PG A.M.: Georgia Senate renews push on antisemitism bills

A stalled effort to make antisemitism a hate crime in Georgia is about to get a fresh push in the Legislature.

The Georgia Senate plans to revive House Bill 30 next week. Critics blocked the measure last year, arguing it could infringe on free speech rights.

This time, the bill would be joined by separate legislation that would increase penalties against those who litter and make terroristic threats, senior Senate officials said. The latter effort is aimed at cracking down on vile leaflets targeting Jewish neighborhoods.

Both measures are backed by Lt. Gov. Burt Jones and are expected to land in committee meetings early next week. Officials say Jones, a Republican from Jackson, is confident he’s mustered enough votes to pass the bills.

The legislation failed last year because Senate opponents challenged language the House borrowed from the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance to define antisemitism, calling it too broad.

Israel GPO/Kobi Gideon

Israel GPO/Kobi Gideon

Since then, pressure to adopt a bill against Jewish hate has only increased. On a May 2023 trip to Israel, Gov. Brian Kemp faced questions from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other officials about why it hadn’t yet become law.

Supporters say the need for the bill has only grown amid a spike in antisemitic incidents since the Hamas attack on Israel on Oct. 7. The invasion has led Israel to mount escalating retaliatory strikes in Hamas-controlled Gaza.

The Senate’s advancing of the antisemitism measures should be welcome news to House Speaker Jon Burns. When asked last week about his message to Senate lawmakers on the stalled legislation, the House leader was blunt.

“Pass the bill. Simple as that. We’ve listened and they’ve done substantial work over there. But some things rise above politics. Pass the bill,” he said.

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SHUTDOWN AVERTED. Both chambers of Congress signed off Thursday on legislation to temporarily fund the federal government, avoiding a partial shutdown that was set to begin at midnight Friday. The bill now goes to President Joe Biden to be signed into law.

The measure passed with bipartisan support in both chambers, although about half of House Republicans voted against the bill. Among them were five members of Georgia’s delegation: Reps. Andrew Clyde of Athens, Mike Collins of Jackson, Marjorie Taylor Greene of Rome, Barry Loudermilk of Cassville and Rich McCormick of Suwanee.

This was the third time since September that Congress has passed stopgap legislation to avoid a shutdown. The first time, conservative lawmakers unhappy with the deal backed by then-Speaker Kevin McCarthy successfully ousted him from his job.

Hyosub Shin/AJC

Now, many of those same legislators are expressing their displeasure with Johnson, although it has not yet rivaled the fever pitch that preceded calls for McCarthy’s removal as speaker.

Many House Republicans say they are aware of the limitations of Johnson’s power with just a two-vote majority in the House and Democrats in control in the Senate and White House. Collins, who represents a section of east Georgia, said the divide puts Johnson in an impossible position.

“He didn’t have many options, but it doesn’t mean that I have to personally support those options,” Collins said. “But it doesn’t mean I’m going to kick him out.”

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CAMPAIGN 2024. President Joe Biden’s campaign tapped veteran strategist Jonae Wartel to help lead his reelection effort in Georgia, one of the most crucial battlegrounds in the 2024 election. Read more here.

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TRUMP BALLOT BATTLE. Georgia Public Broadcasting’s Donna Lowry reports that more than a dozen state House Democrats have signed onto a resolution to keep former President Donald Trump’s name off of Georgia election ballots based on the 14th Amendment’s insurrection clause.

State Rep. Roger Bruce, D-Atlanta, is leading the charge and told Lowry, “Our Constitution calls for people to be loyal to the country. If you’re not, then you should not be in positions of leadership.”

The resolution has not been assigned a number yet because the Legislature was out of session this week, but the measure is not likely to get far with Republicans in charge. Also, as Lowry notes, Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr recently joined dozens of other state attorneys general in signing onto the legal brief to the U.S. Supreme Court that argues in favor of keeping Trump on the ballot in Colorado, where a similar 14th Amendment challenge has been made.

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Casey Sykes

UNDER THE GOLD DOME:

With a week of budget hearings concluded, the House and Senate will resume floor action at 10 a.m. Monday.

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NUCLEAR ‘TOOLS.’ Plant Vogtle’s two new nuclear reactors came online billions of dollars over budget and several years late, but that didn’t stop Gov. Brian Kemp from touting the energy producers as a “green marketing tool” at this week’s World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

Speaking as part of a clean energy panel Thursday, Kemp said the reliable energy from Plant Vogtle’s reactors, the first built from scratch in the U.S. in more than three decades, is central to Georgia’s ambitions to become the world’s “e-mobility capital.”

As reported by our Greg Bluestein, Kemp said to recruit manufacturers and clean energy jobs requires “clean, green energy.”

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UNEASY ELECTORATE. Georgia is widely considered a must-win state in the 2024 presidential race, particularly for the eventual Republican nominee. If the primaries go to form and the election pits President Joe Biden against former President Donald Trump, a number of Georgians say they don’t support either candidate.

State voters’ disillusionment with the expected nominees was among the takeaways from The Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s latest poll, released earlier this week. Among those surveyed, 6% said they won’t vote in the presidential race and 7% said they’d cast ballots for candidates other than Biden or Trump. Another 6% remain undecided.

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AJC file photo

LISTEN UP. Cobb County Commissioner and U.S. House candidate Jerica Richardson joined Thursday’s “Politically Georgia” radio show to talk about her race for the 6th Congressional District. She addressed her decision to stay in the contest after fellow Democrat —U.S Rep. Lucy McBath of Marietta — announced she’d run for the open seat, too.

Catch up on that episode at Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts or wherever you listen to podcasts. And listen to Friday’s show live at 10 a.m. on WABE 90.1 FM, at AJC.com and at WABE.org.

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AJC file photo

RECESSION OR SLOWDOWN? The state’s fiscal economist told lawmakers earlier this week to brace for a “mild recession” in 2024, but not every expert agrees. The University of Georgia’s Benjamin Ayers, dean of the school’s Terry College of Business, reiterated his forecast for an economic slowdown — not a recession — in remarks Thursday at the Savannah Chamber of Commerce Economic Outlook Luncheon.

Ayers put recession odds at 1 in 3, reflecting a report released by UGA in December. The outlook is in contrast to the one expressed Tuesday by Georgia State University’s Robert Buschman in a budget hearing at the state Capitol. Buschman predicted a mild recession is “more likely than not” in the first half of 2024.

Both economists cited inflation, labor, unemployment and interest rates in their forecasts. Georgia’s Ayers is more bullish because of Georgia’s pipeline of new economic development projects — nearly 800 announced in the last two years — and sustained population growth in “prime, working-age” individuals who will strengthen the state’s labor force.

“The economy will slow but not bust,” he said.

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TODAY IN WASHINGTON:

President Joe Biden meets with a group of U.S. mayors at the White House to highlight his administration’s efforts to partner with local governments on economic development initiatives.
The U.S. House and Senate are done for the week.

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Katelyn Myrick/AJC

FARMWORKER RAISE FREEZE. Having to pay an extra dollar an hour to guest farm workers from Latin America is too much for cash-strapped farmers, state Agriculture Commissioner Tyler Harper has told Georgia’s congressional delegation.

Harper, a Republican from Ocilla, has asked lawmakers to freeze a wage hike that went into effect on Jan. 1 and raised the hourly minimum wage for participants in the federal government’s H-2A visa program from $13.67 to $14.68. Those workers also saw a raise last year, from $11.99 an hour.

The AJC’s Lautaro Grinspan writes that Harper, himself a seventh-generation farmer, sent a letter to the members of the congressional delegation saying that, for Georgia farms, the labor program is “quickly reaching a breaking point where the cost of using the program significantly outweighs its benefits.”

He predicted the raise would lead to production cuts that would negatively impact Georgia’s economy and increase prices for consumers at the grocery store.

Last fiscal year, 37,536 H-2A workers were employed in the state.

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Nathan Posner for The AJC

CHAIRMAN CARTER. U.S. Rep. Buddy Carter, R-St. Simons Island, will chair the House’s Environment, Manufacturing, & Critical Materials Subcommittee.

Carter replaces Rep. Bill Johnson of Ohio, who is retiring from Congress later this month to become the next president of Youngstown State University.

“As the representative for the entire coast of Georgia, which includes the Okefenokee Swamp, major U.S. ports, critical mineral mines, and a robust manufacturing industry, I am honored and excited to lead the Environment, Manufacturing, and Critical Materials Subcommittee,” Carter said in a statement.

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Courtesy photo

DOG OF THE DAY. Among the many lessons our pets teach us is the beauty of living in the moment.

In Gusto Burleson’s case, that was whatever the day brought — wrestling, barking at the mail carrier, inspecting political yard signs, and raising the baby girl that his people brought home from the hospital one day.

Gusto passed away suddenly over the weekend, but the cattle dog mix leaves behind a family, including Insurance Commissioner John King’s former legislative assistant Weston Burleson, whom he made happy every day.

Send us your dogs of any political persuasion and location, and cats on a cat-by-cat basis, to patricia.murphy@ajc.com, or DM us at @MurphyAJC.

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AS ALWAYS, Politically Georgia readers are some of our favorite tipsters. Send your best scoop, gossip and insider info to greg.bluestein@ajc.com, tia.mitchell@ajc.com, patricia.murphy@ajc.com, and adam.vanbrimmer@ajc.com.

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