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Political hardball got Georgia tort damage limits passed. Now comes the collateral damage.

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5 days ago

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georgiarecorder.com – Maya Homan – 2025-03-26 00:00:00

by Maya Homan, Georgia Recorder
March 26, 2025

Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp’s big 2025 legislative push to pass lawsuit damage limits is ready for his victory lap, but as the dust settles in the wake of Thursday’s razor-close House vote on Senate Bill 68, some legislators’ nerves are still frayed and one longtime lawmaker lost his job over his vote. 

Lawmakers in both parties are beginning to feel the fallout of their votes on the pivotal bill aimed at overhauling Georgia’s civil litigation system as party leaders and powerful business interests take note of who toed the party line and who crossed it. In the House, where the bill passed along razor-thin margins, eight Republicans broke ranks to vote against the legislation and three Democrats joined the majority to secure the bill’s passage. In the final Senate vote, two Democrats crossed party lines to vote in support of the legislation, and one Republican opposed it.

State Rep. Vance Smith, a Pine Mountain Republican, was ousted from his position as CEO of the Harris County Chamber of Commerce during a Friday afternoon Zoom call. He tearfully recounted his dismissal during a speech in the House chamber Tuesday.

Though SB 68 successfully cleared both chambers, Kemp repeatedly twisted arms throughout the session to coerce lawmakers into passing the bill. At the start of the 2025 session, he had pledged to drag lawmakers back to Atlanta for a special session if “meaningful, impactful” changes were not made to the state’s civil justice system by the end of the regular session on April 4. A key lieutenant also threatened the governor would use his substantial campaign warchest to back primary challengers to any Republicans who opposed the bill, and ahead of the final Senate vote, Republicans briefly paused floor proceedings to assemble for a caucus meeting attended by Kemp.

Republicans in both chambers might have to wait until the 2026 election season to see if Kemp makes good on his promise.

Smith, whose west Georgia district spans parts of Harris, Muscogee and Troup counties, first joined the Georgia Legislature in 1993. He has long been a reliable member of the Republican caucus, making his vote on Thursday somewhat unexpected. In an emotional speech on the House floor Tuesday morning, Smith made veiled references to the fallout from his decision.

“A lot of things have transpired since last week when we left,” he said, thanking his family and members of the house for their support over the past few days. He also tearfully quoted the Bible verse Jeremiah 29:11, “‘for I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.’”

Though Smith expressed surprise over the Harris County Chamber of Commerce’s abrupt decision to fire him, he told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that he did not regret his vote. The Georgia Chamber of Commerce and local chambers formed a powerful alliance in the fight to get a bill passed intended to limit jury payouts for medical malpractice and negligent property owners.

House leaders also addressed the strong reactions to Thursday’s vote, with House Majority Caucus Whip James Burchett, a Waycross Republican who sponsored the bill in the House, urging Georgia residents to “hold legislators accountable for their votes under the Gold Dome at the ballot box – not by taking aim at their ability to support their families.”

“Numerous members have suffered threats to their livelihoods and independence because of their votes on Senate Bill 68,” Burchett said in a statement issued Tuesday afternoon. “These retaliations undermine the strengths of our citizen legislature, which depends on members voting their conscience after fully weighing the issues and determining what they think is best for their communities and our state.”

Democrats are also grappling with the aftermath of SB 68’s passage, with House minority leaders sharply criticizing the members of their caucus who broke ranks to vote for the legislation.

“We were sent here to make hard decisions, and hard decisions are hard because you have to look people in the eye that you disappoint,” said Rep. Stacey Evans, an Atlanta Democrat, shortly after the bill passed in the House. “Those victims won’t be here every day, but the chamber will be here. Insurance companies will be here, and I think too many of my colleagues were worried about walking down the hall and looking them in the eye and not worried about the people back home.”

Rep. Mack Jackson, a Sandersville Democrat who is Black with a history of splitting from his party on pivotal votes, criticized the House Democratic caucus in a speech on the House floor last Friday, comparing an unnamed Democratic colleague to segregation-era figures like Bull Connor and George Wallace. 

“I realized that somewhere in her subconscious mind, she thought that she had bought me and my freedom to choose,” he said, referencing a conversation in which the unnamed colleague brought up her contribution to his most recent re-election campaign. “I gave her her money back because I don’t want anyone to think that they own me and can talk down to me as if I’m a child.” 

He also described other conversations with fellow Democrats who expressed disappointment with his vote, and requested that their campaign contributions be refunded.

“I’ll refund everything, because I don’t ever want anybody to think that they own me,” he said.

Rep. Michelle Au, a Johns Creek Democrat and doctor who also voted in favor of the bill, took to social media to explain her decision, posting a two-page statement on the social media site X (formerly Twitter).

“It is by no means a perfect bill,” Au wrote. “There are elements I object to. But on balance I think it protects our fair, equal access for all to our justice system while hopefully addressing the ways our litigation environment has become untenable for many.”

The second part of Kemp’s tort package, Senate Bill 69 that would increase regulations around third-party lawsuit financing, passed the House Rules Subcommittee on Lawsuit Reform Tuesday evening. It is expected to come up for a vote on the House floor later this week.

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Georgia Recorder is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Georgia Recorder maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor John McCosh for questions: info@georgiarecorder.com.

The post Political hardball got Georgia tort damage limits passed. Now comes the collateral damage. appeared first on georgiarecorder.com

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Georgia road project forcing homeowners out | FOX 5 News

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20 hours ago

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March 29, 2025

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www.youtube.com – FOX 5 Atlanta – 2025-03-29 18:00:09

SUMMARY: Residents of Villa Rica, Georgia, are fighting a proposed road project that could force them from their homes. The Mirror Lake Connector project aims to extend the road through properties, connecting Douglas County to downtown, but many homeowners have lived there for decades and do not want to move. Despite ongoing protests and concerns about transparency, the city continues to push the project forward, citing regional growth. Some residents feel the city has not communicated effectively, and they plan to keep advocating against the displacement, with one individual expressing frustration over their veteran father’s uncertain future.

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A group of residents in Villa Rica could be forced to move as a proposed road project that would go right through their properties is allowed to proceed. It’s a fight that has been going on for years.

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Gold Dome nuggets: No raises for powers that be, Senator Treasurer, Dem disarray

Published

1 day ago

on

March 29, 2025

By

georgiarecorder.com – Ross Williams, Stanley Dunlap – 2025-03-29 11:11:00

by Ross Williams and Stanley Dunlap, Georgia Recorder
March 29, 2025

This story was updated at 5 p.m. on Saturday, March 29, 2025. 

Back by popular demand, it’s nuggets, tasty little tidbits of news from the Gold Dome. 

Lawmakers are getting ready for the last day of the 2025 legislative session on Friday, but they still drop some nuggets everywhere they go.

This week: Democratic discontent comes to the dome, a ride-or-die always Trumper gets rewarded with a new gig and some funny money, and state leaders try to decide whether to add more real money into their yearly salaries. 

Pay bump flop

House lawmakers quickly swatted down a last-minute Senate plan to give the governor and other statewide officials pay raises. 

The Senate had added the salary bumps Thursday to a bill adjusting the pay of judges at higher levels in Georgia. Under the plan, Gov. Brian Kemp would have been tied with New York Gov. Kathy Hochul for the highest earning governor in the country. 

Rep. Rob Leverett. Ross Williams/Georgia Recorder

“You may have seen a little something about the amendment in the news over the last 24 hours,” the bill’s original sponsor, Elberton Republican Rep. Rob Leverett, said to his colleagues Friday. 

“I think that is a discussion we as a body need to have at some point, but we shouldn’t have it as an amendment to a bill in the last two or three days of session,” Leverett said. “I believe it needs to be thought through a little more and it needs a little more study.”

Some senators also tried to increase lawmaker pay in another judicial pay bill focused on superior court judges.

Critics argued that the legislative pay amendment would sabotage a bill intended to create uniform statewide pay for Georgia Superior Court judges. The proposed pay raise amendment to House Bill 85 would have increased the salaries of lawmakers from $24,341 to about $55,000.

Sen. Randal Mangham, a Stone Mountain Democrat, argued it would put Georgia lawmakers in line with the national average of $44,320 in 2024, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

He referenced the limited funding he receives for his staff. 

“$7,000 for an entire year with my budget for expenses to run the people’s business. It’s a $40 billion enterprise,” Mangham said, referring to the state budget.

Sen. John Kennedy, a Macon Republican, urged senators prior to voting to consider how passing the amendment would come across to the taxpayers.

“Colleagues, are you willing to look at your constituents in the eye and tell them you need more of their tax dollars in your pocket and out of their pocket?” Kennedy said.

The debate ended with the legislative pay amendments failing 33 to 18 before the superior court legislation passed with nearly unanimous support.

Dems in disarray

In the wake of a bitter loss to President Donald Trump, Democrats across the country are trying to figure out where it all went wrong. 

A recent Politico analysis of a Quinnipiac poll found that for the first time in the poll’s history, a majority of Democrats view members of their party in Congress unfavorably. Just 40 percent of Democrats polled said the party is doing a good job, compared to 49 percent who said the opposite. 

A March NBC News poll found 65% of self-identified Democrats want the party to fight Trump rather than seek compromise, even if that leads to gridlock in Washington. Around this time in Trump’s first term, only 33% of Democrats felt that way, the pollster found.

That discontent could be springing forth at the state level as well. 

The Forsyth County Democrats released a statement castigating Democrats in Congress and the state Legislature for “voting like Republicans.”

“With democracy itself at stake – and with the public’s frustration with figures like Donald Trump and Elon Musk high – we cannot afford to hand political or legislative victories to Republicans or to validate their agenda while our constituents and values hang in the balance,” the statement reads. “Likewise, here in Georgia, amid widespread discontent with Governor Brian Kemp’s hard-right legislative push, it is imperative that Democrats stand together rather than bolster Kemp’s initiatives that harm the public interest.”

The statement lists three pieces of legislation where some Democrats broke rank – Senate Bill 68, Kemp’s priority lawsuit overhaul bill, supported by three Democrats; Senate Bill 144, liability protections for fertilizer and pesticide manufacturers with the support of nine Democrats and House Bill 267, which bans transgender girls from playing on girls’ school sports teams and got votes from three Dems. 

The local parties in Fulton and Gwinnett counties have also issued statements co-signing the message from Forsyth County.

Trump U.S. Treasurer Legislature’s newly popular kid

Sen. Brandon Beach, who was recently tapped as U.S. Treasurer, signs play money in the Georgia Capitol. Stanley Dunlap/Georgia Recorder

Republican Sen. Brandon Beach’s selection as President Donald Trump’s choice to become the next U.S. Treasurer has boosted his popularity.

Beach signed fake currency featuring the face of Senate Majority Leader Steve Gooch reading “In Goochie We Trust” that was passed around the Capitol last week. The 63-year-old Beach’s signature as U.S. treasurer could soon be emblazoned on the front of real legal tender in the future.   

The senator’s role in state government will end shortly after the Legislature gavels out on April 4 for the final day of the 2025 session.

Beach will act as a liaison between the Treasury Department and the Federal Reserve, as well as oversee the U.S. Mint and Fort Knox. The president is boosting a conspiracy theory these days that some of the gold is missing from Fort Knox and says he plans to go to Kentucky to see for himself if the country’s treasure is still secured. 

Inside the Senate chamber Wednesday, fellow Trump loyalist GOP Lt. Gov. Burt Jones celebrated Beach’s new job opportunity. 

Jones recalled that not long ago they were part of a small cadre of hardline Trump supporters in the Senate who were persona non grata, even among fellow Republicans.

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Georgia Recorder is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Georgia Recorder maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor John McCosh for questions: info@georgiarecorder.com.

The post Gold Dome nuggets: No raises for powers that be, Senator Treasurer, Dem disarray appeared first on georgiarecorder.com

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Budget cuts: Senior Citizens Inc. and other non-profits worry for the future

Published

2 days ago

on

March 28, 2025

By

www.wsav.com – Sarah Smith – 2025-03-28 18:32:00

SUMMARY: Federal budget cuts may impact non-profits providing meals to seniors in Savannah, as a proposal aims to dismantle the Administration for Community Living, which supports older adults and the disabled. Mayor Van Johnson urges lawmakers to reject the proposal and calls for community support for organizations like Senior Citizens Inc. (SCI). SCI’s Meals on Wheels program is vital for many seniors, offering daily meals. Representative Buddy Carter stated that changes at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services aim to improve efficiency but emphasized ongoing uncertainty. SCI is on track to deliver its seven millionth meal this year.

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The post Budget cuts: Senior Citizens Inc. and other non-profits worry for the future appeared first on www.wsav.com

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