Update: Noon, March 16, 2022: SB 601 failed to see final passage on the senate floor yesterday by a vote of 20-29. More here.
See the red asterisk to the left of the names of members who voted “do pass.”
Much more in this here.
Education and Youth
Blog Page
File for book: SB 601, Steve Tippins, Butch Miller “school choice!”
A phone conversation with the Senate President Pro Tem’s Chief of Staff, Steve Tippins
12:05 PM MARCH 9, 2022. I just got the promised call from Steve Tippins, Sen Butch Miller’s Chief of Staff who said he is pretty comfy with the unworkable and poorly researched language (his, apparently) they concocted on almost excluding illegal alien students from SB 601. He did not want to talk about the illegal alien parents who would be involved in handling state money and could easily have oversight on the spending rules. Tippens told me he was getting calls from members who don’t want to deal with the illegal immigration issue at all. For clarity, I asked him “you mean you are hearing from senate members who do not want to answer questions about excluding illegal aliens from Sen Miller’s “school choice” bill?” – “yes,” was his answer. It was very enlightening. But not surprising.
Tippins allowed that he would check with “lawyers here” to ask if they agreed with my recommended fix – which he judged far too involved even though he would not let me finish my short explanation of what needed to be done. I did not ask if he would be checking with the same lawyers who helped him create the unworkable “exclusion” wording in the bill now. I was assured that SB 601 is meant to become law and not a campaign ploy.
He told me he wanted any change on the illegal immigration topic in “school choice!” to be “as surgical as possible” – meaning he didn’t want to draw attention to that matter in SB 6o1. There is more.
While I have only been involved in drafting numerous pieces of legislation (many of those bills are now law) and immigration politics under the Gold Dome since 2005, this was the most incredibly arrogant conversation I have ever had with any staffer – or legislator. It was very educational. SMH
dak
SB 601 “school choice!” passes senate committee this morning with zero public comment allowed (Sen. Chuck Payne, Chairman) – still no workable exclusion for illegal aliens
Ecstatic supporters of SB 601 pose with Sen Miller after his “school choice!” bill passes out of committee March 8, 2022.
Update: noon, March 16, 2022 – SB 601 failed to see final passage on the senate floor yesterday by a vote of 20-29. It’s dead. Also of note: Sen Jason Anavitarte voted “YES do pass” in committee but then voted “NO” on the floor after we sent this column to the entire GOP Senate caucus. More here.
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Update: A phone conversation with the Senate President Pro Tem’s Chief of Staff, Steve Tippins
12:05 PM MARCH 9, 2022. I just got the promised call from Steve Tippins, Sen Butch Miller’s Chief of Staff who said he is pretty comfy with the unworkable and poorly researched language (his, apparently) they concocted on almost excluding illegal alien students from SB 601. He did not want to talk about the illegal alien parents who would be involved in handling state money and could easily have oversight on the spending rules. Tippens told me he was getting calls from members who don’t want to deal with the illegal immigration issue at all. For clarity, I asked him “you mean you are hearing from senate members who do not want to answer questions about excluding illegal aliens from Sen Miller’s “school choice” bill?” – “yes,” was his answer. It was very enlightening. But not surprising.
Tippins allowed that he would check with “lawyers here” to ask if they agreed with my recommended fix – which he judged far too involved even though he would not let me finish my short explanation of what needed to be done. I did not ask if he would be checking with the same lawyers who helped him create the unworkable “exclusion” wording in the bill now. I was assured that SB 601 is meant to become law and not a campaign ploy.
He told me he wanted any change on the illegal immigration topic in “school choice!” to be “as surgical as possible” – meaning he didn’t want to draw attention to that matter in SB 6o1. There is more.
While I have only been involved in drafting numerous pieces of legislation (many of those bills are now law) and immigration politics under the Gold Dome since 2005, this was the most incredibly arrogant conversation I have ever had with any staffer – or legislator. It was very educational. SMH
dak
Text of SB 601 here.
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Update: My favorite exchange is when Sen Miller tells Sen. Jackson that the legislature may not a budget any money to the “school choice!” project that so many people think is going to allow all K-12 students in GA to access state funds for private schools.
“Senator Jackson: (04:47)
What’s the estimated cost? this how much do you think this will…
Sen. Butch Miller, “Mr. Pro Tem”: (04:50)
Well, it’s just within appropriation. So it might be, I mean, they might not appropriate anything.”
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Our view is that providing taxpayer funded benefits not already mandated by federal law to illegal aliens does not represent conservative values.
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SB 601 passed out of its senate committee about 10:00 AM this morning. I will post a transcript of the hearing and access to video soon.
Update: Video here then March 8, 2022 then 27:26 on the counter.
Update: Transcript cost to me: $57.50. Total time for all this: 15 hours.
Audio: at player below.
- Related: American Federation for Children & Corey A. DeAngelis include illegal alien children and “parents” in model legislation for “school choice!”
It is important to share the fact that many well-funded “conservative” groups in Georgia are pushing hard for “school choice!” and leaving out many of the realities of the actual legislation. Some do not care about illegal immigration. Others, many others, say about the inclusion of illegal aliens in private school benefits that “if we have to educate them, we may as well give them the best education we can…”
The sound you may hear is the stampede from the southern border into the increasingly welcoming Republican state of Georgia.
Unless the Georgia state senate leadership makes some easy changes to SB 601 (the ‘Georgia Educational Freedom Act‘) the Republican-ruled upper chamber may be about to pass a bill that will include illegal alien students and “parents” in state-funded access to a private K-12 school education.
In his SB 601, Senator Butch Miller has adopted most of the model legislation language being pushed nationwide by the American Federation for Children that was contained in the now failed HB 999 and HB 60 from Rep Wes Cantrell. As we wrote yesterday, Miller’s bill was dropped in the senate on Thursday, March 3, assigned to the senate Education and Youth Committee on Friday, March 4 and scheduled for an 8:00 AM hearing on Monday, March 7. Apparently time ran out on the Monday hearing and the bill was heard and quickly passed out 6-4 this morning in a 9:00 AM committee meeting. Although there were at least two pages of names on the sign-up sheet to speak on the bill, no public comment was allowed.
I was signed up (on page 2) to speak against passage of the bill in its current form and was ready to offer a real “fix”- and alternate language. Again: SB 601 was passed out of Dalton Sen. Chuck Payne’s Education and Youth committee without any public comment. This is an increasingly common occurrence in Republican committees under the Gold Dome.
Fact: Many, if not most, supporters of the “school choice!” bill – including many legislators, do not know what is in it.
Below I list some of the points I intended to share with the committee and the public if I had been allowed to speak.
- According to the U.S. Dept. of Homeland Security, Georgia is home to more illegal aliens than Arizona. And the leftist GBPI says we host more illegal aliens than green card holders.
- “The news” tells us that lots more are on their way here.
- Illegal immigration, like elections, has consequences.
- This bill does not allow an unlimited number of K-12 students to access the $6000 scholarship to attend private school. The term “subject to appropriations…” is written in various places in the bill. This means the number of students who will receive the promised state funding to pay towards a private school education is limited to how much money is allocated from the budget by the legislature. Put another way, a lot of students are going to be left out of the promised taxpayer-funded private school benefits.
- The above fact is easily illustrated by the prescribed method of deciding who is chosen for benefits when funding runs out: See lines 220-224 for that method; It’s a lottery.
- Why would legislators vote to pass a bill that will surely put illegal aliens in front of Americans in the line for the touted “school choice” process?
- Lines 71- 75 in the bill do not spell out a real exclusion in state scholarship benefits for illegal aliens. The language is poorly researched and written, incomplete and unworkable.
- The 1982 Plyler v Doe SCOTUS decision says states must provide a K-12 education to all children regardless of immigration status in public schools. It does not in any way require that taxpayers fund a private school education for illegal aliens.
- K-12 students are not the only concern in SB 601. According to the language of the bill, it is the “parents” (“biological parent, legal guardian, custodian,” or other person with legal authority to act on behalf of a student”) who have the power to handle and distribute the state funds deposited in an account for the student. “Parents” also make up the committee that would be authorized to have oversight power on the funding approval process for expense items.
- There are 307 lines of text in the bill detailing every conceivable action and responsibility involved in the “school choice!” process. There are only 4 lines that allegedly deal with keeping illegal aliens out of the system. That is because the model legislation from Corey DeAnglelis and the American Federation for Children intentionally contains no section or text on excluding illegal aliens. Somebody in Georgia who doesn’t know the immigration issue tried to create a “fix.”
- Because there its no real language that would exclude illegal aliens in the current version of the bill (LC 49 0911) it can and would likely happen that Georgia taxpayers watch as their money goes to put illegal alien students in private schools while Americans are left behind in public schools and while illegal alien “parents” distribute state funds and have official power over state money and the scholarship program.
UPDATE, 8:10 PM: I forgot to include all of this: “To repeat: A landmark SCOTUS decision in 1982 (Plyler v Doe) requires states to offer K-12 education in public schools (not private schools) regardless of the student’s immigration status. It also prevents legally asking a K-12 student about immigration status – same for the student’s parents. You can read a summary or the syllabus.
I tried repeatedly to get a minute with the Lt. Governor’s Chief of Staff Macy McFall to explain all this but never received the hoped for phone call after two visits to the LG’s office today. I was successful in getting about a minute with Sen Miller and a staffer at an elevator to make it clear that his bill does not exclude illegal aliens. I have not yet received the promised follow-up phone call. Update, 8:43 AM March 9: I just called the Lt. Gov’s office and tried to give a heads up on all this to CoS Macy McFall – I got the brush-off. I sent her and other staffers this page via email. Update, 10:40 AM, March 9: Ms. McFall has emailed me to say she is reviewing my write-up.
Thank you Senator Mike Dugan
I am grateful to Senate Majority Leader Mike Dugan for interrupting his lunch to speak to me in the hall so that I could give him and his CoS a heads up. My announced goal was to insure that there are no pleas of ignorance if the Republican senate passes SB 601 without major changes involving illegal immigration.
We have a real “fix”
While I am happy to send line-specific language, the general idea is that the scholarship should be made available to U.S. citizens and Lawful Permanent Residents only. The term “lawful presence” should be struck and there must be wording that requires the “parent (s)” of the eligible student to provide proof of the same status as the student.
I wrote it up here more than month ago.
It’s back! “School choice!” lives on in new senate legislation – still no workable language to exclude illegal aliens #SB601
SB 601 from Sen Butch Miller was dropped in the state senate on Thursday, March 3 and assigned to the Education and Youth Committee on Friday, March 4. A meeting notice was posted for the bill in an 8:00 AM meeting on March 7, but we have learned the bill was not taken up today and will be heard in a 9:00 AM meeting Tuesday (tomorrow, March 8). In room 307, CLOB. Update: That meeting here.
“School choice” HB 999 & HB 60 were bad bills in large part because they did not exclude illegal aliens from the benefits created therein. We wrote about it here.
SB 601 takes a swing at excluding illegal aliens – but misses. The language is poorly researched, poorly written, incomplete and unworkable:
(line) 70 20-2B-3.
71 (a) A student shall qualify for a promise scholarship account under this chapter if:
72 (1) The student’s parent or parents currently reside within Georgia and are United States
73 citizens, or if not citizens, then lawfully present in the United States under federal
74 immigration law as substantiated by valid documentary evidence verified by the
75 Department of Homeland Security;
Repeat: This wording will not create a real or workable system for excluding illegal alien students from state K-12 financed private school education.
I have emailed and left a message for Sen. Miller on this topic this AM.
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Updated 3:00 PM
These two lines do not smell good at all:
246 (f) The commission may contract with a qualified nonprofit organization to administer the
247 program or specific functions of the program.
Latest Scandal: Alien Uses Money Stolen from Feds to Pay for EB-5 Visa
“He filed for seven loans in the Paycheck Protection and Economic Injury Disaster Loan programs, six of which were successful for $5,151,497…”
Some may regard it as bad enough that aliens are able to buy green cards with the aliens’ own money in the EB-5 (immigrant investor) program.
Others may think it worse that one can do so with borrowed money.
But most would agree that in the worst-case scenario an alien would seek a green card with money stolen from the federal government.
In a story not yet picked up by the financial media, this is exactly what happened in California last week. Reddy Raghav Budamala, 35, of Irvine, Calif., set up three shell companies with no operations, used them to “fraudulently obtain more than $5 million in COVID-relief” loans, some of which were forgiven by the feds, and then proceeded to make a $970,000 payment to the EB-5 program, according to a press release from the U.S. attorney in the central district of California.
Budamala must be a non-green card holder and a non-citizen or he would not have dealt with the EB-5 program. He also must have made an investment in the non-pooled investment part of the program given the dollar figure shown, because $500,000 investments were the norm in the part of the program shut down by Congress last summer. Details, usually found in the courts’ PACER files, are not available as a PACER file has not yet been set up for this case, though Budamala, regarded as a flight risk, is currently in jail.
Given his first name, Reddy, he is probably from South India, the home of many H-1Bs. And one of his companies, Hayventure LLC, filed for and got an H-1B certification in 2019, for a chief technology officer, according to myvisajobs. Perhaps that job was filled by Budamala.
According to the press release, he was a busy guy. He filed for seven loans in the Paycheck Protection and Economic Injury Disaster Loan programs, six of which were successful for $5,151,497, failed when he filed for a U.S. passport (suggesting, again, that he is a non-citizen), bought a (presumably modest) $597,585 property in chic Malibu, and opened a $3 million brokerage account. Federal agents searched his home in Irvine on February 25, and he was stopped at the U.S. Mexico border early the next morning.
As I have noted before, the EB-5 program attracts an interesting group of people.
Refugees before Americans in Georgia? Dustin Inman Society board member Inger Eberhart pushes for a vote on Rep Wes Cantrell’s HB 932
Update: HB 932 was denied a vote in the House Higher Ed committee and is dead for the year. It is possible for a Kamikaze legislator to try to attach it to a live bill.
“Many Georgians – including here at our house, want to see how many Republican votes HB 932 would get in the full House”
A version of the below essay originally posted on the subscription website Insider Advantage , Feb 28, 2022
Vote on HB 932 putting refugees ahead of Americans
by Inger Eberhart
Many thanks to Insider Advantage for the excellent, detailed coverage of last year’s House Special Committee on ‘Innovative Ways to Maximize Global Talent’ from D.A. King. With Rep Wes Cantrell as chairman, one of the bills created from those one-sided committee hearings, HB 932, is now pending in the House committee system at the state Capitol. Pro-enforcement, conservative voters should pay attention to it and watch to see if Higher Education committee Chairman Chuck Martin allows a vote.
In the interest of shining a light on “who’s who” in the Republican House caucus, I write urging Chairman Martin to hold a vote on that Rep Wes Cantrell-sponsored measure as soon as possible. As a proud conservative voter, I also urge the House Rules committee to pass HB 932 out to the floor for maximum exposure on recorded votes.
HB 932 comes from the partnership between business and the massive, fast-growing refugee resettlement industry here in Georgia, largely led by Darlene Lynch. It’s called “BIG.” and is well worth reader’s time to explore. Lynch organized and supervised the special committee that produced the bill. Cantrell was the sponsor of the Resolution that created that committee. The Resolution passed unanimously in the House last year.
Lynch also apparently organized the fourteen or so mostly foreign-born leftists who testified in favor of HB 932 passing out of the House Higher Education Committee last Wednesday. Armed with this knowledge, curious readers may want to also see the Georgia Chamber’s page on its “Global Talent Initiative” to get a larger view of the vast network aimed at expanding cheaper, foreign labor in Georgia.
For a close up exposure to the liberal logic used to justify putting refugees over Americans in Georgia, an easy-to-read transcript and a link to the video of the Higher Ed committee hearing is available on the Dustin Inman Society website.
Along with his cosponsors, Cantrell has put language into HB 932 pushed by the above-mentioned Darlene Lynch & Co. that changes the state law on residence- waiting periods for people who move to Georgia regarding instate tuition in our taxpayer-funded colleges. Currently all new residents must live here for a year to be eligible for the much lower instate college tuition rate.
Related: For academic year 2020-2021, the average tuition & fees for Colleges in Georgia is $4,739 for in-state and $17,008 for out-of-state.
Lynch and Cantrell are pushing for that waiting period to be eliminated for refugees, some Afghan citizens and immigrants who say they helped the U.S. in their home nations. The change would not affect Americans who move here from any other state. They would still have to wait a year to access the lower tuition rate.
Democrats are pushing the bill as “pro-immigrant” and at least some Republicans go out of their way to praise Cantrell and the bill.
In the recent hearing on HB 932 several Democrats vocalized their enthusiastic support for making Americans pay three times more public college tuition than an Afghan refugee in Georgia. Macon Republican Rep Dale Washburn joined in and was effusive in his admiration for the legislation with
“uh, thank you, Mr. Chairman. I wanna make the praise for this bill bipartisan. Uh, uh, thank you for bringing it. It’s an excellent bill, and certainly in my mind, it is the right thing to do for these people. And the added benefit is, is not only the right thing, it’s a good thing for Georgia and it makes sense in many ways.”
“Yeah. Well, it’s an excellent bill and uh, I hope we get a chance to vote yes on it, uh, soon.”
The liberal AJC reported on HB 932 but omitted the fact that Americans would not get the same financial break given to the foreigners.
Speaker Pro-Tem Jan Jones was originally a cosponsor on HB 932 until she removed her name from the bill after it gathered some attention created by the Dustin Inman Society.
While young Americans of all descriptions struggle to pay down student college debt and Georgia citizens watch inflation decimate their budgets, new refugees are supported largely by our tax dollars. Many Georgians – including here at our house – want to see how many Republican votes HB 932 would get in the full House.
So, I repeat my plea to House Higher Education Chairman Chuck Martin: from a Black conservative Georgia voter; Please grant Rep Dale Washburn’s wish and hold a committee vote on HB 932 as soon as possible.
We need more insight on “who’s who.”
Inger Eberhart is a board member and Communications Director, the Dustin Inman Society
HB 999 & HB 60 from Rep Wes Cantrell and the Cato Institute (via the Federation for Children) are as dead as Pancho Villa
March 18, 2022. These bills are officially dead.
Update: Feb 25: Hold the Happy Dance.
In two days, radio talker and part time conservative Erick Erickson has flipped from condemning the Federation for Children for sending the below mentioned flyer attacking Republicans who opposed the “school choice” HB 999 to doing exactly that himself. He is now urging voters to call Reps to revive the bill that does not actually exclude illegal alien students or illegal aliens parents from participating in the $6 k a yr K-12 scholarship. Neither is he telling listeners that it was the Cato-tied Federation for Children who supplied the model language for Cantrell’s bills.
Happy Dance here!
With special “thanks for the help!”” to Christy Riggins and Cory DeAngelis
More tomorrow. But HB 999 is dead and so is HB 60. To see our educational work on these bills use the search box and bill numbers on this website. An even more extensive list of groups that lobbied for these bills and cosponsors coming soon as well.
Related: More on Rep Wes Cantrell’s HB 60 & HB 999 – his secret verification system will not work
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An “educational” lobbying group killed their own legislation through direct mail, according to the AJC.
“A national advocacy group promoting school vouchers bombarded conservative Georgia voters with glossy mailers tying their Republican state legislator to Stacey Abrams and other “radical left” figures. It backfired in spectacular fashion.
Just days after the American Federation for Children financed the mailers in about 16 Republican-controlled legislative districts, House Speaker David Ralston told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution that the voucher proposal the group sought to pass is dead for the year.”
Popular “no-brainer” election integrity legislation, HB 228, apparently dead under the Gold Dome
Legislation would add verbiage“BEARER NOT U.S. CITIZEN – NOT VOTER ID” to Georgia drivers licenses and official ID Cards issued to foreigners
Gwinnett Republican Rep Bonnie Rich leads the opposition to HB 228
It was to be an easy fix to a needless gap in election integrity. Unless Republican voters take to the phones and email, it appears to be dead. Rep Charlice Byrd (R-Woodstock) tells us her House Bill 228 has nearly zero chance of seeing even a committee hearing in 2022. The bill has an impressive list of cosponsors and is wildly popular with conservative voters. That is not the case with establishment Republican leaders who are under the thumb of the Georgia Chamber of Commerce.
HB 228 is a simple, “belt and suspenders” bill that addresses voter ID security and the drivers licenses and ID Cards Georgia issues to foreigners here as immigrants, guest workers, foreign students – and about twenty thousand illegal aliens with DACA protection. The credentials I mention are labeled “LIMITED TERM” and almost exactly the same as the ones commonly issued to U.S. citizens. Not many people, including most legislators, have any clue what “LIMITED TERM” means. Explanation: the valid term of the credential is timed to expire when the holders visa or “green card” runs out or renews.
HB 228 corrects the startling fact that there is nothing in state law that says these ID documents are excluded from acceptance as “proper identification” for voting purposes.
Related: Rep Byrd’s most recent column from Insider Advantage on HB 228
Senior Republicans have been told to keep this bill from passing.
Last year the most vocal Capitol opponent of Rep. Byrd’s legislation was Republican Rep. Bonnie Rich (Suwanee). As a sub-committee Chair in the House Special Committee on Election Integrity she refused to allow a hearing on the bill. We hear rumors Rich has primary opposition in May. We hope that’s true. Then chairman of the full committee, Rep. Barry Fleming, was a hero to voter security advocates when he decided to preside over an abbreviated hearing for HB 228 himself. There was no vote and the amount of ignorance displayed and misinformation put out by Georgia officials in that hearing was amazing even to this long-time denizen of the Gold Dome.
Fleming has since been removed from his leadership of the committee and Republican Speaker David Ralston has installed a freshman to preside as Chairman. I haven’t taken the time to count, but I am told there are more House Reps serving as Chairmen who were elected in 2020.
The heated objections to Byrd’s bill from Rich were that it was unnecessary because “non-citizens cannot register to vote” – so there is no need to add wording to state law making foreigner’s drivers license or ID Card ID ineligible as voter ID. Rich’s absurd assertion is contradicted by NPR, the Associated Press and reports from Michigan on the Motor Voter registration process also used in Georgia.
We doubt it will change Rich’s attitude, but voters need to know that last year a woman who is not a U.S. citizen was fined for voting illegally in Georgia in 2012 and 2016 according to the liberal AJC in January.
Related: Written testimony in support of HB 228 from an immigrant, U.S. Army veteran
HB 228 also requires the warning “BEARER NOT U.S. CITIZEN – NOT VOTER ID” to be added to the front of the LIMITED TERM credentials. Also, as mail-in vote security, the Department of Driver Services would begin a system in which the first two characters of the drivers license/ID Card numbers be “NC” on the cards issued to non-citizens. We would catch up with Alabama on that one.
Rep. Rich says adding that wording to the ID credentials given to foreigners in Georgia is unreasonable and would be a modern day “scarlet letter.” House Republicans recently elected Rep Bonnie Rich Majority Caucus Chair.
Why are senior Republicans told to keep this bill from a floor vote where it would surely pass? Because it deals with drivers licenses and is seen as a step away from the goal of increasing the number of foreigners with legal driving ability to get to work to make Georgia “number one for business” for another year. Just ask the leftist Georgia Budget and Policy Institute – and Democrat Secretary of State candidate, Rep Bee Nguyen.
For those who want to try to save this no-brainer bill, we provide contact information for House Boss Speaker Ralston.
We can’t help but note that there is plenty of time for this same voter security language to be passed in the Senate but that no Republican there has dropped such a bill. Somebody please send up a flare if you hear anything about this bill from the newly created state Freedom Caucus?
Rep Wes Cantrell’s HB 60 has been withdrawn and recommitted to the House Education committee #KaseyCarpenter
We thank the adults in the House who finally listened to us. We hope they don’t screw it up again. After being asked, we sent corrective draft language and this.
HB 999 is still in the Education sub committee and can be repaired (or stopped) there.
Transcript GA Gov Brian Kemp on the Martha Zoller radio show – Feb 18, 2022
Video above from Kemp’s 2018 campaign
Georgia Gov Brian Kemp on the Martha Zoller radio show Feb 18, 2022. Transcription by Rev.com
Martha Zoller: (00:06)
It is the Martha Zoller show. Shaun [inaudible 00:00:08] here with me, and Governor Brian Kemp is here with me today. As he travels around Northeast Georgia, he’ll be, uh, heading over to Avocado’s today at 10:30 for a meet and greet and then you’ll be all over North Georgia today. Welcome, governor.
Brian Kemp: (00:24)
Hey, good morning, Martha.
Martha Zoller: (00:25)
So how-
Brian Kemp: (00:26)
It’s a great day to be in Northeast Georgia.
Martha Zoller: (00:28)
It is a great day to be in Northeast Georgia. So, um, how is the session going from your perspective?
Brian Kemp: (00:35)
Oh, I think it’s going great. You know, we were off and running with our agenda. A lot of other good things the legislature’s doing, whether it’s more work to go after street gangs in our state through funding at the Attorney General’s office and in the GBI. You know, mental health reform with Speaker Ralston has rolled out. Working on a just incredible budget to continue to support our educators and men and women in law enforcement and just a lot of other great things that we’re doing.
Martha Zoller: (01:02)
So I do have a concern about the level of spending. And while I know we don’t spend more than what we have, okay, I, I, I get concerned that on the other side of this high we’re on, which, you know, there will be another side at some point in time, d-… are… do you feel comfortable that we’ve got enough in the rainy day fund, and that we’re gonna have enough reserves, if anything, you know, if the economy… if we were to go to war with Ukraine and the economy tanks, who knows?
Brian Kemp: (01:32)
Well, that’s why we’re giving you back 1.6 billion, Martha. You know, the government’s got more than it needs right now. Is why I said in my state, the state, that we’re gonna return $1.6 billion to the taxpayers. Every taxpayer that paid taxes last year is gonna get at least $250 back. If you filed as a family, you’ll get 500. Uh, our fund balances are as full as they’ve ever been. Our reserve funds are as full as they’ve ever been, at the highest limit that the law allows.
Brian Kemp: (02:02)
Uh, you know, and we’re, we’re, we’re restoring austerity like for the university system of Georgia, but in return for that, they’re gonna waive a $500 semester fee that Georgia parents and Georgia students have been paying. So, we’re making, you know, substantial investments in the future of our state. But I’ll, I’ll remind you, when you take out high our education in Georgia, we still have the same number of state employees that we had in 2008. So we’re not growing government, we’re making it more efficient. We’re doing more with the people we got. We’re obviously having to pay them more in this market. That’s just the world that we’re in. Uh, but they’re also doing more. So they’re deserving of that.
Martha Zoller: (02:42)
You know, I know, and in your first election you talked a lot, we talked a lot about immigration reform and the things that needed to be done. And I, I don’t think that anybody could deny that, that the direction of all that has changed because of what’s been happening almost af- after, on the last 15 months at the border. So what is, you know, what should people expect as far as immigration reform in the state right now?
Brian Kemp: (03:09)
Well, I think the best thing that I can tell people is, look, we are in the fight at the Southern border. We’ve had national guard troops there, well over 100, over 200 at one point for well over a n-… year now. I’ve been there four different times, getting brief, briefs, investing with our troops that are doing a great job of supporting the border patrol. The problem is, the federal policy, as you know, right now is just a disaster. Uh, it’s gone from an immigration crisis to a mass migration, you know, this trauma event, quite honestly.
Brian Kemp: (03:43)
I mean, it’s, it’s, it’s terrible what’s happening. I mean, they’re using children down there as passports, the drugs cartels are. And, and is, you know, it’s really bad when drug cartels are moving people as much as they’re moving drugs, because they’re making just as much money doing that. And it’s all ’cause the Biden and, you know, abandoned president Trump’s policies [inaudible 00:04:05] working down there. Like building the wall, you know, returning people back to where they came from and making sure we had the proper number of, you know, personnel down there on the border. And that’s just not [inaudible 00:04:17] are right now. It’s the Republican governors that have been pushing back against that and doing everything that we can to help stop it.
Martha Zoller: (04:23)
So you and, you and Marty-
Brian Kemp: (04:26)
[crosstalk 00:04:26] airports.
Martha Zoller: (04:26)
Go ahead. Sorry. Governor?
Brian Kemp: (04:30)
We’ve been in-
Martha Zoller: (04:31)
Yeah, there you are. Are you there governor? Governor Kemp?
Brian Kemp: (04:39)
Yeah. Sorry. I got in a little bad spot.
Martha Zoller: (04:40)
That’s okay. I know the road very well (laughs). Listen-
Brian Kemp: (04:42)
Yeah. My apologies.
Martha Zoller: (04:42)
Uh, no, no worries. I wanted to also… you, you alluded to it about children coming across the border and, and also women coming across the border. You and, and Marty have been working very hard on, uh, the human trafficking issue and, and really, I think it’s slavery for the 21st century, this, this human trafficking issue that we’re dealing with. Um, tell us a little bit about that.
Brian Kemp: (05:09)
Well, we have been… I hope I still got you, Martha.
Martha Zoller: (05:11)
Yes.
Brian Kemp: (05:11)
Uh, Marty’s been doing as much as anybody in the country at the state level to end human trafficking and also support the victims. And we’ve done six, seven pieces of legislation now. We have, uh, the one we’re working on this year that will allow, that when these folks are arrested, they can’t just get out on any kind of bail. There has to be a superior court judge that will set to fail for that. No catch and release and, you know, just allowing people to get out, go right back to trafficking and, and doing modern day slavery, as you said. It’s horrible, uh, what’s going and on out there.
Brian Kemp: (05:42)
And it’s a lot more, uh, there’s more presence there than people realize, but the state of Georgia is really leading the country and the policy initiatives to end it, but also not only that, but helping support the victims like it’s expunging their records and other things, ’cause they’ve been forced into crimes, uh, in no fault of their own. And um, it’s good work we’re doing. And we got more to do in this session. We’ll, we’ll be continuing that.
Martha Zoller: (06:07)
So just give us an update on the campaign governor, and, and really what’s what it’s like traveling around the state, what you’re no stranger to. I mean, you’ve been traveling around this state for 15 years.
Brian Kemp: (06:19)
Well, it’s awesome. We’re going to, you know, Gainesville, Cornelia, Clayton and Cleveland today. Uh, we started out in Athens at a… did a great new habitat, humanity house on the official side of things. We’re on the campaign trail. The rest of the day I’ve got Marty, Amy Porter and the Lucy’s gonna be joining us later, and we’re just working extremely hard. We’re honored to be serving. We’re getting great feedback out there ’cause Georgians know that I’ve done exactly what I told them I would do. You know, I fought for life at the heartbeat. We’ve done adoption reform, foster care reform. We’re supporting our men and women in law enforcement.
Brian Kemp: (06:55)
We make government more efficient. You know, we’ve cut taxes, we’re supporting the military and our veterans with a veteran’s tax cut this year. And just, you know, continuing to do, we’re working on constitutional carry. You know, that’s something that I have campaigned on, and we’re just gonna continue doing what I promised people I would do. And, uh, you know, hadn’t even mentioned the economy, it’s as red hot as it’s ever been in Georgia. Lowest unemployment rate history of our state, uh, lowest of the 10 most popular states. And last year in a record year, we did projects and, you know, meeting counties around our state. 74% of the deals that we did were outside of the 10 Metro counties, making sure that places like Northeast Georgia and the hardworking folks there have great opportunity in this state.
Martha Zoller: (07:41)
Absolutely Governor Brian Kemp, good luck to you. And um, I won’t be able to come down because I’m on the air, but I will look forward to seeing you soon.
Brian Kemp: (07:51)
Thanks, Martha, [inaudible 00:07:53].
