Tag: Brian Kemp

Vivek Ramaswamy, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene Question Biden’s $6.6 Billion Loan to Electric Automaker Rivian for Georgia Factory

Tom Pappert
Vivek and MTG

Vivek Ramaswamy on Tuesday questioned the $6.6 billion loan authorized by the Biden-Harris administration to the troubled electric vehicle manufacturer Rivian. The company will use the loan to fund the completion of its Georgia factory.

The Biden-Harris administration on Tuesday approved a $6.6 billion loan for Rivian after the construction of its electric vehicle factory in Georgia after progress stalled in March despite $1.5 billion in state tax incentives brokered by Governor Brian Kemp.

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Chaos Swirls Around Georgia Election Board, Election Measures

The Center Square
Person Voting

The Georgia State Election Board has faced backlash and lawsuits over the last few months, especially after passing a number of election rules just weeks before Election Day.

The Republican-majority board had a win this week though when a Fulton County judge dismissed a lawsuit on Wednesday put forward by Democrats.

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Sen. JD Vance Says End of Trump-Kemp Feud, RFK Jr. Endorsement Prove Republicans Now ‘Big Tent’ Party

Tom Pappert
Donald Trump, Brian Kemp, JD Vance

Senator JD Vance (R-OH) on Wednesday told reporters gathered at his rally in Erie, Pennsylvania, that the end of the feud between former President Donald Trump and Georgia Governor Brian Kemp, as well as Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s and former Representative Tulsi Gabbard’s recent endorsements of the Trump-Vance ticket, prove Republicans are now the “big tent party.”

Vance’s remarks come after Kemp endorsed Trump earlier this month, despite the former president describing him as “disloyal” in a recent rally. The relationship between the former president and Georgia’s governor first deteriorated publicly as Trump contested the state’s election results in 2020.

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Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp to Attend Atlanta Fundraiser for Trump as Harris-Walz Rally in Savannah

Tom Pappert
Brian Kemp and Donald Trump

Georgia Governor Brian Kemp will reportedly be in Atlanta on Thursday to attend a fundraiser benefiting former President Donald Trump and Senator JD Vance (R-OH) in their campaign to recapture the White House for the Republican Party.

Kemp’s appearance at the Atlanta fundraiser, revealed on Tuesday, will be the first since he and Trump publicly set aside their feud. It will occur as a Democratic bus tour featuring Vice President Kamala Harris and Governor Tim Walz reaches Savannah.

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RNC Co-Chair Predicts ‘Softening’ in Trump, Kemp Feud After Governor Reportedly Offers Georgia ‘Political Machine’ to Former President

Tom Pappert
Donald Trump and Brian Kemp

Lara Trump, the daughter-in-law of former President Donald Trump and co-chair of the Republican National Committee (RNC), on Tuesday predicted softening in the feud between former President Donald Trump and Governor Brian Kemp after the Georgia leader reportedly offered his “political machine” to the Trump-Vance ticket.

The prediction came after the former president described Kemp as “disloyal” during an August 3 rally in Atlanta, which prompted questions about whether the terse relationship between the men that developed after the 2020 election results would impact the Trump campaign in November.

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Georgia Again Reports Lower Tax Collections

The Center Square
Georgia State Capitol

Georgia continues to report tax collections lower than a year ago, with May’s collections down by more than 1% as the state heads toward the end of the fiscal year, new numbers reveal.

Georgia officials said the state’s net tax collections in May surpassed $2.4 billion. However, that is a decrease of 1.1% or $26.3 million compared to last May, when net tax collections approached $2.5 billion.

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Georgia Gov Signs Bill into Law Requiring Sheriffs Cooperate with ICE After Laken Riley Murder

Georgia Star News Staff
Laken Riley

Republican Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp signed a new immigration enforcement bill Wednesday, months after a Georgia college student was allegedly murdered at the hands of an illegal immigrant.

Kemp signed into law House Bill 1105, which requires sheriffs in the state to cooperate with federal immigration authorities, according to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. The legislation mandates local jailers hold any foreign national in their custody who is suspected of being in the U.S. illegally and wanted by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

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Georgia Lawmakers Approve Budget as Session Ends

The Center Square
Georgia Money

Georgia lawmakers signed off on the fiscal year 2025 budget in the final hours of this year’s legislative session but did not pass a bill to allow sports betting.

Lawmakers gave the nod to a more than $66.8 billion state budget for fiscal 2025, which starts July 1. The spending plan, which anticipates $36.1 billion in state money and $19 billion in federal taxpayer funds, includes pay raises for public school teachers and state law enforcement officers.

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Georgia Lawmakers Sign Off on New Congressional Maps

The Center Square

The Georgia House of Representatives passed revised congressional districts, capping the end of a special session that put partisan divides front and center.

The House voted 98-71 to send Senate Bill 3EX, which the state Senate passed on Tuesday, to Republican Gov. Brian Kemp for his signature. The revised districts ostensibly maintain the 9-5 Republican edge in the U.S. House.

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Georgia Announces New Program to Attend Colleges

The Center Square

A new Georgia program to grant academic eligibility for direct admission to Georgia’s 22 technical colleges is a “win for Georgia,” a leading business group said.

On Thursday, Gov. Brian Kemp, a Republican, and state leaders announced GEORGIA MATCH, which they touted as “one of the largest state-run direct admissions initiatives.”

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Gov. Brian Kemp Rejects Calls to Dismiss Fulton County DA Fani Willis

Georgia Star News Staff

On Thursday, Georgia Governor Brian Kemp (R-Ga.) said at a press conference that he would not support efforts to remove Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis from office following her indictment of President Donald Trump.

As reported by Breitbart, Kemp referred to such efforts as “political theater,” after a Republican state senator had already vowed to take action against Willis. Willis’ indictment included 41 different charges against President Trump and 18 campaign surrogates, lawyers, and other prominent allies.

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Georgia State Senator Asks for Emergency Session to Investigate Fulton County DA Fani Willis

Kaitlin Housler

Georgia State Senator Colton Moore (R-Trenton) sent a letter to Governor Brian Kemp calling on him to convene an emergency session to investigate Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis.

“We, the undersigned, being duly elected members of the Georgia House of Representatives and Georgia Senate, and comprising 3/5 of each respective house, pursuant to Article IV, Section II, Paragraph VII(b), hereby certify to you, in writing, with a copy to the Secretary of State, that in our opinion an emergency exists in the affairs of the state, requiring a special session to be convened under that section, for all purposes, to include, without limitation, the review and response to the actions of Fani Willis,” Moore wrote in his letter on Thursday.

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Economic Development in Georgia Breaks Records for Third Year in a Row

Kaitlin Housler

The State of Georgia broke records for the third year in a row in regards to economic development as total investments in facility expansions and new locations totaled more than $24 billion during fiscal year 2023 (FY23).

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Georgia Gov. Kemp Files Supreme Court Amicus Brief in Chevron Case

The Center Square

Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp has filed an amicus brief in a highly visible U.S. Supreme Court case that could overturn a standing practice that gives federal agencies the power to interpret statutes.

Kemp, a Republican, filed his brief in the case of Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo, which seeks to overturn the so-called Chevron deference established by the 1984 decision in Chevron U.S.A., Inc. v. Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc. It compels federal judges to defer to federal agencies’ interpretations in “ambiguous situations” as long as the interpretation is “reasonable.”

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Governor Kemp Appoints New Director of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation

Kaitlin Housler

Governor Brian Kemp appointed Chris Hosey to serve as Director of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI).

“Chris has dedicated his career to protecting the people of our state as a proud member of law enforcement,” Kemp said in a Saturday statement. “With over 35 years of experience at the GBI, he brings a wealth of institutional knowledge and skill to this role. I’m confident he will bring the same level of commitment to the job that he has shown throughout his years of service.”

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Georgia’s Gov. Kemp Transfers Millions for Water Wars Fight, Public Safety

The Center Square

Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp has transferred more than $8.9 million from the Governor’s Emergency Fund to several state agencies, including millions for public safety and a decades-long fight over water.

As part of the allocation, Kemp, a Republican, is sending $5.7 million to cover costs — including counsel fees and litigation expenses — stemming from a long-standing dispute over water use in the Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint River and the Alabama-Coosa-Tallapoosa River basins.

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Governor Kemp Announces $17.3 Million in Grants and Loans to Fund Seven Transportation Infrastructure Projects Across Georgia

Kaitlin Housler

Governor Brian Kemp and the State Road and Tollway Authority (SRTA) Board of Directors announced on Tuesday the approval of $17.3 million in Georgia Transportation Infrastructure Bank (GTIB) loans and grants to fund seven transportation infrastructure projects across the state.

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Governor Brian Kemp Announces Overseas Trip to the Countries of Georgia and France

Kaitlin Housler

Georgia Governor Brian Kemp, First Lady Marty Kemp, and other state officials will travel overseas this week to “focus on reinforcing strategic partnerships while promoting economic development opportunities with industries in Europe,” according to a press release by Kemp’s office.

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Georgia Uses $83.5 Million in COVID Relief Money for Public Safety Grants

The Center Square

Georgia is giving out more than $83.5 million in federal COVID-19 relief money as grants to fund 118 public safety projects across the Peach State.

Departments can use the funds to augment law enforcement staffing and support violent crime reduction initiatives or intervention programs. They can also use the money to invest in technology and equipment to address the uptick in violence and personnel shortages stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic.

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Georgia Funds over 100 Projects Across the State to Address Public Safety and Law Enforcement Staffing

Kaitlin Housler

Governor Brian Kemp recently announced that 118 projects have been awarded grant funding totaling $83.5 million to “improve community-level public safety measures and address law enforcement staffing challenges that arose during the COVID-19 pandemic.”

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Report Probes the Questions Policymakers Might Not Be Asking About EVs

The Center Square

Whether it’s higher vehicle costs for consumers or pressure on the electric grid, a consumer group hopes its new report gives politicians and policymakers a few questions to ponder.

The thought starters are included in Consumer Energy Alliance’s “Freedom to Fuel: Embracing Consumer Choice in the Automotive Marketplace” report, which noted it is “increasingly clear that policymakers are not fully considering all the implications of aggressively mandating EVs.”

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Governor Brian Kemp Leads Group of Republican Governors in Pushing Back on the Federal Housing Finance Agency’s New Mortgage Rule

Kaitlin Housler

Georgia Governor Brian Kemp and Missouri Governor Mike Parson recently led a group of Republican governors in sending a letter to the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) in regards to the agency’s changed to the loan level pricing adjustment (LLPA).

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Georgia GOP Convention Replaces Mike Pence with Kari Lake

Rachel Alexander

Kari Lake will be the keynote speaker at the Georgia Republican Party (GAGOP)’s annual convention, replacing Mike Pence who was originally scheduled. Former President Donald Trump will also be speaking at the convention. The state party Chair David Shafer sent an email to delegates stating that Pence canceled “because of a televised national town hall at which he will be making an announcement regarding his future plans.”

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Group Disappointed with Georgia Gov. Kemp’s Direct Care Worker Wage Increase Removal

The Center Square

A national organization of family caregivers is disappointed that Gov. Brian Kemp removed a wage increase for direct care workers supporting people with intellectual and developmental disabilities included in the state’s budget.

But the governor says lawmakers didn’t fund the wage increase, which would have cost $105 million.

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Georgia Gov. Kemp Bashes Washington Spending but Touts Federally Funded Grants

The Center Square

Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp regularly blames Washington policies for causing inflation and hurting Georgians, but he doesn’t hesitate to announce grants — such as those for rural broadband projects — that rely on federal tax dollars.

“While failed policies coming out of Washington, D.C. are pushing us closer to a recession and forcing hardworking Georgians to endure sky-high inflation, we on the state level are doing what we can to return money back where it belongs – in taxpayers’ hands,” Kemp said in a statement earlier this month in announcing officials had issued the first round of “surplus tax refund checks” to Georgia taxpayers.

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Georgia Transportation Officials Award $65.2 Million for Projects

The Center Square

The Georgia Department of Transportation said it awarded 18 projects valued at more than $65.2 million in March.

The largest spend, $15 million awarded to E. R. Snell Contractor, goes toward a bridge construction project on State Route 212 over Lake Jackson in Jasper and Newton counties. Bridge construction contracts represented 31% of the allocated money.

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Gov. Kemp Signs Bill to Allow Georgia Hospitals to Form Police Departments

The Center Square

Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp signed a measure to allow Peach State hospitals to form campus police departments.

Lawmakers overwhelmingly voted in favor of House Bill 383, the Safer Hospitals Act, a measure that enhances criminal penalties for anyone who assaults a healthcare worker on a hospital campus, similar to the protections afforded to paramedics, transit drivers and law enforcement personnel.

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Georgia’s Republican Secretary of State Foils Democrats’ ‘Diverse’ Primary Plans

M.D. Kittle

Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger has set the Peach State’s 2024 party primary elections for March 12, foiling the Democratic National Committee’s plans to move Georgia’s vote toward the front of the presidential nominating line.

Raffensperger says the DNC acted “unilaterally” in its bid to make their nominating process more “diverse” by bumping predominantly white states like Iowa and New Hampshire back and pushing more “racially inclusive” states like Georgia and Michigan to the front of the primary line. 

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Former Georgia U.S. Senator Kelly Loeffler Joins Governor Kemp as He Signs ‘Zuckerbucks’ Ban into Law

Kaitlin Housler

Chairwoman of the nonprofit group Greater Georgia and former Georgia U.S. Senator Kelly Loeffler recently joined Governor Brian Kemp as he signed Senate Bill 222, also known as the “Zuckerbucks” ban, into law.

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Georgia Governor Signs Series of Public Safety Bills

The Center Square

Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp signed a series of public safety bills, including a measure increasing penalties for anyone who recruits children into gangs.

Senate Bill 44 also requires judges to “consider the accused person’s criminal history record information that is available at such time” before releasing defendants on their own recognizance.

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Georgia Legislature Signs Off on Bill to Ban TikTok

The Center Square

Georgia lawmakers have sent a measure to bar TikTok and other “national security software threats” on state-owned devices.

Lawmakers in both chambers unanimously signed off on Senate Bill 93, which they say would also bar Telegram and WeChat, and sent the measure to Republican Gov. Brian Kemp. It would also prohibit these applications on state devices used in the legislative and judicial branches and in the state’s K-12 schools.

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Georgia’s Kemp Signs Tax Rebate Bill

The Center Square

Gov. Brian Kemp signed into law a bill this week that would provide $1 billion in tax rebates for Georgia income tax filers.

House Bill 162 provides a special state income tax refund for Georgians who filed returns in both the 2021 and 2022 taxable years. It marks the second year in a row that Georgia taxpayers will receive a rebate.

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Commentary: The History of Jim Crow Laws Shows Modern Comparisons Are Just Cheap Political Demagoguery

Admin

What are “Jim Crow” laws? President Biden apparently thinks they are synonymous with election integrity. In fact, when Georgia’s Governor Brian Kemp signed a bill in 2021 requiring voter ID and strengthening rules against bribery and electioneering at the polls, the President condemned the law as “Jim Crow on steroids.”

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Equity Consultant ‘Evil Salesman’ Explains Plan to Upend Georgia Law Banning Indoctrination with Critical Race Theory

Susan Berry, PhD

A Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion (DEI) consultant explained to an undercover Project Veritas journalist he is an “evil salesman” who plans to undermine a Georgia law banning the teaching of the concepts of Critical Race Theory (CRT). “If you don’t say the words ‘Critical Race Theory,’ you can technically teach it,” Dr. Quintin Bostic, content manager at The Teaching Lab, is heard telling the Project Veritas (PV) journalist in the video.

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Critics Say Georgia’s Gas Tax Moratorium Helps, but Isn’t Good Long-Term Policy

The Center Square

Georgia hasn’t collected its gas tax since March, as Gov. Brian Kemp has signed a series of legislation and executive orders to place a moratorium on collections.

“Those prices have a huge impact on the economy as a whole,” National Federation of Independent Business Region Director Nathan Humphrey told The Center Square. “On top of all the other issues that small businesses were particularly struggling with from supply chain, inflation and [the] overall cost of doing business, the margins were just super tight, so when that hit, it really provided necessary relief.”

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VoterGA Reports ‘Serious’ 2022 Election Abnormalities, Over 20,000 Votes ‘Subtracted’ from Totals for Republican Senate Candidate Herschel Walker

Susan Berry, PhD

Voters Organized for Trusted Election Results in Georgia (VoterGA) reports it has identified significant abnormalities in the 2022 Georgia general election, including results that show over 20,000 votes were “inexplicably subtracted” from the vote totals for U.S. Senate Republican candidate Herschel Walker.

The organization, a coalition of citizens seeking to restore voter integrity in Georgia, presented at a press conference Wednesday a sworn affidavit, corroborated by the Edison media line feed, showing the “subtracted” votes.

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Commentary: GOP Botched Early-Voting Ground Game

RealClearWire

Two days before Brian Kemp bested Stacey Abrams by more than seven percentage points in their closely watched rematch, the Georgia governor did something unusual for a Republican candidate in the 2022 midterms: He expressed confidence about where he stood and cited early voting as a top reason.

“We’ve also had record turnout for early voting, which ended this Friday. It’s been an incredible turnout, and we feel good about things,” Kemp told Trey Gowdy, the former congressman and host of Fox News’ “Sunday Night in America.”

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