Capitol Recap: Ex-Georgia officials face investigation over trip to Europe

The Georgia Senate passed legislation creating the committee at the end of the 2022 session. Miller served as its chair.

There is no way for taxpayers to know how much the trip cost unless the General Assembly agrees to release the information.

Legislative lawyers rejected requests from The Atlanta Journal-Constitution to disclose how much state money was spent on the trip, citing the exemption the General Assembly gave itself from complying with the Open Records Act that other government agencies must follow.

Jones and Kennedy said in a joint statement that an AJC article about the delegation’s journeys — which involved a review of 1,300 pages of emails received through an Open Records Act request from the Department of Economic Development — “raises serious concerns about the use and purpose of Senate administrative funds in paying for travel expenses associated with this study committee.”

They added: “We believe that transparency and ensuring that any travel paid using taxpayer dollars should have a direct connection to the legislature or bringing businesses and work into Georgia. We are taking this issue very seriously and our offices will investigate this process and ensure the most transparency for hardworking Georgians.”

Late in the 2022 session, the Senate added $80,000 to the lieutenant governor’s office budget and $686,000 to the Georgia Senate budget, calling it an increase “for legislative operations,” according to Senate budget tracking sheets. No further explanation was provided.

Democrats have joined in seeking greater transparency about the trip. That includes urging by state Sen. Emanuel Jones of Ellenwood, who brings an unusual perspective to the matter.

He was part of the delegation.

Mandatory-minimum sentences find favor in state Senate

Mandatory-minimum sentences, something the state moved away from when then-Gov. Nathan Deal oversaw an overhaul of Georgia’s criminal justice system, made a strong comeback this past week in the state Senate.

First, a Senate panel — voting along party lines with Republicans in favor — backed legislation seeking stronger penalties for recruiting gang members.

Senate Bill 44, which Clarkesville Republican Sen. Bo Hatchett sponsored on behalf of Gov. Brian Kemp, would give judges less discretion in determining sentences.

Anyone convicted of recruiting members to a street gang would be sentenced to five to 20 years in prison, and that time would not be served until after any other sentence for a gang-related crime was completed. There also would be no reduction in the sentence for good behavior.

In cases when the person being recruited is either under age 17 or has a mental disability, the minimum sentence would increase to 10 years.

Then the next day, the Senate passed legislation to vastly increase the minimum sentence for those who pay people for sex acts and those who collect the money.

Under Senate Bill 36, sponsored by Senate Republican Whip Randy Robertson, sentences for people convicted of pimping or pandering would increase from days to at least a year in jail. The bill passed 33-16 on a mostly party-line vote, with state Sen. Jason Esteves, an Atlanta Democrat, voting with Republicans.

SB 36 would require people convicted of pimping to serve one to 10 years in prison upon a first conviction. Currently, judges can choose to suspend all but three days of a sentence. The proposed legislation would not bar judges from suspending sentences.

A second pimping conviction would require a sentence of no less than one year in prison without any opportunities for a reduced sentence due to good behavior.

People convicted of pandering also would face one to 10 years in prison under the proposed legislation.

Republican lawmakers see mandatory-minimum sentences as a way to tamp down on crime, but opponents question their effectiveness.

Mazie Lynn Guertin, a lobbyist for the Georgia Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers who testified against SB 44, said “mandatory minimums don’t deter crime.”

“The research is clear that people, in reality, don’t look to see what the criminal code says, find the mandatory penalty and become discouraged by that penalty (from pursuing) whatever behavior it is they were going to pursue,” she said

Hatchett, speaking about his gang recruiting bill, said he’s “not always for mandatory minimums.”

“But in this case, you’re talking about a group of individuals that are targeting children and trying to recruit them into a criminal enterprise,” Hatchett said. “And you’re taking away their innocence, you’re taking them away from their chance at life, and not only that, you’re taking them away from their parents. And that, in my opinion, is something that is worthy of a mandatory-minimum (sentence).”

Attacks on power grid generate legislation to protect infrastructure

Recent attacks on the nation’s power grid have led to legislation in the Georgia House to increase penalties for intentionally damaging critical infrastructure.

House Bill 227 would make any such acts of sabotage — including those involving water and telecommunications equipment — a felony. Violators would face up to 20 years in prison and could be financially liable for damages.

Several states are considering similar legislation following a rise in threats to infrastructure, particularly electrical facilities. The U.S Department of Energy saw a sharp increase in reports of vandalism and physical attacks targeting electrical infrastructure between 2021 and 2022.

This past week, federal authorities in Maryland said they arrested two people with extremist ties, including the founder of a neo-Nazi group, on charges of conspiring to attack Baltimore’s power grid. The two face allegations of planning to shoot five electrical substations.

State Rep. Rob Leverett, the sponsor of HB 227, pointed to gunfire directed at substations in Moore County, North Carolina, in December that left tens of thousands of people without power for several days.

“They were without power during one of the worst cold snaps we’ve had in a long time,” said Leverett, a Republican from Elberton. “Damaging this sort of property, I think, is different and has much broader impact than some other kinds of damage to property.”

Brian Harrell, a former assistant secretary for infrastructure protection at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, called power stations “an attractive target.”

“Domestic terror groups know that destroying this infrastructure can have a crippling effect on industry, citizens and local governments,” Harrell said. “It’s difficult to protect all energy assets.”

He said stronger penalties are needed.

“This is domestic terrorism, pure and simple,” Harrell said, “and needs to be treated as such.”

Panel that reviewed Fulton elections sees need to change state’s takeover process

Three officials who studied Fulton County elections see no reason to shift control of its voting to the state. It’s the review process, they said, that needs to change.

The performance review panel — Ryan Germany, the former general counsel to Republican Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger; Stephen Day, a Democrat on the Gwinnett County elections board; and Rickey Kittle, the Republican chairman for the Catoosa County elections board — opposes a state takeover of Fulton’s elections because the county has made significant improvements since the 2020 vote.

But the three men who spent a year-and-a-half on the Fulton inquiry said future reviews should be handled differently.

Republican state legislators started the process, the first step in a potential state takeover of elections as part of an overhaul of the state’s voting laws that the GOP-led General Assembly approved in response to the 2020 presidential election.

Fulton, the home to Georgia’s largest number of Democratic voters, is the only county in the state that has undergone such a review, which can be launched by legislators from an area. No other lawmakers have sought state intervention in their own counties, including in Coffee County, where computer analysts aided Republican supporters of then-President Donald Trump and copied election software in January 2021.

“It’s difficult to see how this process is sustainable and can continue to positively influence election administration in Georgia without some reforms,” Day said.

He suggested that the General Assembly provide funding for four or five people who could assess counties across the state year-round.

Day, Germany and Kittle were volunteers. They said they were only able to conduct a thorough investigation with the help of the Carter Center, which contributed 64 independent, nonpartisan election observers.

The panel found no indications of fraud or dishonesty in Fulton’s 2020 election results, and it cited improvements in training, processes and procedures since then.

But the panel did find problems in the 2020 primary and general election, including long lines amid the COVID-19 pandemic and process errors during an audit that recounted all paper ballots by hand.

Its report also confirmed an allegation that almost 200 ballots were counted twice during the first vote count of the presidential election, as first reported by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution in July 2021.

The State Election Board is expected to vote in April on the panel’s recommendation not to take over Fulton’s elections.

Credit: Arvin Temkar/AJC

Credit: Arvin Temkar/AJC

Speaker throws up obstacle to horse racing, casinos

Will horse racing and casinos win approval during this year’s legislative session? House Speaker Jon Burns says nobody should take that bet.

“I don’t think this year that we will see casinos move forward — or horse racing,” Burns said at a forum hosted by the University of Georgia’s School of Public and International Affairs.

The speaker expressed concerns about “out of control” gambling’s impact on families and the potential threat that competition from casinos can have on other local entertainment venues.

Burns, however, indicated that he is still open to sports betting.

Gov. Brian Kemp and Lt. Gov. Burt Jones have shown support for sports betting. Despite previous opposition, Kemp has said he would work with legislative leaders on a measure to allow sports betting this year. Jones has previously sponsored legislation to make sports betting legal.

Sports betting also enjoys some public support. An Atlanta Journal-Constitution poll last month showed about 49% of those surveyed said they either support or strongly support sports betting. About 37% of respondents strongly oppose or somewhat oppose the idea.

Advocates for casinos — like some of their patrons — say there’s still a chance. They’re seeking a constitutional amendment that would include sports betting, horse racing and casinos as a single package for approval, instead of stand-alone consideration of sports betting by itself.

Credit: Courtesy photo

Credit: Courtesy photo

Antisemitic flyers could lead to new protections for Jewish people

The push for hate-crimes protection for Jewish people may have gotten a lift after antisemitic flyers were recently dumped in the yards of dozens of metro Atlanta homes.

The flyers have been tied to the Goyim Defense League and White Lives Matter, two organizations defined by the Anti-Defamation League as racist networks targeting the Jewish community.

They appeared in several neighborhoods with significant Jewish populations, including that of state Rep. Esther Panitch, D-Sandy Springs, the only Jewish member of the General Assembly.

“Welcome to being a Jew in Georgia,” Panitch tweeted, along with a picture of the flyers on her lawn. “I’m coming for you with the weight of the state behind me,” she added.

Panitch and state Rep. John Carson, R-Marietta, recently introduced House Bill 30, a measure that would provide an official state definition of antisemitism that could enhance penalties under the state’s hate-crimes law. House Majority Leader Chuck Efstration of Dacula, who wrote the current hate-crimes law, also backs the bill.

Some lawmakers said the flyers could mean HB 30 will get greater attention from their colleagues.

State Rep. Shea Roberts, D-Sandy Springs, said she’s “up for whatever we need to do at the Capitol or elsewhere.”

Politically expedient

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