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Call in with your questions on the Politically Georgia Podcast Hotline at (770)-810-5297, and our hosts will answer them on future episodes. Learn more on the AJC Politically Georgia Podcast page.
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Even as Governor Kemp has invested heavily in making Georgia a center for electric vehicle production, a powerful gas lobbying group is running ads here and in other states criticizing new Biden administration regulations that will push automakers to ramp up building electric vehicles.
But first, Columbus Mayor Skip Henderson and Sandy Springs Mayor Rusty Paul join the podcast to discuss the state of their Georgia cities today.
What are the biggest concerns of their constituents? How do their problems reflect similar issues facing cities across the state?
Then, AJC education writer Maureen Downey joins the podcast to look at how the just-ended session of the legislature dealt with issues related to schools.
She weighs in on the controversial bill, passed after years of failure, that creates a voucher program for parents to send their children to private schools.
LINK TO TOPICS
Gas lobby ads target ev industry - a key Kemp agenda
Downey on school vouchers and moreß
Have a question or comment for the show? Call the 24-hour "Politically Georgia" Podcast Hotline at 770-810-5297. We’ll play back your question and answer it during the listener mailbag segment on next Friday's episode.
Listen and subscribe to our podcast for free at Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts. You can also tell your smart speaker to “play Politically Georgia podcast.”
CREDITS
Executive Producer- Shane Backler
Producer- Natalie Mendenhall
Engineer- Matt McWilliams
Editor- Matt Owen
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Brad Raffensperger isn’t taking any guff from Hollywood star Larry David. The podcast hosts discuss the playful letter Georgia’s secretary of state sent to David after David’s show, “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” poked fun at a state law that prevents the distribution of water and food to people waiting in line to vote within 150 feet of a polling place.
But first, Georgia House Speaker Jon Burns discusses his take on the ups and downs of the just-concluded 2024 legislative session. He talks about his reaction to the failure of a bill to suspend mining operations near the Okefenokee Swamp.
The 75th House speaker also explains why the House didn’t pass Medicaid expansion and the so-called culture war issues sent over from the Senate.
And on the other side of the aisle, state Rep. Jasmine Clark joins the podcast to give a Democratic perspective on the outcome of the session.
LINK TO TOPICS
What we learned from 2024 legislative session
AJC publisher Andrew Morse: protect the Okefenokee
With enthusiasm, Raffensperger cautions Larry David to curb his attacks on election law
Have a question or comment for the show? Call the 24-hour "Politically Georgia" Podcast Hotline at 770-810-5297. We’ll play back your question and answer it during the listener mailbag segment on next Friday's episode.
Listen and subscribe to our podcast for free at Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts. You can also tell your smart speaker to “play Politically Georgia podcast.”
CREDITS
Executive Producer- Shane Backler
Producer- Natalie Mendenhall
Engineer- Matt McWilliams
Editor- Matt Owen
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Former President Donald Trump is headed back to Georgia as the race to the White House heats up. Trump will be here next week for a major fundraiser.
Meanwhile, Democrats fear President Joe Biden's campaign may not invest heavily in winning here. And are Black voters beginning to like Trump’s message?
But first, a look at how the emotionally fraught immigration bill won passage in the final hours of the Legislature's session.
Do local sheriffs have the capacity to uphold federal law requiring them to detain people suspected of entering the country illegally? Gov. Brian Kemp has less than 40 days to sign the bill into law or veto it.
LINKS TO TOPIC
What we learned from 2024 legislative session
Trump set to return to Georgia soon
Democrats fret about Biden reelection chances in Georgia
Are Black voters turning to Trump?
Republicans give final passage to new immigration rules
Sheriffs worry about new burden from immigration bills
Have a question or comment for the show? Call the 24-hour "Politically Georgia" Podcast Hotline at 770-810-5297. We’ll play back your question and answer it during the listener mailbag segment on next Friday's episode.
Listen and subscribe to our podcast for free at Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts. You can also tell your smart speaker to “play Politically Georgia podcast.”
CREDITS
Executive Producer- Shane Backler
Producer- Natalie Mendenhall
Engineer- Matt McWilliams
Editor- Matt Owen
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
The hosts talk to WABE’s Sam Gringlas about the issues that won final approval, and those that went down in flames as the 2024 session came to an end in the early hours of Friday morning.
Then, Andrew Morse, president and publisher of the AJC joins the podcast to discuss why he’d led the charge to save Georgia’s Okefenokee Swamp from mining companies setting up operations nearby. And the panel discusses the failure of the legislature to act on a bill that would have provided a temporary halt on mining near the swamp.
And, it’s Friday, so the hosts take questions from the “Politically Georgia” listener mailbag and give their picks for who’s up and who’s down this week.
LINK TO TOPICS
Key measures fail in final hours of session
Here's why the session went into the early morning hours
Sine die: a tale of two chambers
Andrew Morse: Swamp must be protected
Lawmakers fail to pass Okefenokee protection bill
Have a question or comment for the show? Call the 24-hour "Politically Georgia" Podcast Hotline at 770-810-5297. We’ll play back your question and answer it during the listener mailbag segment on next Friday's episode.
Listen and subscribe to our podcast for free at Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts. You can also tell your smart speaker to “play Politically Georgia podcast.”
CREDITS
Executive Producer- Shane Backler
Producer- Natalie Mendenhall
Engineer- Matt McWilliams
Editor- Devan Kortan
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
On today's episode of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution's Politically Georgia podcast, Senate Majority Leader Steve Gooch joins the podcast to describe the measures still on the table on the final day of the session.
He indicated the state Senate would likely not take up a measure the House passed overwhelmingly to protect the Okefenokee Swamp. He also said he prefers Governor Kemp’s limited expansion of Medicaid to a measure Democrats tried to pass that would allow a full expansion of the government program.
On the other side of the aisle, Senate minority leader Gloria Butler responds to Gooch’s comments and adds that she thinks rejection of a measure to pass a full expansion of Medicaid is one of the biggest failures of the session.
LINK TO TOPICS
Bill to protect Okefenokee from mining is at crossroads
AJC calls for protection of swamp from mining
Bill for full expansion of Medicaid narrowly fails in committee
Have a question or comment for the show? Call the 24-hour "Politically Georgia" Podcast Hotline at 770-810-5297. We’ll play back your question and answer it during the listener mailbag segment on next Friday's episode.
Listen and subscribe to our podcast for free at Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts. You can also tell your smart speaker to “play Politically Georgia podcast.”
CREDITS
Executive Producer- Shane Backler
Producer- Natalie Mendenhall
Engineer- Matt McWilliams
Editor- Devan Kortan
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Atlanta Journal-Constitution reporter Tamar Hallerman joins the podcast to discuss the in-depth interview she and colleague Bill Rankin conducted with attorney Ashleigh Merchant. Merchant explained the process she went through before deciding to file a motion seeking the dismissal of Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis from the election interference case against former President Donald Trump.
Over at the state Legislature, state House Majority Leader Chuck Efstration, a Republican, and Democratic state Rep. Mary Margaret Oliver describe the overall tenor of the session as it approaches its end Thursday.
And on Capitol Hill, Tia Mitchell offers her insights on what it’s like to cover one of Washington’s most controversial elected officials, GOP U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, who is back in the headlines after filing a motion to remove U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson.
LINK TO TOPICS
Attorney who filed motion to dismiss Willis says she had to act
GOP House majority leader Chuck Efstration
Democratic state representative Mary Margaret Oliver
Tia Mitchell's Marjorie Taylor Greene profile
Have a question or comment for the show? Call the 24-hour "Politically Georgia" Podcast Hotline at 770-810-5297. We’ll play back your question and answer it during the listener mailbag segment on next Friday's episode.
Listen and subscribe to our podcast for free at Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts. You can also tell your smart speaker to “play Politically Georgia podcast.”
CREDITS
Executive Producer- Shane Backler
Producer- Natalie Mendenhall
Engineer- Matt McWilliams
Editor- Matt Owen
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
The hosts talk to lawmakers from both sides of the aisle about the bills they’re watching most closely as the session comes down to the final two days. Republican state Rep. Marcus Wiedower of Watkinsville starts the conversation by discussing the sports betting bill that he’s working to pass before the session ends.
Wiedower also comments on immigration legislation introduced following the killing of Laken Riley in his home district.
On the other side of the aisle, Democratic state Rep. Stacey Evans of Atlanta talks with the hosts about her priorities for the final days. She says the Democratic minority's big job is to block what it see as bad bills rather than pass their own legislation.
Then the hosts move from the Legislature to the courtroom, to discuss the extended interview that AJC reporters Bill Rankin and Tamar Hallerman conducted with defense lawyer Ashleigh Merchant, who filed the motion to dismiss Fani Willis from the Trump election conspiracy case.
LINK TO TOPICS
Sports betting: revenue for state vs. potential addiction
Lawmakers advance bills targeting immigrant friendly policies
Sheriffs worry about new burdens from proposed immigration bills
Attorney who filed motion to dismiss Willis says she had to act
Have a question or comment for the show? Call the 24-hour "Politically Georgia" Podcast Hotline at 770-810-5297. We’ll play back your question and answer it during the listener mailbag segment on next Friday's episode.
Listen and subscribe to our podcast for free at Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts. You can also tell your smart speaker to “play Politically Georgia podcast.”
CREDITS
Executive Producer- Shane Backler
Producer- Natalie Mendenhall
Engineer- Micah Middleton
Editor- Matt Owen
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene filed a motion to remove Mike Johnson as speaker of the U.S. House. But she says it’s a warning that he needs to embrace issues of importance to her far-right colleagues.
But first, Andy Miller of Georgia Health News joins the podcast to discuss what’s behind the GOP-controlled Legislature’s ongoing rejection of a full Medicaid expansion.
Then, in the state Senate, pressure is ramping up to pass culture war issues in the final days of the legislative session.
And the hosts talk about responses to Geoff Duncan’s extended interview on "Politically Georgia." Now that he won’t run as the No Labels candidate for president, what does his political future look like?
LINK TO TOPICS
Georgia Senate is launchpad for culture war issues
Greene threatens to oust Speaker Mike Johnson
Geoff Duncan on why he isn't running for president
Have a question or comment for the show? Call the 24-hour "Politically Georgia" Podcast Hotline at 770-810-5297. We’ll play back your question and answer it during the listener mailbag segment on next Friday's episode.
Listen and subscribe to our podcast for free at Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts. You can also tell your smart speaker to “play Politically Georgia podcast.”
CREDITS
Executive Producer- Shane Backler
Producer- Natalie Mendenhall
Engineer- Micah Middleton
Editor- Matt Owen
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Former Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan is not launching a bid for the White House. Duncan discusses why he won’t be the candidate for president on the No Labels ticket. He also describes his vision for a future for the Republican Party without Donald Trump.
Judith Delus Montgomery, an Atlanta-based lawyer, discusses what’s behind the outbreak of violence in her native Haiti, where gangs have killed at least 24 people, released thousands from prisons, burned police stations, and forced businesses and schools to close.
Then, over at the Legislature, a last-minute effort by Democrats to pass a bill expanding Medicaid fails. The hosts look at what happened.
The hosts answer your questions from the "Politically Georgia" listener mailbag and give their choices for who’s up and who’s down this week.
LINK TO TOPICS
Geoff Duncan won't run as No Labels presidential candidate
Surprise bill to expand Medicaid narrowly fails
Have a question or comment for the show? Call the 24-hour "Politically Georgia" Podcast Hotline at 770-810-5297. We’ll play back your question and answer it during the listener mailbag segment on next Friday's episode.
Listen and subscribe to our podcast for free at Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts. You can also tell your smart speaker to “play Politically Georgia podcast.”
CREDITS
Executive Producer- Shane Backler
Producer- Natalie Mendenhall
Engineer- Sawyer Vanderwerff
Editor- Devan Kortan
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Fani Willis faces more challenges in her hope to begin the trial of former President Donald Trump. AJC reporter Dave Wickert joins to discuss the latest in the election interference case.
But first up, Kendra Cotton, CEO of the New Georgia Project, joins the podcast to discuss the organization’s effort to energize a liberal coalition of voters for the 2024 election.
She also answers questions about the financial and legal troubles plaguing Fair Fight Action, the organization that was given credit for helping elect Georgia Democrats Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock to the U.S. Senate in 2021 and delivering the state for Democrat Joe Biden in 2020.
Plus, Republican legislators are pushing for a resolution to put a statue of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas on the grounds of the state Capitol. But Democrats are fighting it fiercely.
LINK TO TOPICS
Can Democrats win in Georgia without Fair Fight Action?
Legislators clash over Clarence Thomas statue
Have a question or comment for the show? Call the 24-hour "Politically Georgia" Podcast Hotline at 770-810-5297. We’ll play back your question and answer it during the listener mailbag segment on next Friday's episode.
Listen and subscribe to our podcast for free at Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts. You can also tell your smart speaker to “play Politically Georgia podcast.”
CREDITS
Executive Producer- Shane Backler
Producer- Natalie Mendenhall
Engineer- Sawyer Vanderwerff
Editor- Devan Kortan
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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