Georgia Tipsheet

President Barack Obama and Colorado Democratic Sen. Michael Bennet will travel to Georgia in mid May for a high dollar fundraiser as the guest of Atlanta Falcons owner Arthur Blank, according to a Democratic party official with knowledge of the event.

The May 19 brunch, to be held at the Atlanta headquarters of the Arthur Blank Family Foundation, will benefit the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, which has expressed tempered interest in Georgia’s 2014 U.S. Senate contest.

A Democratic official confirmed the event in an email to Tipsheet, but could not provide details on the cost of entry. Inquiries to Blank aides and other event organizers were not immediately returned.

Along with Blank, whose nonprofit has primarily contributed to Democratic candidates and causes since 2004, the president will be welcomed to Georgia by two of the state’s most prominent Democrats, Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed and former Gov. Roy Barnes.

Obama last visited Georgia in February as part of a two-state southern swing to drive support for the legislative agenda he unveiled at the State of the Union address earlier this year.

The May fundraiser was first reported by Creative Loafing.

UPDATE: Mayor Reed reacted strongly Wednesday to Creative Loafing’s report, accusing the altweekly of taking a “cheapshot” at the president’s expense by not mentioning the “purpose” of the southern jaunt.

@thomaswheatley what a cheapshot.You forgot to mention the purpose of the President’s visit is to give the commencement speach @ Morehouse.

— Kasim Reed (@KasimReed) April 24, 2013

The article’s author, CL news editor Thomas Wheatley, said the event’s invitation made no mention of the Morehouse commencement address, but amended his story at the mayor’s behest.

- James Richardson

A proposed public-private partnership to build a new $1.2 billion stadium for the Atlanta Falcons would leave taxpayers responsible for one-third of the cost, an official with knowledge of the negotiations said Monday.

Frank Poe, the executive director of the Georgia World Congress Center, said a public forum in Atlanta on Monday night that taxpayers would maintain full ownership of the venue despite assuming only a fraction of the liabilities.

“The public sector will own 100 percent of the new stadium for 30 cents on the dollar,” Poe said.

Under a deal brokered by the Georgia World Congress Center, the state-owned convention center that manages the Falcon’s current home, and team owner Arthur Blank, the remaining two-thirds funds would come by way of the private sector.

Both the NFL and Falcons would make sizable contributions to that kitty, Poe said.

State lawmakers from the Atlanta area have proposed raiding hotel-motel tax collections to fund the state’s contribution, though a recent poll by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution found 67 percent opposed to using hotel tax revenues for the project.

The Falcons’ existing home, the Georgia Dome, was completed twenty years ago at a cost of some $214 million to taxpayers. Under that framework, the entirety of the project was funded by state revenue.

- James Richardson