A few weeks ago, a veteran lobbyist told us one of the most surprising developments of this year’s legislative session had been the surprisingly smooth relationship between the House and Senate.
In his words: “the hate is gone.”
Well, the honeymoon may be over between the two Republican-led chambers. And at the middle of the standoff is the complicated fight over hospital regulations that we’ve been documenting this week.
Lt. Gov. Burt Jones is leading the charge for Senate Bill 99, which would allow the construction of new hospitals in counties with fewer than 50,000 people without a review and corresponding “certificate of need” from state regulators.
Complicating his push is the fact that his family’s business could also directly benefit from the proposal, since it could greenlight a new hospital built on the grounds of his father’s sprawling Butts County property, sparking concerns of a conflict of interest.
Some of the state’s largest health care systems have fiercely fought changes to the decades-old program, saying the regulatory process helps control rampant medical spending and assures that small communities have access to quality treatment.
That includes the Wellstar Health System, which runs an aging 25-bed hospital in Butts County and other nearby facilities that would be imperiled by a new privately-owned medical complex that Jones’ father envisions.
Credit: Miguel Martinez/AJC
Credit: Miguel Martinez/AJC
Now Gov. Brian Kemp’s administration is stepping in. We reported Tuesday that Kemp aide Trey Kilpatrick and Sonny Perdue, the head of the higher education system, met with House Republicans to highlight risks that the legislation would pose to another deal.
That one involves Wellstar’s potential takeover of the Augusta University Health System, which is under control of the Board of Regents. The state recently secured $105 million to upgrade medical records at the Medical College of Georgia, a unit of the AU system, to sweeten the deal.
State officials worry that Wellstar will walk away from the Augusta plans if Jones’ measure passes. Why are they so keen on seeing it through? Lawmakers say they were told the AU system could be a long-term drain on the state’s finances if the negotiations unravel.
Senate leaders don’t buy it. “If we are having to fight this hard to finalize a deal where the state is paying a hospital $105 million,” one senior legislative official told us, “does it seem like a good deal for the state?”
One Senate official told us the chamber could tie up the passage of a new expansion of mental health care initiatives for Georgians, a prized legacy of the late House Speaker David Ralston.
And to reinforce their point, our AJC colleague James Salzer reported that Senate budget-writers gathered late Tuesday to slash spending for the higher education’s 2024 budget — by precisely $105 million.
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Credit: Alyssa Pointer/AJC
Credit: Alyssa Pointer/AJC
KEMP 2.0. Gov. Brian Kemp’s intervention in the hospital fight is another sign of his more behind-the-scenes strategy so far this legislative session. He’s not taking a public stance or making bombastic threats. But he is taking direct steps to shape the agenda.
So if Kemp’s top aide shows up at a closed-door House caucus meeting to warn dozens of lawmakers about a hospital overhaul, is he really playing a quieter role in the legislative process? Send us your thoughts.
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Credit: Erin Schaff/The New York Times
Credit: Erin Schaff/The New York Times
LISTEN UP. We’re covering the House-Senate hospital standoff in the midweek edition of the Politically Georgia podcast, along with the latest on a potential indictment of former President Donald Trump, and what City Hall is doing to prep for a possible Democratic National Convention here in 2024.
Listen and subscribe at Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, or Stitcher.
And do you have a question or comment about what’s happening in Georgia politics? Call us on the Politically Georgia hotline at (770) 810-5297 and we’ll play it back on Friday’s episode.
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Credit: Jason Getz/AJC
Credit: Jason Getz/AJC
UNDER THE GOLD DOME:
- The House and Senate are in recess for a stacked committee work day. Floor action resumes Thursday.
- Sine Die is set for Wednesday, March 29.
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Credit: Natrice Miller/AJC
Credit: Natrice Miller/AJC
LEGISLATIVE UPDATE. Among the many bills we’re watching at the General Assembly are:
- Senate Bill 140, which passed the Senate Tuesday, is now headed to Gov. Brian Kemp’s desk for his signature.
- House Bill 520, the mental health expansion, is in front of the Senate Health and Human Services Committee this afternoon.
- The Senate Appropriations Committee passed the proposed $32.4 billion state budget for 2024, with $6,000 raises for state law enforcement officials. James Salzer reports there was “extra money to play with” after senators axed $105 million for the Medical College of Georgia at Augusta University. That now goes to the full Senate for consideration.
- The Senate passed Senate Resolution 334, a measure to ban travel by senators about to leave office or their staff. The language follows an investigation by Salzer into former Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan’s European tour in the waning days of his term last year.
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TIME’S UP. With the clock ticking on this year’s legislative session, House Rules Committee Chairman Richard Smith laid out his deadline for action to have a bill considered in 2023.
“Any bill does not pass out of committee by the close of business tomorrow will not be heard this year, this session,” he told a Rules hearing Tuesday, WABE’s Rahul Bali reported.
Tuesday also marked the first time we heard preparations by some members to punt action on specific bills into 2024.
“Remember, it’s a two-year session,” several House members said of Senate Bill 99 during a Health Committee hearing on the bill.
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TRANSGENDER MEASURE. After about an hour of emotional debate, the Senate voted along party lines Tuesday to block transgender children from receiving certain hormonal or surgical treatment. The measure also eliminates protections from criminal prosecution for doctors in those cases.
We were intrigued by the four lawmakers — two Democrats and two Republicans — who skipped the vote.
Credit: Arvin Temkar/AJC
Credit: Arvin Temkar/AJC
Republican state Sen. Bill Cowsert told us he was at a meeting outside of the Capitol and didn’t realize it would reach a vote on Tuesday. He also noted he voted for an earlier version of the measure.
Republican state Sen. Chuck Hufstetler declined to comment. So did Democratic state Sen. Freddie Powell Sims.
And state Sen. Tonya Anderson, who also skipped an earlier vote on the measure, didn’t respond to repeated requests for comment.
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Credit: Natrice Miller/AJC
Credit: Natrice Miller/AJC
FROM THE WELL. In the lead up to the final passage of Senate Bill 140, at least eight Democrats went to the well to urge their Republican colleagues to vote against the bill, the AJC’s Maya T. Prabhu reports. But state Sen. Josh McLaurin noted the chamber was mostly empty for the speeches because the vote was already “baked.”
“The reason that 90 million of your colleagues just went to the well to speak to an empty room — it’s not that we want our media hits. Eff our media hits,” McLaurin said. “It’s because there’s a message from these children that is not getting through to this space.”
McLaurin said the passage of SB 140 would make transgender children feel as though they had not been heard and their existence had been invalidated.
State Sen. Carden Summers, the Republican sponsor of the bill, said, “I look forward to looking people in the eye and telling them I have compassion to their plea, but we’re doing the right thing in protecting children.”
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Credit: Natrice Miller/AJC
Credit: Natrice Miller/AJC
RAFF’S BACK. The latest version of an elections funding bill restores Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger as a nonvoting member of the State Election Board.
The House Governmental Affairs Committee amended the legislation Tuesday to reverse its previous move to boot Raffensperger from the board that decides cases of election irregularities and fraud, our colleague Mark Niesse tells us.
The change came after House leaders on the Rules Committee ordered revisions to Senate Bill 222.
The underlying purpose of the so-called “Zuckerbucks” bill is to ban donations from nonprofit organizations to county election offices. An organization funded by Facebook founder Mark Zuckberberg gave $45 million to Georgia counties in 2000 and $2 million to DeKalb County this year.
The bill could receive final votes in the House and Senate before the General Assembly adjourns for the year next week.
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Credit: AJC
Credit: AJC
ELECTION DAY. Municipalities across Georgia held elections on Tuesday, including the first votes in the new City of Mableton.
The mayor’s race and four of the six council races there appear to be heading to runoff elections, the AJC’s Taylor Croft reports.
In Clayton County, the race to succeed disgraced Sheriff Victor Hill is also headed to a runoff, with his protégé Levon Allen narrowly missing an outright win. Allen will face Clarence Cox, chief investigator for the Fulton County Solicitor General’s Office, the AJC’s Leon Stafford writes.
Runoffs will be April 18. Georgia voting system manager Gabriel Sterling also tweeted a host of other results.
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Credit: Natrice Miller/AJC
Credit: Natrice Miller/AJC
TODAY IN WASHINGTON:
- The U.S. House is back, and various Cabinet-level officials are briefing committees in both chambers on President Joe Biden’s budget proposal.
- Norfolk Southern CEO Alan Shaw will testify before the Senate Commerce Committee.
- State Sen. Nabilah Islam, D-Lawrenceville, will testify during a Federal Election Commission hearing on a proposed rule change that would increase the salaries that candidates can pay themselves using campaign funds.
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Credit: T.J. Kirkpatrick/The New York Times
Credit: T.J. Kirkpatrick/The New York Times
TOWN HALL. U.S. Rep. Rich McCormick is hosting a telephone town hall meeting for constituents on Thursday evening. The call begins at 7 p.m. and will include topics like immigration, the economy, veterans issues and parental rights, according to his office. The dial-in for participants is (833) 998-0870.
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Credit: Ben Gray for the AJC
Credit: Ben Gray for the AJC
KICKBALL CHAMPS. It is the second year in a row that the House has defeated the Senate in the legislative kickball tournament. Lt. Gov. Burt Jones and House Speaker Jon Burns served as team captains for members from their respective chambers Tuesday night, though the speaker opted to serve in more of a coaching role from the sidelines.
The competitive game at the Center Parc Credit Union Stadium featured lawmakers and staffers facing off against their colleagues from across the hall, our AJC Maya T. Prabhu tells us.
There were accusations of cheating made by some senators as the game wound down, but in the end, the House defeated the Senate 15-11 and hoisted Burns in the air to celebrate.
State Sen. Chuck Payne, a Dalton Republican, said he was less concerned by the score at the end of the game than the number of Senate bills that the House has passed this year compared to the Senate’s rate on House bills.
As the game neared its end, Payne set off to find the person controlling the scoreboard and request the final score be changed — House 34, Senate 97, the number of bills that each chamber has passed so far this year.
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Credit: Courtesy photo
Credit: Courtesy photo
DOG OF THE DAY. The only thing more time consuming than being a member of the General Assembly these days is staffing the General Assembly.
So we’re sending this one out to Huey, the 10 year-old pooch of an anonymous Senate staffer, who said they’d rather their dog and their boss have their names in the news.
We’re told Huey loves Piedmont Park and peanut butter, but hates rain and General Session hours. We hear you, Huey — and we salute you! Your person will be home next Thursday.
Send us your pups of any political persuasion — and cats, on a cat-by-cat basis — to patricia.murphy@ajc.com, or DM us on Twitter @MurphyAJC.
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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.
