Today’s newsletter highlights:
- Jimmy Carter and Gerald Ford’s friendship started on a flight to Egypt.
- Georgia’s House Speaker wants to clean up timber felled by hurricanes.
- A New York judge is scheduled to sentence Donald Trump.
Two hurricanes, a tropical storm and now a chance of ice and snow have made one thing clear in the last few months: Georgia’s weather calls the shots.
The storms are bad enough. But sometimes the government can make it worse. Poor communication and slow response to the infamous 2014 “snowpocalypse” storm snowballed a dusting of wintry weather into an embarrassing debacle for Georgia — and prompted then-Gov. Nathan Deal to overhaul the state’s emergency policies.
Now, state lawmakers are likely to debate more changes during the legislative session that starts next week. Last month, a panel of House lawmakers endorsed creating a state Office of Resilience and hiring a chief resilience officer to help better prepare for severe storms and other disasters. They also urged the state to update its outdated 911 system, a move that would likely require significant spending.
Credit: Brant Sanderlin/AJC
Credit: Brant Sanderlin/AJC
It appears today’s storm might not be as bad as initially predicted. Forecasters had been calling for up to 3 inches of snow in the metro Atlanta area, but now say it will be less than an inch while the North Georgia mountains could get more.
Still, with the lingering bad memories of 2014, state and local officials aren’t taking any chances. Now, it’s almost standard operating procedure for governors to deploy road-clearing equipment, assign additional manpower and issue state of emergency orders long before the first snowflakes fall — as Gov. Brian Kemp did this week.
Kemp also rearranged his schedule to ensure he was back in Georgia by Thursday night after attending Jimmy Carter’s funeral in Washington and then meeting with President-elect Donald Trump at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida.
One thing to remember: while the wintry storm that humiliated metro Atlanta in 2014 was nicknamed for snow, it was actually the region’s icy roads that caused all the mayhem.
More reading:
- Live updates from today’s storm.
- List of school and college closures.
- Hundreds of Atlanta flights canceled Friday.
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Credit: Hyosub Shin/AJC
Credit: Hyosub Shin/AJC
GOOD MORNING! Georgia’s legislative session starts Monday, and the AJC is offering numerous previews online and in print over the weekend. They include:
- An essay from state Superintendent Richard Woods urging lawmakers to invest in teachers.
- A story by the AJC’s Maya T. Prabhu about how Georgia’s LGBTQ+ community is bracing for more expansive restrictions.
- A list of issues to watch as the session gets underway.
Other things to know for today:
- Union dockworkers reached a labor agreement this week that will avert a strike at the Georgia Port Authority marine terminals in Savannah and Brunswick, the AJC’s Adam Van Brimmer reports.
- Democrat Stacey Abrams’ voting rights group has settled an ethics complaint alleging it spent money on her unsuccessful 2018 run for governor without properly disclosing it, the AJC’s David Wickert reports.
- Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis is asking the Georgia Supreme Court to overturn a lower court decision that removed her from the 2020 election interference case involving President-elect Donald Trump, the AJC’s Tamar Hallerman reports.
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Credit: AP
Credit: AP
FLIGHT TO CAIRO. In 1981, shortly after his loss to Ronald Reagan, Jimmy Carter found himself on a flight to Cairo with Gerald Ford — the man Carter himself had defeated for president just a few years before.
But instead of an icy, awkward flight, the journey produced an enduring friendship. That flight was so important that both men mentioned it when eulogizing the other at their funerals: Carter in person during Ford’s funeral in 2007, and Ford via his son during Carter’s funeral on Thursday in a message that Gerald Ford wrote years ago.
On that flight to attend the funeral of Egyptian President Anwar Sadat, “we formed a personal bond while lamenting on the difficulty of unexpectedly defeated candidates trying to raise money to build presidential libraries,” Carter said at Ford’s funeral, prompting a laugh from the audience.
Ford wrote that the flight at first reminded him of an old line that “two presidents in a room is one too many” — which prompted laughter from the four former presidents who attended Carter’s funeral on Thursday at the Washington National Cathedral.
“I wondered how awkward that long flight might be to Cairo,” Ford wrote in a message read by his son, Steven. “But the return trip was not nearly long enough. For it was somewhere over the Atlantic that Jimmy and I forged a friendship that transcends politics.”
The two presidents agreed to eulogize each other during a phone call years ago. Carter ended his remarks by fighting back tears, quoting the words from his 1977 inaugural address: “for myself and our nation, I want to thank my predecessor for all that he did to heal our land.”
But it was Ford who got the last word.
“Jimmy, I’m looking forward to our reunion,” Ford wrote in words spoken slowly by his son on Thursday. “We have much to catch up on. Thank you, Mr. President. Welcome home, old friend.”
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TIMBER. Some Georgia lawmakers suggest changing the state constitution so they can give money to farmers who lost their harvests during Hurricane Helene.
But judging from House Speaker Jon Burns’ comments during his news conference this week, that’s not likely to happen.
Burns indicated lawmakers will let the federal government handle that. Congress approved $100 billion in hurricane relief last month. And unlike the General Assembly, Congress can give money to farmers without making them pay it back.
But that doesn’t mean lawmakers will do nothing. Burns said he’d like lawmakers to spend money to help clean up Georgia’s vast timber fields that were decimated by the storm. Such spending wouldn’t be simple charity, but a public safety protection.
Toppled, dried out trees would make it much easier for destructive wildfires to break out over the summer — a concern that’s more prevalent given the blazes devastating Los Angeles.
“I believe there is a pathway there to make sure we enhance public safety, if you will, by assisting our timberland owners, our landowners, to make sure there is some clean up there so we will not have a disaster as we see in western states come that time of year,” Burns said.
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Credit: Ben Curtis/AP
Credit: Ben Curtis/AP
NO DRILL, BABY. President-elect Donald Trump is fond of throwing out “drill, baby, drill” at his campaign rallies. But President Joe Biden earlier this week used a federal law to ban offshore drilling along most of the Atlantic coast, including Georgia.
Trump, of course, vowed to “unban it immediately” in an appearance on Hugh Hewitt’s radio show. But that could be difficult to do because it would likely require Congress to approve it.
No one has drilled for oil off the Atlantic coast since the early 1980s. But there have been attempts to revive it. Former Democratic President Barack Obama’s administration floated a proposal to open up portions of the Atlantic coast for oil drilling, though nothing ever happened.
Trump, during his first term in office, tried to expand offshore drilling. But he eventually backed down after pushback from coastal states, including Georgia. The Georgia House passed a resolution in 2019 opposing offshore drilling and seismic testing.
The Georgia Conservancy, a nonprofit that opposes offshore oil drilling, praised Biden’s order as “a monumental decision that will leave our precious coast protected from the harmful effects of seismic testing, oil and gas drilling, and associated onshore infrastructure.”
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Credit: AP
Credit: AP
TRUMP SENTENCE. On Thursday, President-elect Donald Trump took his place beside the other living presidents at Jimmy Carter’s funeral. Later this month, Trump is set to become the first active U.S. president convicted of felony crimes.
Today, a New York judge is scheduled to sentence Trump after a jury convicted him in May of 34 counts of falsifying business records in what prosecutors said was a scheme to illegally influence the 2016 election.
That judge, Juan M. Merchan, has already said he likely won’t impose a fine or jail time. Trump had asked both the United States and New York Supreme Courts to block the sentencing, but both declined.
Trump’s attorney, D. John Sauer, said sentencing the president-elect would be a “grave injustice.” Coincidentally, Trump has picked Sauer to be the next solicitor general, an attorney whose job is to represent the federal government before the U.S. Supreme Court.
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Credit: Jason Getz/AJC
Credit: Jason Getz/AJC
LISTEN UP. Today on “Politically Georgia,” you’ll hear an interview with Georgia House Speaker Jon Burns, R-Newington, previewing the legislative session. Then, Democratic state Rep. Michelle Au, D-Johns Creek, will give her perspective.
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.
On Thursday’s show, the hosts discussed the scene from Washington as the nation said goodbye to the late President Jimmy Carter.
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Credit: J. Scott Applewhite/AP
Credit: J. Scott Applewhite/AP
LAKEN RILEY ACT. All but nine members of the U.S. Senate voted Thursday to move forward on legislation that would allow law enforcement agencies to detain immigrants living in the country without legal permission who have been accused of nonviolent crimes like burglary or theft.
Both of Georgia’s Democratic senators, Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock, supported advancing the bill named for Laken Riley, the 22-year-old nursing student killed last year on the University of Georgia’s campus, the AJC’s Tia Mitchell and Lautaro Grinspan reported.
U.S. Rep. Mike Collins, the Jackson Republican who is the chief sponsor of the legislation, stood in the back of the Senate chamber as the vote got underway.
Ossoff has said he supports the Laken Riley Act and is ready to pass it on the Senate floor. Warnock thus far won’t commit to more than having the conversation.
“I’ve got some questions,” Warnock said. “And I think this is an important conversation.”
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Credit: J. Scott Applewhite/AP
Credit: J. Scott Applewhite/AP
TODAY IN WASHINGTON:
- President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris will receive a briefing on the federal response to the wildfires in Los Angeles.
- The U.S. House and Senate are done for the week.
- The Supreme Court will hear arguments on TikTok’s challenge of a law that could ban the app in the U.S.
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Credit: Nathan Posner for the AJC
Credit: Nathan Posner for the AJC
FIRST SPEECH. U.S. Rep. Brian Jack, the newest member of Georgia’s congressional delegation, delivered his first floor speech on Thursday, focusing on how his 3rd Congressional District played into the life story of President Jimmy Carter.
Jack, R-Peachtree City, noted that Carter attended NASCAR races at Atlanta Motor Speedway in Hampton, built Habitat for Humanity homes in LaGrange and marked the 150th anniversary of Fayette County in 1971 when he was governor.
“He purchased his suits from Bowdon in Carroll County and enjoyed Chick-fil-A sandwiches during his many visits to Columbus,” Jack said. “Following his presidency, he honored my hometown, Peachtree City, by leading our Independence Day parade in 1995.”
To prepare for his speech, Jack consulted the Fayette County Historical Society, The Newnan Times-Herald, the Meriwether Historical Society and the Heard County Historical Center and Museum.
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Credit: Jason Getz/AJC
Credit: Jason Getz/AJC
SHOUTOUTS. Today’s birthdays:
- State Rep. Karen Bennett, D-Stone Mountain.
- State Rep. Beth Camp, R-Concord.
- State Rep. Betsy Holland, D-Atlanta.
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.
