The Headlines Don’t Quite Catch It
News headlines about the happenings at the Gold Dome rarely capture what I actually experience in my job as a Democratic Georgia State Senator. That’s particularly true in regards to this summer’s Special Session, where the prior night’s run-off election results cast an undercurrent of raw political emotion that drove legislation in real time, and where the nervous anticipation of a Democratic uprising cut into the usual hubris of entrenched Republican power.
I left my home for the Capitol Tuesday morning thinking we’d be in session for a couple more days. The House was taking its time with the election bill, and there were even rumors flying that Senate Republicans would adjourn before the election bill passed (I didn’t believe that would happen) - but by noon the election bill had been voted out by the Senate and was headed to the Governor for his signature. Sine Die!
Ballot Counting & QR Codes: The House made substantial improvements to the bill proposed by the Senate. First, they narrowed the trigger for the required manual hand-counts of top races from the Senate’s “every election” to the House’s “top state races that finish within a half percentage point.” Second, they committed that the state would cover the costs of the hand recount instead of pushing an unfunded mandate onto counties (we’ll see if they keep their promise). Third, they changed the requirement that hand-counts be completed prior to certification, giving an adequate window of time for counts to be completed following certification. And finally, they mandated that the newly created Election Equipment Study Committee specifically make recommendations about hand-marked paper ballots. The Senate agreed with the changes the House made, and we were all free to go home around noon Tuesday!
Gas Tax: Tuesday, the legislature also ratified the Governor’s recent motor fuel tax suspensions, which ended June 2, but took no action to extend the tax suspension into the future. Around $400 million from the Governor’s undesignated surplus account will likely be used to back-fill the coffers of the Department of Transportation (GDOT). This way of funding GDOT is a big shift away from the constitutionally mandated user tax, where drivers, both individual and commercial, fund the costs of roads. Instead, when the Governor suspends motor fuel taxes, roads are funded completely on the backs of individual tax payers -- even those who do not use the roads, giving commercial companies a huge tax break.
Sales Tax Increase: Democrats stood firm in their opposition and defeated all the Republican bills to put local LHOST referendums on the November ballots. LHOST is a new sales tax created during the 2026 Regular Session designed to make regular people pay the tax bills of homeowners. Think Rick Jackson, who would get a tax break on his mansion “Le Reve,” but anyone buying goods including groceries, alcohol, and motor fuel, would foot the bill for Rick’s new tax cut. Republicans honestly seemed to be scratching their heads wondering why in the world Democrats would oppose their tax increase. They don’t think people will see through their tax scam.
A Rare View of Raw Republican Politics: Having just lost his election for Governor, everyone wondered at the beginning of the Special Session whether Lt. Gov. Burt Jones would even bother to show up. He did. No matter what you think about Burt, you’ve got to feel for him a bit (or not), given that he built his political career from the bottom up, starting by serving on the Butts County Water & Sewer Board (no puns intended), then serving in the State Senate for ten years, then Lt. Governor for four years -- all before running for Governor. But in a party that hates government, this makes him “establishment,” and the new kid on the block, Rick Jackson, who spent his time making healthcare more expensive for regular people while funneling profits into his own pocket, beat him as the “anti-establishment” candidate. Ouch. Burt has never pretended to enjoy presiding over the Senate, often wearing his boredom on his face. At one point when things got a little rough during the Special Session, he smirked in a relieved way, saying something like, “y’all gotta stay and do it; I’m not coming back.” At another point, his vindictiveness came out, as he called out “bad” House members who were visiting the Senate (the ones who supported Rick Jackson), suggesting they might want to leave the Senate chamber.
A Wave of Democratic Energy: Republicans know that Democrats are energized and they were reminded of this in the Senate by seeing Senator-Elect Adrienne White Carden sitting at the back of the chamber the entire special session. Adrienne, who has worked tirelessly over the years to elect new Democratic members to the legislature (including me), ran in the special election to finish the term of my colleague, former Sen. Nabila Parkes, who lost her bid for Lt. Governor to Sen. Josh McLaurin. Leading up to Adrienne’s election during the run-off, it was clear during early voting that the millions of dollars of TV ads was generating Republican voter turnout 2 to 1 in a normally Democratic Senate district. We got to work getting our voters out, boots on the ground style campaigning -- and it worked! Adrienne won her election 51% to the Republican’s 49%. I honestly didn’t think it was possible, given the amount of money Republicans were spending. But it just goes to show that organizing direct contact with voters works!
Sadly, because of the time it took to certify the run-off election, Adrienne won’t be sworn in until this coming Friday, so she was unable to cast a single vote during the Special Session. But we enjoyed having her there, as a constant reminder to Republicans that lots of money is no guarantee of a win! And if there is another Special Session, Adrienne will be there ready to vote.
So what’s next? I’m going to give myself a little break, then it’s back to work on the campaign trail. I felt a level of energy within my Senate Democratic Caucus that I have never felt before. We’re simply not taking anything lying down anymore and we’re going to get our people out to vote!
