It’s a do-or-die day at the Gold Dome as the final countdown to the end of the legislative session is finally on.
The notorious procrastinators we elected as our lawmakers have left a full slate of pending bills on their calendar for Wednesday’s final gasp. And the equally notorious procrastinators of The Jolt are finally ready to cover it all.
Although the House and Senate were officially out of session yesterday, there was still plenty of action.
Gov. Brian Kemp went to the House GOP caucus meeting and ratcheted up the pressure to approve publicly-funded vouchers of $6,500 per student for private school tuition or home-schooling expenses. Lt. Gov. Burt Jones also spoke out in favor of the package on Twitter. The Senate-passed measure stalled in the House after hours of contentious debate, but it could make a comeback.
Senate Republican leaders seemed to make little headway in enticing more GOP support for the expansion of sports betting, while Senate Democrats vowed to vote as a bloc against it.
Why would Democrats oppose legislation many had supported earlier this year? They locked down in protest of the Senate’s passage of a transgender youth bill earlier this session.
After a Jones aide criticized Democrats for their stance, state Sen. Jason Esteves fired back that Republicans are spending their time on divisive legislation “instead of focusing on bipartisan bills to benefit Georgia.”
Credit: Arvin Temkar/AJC
Credit: Arvin Temkar/AJC
Budget negotiators inched closer to a compromise on the $32.4 billion budget for the upcoming fiscal year. After earlier concerns, negotiators are confident they’ll avoid an intractable impasse this year.
The second phase of a mental health package remained stalled as Senate GOP leaders continued to block the bill, which passed the House earlier this month 163 to 3. One legislative leader told us even a scaled-back version is unlikely to clear the Senate.
The legislation is a priority of House Speaker Jon Burns and it surfaced as a target in the House-Senate feuding earlier this month, as Lt. Gov. Burt Jones’ camp raised concerns about its cost and impact on the Medicaid rolls.
Tensions between the House and Senate have mostly cooled since last week, when Jones pushed hard — and eventually relented — on an effort to overhaul hospital regulations. But there are still flashpoints between the two chambers and no telling what today will bring.
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Credit: Arvin Temkar/AJC
Credit: Arvin Temkar/AJC
LISTEN UP. Your hands-free look at what to expect today at the Capitol is now ready for you on the Politically Georgia podcast. We talk about the big bills that have made it, what remains, and the last-minute move Gov. Brian Kemp is making to ensure his own priorities pass, too.
Listen at Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, or Stitcher.
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Credit: Miguel Martinez/AJC
Credit: Miguel Martinez/AJC
UNDER THE GOLD DOME, Legislative Day 40:
- 10 a.m.: The House gavels into session;
- 10 a.m.: The Senate convenes
- Midnight-ish: Sine Die!
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ODDS & ENDS. A few other items of note:
- There is a strong chance that the Senate will take up a revived measure to include antisemitism as a hate crime today.
- Keep an eye out for the Politically Georgia podcast team today. We’re taping a Sine Die special episode, which will go live tomorrow morning.
- Wow your neighbors in the Capitol corridors today by telling them that Sine Die, translated from the Latin, means “indefinitely,” as in, “I’ll be at the Capitol basement snack bar, Sine Die!, if you need me.”
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Credit: Natrice Miller/AJC
Credit: Natrice Miller/AJC
BURNS’ PLANS. House Speaker Jon Burns signaled his post-session and longer-term priorities Wednesday when he created two new House working groups to do deep dives on policy once this session gavels out.
The Working Group on Early Childhood Education, which will be chaired by Speaker Pro Tem Jan Jones, will focus on expanding access to pre-K, while the Working Group on Public Safety will look at ways to increase the number of state troopers. State Rep. Bill Hitchens will head up that effort.
Also Wednesday, Burns appointed bi-partisan co-chairs to lead the House Rural Development Council — state Rep. Gerald Greene, R-Cuthbert, and state Rep. Mack Jackson, D-Sandersville.
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Credit: Bob Andres/AJC
Credit: Bob Andres/AJC
NO-SANTIS. The head of Georgia’s Democratic party said Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis should scrap his stop at a Smyrna gun store scheduled for tomorrow. DeSantis is planning a stop at Adventure Outdoors as a part of a book tour ahead of his likely presidential bid.
But U.S. Rep. Nikema Williams said DeSantis shouldn’t hold the event at the store, which bills itself as “The World’s Largest Gun Store,” days after a deadly mass shooting at a Nashville school.
“Holding a campaign event at a gun store days after another horrific school shooting where innocent children were murdered should be beyond the pale, but Ron DeSantis seems to not care.”
“DeSantis should cancel this event immediately.” @RepNikema Williams, the chair of the Democratic Party of Georgia, calls on the Florida governor to cancel a book tour event set for Thursday at a metro Atlanta gun store following the deadly school shooting in Nashville. #gapol pic.twitter.com/KvS5FR8ipf
— Greg Bluestein (@bluestein) March 28, 2023
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ABORTION ON TRIAL. Gov. Brian Kemp’s aides might have been feeling cautiously optimistic Tuesday after the skeptical line of questioning from several conservative jurists Tuesday during the first day of arguments in a legal challenge to Georgia’s anti-abortion law.
As our AJC colleague Maya T. Prabhu reported, the challengers contend that lawmakers violated a legal principle called “void ab initio” by adopting legal restrictions in 2019 that violated the existing Roe v. Wade ruling.
Credit: Miguel Martinez/AJC
Credit: Miguel Martinez/AJC
The U.S. Supreme Court’s 2022 reversal of that landmark decision paved the way for Georgia’s law to take effect. Now the state’s top court will determine whether it stands or not.
If it’s struck down, Kemp will face one of the most consequential decisions of his second term: Whether to pursue new limits on abortion that narrowly passed in 2019, when Republicans had larger majorities in both the state House and Senate.
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TODAY IN WASHINGTON:
- The U.S. House is expected to vote on legislation meant to reduce U.S. energy prices by increasing oil and gas production.
- The U.S. Senate will take a final vote on legislation to repeal 20-year-old authorizations for use of military force against Iraq.
- Former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz will testify on the chain’s response to union organizing during a hearing of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee.
- President Joe Biden hosts Argentinian President Alberto Fernández at the White House.
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WEAPONS BAN. Monday’s shooting at an elementary school in Nashville led to a renewed push from Democrats to reinstate a ban on assault-style rifles like the AR-15, which are frequently used in mass shootings, including in Nashville.
In a letter, U.S. Rep. Lucy McBath, D-Marietta, joined other Democrats to ask House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan to schedule a vote on legislation to ban assault weapons.
“It is too late for the victims we have already lost, but it is not too late to prevent more victims in the future,” they wrote. “We know that while assault weapons are available on the market, shooters will use these readily available weapons of war to commit mass murders in our schools, places of worship, grocery stores, movie theaters, malls, and nightclubs. They will keep coming for us, and for our children.”
Six people, including three 9-year-olds, were killed at the Nashville school before police officers shot down the assailant.
It is unlikely the Republican-controlled House will allow any measures that limit access to guns to come up for a vote.
Republicans have, however, temporarily slowed down on legislation sponsored by Rep. Andrew Clyde, R-Athens, to loosen gun laws. A hearing scheduled for Tuesday on Clyde’s proposal to ease rules on pistol braces was postponed in light of the shooting.
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Credit: Courtesy photo
Credit: Courtesy photo
RADIO STAR. Congrats to Martha Zoller, the mid-morning host of WDUN in Gainesville, who was selected 2023 “Woman of the Year” by Talkers Magazine.
Jolt readers know Zoller as an astute conservative commentator on state and national politics, who also manages to book guests across the political spectrum — and be in the middle of the biggest stories of the day.
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Credit: Natrice Miller/AJC
Credit: Natrice Miller/AJC
BEST DRESSED. See who made the on Maya T. Prabhu’s annual Capitol Best Dressed list this year, along with AJC photographer Natrice Miller’s portraits of the bi-partisan lawmakers who served style this session.
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DOUBLE DOG. The Dog of the Day has been such a success at the state Capitol this year that we’re doing a Double Dog in honor of Sine Die today, sort of.
First up, courtesy of Capitol regular Tom Gehl, is the annual “Walking the Dog” ritual of staffers of the Secretary of the Senate as they assemble reams of draft bills to be considered by members today.
The bill books help members stay on point and, hopefully, fetch more votes for their legislation.
Legislative Day 39 1/2 - It’s “Walking the Dog” time for the hard working #Georgia Secretary of the Senate crew. This is the term for the way staff builds the books with all the bills that go on each Senator’s desk for Day 40. #GaPol 🐕 = An AJC Jolt-worthy Dog! @AJCGaPolitics pic.twitter.com/O2c0yyxGXS
— tom q. gehl (@TomGehl) March 28, 2023
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DOG OF THE DAY. On this final day of the 2023 session, we’re sending lawmakers off with Dexter Evans, the exceedingly understanding pooch who calls state Rep. Stacey Evans’ entire family his people.
The Evanses adopted Dexter after the Atlanta Democrat’s first campaign in 2010. No matter the campaign, legislative outcome, or how late she gets home after Crossover day or Sine Die, a reliable source tells us Dexter is awake and happy to welcome her home.
Credit: Courtesy photo
Credit: Courtesy photo
He keeps watch over his little people while the big people are gone, and protects them all, no matter who’s home. As seen here, he also decorates a mean Christmas tree.
And despite Dexter’s adorable mug and disposition, he’s named after the vigilante serial killer from the Showtime series Dexter.
To Dexter and all of the dogs of the Capitol, along with the people who love them, we salute you, Sine Die!
But of course this feature continues with or without the Capitol in session. Keep sending 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. We’ve got lots more coming.
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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.
