Favorite foil? Stacey Abrams gets prime time attention from Donald Trump

During his address to Congress, Trump repeated a claim by Lee Zeldin, his pick to lead the Environmental Protection Agency, that the Georgia Democrat benefited from a $2 billion grant to combat climate change.

“At the last moment,” Trump said, the money went to a “woman named Stacey Abrams — have you heard of her?” Republicans in the House chamber erupted in boos.

The facts tell a different story. The money went to Power Forward Communities, a coalition of green groups working to fund energy efficiency projects nationwide.

Credit: AP

Credit: AP

Until December, Abrams was a senior counsel for one of the groups, Rewiring America, and her spokesman said she wasn’t paid for her work by the EPA. The fact-checking Politifact site rated Trump’s claim as false.

For much of the last decade, Georgia Republicans have invoked Abrams as a political foil — even in races that had nothing to do with her.

And just last week, Republicans in the Georgia Senate unveiled plans to probe Zeldin’s claims, with Lt. Gov. Burt Jones saying the “people of Georgia were defrauded” by the two-time Democratic gubernatorial candidate.

Trump and other national Republicans have also seized on that trend, using Abrams as a symbol of everything they oppose on the left, from voting rights expansions to culture war battles.

There’s one notable exception. At the height of Trump’s bitter feud with Gov. Brian Kemp, he suggested that Abrams would be a better governor than the incumbent. It was perhaps the harshest insult he could hurl at a fellow Republican.

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Credit: Arvin Temkar/AJC

Credit: Arvin Temkar/AJC

GOOD MORNING! If you’re around the Capitol today, you’ll notice workers framing a house. No, the city of Atlanta did not rezone Liberty Plaza for a residential neighborhood. They’re volunteers with Habitat for Humanity working to spotlight what they call the “attainable housing crisis” in Georgia.

Here are four other things to know for today:

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Credit: Jeff Amy/AP

Credit: Jeff Amy/AP

MAY THE BEST BILL WIN. House lawmakers are divided about how to respond to the public backlash over the increasing use of cameras to catch speeders in school zones. Should they try and fix what they think is a broken system? Or should they just ban the cameras completely?

The answer, for now, is both.

The Georgia House of Representatives on Tuesday voted to ban and regulate the cameras, sending dueling proposals to the state Senate just two days before a key legislative deadline.

One bill from state Rep. Dale Washburn, R-Macon, would ban the cameras completely. Another bill from Rep. Alan Powell, R-Hartwell, would require signs warning drivers when the cameras are in use and set rules for who gets the money from the speeding tickets and how they can spend it.

Washburn said he voted for both bills, even though he believes banning them is the best thing to do. He said it was either that or risk his bill failing to pass.

“I can’t do anything on the Senate side until I get it over there,” he said. “It gives me a chance.”

Complicating matters, the state Senate has their own proposal that would regulate the use of cameras in school zones. If that bill passes this week, it will likely become part of the negotiations in the coming weeks.

But Powell, for his part, has made his position clear.

“I’ve seen a version of the Senate bill over there, and typical of my opinion of the Senate, there’s not much to it,” he said during a committee hearing last week. “We’re giving them a second bite to look at something that’s a whole lot more rational and a whole lot more workable.”

For what it’s worth, Washburn’s bill passed 129-37. Powell’s bill passed 169-0.

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TORT TALKS. Gov. Brian Kemp enticed a Senate Democrat to cross party lines and vote for his litigation overhaul last month. But that might be a tougher task when the Georgia House votes on the measure.

House Democrats voted in a closed-door meeting to take a caucus position against the rewrite of lawsuit rules, which Republicans call “tort reform.” We’re told the internal vote was unanimous.

We talked to a few on-the-fence Democrats who were struggling with the vote a few days ago but now say they are opposed.

One told us the final straw was the decision to reroute the measure around the House Judiciary Committee and instead send it to a newly created panel that gives House Speaker Jon Burns more control.

That panel, the House Rules Subcommittee on Lawsuit Reform, has its second meeting at 10 a.m. today.

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Credit: Arvin Temkar/AJC

Credit: Arvin Temkar/AJC

CONTEXT IS KEY. You might be surprised to learn a Republican lawmaker sponsored a bill to eliminate some penalties for prostitution related to minors. You’d be even more surprised to know it passed the state Senate without a dissenting vote.

Of course, there is more to this story.

Georgia has two laws aimed at preventing people from selling kids for sex. But the penalties are different. One law says it’s between 10 years and 30 years in prison while the other says it’s a range of 25 years to 50 years in prison.

Whenever this happens, a judge must stick with the lesser penalty. It’s known as the “rule of lenity.” That’s why Senate Bill 42 would repeal the lesser penalty.

“The only way to correct the rule of lenity issue is by repealing that statute so when someone commits that act they will get the harsher penalty,” said state Sen. Bo Hatchett, R-Cornelia.

Hatchett is Gov. Brian Kemp’s floor leader in the Senate. But this bill comes from first lady Marty Kemp, who has made combating human trafficking her top issue.

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FIXER UPPER. Small-town governments have been bugging Georgia lawmakers for more money to help fix up dilapidated downtowns. Now, thanks in part to Hurricane Helene, they might get their wish.

Lawmakers put $5 million in the budget they passed earlier this week to loan cities and counties with populations under 100,000. The money is an acknowledgement that while much of the post-storm attention has focused on the state’s $83.6 billion agriculture industry, Helene also wrought havoc on the tiny towns that dot Georgia’s farmland.

Consider Lincolnton, a town of about 1,400 people about an hour’s drive from Augusta. Its small commercial district is dominated by a large, two-story brick building that had been a dentist’s office.

Heavy rain from the storm caused the roof to cave in, leaving it unusable. Lincolnton Mayor Mike McCombs said the owner has agreed to give the building to the city. But first city leaders will need money to make the repairs.

“This will really be a tie with a suit for us,” McCombs said. “This would really set us off. It would clean up the upper side of town for us.”

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LISTEN UP. Today on “Politically Georgia,” Democratic strategist Tré Easton talks about what’s next for Georgia Democrats and the upcoming March 14 deadline to avoid a government shutdown.

Be sure to download the show on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. Have a question for the show? Give us a call at 770-810-5297.

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Credit: Adam Beam/AJC

Credit: Adam Beam/AJC

UNDER THE GOLD DOME. Crossover Day is tomorrow. The Legislature won’t meet today, but there will be plenty of action in committees as House lawmakers rush to make their bills eligible for important votes on Thursday. Some happenings:

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Credit: AP

Credit: AP

NOT A SOTU. President Donald Trump’s joint speech to Congress on Tuesday night wasn’t technically a State of the Union address since he has been in office for less than a year. But it served the same purpose. As has been the norm in recent years, there were many Georgia touches throughout the evening.

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Credit: Julia Demaree Nikhinson/AP

Credit: Julia Demaree Nikhinson/AP

TODAY IN WASHINGTON:

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Credit: Alyssa Pointer/AJC

Credit: Alyssa Pointer/AJC

SHOUTOUTS. Today’s birthday:

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Want a birthday shoutout in the Politically Georgia newsletter? There’s a form for that! Click here to submit the shoutouts. It’s not just birthdays. We’re also interested in new jobs, engagements, birth announcements, etc.

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AS ALWAYS, send your best scoops, gossip and insider info to greg.bluestein@ajc.com, tia.mitchell@ajc.com, patricia.murphy@ajc.com and adam.beam@ajc.com.