city is stabilized,” he said, per the AJC’s Riley Bunch.

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Veteran Affairs Secretary Doug Collins recently spoke about his new role on the "Politically Georgia" podcast.

COLLINS TAPPED, AGAIN. When we spoke with newly installed Secretary of Veterans Affairs Doug Collins last week, he described his ambitious plans to travel the country to visit VA hospitals and facilities as he settles into his new role. He also committed to improving services for the 18 million veterans served by the VA health care system, which is the largest and most complex in the nation.

But President Donald Trump has bigger plans for Collins. On Monday, Trump ousted the heads of two government watchdog agencies — the Office of Special Counsel and the Office of Government Ethics — and replaced them with Collins.

The New York Times reported Monday night that a federal judge has temporarily blocked Trump from firing the leader of the Office of Special Counsel, leaving Collins just two very consequential jobs, for now.

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The budget of Georgia includes funds for processing donated venison.

DEER DONATIONS. Budget nerds might have noticed a curious item in the Georgia House spending plan last week: $200,000 for processing deer meat.

Turns out, your tax dollars are paying to process venison donated to local food banks across the state. But this program is about more than just helping the hungry. It’s also aimed at keeping the peace between farmers and hunters.

State Rep. Trey Rhodes, a Republican from Greensboro and an avid hunter, said many hunters won’t shoot all the deer they are allowed to take in one season. After all, their freezers are only so big.

This annoys the farmers, who have long complained about Georgia’s abundant deer population eating their harvests. It’s a problem that’s getting worse as Georgia grows and builds more houses, giving deer fewer places to roam.

Georgia Hunters for the Hungry program aims to solve this conundrum. Hunters with full freezers can keep hunting, knowing they can donate the venison to those in need. As of mid-December, the program had donated nearly 47,000 pounds of venison to food banks, churches and ministries across the state.

“You’re more apt to take a few more does off of your property,” said Rhodes, who chairs the House Game, Fish and Parks Committee. “The last thing we want to do is get the farmers mad at the hunters and the hunters mad at the farmers.”

Last year, lawmakers spent $300,000 on this program, and it ran out of money with a few weeks left in deer season. That’s why Rhodes said they want to add another $200,000 this year.

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Many counties in South Georgia relay on a tax on harvested timber to help fund their budgets.

TIMBER TAX. South Georgia’s timber industry is bracing for low prices throughout much of 2025 from the fallout of Hurricane Helene. But there’s another group also watching timber prices closely: local governments.

Many of these counties rely on a tax on harvested timber to help fund their budgets. The tax is based on the value, not the volume, of the wood. When prices fall, so does the revenue for local governments.

Some Georgia lawmakers see an opportunity to help make these counties whole while also offering a tax break to timber owners.

A bill by state Sen. Russ Goodman, R-Cogdell, would let local governments temporarily suspend this tax for the final three months of 2024 and all of 2025. In exchange, the state would give the counties a grant to make up their lost revenue.

Georgia’s budget is more than $40 billion. In the past seven years, Goodman said the statewide timber severance taxes averaged $21 million per year. His bill would likely be far less, as it would only apply to the 66 counties covered under the federal emergency declaration.

“It helps the landowner that’s been devastated and it helps the local governments,” Goodman said.

The bill has 36 co-sponsors in the Senate, including the leaders of both political parties. It passed the Senate Finance Committee easily on Monday.

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State Sen. Greg Dolezal, a Republican from Cumming, is the primary author of Senate Bill 38.

IMPACT FEES. Georgia homebuilders are fighting a bill aiming to let some public schools charge fees for new construction. But Republican state Sen. Greg Dolezal was ready for them.

Other local governments already charge these fees to help pay for infrastructure. The thinking is that since these new neighborhoods need roads and water and sewer connections, the new homeowners should pay for them.

Dolezal argues these neighborhoods also need schools, so he thinks school districts should collect these fees, too.

His proposal is a baby step. It would only apply to Forsyth County, which is in Dolezal’s district. But homebuilders still don’t like it. They say it would drive up the cost of housing, noting Georgia’s homeownership rate is among the lowest in the Southeast.

Dolezal responded in a recent committee hearing by recounting the soaring stock prices for each of the four major home builders in Forsyth County.

“If they share my concern about housing affordability, perhaps they should price their houses differently,” he said.

Even Democrats were impressed. State Sen. Josh McLaurin, D-Sandy Springs, asked Dolezal if he could steal that argument and use it on the insurance companies backing Gov. Brian Kemp’s overhaul of civil litigation rules.

We won’t hold our breath on that.

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The Georgia Capitol in Atlanta.

UNDER THE GOLD DOME. It’s the 15th day of the legislative session. Some of today’s happenings:

• 8 a.m.: House Motor Vehicles Committee will discuss House Bill 296, which would let people carry an electronic driver’s license.
• 10 a.m.: House and Senate convene. The Senate is scheduled to vote on two bills, including Senate Bill 39, which would ban the state health benefit plan from using state funds to pay for gender-affirming care.
• 1 p.m.: House Judiciary Committee meets to discuss House Bill 177, which would allow for pets to be added to family and dating violence protective orders.
• 1 p.m.: House Governmental Affairs Subcommittee on State and Local Government meets to discuss House Bill 140, which would limit how much money local governments can use from court fines and forfeiture actions.

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State Sen. Jason Esteves, an Atlanta Democrat, is a guest today on the "Politically Georgia" show.

LISTEN UP. Today on “Politically Georgia,” state Sen. Jason Esteves, D-Atlanta, talks about his potential run for governor in 2026. Then, the AJC’s Riley Bunch discusses her Black History Month story about Atlanta’s Black mayors.

Be sure to download the show on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. Have a question for the show? Give us a call at 770-810-5297. Episodes are uploaded by noon each day, just in time to have lunch with us. You can also listen live at 10 a.m. EDT on 90.1 FM WABE.

On Monday’s show, state Sen. Greg Dolezal, R-Cumming, discussed Senate Bill 1, which would ban transgender athletes from competing against women in high school and college sports. Then you heard a segment from last week’s live event in Washington featuring a discussion about changes to diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives with Howard University Professor Keneshia Grant and Johns Hopkins Professor Minkah Makalani.

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TODAY IN WASHINGTON:

• President Donald Trump will meet at the White House with Jordan’s King Abdullah II and Prime Minister Jafar Hassan.
• The U.S. House will take a procedural vote on legislation that would allow Congress to more easily reverse regulations implemented by President Joe Biden.
• The Senate could vote on whether to confirm former U.S. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard as director of national intelligence.