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Georgia Ethics Commission Move Cases Ahead Against Abrams-Backed Groups

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Georgia Ethics Commission Move Cases Ahead Against Abrams-Backed Groups


Georgia gubernatorial Democratic candidate Stacey Abrams speaks during a campaign rally on March 14, 2022, in Atlanta, Georgia.

Georgia gubernatorial Democratic candidate Stacey Abrams speaks throughout a marketing campaign rally on March 14, 2022, in Atlanta, Georgia.
Picture: Anna Moneymaker (Getty Photos)

The Georgia Ethics Fee has determined there’s possible trigger to maneuver ahead with a case towards two Stacey Abrams-backed teams noting they probably violated marketing campaign finance legal guidelines, Bloomberg studies.

Georgia regulation states teams advocating for candidates should disclose contributions and expenditures repeatedly. The commissions authorised motions saying The New Georgia Mission and the New Georgia Mission Motion Fund violated legal guidelines and probably raised and spent hundreds of thousands of {dollars} again in 2018 when Abrams first ran for Georgia’s governor’s seat.

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The Republican-dominant physique acknowledged that every group raised $4.2 million and spent $3 million throughout Abrams’s 2018 marketing campaign and will have registered as unbiased political committees and publicly disclosed the cash.

As a rebuttal, the legal professionals for the New Georgia Teams say the cash was spent on working bills. The Atlanta-Structure Journal additionally factors out the teams say canvassing was achieved as a sub-contractor to a political committee working for Abrams, which disclosed it on its filings with the state.

The argument is as a result of The New Georgia Mission and Motion Fund acted as sub-committees, they didn’t have to disclose cash to the state. Attorneys from the fee fliers for Democratic candidates the undertaking handed out making an attempt to show the teams weren’t appearing as a nonprofit however was making an attempt to affect voters.

If a willpower goes towards the teams after a choose provides their advice, it might end in some of the appreciable fines in state historical past. That is all earlier than Georgians go to the polls in a few months to resolve who their subsequent governor can be.

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The Chief authorized officer of the New Georgia Mission Motion Fund, Aklima Khondoker, claims the group has been unfairly focused.

From the Atlanta-Journal Structure:

“Our organizations are being focused for alleged transparency considerations with nothing however outdated tweets for proof. “In the meantime, allies of Brian Kemp created so-called management committees that may settle for limitless quantities from secret sources. Briefly, we’re not towards accountability, however we’re towards hypocrisy.”

Khondoker is referring to a Kemp-backed change in marketing campaign finance regulation permitting limitless contributions to move to “management committees.” Abrams filed swimsuit for entry to all these committees, which Kemp has partaken in. New Georgia Mission chair Francys Johnson is not shocked the fee resolve to rule this fashion.

“Completely unsurprised,” Johnson mentioned. “We’re not shocked that this fee has been weaponized to discourage the work of the New Georgia Mission, however make no mistake about it, we’re resolved to proceed the battle to ensure each Georgian can take part.”



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U.S. News & World report says this Georgia favorite is one of the best restaurants to work for

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U.S. News & World report says this Georgia favorite is one of the best restaurants to work for


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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.

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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.

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Your Georgia Power bill will increase in January. State says hike necessary ‘to keep grid going.’

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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.

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“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.

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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.

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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.

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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.



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2 Georgia men among federal death row inmates spared by President Joe Biden

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2 Georgia men among federal death row inmates spared by President Joe Biden


 (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images) (Getty Images)

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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.”

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“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.”

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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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