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Request a DemoSine Die 2024 winners and losers: 2025 budget, elections, film industry, culture warriors
Georgia lawmakers late Thursday night nailed down a budget in the final hours of their legislative session and passed a controversial omnibus election bill that critics say will burden election workers and impact the November presidential election in this key battleground state.
Measures to legalize sports betting, curtail the state film tax credit and restrict mining of the Okefenokee Swamp — all inspiring vigorous debate in each chamber on prior days— did not make the cut.
The election bill immediately drew fire from the American Civil Liberties Union of Georgia, which has threatened to sue if Gov. Brian Kemp signs the bill.
More wins for education in 2025 budget
House and Senate appropriations leaders spent the last two weeks and weekends of the session haggling over the $36.1 billion fiscal year 2025 budget, said House Appropriations Chair Matt Hatchett, R-Dublin, who noted the House made some painful cuts to balance the budget but “was able to maintain or enhance many of our priorities. And we actually agreed with some of their adds, too,” particularly in education.
A significant change in the final budget is an infusion of new funds into pre-K education.
Hatchett said Gov. Kemp sent a letter to revise his revenue estimate to increase Georgia Lottery funds by $48.2 million to request more funds for pre-K, in line with recommendations from the House Working Group on Early Education, led by Speaker Pro Tem Jan Jones. The budget conference committee then made adjustments to pre-K programs, including salary increases for lead and pre-K teachers on par with K-12 schools, increases in start-up grants for new pre-K classrooms, new funding for student transportation and an operating increase for private pre-K providers.
“Ultimately we’ll spend $75 million more a year to reduce class sizes from 22 to 20 and pay teachers more — we weren’t paying them enough,” Jones said. “We dramatically increased transportation money to provide bus service to public schools and to provide van service with the kids at private providers, the day cares. We more than doubled the amount of money to equip a new classroom. We had not changed that amount in 30 years. It went from $8,000 to $20,000 for every additional classroom. And all of that will be yearly. … So we’ll have more classrooms open and more teachers that actually want to teach pre-K.”
The budget for K-12 schools includes $255 million for 4% cost-of-living increases (which most state employees across all agencies and departments will receive, up to $3,000) and an additional $374 million for $2,500 raises for teachers. It provides a $200 million increase in student transportation, $109 million for local school security grants and $6.1 million for regional literacy coaches. The House was able to win back $6.3 million to provide free breakfast and lunch to students from low-income families that the Senate had previously removed.
The Senate pushed to double the $4.6 million budget increase the House recommended for child care providers through the Childcare and Parent Services program, which currently offers below-market reimbursement rates that have led many workers to leave the industry. The House agreed, and the $9.2 million increase will push hourly rates for child care workers well past 50% of the market rate.
Other state employees will also get additional $3,000 raises, including law enforcement officers, corrections officers and child welfare workers.
The two chambers agreed to provide hundreds of millions of dollars more for Medicaid programs, including $18.6 million to increase payments to some medical providers, such as obstetricians, optometrists, audiologists and physical therapists. Adult dental care was also fully funded with an additional $10.5 million, and independent pharmacists will see higher reimbursement rates through a new $6.2 million appropriation.
Behavioral health got a boost, with $2.5 million to expand jail-based competency programs, $26 million for housing voucher slots and $1 million to expand mental health services in schools.
In addition to $46 million to fund the $3,000 pay increases for law enforcement officers, the budget includes $10.7 million in new funding to make infrastructure and technology improvements to harden jails and prisons and to detect and prevent contraband. A backlog of cases at the Sexual Offender Risk Review Board will be addressed through a $2.5 million increase, and $19 million will go to domestic violence shelters and sexual assault centers.
Hatchett said $866 million in capital projects for schools systems, colleges, universities and state-funded agencies will be funded with cash rather than bonds, reducing future debt obligations.
Senate Appropriations Committee Chair Blake Tillery, R-Vidalia, said the governor asked budget writers to be mindful of national economic trends and inflationary pressures and to focus on one-time spends. Tillery said that led to many of the capital expenditures, such as renovations at Fort Valley State University, Albany State University, a nursing center at the Coastal College of Georgia, Technology Square at Georgia Tech and many libraries statewide.
Election bill seen as furthering voter suppression
Against Democrats’ fierce objections, lawmakers passed an omnibus election bill that sets new rules for challenging voters and who can qualify to be placed on Georgia’s presidential ballots.
Rep. Saira Draper, D-Atlanta, called Senate Bill 189 a continuation of a slate of election rules that state lawmakers have instituted over the past few years to dissuade voters and make the election process tougher. She was particularly appalled by the bill’s presidential candidate qualification provision, which will take effect in July.
“That’s terrible,” Draper, former voter protection director for the state Democratic Party, told State Affairs. “This 11th-hour inclusion is deeply cynical in a presidential year where Republicans are aware there’s multiple Democratic presidential nominees but only one Republican nominee.”
SB 189 will further overwhelm already-burdened election workers who are required to deal with voter eligibility challenges immediately upon receiving the inquiry, she said.
“Instead of doing anything to help them, we have now made their job harder with the passing of SB 189,” Draper said.
Sen. Matt Brass, R-Newnan, dismissed claims that the bill is voter suppression legislation, saying those critics have “zero credibility.”
“Those same critics said the same thing about [SB] 202 [another omnibus election bill that became Georgia law in 2021], and then we had record [voter] turnout,” Brass told State Affairs.
As for overwhelming election workers?
“Even if it does cause extra work, for us to think that that extra work is not worth a secure election is just, in my opinion, a poor way of thinking. Both sides want secure elections — there’s no question about it,” Brass said. “We want to make sure that people can trust that what they cast is the vote they’re going to receive. And anybody who doesn’t want that needs to go to a different country.”
The legislation, which now goes to Gov. Kemp for consideration, includes provisions to remove the secretary of state from the state election board, let any political party that qualifies for the presidential election in at least 20 states or territories be placed on Georgia’s presidential ballot, and make it easier for counties to fill vacancies when an elected official prematurely leaves office. The bill also calls for all advance and absentee ballots to be counted within an hour of the polls closing, changes ballot design and creates voting changes for the homeless.
“Access to the ballot is at the heart of our democracy,” Andrea Young, executive director of the ACLU of Georgia, said in a statement shortly after the bill passed. “This election ‘Frankenbill’ violates the National Voter Registration Act. We are committed to protecting Georgia voters. If the governor signs this bill, we will see him in court.”
Bills that didn’t cross the finish line
While some lawmakers are still reveling — or reeling— over significant legislation that passed on Sine Die, here are some bills that raised a lot of hopes and fears but didn’t make it in the end:
Lawmakers worked for months on legislation to review and possibly roll back the state’s film tax credit, which offers over $1 billion in tax rebates to production companies each year. The Senate settled on a bill that would require movie producers to film in more Georgia locations, use more local crew and invest more in local studios to earn the credit. But on the last day of session, the film bill was rolled into Senate Bill 349, which also contains tax credit measures for interactive gaming and affordable housing.
The Senate didn’t go for last-minute changes made by the House, much to the relief of housing advocates, who said the Senate’s amended version of the bill would have drastically reduced the state low-income housing credit by 50%, making many affordable housing projects impossible to finance.
Other bills that failed:
- Despite the Senate passing an online sports betting bill, a bill that would have approved a constitutional amendment allowing for a referendum to let voters decide the issue in the November election never left the House Rules Committee on Sine Die. Another bill, SB 386, which spelled out how gambling operations would work and where the proceeds would go, also died.
- Also, the House never took up two bills — HB 1170 and HB 1104 — that critics say were harmful to transgender children by banning puberty blockers and preventing transgender students from playing on sports teams or using restrooms of the gender with which they identify.
- A bill that would have had Georgia libraries cut ties with the American Library Association — which provides various resources and services nationwide, including training for librarians — due to its controversial president, also died.
- Environmentalists and other groups pushed heavily this legislative session for stronger protections regarding the Okefenokee Swamp. But lawmakers ended the 2024 session without dealing with the issue. A bill that would have temporarily stopped the issuance of permits for new mines near the refuge never made it to the Senate floor for a vote on Thursday, the final day of the session.
Have questions or comments? Contact Jill Jordan Sieder on X @journalistajill or at [email protected] and Tammy Joyner on X @lvjoyner or at [email protected].
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New middle Georgia House district up for grabs due to influential incumbent’s departure
The Gist
For the first time in over a decade, voters in parts of middle Georgia’s Bibb and Houston counties will vote for a new state House representative.
House District 143 is a newly redrawn district that now extends from Macon to Warner Robins. That redistricting prompted the departure of longtime incumbent Rep. James Beverly, D-Macon. His term ends in January.
Democrat Anissa Jones and Republican Barbara Boyer are vying for Beverly’s seat. Both are uncontested in the primary.
The two appear on the May 21 primary ballots, but the primary is, in effect, a dress rehearsal for the Nov. 5 general election because neither has a primary opponent.
Jones is a chiropractor who has held numerous seats on civic and local government boards. Boyer is a retired attorney who now runs an antique shop. Georgia is an open primary state, meaning voters can choose the party ballot they wish to vote for.
What’s Happening
House Minority Leader Beverly announced in March he would not seek re-election, in part, because his district had been redrawn. A federal judge ordered state lawmakers to redo their electoral maps because they diluted Black voting power.
Before the remapping, House District 143 was largely Democrat, majority Black and consisted primarily of Macon County. The redrawn district now includes parts of Macon and extends 20 miles south to Warner Robins and remains majority Black.
Boyer, a political newcomer, said Republicans asked her to run because of her legal background. She sees the redistricting as good for middle Georgia.
“Macon and Warner Robins have always sort of been merged together in a lot of ways, and I just don’t see there’s a problem with it.”
The new House district, for example, now includes parts of nearby Houston County, which has “a pretty good school system,” Boyer said.
“I’m interested in how they run their school system compared to how Bibb County runs theirs,” she added. “Our [Macon-Bibb] district really needs a lot of help with their school system.”
If elected, Boyer said she would work to improve education, curb crime and bring more businesses to middle Georgia.
“I think I cross party lines pretty good,” she said. “I have a lot of Democratic friends and a very diverse group of friends. So I think I have a better chance of getting some Democrat and independent votes.”
Jones is a Macon native. She is the former vice chair of the Macon Water Authority Board, an alum of Leadership Macon and a past president of the Main Street Macon Board.
Jones did not return calls from State Affairs for comment.. Her top issues include public safety, economic development and more investment in infrastructure, according to her website.
Why It Matters
The winner of House District 143 will fill a vital seat that Beverly has held since 2011. He often advocated for legislation addressing health inequities, including a last-minute proposal by state Democratic leaders to expand Medicaid.
The Peach Care Plus Act would have let the state get a federal waiver to buy private health insurance for people who make around $20,000 a year. The measure failed. Beverly, a Macon optometrist, also pushed for legislation that would reduce maternal mortality among Black women.
He also led the Democrats’ effort to pass the Safe at Home Act, a bipartisan bill to protect tenants’ rights. The bipartisan bill requires rental properties to be “fit for human habitation.” Landlords must give three days’ notice and can’t shut off cooling before an eviction. Gov. Brian Kemp signed the bill into law in April.
Beverly said his decision to leave was also based on the likelihood that Democrats will not win a majority in the 180-member House.
In addition to Beverly’s departure as House minority leader, the Senate also will lose its minority leader, Sen. Gloria Butler, D-Stone Mountain. She has served since 1999. The two are among 16 legislators who are retiring. Most of the 236-member Georgia General Assembly will be running for office, many unopposed.
What’s Next?
Early voters casting ballots in person have until Friday at 5 p.m. Poll officials, however, have the discretion to keep the polls open until 7 p.m., a Georgia Secretary of State official said. Polls will reopen Tuesday, primary election day, from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Residents voting in Tuesday’s primary can check their precinct location here.
Boyer and Jones will face each other in the Nov. 5 general election. The winner will succeed Beverly, who will leave office in January.
Meet the House District 143 primary candidates
Barbara Boyer
Age: 68
Residence: Macon
Occupation: Retired attorney who now owns an antique store in Macon. “I love to stay busy.”
Party affiliation: Republican
Top issues: Improving education, attracting more businesses and addressing public safety, especially encroaching crime.
Campaign cash on hand: $600 as of May 7
Family: She and husband Wesley, a bankruptcy attorney, have a daughter and granddaughter
Dr. Anissa Jones
Residence: Macon
Occupation: Chiropractor
Party affiliation: Democrat
Top issues: Public safety, economic development, more investment infrastructure.
Campaign cash on hand: $30,679.92 as of May 6
Have questions, comments or tips? Contact Tammy Joyner on X @lvjoyner or at [email protected].
All you need to know heading into the May 21 primary
Gist
Georgia’s primary is only days away, and there’s a lot to unpack.
The May 21 primary will be the first time some Georgians will be voting in new districts for state and congressional candidates. They’ll also be voting in local races for sheriff, judges, school board or county commission members. Primary winners who have challengers will go on to compete in the Nov. 5 general election. Georgia is an open primary state, meaning voters can choose the party ballot they wish to vote for.
This year, Georgians who voted by absentee ballot in the primary could face challenges due to mail delivery delays.
What’s Happening
North Georgia and metro Atlanta are seeing significant mail delivery delays. The holdup, according to media reports, appears to be at the United States Postal Services’ new Regional Processing and Distribution Center in Palmetto. The problem has led to dangerous situations in which people are not getting critical medication.
Georgia’s U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff recently grilled USPS Postmaster General Louis DeJoy on the delays. Ossoff told DeJoy during an April 16 hearing that on-time delivery rates were abysmal. He said 66% of outbound first-class mail had been delivered on time while 36% of inbound mail had been delivered on time in the past three months.
DeJoy blamed the problem on the difficulty in condensing operations at the facility.
With the approaching primary, state lawmakers are concerned mail delays could disrupt the election process.
Mike Hassinger, a spokesman for the Secretary of State, told State Affairs that Georgia voters are ready.
“Georgia voters are already registered,” he said. “They know how they like to vote. More than half of them vote early. About 5% vote absentee by mail, just in general, and then the rest are voting on election day. So we’ve been able to set up systems that are familiar with Georgia voters so that the percentage who might be worried about their absentee-by-mail ballots are relatively small.”
Why It Matters
Georgia emerged as one of the country’s most important political battleground states during the 2020 election. The Peach State will once again play a key role in deciding who wins the 2024 presidential election in November.
In the May 21 primary, Georgia voters will whittle down their choices for whom they’ll send to Congress and to the state capitol next year.
Under a federal court-approved redistricting process last year, Georgia now has new congressional and state district electoral maps. Those maps created one majority Black seat in the U.S. House of Representatives, five new majority-Black districts in the state House and two in the state Senate.
The redistricting resulted in new seats, intriguing matchups and former politicians returning to the fray. You can see the newly drawn maps here.
What’s Next?
Here’s what you need to know to ensure a smooth voting process:
To vote early.
Early voting is April 29 to May 17. Find your polling place here.
To vote absentee.
Here’s what you can do to avoid problems if you vote absentee:
- Get your absentee ballot application done early. You can request an absentee ballot here. (The registration deadline for the May 21 primary was April 22.)
- Track your application through Georgia BallotTrax. You must have a valid absentee request on file with your county board of elections to see your absentee ballot status in Georgia BallottTrax.
- If you’ve been having mail delays, place your completed absentee ballot in an official drop box during advanced voting instead of using the United States Postal Service. Check your county voter registration and election office for drop box locations. And, yes, your absentee ballot counts. It is counted in the final tally, not just close races.
- If you change your mind about voting absentee and decide to vote in person, take your absentee ballot to your local election office, where workers will void it.
- If you need to contact your county election office, find that information here.
Update: This story has been updated with the mail-in ballot registration deadline for the May 21 primary.
Have questions, comments or tips? Contact Tammy Joyner on X @lvjoyner or at [email protected].
And subscribe to State Affairs so you do not miss any news you need to know.
Education activist Beth Majeroni challenges state Sen. Ben Watson in GOP primary
The Gist In a rare primary challenge, incumbent Republican Sen. Ben Watson faces conservative education activist Beth Majeroni in the state Senate District 1 race in the Savannah area. Watson has run unopposed or handily defeated Democratic challengers in seven previous general elections and hasn’t faced a Republican challenger since 2010, when he won 65% …
Senate District 53 incumbent Colton Moore draws criticism, challengers in his re-election bid
Senate District 53 is in the far northwest corner of Georgia, home of Lookout Mountain, Civil War reenactments and conservative firebrand U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene. It’s a mostly white and Republican working-class pocket of the state where some people identify more Tennessean than Georgian.
Like Taylor Greene, state Sen. Colton Moore gained national attention and made a name for himself in the district through the same type of incendiary politics.
Moore’s antics have drawn Republican challenger Angela Pence for the May 21 primary election. Democrat Bart Bryant will be on the primary ballot next week and will face the Republican primary winner in November’s general election.
Pence, in March, told State Affairs: “While Moore grandstands for retweets and shares, real crises in his district, like toxic water contamination in our schools and skyrocketing property taxes — due to an outdated education funding formula — have gone unaddressed.”
Moore’s predecessor, Jeff Mullis, is supporting Pence.
“He doesn’t represent his district very well,” Jeff Mullis, who represented Senate District 53 for 22 years before retiring in 2022, told State Affairs. “He has been in the House for two years and now in the Senate, and he has never passed a bill of any kind that is his. He can’t influence a bill. He can’t even pass gas.”
The Senate Republican Caucus kicked Moore out last September after he launched verbal attacks against fellow Republicans for refusing to go along with him in his call for a special session to take action against Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis.
Willis is prosecuting former President Donald Trump for election interference. Moore predicted a civil war if Trump doesn’t win in November.
Then, in March, the state House of Representatives banned Moore from the chamber after a tirade against the late Speaker of the House David Ralston.
Moore and Ralston crossed swords numerous times during Moore’s time in the House, where in 2018 he became the youngest elected official in Georgia history at 24, representing District 1. He was elected to the Senate in 2022.
Moore repeatedly voted against dozens of key bills in this year’s session, including ones involving child trafficking and law enforcement. He was the only senator to vote no on the state’s fiscal year 2025 budget, which included tax cuts.
“He’s refused to help his local communities, cities and counties when they’ve had a request,” Mullis said. “He’s stopped grants for the area because of his actions.”
State Affairs repeatedly tried unsuccessfully to reach Moore for a response and to learn of his legislative priorities if he were to win a second term in the Senate. He said in March that criminal justice reform was a priority.
Moore has said previously that he and his staff spend hours, sometimes days, reviewing legislation coming up for votes. He said he follows “a strict standard of principles.”
“When it comes to a piece of legislation, and in my opinion, any piece of legislation that misuses taxpayer money, it’s not the proper role of government. I typically vote against that,” Moore told State Affairs in March. “Bills that subdue individuals’ freedoms that shouldn’t be subdued, legislation that I think grants government power that it shouldn’t have, anything like that.”
Moore’s politics have been heavily influenced by the Georgia Freedom Caucus, for which he is the vice chair. It favors social conservatism and small government and opposes immigration reform.
Moore’s challengers say his behavior is keeping things from getting done in their district, which includes Chattooga, Dade, Walker and Catoosa counties. The district also includes northwest Floyd County and the unincorporated Floyd County community of Armuchee.
Democratic challenger Bart Bryant said Moore’s Ralston rant prompted him to run against the incumbent. Bryant planned to run against Taylor Greene but ceded the race to fellow Democrat Shawn Harris, a retired Army brigadier general.
“Mr. Colton Moore has zero respect,” said Bryant, an electrician living in Menlo. “That doesn’t represent me. We need to respect one another. I’m running on respect to start with.”
Bryant said issues in the district are going unaddressed, such as mental health and overcrowded jails. As a former sheriff’s deputy, he’d work to get better pay for law enforcement personnel.
Pence also did not respond to State Affairs for comment but in the March interview zeroed in on Moore’s performative representation.
“The people don’t need any more unhinged sideshows — they need someone who will roll up their sleeves, put in the real work and score concrete wins that positively impact their daily lives,” she said.
Pence is a former Libertarian who tried unsuccessfully to get on the Georgia ballot to run against Taylor Greene in 2022. The small-business owner believes in limited government as well as economic and individual freedom. She is a lifelong North Georgia mountain resident who homeschools her children.
Incumbent Colton Moore
Age: 30
Residence: Trenton
Occupation: auctioneer and truck driver
Party affiliation: Republican
Key platform issues: Criminal justice reform
Previous public service experience: Georgia House of Representatives from 2019 – 2021; Georgia Senate, January 2023-present.
Campaign cash on hand: $24,410.33**
Family: Information not available
**Data as of May 8. Information is from the Georgia Campaign Finance Commission
challenger angela pence
Age: Early 30s
Residence: Chickamauga
Occupation: Small-business owner
Party affiliation: Republican
Why I’m running: “I’m running to be the voice for ordinary citizens who want real results,” she told The Mountain-Valley Independent.
Key platform issues: She is anti-abortion.. She is against government funding of gender-affirming care for minors. She is an advocate for “true school choice” and will work to “remove government tape and ridiculous requirements so that we can get the power back into the hands of the educators.”
What is your advantage over the other candidates?: She plans to bring principled, effective leadership to a district that has gone unheard.
Previous public or community service experience: She has coached youth sports and is active in the local chamber of commerce as well as various civic and grassroots initiatives.
Campaign cash on hand: $1,701.65***
Family: Military wife and mother who homeschools her nine children.
***Data as of May 7. Information is from the Georgia Campaign Finance Commission
Challenger Bart Alexander Bryant
Age: 58
Residence: Menlo
Occupation: Electrician
Party affiliation: Democrat
Why I’m running: He says the incumbent’s behavior in the Legislature is disrespectful.
Key platform issues: Mental health issues: They’re “a problem statewide.” Second Amendment: “If you haven’t committed crimes and you want to own a firearm, you can own it.” Abortion rights: “I hate abortion but there’s a place for it in our society.” Better pay for law enforcement.
What is your advantage over the other candidates?: “I’ve worked a real job all my life. I kind of have my finger on the pulse of what the public talks about. [Being a senator is] not a real hard job. All you have to do is listen and vote appropriately. I’ll be able to communicate across the [political] aisle.”
Previous public or community service experience: He has been a longtime member of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, where he served as a shop steward, a liaison between union leaders and members. He is a former Chattooga County deputy sheriff. “Being a peace officer, you have to make some hard decisions.”
Campaign cash on hand: Bryant said he is financing his campaign with about $500 of his own money.
Family: Married to wife April for 36 years.
Have questions? Contact Tammy Joyner on X @lvjoyner or at [email protected].