State’s GOP delegation split on immigration

Georgia’s 10 Republican members of the U.S. House did a pretty good job this past week of demonstrating the nation’s split on immigration in a vote on “compromise” legislation.

After a hard-line bill failed, party leaders created the new legislation with the goal of bringing together conservative and centrist Republicans.

Instead, it crashed and burned, losing in a 301-121 vote.

Four Georgia Republicans — U.S. Reps. Doug Collins, Karen Handel, Austin Scott and Rob Woodall — voted in favor of the plan, which would have created a path to citizenship for “Dreamers,” immigrants who were brought to the country as children by their parents without authorization. It also would have strengthened border security and dealt with the family separation crisis.

Opposing the bill were six Georgia Republicans — U.S. Reps. Rick Allen, Buddy Carter, Drew Ferguson, Tom Graves, Jody Hice and Barry Loudermilk. Some of them slapped the “amnesty” label on the proposal.

The division was still obvious after the vote.

Handel tweeted that the “status quo is unacceptable” and that “doing nothing perpetuates lawlessness at our border and results in de facto amnesty.” So now both sides were pulling out the “amnesty” card.

Carter responded by calling it “a bad bill that missed the mark.”

“It is our responsibility to reform our broken immigration system and secure our border,” he said, “but this is not the way to do it.”

Making an appeal to vets:

Georgia would eliminate all taxes on retirement benefits for military personnel under a new proposal from Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle.

It’s part of a larger campaign promise Cagle has made to reduce taxes by at least $100 million next year if he’s elected governor.

It would apply to military retirees of all ages, but all retirees ages 65 and older can already shield up to $65,000 in pension or investment income from Georgia income taxes.

Cagle faces Georgia Secretary of State Brian Kemp in a GOP runoff on July 24. The winner will run against Democrat Stacey Abrams in November.

There are roughly 800,000 veterans in the state, and Republicans count a good number of them as GOP voters.

They’re also considered up for grabs because the two veterans who competed in last month’s GOP primary — former state Sen. Hunter Hill and businessman Clay Tippins — fell short.

Besides courting veteran votes, Cagle and Kemp are each vying to be seen by voters as the greater tax cutter.

Cagle has pledged to bring the income tax rate below 5 percent. Meanwhile, Kemp wants a cap on state spending and a review of taxpayer-funded incentives that could later lead to cuts.

Abrams is planning initiatives to help homeless veterans and target predatory lending.

Barrow draws note on “religious liberty”:

Two things that happened at an Atlanta Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce forum that drew the attention of Patrick Saunders of ProjectQ.

First, four statewide Democratic candidates were asked whether they would oppose “religious liberty” measures. They all said they would.

What Saunders found striking was that one of the candidates was John Barrow, now running for secretary of state but also a former member of Congress.

“It was a notable moment for Barrow, who during a 2014 bid for re-election to Congress refused to co-sponsor the Employment Non-Discrimination Act,” Saunders wrote. “The legislation would have prohibited employment discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity. Barrow was one of only eight Democrats in the U.S. House to refuse to sponsor the bill.

“While the five-time Congressman did vote to repeal “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” and voted for the Matthew Shepard Hate Crimes Act, Barrow also voted to uphold the Defense of Marriage Act, leading him to often score on par with his Republican counterparts in Georgia on (The Human Rights Campaign’s) Congressional Scorecard. He lost that election in 2014.”

Saunders also highlighted the answer Charlie Bailey, the Democratic nominee for attorney general, gave when asked what he would do if a “religious freedom” measure became law and was challenged in court.

“The great thing about this position and me is that I’ll just refuse to defend it,” Bailey said. “And not only will I refuse to defend it, I’ll instruct my assistant attorneys general to file amicus briefs on behalf of the plaintiffs that are challenging the constitutionality of the legislation.”

Aiming at the dark:

Kevin Abel said during a debate this past week that when he denounced dark money, he was taking aim at super PACs and their influence on elections. He didn’t mean to hit efforts by left-leaning groups such as Everytown for Gun Safety to pass new gun control policies.

Abel, who’s running against former Everytown spokeswoman Lucy McBath in the 6th Congressional District’s Democratic runoff on July 24, said he also supports gun control.

His problem is the amount of money Everytown’s political arm has poured into McBath’s campaign: more than $800,000.

McBath said repeatedly during the debate that Everytown is not a dark money group, but debate moderator Steven Knight Griffin pointed out that the organization is registered with the Internal Revenue Service as a 501(c)(4), meaning it is under no requirement to reveal its donors.

The winner of Abel vs. McBath will face U.S. Rep. Karen Handel in November’s general election.

Pledge to be “supportive”:

Delta Air Lines CEO Ed Bastian says he has not regrets about severing the company’s ties with the National Rifle Association, but the brouhaha that followed won’t prevent him from working with Cagle if he wins the governorship.

It was Cagle who put the kibosh on a jet fuel tax break that was working its way through the Legislature after Delta split from the NRA in response to the mass shootings at a Florida high school. Delta stood to gain $40 million a year in savings if that tax break had been enacted.

Bastian, speaking at a National Press Club luncheon this past week in Washington, said it isn’t his goal “to be a social activist as a CEO.”

“But when you have your values and you have your culture and you know who you are and what you stand for ... there are times that you’re called to speak, and those are the moments,” Bastian said. “That was a moment for us.”

If Cagle wins the governorship, Delta will “be supportive of the state,” Bastian said.

“We will certainly do our very best to support him in the role and will want him to succeed,” he said.

They used to be much tighter than that. Over the past 12 years, Delta has given more than $20,000 to Cagle’s various campaigns, including $4,000 to his gubernatorial bid.

Candidates, endorsements, etc.:

— State Rep. Sam Teasley, who endorsed Hill in last month’s GOP primary for governor, is backing Kemp in the July 24 runoff. Also showing support for Kemp is a former opponent in last month’s GOP primary, state Sen. Michael Williams. Williams, who finished fifth in the primary with 5 percent of the vote, spoke at a recent event for Kemp.

Kemp also gained the support of state Rep. John Carson, who represents northeast Cobb County and a slice of Cherokee County.

— Appearing at a recent event for Cagle was former Republican presidential candidate Steve Forbes.

— Democrat Stacey Abrams is hanging out with some folks with high ambitions. Yet another potential Democratic nominee for president in 2020 has endorsed her run for governor. U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts joins the list that already includes U.S. Sens. Cory Booker of New Jersey, Kamala Harris of California and Bernie Sanders of Vermont, as well as former Vice President Joe Biden.