Three days after a gunman opened fire in a medical office waiting room in midtown Atlanta, another mass shooting erupted outside Dallas where at least eight people were killed at a crowded outlet mall.
The parade of mass shootings has intensified calls for more gun restrictions, amplified by attention-grabbing editorials over the weekend by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution and Dallas Morning News.
But the violence hasn’t appeared to change the political dynamic in Congress or in Georgia, where Gov. Brian Kemp and Republican leaders have shared condolences but declined to call for new limitations on who can purchase or carry deadly weapons.
That’s unlikely to change. Kemp signed a measure last year that allows Georgians to carry concealed handguns without applying for a license from the state, and he’s shown no openness to significant new restrictions.
Bob Andres/AJC
Bob Andres/AJC
One of the only recent high-profile GOP exceptions in Georgia is former Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan, who is no longer in office. Duncan called for a “conservative and comprehensive conversation” about gun control following the 2022 shooting in a Uvalde, Texas elementary school.
Duncan intensified his push for firearms restrictions after an April mass shooting in Kentucky when he said “doing nothing about gun violence is no longer an option for Republicans.”
Pressed for specifics, he told us broadly that “The 2nd Amendment has nothing to do with cold-blooded murder.”
Meanwhile, legislation to require background checks, new waiting periods or red flag laws limiting firearms for those struggling with mental illness has foundered under the Gold Dome.
Doug Richards of 11 Alive reports that Democrats introduced 17 separate gun restriction bills in the General Assembly this year — and none reached a committee vote.
And while Republican leaders frequently point to mental health expansions as the way to address gun violence, the major mental health expansion that easily passed the state House this year was blocked in the final week of the session by Senate GOP leaders.
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DECISION DAY. Gov. Brian Kemp’s veto decisions came a few days early, as he announced Friday he would reject more than a dozen pieces of legislation.
Two of his most consequential vetoes involved proposed changes to the higher education system, a subject of much internal Republican feuding in this year’s legislative session.
He also nixed more than $30 million in spending, including a technical college building and a dental school project in districts represented by key legislative leaders.
It was a response to a Senate-orchestrated $66 million cut to the University System of Georgia’s budget that was widely seen as a rebuke of a Kemp-backed $105 million deal for a new medical records system that could benefit Wellstar Health System.
Wellstar opposed Lt. Gov. Burt Jones’ push to make it easier to build new hospitals in Georgia — including one in his hometown of Jackson that could be built at a complex his father is championing.
Kemp rejected House Bill 249, which would have provided more needs-based financial aid to college students and enabled more veterans to participate in a tuition-free, commercial driver’s license training program.
In his veto message, he blamed lawmakers for failing to “fully fund these educational incentives.”
He also threw out a bill in early April that would have required legislative approval before state universities could raise tuition or fees by more than 3%. Kemp’s veto meant that the state Board of Regents will continue to have the final call on tuition hikes.
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IMMUNITY. At least eight of the 16 Republicans who served as “alternate” 2020 electors for former President Donald Trump have agreed to immunity deals with Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis office, the AJC’s Tamar Hallerman reported Friday.
But in court documents filed Friday, an attorney for the eight GOP officials also accused Willis and her team of “reckless and unprofessional conduct” that is “simply untenable and unacceptable.”
The attorney, Kimberly Bourroughs Debrow, is the same one Willis is trying to have removed from the case. Willis alleged in recent filings that Debrow failed to inform her clients that they had been offered immunity last summer.
Among the electors not offered immunity — GOP Chairman David Shafer, who played a central role in Trump’s efforts to overturn Georgia’s certified 2020 presidential election results.
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Arvin Temkar/AJC
Arvin Temkar/AJC
ANOTHER WALKER TALKER. A Washington-based watchdog group filed a complaint against former Georgia U.S. Senate candidate Herschel Walker last week in response to news reports outlining wayward campaign donations.
The group, Citizens for Responsibility & Ethics in Washington, or CREW, is asking the Federal Election Commission to investigate Walker and his company, HR Talent, and take action against what it called “direct and serious violations” of campaign finance laws.
The complaint is based largely on emails obtained by The Daily Beast that showed Walker asking a wealthy donor for a $600,000 donation to his campaign, but then asking that the bulk of it be wired to his private company, HR Talent. It is illegal to solicit campaign donations for a candidate’s personal or professional financial benefit.
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Natrice Miller/AJC
Natrice Miller/AJC
BAD TIMING. News that Centers for Disease Control Director Rochelle Walensky is stepping down collided Friday morning with a high-profile visit to the agency’s Atlanta headquarters by U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
Walensky accompanied Blinken as he toured portions of the facility Friday, but the AJC’s Ariel Hart reports that news of her resignation broke at the same time, since Walensky made an announcement at a staff meeting earlier that morning. Blinken was in town to discuss global health issues, including the Marburg virus and plans for a new federal global health bureau apart from the CDC.
In a separate report, Hart and Helena Oliverio wrote that Walensky also sent a resignation letter to President Joe Biden. Her last day will be June 30.
Walensky did not provide a specific reason for her departure but noted the ebbing of the COVID-19 pandemic as being a good time to make a transition.
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Jenni Girtman for the AJC
Jenni Girtman for the AJC
ORWELLIAN. Former U.S. Sen. Kelly Loeffler continues to keep up a pace of public appearances busier than most elected officials. She was in Smyrna Thursday night speaking to the Cobb County Republican Women’s Club, the Marietta Daily Journal reports.
Along with her familiar stump speech about the importance of women voters, local elections, and speaking out on GOP-friendly hot-button issues, like banning transgender athletes from girls’ sports, Loeffler also brought a gift for Pebblebrook High School principal Dana Giles for the school’s library — a copy of George Orwell’s 1984.
The book is the famous dystopian warning about the effects of totalitarianism on societies.
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Nathan Posner for the AJC
Nathan Posner for the AJC
SWEET AUBURN. U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff, D-Ga., will be in Atlanta on Monday to brief businesses and leaders in the Sweet Auburn neighborhood about new resources for revitalization.
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John J. Kim via TNS
John J. Kim via TNS
TODAY IN WASHINGTON:
- President Joe Biden and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg will deliver remarks on steps the White House is taking to help travelers facing airline delays and cancellations.
- The U.S. Senate and House return on Tuesday.
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Maya T. Prabhu/AJC
Maya T. Prabhu/AJC
DOG OF THE DAY. It’s time to meet Marshall, our newest Dog of the Day who could be your Dog of the Day every day.
Marshall is the AJC’s Maya T. Prabhu’s second foster pup this month, after the was found in a group of six dogs dropped off at a Cobb County flea market. The 4-year-old beagle mix is now getting up to speed with his shots and indoor etiquette, but he’ll always have his “beagle bay” – that sound that Maya reports lands somewhere between a bark and a howl.
If you love dogs that howl at the moon and other moving objects, this may be the pal for you. Apply at gahomelesspets.org.
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.
robert.andres@ajc.com
