GEORGIANS VOTE ALONG PARTY LINES ON SPENDING BILL

Georgia’s U.S. House members voted along party lines on Thursday evening to pass a short-term government spending bill that would spend billions for President Donald Trump’s border wall and nearly $8 billion for disaster relief efforts, including for Hurricane Michael clean-up.

GOP leaders added the disaster money at the last minute to win over southeastern Republicans who were threatening to rebel against the must-pass bill.

One of the most vocal proponents of the Michael money was U.S. Rep. Austin Scott. The Tifton Republican said Congress needed to sign off on the extra funding before the end of the year to provide certainty to farmers and their lenders ahead of the 2019 planting season.

“There’s a big difference in doing something today and Feb. 8,” he said, referring to the stopgap funding’s expiration date.

The House-passed bill would set aside $1.1 billion for crop losses due to hurricanes Michael and Florence and other 2018 natural disasters, as well as special help for peach and blueberry farmers whose crops were decimated following a late-season freeze in 2017. Both were major priorities for lawmakers from rural Georgia.

Democrats panned the border wall money, even as several local lawmakers previously endorsed the need for the storm relief money.

U.S. Rep. Sanford Bishop, D-Albany, criticized the House bill. “The continuing resolution before us is not a sufficient response to these vital needs,”Bishop said.“It includes only token disaster relief for rural communities and farmers in Middle and Southwest Georgia that were devastated by Hurricane Michael and other disasters that occurred in 2018.”