Georgia lawmakers could take control of the power to set policy for transgender athletes competing in women’s sports at Georgia high schools, removing the authority from a statewide association.
The revelation, which could potentially extend to publicly funded colleges and universities, came during the first hearing of the Senate Special Committee on Protecting Women’s Sports.
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Georgia plans to spend about 40% of the $1.5 billion in additional transportation funding lawmakers approved on increasing the Georgia Department of Transportation’s capital construction program.
In January, Republican Gov. Brian Kemp announced a plan to include an additional $1.5 billion in the state’s amended fiscal 2024 budget for the Georgia Department of Transportation for projects that “directly help move commuters and freight.”
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Georgia Lt. Governor Burt Jones on Tuesday celebrated the passage of legislation he championed to restrict property tax increases and offer property owners a chance to appeal decisions about how much they pay.
Jones said in a statement that HB 581, the Save Our Homes Act, “limits increases in property taxes years to year, reforms the appeals process, and allows for more transparency in our taxation procedures.”
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Georgia Lt. Governor Burt Jones on Friday issued a statement celebrating the “courage” of Riley Gaines and the other plaintiffs in the lawsuit against the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and a number of Georgia universities.
Jones commended the athletes “for their courage” and demanded the NCAA apologize and reverse course in a statement.
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The Georgia Senate has passed a measure to reform Georgia’s certificate of need laws.
Lawmakers passed House Bill 1339 by a 43-11 margin. The House overwhelmingly passed the measure last month, and the amended version returns to the House for consideration.
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The Georgia State House on Thursday voted unanimously to pass a bill that will accelerate the tax cuts previously passed by the Georgia General Assembly in 2022 alongside bills aimed at lowering property taxes and increasing child tax credits.
HB 1015 will reduce the Georgia state income tax rate to 5.39 percent, effective retroactively to January 1, amending previous legislation that established a flat income tax in Georgia that would be set at 5.49 percent in 2024. Active legislation mandates the income tax rate be decreased by 10 basis points annually until it reaches 4.99 percent, which could be achieved in 2028 if the bill becomes law.
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Georgia Lieutenant Gov. Burt Jones (R) and State Senator Randy Robertson (R-Cataula) introduced SB 355 on Tuesday to ban ranked choice voting in the state.
Jones said in a statement that ranked choice voting “is designed to cause confusion and fatigue among voters.” Allegedly “pushed by dark money groups,” Jones added it “could cause a drastic increase in the number of ballots being thrown out, disenfranchising Georgia voters.”
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A state lawmaker said he plans to push stronger penalties for anyone who makes a swatting call, a hoax 911 call reporting a fake emergency prompting authorities to respond to an unsuspecting house.
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The Georgia State Senate is reportedly planning to replace the acting chairman of the State Election Board just weeks after he voted against investigating how Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger (R) managed the 2020 presidential election. Raffensperger’s political adversary, Lt. Governor Burt Jones (R), will reportedly play a role in determining the new chairman.
Acting chairman Matt Mashburn will be replaced with another Republican by the Georgia State Senate, according to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, which cited two sources familiar with the plan. Mashburn most recently received a two-year appointment by former Lt. Governor Geoff Duncan (R), and was confirmed by the Georgia Senate in 2021. His term expired earlier this year.
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Georgia Superior Court Judge Thomas Wilson reportedly expressed skepticism at an attempt to remove Lt. Governor Burt Jones (R) from office on Monday. A group of Democratic voters in Georgia filed the lawsuit claiming Jones’ role as one of the alternate electors who sought to preserve former President Donald Trump’s legal challenge to the 2020 election in Georgia should make him ineligible to hold office.
Wilson “appeared skeptical of the plaintiffs’ longshot arguments,” according to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, which reported that plaintiffs argued Jones “is an insurrectionist against the Constitution of the United States of America” because he participated in the 2020 election contest, and thus should be prohibited from holding office due to a post-Civil War law that was also cited in a bid to prevent Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene from seeking reelection in 2022.
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Governor Brian Kemp (R) pitched new legislation on Monday that he said will “accelerate” Georgia’s new income tax cuts. Beginning in 2024, the Kemp’s plan would steadily increase income taxes annually until the tax rate falls to 4.99 percent.
Kemp announced the move to expand on HB 1437, which established a flat income tax in Georgia by which all income earners are taxed equally at 5.49 percent. While HB 1437 called for the tax rate to eventually decrease to 4.99 percent, Kemp said in a Monday statement that his changes to the law will mean Georgians pay less taxes sooner.
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Georgia Lieutenant Governor Burt Jones (R) released a new advertisement on Monday which attacks Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger (R) over his attendance record over his tenure in his elected position. The advertisement came just days after a federal judge ordered a January trial for a lawsuit against Raffensperger and his office, which are accused of failing to implement a secure electronic voting system.
Jones revealed the video in a post on X, formerly Twitter, and wrote that he is “tired of having a Secretary of State who has shown up to work 42 days this year and his behind his staff to do his job while showboating on liberal TV shows.”
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Former President Donald Trump released a statement expressing further doubts in Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, and her office, after the grand jury report for the racketeering case against him was made public. The report revealed that, in addition to the 19 charged by Willis, charges were recommended for additional 20 people, including Georgia Lt. Governor Burt Jones, former Republican Georgia Senators Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue, and Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC).
Trump wrote that the grand jury report has “zero credibility and badly taints” Willis, and her case against him, in a post on Truth Social. The report, according to Trump, “undermines the credibility of the findings, and badly hurts the Great State of Georgia.”
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A Georgia Senate joint committee will soon meet to discuss artificial intelligence.
“AI may be one of the greatest disruptors in history providing significant advancements and monumental risk,” State Sen. John Albers, R-Roswell (pictured above), chairman of the Senate Committee on Public Safety, said in a statement. “We must address this head on to protect our citizens, businesses, and state.”
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Georgia Republicans formally rolled out legislation to increase penalties for those who recruit minors into gangs.
Senate Bill 44, introduced by state Sen. Bo Hatchett, R-Cornelia, also mandates minimum sentences for gang offenses currently on the books in Georgia. It would allow prosecutors and judges to consider lower sentences only in some situations, including where a defendant renders “substantial assistance” in identifying, arresting or convicting other gang members.
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