Fresh Loaf

As you may have read on state politics websites and in news reports today, some of the documents from Speaker Glenn Richardson’s divorce have been unsealed after government gadfly George Anderson sued.

Just got my hands on ‘em AND…they’re pretty tame. No mentions of alleged trysts or cloakroom deals for natural-gas pipelines.

What they do show is that the case was a political hot potato in Paulding County. It went from judge to judge, with each one recusing himself from the case, until it ultimately returned to Paulding County Superior Court Judge James Osborne, who according to the documents was the “only remaining judge in the the Paulding County Circuit to which this case can be assigned.”  Osborne, who originally sealed the documents, is a former law partner of Richardson’s.

We kindly ask your forgiveness if we’re a little tardy with posts. Today marks the last day Gov. Sonny Perdue can sign or veto legislation, and as my colleague pointed out earlier, dude is on a roll.

We just received a copy of the items in the budget Perdue considers “unjustified” — or, the little things lawmakers want state money to pay for that make the governor boil with anger.

Like Speaker Glenn Richardson’s and House Majority Leader Jerry Keen’s pork projects.

The two Gold Dome bigwigs had their fingerprints all over a $5.2 million earmark aimed at improving landing strips back in their home districts. Paulding County Regional Airport — Richardson’s stomping grounds — would have received $4 million. The Glynn County Airport Commission in Keen’s neck o’ the woods would have received $500,000. The Cherokee County Airport Authority was slated to receive the remaining $700,000 of the earmarked funds.

And Perdue says nyet!

State funding for airports is currently determined in accordance with statewide priorities for air transport and is awarded on a competitive basis. Local communities are encouraged to seek funding from Airport Aid at the Department of Transportation ($23 million available in FY09) and the AirGeorgia program at the OneGeorgia Authority ($15 million available in FY09). Therefore, I veto the appropriation of $5,200,000 contained in this proviso.

Put a cold steak on those black eyes, gents. There’s more cash to be had next year!

All in all, Perdue’s cuts trimmed $14.2 million from the state budget. Maybe that could be used for those GRTA buses that are sorely needed because of rising gas prices? You know, like the $13 million that was earmarked for ‘em before the General Assembly cut the funds out? Just asking.

A surprise tragedy of the recent General Assembly – one of many such tragedies, we should note – was the failure of the trauma care network funding bill in the waning hours of the session on Friday night. Insiders tell us that, despite his public support for the network, most of the blame can be laid at the feet of the Speaker.

The loss of the bill is especially grievous when you consider that Grady Hospital’s future hangs in the balance. The Grady board was prompted to hand over much of its power to a new governing body on the promise that the ailing hospital would receive support from a state-funded trauma network. Grady held up its end of the bargain, but the state welshed on the deal.

In fairness, the state will provide a $58 million cash infusion to the network from the supplemental budget. But that’s a one-time hand-out. Without a permanent revenue source, the network is going to have trouble attracting a decent director and staff.

In previous years, lawmakers had looked at a rental car surcharge, a cell phone tax and, this year, a $10 fee on car registrations as possible funding sources. But, late in the session, somebody hatched the brilliant idea of using revenue from the state’s .25-mill property tax to pay for the trauma network. Gov. Sonny Perdue made waves at the start of the session by calling for the repeal of the state property tax, but by late last week, it was apparent that the Governor’s proposal was a no-go.

Supposedly, the property tax would’ve generated about $95 million a year to help support trauma care in Georgia – more than any of the other proposed funding schemes. The House/Senate conference committee that dealt with the trauma care bill had a few more details to negotiate before settling on a final version of the bill, but members say everyone was on board with the revenue idea.

When the Senate conferees showed the bill to Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle, we’re told he praised it as one of the more significant achievements of the session. On the House side, however, Speaker Glenn Richardson stomped that sucker flat, telling his folks to end negotiations.

Now, why would the Speaker have done such a thing – especially since he was one of the biggest promoters of a state trauma network? His office didn’t return my calls. But he had threatened repeatedly from the well throughout the last day to stifle other legislation unless he saw movement on his tax bill.

As one lawmaker explained it: “The conventional wisdom at the Capitol was that Richardson held everything up because his tax bill didn’t pass the Senate.”

What’s the cost of failing to establish a trauma network? Well, look at it this way: The fatality rate from traumatic injury is 10 percent higher in Georgia than the national average. That comes down to about 700 deaths a year that could have been prevented with adequate trauma care.

Until the trauma network is fully funded, that’s a high price to pay to satisfy one man’s ego.

(Photo by Joeff Davis)

Nevermind the fact that he used his political-might to circumvent the state required 30-day waiting period… Another example of him manipulating the system for personal gain.

— Commenter Shrike071 on news that Speaker Glenn Richardson seems to have used personal pull to initiate and complete a divorce in a single day. State law requires a 30-day waiting period for uncontested divorces.

His divorce records are sealed for now, so it’s not yet clear whether Richardson’s divorce has anything to do with allegations last year that he’d been laying pipe* with an attractive lobbyist for the gas industry.

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We’re already at war with Alabama and Florida over water, so why not also Tennessee?

— The McGehee Zone on a nascent effort in the state Senate to “correct” Georgia’s border with Tennessee, thus giving Georgia access to the Tennessee River. Them swimmin’ holes don’t fill up by themselves, y’all.

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Motherfucker. We apologize for the language, but there is no better way to reflect our feelings upon learning that TAD money cannot be used for the Beltline.

— Raleigh Urbain at Inside the Sprawl on a Supreme Court ruling that nixes the Beltline’s funding mechanism.

City officials will hold a press conference at 1 p.m. 2 p.m. at City Hall to discuss the court’s ruling. It’s not clear yet if Mayor Franklin will be there. According to her office, she just got back from India and had planned to take the day off.

“Like Maynard, Hillary believes in creating possibilities for all Americans. For 35 years, she’s fought to turn possibilities into realities. From civil rights to universal healthcare, Hillary Clinton has always been on our side.”

— Valerie Jackson, widow of former Mayor Maynard Jackson and host of WABE-FM (90.1)’s book-themed “Between the Lines,” endorses Sen. Hillary Clinton for president.

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“Because Obama speaks our language: aspirational humanism. We believe that words of hope change things; similar words are spoken from UU pulpits each Sunday.”

— Making Chutney on support for Sen. Barack Obama among Unitarian Universalist bloggers

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“There surely has to be a Republican more competent, able to keep his pants on around female lobbyists, and more mature than the present Speaker of the House . . . Glenn Richardson has proven he cannot be trusted with the power of his office. He uses it for too many small minded purposes. And small minded leaders are dangerous creatures.”

— Erick at Peach Pundit expresses more-than-mild displeasure at fellow Republican, Speaker Glenn Richardson. The inspiration for Erick’s verbal assault: Richardson reportedly stripped Rep. Tom Graves, R-Ranger, of an important House leadership position and made him move his office out of the Capitol because Graves voted to re-elect Georgia DOT Chairman Mike Evans.

As a speech, Sonny Perdue’s State of the State address yesterday was just fine: vaguely inspiring, pleasantly reassuring, and it even had a good laugh line poking fun at the Legislature for dragging last year’s session into April.

As the governor’s big opportunity to set an agenda for the state, however, the address was a nonevent. Perdue unveiled no sweeping initiatives, policy shifts or new programs – not even a Go Fish, much less a GRTA.

Truly, this guy doesn’t believe in breaking a sweat.

Most of the measures he did mention – a $53 million state fund for trauma care, $120 million for state-funded reservoirs – are somebody else’s handiwork and are already in the works. And he dredged up last year’s proposed $142 million tax cut for seniors, which his own party killed.

Still, there were a couple of interesting bits. Perdue has wasted few chances to tout his handpicked DOT head, Gena Abraham, presumably to tell her detractors in the House to back off. Now, he says he wants to place her in charge of the State Road and Tollway Authority as well. Wonder if he’s told that agency’s current director, Rosa Clausell Rountree, whom he also hired.

The guv also mentioned a $50 million state loan fund for rural governments to use for transportation projects. Talk about thinking small.

Most interesting, and offered almost as a throwaway, was a plan to kill state property taxes. Representing only a sliver of our annual property tax bills, it typically provides about $94 million in revenues to the state.

That was about it. He didn’t discuss the traffic congestion that’s strangling Atlanta’s suburbs, only that he “expects to see great changes in Georgia transportation.” And he was equally stingy with details on most other topics.

But he and Speaker Glenn Richardson were cordial, in a formal sort of way, with no name-calling or fisticuffs. That’s something, I guess.

It also makes you wonder, if they were looking for a viable excuse to get rid of the festival in the first place, and the drought made for the perfect scapegoat?

— Duane Moody wonders if the mayor’s decision to keep Pride out of Piedmont Park this year because of the drought might simply be a convenient excuse to thwart the GLBT community’s biggest annual party.

Duane may be on to something.

The mayor also told the Dogwood Festival people that they couldn’t have their festival in Piedmont Park. What color are Dogwood blossoms? WHITE! Think about it.

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The Speaker claims the Senate “shirked” its responsibilities today. I say we did exactly what we were sent here to do – to carefully and thoughtfully decide which actions benefit the people of Georgia.

— Sen. Eric Johnson, R-Savannah, blogging for Peach Pundit, calls B.S. on fellow Republican Speaker Glenn Richardson.

Long story short, the House voted yesterday to override 12 of Gov. Sonny Perdue’s vetoes from last year. The Senate is constitutionally required to “immediately consider” the House vetoes. Speaker Richardson is claiming “immediately consider” means vote now. Sen. Johnson says “immediately consider” means start reviewing it carefully.

CL’s Scott Henry explains more here.

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I think that shows the difference between Clinton and Obama. Bill & Hillary Clinton have displayed an interest in civil rights as well as the larger African-American community even when they weren’t running for office. Obama on the other hand, well…he needs the black vote…enough said.

— Andre at Georgia Politics Unfiltered thinks Clintonic interest in civil rights and African-Americans is sincere, but Obamanian interest is just political.

I wonder if he laughed when he wrote that, because I laughed when I read it.

The 2008 legislative session is less than a day old and already feuds have been resumed and scabs picked.

Speaker Glenn Richardson led returning House members in overriding a dozen vetoes Gov. Sonny Perdue had handed down after the end of the raucous 2007 session. The revived bills were mostly of marginal importance, dealing with minor tax breaks and budgeting procedures, but the purpose was to lay down a gauntlet before the governor – telling him, in effect, “You’re not the boss of me!”

The override votes passed by a wide margin, typically 155-16, but there were a handful of holdouts each time, aside from Perdue’s floor leaders. Rep. Wendell Willard, R-Sandy Springs, for instance, voted against overturning several of the tax-break vetoes, he says, because he accepted the governor’s position that the state budget couldn’t afford them all.

Although there was little discussion while the votes were being taken, Richardson did take the opportunity to jab at his Senate colleagues, saying he expected them to “shirk their constitutional responsibilities” by not taking immediate action on the overrides.

By not taking a vote on the overrides, the Senate increases its leverage to gain Perdue’s support for some measures it wants. We’ll see what those might be later this week.

Sen. Eric Johnson has pitched his own plan for reforming property taxes and it’s nowhere as extreme as Speaker Glenn Richardson’s effort to simply get rid of ‘em. Under EJ’s plan, your residential assessment would not go up until you sell the property.

As Johnson tells it:

Georgia homeowners have had no protection from ‘backdoor’ tax increases, and their ability to pay is not tied to the tax,” said Sen. Johnson. “This amendment would protect homeowners with a sliding homestead exemption that would, in essence, freeze their property taxes until the home sold.

Some cities and counties already have this scheme in place, including Johnson’s own Chatham County, and it’s intended to address the real problem of retirees who can’t afford to stay in their rapidly appreciating homes because of skyrocketing property taxes.

The plan works something like this: When you buy a house (or when the law goes into effect, whichever comes first), your assessment is frozen and your annual tax bill never increases for as long as you live there. However, when the property is sold (or inherited), the assessment is adjusted to fit the current value and all of the taxes that went uncollected while you owned the property is skimmed off the top of the sales price by the county tax collector.

The only downside for the homeowner is that he has to pay several years’ worth of taxes in one huge chunk. But hey — pay now or pay later, there are no free rides.

The adjustment may be rougher for the city or county, which presumably will see its tax revenues fall for the first few years of the program.

But hey, dreaming about tax ponies will mitigate the risk of recession. How long before we hear the Stache say that?

— flackattack at Tondee’s Tavern predicts House Speaker Glenn Richardson will cite the state’s economic downturn as another reason to support his tax overhaul.

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“My wife and I both approached the podium during the period when remarks of citizens are permitted, but were physically blocked by the police chief at the direction of the Council,” Gravitt continued.

Gravitt says that he plans to file a lawsuit against the ban and also seek a temporary restraining order against its enforcement.

— Andre at Georgia Politics Unfiltered quoting Alan Gravitt, who says he was banned from speaking during the public comment portion of a College Park City Council meeting.

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Greenovation is a mash-up of green + renovation and I’m telling you it’s hot, HoT, HOT, in Hotlanta.

— EcoHome Guy on eco-friendly home renovation in Atlanta.

‘Our friend at Peach Pundit, Erick? What’s Erick’s last name? He criticized the gang or some of his people did, because we don’t talk enough about local politics and we’re not specific enough. And you know he closed up his shop Tuesday for Thanksgiving and we’re here talking politics. I want him to know that.’

– Georgia Gang’s Dick Williams, as quoted by GriftDrift. Peach Pundit was, in fact, regularly updated during the holiday week.

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A local television news investigation last week uncovered the names of more than one hundred Georgia law enforcement officials who have been arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol (DUI). WGCL-TV found evidence that these officers sought — and in many cases received — special treatment.Offenders included both low and high-ranking officers.

– An excerpt from a disturbing story at TheNewspaper.com, quoting a WGCL-TV CBS-46 story, as quoted by Jeff Emanuel at Peach Pundit.

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“The state is being governed through the prism of a Republican primary,” he said. “When that happens, some of the more radical ideas become viable.”

-- AJC.com’s Political Insider, quoting state Sen. David Adelman, D-Atlanta. Adelman was apparently referring to the Glenn Tax.

For weeks now, House Speaker Glenn Richardson, R-Hiram, has been exuding legislative machismo and single-minded drive while stumping for his plan to kill property taxes in Georgia. Today, however, in Macon, came the first sign that his once-steely resolve may be buckling in the face of increasing criticism and political pressure.

According to the Macon Telegraph, the speaker hinted at a Rotary Club meeting that he may not actually try to exterminate every property tax in Georgia, just those levied by school systems. The article portrays him as parsing his words for maximum change-your-mind weaseling room:

Asked later if this relatively casual mention of the lower figure meant a plan could bubble up to change school funding and leave other property taxes in place, Richardson said “it’s possible.”

They say you can’t fight City Hall. Well, Richardson’s plan was an attack on every city hall in the state, and all 159 county commissions as well. That’s a hard fight to win. It makes much more sense, for a tactical perspective, to limit your opponents to local school boards, whose members typically don’t wield the same level of political clout as mayors and county chairmen. Also, schools tariffs often account for the lion’s share of homeowners’ tax bills.

If Richardson is planning a retreat, it could be a canny move.

According to InsiderAdvantage, House Speaker Glenn Richardson is so hoppin’ mad over the spiraling costs of Brian Nichols’ legal defense that he plans to launch an investigation.

During a fundraiser at the Cobb Energy Center, Richardson announced to the crowd of something over 200 people that he’s appointed a special committee to look into the costs of the Nichols trial and the dollars that have been poured into it. It will be chaired by a trusted lieutenant, House Whip Barry Fleming.

Not a huge surprise there. GOP leaders have had their knickers in a wad over Nichols for weeks, including Sen. Eric Johnson, R-Savannah, as we blogged earlier.

In an update, IA scribe Dick Pettys writes that the speaker confirmed a rumor that had been circling within the ranks: that the committee would even consider impeachment proceedings against Fulton County Superior Court Judge Hilton Fuller, who has ordered the state public defender’s office to pony up more money for Nichols’ defense team.

Certainly, he picked the right man for the job in Barry “Combover” Fleming, a civil litigator who spends much of his time defending insurance companies from workers’ comp claims and has little use for criminal due process — especially when it comes to death-penalty cases. Last session, he floated a bill to allow convicted murderers to be executed even if three jury members disagreed.

Of interest is Peach Pundit’s refreshingly clear-eyed and well-informed take on the situation, which argues that the current mess is as much prosecutors’ fault as it is that of the judge or defense attorneys.