First, for the national audience, just one more thought on the Signal stuff:
On Jan 1, 2024, SecDef Lloyd Austin, unbeknownst to anyone, went into a hospital. On January 3, his Deputy Secretary, on vacation, learned Austin was gone, but didn’t know he was in the hospital. On January 4, the Commander-in-Chief learned Austin was missing. Two wrongs don’t make a right, but don’t expect the GOP to toss Hegseth when the Democrats were loyal to Austin. Both can be wrong. But the GOP isn’t going to toss Hegseth after no one lost their jobs over the Afghanistan disaster or Austin being MIA, and it is profoundly silly of you to think they would. This isn’t about right and wrong. It’s about politics. And the GOP is not going to let the other side police who should and should not work in a GOP Administration. If you don’t like it, that’s on you. Spare me your lectures and whining. And you reporters who think someone should be fired helped set the conditions in which no one will be fired because of how you treated Afghanistan and Austin’s disappearance.
Now, on to the pressing matter.
Seventy-seven percent of the Georgia House of Representatives voted for H.B. 225, which would kill speed cameras in Georgia. It received majority support from both the Democrats and the Republicans.
Unfortunately, eleven Republican state senators, all separately, tell me that Lt. Governor Burt Jones is inclined to find a compromise solution to save the school speed cameras. These eleven members of the Senate Republican Conference tell me that the Lt. Governor is paying attention and seeking a compromise solution to preserve the cameras. Burt is a good guy, and I assume he is getting bad advice.
To put a finer point on it, one-third of the Republican Conference in the Georgia State Senate, point their fingers at a single man, saying the Lt. Governor is trying to split the baby — offer a compromise that would allow local governments to keep the cameras while looking like it would get rid of the cameras.
There are two pieces of legislation. HB 225 would kill the cameras. It needs to pass the Senate unamended. The camera lobbyists drafted another piece of legislation and will get it to the floor of the Senate. I’m led to believe the Lieutenant Governor, with two competing bills on the floor, will maneuver for a compromise.
By the way, Lt. Governor — several of these senators tell me you are worried about the optics of Democrats blaming you if a kid gets run over in front of a school after this bill is repealed. The bill passed with a bipartisan majority in the House and has Democratic votes in the Senate. There are likewise other solutions than cameras that do not amount to revenue schemes for local governments.
The speed camera lobbyists donated $150,000.00 to the Lieutenant Governor’s campaign coffers and $800,000.00 to the GOP overall. Relatedly, the Senate Transportation Committee just advanced HB 638, which expands the use of cameras in the state, this time in MARTA bus lanes. Many of the same lobbyists are pushing heavily for that bill, which is a Democrat effort that some Senate Republicans are signing on to because of the camera lobbyists.
It is alarming when fully one-third of the Republican Conference is telling me the Lieutenant Governor is where the holdup is on the legislation. Perhaps he is, as good leaders often are, serving as the fall guy for others, acting as Mitch McConnell has done in Washington, sparing some Republicans a difficult vote. But, having checked with members of the Senate, I know a majority support passage of HB 225 so it should not be a difficult vote.
According to the latest polling, 80% of the public opposes these cameras. However, it looks increasingly likely that the Georgia State Senate might side with the lobbyists against the citizens.
There is time for the Lieutenant Governor to stand with the people and support HB 225, which would kill the cameras. There’s no better way to show that he is with the people against special interests than to, as Donald Trump keeps doing in Washington, stand with the 80% against 20% — stand with the people against the monied interests.
You need to take action today and make your voice heard.
You need to tell your State Senator to oppose the cameras. Then you need to call the Lieutenant Governor at (404) 656-5030 and ask him to support HB 225 unamended. Do it today because the legislation gets considered in committee tomorrow.
To be very clear, for those in the Lt. Governor’s office who might read this, I’m up to ELEVEN state senators within the Republican Conference telling me that, at this point, it is Lt. Governor Burt Jones who will be responsible for the bill’s passage or failure. I’m a big fan of his, but I also think HB 225 is solid legislation that should pass unamended, and I’m way too familiar with staffers who overthink matters after being whispered to by loybbists.
Lt. Governor Jones, these are not back-bench members talking to me, but senior members of the Senate Republican Conference from the Alabama line to the Atlantic and the North Georgia Mountains to the Florida line telling me this. Why would they all tell me this?
Lt. Governor, you can speak up on the issue and support HB 225. It passed the House with bipartisan support of three-quarters of the chamber.
Call Burt Jones today at (404) 656-5030 and tell him to side with the people, not the lobbyists.
