Georgia
Abrams seeks to end unlimited donations to Georgia’s Kemp
ATLANTA – Democrat Stacey Abrams’ marketing campaign requested a federal choose on Wednesday to close down limitless contributions to a committee managed by Republican incumbent Brian Kemp.
The submitting is but extra litigation over the constitutionality of a 2021 Georgia regulation that enables sure prime elected officers and social gathering nominees to create “management committees” that may increase marketing campaign funds with out limits and coordinate spending with campaigns.
The choose earlier denied a request by Abrams to begin taking limitless quantities earlier than she clinches the Democratic nomination on Could 24.
Gov. Brian Kemp at a public signing of a invoice permitting folks to hold handguns with no license in Georgia. (FOX 5 Atlanta)
Kemp narrowly beat Abrams in 2018, and they might match up once more if Kemp survives a Republican major problem from former U.S. Sen. David Perdue and others.
LOEFFLER, GREATER GEORGIA QUESTION FAIRNESS IN APS VOTER REGISTRATION EVENTS
The regulation permits the governor and lieutenant governor, opposing main social gathering nominees, and each social gathering caucuses within the state Home and Senate to type management committees. Donors can provide as a lot as they need, whereas they’ll’t straight give candidates for statewide workplace greater than $7,600 for a major or basic election and $4,500 for a runoff election. Opponents say the regulation unconstitutionally favors incumbents over challengers, as a result of they’ll increase limitless sums for years forward of an election.
Abrams’ new transfer is hardly a shock. U.S. District Choose Mark Cohen instructed her legal professionals throughout an April 11 listening to that the correct path to problem the Georgia regulation was to go after Kemp’s Georgians First committee. Days later, Cohen rejected the marketing campaign’s request to permit Abrams to lift limitless cash by way of her One Georgia committee earlier than the Could 24 major, regardless that Abrams is unopposed for the Democratic nomination.
Cohen on Wednesday shortly agreed to incorporate Georgians First within the swimsuit, with Abrams saying Cohen ought to ban the Kemp committee “from soliciting or accepting contributions except and till Gov. Kemp is formally chosen because the Republican Celebration’s nominee for governor of Georgia, or alternatively, till plaintiffs are permitted to lift and spend marketing campaign funds by way of One Georgia on the identical phrases as Georgians First.”
A spokesperson for Kemp declined to remark.
Throughout the April 11 listening to, Abrams’ marketing campaign supervisor, Lauren Groh-Wargo, contributed $25 to Kemp’s committee on-line to show to Cohen that the group was nonetheless taking cash. That might now grow to be one of many final contributions till after Kemp turns into the nominee.
Perdue already sued over the regulation, saying it was unfair that Kemp might increase and spend limitless sums within the Republican major whereas Perdue couldn’t. As a result of there are extra candidates, the Republicans won’t decide a nominee till after a June runoff.
Cohen dominated in February that Kemp couldn’t spend any more cash from the committee on his major marketing campaign. However he mentioned the committee might proceed to obtain contributions and spend cash in assist of different public officers in accordance with marketing campaign finance legal guidelines. Kemp has appealed the ruling.
Throughout the April 11 listening to, Cohen mentioned it will have made extra sense if Abrams had sued to close down the incumbent’s means to lift cash.
“Why are you not asking me to close down Kemp’s management committee?” the choose requested, outlining the trail Abrams took Wednesday.
Regardless of a sworn assertion from Democratic Celebration of Georgia chair Nikema Williams that the social gathering already considers Abrams to be its standard-bearer, Cohen dominated that state regulation says she will be able to’t be the nominee till after Could 24.
“This court docket is not going to rewrite Georgia regulation to allow One Georgia to face in the identical sneakers as a management committee that, in plaintiffs’ view, is working in violation of the First Modification,” Cohen wrote in his order. He mentioned Abrams’ request to be allowed to lift cash underneath a regulation that she contends is unconstitutional was an “untenable choice.”
Georgia
U.S. News & World report says this Georgia favorite is one of the best restaurants to work for
Former Georgia football coach Mark Richt discusses “Chick Fil A Dawg Bowl 2024”
Former Georgia football coach Mark Richt discusses “Chick Fil A Dawg Bowl 2024” and his fundraiser to raise money for Parkinson’s and Chron’s research.
Chick-fil-A has been recognized as one of the best companies to work for in Georgia and the United States, according to U.S. News and World Report.
The company, which was founded in 1946, has been praised for its employee benefits and its commitment to creating a positive work environment.
Chick-fil-A is known for its friendly customer service and its delicious chicken sandwiches. The company has over 10,000 employees and is a major employer in the state of Georgia.
Why is Chick-fil-A the best restaurant to work for in Georgia?
According to the report, the top benefit that is provided is medical insurance. On a scale from 1 to 5, here are some of its ratings:
- Quality of pay: 3
- Stability: 4
- Work life balance: 5
Who founded Chick-fil-A?
The trio behind Chick-Fil-A is the Cathy family and siblings are Bubba, Dan, and Trudy.
For more information, visit usnews.com.
Vanessa Countryman is the Trending Topics Reporter for the the Deep South Connect Team Georgia. Email her at Vcountryman@gannett.com.
Georgia
Your Georgia Power bill will increase in January. State says hike necessary ‘to keep grid going.’
ATLANTA, Ga. (Atlanta News First) – In January, your Georgia Power bill will increase by 3.5%.
That adjustment equates to a $5.85 increase on each monthly bill for the average resident using 1,000 kilowatt hours of energy, according to a Georgia Power spokesperson.
The Georgia Public Service Commission approved the rate increase in mid-December, following similar rate increases in 2023 and 2024.
These annual rate increases were orchestrated as part of a 2022 agreement between the commission and the utility company.
“No one wants a rate increase, but in order to keep the grid going, we have to fund it,” said Commissioner Tim Echols.
Echols said the board negotiated the rate increases to occur annually rather than all at once in 2022, to help limit the impact on Georgia consumers.
He said the state approved 60% of what Georgia Power was seeking in their proposed rate adjustments.
Echols commiserated with customers experiencing higher energy bills.
“We’ve had too many rate increases over the last three years,” Echols said.
Some customers voiced frustration over a separate bill bump this summer.
Georgia Power is expected to make $306 million in additional revenue from the January rate hike, down from the originally projected $400 million estimate in 2022, according to a state spokesperson.
“Another increase in January, so I’m mentally preparing and trying to budget for that to kind of see what that shock is going to be like,” said one Georgia Power customer named Marcus.
A Georgia Power spokesperson told Atlanta News First the company is committed to keeping utility bills affordable and said the average Georgia Power customer pays 15% less than the national average on their energy bills.
“As much as you hate having your power bill going up a few dollars, you would really hate rolling blackouts,” said Echols, who said maintaining a reliable power system is his top priority as a commissioner.
The rate increase comes as Southern Company, Georgia Power’s parent company, is reporting notable profits.
In an October earnings report, Southern Company reported earnings of $3.9 billion, compared with $3.1 billion for the same period in 2023.
The company said those earnings were partially offset by increased expenses and taxes.
A Georgia Power spokesperson also recognized the profit earnings by Southern Company, attributing the “high performance throughout the year” to weather and growth across the system, they said in a statement to Atlanta News First.
“Our parent company, Southern Company, has reported high performance throughout this year, largely due to weather and growth across our system,” the Georgia Power spokesperson said.
Said Echols: “I feel like the investments have made Georgia a more reliable place to live and to work.”
On Tuesday, a Georgia Power spokesperson pointed to customer assistance programs for those struggling to keep up with their energy bills.
Earlier this year, the utility company expanded an income-qualified discount program for those with limited incomes and in need of financial resources.
Copyright 2024 WANF. All rights reserved.
Georgia
2 Georgia men among federal death row inmates spared by President Joe Biden
ATLANTA – Two of the federal inmates on death row whose lives have been spared by President Joe Biden are from the state of Georgia.
Biden commuted the sentences of 37 of the 40 people on federal death row on Monday morning, converting their punishments to life imprisonment.
PREVIOUS STORY: Biden gives life in prison to most federal death row inmates: What to know
Those two inmates from Georgia are Meier Jason Brown and Anthony Battle.
FULL LIST OF INMATES
Battle was convicted and sentenced to death in 1997 for killing a prison guard. He was the first Georgia man to receive a federal death sentence after Congress restored capital punishment in 1988.
Battle was sentenced to die after he killed 31-year-old guard D’Antonio Washington. Battle, who was serving a life sentence for the 1987 murder of his wife, repeatedly struck Washington in the back of the head with a hammer at the Atlanta Federal Penitentiary.
According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, when Battle was given a chance at the end of his trial to ask jurors to spare his life, he told them that Washington “died like a dog.”
Brown was convicted and sentenced to death in 2003 for the fatal stabbing of a postal worker.
Brown was sentenced to death by a federal jury in Savannah.
On Nov. 30, 2002, Brown killed 48-year-old postmistress Sallie Gaglia during a robbery. He reportedly stabbed her 10 times.
In a statement, Biden said, “I’ve dedicated my career to reducing violent crime and ensuring a fair and effective justice system.”
“Today, I am commuting the sentences of 37 of the 40 individuals on federal death row to life sentences without the possibility of parole,” Biden continued. “These commutations are consistent with the moratorium my administration has imposed on federal executions, in cases other than terrorism and hate-motivated mass murder.”
Biden also said that he condemns the murders and grieves for the victims, but he was guided by his conscience and his experience as a public defender, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, vice president, and president. He added that he is “convinced more than ever that we must stop the use of the death penalty at the federal level.”
With Biden’s move, there are now just three federal inmates still facing execution.
They are Dylann Roof, who carried out the 2015 racist slayings of nine Black members of Mother Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, South Carolina; 2013 Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev; and Robert Bowers, who fatally shot 11 congregants at Pittsburgh’s Tree of Life Synagogue in 2018, the deadliest antisemitic attack in U.S. history.
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