House Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s proposed budget cuts announced this week include a massive roll back of green energy incentives that Republicans blame for fueling high inflation.
But the GOP call to repeal the tax breaks, which were embedded in the Democratic-backed Inflation Reduction Act last year, also could cause problems for Gov. Brian Kemp and state Republicans.
Kemp has helped recruit a spate of clean energy projects, including Hyundai’s $5.5 billion “Metaplant” near Savannah and the new Rivian facility in east Georgia.
So how does the governor reconcile his party’s call to scale back the clean energy tax breaks that have helped lay the groundwork for further expansions? By hammering Georgia’s Democratic senators for a tax credit provision in the IRA that he says rewards states that have a unionized workforce over states like Georgia that do not.
Credit: Natrice Miller/AJC
Credit: Natrice Miller/AJC
In a letter to U.S. Sens. Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock late Thursday, the governor highlighted a part of the law that would require all EVs to be assembled in North America to qualify for lucrative incentives. Since Hyundai’s Georgia factory won’t be operational until 2025, customers could lose out on the break until then.
“These rules hurt Georgia families who depend on jobs at our EV manufacturers to put food on their kitchen table,” he wrote. “If given this parity, I believe hardworking Georgians, their families, and our state will prosper.”
A Warnock spokesman said the senator is continuing to work with the White House “to address this in a way that benefits Georgia companies and consumers, including through legislation.”
But legislation in the divided Congress needs buy-in from Republicans and Democrats, and McCarthy now plans to ax green tax incentives, not expand them.
Ossoff’s office took a different tack. From spokesman Jake Best:
“Gov. Kemp continues to oppose the Inflation Reduction Act even as it attracts billions in manufacturing investment and thousands of jobs to the State of Georgia. He should take the time to read the law, which he obviously doesn’t understand. There is no union requirement for the EV tax credits. As soon as Hyundai is building EVs in Georgia, its vehicles can qualify.”
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LISTEN UP. Is Georgia do or die for Republicans in 2024? Has U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene finally crossed a line for her House Republican colleagues? Who’s up and who’s down? We’ve got all those answers in the Friday edition of the Politically Georgia podcast.
Listen and subscribe at Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, or Stitcher.
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DEJA VU. What’s old is about to be new again, when President Joe Biden announces his reelection bid for president, expected as soon as next Tuesday, according to the Washington Post.
Three Biden aides briefed on the plans told the Post to expect a low-key video announcement, much like the one former President Barack Obama used to launch his bid for a second term. And Tuesday will mark the four year-anniversary of Biden’s announcement that he would run for president in the 2020 elections.
Credit: AP
Credit: AP
The expected Biden campaign launch sets up a potential case of deja vu for anyone involved in the 2020 elections, with Donald Trump already out ahead of the GOP pack for 2024 and Biden expected to face no serious opposition on his way to the Democratic nomination next year.
Biden won the White House in 2020 with 306 electoral votes, compared to Trump’s 232. And Biden won roughly 81 million votes, while Trump won about 74 million. Among the closest states was Georgia, where Biden won 49.5% of the vote and Trump won 49.2%, a result affirmed by multiple recounts.
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Credit: Nathan Posner for the AJC
Credit: Nathan Posner for the AJC
OSSOFF ASKING. Fallout from the horrific story of a mentally ill prisoner dying in the Fulton County jail and found covered in bed bugs is just beginning, with U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff asking the U.S. Justice Department to investigate the disturbing matter.
Ossoff spent much of last year investigating dangerous and unhealthy conditions in federal prisons in his former role chairing the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations.
“The Department of Justice has an affirmative obligation to safeguard the civil rights of incarcerated people, whether they are held in federal, state, or local custody,” Ossoff, the chairman of the Senate Subcommittee on Human Rights, wrote in a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland.
And the AJC’s Jeremy Redmon writes that U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene wrote to Fulton County Sheriff Patrick Labat, seeking details about the case. Labat said his office is investigating.
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Credit: Steve Schaefer/AJC
Credit: Steve Schaefer/AJC
SEEING GREENE. Mission Democracy, a new Democratic Super PAC, is taking on the wildly popular and highly lucrative task of appealing to Democratic small-dollar donors to help oust U.S. Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene in Georgia, Lauren Boebert in Colorado, Matt Gaetz in Florida and other MAGA House members.
While Boebert only narrowly won reelection in 2022, the other members, most especially Greene, sit in safe, almost unwinnable districts.
But the Quixotic nature of the challenge won’t stop the fundraising juggernaut that goes along with trying to defeat them anyway.
One of the leaders of the PAC is Marcus Flowers, the Georgia Democrat who raised $17 million in 2022 to challenge Greene, only to lose to her by 32 points in November.
The group’s first ad will run in Greene’s 14th District with a modest, five-figure buy, the New York Times reports.
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Credit: Nathan Posner for the AJC
Credit: Nathan Posner for the AJC
AROUND GEORGIA:
- The House Ways and Means Committee holds a field hearing at NAECO in Peachtree City, led by U.S. Rep. Drew Ferguson, R-The Rock. It’s part of a series of hearings to hear from private sector voices around the country on the state of the economy.
- U.S. Rep. Lucy McBath, D-Marietta, and state Sen. Nabilah Islam, D-Lawrenceville, join environmental groups in Peachtree Corner to detail climate and conservation funding in the Inflation Reduction Act.
- The Georgia Historical Society will hold a weekend gala in Savannah to induct Aflac Chairman and CEO Dan Amos and CHOA President and CEO Donna Hyland as Georgia Trustees. The designation is considered the highest honor the State of Georgia can confer.
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TODAY IN WASHINGTON:
- The House and Senate are in pro forma session, with no votes scheduled.
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WINNER. Bobby Saparow was named campaign manager of the year by the American Association of Political Consultants, a bipartisan group, for his role managing Gov. Brian Kemp’s reelection campaign victory.
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BULLY PULPIT? We told you yesterday about U.S. Rep. Rich McCormick’s condemnation of a now-canceled “all-ages drag show” that had been scheduled this weekend at a Forsyth County event facility.
McCormick called the show part of a larger attempt for “radical individuals or organizations … to target and indoctrinate our children,” he wrote on Twitter.
Credit: Nathan Posner for the AJC
Credit: Nathan Posner for the AJC
That characterization lit up our email and texts, including from Phil Lunney, a former Democratic Party leader in the 6th Congressional District that McCormick represents.
Lunney called McCormick’s words “bullying and threats to the safety of those who had planned the Drag Show.” He added, “This behavior encouraged and enabled by Rep McCormick is dangerous and should be called out.”
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Credit: Courtesy photo
Credit: Courtesy photo
DOG OF THE DAY. We were tempted to hold on to this Dog of the Day until Cinqo de Mayo, but we couldn’t keep little Pilar Salzer to ourselves any longer.
Pilar is the Chihuahua mix who calls the AJC’s James Salzer and his wife, Anna Varela, her gente (people).
Pilar’s hobbies include international travel, naturally, since she’s been to Spain five times; drinking hot tub water (don’t we all?); and posing for her @puppy_pilar Insta page.
Since James is a man of letters, Pilar is named for the gypsy heroine Pilar in Hemingway’s “For Whom the Bell Tolls.” But for us, Pilar, you are our Perro del Dia.
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.
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