Nearly 40 Georgia state senators from both political parties might change certain aspects of the state’s tax system, and whatever they agree to may force you to pay higher taxes on certain commodities. Those state senators filed a bill late last week to create a Special Council on Tax Reform and to also create a Special Joint Committee on Georgia Revenue Structure.
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Georgia State Rep. David Clark (R-Buford) has introduced a bill that, if enacted into law, would repeal the state’s film, gaming, video, and digital production income tax credits. The language of Clark’s bill says little else.
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Eight members of the Georgia General Assembly have filed legislation that would, if enacted into law, increase penalties for election fraud within the state. Specifically, the bill would make it illegal to “tamper with, alter, destroy, modify, or falsify the electronic data constituting the official returns or votes cast in a primary, election, or runoff.”
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Exactly 25 Georgia legislators have proposed adding an amendment to the state constitution that would create a state-wide panel of grand jurors to investigate or indict people for alleged election law violations. This, according to a bill that primary sponsor State Sen. Steve Gooch (R-Dahlonega) introduced Thursday. Under the bill, Georgia’s attorney general would petition members of the state supreme court to summon and empanel 13 to 23 grand jurors for a period not to exceed one year. “The subject matter jurisdiction of state-wide grand juries shall extend to the investigation and indictment of persons or legal entities for any crime involving voting, elections, or a violation of the election laws of this state and all related crimes,” according to the language of the bill. The chief justice of the Georgia Supreme Court would designate a superior court judge to oversee each state-wide grand jury. Under Gooch’s bill, the state attorney general would advise these juries. According to Ballotpedia, members of the Georgia House of Representatives or the Georgia State Senate can propose amending the state constitution. Exactly two-thirds of the membership of each chamber must approve the proposed amendment before they pass it along to Georgia voters. Voters may only vote…
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Members of the Georgia House Democratic Caucus are displeased that their colleagues in the state house passed a bill that waives liability for employers if and when an employee contracts COVID-19. State house members passed the bill, HB 112, this week by a vote of 99 to 69.
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In Georgia, the political candidate who gets the most votes is not always the person who gets sworn into office. Sometimes the candidate who got the least number of votes is the one who ultimately prevails.
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Fifteen members of the Georgia General Assembly have filed a bill that, if enacted into law, would require that election officials immediately count and tabulate ballots when the polls close. “After the close of the polls on the day of a primary, election, or runoff, the board of registrars shall notify the election superintendent of the total number of absentee ballots received by the close of the polls that were certified by the board of registrars, and the election superintendent shall post such information publicly,” according to the language of the bill.
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Georgia legislators have put forward a bill to create a nine-member citizen-review panel to investigate law enforcement after officer-involved shootings and also after someone complains about an officer’s alleged inappropriate use of force. State Sen. Nikki Merritt (D-Grayson), the lead sponsor, refers to this as the Georgia Law Enforcement Citizen Review Council.
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One year into COVID-19, Georgia State Rep. Jodi Lott (R-Evans) has introduced a bill that she says will incentivize people to manufacture medical devices within state lines. Sponsors say that this legislation, if enacted into law, would limit Georgia’s need to compete with other states or foreign nations for critical supplies.
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Georgia Republican Party Chair David Shafer has not yet declared he will seek a second term for that position, but Cobb County GOP Chair Jason Shepherd wants Shafer’s seat. Shafer has told allies that he plans to seek a second term and will announce shortly.
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Six legislators want their colleagues in the Georgia General Assembly to declare, by resolution, that racism in the state is a public health crisis. Those legislators proposed the resolution this month.
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Georgia State Rep. Billy Mitchell (D-Stone Mountain) is sponsoring legislation that seeks to remove Stone Mountain Park’s 90-foot tall Confederate memorial. This memorial, carved into the mountain, depicts Confederate President Jefferson Davis and Confederate Generals Robert E. Lee and Thomas J. “Stonewall” Jackson, according to the park’s website. Members of the Stone Mountain Memorial Association manage the park, which is state-owned, according to their website.
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Georgia State Rep. Phillip Singleton (R-Sharpsburg) has submitted legislation that he said will preserve female-only sports in Georgia. Specifically, Singleton’s bill would outlaw schools from allowing students whose gender is male from participating in an athletic program designed for females.
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Georgia State Rep. Charlice Byrd (R-Woodstock) this week introduced Voter ID legislation that she said would prohibit people from using certain types of identification for in-person voting. That bill, HB 228, would, if enacted into law, require Georgia residents who are not U.S. citizens to have “BEARER NOT A U.S. CITIZEN — NOT VOTER ID” printed on their licenses, permits and/or identification cards. People who present a license, permit, and ID with this information on it could not present them to a poll worker to vote, according to Byrd’s legislation.
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Seven members of the Georgia General Assembly have filed a bill that would call on members of the State Election Board to appoint a chief elections assistance officer. According to the language of the bill, this person would work for the secretary of state to help manage and oversee elections.
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Georgia State Sen. Jeff Mullis (R-Chickamauga) has introduced seven bills that he said will reform Georgia’s election system. Mullis did not return The Georgia Star News’ request for comment Wednesday.
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Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp on Tuesday proposed a plan that he said will “recruit, prepare, mentor, and retain the best educators” and give teachers more power to influence the state board of education. Kemp unveiled his proposal at the Georgia State Capitol. Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan (R-Cumming) and Speaker Pro-Tempore Jan Jones (R-Milton) stood alongside Kemp to show their support.
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The people who work for Georgia’s film and television studios are not only working again but working more frequently than their counterparts at competing studios in California and the United Kingdom. That’s because officials in Georgia’s state government have a more lenient COVID-19 policy. Those studios opened back up not long after the start of the pandemic.
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Sixteen Democrats in the Georgia General Assembly want to add an amendment to the state constitution that would mandate workers have a Family Medical Leave Fund. The Georgia General Assembly’s website identifies State Sen. Gloria Butler (D-Stone Mountain) as the primary sponsor.
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Members of the Georgia General Assembly this week proposed a bill that would, if enacted into law, give certain legislators enough power to audit up to five of the state’s tax credit programs. State Sen. John Albers (R-Roswell) is sponsoring the bill, along with 16 other state legislators.
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Georgia residents who vote absentee in future elections would have to produce photocopies of their identification before they could vote, according to a bill that state legislators will soon consider. State Sen. Jason Anavitarte (R-Dallas), the sponsor, did not return The Georgia Star News’ request for comment Friday.
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Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger said he entered into the controversial Compromise Settlement Agreement and Release with Stacey Abrams because members of the Georgia Attorney General’s Office Chris Carr recommended he do so. In a letter dated January 6, Raffensperger told former U.S. Sen. Kelly Loeffler (R-GA) that the agreement strengthened Georgia’s signature verification system.
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Georgia Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan (R-Cumming) said this week he wants legislators to discuss “serious, meaningful election reform” during the current legislative session, and he suggested state officials require a photo ID if people vote absentee. Duncan, during a press conference at the Georgia State Capital in Atlanta, also pitched the idea of a statewide grand jury to monitor possible election fraud.
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A high-ranking member of the Georgia State Senate will vice chair the state’s Senate Transportation Committee, which recently lost State Sen. Brandon Beach (R-Alpharetta) as chairman after he questioned alleged irregularities in the state’s November 2020 elections. State Senate Majority Whip Steve Gooch will vice chair the State Senate Transportation Committee. This, according to a press release that members of the Georgia General Assembly published Tuesday. The press release went on to say that Gooch will expand beyond his usual duties as majority whip to serve on other State Senate committees.
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Two Georgia state legislators who lost their chairmanships after they questioned the results of the last presidential election can’t say if their colleagues have enough willpower to fix the state’s alleged election integrity problems. State Sen. Brandon Beach (R-Alpharetta) and State Sen. Burt Jones (R-Jackson) talked to The Georgia Star News Monday. Both men said they’ve noticed that some of the same state leaders who stifled their efforts to have a special session to address voter irregularities late last year have now proposed their own reforms.
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Republican officials at the Georgia State Capital want to require photo ID for absentee ballots in the state. This, according to a new report on the Atlanta-based WABE. The station is affiliated with National Public Radio.
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U.S. Rep. Andrew Clyde (R-GA-09) said this week that election season is over in Georgia and government officials must now secure the integrity of how people vote. Clyde submitted a column to The Washington Examiner and said state-level officials, during this year’s session of the Georgia General Assembly, are prioritizing the issue of voter integrity. He also seemed to criticize Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger for how he managed last year’s elections.
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U.S. Rep. Nikema Williams (D-GA-05) this month submitted a resolution that would, if enacted, prohibit former U.S. President Donald Trump from entering the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C. The resolution directs that the U.S. Capitol Police and other entities prohibit Trump from entering the U.S. Capitol at any time after he left office.
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Members of the Georgia General Assembly will soon consider two separate bills that pertain to civil asset forfeiture, one which would make it harder for government officials to seize private property. This bill, the Due Process in Civil Forfeiture Act, would increase the burden of proof for the government in civil forfeiture proceedings. The bill would alsoprovide people with public defenders during civil forfeiture proceedings in certain criminal cases.
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Various left-leaning groups, including the Southern Poverty Law Center and the Southern Center for Human Rights, have endorsed a new initiative in Georgia to restore felons’ voting rights. Six Georgia state representatives filed legislation to allow felons the right to vote in Georgia. This, according to a press release that the Georgia House of Representatives emailed Monday.
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Six Georgia state representatives put forward a resolution last week asking that members of the U.S. Congress create a formal commission to study whether the government should provide reparations for slavery. “The racial bigotry fed by slavery did not end with slavery or with segregation. And many of the issues that still trouble America have roots in the bitter experience of other times. But however long the journey, our destiny is set: liberty and justice for all,” according to the language of the resolution.
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Georgia is one of several states that harvest blueberries, but U.S. Rep. Austin Scott (R-GA-08) said this week that other nations’ unfair trade practices have harmed all of America’s blueberry growers. Scott and other members of Congress want members of the International Trade Commission to help.
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U.S. Rep. Jody Hice (R-GA-10) said this weekend that right-of-center Georgians can defeat socialists and Marxists living within the United States and, at the same time, do so peacefully.
“As shameful and tragic as January 6 was, it does not change the fact that tens of millions of Americans believe the November 3 general election was fraudulent,” Hice said in an emailed newsletter to his constituents Friday.
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Members of the Georgia House of Representatives have submitted a resolution that asks the U.S. Congress “to reject any and all actions to increase the number of justices on the United States Supreme Court.” Staff for U.S. Sen.-elect Jon Ossoff and U.S. Sen.-elect Raphael Warnock, both Democrats scheduled to soon represent Georgia in the U.S. Senate, did not return The Georgia Star News’ requests for comment on the matter.
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U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA-14) said this week that she is cosponsoring the Life at Conception Act and the Born Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act. Greene said this in a press release that members of her staff emailed Friday.
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Georgia State Rep. Wes Cantrell (R-Woodstock) has introduced a bill that, if enacted into law, would offer greater school choice for parents through Educational Scholarship Accounts. Parents could take these ESA’s and use them for private educational opportunities instead of public education funds.
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Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp delivered an optimistic State of the State address Thursday and proposed what he said were new ways for state officials to invest taxpayer money to counteract the effects of COVID-19. At one point in his speech, the governor apparently referred to the November 2020 elections and alleged voter fraud and other voter irregularities.
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Georgia State Rep. Josh Bonner (R-Fayetteville) has put forward a bill in the Georgia General Assembly that, if enacted into law, would grant greater free speech rights to students at the state’s institutions of higher learning. Bonner named the bill the Forming Open and Robust University Minds (FORUM) Act.
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Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp is scheduled to deliver the 2021 State of the State address at 11 a.m. Eastern Standard Time today at the Georgia House of Representatives.
This, according to a press release that Kemp’s staff emailed Wednesday.
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Georgia State Rep. Sandra Scott (D-Rex) has put forward separate bills that would, if enacted, require that law enforcement officers wear body cameras on-the-job. Law enforcement officers might also have to submit to a citizen review board. Members of such a board would review law enforcement officers’ actions while those officers served in the line of duty. Scott would also strip law enforcement officers of certain legal immunities they have as they do their jobs and make them liable to a lawsuit or other civil liability.
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ATLANTA, Georgia – Two Georgia state senators who said they wanted to fight for the state’s election integrity after the November 2020 presidential election learned Tuesday they will no chair committees that they previously presided over. State Sen. Burt Jones (R-Jackson) will no longer chair the Committee on Insurance and Labor. State Sen. Brandon Beach (R-Alpharetta) no longer oversees that body’s Transportation Committee.
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Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff, despite their connections to socialists and other members of the political left, told Georgians this week that they will act in all state residents’ best interests. Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger’s website reported that, with 100 percent of the vote collected, incumbent U.S. Sen. David Perdue (R-GA) lost to Democratic challenger Jon Ossoff. Perdue got 49.79 percent of the vote, or 2,195,755 votes. Ossoff got 50.21 percent or 2,214,178 votes.
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As of Tuesday night Republican incumbent U.S. Sen. David Perdue (R-GA) held a small lead over Democrat opponent Jon Ossoff, while Republican U.S. Sen. Kelly Loeffler held a very slight lead over Democrat opponent Raphael Warnock. The outcome of the race will determine which party holds the majority in the U.S. Senate.
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U.S. Senate candidate Raphael Warnock wants to defund the police, even though he hides his beliefs from Georgia voters, according to a video that members of Project Veritas released Monday. Two Warnock campaign staff members shared what they said were Warnock’s true thoughts and feelings with an undercover Project Veritas reporter.
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Evangelist Franklin Graham this week told Georgia residents that they must vote in Tuesday’s two U.S. Senate run-offs because “the soul of our nation is at stake.” Graham said this on his Facebook page.
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Members of the Georgia Republican Party this week said the media must ask U.S. Senate candidate Raphael Warnock a list of specific questions about his past. Georgia GOP members, in a press release, submitted the questions that they want the media to ask.
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Members of the Georgia Republican Party alleged this week that U.S. Senate candidate Jon Ossoff’s ties to China run deeper than originally thought. Specifically, Georgia GOP officials, citing a new article in The Washington Free Beacon, said Ossoff once encouraged Twitter users to follow China state media. This happened in November 2012, according to Ossoff’s own Twitter feed.
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Members of the Georgia Republican Party this week announced a newly-updated Asian Pacific American Advisory Board. This, according to a press release that members of the Georgia GOP emailed Monday.
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Columbia County authorities have arrested two alleged thieves who stole packages from people’s homes — as the pair simultaneously distributed fliers supporting the candidacies of Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff. Warnock and Ossoff, both Democrats, want to represent Georgia in the U.S. Senate.
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Members of the Georgia Republican Party on Tuesday said the media is “turning a blind eye” to Democrat Jon Ossoff’s ties to the Chinese Communist Party. Ossoff wants to represent Georgia in the U.S. Senate.
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