The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Education issues, gun rights top Kemp’s agenda
Governor plans to push in-person instruction, increase teacher pay.
Gov. Brian Kemp outlined a legislative agenda that includes a push to encourage in-person student learning during the COVID19 pandemic, an effort to ban critical race theory in Georgia schools and a promise to hike teacher pay.
The governor also said in an interview Wednesday that he’ll back new crackdowns on criminal gang activity and human trafficking during the session that begins Monday, though he offered few specifics on those proposals.
And he pledged to pass the most sweeping firearms expansion in nearly a decade, vouching for a measure that would allow Georgians to carry concealed handguns without a state permit.
With a budget flush with cash, the first-term Republican has more wiggle room to push through priorities, including the remaining $2,000 of his 2018 campaign pledge to increase teacher pay by $5,000 by the end of his first term.
He’s facing election-year pressure from both sides of the aisle. Former U.S. Sen. David Perdue is trying to outflank him to his right with calls for more conservative policies, while Democrat Stacey Abrams is hammering him from the left.
Kemp’s interview with The Atlanta Journal-constitution was as notable for the issues left off his list.
He said there was no need to pass new abortion limits as the sweeping restrictions he signed into law in 2019 work their way through the courts. Likewise, he said another overhaul of election rules was not a priority this 40-day session.
The governor was noncommittal on another contentious fight. He said he hasn’t taken a stance on legislation to carve out a Buckhead City from Atlanta, though he understands why the “movement is out there.”
Of his overall agenda, Kemp repeated a favorite line.
“Georgians shouldn’t be surprised,” he said. “These are all things I’ve promised we’d do.”