If optics are the measure, Gov. Brian Kemp won the first day of the 2019 session of the Georgia General Assembly.
Hours after he was sworn in, the new governor issued an executive order that overhauled the state's sexual harassment training program and made the state's inspector general's office the ultimate repository for all such complaints.
The order is intended to bring an end to a siloed system in which every state department handles cases independently, with its own system. Kemp’s order also sets up new training requirements for state employees and managers.
Earlier that day, the state Senate passed a new set of chamber rules requiring those who allege sexual harassment by a senator or Senate staffer to file a complaint within two years of the incident in question. Previously there had been no time limit.
Anyone who files a complaint and then makes it public would also be subject to sanctions, even a fine.
There’s an assumption that the rule change was a reaction to last year’s complaint against state Sen. David Shafer, who was accused of sexually harassing a lobbyist in 2011 – in the midst of his run for lieutenant governor. The complaint was dismissed, but the charges were used against the former Senate president pro tem in a hard-fought GOP primary. Shafer lost. The man who beat him, Geoff Duncan, was sworn in as lieutenant governor on Monday.
However, single events can have multiple motivations. The action by Senate Republicans on Tuesday was also consistent with one of the most heated debates of last year’s session.
House Bill 605, passed by the House of Representatives, would have opened a one-year window during which older Georgians could sue organizations such as the Boy Scouts of America or the Catholic church for sex abuse the endured as children.
Opponents of the Hidden Predator Act, who argued this would be unfair to organizations in cases where evidence had disappeared, found support in the state Senate. The bill tanked.
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Gov. Brian Kemp's inaugural speech skirted specifics on his policies, talk of socially conservative issues and details of any new plans.
Another element it skipped: Any mention of President Donald Trump, his political benefactor whose endorsement helped him secure the GOP nomination.
But the ceremony also helped explain the decision Kemp took immediately after the Nov. 6 general election. Throughout the fall campaign, Democrats pressed the Republican nominee to step down as secretary of state – arguing that he shouldn’t be the official in charge of an election that would determine his own future.
Kemp refused. And became the first serving secretary of state to win higher office in modern Georgia history. Yet Kemp did resign -- several days after the Nov. 6 election. Many presumed a possible runoff, a specter that wouldn’t disappear for weeks, was the reason.
But consider what happened in Monday’s inauguration ceremony: In his last act as governor, Nathan Deal handed the state seal – a formal symbol of authority – to Secretary of State Robyn Crittenden, who had been appointed to replace Kemp in November, and had presided over the certification of the election results.
Crittenden then handed the state seal to Kemp, the new governor. It was a bit of civic theater – a tableau that emphasized the public and peaceful transfer of power from one elected administration to the next.
Think of what might have happened if Kemp had not resigned: Deal would have handed the state seal to Secretary of State Kemp, who would presumably have shifted it from his left hand to his right. The message would have been quite different.
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Two Georgians will be testifying today at the Senate confirmation hearing for William Barr, President Donald Trump's nominee to become U.S. attorney general. Atlanta attorney Larry Thompson, a former U.S. attorney for Georgia's northern district and deputy U.S. attorney general, and Georgia State University law professor Neil Kinkopf will be speaking before the Senate Judiciary Committee.
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The current government funding spat recently eclipsed the record set by then-House Speaker Newt Gingrich and President Bill Clinton in 1995 and 1996. The former Georgia congressman told NPR yesterday that he was still proud of the 21-day shutdown because of what it achieved:
"It led to an agreement with Clinton that led to welfare reform, the largest capital gains tax cut in history and four straight balanced budgets for the only time in your lifetime. And we wouldn't have gotten to them without the level of intensity."
The Trump ally predicted the current standoff would continue through mid to late-February because “nobody’s tired enough” yet:
"Pelosi's feeling her oats. She's a brand-new, first re-elected speaker since Sam Rayburn in 1954. So she has no reason right now to be reasonable. Schumer, basically, is tied to her. He is the tail on the kite, and she's the kite. And Trump is genuinely determined to protect the southern border."
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Speaking of Nancy Pelosi's U.S. House, the chamber has plans to vote on a stopgap spending bill today that would reopen closed portions of the government through Feb. 1. The legislation will be quickly assigned three letters in the Senate: DOA.
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Former state House member Jason Spencer, R-Woodbine, who was forced to resign after he was humiliated on a Showtime series, recently took to Facebook to announce his next venture: He's writing a book.
