If Gov. Brian Kemp winds up challenging U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff in four years, the developments these last few weeks will seem like a fitting prelude to that matchup.
Both politicians started the year celebrating the decision by Qcells to launch a $2.5 billion expansion of its solar panel plant business in Dalton and Cartersville — and claiming a share of the credit for the move.
Ossoff’s assertion that the business expanded in Georgia “thanks to his solar manufacturing law” irked the Republican governor’s aides and allies. Among them is Cartersville Mayor Matt Santini, who wrote that the Democratic senator’s remarks are “insulting” to local and state officials who worked to recruit the firm.
“Nobody accomplishes anything on their own,” he wrote to Ossoff. “As a leader in our community I felt it my responsibility to stand up for the hard working and talented people throughout our community and our state whose efforts were cast aside by your comments.”
Credit: Arvin Temkar/AJC
Credit: Arvin Temkar/AJC
Democrats pointed to the Inflation Reduction Act, which includes significant new solar provisions sponsored by Ossoff. It provides $10 billion in tax credits for building new solar manufacturing facilities, plus $30 billion for clean energy components.
The law also extended a 30% income tax credit for rooftop solar for 10 years and offers a credit for battery systems that store excess energy when the sun isn’t shining.
“There’s ample credit to go around,” Ossoff told us after he delivered a speech to the Cobb Chamber heavy on bipartisanship and consensus. “And also, if my solar manufacturing bill had not become law, this investment doesn’t come to Georgia.”
He added: “So I’m pleased to see the legislation that I wrote precisely envisioning that it would help Georgia to attract historic solar manufacturing investment, which I shepherded to passage in a divided Congress, is achieving its intended result of bringing billions of dollars and thousands of jobs to the state.”
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LISTEN UP. The midweek edition of the Politically Georgia podcast is in your feeds now, when we’re looking at President Joe Biden’s trip to Atlanta, Gov. Brian Kemp’s trip to Davos, and the plans of one of Georgia politics heaviest hitters.
Listen and subscribe to our podcast for free at Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, or Stitcher.
And if you have a question about Georgia politics, we’re taking your calls on the 24-hour Politically Georgia Podcast Hotline at (770) 810-5297. We’ll play back your question and answer it during the listener mailbag segment on Friday’s episode.
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Credit: HYOSUB SHIN / AJC
Credit: HYOSUB SHIN / AJC
LOEFFLER LEANING? We’ve been reporting this week about former Sen. Kelly Loeffler’s extensive involvement and spending on the 2022 elections, despite the fact that she was not on any ballot.
All of that raises the obvious question of whether she’s planning to run for office again herself. She’s mentioned frequently among potential candidates for governor in 2026.
In an interview for today’s Political Insider column, Loeffler said she’s leaving the door open.
“I don’t have plans at this time. And I don’t know why I would ever close the door,” she said. “Because I did it once and I would do it all over again.”
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SWISS WATCH. Gov. Brian Kemp joined senators, members of Congress, and Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker for panel discussion at the World Economic Forum on Tuesday.
Wearing his trademark black cowboy boots, Kemp was asked about his feud with former President Donald Trump, which the international audience seemed to know all about. But instead of rehashing the 2020 election, Kemp said voters want to see leaders standing up for them — and then gave the hard sell on Georgia’s economy for the global elite in the audience.
He also urged the three senators on stage to take action at the Southern border while they hash out immigration reform.
“I think there would be broad bipartisan support in the meantime, while you are working on these things, to secure the dang border,” he said.
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RUNOFF OVERHAUL. Count the Georgia NAACP’s among the groups looking to end Georgia’s unusual runoff system.
Included on the group’s legislative wish list for the 2023 Georgia legislative session: A call for “the authority for ranked-choice voting” to eliminate runoffs.
Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger has also said he’s open to scrapping the overtime election contests, though other state GOP leaders have been skeptical of the idea.
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Credit: John Spink / AJC
Credit: John Spink / AJC
UNDER THE GOLD DOME:
- 9:00 am: The Joint Appropriations Committee convenes.
- The state House and Senate are in recess for Budget Week.
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Credit: Bob Andres/AJC
Credit: Bob Andres/AJC
MORE HOPE. Among the many details included in Gov. Brian Kemp’s 2024 proposed budget is $61 million in funding for HOPE scholarship and grant recipients.
Our colleague James Salzer wrote last week that the goal is to restore the original promise for the scholarship to pay 100% of tuition for recipients, a move that Kemp said would save full-time students an average of $444 a year.
It’s a small line item in a $1 billion increase in education funding included in the governor’s budget, but it’s gotten broad bipartisan praise for Kemp in the Capitol.
State Rep. Stacey Evans (D-Atlanta), who campaigned for governor in 2018 on the promise to fully fund HOPE scholarships, wrote Wednesday, “Hallelujah! #highereducation changes lives. It changed mine and now more Georgians can see a brighter future for themselves.”
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WATER BAN. State Rep. Roger Bruce, D-Atlanta, was fined $250 last month by the State Election Board for giving water to voters in line while he wore a T-shirt with his name on it, the AJC’s Mark Niesse reports.
Credit: Courtesy photo
Credit: Courtesy photo
The election was in 2020, so Bruce maintains he didn’t break any law that was on the books at the time. In 2021, the GOP-led General Assembly passed Senate Bill 202, the election overhaul which included a ban on handing out snacks or drinks to voters within 150 feet of a precinct.
According to documents obtained by the AJC, Bruce was fined for being within 150 feet of a polling station. He was running unopposed in the 2020 general election, so had no opponent. He also said he never asked anyone to vote for him.
“How do you break a law if it’s not in existence yet?” Bruce said. “If somebody is standing in line for hours in the heat so they can vote, do you think they’re going to change their vote over a glass of water? No.”
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Credit: Hyosub Shin/AJC
Credit: Hyosub Shin/AJC
AAPI PLANS. Georgia’s first Asian American Pacific Islander Caucus rolled out its priorities for this year Wednesday at a news conference in the Capitol. The bipartisan caucus has 11 members, which includes three former lawmakers of AAPI descent.
Among the priorities for the caucus are allowing in-state tuition for undocumented students who graduate from a Georgia high school, small business development, and voter engagement and outreach, our AJC colleague Maya T. Prabhu tells us.
State Rep. Michelle Au, a Johns Creek Democrat who is chair of the caucus, said with nonwhite Georgians on pace to become the majority of the state’s residents, the caucus plans to work with the Georgia Legislative Black Caucus and the newly formed Georgia Hispanic Caucus on issues that affect those communities, too.
“The goal of forming a caucus is, in fact, not about the individuals, it’s about the communities we serve and the issues we want to advance,” Au said. “And to bring a perspective to the table that doesn’t always get heard in spaces like this.”
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TODAY IN WASHINGTON:
- The U.S. House and Senate are in recess for the week.
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Credit: Kenny Holston/The New York Times
Credit: Kenny Holston/The New York Times
MARCHING ORDERS. The House GOP Steering Committee announced more committee assignments Tuesday and Georgia’s U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene was a big winner.
Less than two years after Democrats booted her off of the House Education Committee for incendiary remarks, Greene was appointed to the House Oversight and Accountability Committee and the Homeland Security Committee.
From her new perches, Greene will play a visible role on investigations into President Joe Biden’s family (and likely his son, Hunter), along with immigration oversight, which happens through the Homeland Security Committee.
U.S. Rep. Ted Lieu, a Democrat from California, called Greene’s appointments “exhibit 9,387 as to why House Republicans are extreme.”
“They put Marjorie Taylor Greene on the Homeland Security Committee,” he wrote on Twitter. “She questions whether a ‘so called plane’ on 9/11 really struck the Pentagon, and spews many other crazy conspiracy theories.”
Other Georgians got new top spots, too. U.S. Rep. Rick McCormick, a former Marine, was named to the House Armed Services Committee, while trucking company owner, U.S. Rep. Mike Collins, landed a spot on the Transportation & Infrastructure Committee.
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Credit: John Spink / AJC
Credit: John Spink / AJC
STORM DAMAGE. Our colleague David Aaro reports that FEMA Deputy Administrator Erik A. Hooks will travel to North Georgia today to meet with local officials to assess damage from last week’s storms.
On Monday, President Joe Biden declared a federal disaster for Butts, Henry, Jasper, Meriwether, Newton, Spalding and Troup counties, which will allow for federal aid to residents affected by the storms there.
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Credit: Steve Schaefer/AJC
Credit: Steve Schaefer/AJC
MYSTERY SOLVED. If you’ve been wondering what Stacey Abrams has been doing since she lost her most recent race for governor (in addition to a press tour for her new children’s book), she seems to have been hard at work on yet another novel.
Abrams announced Tuesday that her new thriller, “Rogue Justice,” will be out May 23.
According to Abrams, the mystery involves a blackmailed federal judge, a secret court, and “a brazen murder” that a Supreme Court clerk races to solve. Even with the intrigue, it all sounds a lot less stressful than running for office in Georgia.
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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.
