Gov. Brian Kemp is continuing to expand his national political reach. Along with a recent trip to Washington, D.C. and last month’s trip to Davos, Switzerland, Kemp is headed to Texas at the end of the week to participate at a private GOP retreat organized by party heavyweight Karl Rove.
Kemp got the invitation directly from Rove after the two developed a friendship over recent years that now includes frequent texts.
The Austin confab will bring together high-dollar donors and several top Republicans with announced or suspected designs on the White House, including former Vice President Mike Pence, newly announced presidential candidate Nikki Haley, and South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott.
Kemp wants to wield influence in the 2024 race for the White House and he clearly harbors his own ambitions to run for other higher office down the line. He’s also taking steps to cement his control of the state GOP apparatus.
Credit: Natrice Miller/AJC
Credit: Natrice Miller/AJC
His expanding influence operation in his second term stands in contrast to most of his predecessors, including former GOP Gov. Nathan Deal, who joined Kemp for an event at the Capitol on Wednesday.
When Deal was elected governor in 2010, he made one thing clear: After almost two decades serving in the U.S. House, he had no intention of going back to Washington again.
We caught up with Deal at the state Capitol and asked him what he made of Kemp’s different approach.
“I think it’s good for our state. It calls attention to the importance of our state. We’re bumping at 11 million people, but we’re still about the eighth largest state,” Deal said. “Since we can’t beat Iowa and New Hampshire in terms of our elections process, maybe this is one way we can draw attention to what’s happening in a good way.”
He added with a grin: “I’m glad to see him being involved in that. Maybe I should whisper in his ear and say, ‘Be careful what you get involved in when you get to the federal level.’ Because it’s very different … It’s a different world over there, and I think it’s gotten more different since I left.”
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Credit: Natrice Miller/AJC
Credit: Natrice Miller/AJC
HATE CRIMES. Dozens of religious leaders and politicians from both parties rallied at the Capitol on Wednesday to support a proposal that would crack down on crimes against Jewish people.
It was a show of force for House Bill 30, which would formally define antisemitism and include antisemitic actions in Georgia’s hate crimes law.
State Rep. John Carson, R-Marietta, said the bill would make using a swastika with the intent to terrorize a person an act of domestic terrorism.
Credit: Natrice Miller/AJC
Credit: Natrice Miller/AJC
State Rep. Esther Panitch, the only Jewish member of the Legislature, said the bill would not affect freedom of speech.
“Right is right and wrong is wrong,” the Sandy Springs Democrat said. “My colleagues are standing up against hate. It’s as simple as that.”
The measure has already cleared a key House committee and is expected for a vote next week
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TRANSGENDER TREATMENT. A state Senate panel on Wednesday passed a bill that would prohibit medical professionals from giving transgender children certain hormones or surgical treatment that assists them in aligning with their gender identity.
The House Health and Human Services Committee vote, which fell along party lines, came hours after U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene spoke in the state Senate chamber and urged its members to “protect our kids here in Georgia,” the AJC’s Maya T. Prabhu reported.
“There are children that are not even old enough to vote … or old enough to join the military or old enough to get a tattoo or old enough to buy nicotine or alcohol that are taking dangerous medications (such as) puberty blockers,” said Greene, R-Rome. “They are undergoing dangerous surgeries and permanent life-altering surgeries, such as mastectomy or teenage girl castration for teenage boys.”
Children who don’t identify with their biological sex at a very young age may be prescribed hormone treatments to delay puberty or stop it from progressing. Transgender advocates say it is rare for doctors to perform nonreversible procedures on minors, as Senate Bill 140 prohibits.
Credit: Natrice Miller/AJC
Credit: Natrice Miller/AJC
Greene was one of three U.S. representatives to speak to senators Wednesday. U.S. Reps. Sanford Bishop, D-Albany, and Mike Collins, R-Jackson, also addressed lawmakers.
Lucy McBath, D-Marietta, was spotted outside the chambers before the session started, but did not speak. Most members of Congress are back in their districts during a recess that ends on Monday.
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Credit: Casey Sykes for the AJC
Credit: Casey Sykes for the AJC
UNDER THE GOLD DOME, Legislative Day 23:
- 7:30 a.m.: Committee meetings begin;
- 10 a.m.: The House gavels in;
- 10 a.m. The Senate gavels in.
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Credit: Natrice Miller/AJC
Credit: Natrice Miller/AJC
CHILDREN’S CARE. Gov. Brian Kemp announced an initiative with Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta and Mercer University School of Medicine Wednesday to improve pediatric care in rural Georgia. CHOA will provide $200 million to fund 10 full-tuition scholarships for medical students who commit to serve four years in rural Georgia counties. The money will also go toward pilot programs to tackle rural health care shortages for children in the state.
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Credit: Natrice Miller/AJC
Credit: Natrice Miller/AJC
“SITTING BUCKS.” The Senate State and Local Government Operations committee held its second hearing on a bill to put the “City of Buckhead City” to a 2024 referendum. Senators heard from pro-secession residents worried about violent crime in the neighborhood, including one who called residents there “sitting bucks.”
At a previous hearing, senators heard from witnesses who warned the move would destabilize state bond rates, kick Buckhead students out of Atlanta Public Schools and cause “profound damage,” including the need to hold new Atlanta elections.
State Sen. Randy Robertson, R-Cataula, also explained the bill requires Buckhead to pay the mayor $225,000 per year “to encourage the right individuals to run for office,” among other reasons.
“I’m just trying to understand the justification,” said state Sen. Derek Mallow, D-Savannah, said of the pricey compensation.
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Credit: David Barnes for the AJC
Credit: David Barnes for the AJC
WATER WAR. Georgia Agricultural Commissioner Tyler Harper has weighed in on the new “Waters of the United States” rule recently announced by the Environmental Protection Agency.
The rule redefines “navigable waters” to include smaller bodies like ponds, ditches, certain streams, and other bodies of water as determined by the EPA and Army Corps of Engineers under the Clean Water Act.
Clean water advocates say the change will protect water sources from large farms’ chemical byproducts, but agriculture interests in the state have warned it will overburden Georgia farmers with unnecessary regulations.
“This new WOTUS rule puts more burdensome regulations, red-tape, and wasteful bureaucracy on Georgia farmers at a time when they can least afford it,” Harper said in a statement. “As Agriculture Commissioner, I will keep fighting for sensible regulation, lower-costs, better trade deals, and policies that empower Georgia farmers and families and look forward to putting a stop to this disastrous rule change.”
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Credit: Kenny Holston/The New York Times
Credit: Kenny Holston/The New York Times
TODAY IN WASHINGTON:
- President Joe Biden has no public events scheduled.
- The U.S. House and Senate are off all week.
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Credit: AP
Credit: AP
CLYDE CO-DEL. Georgia U.S. Rep. Andrew Clyde was among a group of U.S. House members who traveled to Europe last week as part of a bipartisan congressional delegation, or “co-del,” focused on oversight of U.S. aid to Ukraine.
Clyde, R-Athens, and his colleagues visited Poland, Romania and Greece on a trip organized by Armed Services Committee Chairman Mike Rogers of Alabama. Their travel preceded President Joe Biden’s own trip to Poland, which included an unannounced train ride to Ukraine to meet with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Clyde has been critical of the oversight in place for Ukraine funding. He said the lawmakers’ trip included meetings with U.S. civilian and military officials plus leaders from the Ukraine and other allied nations.
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Credit: Jason.Getz@ajc.com
Credit: Jason.Getz@ajc.com
THAT WAS FAST. About 12 hours after The Jolt reported that University of Georgia boosters were waiting for their invitation to the White House for the national champion football team, the White House told your Insiders that President Joe Biden “looks forward to welcoming” the team to Washington soon.
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Credit: Nicole Craine/The New York Times
Credit: Nicole Craine/The New York Times
PERSONNEL UPDATE. Matt Krack is joining U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock’s team as his Georgia-based press secretary. He previously served as press secretary for Fair Fight Action, the voting rights organization founded by Stacey Abrams.
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Credit: Courtesy photo
Credit: Courtesy photo
DOG OF THE DAY. Jolt readers, you’ve already met a diplocat and a campaign consolation pup. Now meet AJC subscriber Daisy, the Boykin Spaniel of Brooks, Georgia.
Daisy’s people are Neal and Patty McEwen, who report they’ve read the AJC “since before the J and the C were the same paper.”
They call this photo Hair on Fire, “for obvious reasons, but it also seems to fit much of the political climate these days.”
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.
