The Buckhead cityhood push was doomed long before it reached Thursday’s vote.
Several GOP insiders tell us the breakaway push was never close to capturing the level of support it needed to pass the state Senate, even before the memo from Gov. Brian Kemp’s office questioning the legality of the measure cemented its fate.
The standoff set up one of the toughest decisions yet for Lt. Gov. Burt Jones’ short tenure in office.
On the one hand, the newly-elected Republican was an avowed supporter of cityhood. He sponsored the Buckhead bill last year and was the beneficiary of a splashy Buckhead fundraiser for his lieutenant governor campaign in October, hosted by Buckhead City organizers.
In turn, those pro-Buckhead forces and their powerful allies were putting on the pressure to take action. Tucker Carlson used a chunk of his airtime Wednesday to push Jones and the Senate to pass the bill.
On the other hand, Jones still had to navigate the constitutionally dubious proposal that’s divided the GOP caucus and other forces under the Gold Dome. House leaders made clear they opposed the proposal, and Kemp would never have signed it even if it got to his desk. Letting the bill go to the Senate floor was a risk not all of them wanted to see Jones take.
But at GOP Senate caucus meetings, officials say, there was consensus, even among some cityhood opponents, that the issue had festered too long and there should be finality. There’s nothing as concrete as putting it up for debate on the Senate floor.
Credit: Natrice Miller/AJC
Credit: Natrice Miller/AJC
Jones personally pushed for the bill at the GOP caucus on Thursday and kept tabs throughout the day on the whip count. Kemp’s allies rallied GOP lawmakers against it. One senator caught in between the two camps could be seen visibly upset in the chamber.
By early Thursday afternoon as the vote loomed, the dynamics were unchanged. Ten GOP senators voted against the measure.
Will there be repercussions from Jones? Two of them told us they’re not concerned it will damage their relationship with the lieutenant governor — they were assured the votes wouldn’t come back to haunt them.
***
LISTEN UP. In our Friday edition of the Politically Georgia podcast, we’re talking about the final push for the “City of Buckhead City.” We also look at the bills Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis is watching, and what to expect on Monday’s all-important Crossover Day at the Legislature.
Listen and subscribe at Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, or Stitcher.
***
Credit: Casey Sykes for the AJC
Credit: Casey Sykes for the AJC
UNDER THE GOLD DOME:
- 8 a.m.: Hearings begin on a jam-packed committee work day, the last chance to move bills through committee ahead of Crossover Day.
- Coming Monday: Crossover Day.
***
Credit: Natrice Miller/AJC
Credit: Natrice Miller/AJC
LEGISLATIVE UPDATE: The House and Senate hit the gas Thursday in the final legislative day before Monday’s Crossover Day deadline. Among the movers were:
- The House approved HB 520 on Thursday by a vote of 163 to 3. The measure from state Reps. Todd Jones, R-Cumming, and Mary Margaret Oliver, D-Decatur, builds on last year’s Mental Health Parity Act, the top priority of the last Speaker David Ralston. “I can assure you that Speaker Ralston is smiling down on this body right now,” Speaker Jon Burns said.
- The Senate passed SB 222, which would bar counties from accepting donations from nonprofits to help pay for election administration. It’s a response to the 2020 elections, when Mark Zuckerburg’s Center for Tech and Civic Life gave $43 million to Georgia counties to use mostly for safety protocols for elections during the pandemic. The money was available to all counties.
- The Senate defeated SB 57, a bill to legalize horse racing and sports betting in Georgia without a constitutional amendment. The bill’s sponsor, state Sen. Bill Hickman, breeds and races horses outside of Georgia. Several other bills to legalize sports betting are still alive.
***
A MIRACLE COALITION? The Metro Atlanta Chamber, the Georgia Chamber, and the Faith and Freedom Coalition aren’t usually on the same page on many issues.
But the two groups have joined forces to promote Senate Bill 157, designed to streamline and modify the state’s occupational licensing process.
Among the changes the bill proposes is modifying language that calls “moral turpitude” a reason to deny an occupational license to an applicant. Proponents of the bill say that makes it difficult for people with a misdemeanor criminal record to build professional careers in many cases.
Between the need for second chances and a few more good plumbers, the bill has won over powerful allies.
“These efforts are a continuation of our organizations’ longstanding commitment to advance second chances legislation to help remove barriers to quality employment and housing for Georgians,” the groups wrote.
***
Credit: Natrice Miller/AJC
Credit: Natrice Miller/AJC
HOUSING HELP. The constant flow of new factory and manufacturing announcements for Georgia includes a good news/ bad news dynamic.
The good news is the explosion of new jobs coming to the state, often in undeveloped areas. The bad news is the reality that there are often very few places for all of those new employees to live.
That’s put major pressure on lawmakers to speed housing to areas of big new investments, including in Southeast Georgia where Kia is planning a massive new EV plant.
In a statement today, Stuart Countess, President & CEO of Kia Georgia, is throwing his weight behind House Bills 514 and 517, two bills pitched as a way to address affordable housing and workforce development. Here’s the statement:
Kia Georgia has experienced and recognizes the impact of the current shortage of available, affordable housing options to meet the needs of our recruiting efforts. While we acknowledge and appreciate the efforts our local elected officials and leaders to promote development in our area, we believe more must be done to streamline the administrative processes for the development of affordable housing, while reducing mandates that inflate the costs beyond the means of the average family. To that end, Kia Georgia advocates for legislation that targets the reduction or elimination of such limitation and restrictive procedures through its support of HB 514 and HB 517.
***
RUDY SUIT. The defamation lawsuit against Rudy Giuliani filed by two former Fulton County elections workers is moving through the U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C.
The Daily Beast reports that Giuliani was deposed Wednesday in the case at the Midtown Manhattan offices of Willkie Farr & Gallagher, “the high-end international law firm representing the women.”
Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss are suing Giuliani for falsely accusing them of election fraud, which led to death threats and harassment from supporters of former President Donald Trump. They described their experience in dramatic testimony before the House Select January 6 Committee.
The Daily Beast reports that Freeman and Moss’s attorneys are using the suit as a “no-limits fact finding mission.”
***
Credit: Natrice Miller/AJC
Credit: Natrice Miller/AJC
TODAY IN WASHINGTON:
- The U.S. House and Senate are done for the week.
- President Joe Biden will award the Medal of Honor to a Vietnam veteran. Later, he’ll meet with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.
- Day Two of CPAC is happening just outside of Washington, D.C. It’s hosted, as always, by CPAC chairman Matt Schlapp, who made bad news in Georgia politics recently. Today’s agenda includes an appearance by U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Georgia.
***
PILGRIMAGE TO SELMA. President Joe Biden and at least two members of Georgia’s delegation are headed to Alabama this weekend for the annual commemoration of the civil rights demonstration known as Bloody Sunday.
The late Congressman John Lewis, D-Ga., was severely injured when he and other activists attempted to march from Selma to Montgomery as part of a demonstration on voting rights in 1965. He made a point to participate in the Bloody Sunday commemorations every year until his death. His trip across the Edmund Pettus Bridge in 2020 was one of his final public acts.
Biden will be the first president to participate in Bloody Sunday re-enactments since Barack Obama made the trip in 2015. Vice President Kamala Harris participated in 2022.
U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock will be honored at the Freedom Flame Award Gala in Selma on Saturday night.
And Lewis’ successor in office, U.S. Rep. Nikema Williams, will join Biden and other dignitaries for the annual march across the bridge on Sunday morning.
Alabama’s former U.S. Sen. Doug Jones will be in Selma as well. And he tied the anniversary to an upcoming event he is working to land for Atlanta — the 2024 Democratic National Convention.
“To close out Black History Month, we’ll honor Civil Rights foot soldiers in Selma this weekend for the 68th anniversary of Bloody Sunday,” he wrote on Twitter. “But the best way to honor our friend & hero John Lewis would be for the party to make #GoodTrouble2024 at the DNC convention in Atlanta!”
***
DOG OF THE DAY. To round out Lawmaker Week, Meet Maggie and Winnie Anulewicz, the adorable pups who call Smyrna Democratic state Rep. Teri Anulewicz their person.
Winnie and Maggie’s names, we’re told, are indeed political. And they follow in the pawprints of the late “Dutch” Anulewicz.
After a long day of floor votes and legislative limbo, who wouldn’t want to come home to these two mugs?
Credit: Courtesy photo
Credit: Courtesy photo
Send us your pups of any political persuasion — and cats on a cat-by-case basis — to patricia.murphy@ajc.com, or DM us on Twitter @MurphyAJC.
***
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.
About the Authors
