The Jolt: Lawmaker standoff could hurt Children’s Healthcare credit

Part of the company’s objections are based on private plans for a new hospital in Jones’ native Butts County that could be placed on a multimillion tract of Jones’ family’s land. Wellstar executives have said that would endanger two of its nearby hospitals by poaching patients and staff from its existing facility.

Jones has responded by engineering a series of attacks against the Cobb-based medical system. Senate leaders stripped $105 million from the state’s higher education budget in protest of a publicly-funded upgrade to a health records system for the exact same sum that could benefit Wellstar.

Credit: Natrice Miller/AJC

Credit: Natrice Miller/AJC

And on Wednesday, Senate Appropriations Chair Blake Tillery, R-Vidalia, presented an item to gut a sales tax exemption for Wellstar, the AJC’s budget expert James Salzer reported.

The amendment was tacked onto a House tax bill at a Senate Finance Committee hearing and would nix the sales tax exemption on goods purchased by hospitals like Wellstar if they have recently closed large in-patient facilities.

Wellstar last year closed the Atlanta Medical Center in Atlanta and an affiliated complex in East Point over the loud objectives of state and local leaders.

But there’s a rub: Because of the way the tax measure is written, it could also inadvertently apply to Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, which is planning to close its Egleston facility in Atlanta and replace it with an expanded new hospital.

As required, CHOA filed a certificate of need as a part of those plans to expand, but could still get caught up in lawmakers’ back-and-forth. An aide to the lieutenant governor tells us the language should be revised to exempt CHOA later today.

Will it clear the Legislature? It’s very unlikely. But it’s yet another indication of the increasing hostility between different GOP-led factions under the Gold Dome.

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Credit: Arvin Temkar/AJC

Credit: Arvin Temkar/AJC

COLLATERAL DAMAGE. We first alerted you on Monday that the power struggle between legislative leaders could leave significant pieces of legislation in the dustbin.

Senate leaders indicated they could block the next phase of Georgia’s landmark mental health legislation if the hospital rules aren’t rewritten. That sweeping package was a defining piece of the late House Speaker David Ralston’s legislative legacy.

This year’s House Bill 520 is a companion piece to last year’s HB 1013, which Lt. Gov. Burt Jones voted for at the time. This year’s measure includes a focus on children’s mental health, mental health providers and support for law enforcement around the state.

“HB 520 came with a $71 million annual price tag that was not addressed until it crossed over to the Senate Chamber,” a Jones spokeswoman said. “That cost plus the limited Medicaid expansion in the initial bill have major implications on the state and need more time to be fully evaluated.”

At a marathon Senate Health Committee hearing Wednesday afternoon, Chairman Ben Watson, R-Savannah, acknowledged the bill would not get a vote that day, ahead of the Thursday deadline by which House bills ostensibly needed to move out of committee to be considered by the Senate this year.

“We still have the possibility of calling a meeting tomorrow morning and we have the possibility of suspending the rules if we so choose and change Senate rules, that is always a possibility,” he said. “But that is the stance and the position that we are in today.”

Along with HB 520, a renewed attempt to legalize sports betting could also be caught in the crossfire, despite Lt. Gov. Burt Jones’ hope for lawmakers to render a “verdict” on expanding gambling in Georgia for the first time in decades.

Conservative talk show host Erick Erickson may sense the measure’s chances are dwindling. He delivered a full-throated endorsement for legalized sports betting Wednesday in an email to thousands of his listeners. He characterized opponents as misguided worrywarts.

“In Georgia, one can openly carry their lawfully acquired machine gun into [a] grocery store without bringing about the downfall of society,” he wrote, “but the sports bets pretty much everyone is already doing will collapse society if made legal.”

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Credit: Natrice Miller/AJC

Credit: Natrice Miller/AJC

UNDER THE GOLD DOME, Legislative Day 38:

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Credit: Miguel Martinez for the AJC

Credit: Miguel Martinez for the AJC

LEGISLATIVE UPDATE. Even with the standoff over marquee bills, dozens of others are moving through the House and Senate today. Among the many bills we’re watching are:

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HATE CRIMES. One proposal that could have new life is a House effort to define antisemitism in Georgia’s hate crimes law.

State senators decided against moving forward with House Bill 30, which passed the House by an overwhelming margin, after disagreements over whether the measure would infringe on free speech.

But similar language has been resurrected and attached to a measure that will go before the Senate Children and Families Committee this morning. Stay tuned.

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Credit: Nathan Posner for the AJC

Credit: Nathan Posner for the AJC

INVESTIGATION UNDERWAY. In February, Sen. Jon Ossoff’s office announced that he was launching a bipartisan inquiry into alleged abuse and neglect of children in Georgia’s foster care system, largely prompted by a recent investigation from The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Ossoff, a Democrat from Georgia, and Sen. Marsha Blackburn, a Republican from Tennessee, sent a long list of questions to state officials, seeking a response by March 10.

Georgia officials have started sending over relevant documents, but failed to answer most questions about the state’s child welfare system ahead of the deadline, according to a review of documents obtained through an open records request.

DFCS failed to answer some of the committee’s basic questions, like describing the process and criteria that DFCS uses to close a child welfare case, and providing the number of reports of alleged assault against children under the agency’s care that have occurred since 2018.

A source with knowledge of the inquiry told our AJC colleague Katherine Landergan that Ossoff’s aides have privately met with people involved in the state’s child welfare system.

In a statement, DHS wouldn’t get into specifics but said the agency is cooperating with the committee and providing information through their attorneys.

Ossoff’s office also declined to comment on specifics, saying that “the investigation is ongoing.”

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TODAY IN WASHINGTON:

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Credit: Arvin Temkar/AJC

Credit: Arvin Temkar/AJC

EVEN PLAYING FIELD. State Sen. Nabilah Islam testified to the Federal Election Commission Wednesday that its rules limiting the salary candidates pay themselves with campaign funds keeps working class people from running for office.

Islam first suggested changes to the federal election rules two years ago based on her experience running for Congress in 2020. The Lawrenceville Democrat won her state Senate seat in 2022.

During Wednesday’s hearing, Islam applauded the FEC’s willingness to consider her ideas and said it is a matter of fair representation.

“We want a representative democracy with lawmakers that share our lived experiences,” Islam told the commission. “We need to eliminate the financial barriers that prevent so many qualified Americans from running for office.”

The FEC is considering loosening existing rules to allow candidates to pay themselves a higher salary while also using campaign donations for expenses like child care and health insurance. Guidelines already allow candidates to receive a salary, only after the official qualifying date, when the salary is also capped.

Freshman U.S. Rep. Maxwell Frost, a Florida Democrat, was also among those who testified. He focused on the debt he incurred during his run for office. He is considered the first “Gen Z” member of Congress.

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Credit: Nathan Posner for the AJC

Credit: Nathan Posner for the AJC

D.C. JAIL. U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene announced that she will lead a bipartisan tour on Friday of the jail where dozens of Jan. 6, 2021, defendants are housed.

We reported earlier this month that Greene sent a letter to District of Columbia Mayor Muriel Bowser seeking congressional access to the local lock up. Greene has raised issues about the facility’s safety and security, especially for the people who attacked the Capitol.

The Rome Republican first visited the jail in November 2021, when she and other conservative lawmakers toured the facility and met with some of the Jan. 6 defendants.

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Credit: Arvin Temkar/AJC

Credit: Arvin Temkar/AJC

N MEMORIAM. Gov. Brian Kemp signed an executive order this week to lower state flags to half-staff on Saturday to honor the late state Rep. Tish Naghise. The recently elected Democrat from Fayetteville died earlier this month after a recent illness.

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Credit: Courtesy photo

Credit: Courtesy photo

DOG OF THE DAY. It’s time to meet Clementine Robertson, the pup rescued by the family of Republican state Sen. Randy Robertson, after they found the pooch wandering on Pine Mountain last August.

She’s now living happily in Cataula with Robertson, his wife Theresa, and their four-year-old daughter.

Clementine’s days are now filled with chewing shoes, sleeping in the sun, and eating snacks sent her way by her four-year-old. A reliable source tells us she also has great teeth, a priority for Mrs. Robertson who, fittingly, represents the Georgia Dental Association.

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.