Tuesday, January 17, 2023

U.S. Rep. Earl L. “Buddy” Carter Credit: Craig Nelson/The Current

“Let’s get to work,” Coastal Georgia Congressman Buddy Carter declared after the tumultuous election of Kevin McCarthy as the new speaker of the Republican-controlled House of Representatives.

And last week, Carter did, starting with highly symbolic legislative measures that have little chance of passage in the Democrat-led Senate but served to appeal to conservative voters on hot-button issues.

Carter introduced legislation that would eliminate the IRS and the current tax code and replace them with a national consumption tax.

Carter told One America News in an interview that his tax-simplifying legislation was a logical follow-up to the Republican-led House’s vote to repeal funding for 87,000 new IRS agents, even though the GOP portrayal of a wave of armed IRS agents mobilized to collect taxes has been panned as “mostly false.”

Carter leaned even harder into abortion-related measures.

On the House’s first day of legislative business, Carter joined 165 other House GOP members in voting for the “Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act,” which requires health care practitioners to provide care to infants who are born alive after an abortion or attempted abortion and ensure the baby is immediately transported and admitted to a hospital.

The bill also says that “an individual who intentionally kills or attempts to kill a child born alive is subject to prosecution for murder,” though as Democrats opposed to the legislation pointed out, laws against infanticide all already on the books.

Two days later, Carter, who won a fifth term in the House in November, sided with 218 Republicans and three Democrats in a resolution condemning what the authors of the measure described as “recent attacks on pro-life facilities, groups, and churches.”

The same day, Carter, together with 24 other House members, all Republicans, sent a letter to the head of the Federal Drug Administration denouncing that agency’s decision to allow mifepristone, one of two drugs used in medication abortions, to be dispensed by retail pharmacies.

“The Biden Administration is manipulating pharmacists to advance their radical agenda. The American people deserve better,” tweeted Carter, a pharmacist. While none of the measures are likely to be taken up by the Democrat-controlled Senate, they get Carter and other abortion opponents on the record ahead of a key messaging event: the annual National March for Life in Washington on Thursday.

‘Where did you get the money from?’

During his fall reelection campaign against Democrat Stacey Abrams, Gov. Brian Kemp boasted about his stewardship of the state budget. He did so again in his $32.5 billion FY2024 state budget proposal to legislative leaders last week.

“As we look ahead to the upcoming fiscal year, we expect the state’s economy to be well positioned to withstand any further national economic slowing,” he said.

“As such, the … budgets I am presenting herein ensure that we continue to meet our financial obligations as a state while also investing in the education, health, and safety of our citizens to maintain our position as the best state in the country to live, work, and raise our families.”

Kemp is obviously well-positioned both to boast and to extend such assurances about spending and tax cuts: The state government ended the 2022 budget year in June with $6.6 billion in surplus cash, even after it filled its savings account to the legal limit.

From Kemp’s own side of the aisle comes some ribbing about the governor’s good fortune.

Last month, as part of his ultimately unsuccessful campaign to win the chairmanship of the House Budget Committee, Buddy Carter told Newsmax:

“With all due respect to my friends at the state level, and I love them, they do a great job. They balance their budget. But let me ask you something. I watch these states. They pound their chests, and they say, “Oh, I balanced my budget, suspended the gas tax. So, I’ve got $2 billion in in surplus. Oh yeah? Where do you get that money from? You got it from the federal government.”

Richmond Hill candidate forum
State Sen. Ben Watson Credit: Jeffery M. Glover/ The Current GA

Watson, Hickman to head state Senate panels

As the Georgia General Assembly gets to work in earnest, two state senators from Coastal Georgia are in the thick of the nitty-gritty over education and health care legislation.

Lt. Gov. Burt Jones announced committee heads last week, naming Statesboro’s Sen. Billy Hickman (District 4) to head the Higher Education Committee.

Also, Jones chose Savannah’s Sen. Ben Watson (District 1) to continue to head the Health and Human Services Committee.

Watson faces a complex challenge, following the legislature’s sweeping changes to the state’s feeble mental health care system last year. Supporters of those changes hope to build on them in this legislative session—in particular, holding insurers accountable for the availability of behavioral health services.

Clock on the Glynn County government building Credit: Justin Taylor for The Current

ICYMI

  • Glynn County visions: The Glynn County Commission will convene this evening to discuss plans to update the county’s comprehensive plan. The months-long process, to culminate in September, is aimed at giving the community “an opportunity to shape the county’s direction and ensure a future of sustainable and responsible growth,” The Brunswick News reports. Please contact the commission offices at (912)554-7111 for details for the time and location of the meeting.
  • “Deep Center, Chatham Area Transit hold Youth Transportation Forum,” (WTOC, Jan. 13, 2023) “There was only one student physically present, with some on Zoom. That’s because many of them didn’t have transportation to get to the meeting.”
  • “No takeover recommended in Fulton County elections board probe,” (GPB, Jan. 13, 2023) “Fulton County’s elections board should not be suspended and replaced under a 2021 “election takeover” law, according to a recommendation from a bipartisan panel tasked with reviewing the county’s operations over the past 17 months.” Here’s the 19-page report.
  • “Brian Kemp and the Electric Car: A Love Story,” Politico, Jan. 13, 2023. “He [Kemp] He does not outright reject climate science, but he is equivocal: ‘Look, I think man causes all kinds of problems every single day, whether it’s violent criminals — I’m sure there’s effects on the environment from people that do things the right way and people that don’t.’ ”
  • “Is the 118th Congress Headed for a Wreck?” (Cook Political Report, Jan. 12, 2023) “Not since the turbulent period before the Civil War through Reconstruction has Congress been as bitterly divided and less able to deliver on what the country needs.”
  • “Georgia GOP county chair sentenced in Jan. 6 charge,” (Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Jan. 13, 2023) “You were both eager and willing participants in the crowd,” [U.S. District Court Judge James] Boasberg [told Taylor Country Republican Party chairwoman] Mandy Robinson-Hand. “Again, you just said you see what that did to our country and our country’s reputation in the world. What just happened in Brazil; you see people think, ‘Oh, that’s what you’re supposed to do. When you disagree with the government, you should just storm the buildings where power resides.’”

What is the FAA’s NOTAM? An aviation expert explains how the critical safety system works

Pilots and air traffic controllers can also access the system by calling flight service briefers, who can share live weather and NOTAM information. Airline pilots also rely on their dispatchers to relay any relevant NOTAMs not only before but also during the flight.

Why America has a debt ceiling: 5 questions answered

Governments must borrow, too, and the debt ceiling is the total sum of how much they can legally ask for.

Kemp proposes record $32.5 billion state budget

Budget holds money for rural workforce housing, training facilities for manufacturing and a new prison.

Kemp pledges more school spending, tough-on-crime policies for second term as governor

One of Kemp’s first duties in his second term will be to release a state budget for the 12 months starting in July.

Grand jury indicts fired Camden County deputy for violent traffic stop

Fired Camden County Sheriff’s Office deputy Christi Newman indicted on six counts by a grand jury after a traffic stop last year where Newman rammed a woman’s head into a car, according to the indictments.

New bill will increase tax on cigarettes to cover health costs

Georgia has the second lowest state tobacco tax in the nation. One lawmaker says raising that tax to match the federal average will not only increase revenue but improve the health of Georgians.

Georgia House, Senate adopt ‘problematic’ new rules that reduce public accountability

Rules protect conversations with outside parties, limit cameras for committee hearings.

5 Georgia environmental storylines to watch in 2023

What to expect in green news in Georgia this year.

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Craig Nelson is a former international correspondent for The Associated Press, the Sydney (Australia) Morning-Herald, Cox Newspapers and The Wall Street Journal. He also served as foreign editor for The...