Today’s newsletter highlights:
- Georgia farmers are still waiting on federal disaster aid.
- Brian Kemp has less than a week to act on about 300 bills.
- Georgia Democrats want a special session to prepare for tariffs.
Locked up
Credit: AJC file photo
Credit: AJC file photo
The Democratic Party of Georgia faced months of internal fissures that led to the ouster of its chair and the installation of a new leader last week.
Georgia GOP chair Josh McKoon, by contrast, is consolidating support from the disparate corners of his party.
After racking up endorsements over the last few weeks from key activists and elected officials, McKoon landed the biggest fish of them all on Thursday. President Donald Trump said McKoon is doing a “fantastic job” and has his blessing for another term.
McKoon scared off more formidable rivals ahead of the June vote, though he drew a challenge from David Cross, an election conspiracist who is the party’s second vice chair.
The party is still no stranger to internal drama, including recent attempts to rebuke House Speaker Jon Burns and Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger.
But McKoon has managed to tamp down plenty of controversies and help bridge the rift between the establishment and MAGA wings in unexpected ways. Even Gov. Brian Kemp has made amends with the party, something unimaginable just a few years ago.
McKoon is also tasked with bringing in big name speakers for the party’s convention in Dalton. He landed a Trump favorite for the June 6 dinner: Steve Bannon, the intellectual architect of the MAGA movement.
From the invite sent to activists:
“Bannon will share his insights on the current political landscape and the future of our party. Don't miss your chance to engage with him and fellow Republican leaders as we unite to advance our shared values and vision for Georgia and beyond."
Things to know
Credit: Alessandra Tarantino/AP
Credit: Alessandra Tarantino/AP
Good morning! Gov. Brian Kemp has six days left to either sign or veto bills passed by the state Legislature this year. He’s signed 72 bills into law so far and hasn’t vetoed anything yet.
Here are three things to know for today:
- “A lot of times you can get more done in a year and a half being governor than you can in two terms in the U.S. Senate,” Kemp told Greg Bluestein about his decision not to run for the U.S. Senate.
- DeKalb County CEO Lorraine Cochran-Johnson promised “the most progressive years … in DeKalb County history” during her first State of the County speech, the AJC’s Alia Pharr reports.
- The first American pope in history is a White Sox fan.
Still waiting
Credit: Arvin Temkar/AJC
Credit: Arvin Temkar/AJC
When Gov. Brian Kemp signed some disaster relief laws on Thursday, it put the finishing touches on the state’s response to Hurricane Helene. The final tally: more than $1.1 billion in tax breaks and other aid.
But the real money has yet to arrive.
Congress approved more than $21 billion in hurricane relief just a few months after the storm. But that money still hasn’t made its way through the federal bureaucracy to Georgia farmers.
While more than $1 billion in hurricane aid from the state sounds impressive, its impact will be limited. Most of that money goes to cover the state’s own costs of removing debris, rebuilding roads and repairing buildings.
Because the state constitution bans direct payments to farmers, the state can only offer tax breaks and low-interest loans to help.
The federal aid, however, will pay farmers for losing their crops to the storm. It’s the kind of direct relief many are desperate to receive.
Georgia Democratic U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff pressed Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins about the money during a committee hearing week, saying: “Time is of the essence.”
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s website says it plans to open applications for relief in July.
“When we open that portal, hopefully it moves almost immediately,” Rollins said.
Georgia 2026
As we reported on Thursday, U.S. Rep. Buddy Carter is the first prominent Republican to challenge Georgia Democratic U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff in next year’s Senate contest. But he’s not the first Republican in the race.
That would be Reagan Box, an activist who has been campaigning at local GOP grassroots events across the state for months.
The longshot candidate, whose social media posts feature her alongside a cutout of former President Ronald Reagan, has about $6,600 in her campaign account, according to the most recent filings.
What’s left?
Credit: Arvin Temkar/AJC
Credit: Arvin Temkar/AJC
Gov. Brian Kemp signed nine bills into law on Thursday, bringing his total for the year to 72. Today, he’ll sign the big one: the nearly $38 billion budget.
But even with all that work, there’s still lots left to do before Wednesday’s deadline. The legislature sent 370 bills to the governor’s desk, meaning he still has nearly 300 proposals left to consider.
Here’s a list of some bills we’re watching:
- Senate Bill 244: President Donald Trump could recoup millions of dollars spent on legal fees defending himself against election interference charges in Fulton County if Kemp signs this bill.
- Senate Bill 144: This would shield Bayer, the German company that makes the popular weedkiller Roundup, from some state lawsuits alleging the product causes cancer. The company has been pushing for similar protections in several states.
- House Bill 296: Georgia already offers digital driver’s licenses. This bill would require police departments to accept them during traffic stops, starting July 1, 2027.
- House Bill 339: This would exempt ride-hailing companies like Uber from certain liability lawsuits. Uber says this would lower its insurance premiums, which would result in lower fares for riders.
- House Bill 177: People in domestic violence situations can seek a protective order from a judge. This bill would let judges include pets in those orders. Advocates say abusers sometimes threaten to harm pats to convince their victims to stay.
- House Bill 123: The U.S. Supreme Court bans states from executing people with intellectual disabilities. But Georgia law makes it nearly impossible to prove someone is disabled. This bill would make it easier to do that, putting Georgia in line with 26 other states that still have a death penalty.
Special session?
Credit: Michelle Baruchman/AJC
Credit: Michelle Baruchman/AJC
Politicians have returned billions of dollars to taxpayers during the past few years to help people cope with the economic uncertainty of the coronavirus pandemic.
Now, Georgia Democrats want to do the same thing to help people weather the potential effects of President Donald Trump’s tariffs.
Senate Minority Leader Harold Jones II of Augusta called for a special legislative session on Thursday to guard against what he expects to be devastating consequences of the tariffs that have roiled markets and prompted fears of an economic recession, the AJC’s Michelle Baruchman reports.
“Our call today is not to punish the Legislature, but to put this state in front of saving Georgia’s families, farmers and small business owners,” he said. “There is no point in waiting for the tariff shock to hit or the shock to our budget to occur before we actually start to act.”
Jones said Democrats want to help small businesses manage potential supply chain issues and provide direct assistance to those in need — similar to pandemic payments.
The Legislature meets for about three months at the beginning of each year. But they can call themselves into a special session if at least three-fifths of the 236 members agree. Jones said he is working on gathering Republican support, as the GOP controls a majority of the seats.
Don’t count on that happening.
“It is irresponsible of Georgia Democrats to continue demanding reckless spending, particularly without a plan to pay for it,” House Majority Leader Chuck Efstration said.
Listen up
Credit: AJC
Credit: AJC
Today on “Politically Georgia‚” the hosts unpack the fallout from Gov. Brian Kemp’s decision not to run for the U.S. Senate in 2026.
Have a question or comment for the show? Email us at politicallygeorgia@ajc.com or give us a call at 770-810-5297 and you could be featured on a future episode.
You can listen and subscribe to the show for free at Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.
Medicaid cuts
Credit: Nathan Posner for The AJC
Credit: Nathan Posner for The AJC
When congressional Republicans release their plan to cut spending on Medicaid this weekend, Georgia U.S. Rep. Buddy Carter will be in charge of defending it.
Carter chairs a House Energy and Commerce subcommittee that oversees Medicaid. He’s also the newest candidate for Georgia’s U.S. Senate seat in 2026.
In the coming weeks he’ll be asked to defend and sell to Georgia voters cuts to Medicaid that could amount to hundreds of billions of dollars and could put coverage for millions of Americans at risk.
The St. Simons Island Republican said he is ready to defend the details of the bill although he declined to provide any preview ahead of the official announcement. He said his goal is to preserve the program for the most vulnerable Americans such as children and people with disabilities.
“We are trying to save it and stabilize it, and we got savings that we can find in there through waste, fraud and abuse and some other tweaks that we’re going to make to the program,” Carter said. “We’re not kicking anybody off or cutting anybody out.”
While Republicans control Congress, steep cuts to the program could still be difficult to pass as centrist GOP members have pushed back in recent days.
Today in Washington
- President Donald Trump will sign more executive orders.
- The House and Senate are done for the week.
Shoutouts
Credit: Bob Andres/AJC
Credit: Bob Andres/AJC
Today’s birthday:
- Former state Rep. Roger Bruce.
Want a birthday shoutout in the Politically Georgia newsletter? There’s a form for that. Click here to submit the shoutouts. It’s not just birthdays. We’re also interested in new jobs, engagements, birth announcements, etc.
Before you go
Gov. Brian Kemp signed House Bill 105 on Thursday, which doubles the amount of money families of public school teachers receive if their loved ones are killed on the job.
That’ll do it for us today. As always, you can send your best scoops, gossip and insider info to greg.bluestein@ajc.com, tia.mitchell@ajc.com, patricia.murphy@ajc.com and adam.beam@ajc.com.
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