Georgia Tipsheet

A late-morning presser saw House Speaker David Ralston layout details surrounding ethics reform legislation promised after Georgians overwhelmingly voiced support a cap on lobbyist gifts to lawmakers in both the Democratic and Republican primaries last July.

The move followed hints yesterday that the speaker’s proposal would drop at some point this week, and news early this morning confirmed speculation it would be today.

As expected, it’s centerpiece is a “total ban on lobbyist gifts to lawmakers.”

The prohibition applies to individual gifts given not solely to state lawmakers, but to every public official in the state, whilst allowing exceptions “offered to the entire General Assembly or individual chambers, caucuses or committees,” per the AJC’s report of the press conference.

Full text of the bill is set to become available for public consumption this afternoon.

In another not-to-subtle barb at the ethics reforms adopted into the rules of the state Senate, Ralston told the press it went farther than “gimmicks cloaked as reform.”

Changes within the Senate’s rules, which cap gifts from lobbyists at $100, are likely to be introduced as a separate piece of legislation.

Post-press conference, House Minority Leader Stacey Abrams said “important questions” remained, but the AJC noted that, overall, she “had no major complaints.”

Though he initially opposed changes to the current system, Ralston came out in favor of a full ban on gifts following last July’s vote.

“I have always said while I believe the current system is a good system because it does provide information and it’s open and transparent that if we didn’t have that system then a prohibition would be better than a cap, and I haven’t changed my mind,” he told the AJC shortly after last summer’s vote.

When asked about smattering of rumors that he was eyeing a bid for retiring Senator Saxby Chambliss’s seat, the speaker asked Channel 2’s Lori Geary: “Why would I want the demotion?”

Thus, that field has winnowed further.

-Brandon Howell

House leaders will unveil their ethics reform package as early as Tuesday, according to sources with knowledge of the leadership’s timetable.

House Speaker David Ralston has long been a vocal opponent of the $100 gift cap touted by a coalition of outside groups and lawmakers including state Senator Josh McKoon, and adopted into the Senate’s rules on the first day of session.

Allusions throughout the past few months have indicated that, whatever the actual language, the package will be keynoted by a blanket ban of individual lobbyist gifts to lawmakers.

Two weeks ago at the Georgia Chamber of Commerce’s Eggs and Issues Breakfast, Ralston dubbed the Senate’s reforms passed in the body’s rules package “more visor than cap.”

The plan caps gifts at $100 but included some exceptions, most if not all of which will be excluded from the House’s proposal. At a Monday speech to the Georgia Municipal Group, Ralston didn’t reveal the full scope of the proposal but noted it would feature “common-sense relief” for local elected officials.

Of the early hints, Governor Nathan Deal stated he felt “the expectation that there be higher accountability and levels of conduct should be applied to all levels of government.”

The Senate ethics package, which will likely be introduced as a separate bill, has won acclamation from Common Cause Georgia and Tea Party Patriots, the leading sources of outside pressure on the General Assembly to adopt restrictions on gifts from lobbyists.

Update: A press release from Speaker Ralston’s office confirmed that the proposal will be released today, “calling for a total prohibition on what lobbyists can spend while trying to influence legislators.” The release mentions the Senate’s plan in passing, stating that it “has many loopholes.”

-Brandon Howell

At this morning’s annual Eggs and Issues breakfast, House Speaker David Ralston jokingly tweaked the ethics reforms included in the state Senate’s rules, which cap lobbyist gifts at $100, albeit with some exceptions.

“I tease my friend that it was more of a sun visor than a cap that they adopted yesterday,” he stated in a remark directed at Lieutenant Governor Casey Cagle.

Cagle used a portion of his remarks to tout the reforms adopted by the Senate.

Post-bantering, Ralston laid out what he thought were a “couple of points that get lost in the discussion,” which included a critique of media coverage.

“What it boils down to is who is going to influence public policy in this debate …Is it going to be influenced by the political class or media elites who make … a clearly erroneous perception of the kind of people in the Georgia House and the Georgia Senate?” he stated, per an AJC report.

“As I told one of my friends in the media two days ago, I’m glad I’m not (Falcons kicker) Matt Bryant. Every time we kind of get ready to do something, they move the goal post.”

Ralston did express optimism that the Senate and House would come together on a deal on “what constitutes real change.”

The speaker long opposed capping lobbyist gifts at $100, expressing approval of the current disclosure system. But in an interview last August, he stated that he’d prefer all-out banning of lobbyist gifts instead of a cap, and most indications are that the House will push forward with such a counter-proposal to gift cap legislation.

-Brandon Howell

State Representative Rusty Kidd, freshly re-elected as the sole Independent in either chamber of the Georgia Legislature, has issued what may well be the ultimate disclaimer on joining either major political party.

“There is only one thing that could cause me to change party and that would be if the Republican leaders and the governor were to sign in blood that Baldwin and Putnam counties would get 5000 new jobs in 2013-2014. This will not happen so Independent I am and Independent I will stay,” writes Kidd in an op-ed published by The Eatonton Messenger.

As it will now stand, House Republicans will hold a commanding majority of 119-60 over their Democratic counterparts, with Kidd as the lone outlier. Had he decided to align with the GOP, then they would have been given a super majority.

Media speculation briefly ran rampant that Kidd was being courted for entry into Republican ranks, but the state Rep. himself denied any such overtures in the same opinion piece.

“At the time I write this, I have received not one telephone call from any Republican in the Georgia Legislature. Not one congratulating me for winning and not one asking me to switch parties. They know me, and they know I am the only true Independent elected to the Georgia House,” he wrote.

-Brandon Howell

In the new State House District 117, three-term incumbent (and newly-minted Republican) Doug McKillip is facing a primary challenge built around doubt of his conservative credentials and beliefs. During this year’s session of the Georgia General Assembly, he drew quite a bit of attention for sponsoring the bill, since signed by Governor Nathan Deal, that has provided the toughest anti-abortion laws ever seen in Georgia. Today, the most prominent prolife group in the state formally endorsed his campaign.

Per a news release by Georgia Right to Life:

“As a candidate who has demonstrated a willingness to stand for the sanctity of life, we are especially pleased to commend Rep. Doug McKillip and look forward to working with him during the next session in the General Assembly,”

McKillip’s opponent, Athens attorney Regina Quick, derided McKillip as a “charlatan” with an interest only in himself. Time will tell if the Republicans in the 117^th agree.

–Brandon Howell