President Joe Biden and his inner circle haven’t yet announced where they plan to hold the Democratic National Convention next year, but Atlanta wants to leave nothing to chance.
Our AJC colleague Riley Bunch reported that City Council passed a resolution allowing Mayor Andre Dickens to enter into agreements and contracts with convention organizers if Atlanta is selected to host the political showcase.
Why take the step? Local and state officials remain confident that Biden will select Atlanta over Chicago and New York for the quadrennial event, though they acknowledge the city’s bid is no sure thing.
With roughly 16 months until the convention, organizers don’t want to fall behind on the hard work of lining up vendors and developing contracts with government agencies for the estimated 50,000 visitors who will pack the city.
They have good reason to be anxious. At this stage in the last three convention bidding wars, Democrats had already selected their host city. (Charlotte was tapped on Feb. 1, 2011; Philadelphia on Feb. 12, 2015; and Milwaukee on March 11, 2019.)
Atlanta’s rivals are upping their game. Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker has offered to bankroll the event so that the DNC can emerge from the four-day party debt-free. Chicago Sun-Times columnist Lynn Sweet writes that the city is the front-runner since it boasts “everything New York can offer except the Statue of Liberty and garbage in downtown streets.”
And New York recently sent a “sizzle reel” to DNC members narrated by the actress Whoopi Goldberg.
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NAMECHECK. President Joe Biden vetoed his first piece of legislation on Monday, a resolution that sought to overturn a rule that allowed retirement fund managers to consider the impact of climate change and other environmental, social and governance factors when picking investments. Republicans championed the bill, saying it was an attempt to reverse “woke” policy, and it gained the support of just one House Democrat and two in the Senate.
Although the veto wasn’t a surprise, Biden announced it on Twitter with a statement calling out Georgia Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene.
“Your plan manager should be able to protect your hard-earned savings — whether Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene likes it or not,” Biden wrote in a post that accompanied a video of him explaining the veto.
Greene was not one of the 120 sponsors of the legislation, and although she supported the bill it hasn’t been a main focus for her. But Biden’s namecheck underscores her new prominence as a leader of the hard-right in the House.
She highlighted the president’s call out with a reply of her own: “No one has put our retirement at risk more than you, Joe.”
Biden also signed two bills into law on Monday. One was sponsored by U.S. Rep. Andrew Clyde, R-Athens, and repeals changes to the D.C. criminal code. The other requires the director of national intelligence to declassify information relating to the origin of COVID-19.
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Credit: Natrice Miller/AJC
Credit: Natrice Miller/AJC
UNDER THE GOLD DOME, Legislative Day 37:
- 8 am: Committee meetings begin;
- 10 am: The House gavels in;
- 10 am: The Senate convenes.
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Credit: Natrice Miller/AJC
Credit: Natrice Miller/AJC
LEGISLATIVE UPDATE. With time ticking to Day 40, here are the many bills we’re watching at the General Assembly:
- The House unanimously passed Senate Bill 93, the measure from state Sen. Jason Anavitarte that would ban TikTok from state devices.
- The House also passed Senate Bill 44, a bill creating mandatory minimum sentences for recruiting juvenile gang members, but Democrats warned that the bill could sweep up teenagers bringing in their siblings or other family.
- For those counting, the House passed nine Senate-passed bills on Monday.
- The Senate Judiciary Committee tabled House Bill 30, which would have given prosecutors new powers to pursue hate crimes charges for offenders who target Jewish people with antisemitic acts.
- The Senate Transportation Committee hammered out a temporary agreement on House Bill 189 to boost maximum truck weights for a year. But the plan limits where and how far the heavier trucks can go, and gives local law enforcement the authority for snap checks at bridges. That bill now goes to a conference committee for final negotiations.
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LOOKING AHEAD:
- The Senate could take action on Senate Bill 140 today, the bill limiting health care options for transgender minors. Procedurally, the chamber will either agree or disagree with the version the House passed last week.
- State Sen. Carden Summers, R-Cordele, the chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, has scheduled a 1 p.m. presentation from state banking regulators regarding the status of Georgia’s financial institutions after the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank.
- Wednesday is a committee work day, with no floor action planned in the House or Senate.
- Sine Die is set for Wednesday, March 29.
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Credit: Arvin Temkar/AJC
Credit: Arvin Temkar/AJC
PUSH ON TRANSGENDER BILL. Conservative activists are pushing Republicans to further amend the legislation that would stop doctors from prescribing hormone replacement therapy or performing surgery to assist transgender children in aligning with their gender identity to make it more restrictive. And LGBTQ activists and the parents of transgender children are urging senators to kill the bill.
On Monday, a group of faith leaders, LGBTQ activists and their allies held a prayer vigil and rally near Liberty Plaza, with transgender youth and adults sharing stories about why they say the treatments should not be banned, the AJC’s Maya T. Prabhu reports.
Joining the group was the Wall of Vets Georgia — an organization made of military veterans who provide security at protests that have the potential to draw counter protesters who have at times become aggressive ― clad in pink shirts, tactical gear and armed with rifles and other weapons.
“Do not leave here alone,” said Precious Glover, Lithonia resident and executive director of Wall of Vets Georgia. “Please, when you leave here, leave with a buddy. If you don’t have one, let us know and one of us will escort you to your car.”
Demonstrations are expected to continue as senators decide the fate of Senate Bill 140.
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STONE MOUNTAIN MOVES. The entire DeKalb state Legislative delegation announced Monday it has introduced a bill to remove the official designation of Stone Mountain Park as a Confederate Memorial.
House Bill 794 would also end the requirement that the state maintain the Confederate carvings on the face of Stone Mountain, remove “Memorial” from the park’s name and stop the requirement that Confederate memorabilia be sold on site.
State Reps. Mary Margaret Oliver, Bill Mitchell and Omari Crawford took the lead on the bill, with the entire DeKalb delegation, who are all Democrats, co-sponsoring the bill.
The move came as the group said it was growing frustrated with the pace of change coming from the recently revamped Stone Mountain Authority.
“We do not understand the delay and wish to set forth the changes that we see as necessary,” said Mitchell, whose district includes Stone Mountain.
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Credit: Natrice Miller/AJC
Credit: Natrice Miller/AJC
SURVIVE AND ADVANCE. A bill guaranteeing protections for renters came close to being derailed Monday.
The Senate Judiciary Committee voted 5-4 to defeat an amendment to the bill, which would require rentals to be “fit for human habitation,” our colleague Mark Niesse tells us.
The amendment by state Sen. Ed Setzler, a Republican from Acworth, would have increased the amount landlords can charge for initial security deposits. The bill capped security deposits at two months’ rent. Setzler wanted a three-month cap after hearing testimony from a landlord who said security deposits fall short of eviction costs.
Before the vote, state Sen. Bill Cowsert was acting as the chairman of the committee while the regular chairman, state Sen. Brian Strickland, was testifying in a different committee meeting. Strickland returned in time for the vote, but Cowsert kept the chair.
The vote on Setzler’s amendment was tied, forcing Cowsert to make the deciding vote on House Bill 404.
“I’m not going to interfere with a hard-fought compromise,” said Cowsert, a Republican from Athens. “This can be addressed on the floor. I will vote no to the amendment.”
Then the committee voted unanimously to pass the bill, moving it toward a vote in the full Senate.
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SPOTTED. A tipster sent word that former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley was spotted Monday night at Bones Restaurant in Atlanta. The GOP presidential contender has been crisscrossing the nation for her 2024 bid, but she had no public events scheduled yesterday in Georgia.
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Credit: TNS
Credit: TNS
TODAY IN WASHINGTON:
- The U.S. Senate returns this evening.
- The House is out with Republicans on the final day of a policy retreat in Florida.
- President Joe Biden will deliver remarks on his conservation efforts, and later he will host a White House event where he recognize people who have had distinguished careers in the arts and humanities.
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ARTS AND LETTERS. The White House is playing catch-up this afternoon by inviting the 2021 winners of the president’s arts and humanities awards for a visit.
Atlanta native Gladys Knight is among the 2021 National Medal of Arts honorees who will be recognized. Her “exceptional talent influenced musical genres — from rhythm and blues to gospel to pop — and inspired generations of artists, captivated by her soundtrack of a golden age in American music,” the White House said in a news release.
In December, Biden was in attendance when Knight’s contributions to the arts were celebrated at the Kennedy Center Honors.
Former Spelman College President Johnnetta Betsch Cole will also attend today’s White House ceremony to receive her 2021 National Humanities Medal. “A scholar, anthropologist, and academic pace-setter, Johnnetta Betsch Cole’s pioneering work about the on-going contributions of Afro-Latin, Caribbean, and African communities have advanced American understanding of Black culture and the necessity and power of racial inclusion in our Nation,” the release said.
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Credit: Courtesy photo
Credit: Courtesy photo
DOG OF THE DAY. If there’s one dog name that jumped out at us upon submission, it was “Poppy Pepper,” the pretty pooch of Jolt subscriber and Atlanta publisher, Keith Pepper.
Poppy’s hobbies include spending time with tennis balls, her toy gorilla and eating tart toppers (she’s wearing a cap from Atlanta’s Little Tart Bakeshop.)
Only a man of letters could allude to alliteration with his own dog’s name this well. So Keith and Poppy Pepper, we salute you!
Send us your pups of any political persuasion — and cats, on a cat-by-cat 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.
