by Jill Nolin and Ross Williams, Georgia Recorder March 31, 2025
A bill originally designed to encourage safe gun storage now includes a controversial tax break on firearm purchases, and a proposed database that was seen as the central element of a school safety bill has been dropped in response to privacy concerns.
The compromises were forged as lawmakers head into the final week of the 2025 legislative session – the first since a 14-year-old accused gunman killed two other students and two teachers at Apalachee High School in September.
Lawmakers have until this Friday to send bills to the governor, who then has 40 days to decide whether to sign them into law.
Safe storage incentive spliced with sales tax holiday for guns, accessories
A House bill that would have created a $300 income tax break for firearm safes and other safe storage devices now only applies to gun safety training.
And the bill – which had passed overwhelmingly in the House and with bipartisan support – has been spliced together with a Senate bill creating a sales tax holiday in October for the purchase of firearms, ammunition and other accessories, like scopes and magazines – as well as gun safes.
The Senate Finance Committee advanced the measure Friday.
Rep. Mark Newton (right), an Augusta Republican, and Dallas Republican Sen. Jason Anavitarte talk about a compromise they struck over rival proposals to offer tax breaks for gun safes and firearms. The Senate Finance Committee advanced the bill over the objection of some Democrats. Jill Nolin/Georgia Recorder
A similar version of the Senate bill, sponsored by Dallas Republican Sen. Jason Anavitarte, passed in the Senate this session with a party-line vote. The proposal originally called for an 11-day tax holiday, but it has been shrunk to a four-day window under the compromise.
The House proposal stalled largely over concerns among Second Amendment advocates that the tax incentive would create a registry or a record of who benefited from it.
Rep. Mark Newton, an Augusta Republican who is the bill’s sponsor, said Friday that the proposal is a way to promote gun safety training in a “Second Amendment-friendly way” while also saving taxpayers money.
Democrats immediately objected.
“We took a responsible gun ownership bill and turned it into a gun proliferation bill,” Sen. Jason Esteves, an Atlanta Democrat, said after the committee vote Friday.
Republicans dismissed those concerns.
“Isn’t true if you’re going to buy a safe that you need to buy a gun to put in it,” said Sen. Steve Gooch, a Dahlonega Republican who serves as Senate majority leader.
Not all Democrats opposed the bill, though. Sen. Michael “Doc” Rhett, a Marietta Democrat, voted for it because he said sees it as “a start.”
“Anything that will promote gun safety is a good start,” Rhett said.
House Speaker Jon Burns, a Newington Republican, told reporters Friday that he still thought “the larger picture is being accomplished, and that’s to ensure that we have gun storage, gun safety devices that are available to Georgians.”
“I just want to see us get something done,” Burns said.
Gun safety advocates who spoke at an already-planned press conference at the state Capitol Friday blasted the compromise. Rep. Michelle Au, a Johns Creek Democrat who has pushed for gun storage requirements, said HB 79 has been “essentially completely neutered.”
“I’m not exactly sure what this bill aims to do at this point,” Au said Friday. “I don’t know if they think that the activists who are here and the students and the families that are listening are stupid enough to think that this is action on gun safety.”
Heather Hallett, the founder and director of Georgia Majority for Gun Safety, said the House measure went from a promotion of safe storage to “a tax bill related to guns and related gun products.”
“We have a problem with safe storage (in Georgia) and the fact that our Legislature, after the worst school shooting in Georgia’s history, cannot unequivocally take up some legislation to say Georgians should adopt safe storage practices – that’s a real statement of where our Legislature stands on gun safety,” Hallett said.
House Republicans have also revived a controversial Senate proposal that targets a Savannah ordinance penalizing gun owners who leave their firearms in unlocked vehicles. If passed, someone facing a fine would be able to sue the city for as much as $25,000 in damages. That measure was added to Senate Bill 204 last week.
Database cut from high-priority school safety bill
Burns’ signature school safety bill passed unanimously through a Senate committee Thursday, but with some key elements stripped out.
One of the most controversial aspects of House Bill 268 was the creation of a statewide database of information on students who might pose a threat to school safety. That provision was removed after an outcry from parents and child advocates who worried that youthful mistakes or behaviors caused by disabilities could follow a student and harm their future opportunities.
Sen. Bill Cowsert. Ross Williams/Georgia Recorder
“An amazing number of parents, particularly of teenage boys, who, by definition, they are immature and compulsive and do dumb things were fearful that their child might end up having a stigma attached to them of having a record that would go with them permanently about some stupid comment, threat, or behavior they had done as a teenager when, in fact, they were really not criminal, never engaged in criminal behavior, just immature behavior,” said Athens Republican Sen. Bill Cowsert, who is sponsoring the bill in the Senate.
The bill, which is 57 pages long, still touches myriad aspects of school safety. It would require public schools to implement a panic button system and share data with local law enforcement including school maps.
It would also require schools to more quickly share data when a student transfers, a response to the Apalachee shooting in which the accused gunman had allegedly been interviewed by the FBI in connection with shooting threats at a different school in another district more than a year before the attack.
“You can see this is an extraordinarily comprehensive approach to addressing the known problems we have with school violence,” Cowsert said Thursday to his Senate colleagues. “And hopefully, with God’s help, we won’t have another Apalachee in this state.”
The bill will have to go back to both the House and Senate by April 4 if it is to become law this year.
Speaking to reporters on Friday, Burns was comfortable with the bill’s chances and about the database being removed from the bill.
“This is a great process we have up here,” he said. “I think we all come together, we deal with the facts, sometimes we have a little different viewpoints, and final passage of anything is never the final statement on it. So, we look forward to working with the Senate next week, and I believe they’ll get school safety across the finish line, and I know that it will offer protections for our students in Georgia for a safe learning place.”
Though the measure passed the Senate committee unanimously, some still hope to see the bill changed before it heads to the chambers.
Rep. Michelle Au speaks at a press conference Friday. Ross Williams/Georgia Recorder
Some child advocates say parts of the bill calling for trial as an adult for teenagers charged with making terroristic threats against a school could sweep children, especially children of color, into the justice system for youthful behavior.
Au said she is grateful that Burns is prioritizing safety in schools, but she’s disappointed the bill makes no mention of firearms despite concerns about the danger of shootings.
“When we talked about the cell phone bans in schools, which was presented as a bill to increase student performance and concentration and reduce distractions in schools, most of the objections I heard about that bill reverted back to the argument about school safety and how are kids going to call us if there’s a school shooting?” she said.
Au was referring to House Bill 340, a ban on personal devices for students through middle school, which passed both chambers and is awaiting Gov. Brian Kemp’s signature. Several lawmakers indicated that they agree with the principle of removing cell phones in schools to increase student focus but said the idea of a child not being able to call 911 or text loved ones in case of an emergency gave them pause.
“Everyone’s thinking about it,” Au said. “I it’s a really conspicuous omission therefore to have any legislative push, an omnibus bill that has many different aspects to it addressing school safety, but to leave out the most obvious piece of it that any parent or any student will tell you is top of mind.”
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www.thecentersquare.com – By Alan Wooten | The Center Square – (The Center Square – ) 2025-04-23 13:33:00
(The Center Square) – U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock says ethics questions about his housing and financial disclosures already have been answered.
A conservative nonprofit in Washington is asking the U.S. Senate Select Committee on Ethics for an investigation. The Foundation for Accountability and Civic Trust says information on his housing provided by Atlanta’s Ebenezer Baptist Church, where he’s been senior pastor since 2005, hasn’t been disclosed and his outside earned income is in question.
In an email to The Center Square, a statement from Warnock’s office says, “Reverend Warnock sought and received explicit approval from the bipartisan Senate Ethics Committee on this matter. The ministry-owned housing is not income. Rather, it is a customary benefit provided to the senator because of his ongoing position as senior pastor of Ebenezer Baptist Church, a position he has held for the past 20 years.”
The nonprofit said before moving into a $989,000 luxury home in Georgia provided by the church, he was receiving $7,400 in monthly housing allowance. It also said he sold his previous home to buy one in the Washington area.
Kendra Arnold, executive director of the Foundation for Accountability and Civic Trust, said she is hoping the committee will act promptly on the request.
“There are tax laws and ethics rules which allow for a senator to accept reasonable lodging or housing, but they are only applicable in a narrow set of circumstances – they are not an open-ended loophole that can be abused,” Arnold said in a statement. “Among other factors, it’s critical that the value of the housing provided be commensurate to the work done – and then the value be disclosed. It’s difficult to fathom any citizen could look at this situation (a U.S. Senator that is a part-time employee of an organization, which pays him a salary and then happens to buy him a million-dollar house to live in for free after he was elected to Congress) and not think something potentially wrong is afoot.”
www.thecentersquare.com – By Kim Jarrett | The Center Square – (The Center Square – ) 2025-04-22 12:06:00
(The Center Square) – An ethics organization is accusing Georgia Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock of accepting housing from his church and not including it on financial disclosures.
The Foundation for Accountability and Civic Trust is asking the U.S. Senate Select Committee on Ethics for an investigation, according to a letter on the organization’s website.
The complaint says Warnock moved into a $989,000 luxury home in Georgia provided to him by Atlanta’s Ebenezer Baptist Church, where the senator is pastor. Before Warnock moved into the residence, he was receiving a $7,400 monthly housing allowance from the church.
“Since moving into the luxury home, Sen. Warnock has not included any information about being provided housing on his financial disclosures,” the complaint said. “In addition to the undisclosed housing, he has reported receiving an annual income from the church just under the maximum outside earned income limit, for instance $31,815.12 in 2023.”
Warnock sold his former Georgia residence and purchased a home in Washington, the organization said.
Kendra Arnold, executive director of the Foundation for Accountability and Civic Trust, said she is hoping the committee will act promptly on the request.
“There are tax laws and ethics rules which allow for a senator to accept reasonable lodging or housing, but they are only applicable in a narrow set of circumstances – they are not an open-ended loophole that can be abused,” Arnold said in a statement. “Among other factors, it’s critical that the value of the housing provided be commensurate to the work done – and then the value be disclosed. It’s difficult to fathom any citizen could look at this situation (a U.S. Senator that is a part-time employee of an organization, which pays him a salary and then happens to buy him a million-dollar house to live in for free after he was elected to Congress) and not think something potentially wrong is afoot.”
The Center Square was unsuccessful getting comment from Warnock through his office prior to publication.
The 2026 race for Georgia governor is shaping up with candidates from both parties now entering the race.
Gov. Brian Kemp cannot run for a third term, leaving the keys to the governor’s mansion up for grabs.
Meet the declared candidates
Sen. Jason Esteves. Ross Williams/Georgia Recorder
Democratic Atlanta Sen. Jason Esteves announced his candidacy Monday with an introduction video highlighting his experience, including as a former teacher and chair of the Atlanta Public Schools Board of Education. In the video, titled “Underdog,” Esteves took aim at what he characterized as radical Republicans in the state government following the lead of President Donald Trump.
“I’ve had enough of families working harder than ever but still struggling and our kids falling behind instead of getting ahead,” Esteves said in his announcement video. “Yet extreme politicians in Georgia push Trump’s reckless agenda, rig the system for special interests and stick us with the bill.”
As Esteves read these lines, the screen flashed with images of Trump, Kemp, Lt. Gov. Burt Jones and Esteves’ only announced Republican rival, Attorney General Chris Carr, who became the first to throw his hat in the ring in November.
Attorney General Chris Carr speaks at the 2025 Georgia Faith and Freedom Luncheon in Atlanta. Ross Williams/Georgia Recorder
Carr’s campaign has highlighted his experience in law enforcement, especially operations targeting immigrants, gang members and human traffickers.
“For decades, we’ve been the best place to live, work, raise a family and build a business,” Carr said in his introductory video, titled “Keep Georgia Strong.” “That hasn’t happened by chance. It’s happened because we’ve had leaders who are willing to make tough decisions, put Georgians first and stood strong in the face of adversity. Progressive activists are trying to radically transform our values and our economy. As your attorney general, I’ve made it my mission to keep Georgia safe.”
Carr has been a vocal supporter of Trump’s second-term agenda, but their relationship hasn’t always been chummy. In 2022, Trump called Carr “a disaster every step of the way” and backed an unsuccessful primary challenge against him after Carr declined to investigate Trump’s baseless allegations of widespread voter fraud in Georgia’s 2020 election.
Meet the maybe candidates
Lt. Gov. Jones, a Republican who is widely considered likely to enter the governor’s race, is considered a more steadfast Trump ally – Jones was one of Georgia’s so-called fake electors, who met at the state Capitol in 2020 to cast votes for Trump even after his loss to Joe Biden was officially certified.
President Donald Trump and Lt. Gov. Burt Jones at a rally in Zebulon in 2024. Ross Williams/Georgia Recorder
Jones’ closeness to the president could benefit him in a Republican primary, but it’s less clear whether his tightness with Trump will help or hurt in a general race. How Trump shapes the race will likely depend on how Georgians’ view the chief executive during the buildup to next year’s election season.
“If the economy goes bad, if inflation is up, if unemployment is up, then some of the luster may be taken off of Trump,” said University of Georgia political science professor Charles Bullock. “Now, for the MAGA folks, it probably doesn’t matter, but for the critical element of independents and, in the general election, of white, college-educated voters, if Trump’s attractiveness has been substantially reduced, then that certainly works for the advantage of Democrats.”
Republican Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, another rumored but unconfirmed candidate, could also make a reasonable play as someone Trump-skeptical conservatives and independents could back.
Raffensperger was on the other end of the now-infamous 2021 phone call in which Trump called on him to “find” enough votes to overturn Georgia’s 2020 election. Raffensperger declined, earning the ire of Trump and many of his supporters.
Firebrand conservative Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene is another member of the maybe column – she told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s “Politically Georgia” podcast back in February that she was open to either a run for the governorship or for Democratic U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff’s seat, which is also on the ballot in 2026.
Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene. Ross Williams/Georgia Recorder
On the Democratic side, one much-speculated candidate seems less likely to have her eyes on Kemp’s job than she did last year.
Democratic Congresswoman Lucy McBath hasn’t ruled out a run entirely, but she announced late last month that she was suspending her bid as she focuses on the health of her husband, who recently underwent surgery for cancer.
Former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, who recently served as an advisor to former President Joe Biden, told 11Alive News early this month that she plans to run for governor.
Former DeKalb County CEO Michael Thurmond has not ruled out a run – and neither has former state House Minority Leader Stacey Abrams, who became a household name after narrowly losing to Kemp in 2018 and again by a wider margin in 2022.
A crowded Democratic primary could be just the thing to dash the Dems’ dreams, Bullock said, if the intra-party attacks get too intense.
“If they get into it, then a lot of money will be spent within the primary, and sooner or later, even though they may start out simply singing their own praises, there would be a tendency to go negative, especially if at least three serious candidates get into it so you have a run-off. That’s when attacks really become strong.”
The elephant in the room
Gov. Brian Kemp. Ross Williams/Georgia Recorder
Kemp is reportedly considering a run at Ossoff’s seat.
Many Republicans would be thrilled to see Kemp’s name on the ballot next to Ossoff’s – Kemp enjoys relatively high approval ratings and has shown he can win statewide races in campaigns for governor and secretary of state.
But Kemp – whose name has also been floated as a potential presidential candidate in the future – may see moving to the Senate as a downgrade, Bullock said.
As governor, Kemp has sway over all aspects of state government, but he would be one of 100 in the Senate, and as a newly elected senator, he’d be too low on the seniority rankings to chair any important committees.
“He’s going to be far less visible in that role, the scope of his influence is going to be tiny compared to what he has now,” Bullock said. “He’s not going to be living in a mansion. He’s going to be living probably in an apartment, maybe in the Watergate building. He’s not going to have an SUV and a state patrolman to drive him around.”
Sen. Jon Ossoff. Ross Williams/Georgia Recorder
Once Kemp makes a decision, expect plenty of dominoes to fall afterwards.
Georgia Fire and Insurance Commissioner John King has said he would consider a run for Senate if Kemp does not. Agriculture Commissioner Tyler Harper has also publicly teased the idea of running.
“Conceivably, virtually the entire hierarchy of statewide Republican officials could give up their current positions, which would be then just wildness in terms of primaries, probably on both sides, of candidates running for each of those statewide offices,” Bullock said. “You may well clear out a large share of the state Senate and some of the state House. It may be if you show up January of 2027 at the Capitol, you may not recognize anybody because they’ve all run for something, cleared out the state Legislature. So this could be an extraordinary election cycle in Georgia.”
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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.
Note: The following A.I. based commentary is not part of the original article, reproduced above, but is offered in the hopes that it will promote greater media literacy and critical thinking, by making any potential bias more visible to the reader –Staff Editor.
Political Bias Assessment: Center-Left
The content primarily focuses on the upcoming gubernatorial race in Georgia, presenting information about various candidates from both major political parties. It features a Democratic candidate, Sen. Jason Esteves, who is characterized as progressive, particularly in his criticism of Republican leaders and their alignment with Trump’s agenda. This framing suggests a critical stance towards the conservative party and its policies. Additionally, the article highlights the controversy surrounding Republican candidates and their affiliations with Trump, which may imply a negative viewpoint of these figures.
While the piece includes perspectives from both Democrats and Republicans, the emphasis on the Democrats’ campaign strategies and criticisms of Republicans gives it a Center-Left political bias. Overall, the content leans toward a more critical view of conservative politics while presenting Democratic candidates in a favorable light.
