Almost every elected official in Atlanta and Buckhead opposes the push to allow Buckhead to secede from Atlanta and create a new city of its own. So do a broad coalition of Buckhead business leaders and community activists. And Gov. Brian Kemp’s administration has raised grave concerns, too.
So why is the state Senate still set to vote today on Senate Bills 113 and 114, the tandem measures that would pave the way for a referendum to split the upscale neighborhood and business district away from the rest of the city?
Even if the bills pass the Senate today, this divorce is highly unlikely to happen. Republican House leaders are deeply skeptical of the cityhood push and Kemp’s inner circle was opposed even before his chief lawyer penned a memo outlining a blizzard of legal questions.
But the Senate’s plan to move forward on a vote Thursday sets up a phenomenally strange scenario, with even supporters of cityhood privately doubting they have the votes to pass it.
We have talked to at least four GOP senators who privately say they will vote against Senate Bills 113 and 114. Pro-Atlanta lobbyists say as many as 10 Republicans may oppose it.
But Capitol insiders are split on why Buckhead secessionists want to risk such a potentially damaging defeat.
Some supporters say they’re simply trying to fulfill a campaign promise to bring the Buckhead breakaway to a vote. Others hold out hope for a surprise Senate win, mindful that even in defeat the measure could be revived later this session through a procedural motion to recommit.
And then there are those who say that GOP Senate leaders privately want the Buckhead issue to die — and a convincing, public defeat on the floor is the only way to vanquish the breakup movement.
“They need to show the Buckhead crowd how little support it has in order to kill it,” said one legislator.
Stay tuned.
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Credit: Natrice Miller/AJC
Credit: Natrice Miller/AJC
BUCKHEAD RESPONDS. A memo from Gov. Brian Kemp’s executive counsel to his Senate floor leaders landed with a bang in the middle of the Buckhead secession debate Wednesday.
In it, Kemp counsel David Dove outlined 11 areas of constitutional or statutory problems with the bills, which he warned “may retailor the cloth of governance” for cities across the state.
In response, the Buckhead City Committee sent a news release with 11 points of its own. But some raised more questions than answers for lawmakers, particularly on the future of Buckhead schools.
While it noted two of the names of your Insiders, it did not include any analysis from any pro-Buckhead cityhood attorney.
The back and forth did nothing to slow the bills’ progress through the chamber. State Sen. Randy Robertson, R-Cataula, presented the bills to the Senate Rules Committee Wednesday as two “voter rights bills,” and they were quickly approved for a vote by the full Senate.
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Credit: AJC
Credit: AJC
SCHOOL FIGHT. One of the biggest problems with a proposed split is the question of where children from Buckhead would go to school, since they would no longer be Atlanta residents. The Georgia constitution prevents the creation of a new school district.
Despite assurances from the Buckhead City Committee that Buckhead students will still attend Atlanta Public Schools after a split, APS said Wednesday that’s not true.
“Children residing in a new City of Buckhead City would become students of Fulton County Schools,” APS wrote in a lengthy statement. “There is no legal mechanism for children residing outside of Atlanta to have guaranteed enrollment in APS or at particular APS schools.”
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Credit: Natrice Miller/AJC
Credit: Natrice Miller/AJC
UNDER THE GOLD DOME, Legislative Day 27:
- 8 a.m.: Committee meetings begin;
- 10 a.m.: The House gavels in;
- 10 a.m.: The Senate convenes.
- On our radar: A committee work day is scheduled for tomorrow, with Crossover Day happening Monday.
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Credit: Bob Andres/AJC
Credit: Bob Andres/AJC
LEGISLATIVE UPDATE: It’s moving season at the state Capitol, as lawmakers rush to pass their bills through at least one chamber ahead of Monday’s Crossover Day deadline.
The Senate Rules Committee moved 26 bills for consideration for today alone, with the House due to consider more than a dozen more.
Among the bills we’re watching are:
- Senate Bills 113 and 114, the “City of Buckhead City” bills, up for a vote today in the full Senate.
- Senate Bill 92, which would create a state panel to oversee local District Attorneys, will also be considered by the Senate today.
- House Bill 406, a bill to expand electric vehicle charging stations across Georgia including at convenience stores, passed the House on Wednesday, our colleague Dave Wickert reports.
- Senate Bill 88, which would have banned classroom discussion of gender identity without a parent’s permission, stalled in the state Senate, Ty Tagami reports. A previous proponent of the bill, Mike Griffin of the Georgia Baptist Mission Board, told a committee he had concerns after lawyers warned of the chance of “dramatic unintended consequences” from the language in the measure.
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Credit: Arvin Temkar/AJC
Credit: Arvin Temkar/AJC
STAND FOR LEMONADE. The lemonade stand bill is on the move in the state Senate. State Sen. Elena Parent, D-Atlanta, is urging her colleagues to let kids sell snacks and trinkets without a permit.
Although lemonade stands are a beloved childhood tradition, they are also technically against Georgia law without a permit, which can cost up to $500 to obtain. Parent’s bill would allow minors to sell prepackaged foods, nonalcoholic drinks and nonperishable goods like jewelry and T-shirts without a permit and without paying taxes, for up to $5,000 in sales.
The bill would apply only to sales on private property, so would not change prohibitions on street sales.
Parent sold the idea to the Rules Committee Wednesday, but not before chairman Matt Brass asked, “Can the kids deliver?”
Look for floor consideration of Senate Bill 55 today.
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INSULIN CAPS. The announcement from pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly that it will voluntarily lower the price of insulin for its customers led to a victory lap from Democrats, who also took the opportunity to issue a challenge.
“It’s a big deal, and it’s time for other manufacturers to follow,” President Joe Biden said, after years of pushing companies to lower the price of insulin for patients.
Credit: Steve Schaefer for the AJC
Credit: Steve Schaefer for the AJC
U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont put a finer point on that sentiment in a post on Twitter.
“At a time when Eli Lilly made over $7 billion in profits last year, public pressure forced them to reduce the price of insulin by 70%,” he wrote. “Sanofi and Novo Nordisk must do the same.”
Georgia’s U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock and U.S. Rep. Lucy McBath, who both authored legislation to cap out-of-pocket insulin costs, applauded the news, too.
Democrats passed their proposals for a $35 cap for Medicare patients in last year’s Inflation Reduction Act last year, but the Eli Lilly announcement could affect exponentially more patients, including those on private insurance, Medicaid and the uninsured.
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JAN. 6 FOOTAGE. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy has come under fire for giving Fox News host Tucker Carlson exclusive access to Jan. 6, 2021, security footage. But on Wednesday, the speaker said he will allow defendants charged with crimes that day to request to see the videos, too.
McCarthy put Georgia’s U.S. Rep. Barry Loudermilk in charge of facilitating those requests. Loudermilk, who chairs the House Administration Subcommittee on Oversight, said Jan. 6 defendants have a right to the footage as evidence in their trials.
“It is our intention to make available any relevant videos and documents on a case-by-case basis as requested by attorneys representing defendants,” the Cassville Republican said in a statement first released to Politico.
Credit: Kenny Holston/The New York Times
Credit: Kenny Holston/The New York Times
Previous releases of the same footage were used by the House Jan. 6 Select Committee to raise questions about Loudermilk’s own actions in the days leading up to the deadly Capitol attack.
The committee said the tapes showed Loudermilk giving tours of the Capitol complex on Jan. 5, including to people who were later seen outside of the building during the violence the next day but not going inside. Loudermilk consistently denied wrongdoing and was never accused of breaking House rules or encouraging violence.
But the committee’s use of the video cast Loudermilk in a negative light and caused him to face widespread criticism. He told Politico at the time, “I did nothing wrong and they know it.”
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JIMMY CARTER’S JAPAN. We’ve seen emotional tributes to former President Jimmy Carter from around the globe. U.S. Ambassador to Japan Rahm Emanuel offered a retrospective of Carter’s career, including his impact on Japan, in one of the latest.
Emanuel detailed Carter’s work to bring Japanese investment and diplomatic assets to Georgia as governor, along with his strategic partnership with the Pacific nation as president.
“Thank you, President Carter, for all that you have done for the American people, for the Japanese people, and for the people of the world. You have made this world a better place, and we all owe you a debt of gratitude.”
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Credit: Yuri Gripas/The New York Times
Credit: Yuri Gripas/The New York Times
TODAY IN WASHINGTON:
- The U.S. House is done for the week, with Democrats traveling to Baltimore for a strategy retreat;
- President Joe Biden will have lunch with Senate Democrats.
- The Conservative Political Action Conference gets underway in National Harbor, just outside of D.C. Former President Donald Trump and U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., are among the headliners for the conference.
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Credit: Courtesy photo
Credit: Courtesy photo
DOG OF THE DAY. It’s lawmaker week at the Dog of the Day, when we’re featuring the bipartisan buddies of your local elected officials.
Today’s spotlight is on Zeus, the “gentle giant” rescued in Fayette County by U.S. Rep. Rich McCormick’s chief of staff, Philip Singleton.
Zeus’s first friend was Singleton’s daughter, Emma, who read to him every day as a shy puppy. Now bigger and bolder, Zeus’s hobbies include “belly rubs, wrestling, and fun adventures, especially to Capitol Hill.”
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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.
