The Jolt: Amid criticism, antisemitism bill draws uncommon coalition
The Georgia Legislature begets strange alliances. But we’ve rarely seen a coalition quite as unique as the one that emerged on Monday’s House vote to define antisemitism in state law so that it could be included as a hate crime.
The vote passed by a 136-22 vote, but the total masks the internal tensions that threatened the bill.
It was sponsored by Republican state Rep. John Carson of Marietta, who helped corral unanimous GOP support. The other face of the bill is Democratic state Rep. Esther Panitch, the sole Jewish member of the General Assembly and the target of antisemitic flyers earlier this year.
The first-term Democrat faced an unexpected level of opposition from her own ranks. Deputy Whip Sandra Scott, D-Rex, was the highest-ranking Democrat to oppose the measure, and nearly two dozen rank-and-file members also voted against it.
“Protections for Jewish people do not come at the expense of anyone else — except antisemites,” said Panitch of Sandy Springs, who lamented that “a bill of this type should be uncontested.”
So why did the group of Democrats fight the measure? State Rep. Jasmine Clark, D-Lilburn, said she believed anti-Jewish acts were already covered and that the law would spark questions about why it “does not define anti-Black racism or anti-Latino racism or anti-Asian legislation.”
“While I certainly do not believe in partaking in an oppression Olympics, I do believe that a bill such as this may unintentionally have the effect of having each marginalized group wondering where is their definition in the code.”
Panitch sounded exasperated as she noted the impending holiday of Purim, which celebrates the defeat of an attempted genocide of the Jewish people. Panitch wondered whether she was elected to follow in the “sandalled footsteps” of Queen Esther, a heroine of the holiday.
“It has been twisted and contorted into making something it’s not. And I don’t know why,” she said. “This should be obvious that calling for the killing or harm of a particular group is wrong, even if they are Jews.”
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UNBLOCKED. A federal judge has ordered state Rep. Ginny Ehrhart to stop blocking and deleting comments from those with opposing views on her official Facebook page.
The AJC’s Bill Rankin writes that U.S. District Judge J.P. Boulee found that the Powder Springs Republican’s blocks and deletions infringed upon the First Amendment rights of her critics.
Retired communications software executive Thomas Biedermann filed suit in March 2020 after Ehrhart deleted his disapproving comments to her post about her legislation to criminalize transgender surgeries performed on children. Biedermann, who used a pseudonym, was also blocked from Ehrhart’s legislative Facebook page.
Boulee’s ruling noted that Ehrhart has blocked more than 60 people from the Facebook page and that they have joined together on social media, calling themselves #blockedbyginny.
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NORFOLK SOUTHERN PROBE. The National Transportation Safety Board announced Tuesday that it’s launching a special investigation into Norfolk Southern’s corporate organization and safety culture.
The new probe into the Atlanta-based railroad follows a national outcry over a fiery derailment on Feb. 3 in East Palestine, Ohio, the AJC’s Kelly Yamanouchi reports.
The Ohio accident led to the release of toxic chemicals into the air, soil and water, causing fear and uncertainty among residents in the surrounding area. That February incident was already under investigation by the NTSB, and investigators have pinpointed overheated bearings as a cause.
The NTSB said since December 2021, it has launched investigations into five significant accidents involving Norfolk Southern, including the one in Ohio. The Federal Railroad Administration on Tuesday also announced its own investigation of the company.
Norfolk Southern CEO Alan Shaw is set to testify Thursday before the U.S. Senate.
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UNDER THE GOLD DOME, Legislative Day 30:
- 7 a.m.: Committee meetings begin;
- 10 a.m.: The House gavels in;
- 10 a.m.: The Senate convenes.
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LEGISLATIVE UPDATES:
- House Speaker Jon Burns announced Tuesday that the upcoming year’s budget will include money to build a Georgia State Patrol satellite post in Buckhead, the AJC’s Riley Bunch reported.
- The state Senate on Tuesday approved legislation to extend welfare benefits to low-income Georgia women once they become pregnant, Maya T. Prabhu writes.
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MABLETON MOVES. Former Gov. Roy Barnes, a native of the Mableton area, endorsed Michael Owens to be the new city’s first mayor.
Advanced voting is now underway for the mayor and six council members. They will establish the city’s government, budget and services, our colleague Taylor Croft reports.
But the candidates face deep schisms. Some in the northern part of the city are pushing to leave Mableton, and state Rep. David Wilkerson has plans to introduce legislation that would de-annex some areas from the city.
Owens is one of four candidates in the race for mayor. He is a former chair of the Cobb County Democratic Party and ran a losing bid last year for secretary of state.
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THE OTHER SWAMP. Two state lawmakers want the United Nations to declare the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge a World Heritage Site.
“There is not a more critical and valuable natural resource in our state or country that could benefit from such a prestigious designation,” wrote state Rep. James Burchett and state Sen. Russ Goodman, Republicans from the area.
The ecologically fragile swamp is at the center of heated debate as an Alabama mining company finalizes plans to extract titanium about three miles from the refuge. You can find the letter here.
A measure to ban mining near the swamp — House Bill 71 — earned more than 90 bipartisan sponsors but was bottled up in committee.
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TODAY IN WASHINGTON:
- The U.S. Senate has more confirmations scheduled, as well as a vote to repeal the District of Columbia’s controversial criminal code rewrite although leaders there have announced they will no longer proceed with the changes.
- Dr. Robert Redfield, former director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and other witnesses will testify on the origins of COVID-19 before the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic.
- President Joe Biden has no public events scheduled as he prepares for a big speech Thursday timed with the release his budget proposal.
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AG APPOINTMENT. Georgia Congressman Sanford Bishop is the newest member of the House Agriculture Committee.
Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries announced Tuesday that he had added Bishop, an Albany Democrat, to the panel.
Georgia’s David Scott, D-Atlanta, and Austin Scott, R-Tifton, are members. Bishop and David Scott are the delegation’s two most senior Democrats. Austin Scott is the longest-serving Republican member from Georgia; he serves as vice chairman of the Agriculture committee and chairman of one of its subcommittees.
Bishop is already the ranking Democrat on the Appropriations Subcommittee on Agriculture.
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STILL PUSHING. U.S. Rep. Buddy Carter said President Joe Biden’s criticism of his proposal to replace the income tax with a national sales tax has helped keep it in the spotlight.
“When the president dishes on it, then certainly that brings attention to what we’re trying to do,” Carter, R-Pooler, told Fox News host Brian Kilmeade on his radio show Tuesday.
Although Carter said that a vote on IRS-eliminating legislation had been promised as part of House Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s negotiations to become speaker, nothing has been scheduled yet. Many Republican leaders have criticized Carter’s plan.
Carter also told Kilmeade that Republicans are healing after that bruising speaker race where it took 15 rounds of voting for McCarthy to get the support needed to take the gavel.
“I’ve been a big fan of Kevin McCarthy, and I continue to be,” Carter said. “And I think Kevin is the leader that we need right now. He’s the one who can pull us together. We have a big tent. We have a very diverse group.”
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DOG OF THE DAY. These are long days and nights at the Capitol for anyone with business before the Legislature, which means political pups are probably seeing less of their people than usual.
That includes today’s Jolt Dog of the Day, Boss Haliburton, the 2-year-old French bulldog of Capitol regular, John Haliburton.
We’re told Boss’s primary hobbies are chasing other, bigger dogs at his family’s fence line and generally working to be the “boss man” of the neighborhood. Clearly, he has a future in politics.
Send us your pups of any political persuasion —and cats on a cat-by-case basis — to patricia.murphy@ajc.com, or DM us on Twitter @MurphyAJC.
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AS ALWAYS, Jolt readers are some of our favorite tipsters. Send your best scoop, gossip and insider info to patricia.murphy@ajc.com, tia.mitchell@ajc.com and greg.bluestein@ajc.com.
About the Authors
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.
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.
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.
