Your morning jolt: Gov. Nathan Deal to veto ‘sunset’ bill
This morning, Gov. Nathan Deal will issue a list of rejected bills from the recent session of the Legislature.
Among those receiving a veto will be HB 456, the so-called “sunset” bill that would have created a legislative advisory to “review and evaluate state agencies’ productivity, efficiency and responsiveness.” The measure also would have created a mechanism for the General Assembly to abolish state agencies.
Deal spokesman Brian Robinson said the bill would have created an expensive redundancy. “In order to fulfill its goal this committee would have to meet year round” – constantly drawing a per diem for expenses, he said. “We don’t need to add another layer of government.”
Deal will sign a zero-based budgeting bill, which accomplishes the same mission, Robinson said. “It goes through the budget line through line, evaluating programs that have outlived their usefulness.”
Robinson said there were also constitutional, separation-of-power concerns about the bill, because it would assign what are essentially executive duties to the legislative branch.
Tea party and other conservative groups have ordered up a last-minute push to encourage the governor to rethink his decision before it becomes public – and final. They say that as a candidate, the governor made a private pledge to support the sunset measure.
“This is a campaign promise that he made,” said Bill Hudson of the Conservative Leadership Coalition. “I wasn’t in the room, but there were a whole slew of people who were.”
***
Over at Channel 2 Action News, Richard Belcher has a look at airport concession contractors who are having trouble claiming that they qualify as disadvantaged businesses:
***
Some paragraphs just bear repeating, including these from my AJC colleague David Wickert, about a court action filed by ex-Gwinnett County Commission Chairman Charles Bannister over his botched DUI arrest:
In a federal lawsuit filed this week against Sheriff Butch Conway claiming the arrest was politically motivated, Bannister also says Conway and his wife, State Court Judge Carla Brown, steered a county contract to a probation company partly owned by [prominent developer Wayne] Mason.
Moreover, in the suit he claims he was approached by Mason shortly after taking office in 2005. The suit says Mason “made it clear, explicitly, that if Bannister would use his position as commission chairman to Mason’s advantage, Bannister would be made wealthy.”
Such incendiary claims, leveled in a lawsuit aimed at someone else, did not sit well with Mason.
“Those allegations are a complete falsehood from an individual who left public office to avoid prosecution for perjury before a special grand jury,” Mason e-mailed when asked for a response by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
- By Jim Galloway, Political Insider
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74 comments Add your comment
santorum
May 4th, 2012
9:12 am
romney’s a snob!
jack
May 4th, 2012
9:26 am
BEAR not BARE
Tony
May 4th, 2012
9:32 am
I appreciate Deal vetoing the “sunsett bill.” That will save the taxpayers a lot of money. Don’t understand the position of the tea party on this one. I thought they were for fiscal responsibility.
Chuck Clausen
May 4th, 2012
9:35 am
I have confidence in the judgement of our Governor.
Big Hat
May 4th, 2012
9:38 am
Secret government is the best government.
clyde
May 4th, 2012
9:38 am
Campaign promises are not to be mistaken for anything concrete.
I’ll bet that the truth about the botched DUI arrest would make good reading.The whole truth,you know.
mike
May 4th, 2012
9:39 am
don’t worry Tony, the tea Party folks don’t know what they really stand for. From my observation, they mostly just want to biltch and gripe about anything.
Auntie Christ
May 4th, 2012
9:43 am
zell miller came to town in 1970 with a cardboard suitcase wearing a $10 suit, and left years later with a few million $$, all accrued as a “public servant.” joe frank harris was building gravel driveways for shacks in the mountains before growing rich through paving contracts awarded to him while being a “public servant.” perdue grew richer and will grow richer still from his time as a “public servant.” The Cox media empire has yet to investigate or question how these and so many other rich white boys came to be rich white boys while being “public servants,” but a story that implies there may be questionable dealing by the city of Atlanta’s black leadership, will surely be given air and print time.
Boca Baby
May 4th, 2012
9:47 am
Mike: It is not as if the Tea Party doesn’t have anything to “biltch and gripe about”. Are you for real?
Tardy for the Tea Party
May 4th, 2012
9:48 am
Was NOT a big Deal fan… but this and the prison reform bill have me seeing him in a different light. Maybe he is not a far right extremist after all. Sorry Tea Party.
Braves Fan Since 1966
May 4th, 2012
9:54 am
I have total confidence in Gov. Deal and in his position on the “sunset” bill. Don’t care much about the Tea Party position.
Proofreader
May 4th, 2012
9:57 am
Bare repeating? Isn’t that illegal?
Rabbit
May 4th, 2012
9:58 am
What’s interesting is the supporter’s ignorance of Constitutional Law. There are those in the legislature who have no problem violating the separation of powers provisions of the Constitution. Under the last governor and with his support, the legislative branch made many damaging intrusions into the judicial branch and that branch of Georgia’s government still suffers today as a result. Now, it seems, they want to siphon off much of the Executive’s powers as well.
The “don’t care for the legislature but I like mine’ mentality will continue to hamper Georgia’s ability to move forward.
hiram
May 4th, 2012
9:59 am
@ tardy
Deal’s goal for becoming governor was to get a place at the state’s feed trough, having been cut off from the federal one – he is a professional politician. At his age, he’s probably planning on being set for life after one term. You may have noticed that one of his first acts as governor was to gut the office of ethics – he got to the really important stuff first.
joni
May 4th, 2012
10:03 am
Deal’s on a roll. Now would be a good time to set up his daughter/son-n-law with a outdoor retail business.
Rabbit
May 4th, 2012
10:03 am
Like Tardy, this governor’s negatives have worried me. But he does have positives (unlike the last governor). This governor seems to be able to protect at least the structure of government. We need that until we wake up and shovel out the floor of the barn.
Debbie Dooley
May 4th, 2012
10:07 am
This is not the first campaign promise/pledge Gov. Deal has broken. He also signed a pledge to oppose any and all tax increases when he was a candidate. He threw that pledge out the window and is campaigning on behalf of the largest tax increase in Georgia history.
Maybe the voters should consider a veto in 2014
Jags fan 4 life
May 4th, 2012
10:07 am
Antie Christ- Geez “white boys” hmm sounds like you do not like white people, I will tell ya something, if you ever hear the word “investments” and “stocks” you will know how “white boys” became “rich white boys” and geez you act like blacks do nothing wrong. We all remember the black panthers in 2008 too bad the DOJ doesn’t b/c they don’t want to “arrest black people” Before you call us “white boys” maybe you start just calling us fellow Georgians, got that!
This sunset bill is nothing more than a government run advisory board, don’t like what the trash people did, abolish that agency, yea that works it’s almost as stupid as having a citizens advisory board on police officer shootings, do they have to deal with criminals trying to kill them “no” so I applaud Governor Deal on this and Clyde is right campaign promises are nothing concrete hey just look at what Obama has done.. nothing!
Ga Values
May 4th, 2012
10:07 am
Reed or Bill Cambell, eho is the bigger crook? Look at the airport, then look at the Beltline & TSPOT..All Reed’s buddies are going to get richer.
Moneyball
May 4th, 2012
10:08 am
Well done, Governor. We’re gonna need that money to fund a new stadium for Mr. Blank. NOT!!!
td
May 4th, 2012
10:08 am
If the blatant racism happening in Atlanta contracts were happening in any white led government entity then Al, Jesse and the NAACP would be marching in the streets and it would headline every newscast in the country.
Debbie Dooley
May 4th, 2012
10:11 am
I guess the Governor realized he needed to protect the agencies and departments so he could keep his cronies employed. I found it humerous to hear Brian Robinson actually talk about the Constitution. Gov. Deal did not mind the fact that T-SPLOST is un-Constitutional when he is out campaigning on its behalf. I see the Governor’s people are on here doing damage control.
Rabbit
May 4th, 2012
10:12 am
Seeing that many of the bill’s sponsors are or are close to legislative representatives to ALEC (the secret organization that funnels draft legislation to state lawmakers.) this bill looks like a page out of ALEC’s “state budget reform toolkit.”
Thank the Gov. for this veto and any veto to stem the ALEC encroachment.
Oswald Bunch
May 4th, 2012
10:13 am
Way to go Deal! Sunset bill sounds idiotic. Tea Party needs to keep their fat butts in the exurbs on the couch where they belong.
Moneyball
May 4th, 2012
10:14 am
mike @ 9:39 am, sounds like you’ve mistaken the Tea Party for the Occupy Whatever idiots.
Rabbit
May 4th, 2012
10:17 am
From the ALEC website: state budget reform toolkit
“ALEC Model Legislation: Council on Efficient Government Act • An Act Relating to Performance Audits of Governmental Entities”
Debbie Dooley
May 4th, 2012
10:21 am
I am answering call after call from tea party activists furious about this. They say Gov. Deal pledge to sign the Sunset Bill when he was campaigning for Governor. They want to have a protest over Gov. Deal’s actions..
td
May 4th, 2012
10:22 am
I’m pretty smart, and all you people should know it by now……
Debbie Dooley
May 4th, 2012
10:23 am
I see Gov. Deals’ people are on here trying to do damage control by pretending they are ordinary citizens. Not going to work…
edna depue
May 4th, 2012
10:23 am
These airport contractors are just like everyone else, black or white, if they can get an unfair advantage they will take it in a heart beat. Black folks feel the airport is for black-owned businesses only, and they will do just about anything to keep the gravy train rolling. Maynard Jackson, Felker Ward, Jesse Hill, Herman Russell all got filthy rich posing as “disadvantaged monority contractors”. These guys, in reality, are just as corrupt as any white politician ever was.
mike
May 4th, 2012
10:28 am
yes Boca, I am for real. I have watched these clowns complain for the past two years where I live. They go to Commission meetings and complain about budgets for different departments, then they come back to meetings several months later wanting to know why the rec. fields aren’t being mowed and why the tennis court lights aren’t on and why the road department hasn’t been mowing as much….and on and on…and on. Quite humorous actually.
Aaron Burr V Mexico
May 4th, 2012
10:30 am
@Totally Dopey – Sure we know it. We’re just discussing it over here in this other room. No, we’re NOT laughing about you. Its something else.
Rod
May 4th, 2012
10:35 am
Shock and surprise Deal goes back on promise. You can knock me over with a feather.
mike
May 4th, 2012
10:35 am
Moneyball, those two groups are very similar in some ways. Both a bit overboard.
deegee
May 4th, 2012
10:40 am
“Deal will sign a zero-based budgeting bill, which accomplishes the same mission, Robinson said. “It goes through the budget line through line, evaluating programs that have outlived their usefulness.”
That’s hilarious. The governor gets to evaluate the budget and commit extortion when contacting agency heads whose programs have outlived their usefulness. No sense in giving political clout to measly little legislators.
Raquel Morris
May 4th, 2012
10:41 am
Jim, how cute of you to mention the airport contracting mess without giving a shout out to your BFF, Kasim Reed. The Mayor was bought and paid for by airport vendors and is willing to defraud federal agencies in order to keep his cronies paid.
Auntie Christ
May 4th, 2012
10:44 am
s td says: I’m pretty smart, and all you people should know it by now……
Once before you mentioned you are pretty “bright.” This brought to mind Plato’s allegory of the cave, wherein the people who lived their entire lives in the darkest recesses of a cave, have to avert their eyes from the brightness of a single candle. This is how we view you and your concept of being ‘bright.’
And to jag who says: if you ever hear the word “investments” and “stocks” you will know how “white boys” became “rich white boys” and geez you act like blacks do nothing wrong. We all remember the black panthers in 2008.
I definitely have heard of investments, I lead a very comfortable life due to them. I should add though that it is due to my own acuity and not from any contacts at the capitol. Black Panthers, really? I can see you and glen beck are on a first name basis, and are probably an avid subscriber to world nut daily, else you would know that the so-called “New Black Panther Party” is more a figment of the aforesaid’s imagination than a reality. Join us in realityville, you might actually enjoy it, much more so than the fantasy world you live in populated by black bogeymen ready to swoop in and take your white wimmen. As for not liking white people, that would be news to my very white parents, my very white children, and my equally white siblings.
Aaron Burr V Mexico
May 4th, 2012
10:44 am
@Raquel Morris – Its True. Kaseem Reed is a ghoul and an excellent human impersonator.
Aaron Burr V Mexico
May 4th, 2012
10:46 am
@Auntie Christ – If you keep feeding the animals, they will keep showing up…
KEEP FEEDING THE ANIMALS! Great stuff.
Emily
May 4th, 2012
10:50 am
Jim Galloway, you are as bad as the City Hall sock puppets with your inability to acknowledge the Mayor’s huge issues. The FBI is investigating our airport because the Mayor is a sellout. It’s time for you to do some real reporting!
barfs at GA/ATL politics
May 4th, 2012
10:53 am
1.i think the only difference between deal and barnes is the way they spell their names 2. Also i think mack 2 inc needs a diversity department…like other multimillion dollar companies are required to do.
Rachel
May 4th, 2012
10:54 am
I heard that most elected officials skipped the shindig celebrating the new terminal at the airport because they didn’t want to be seen with the Mayor and were afraid the FBI would be there!
shamus
May 4th, 2012
10:58 am
romney jumped the shark, again.
Bobby
May 4th, 2012
11:01 am
Deal is as dishonest, corrupt and unethical as most politicans. He runs on one platform and then does whatever benefits him the most. Same old, same old.
Brian
May 4th, 2012
11:03 am
Perhaps it “bares repeating” because it exposes something.
touche
May 4th, 2012
11:09 am
Polite golf clap for Brian.
GaBlue
May 4th, 2012
11:23 am
Auntie Christ makes the most pertinent point of the day @ 9:43.
The folks we elect to run our state government are doing a lousy job running our state government, but a bang-up job running their own financial futures. That Gov. Deal will turn $4mil/debt into a plump personal plus column in one term — ON $140K/yr salary — is not something we should ignore given the state of our State.
My state senator has racked up more than $4k in “gifts” in his very first term while focusing on social wedge issues and solving absolutely NONE of our problems. Every person who cares enough to read this column should be asking the tough questions of his or her “representatives.” If we don’t, we’re complicit by complacency.
Aaron Burr V Mexico
May 4th, 2012
11:25 am
@Shamus – A shark jumping another shark? Neat. Though Romney does remind me a bit of Jabberjaw….
td
May 4th, 2012
11:29 am
Aaron Burr V Mexico
May 4th, 2012
10:30 am
I think I saw you on Sean Hannity last night. He told you to get off your a$$ and take any job and to get out of your mothers basement.
td
May 4th, 2012
11:33 am
Hey you libs have been fooled again by the fake td.