Brian Kemp's aim to limit some large jury awards gets a $1 million boost

Today’s newsletter highlights:

Lawmakers celebrate former state Rep. Calvin Smyre.
Fani Willis has a problem with Fulton County’s budget.
Chris Carr seeks expansion of human trafficking prosecution unit.

As Gov. Brian Kemp prepares to unveil specifics of his long-promised plan to overhaul Georgia litigation rules, the Republican-backed effort to curb big jury awards and limit lawsuits is getting some timely backup.

A group called Protecting American Consumers Together said Wednesday it plans to spend more than $1 million to promote the legislative push, which Kemp and other Republicans often call “tort reform.” It’s part of the group’s $10 million nationwide initiative.

The cash infusion will pay for a round of TV and digital ads, starting with a 30-second spot that warns of “hidden costs” of the state’s civil justice system. The initiative has some big-name supporters, including Uber and Waffle House.

It’s one of several outside groups pushing similar messages ahead of Kemp’s plan to roll out his proposal on Thursday. Though the governor has warned lawmakers he’ll call a special session if they fail to pass the measure by April, he’s offered few details.

Credit: Jason Getz/AJC

Credit: Jason Getz/AJC

But a report issued last year by the state insurance department offers some clues. It recommends regulating third-party funding of litigation, caps on certain jury awards that exceed $10 million and limiting when people can sue businesses for some injuries that occur on their properties.

The battle doesn’t cut cleanly across party lines, as some Republicans worry vast changes could limit access to the court system. They’ll face intense pressure from Kemp and his allies who frame the debate as an economic imperative to keep Georgia competitive.

The Democratic Party of Georgia, meanwhile, is making clear its opposition to Kemp’s signature issue. The party issued a news release that said “juries made up of real people” should determine what Georgians are owed in a legal case.

“Not Brian Kemp, his enablers in the General Assembly, or the negligent corporations themselves,” said Dave Hoffman, the party’s spokesman.

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Credit: Miguel Martinez/AJC

GOOD MORNING! It’s the eighth day of Georgia’s legislative session. Lt. Gov. Burt Jones, House Speaker Jon Burns and state Sen. Brandon Beach, R-Alpharetta, are among those traveling to Washington today to witness President Donald Trump signing the Laken Riley Act into law.

Here are three things to know for today:

Four Republican state Senators have signed on as co-sponsors to a bill that would expand Medicaid in Georgia, the AJC’s Michelle Baruchman reports.
Georgia Chief Justice Michael Boggs urged lawmakers to end partisan elections for state judges during his State of the Judiciary address on Tuesday, the AJC’s Rosie Manins reports.
Industries relying on immigrant labor will feel the brunt of President Donald Trump’s immigration arrests, including the construction sector, according to reporting by the AJC’s Kelly Yamanouchi, Meris Lutz, Ligaya Figueras and Yvonne Zusel.

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Credit: Bob Andres/AJC

BRIDGE BUILDER. “I’m grateful beyond words.”

That’s what former state Rep. Calvin Smyre said during an emotional ceremony shortly before his official portrait was unveiled hanging near the House chamber at the state Capitol.

The Columbus Democrat, who had been in office 48 years when he retired in 2022, was famed as a bridge builder under the Gold Dome. He forged connections not just between dueling parties over nearly a half-century, but also helped bridge fractious House-Senate divides and quell internal party turmoil.

That rang true throughout the ceremony, which was attended by a host of bipartisan dignitaries that included former Govs. Roy Barnes and Sonny Perdue, U.S. Rep. Sanford Bishop, D-Albany, and former DeKalb County Chief Executive Michael Thurmond. Hundreds of current and former state legislators and public officials crowded the House chamber and the gallery above to honor Smyre.

“He has the ability to bridge the gap between Democrats and Republicans to make sure that the whole state prospers, rather than just one part of it,” Barnes said. “Oh, how we need that today, everyone, everywhere.”

House Speaker Jon Burns evoked Smyre’s hard-earned title when he said he would always consider his old friend as the “dean of the House.” And Bishop joked that he wished he took Smyre’s advice when he was a young legislator.

Some of the most emotional remarks came from state Sen. David Lucas, a Macon Democrat and longtime Smyre friend who has been in the Legislature for 50 years between both chambers. As he surveyed the crowd, he reflected on all those who came to honor Smyre’s legacy.

“He’s getting his flowers before he disappears,” Lucas said. “And that’s what living is all about.”

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Credit: Nathan Posner for the AJC

LUNCH FREEZE. “We don’t know” was the phrase of the day on Tuesday as reporters were trying to find out the fate of government programs after President Donald Trump ordered a freeze on federal grants and contracts.

But U.S. Rep. Rich McCormick, R-Suwanee, was more emphatic during an appearance on CNN. Asked if he would support getting rid of school lunches for his constituents, McCormick seemed to suggest he would rather students get a job at fast food restaurants so they could buy their own lunches “instead of thinking about how they are going to sponge off the government.”

CNN anchor Pamela Brown appeared surprised by this answer, noting that “a lot of these kids aren’t even of, like, working age.”

“It doesn’t apply to everybody,” McCormick said.

Re: WH pausing federal grants and loans, I asked Rep. Rich McCormick if he'd support getting rid of school lunches for his constituents. He tells me high school kids who receive free/reduced lunches "are capable of going out and actually getting a job" instead of "sponging off… pic.twitter.com/2ckUZ8heYZ
— Pamela Brown (@PamelaBrownCNN) January 28, 2025

A federal judge on Tuesday night temporarily blocked Trump’s order just minutes before it was to take effect. The order preserves, for now, tens of billions of dollars in federal grants and loans that flows into Georgia, according to reporting by the AJC’s Caleb Groves, Phoebe Quinton, Eric Stirgus, Drew Kann and Riley Bunch.

Georgia U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff, a Democrat, said Trump’s order “threatens chaos,” noting it “risks serious damage to health care, education, public safety, and local governments across our state.”

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Credit: Hyosub Shin/AJC

FULTON BUDGET. Fulton County commissioners are scheduled to vote on their budget today and District Attorney Fani Willis has thoughts about it.

“If you enact the proposed budget: people will die,” she wrote in a letter to the commission last month.

Willis says the budget doesn’t adequately fund her office, which she argues will put citizens in danger and make things worse at the troubled Fulton County jail.

“All of the hard work we have done to reduce the backlog, decrease the jail numbers and bring efficiency to the criminal justice system will be lost because of underfunding,” Willis wrote.

Willis’ letter, first reported by Capital B Atlanta, makes many of the same points she leveled during a news conference earlier this month. She blamed commissioners for the jail’s problems.

The county has noted that Willis’ budget request, along with similar asks from various other justice agencies and courts, would require a 20% property tax increase, the AJC’s Jozsef Papp reported. The county also noted Willis’ budget last year is nearly 50% higher than it was in 2019.

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Credit: Arvin Temkar/AJC

HUMAN TRAFFICKING. Before Georgia lawmakers decide how much money to spend next year, they first look back at the money they are spending this year to see if they need to make any changes.

These changes are usually smaller and don’t include hiring new employees. But Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr hopes lawmakers will make an exception for an important issue: human trafficking.

In 2019, Carr — with support from Gov. Brian Kemp and the state Legislature — created a statewide human trafficking prosecution unit. Since then, the agency has secured 54 criminal convictions, participated in 330 investigations and rescued nearly 200 children.

While it is a statewide unit, the people are all based in metro Atlanta. Carr wants to expand that by hiring prosecutors and investigators based in Macon and Augusta.

Travis Johnson, Carr’s chief of staff, told lawmakers on Monday that they chose those two cities because they are close to major interstate highways, making it more likely to be a route used by traffickers. Plus, Johnson said, their data shows reports of human trafficking are higher in Augusta and Macon compared to other parts of the state outside of Metro Atlanta.

Johnson said adding the money into the 2025 budget would let the office hire people sooner and get them to work faster.

“I see the need, it’s just how the money works out, you know how that works,” state Rep. Bill Hitchens, R-Rincon, chair of the Appropriations Public Safety Subcommittee, told Johnson during a hearing on Monday.

January is national human trafficking prevention month. To report suspected human trafficking in Georgia, call the statewide 24-hour human trafficking hotline at 1-866-ENDHTGA (1-866-363-4842).

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Credit: Adam Beam/AJC

TODAY UNDER THE GOLD DOME. The Georgia Council on Developmental Disabilities is hosting an advocacy day at the Capitol focused on helping people with intellectual disabilities find jobs. Supporters will hold a 1 p.m. news conference on the South Steps of the Capitol.

Other happenings:

8 a.m.: House Agriculture and Consumer Affairs Committee discusses how Georgia is detecting bird flu, which showed up for the first time in a commercial flock earlier this month.
10 a.m.: House and Senate convene.
2 p.m.: Senate Insurance and Labor Committee considers Senate Bill 5 by Sen. Kay Kirkpatrick, R-Marietta, aiming to loosen some health insurers’ prior authorization requirements.
3 p.m.: House Higher Education Committee considers House Bill 38 by Rep. Chuck Martin, R-Alpharetta, that aims to make it easier for students to receive needs-based financial aid.
3 p.m.: Senate Health and Human Services Committee will hear a presentation about the basics of Georgia’s Medicaid program from Insurance Commissioner John King.

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Credit: Nell Carroll for the AJC

LISTEN UP. Today’s “Politically Georgia,” Athens-Clarke County Mayor Kelly Girtz joins the show to talk about President Donald Trump signing the Laken Riley Act. University of Georgia political science professor Charles Bullock discusses Trump’s attempt to halt federal grants.

Be sure to download the show on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. Have a question for the show? Give us a call at 770-810-5297. Episodes are uploaded by noon each day, just in time to have lunch with us. You can also listen live at 10 a.m. EDT on 90.1 FM WABE.

On Tuesday’s show, Republican Gov. Brian Kemp; state Rep. Houston Gaines, R-Athens; and state Sen. Derek Mallow, D-Savannah, discussed the immigration raids happening across the state.

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Credit: Rod Lamkey/AP

TODAY IN WASHINGTON:

President Donald Trump will sign the Lake Riley Act in the White House.
The Senate will vote on more of Trump’s nominees.
The Senate Small Business and Entrepreneurship Committee will hold a nomination hearing for former Sen. Kelly Loeffler, Trump’s pick to lead the Small Business Administration.
House Republicans will conclude their policy retreat in Miami.
Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell will hold a news conference to announce any action on federal interest rates.

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SICK DAYS. U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff, D-Ga., missed Senate votes on Monday and Tuesday — rare absences for the chamber’s youngest member.

His office tells Politically Georgia that Ossoff is recovering from illness and hopes to return soon.

It does appear that Ossoff is doing some work remotely. He put out a news release on Tuesday condemning President Donald Trump’s freezing of federal funding.

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