Today’s newsletter highlights:
- Georgia budget does not include money for the Super Bowl.
- Senator once barred from the House chamber passes his first bill.
- How other states’ litigation overhauls are faring.
What happens when you stick a bunch of lawmakers in a room for 13 hours and have them vote on dozens of bills with few breaks? Things get weird.
A state senator read passages from first lady Melania Trump’s memoir during a debate. The Senate, at least temporarily, supported an amendment that would have created “Donald J. Trump First” license plates. The Hamburglar and Grimace roamed the halls of the Capitol, only to be playfully arrested by state troopers.
And perhaps most astonishing of all: far-right firebrand Sen. Colton Moore, R-Trenton, passed his first bill.
Credit: Natrice Miller/AJC
Credit: Natrice Miller/AJC
Shenanigans aside, the biggest news from Crossover Day isn’t what passed, but what didn’t. After all, the bills that crossed over on Thursday still have a long way to go before becoming law. The ones that didn’t? They’re likely toast.
Here’s a look at what didn’t make it.
- Sports betting. Georgia is one of 12 states that doesn’t allow sports betting, and that’s not likely to change anytime soon. A proposed amendment to the state Constitution failed to reach a House vote. A similar proposal was shelved in the state Senate last week. If the amendment ever makes it to the ballot, public polling suggests it’s likely to pass. But so far, the Legislature has been a wall too tall for supporters to climb. Supporters sent a late night email saying the bill “remains alive” … for next year’s session.
- DEI. A bill to withhold public funding from any K-12 public school, college or university that promotes diversity, equity and inclusion programs never reached a vote after its sponsor decided to pull it from consideration. State Sen. Marty Harbin, R-Tyrone, insists he had the votes, but was worried a watered-down version would pass. He held out hope that his initiative could still be grafted to another pending proposal.
- “Debanking.” State Sen. Blake Tillery, R-Vidalia, tried everything to convince his colleagues to let people sue banks for discrimination, arguing conservative business owners are often punished for their political beliefs by having their accounts closed. The banking industry put up a big fight, saying the bill would open them up to a flurry of frivolous lawsuits. Lawmakers soundly rejected it. Tillery, who knew he didn’t have the votes when he brought it to the floor, may be betting that the Republicans who voted “no” will regret their stance during the 2026 midterms.
Credit: Arvin Temkar/AJC
Credit: Arvin Temkar/AJC
- Wrongful convictions. The third time wasn’t the charm for legislation that would overhaul how Georgia compensates the wrongfully convicted. House Bill 533 never reached a vote.
- Ending taxes on tips. Legislation to exempt tips from state income taxes appeared to be sailing through the Senate earlier this year. But it didn’t come up for a vote on Thursday. That’s because the bill’s author, Sen. Greg Dolezal said it was no longer necessary. The Cumming Republican noted Congress is well on its way to eliminating taxes on tips. If that proposal becomes law, it would remove tips from people’s adjusted gross incomes — meaning there would be no money for Georgia to tax.
- Clarence Thomas statue. Senate Republicans tried to revive an effort to honor Georgia-born U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas with a statue on the grounds of the judicial building. But it didn’t reach a vote.
***
Credit: Courtesy photo
Credit: Courtesy photo
GOOD MORNING! State lawmakers are off today, recovering from Thursday’s marathon Crossover Day session. They’ll be back on Monday.
Here are three other things to know for today:
- Georgia lawmakers are trying to make it easier for intellectually disabled people to avoid the death penalty, putting them in line with most other states, the AJC’s Shaddi Abusaid reports.
- A bureaucrat from Middle Georgia who plays guitar at his church is a key figure in Elon Musk’s overhaul of the federal workforce, Greg Bluestein reports.
- Georgia veterans are pushing back against proposed cuts at the U.S. Department Veterans Affairs, which is led by former Georgia Congressman Doug Collins, the AJC’s Jeremy Redmon reports.
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Credit: Arvin Temkar/AJC
Credit: Arvin Temkar/AJC
NOT THIS YEAR. Gov. Brian Kemp signed the amended 2025 budget into law on Thursday, but not before Senate Republicans nixed about $7 million in spending to help Atlanta prepare for the 2028 Super Bowl and the 2031 men’s Final Four.
The move comes amid a reevaluation of public spending for major sporting events. Politicians covet these events for the prestige and accompanying throngs of paying customers. But economists have questioned their true economic impact.
State Sen. Blake Tillery, R-Vidalia, said the Senate killed the money because it was too early to pay it. He noted the state could earn $490,000 in interest on that $7 million.
“Why would we let that interest sit with another entity when we could use it at the state to continue to roll back the income tax?” he said.
For his part, Kemp didn’t sound philosophically opposed to the spending. He noted Georgia last year agreed to spend nearly $30 million to help prepare for the College Football Playoff national championship game and next summer’s FIFA World Cup.
“We have helped with funding in the past and I feel certain that we’ll do our part from a state perspective,” he said.
***
Credit: Arvin Temkar/AJC
Credit: Arvin Temkar/AJC
FIRST TIME FOR EVERYTHING. State Sen. Colton Moore on Thursday sent his first piece of legislation over to the House of Representatives, where just a few weeks ago he was pushed to the ground and arrested for trying to enter the chamber.
We’ll be curious what type of reception Senate Bill 163 receives in the House, especially now that Moore has subpoenaed House Speaker Jon Burns and other top Republicans as he seeks criminal charges against a staffer who pushed him to the ground.
But the Trenton Republican did not seem concerned.
“It’s such a good piece of legislation certainly they would recognize that and put personal differences aside,” Moore said.
The bill, according to our AJC colleague Maya T. Prabhu, is in response to the Savannah City Council passing an ordinance to fine people up to $1,000 for leaving guns in unlocked vehicles. The bill would let anyone cited under that ordinance sue the city for up to $50,000.
Senators had a little fun with Moore before passing his bill. State Sen. Brian Strickland, R- McDonough, noted that for Moore’s bill to become law it must “physically go from this chamber to the House chamber.”
“Can you show us physically how you think this bill should move its body to get into the House chamber?” Strickland asked.
“You’ve got to put your hands back here,” Moore said, holding his hands behind his back. “It’s got to go in peacefully.”
***
Credit: Arvin Temkar/AJC
Credit: Arvin Temkar/AJC
TORT RETHINK. Georgia lawmakers have pointed to Florida’s recent rewrite of its litigation laws in pushing for a similar overhaul here this session.
But the Tampa Bay Times reports that Florida’s Republican House Speaker used his speech on the opening day of the Legislative session this week to announce hearings into whether insurance companies misled lawmakers about company finances while they lobbied in 2022 to make it harder for Floridians to sue them.
“A couple of years ago, the insurance industry came to the Legislature and said without sweeping reforms, companies could not compete in Florida,” Speaker Daniel Perez said. “We have learned of reports, not disclosed to the Legislature, that may suggest some insurance companies were using accounting tricks to hide substantial profits while telling us they were in a crisis”
Meanwhile, litigation overhaul has become a hot topic next door in South Carolina, too. Republican Gov. Henry McMaster is pushing for an overhaul to that state’s civil litigation laws. Those plans bit a speed bump Thursday when the state Senate failed to table an amendment that supporters said would gut the effort for the year.
“We’re done. It’s over. Congratulations, y’all. It’s done,” said state Sen. Shane Massey, the Republican majority leader of the South Carolina Senate. “There will be businesses closed because of this.”
Georgia’s litigation overhaul has passed the state Senate and is moving through the House.
***
Credit: AJC file photo
Credit: AJC file photo
PAST POSTS. A newly appointed Pentagon official amplified a neo-Nazi conspiracy theory about a Jewish lynching victim who was murdered in Georgia more than a century ago, the Jerusalem Post reported.
The social media post by Kingsley Wilson, who was appointed in January to be deputy press secretary at the Pentagon, involved Leo Frank, a Jewish factory superintendent.
He was convicted of the 1913 murder of 13-year-old Mary Phagan on circumstantial evidence as much of the city was wrapped up in racist and antisemitic rhetoric.
Frank’s death sentence was commuted by Gov. John Slaton, but he was seized by a Marietta posse and hanged on an oak tree along where Interstate 75 now runs.
The Post reports that neo-Nazis have long claimed that Frank was guilty and that the media manipulated public opinion about him.
The Department of Defense did not immediately respond to the Post’s request for comment.
***
Credit: Julia Demaree Nikhinson/AP
Credit: Julia Demaree Nikhinson/AP
HOUSE CENSURE. U.S. House Republicans and 10 Democrats voted to discipline U.S. Rep. Al Green, a Texas Democrat, for interrupting President Donald Trump during his big speech to a joint session of Congress on Tuesday night.
Most of Green’s fellow Democrats voted against the censure resolution, including all five from Georgia. And several dozen Democrats, including U.S. Rep. Nikema Williams, D-Atlanta, stood with him when he was called to the House floor to face his verbal reprimand.
As Green was being censured, Williams and others sang “We Shall Overcome,” an anthem of the civil rights movement.
Green told reporters he understood his actions have consequences and he was prepared to face his punishment. Separately, some House Republicans are attempting to strip him of his committee assignments.
***
TODAY IN WASHINGTON:
- President Donald Trump will speak at the White House Digital Assets Summit before heading to Mar-a-Lago.
- The U.S. House and Senate are done for the week.
***
Credit: Brant Sanderlin/AJC
Credit: Brant Sanderlin/AJC
BLOODY SUNDAY. Many Democrats in Congress are headed to Selma, Alabama, this weekend to commemorate the 60th Anniversary of Bloody Sunday — when activists, including the late Georgia Congressman John Lewis, were assaulted by police during a voting rights protest.
This afternoon, U.S. Rep. Nikema Williams, D-Atlanta, will honor Lewis by leading a wreath-laying ceremony along with the Southern Poverty Law Center at the Civil Rights Memorial Center in Montgomery, Alabama. Williams now occupies Lewis’ congressional seat.
On Sunday, U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock, D-Ga., will preach at Tabernacle Baptist Church in Selma before crowds re-create the crossing of the Edmund Pettus Bridge. Georgia Reps. Sanford Bishop, D-Albany; Hank Johnson, D-Lithonia; and Lucy McBath, D-Marietta, also plan to participate.
Five years ago, Lewis surprised marchers by joining them for the reenactment on the bridge. He passed away several months later.
***
Credit: AJC file photo
Credit: AJC file photo
SHOUTOUTS. Today’s birthdays:
- State Rep. David Jenkins, R-Grantville
- State Rep. Mary Margaret Oliver, D-Decatur.
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.
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AS ALWAYS, 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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