This week’s Courier Herald column: A bill working its way through the Georgia General Assembly is causing a bit more of a stir than expected for an otherwise narrowly focused piece of legislation. House Bill 410 seeks to raise the cap homeowners associations can charge for a closing letter. Current law places the cap at
As I’ve noted before, in my day job with PolicyBEST, I’ve once again been working with the Georgia Transportation Alliance in an effort that began in 2014 and resulted in the passage of HB170 in 2015 – the bill that provided for almost $1 Billion annually to fix Georgia’s roads & bridges. It also for
Well, here we are, on Crossover Day Eve. Many of our “friends in the hall” will have trouble sleeping, wondering if Santa will bring them their wish list, or if tomorrow will bring coal in their stockings – and leave them scrambling among the motor pool for a vehicle to raise their issue from the
With qualifying for elections set to begin next Monday, another round of retirement announcements is forthcoming. Today, we spotlight that Rep Brooks Coleman (R-Duluth) will be ending his tenure in the Georgia House of Representatives at the end of his term. Coleman is the Chairman of the House Education Committee. In my experience, he’s been
Congressman Buddy Carter conducted a tax reform tour last week with constituents across the 1st District of Georgia to discuss the benefits of federal tax reform, which was recently passed in Congress and signed into law. He had 15 events across the district with high school students, college students, small businesses, large businesses, chambers, and
Delta has a knack for poor political timing. I’m old enough to remember when former CEO Richard Anderson told a Chamber gathering that lawmakers need not be “chickens” when raising gas taxes, right before he insisted on a tax break for jet fuel. They’ve waded in heavily on RFRA legislation, strongly making the point that
There have been a lot of folks announce they are not running for re-election this year, but this one is a bit of a surprise and a game changer. State Representative Allen Peake (R-Macon) will not be returning to the Georgia House next year. Greg Bluestein of the AJC has Peake’s announcement via Twitter. Peake
This story had several previous episodes that brought it to a slow boil, so first, a recap and some background: Governor Nathan Deal has released his final legislation to complete his legacy of transformative Criminal Justice Reform in the state of Georgia. He’s taken the process in small bites over the past seven years, but
Georgia House Speaker David Ralston attended President Donald Trump’s announcement yesterday on his commitment to infrastructure improvements across America. As Charlie touches on in his column yesterday, Georgia is positioned to benefit from the President’s focus on state-centered infrastructure solutions. President Trump’s budget is a practice of federalism where states are responsible for creating their
It’s cutthroat at the Capitol and it’s the season for idea-stealing, self-interest, and worst of all, self-promotion. State representative Scott Holcomb, a Democrat from Atlanta, filed House Bill 745, a bi-partisan effort, a few weeks ago. The bill addresses rental agreements in the event of domestic violence situations and would allow for victims to break their
