Tuesday, Jan. 27, 2025
Good morning! In the news today: Coastal Georgia’s congressman tightens ICE embrace, a guide to state’s budget process as the current legislative session in Atlanta gathers steam, and five things for our radar. Questions, comments, or story ideas? You can reach me at craig.thecurrent@gmail.com
NEWS: GOVERNING
‘Right to defend itself’
A growing number of Republicans are distancing themselves from federal immigration operations following the fatal weekend shooting of a 37-year-old nurse by border patrol officers in Minneapolis.
Coastal Georgia Congressman Buddy Carter isn’t one of them.
After the officers shot and killed Alex Pretti, a U.S. citizen, during an operation Saturday to detain an alleged illegal criminal alien, Carter defended U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the Trump administration’s surge of some 3,000 immigration agents to Minnesota, The Current’s Craig Nelson reports.
“ICE has every right to defend itself,” the five-term representative from St. Simons told a local television station after Pretti’s death and an anti-ICE protest in Savannah.
That’s not all. Carter has called for a surge of federal immigration officers to Atlanta to fight crime — one of just many signs that little else matters for him but currying the favor of Donald Trump and amassing the primary votes he needs among the president’s most ardent supporters in his race to win the Republican nomination to face Democratic U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff in November
EXPLAINER: LEGISLATURE
Following the money
Georgia spends about $3,200 per resident per year to operate the state. The person overseeing this spending is led by the state’s most powerful elected official, Gov. Brian Kemp.
The budget and thousands of pages of other financial documents generated show how political rhetoric looks when it’s turned into actual spending and choices are made, The Current’s Maggie Lee writes.
Here’s our guide to three documents that inform The Current GA staff’s reporting on the state government. Check them out.
NEWS: POLITICS
6 things for your radar
• A federal judge throws out a lawsuit brought by the U.S. Department of Justice against Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger seeking unredacted voter information, a day after a state Senate panel passed a resolution calling on him to turn over the data. The department is expected to appeal.
• A federal appeals court has upheld parts of Georgia’s 2021 voting law that allow state takeovers of county election management and prohibit ballot photography.
• The Bryan County Board of Commissioners says the concerns of county residents about a proposed nickel refinery in the county will be “thoughtfully and seriously considered.” The county’s development authority is scheduled to discuss the proposal at its Feb. 10 meeting.
• Buddy Carter says he’s spent $3 million of his own funds on his campaign for the GOP nomination to face Democratic U.S. Senator Jon Ossoff in the general election this fall – “putting his money where his mouth is in the fight to save Georgia from the radical left.”
• President Trump says he was “not happy” about the ICE raid on the Hyundai battery plant in Ellabel. The people who were sent back to South Korea “would have trained our people how to make batteries.”
• Emily’s List, a leading reproductive rights groups, says it is targeting Georgia and 14 other states as part of $15 million plan to recruit and support women candidates in this year’s midterm elections.
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‘Bell to bell’ cell phone ban proposed for Georgia high schools
The Georgia Legislature is considering expanding the state’s classroom cell phone ban to high schools, which would require schools to restrict access to phones from the morning bell until the dismissal bell, with some exceptions.
Legislature 101: Following Georgia’s budget drafts
Whether it’s ‘big’ or ‘little,’ Georgia’s state budget and bills reflect the values and priorities of its elected officials. By putting a dollar amount on rhetoric — or withdrawing that dollar — elected officials declare their real priorities.
Appeals court rules in favor of Georgia election takeover and photography ban laws
The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld parts of Georgia’s 2021 voting law, allowing state takeovers of county election management and prohibiting ballot photography, while other federal lawsuits against the law remain pending.
As criticism of ICE mounts, Carter urges expansion to Georgia
Buddy Carter defended ICE and the Trump administration’s surge of immigration agents to Minnesota, blaming Democrats for the immigration crisis and calling for a similar operation in Atlanta.
Coastal Crush: Valentine’s Weekend on the Ice with The Current
The Current is hosting Coastal Crush Weekend, a fundraiser featuring a back-to-back hockey series between the Savannah Ghost Pirates and the Jacksonville Icemen, to support independent local journalism along the Georgia coast.
Hundreds rally in Savannah against Trump’s immigration policies
Over 600 protesters gathered in downtown Savannah to denounce the Trump administration’s immigration policies on the same day as another fatal shooting of a protester in Minneapolis by federal immigration officers.
As state lawmakers talk budget priorities, health officials outline needs
Department heads across Georgia state agencies outlined their spending priorities in joint budgetary hearings, with the Department of Community Health receiving the largest share of appropriations, while the Department of Human Services faces a projected funding deficit of $85.7 million.
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