Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026
Good morning! In the news today: the state legislature convenes with tax relief on the agenda; some Coastal Georgia reaction to a fatal shooting in Minneapolis; and a gubernatorial candidate forum in Savannah arouses hope among area Democrats. Finally, we note some things for your radar. Questions, comments, or story ideas? You can reach me at craig.thecurrent@gmail.com.
NEWS: GOVERNING
Tax relief
Georgia’s General Assembly convened yesterday, with the annual 40 days of hearings, debate and voting not expected to begin gaining pace until next week.
Meanwhile, much of the attention in this, a midterm election year, is on (you guessed it) tax relief. Not alone among Coastal Georgia lawmakers, both Sen. Mike Hodges of Brunswick and Rep. Steven Sainz of St. Marys have said that tax relief is a legislative priority, if not their top one.
The thorny issue for the Hodges, Sainz and other Republicans in the GOP-dominated legislature is not whether to extend tax relief but how. Sharper reductions in property taxes? Boost sales taxes? Take a leaf from Florida and eliminate the income tax?
That’s why lawmakers will be listening carefully when the state’s top Republican, Gov. Brian Kemp, takes the stage Wednesday morning at the Georgia Chamber of Commerce’s annual Eggs & Issues breakfast in Atlanta to outline his legislative priorities.
While we wait to hear what the governor has to say, this is last call from us here at The Current to let us know your legislative priorities, if you haven’t already done so. Click here for the survey. It’s last call. And a big thank you ahead of time! We’ll be reporting the results later this week.
NEWS: POLITICS
‘A violence problem’
Small demonstrations were held over the weekend in at least two Coastal Georgia cities — Savannah and Brunswick — to protest the shooting death of Renee Nicole Good by an ICE agent during an immigration enforcement operation in Minneapolis last week.
Writing on X hours after the shooting, Coastal Georgia Congressman Earl “Buddy” Carter said the agent’s action was justified. “The left has a violence problem, and our ICE agents are targets. I applaud the brave officer who stood up to this domestic terrorist and pray for those still recovering,” he said.
A day after the incident, U.S. Rep. Mike Collins, one of Carter’s rivals for the GOP’s nomination to run against Democrat Jon Ossoff in this May’s party primary, riffed on the disputed claim that Good had used her vehicle as a weapon. “Good morning. Don’t try and run over any ICE agents today,” he wrote, also on X.
On its Facebook page Monday, the Chatham County Republican Party echoed Collins’ tone. It posted a photo of a train passing through a railroad crossing with the caption: “Protesters should step up their game and start blocking railroad crossings.”
NEWS: POLITICS
Dems find hope
The most rapturous applause at Thursday evening’s candidate forum wasn’t for any of the Democratic gubernatorial aspirants on stage Jonesville Baptist Church.
Instead, it was for a recently victorious Democrat seated in audience: Savannah’s Alicia Johnson who, along with Peter Hubbard, defeated two Republicans incumbents last November for seats on the five-member Georgia Public Service Commission, The Current’s Craig Nelson writes.
As the cheers rained down in the church sanctuary — inspired, it seemed, as much by the welcome taste of a rare Democratic victory in a statewide race as for Johnson herself — she stood silently, with a smile. By her example, she had aroused hopes among Democrats that they can end a long losing streak in state executive races.
Republican gubernatorial candidates will take their turns later this spring in the Savannah Debate Series, cosponsored by the Savannah Area Chamber of Commerce, the Greater Savannah Black Chamber of Commerce, WJCL TV, the Chatham County GOP, and the Democratic Party of Chatham County.
NEWS: UPDATES
6 things for your radar
- Savannah-Chatham County School Board President Roger Moss gets a challenger in May elections. She is Dionne Hoskins-Brown, who has been District 2’s representative on the school board since 2012.
- Shawn Boatright steps down as Camden County administrator. “I just felt like it was time for me to look at a different career opportunity,” Boatright told the Tribune & Georgian. His last day is March 9, the newspaper said.
- Georgia’s Public Health Board hasn’t met in months, despite seismic changes to federal government health recommendations on vaccinations and food. “As there is no official business pending for the Georgia Board of Public Health, no meeting is scheduled at this time,” a spokesman told Healthbeat on Friday.
- Savannah officials confirm the city will bypass the Historic Preservation Commission (HPC) design review for the proposed office buildings and underground parking garage across from Forsyth Park. Instead, Savannah Agenda reports, the city will proceed under an internal review framework that city officials say will replicate key elements of HPC oversight of the project at Whitaker Street and Park Avenue.
- Brandon Phillips, who has served as chief of staff to U.S. congressman and U.S. Senate candidate Mike Collins, hired a romantic interest as an office intern and illicitly used his office’s Congressional resources, claims nonpartisan congressional watchdog. The report from the Office of Congressional Conduct, also alleges the intern “did not perform duties commensurate with her compensation.”
- U.S. Rep. Buddy Carter wasn’t one of the 17 Republican members of the U.S. House who voted last week to extend expired health care subsidies for those who get coverage through the Affordable Care Act. But eager to curry favor with Donald Trump in his campaign for the GOP’s Senate nomination, Carter is expected to vote in favor of the president’s long-sought changes on showerheads when the measure comes to the House floor this week. He voted in favor of the “Shower Act” when it was voted out of House Energy and Commerce Committee late last month.
- Citing reduced funding, Telfair Museums in Savannah lays off 15 percent of its staff, WJCL reports.
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