Literacy bill cools tensions in Georgia Capitol’s final-week standoff

House Speaker Jon Burns called it “a team effort.” Lt. Gov. Burt Jones declared that “everybody wins.”

After days of tension and brinkmanship, the breakthrough over Burns’ sweeping literacy overhaul appears to have taken some of the heat out of the Capitol’s final-week standoff, cooling the temperatures between the House and Senate heading into Thursday’s close of the legislative session.

The detente is hardly final. Fights still loom over tax proposals, data center regulations and, as always, the state budget.

But the deal on Burns’ signature education measure has eased one of the biggest tensions between the chambers after the bill became a central bargaining chip in testy end-of-session negotiations.

For the last few days, the literacy measure was caught in a tug-of-war as the Senate floated its own competing version.

Jones also used the moment to press one of his own priorities: a proposal that could force billionaire GOP rival Rick Jackson’s health care staffing firm to give up roughly $1 billion in state contracts to stay in the race for governor.

That effort has stalled. But another long-simmering Republican priority may have helped smooth the path.

On Tuesday, the House approved a measure championed by state Sen. Blake Tillery that would tighten Georgia’s procurement rules by making clear that agencies cannot use a vendor’s prequalified status to bypass the state’s normal competitive bidding requirements.

Tillery has been pushing some version of the legislation for seven years, well before Jackson entered the governor’s race. His press for the legislation has nothing to do with the governor’s race, he said.

Still, Jones allies privately see it as another potential pressure point for Jackson Healthcare.

Either way, the mood at the Capitol suddenly feels less combustible.

“This shows what we can accomplish together,” state Sen. Billy Hickman, R-Statesboro, said at a celebratory news conference after the literacy bill’s passage.

Things to know

Credit: Special Collections and University Archives, University of Massachusetts Amherst Libraries

Credit: Special Collections and University Archives, University of Massachusetts Amherst Libraries

Good morning! Here are three things to know for today:

Political turbulence

Credit: Hyosub Shin/AJC

Credit: Hyosub Shin/AJC

Just how much political damage is the airport chaos causing? A new poll suggests plenty.

Roughly three-quarters of Georgia voters say they have “serious concerns” about the Transportation Security Administration turmoil that has triggered hourslong delays and staffing shortages at Hartsfield-Jackson.

And a majority say they blame President Donald Trump and his Republican allies for the partial government shutdown that sparked the mess. That’s compared with 42% who blamed Democrats.

The poll from the left-leaning Public Policy Polling firm, obtained today by the AJC, reveals two-thirds of independent voters say Trump and Republicans are at fault, while about 28% say Democrats are more responsible.

The same poll showed Trump facing mounting political backlash. About 41% of voters approve of his job performance, compared with 54% who disapproved. Nearly two-thirds of independents disapprove.

The poll involved 716 registered voters and was conducted from March 27-28. The margin of error was 4 percentage points.

Monumental fight

While the House and Senate were finding a way to compromise on some of their biggest sticking points Tuesday, an emotional battle broke out on the House floor over a bill from state Rep. Alan Powell, R-Hartwell, to give new protections to public monuments and significant new legal rights to people who support them.

Powell insisted that the bill was not specifically about Civil War monuments or slavery, but the debate about the measure was, including from Powell.

“This bill encompasses all monuments,” he said. “It makes no difference whether it was a monument that was put up by the widows of the men and citizens that died during that terrible war.”

The response from Democrats was swift and angry.

“I don’t understand you,” said state Rep. Solomon Adesanya, D-Marietta. “You’re the only one running around here trying to put up Confederate monuments that nobody cares about but you. Isn’t that true?”

Powell shot back. “That is not true. I do care about Confederate monuments, but there’s a lot of other people in this state that care about them.”

State Rep. Tanya Miller, an Atlanta Democrat who is also running for attorney general, told Powell she was “flabbergasted by the celebrated ignorance of your own history.”

“It is shocking and we should all be embarrassed for every person in this body that considers himself a statesman or a stateswoman,” she said.

After significant pushback to the bill, Senate Bill 175 failed to get a majority vote when several Republicans went missing from the chamber as the votes were cast.

Dueling songs

Credit: Natrice Miller/AJC

Credit: Natrice Miller/AJC

Constitutionally speaking, Georgia lawmakers have just one job: pass a budget. They haven’t done it yet. And with just one day left in the session, they’re flirting with the remote chance of having their own government shutdown.

But legislative leaders don’t appear concerned. House Appropriations Chair Matt Hatchett took to the Senate floor Wednesday as “Will It Go Round In Circles” by Billy Preston playing through the speakers.

Tillery, the Senate Appropriations chair, responded by playing “The Devil Went Down to Georgia.” Tillery played the song himself on his phone, risking the half-hearted wrath of Senate President Pro Tem Larry Walker III.

After Tillery gave a rousing speech to his colleagues, state Sen. Brian Strickland, R-McDonough, asked a pressing question.

“Have you identified who the devil is behind all of this?”

Tillery didn’t answer.

Under the Gold Dome

Credit: Ben Hendren

Credit: Ben Hendren

The Legislature won’t meet today. They’ll meet tomorrow, the final day of the legislative session. Here are some of today’s happenings:

Democratic poll

Credit: AJC

Credit: AJC

The Democratic race for an expected runoff against former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms is a muddle.

That’s according to a 20/20 Insight poll that showed Bottoms with about a third of the vote and Geoff Duncan, Jason Esteves and Michael Thurmond neck-and-neck for the second spot.

The poll had Esteves at 14%, Duncan at 12% and Thurmond at 11% — all within the margin of error of 4 percentage points. About 30% of likely Democratic voters were undecided.

Listen up

Credit: Natrice Miller/AJC

Credit: Natrice Miller/AJC

Today on the “Politically Georgia” podcast, state Rep. Scott Hilton joins the show to talk about his bill that expand Georgia’s classroom cellphone ban to high schools. Plus, we break down the final days of Georgia’s legislative session.

You can listen and subscribe to “Politically Georgia” for free on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.

Have a question or comment for the show? Email us at politicallygeorgia@ajc.com or give us a call at 770-810-5297 and you could be featured on a future episode.

11th District shake-up

Credit: Arvin Temkar/AJC

Credit: Arvin Temkar/AJC

Republican Lisa Carlquist is suspending her bid for Georgia’s 11th Congressional District and backing fellow Republican Rob Adkerson.

In a statement, Carlquist said she decided “the right thing to do for our community” was to end her campaign and throw her support behind Adkerson, a former top aide to retiring U.S. Rep. Barry Loudermilk.

The endorsement gives Adkerson an early boost as Republicans jockey in the May 19 primary to succeed Loudermilk in one of the state’s safest GOP seats.

Carlquist framed the move as a show of unity, saying the northwest Georgia district needs proven leadership and a candidate who already knows the terrain.

Today in Washington

Challenging Big Tech

Credit: Jason Getz/AJC

Credit: Jason Getz/AJC

U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff is launching an inquiry into several of the world’s biggest technology companies regarding apps he said could put children in harm’s way.

Ossoff today is sending letters to Apple, Google, Meta, Amazon and X asking each company to explain how they participate in the advertising and distribution of apps that can create explicit images out of everyday photos. Such “nudifying” apps have been used to objectify children and teenagers, Ossoff writes.

“Nudify websites and apps have become increasingly prevalent and accessible online, making it easy for users to AI generate deepfake sexually explicit content, for example, from photos available on social media, without the consent or awareness of the victim,” the Atlanta Democrat says to the companies.

He cites research that says that 16% of U.S. teenagers reported knowing someone who has been targeted with an AI-generated deepfakes. Ossoff is asking the companies to take proactive steps to limit usage of the apps, particularly when it comes to people underage.

Meanwhile, a bill in the state Legislature that would create the crime of “virtual peeping” has stalled.

Shoutout

Credit: Jason Getz/AJC

Credit: Jason Getz/AJC

Today’s birthday:

Want a birthday shoutout in the Politically Georgia newsletter? There’s a form for that. It’s not just birthdays. We’re also interested in new jobs, engagements, birth announcements, etc.

Before you go

Credit: AP

Credit: AP

Voting rights groups are already sounding the alarm on Trump’s most recent executive order that aims to create a national list of verified eligible voters and directs the U.S. Postal Service to use it to determine who can vote by mail.

That’ll do it for us today. As always, you can send your best scoops, gossip and insider information to greg.bluestein@ajc.com, tia.mitchell@ajc.com, patricia.murphy@ajc.com and adam.beam@ajc.com.