Metro Atlanta economy and reputation again at risk with new culture war battles (Religious Liberty, Abortion, etc) (Columbus: live, airport)

[citidata18]

Originally Posted by NC2ATL60

Just saw a tweet from Channel 2, apparently they ran out of time on the hearing regarding the Religious Liberty bill, so it did not make it to committee today. They are saying this delay could hurt its chances of making it to the senate before crossover day! *fingers crossed*

Good to hear.

[NC2ATL60]

Originally Posted by citidata18

Good to hear.

Agreed. We need some good news around here lately. So much doom and gloom

[Born 2 Roll]

Originally Posted by NC2ATL60

Just saw a tweet from Channel 2, apparently they ran out of time on the hearing regarding the Religious Liberty bill, so it did not make it to committee today. They are saying this delay could hurt its chances of making it to the senate before crossover day! *fingers crossed*

Georgia religious rights bill may need a ‘miracle’ to pass this year (Atlanta Journal-Constitution)

A proposal to strengthen legal protections for religious Georgians stalled Monday when senators delayed a planned public hearing.

The prospects for the measure’s passage dimmed because Thursday is a deadline when bills typically need to win approval in at least one legislative chamber to become law. It’s still possible for legislation to be revived after the deadline.

[AnsleyPark]

Originally Posted by Born 2 Roll

Georgia religious rights bill may need a ‘miracle’ to pass this year (Atlanta Journal-Constitution)

You gotta kinda wonder: Was this intentionally delayed so that the proponents could say, "Well, at least we tried," in order to satisfy their base while surreptitiously acknowledging that they did not really want to damage the state's fiscal future?

[NC2ATL60]

Originally Posted by AnsleyPark

You gotta kinda wonder: Was this intentionally delayed so that the proponents could say, "Well, at least we tried," in order to satisfy their base while surreptitiously acknowledging that they did not really want to damage the state's fiscal future?

I really am thinking, at least internally, they are pumping the brakes a bit. Maybe the pressure from lets say, everyone else, is finally waking the Georgia State Assembly up. Who Knows.

[midgeorgiaman]

Originally Posted by AnsleyPark

You gotta kinda wonder: Was this intentionally delayed so that the proponents could say, "Well, at least we tried," in order to satisfy their base while surreptitiously acknowledging that they did not really want to damage the state's fiscal future?

Nailed it. The Georgia GOP has to thread that needle of staying pro-business and pacifying the religious right. Most states have more of one or the other. Georgia is balanced and Republicans here have become rather masterful of balancing this on a statewide basis. Being we just finished a governor's election and opponents of Kemp are ready to pounce on any perceived anti-business issue...good call.

Next year though....Presidential election years always bring out the crazies during primaries, but one year at a time!

[Born 2 Roll]

Originally Posted by AnsleyPark

You gotta kinda wonder: Was this intentionally delayed so that the proponents could say, "Well, at least we tried," in order to satisfy their base while surreptitiously acknowledging that they did not really want to damage the state's fiscal future?

Originally Posted by NC2ATL60

I really am thinking, at least internally, they are pumping the brakes a bit. Maybe the pressure from lets say, everyone else, is finally waking the Georgia State Assembly up. Who Knows.

Originally Posted by midgeorgiaman

Nailed it. The Georgia GOP has to thread that needle of staying pro-business and pacifying the religious right. Most states have more of one or the other. Georgia is balanced and Republicans here have become rather masterful of balancing this on a statewide basis. Being we just finished a governor's election and opponents of Kemp are ready to pounce on any perceived anti-business issue...good call.

Next year though....Presidential election years always bring out the crazies during primaries, but one year at a time!

modcut

I probably would not speak too soon about common sense being so common and about everyone suddenly waking up and coming to their senses in the Georgia General Assembly.

One main reason why this most recent Religious Liberty bill appears to have gone nowhere in the current 2019 session of the Georgia General Assembly is likely because the leadership of the Republican majority legislative caucuses convinced the more hardcore socially conservative legislators to hold off on introducing controversial bills on social and culture war issues until after the Super Bowl left Atlanta... That is so that the state of Georgia would not be embarrassed in a high-profile way while so much national and international media attention was focused on Atlanta and Georgia.

This most recent Religious Liberty bill likely was not able to gain enough steam to get even further this year because it was introduced fairly very late in the current legislative session (I don't think that the bill was even officially introduced until about mid February?).

Like midgeorgiaman noted, next year will be an important election year (the 2020 Presidential Election cycle) during which all 236 legislative seats in the Georgia General Assembly will be up for election.

Republican legislators who will be running for election next year will have to answer to deeply socially conservative GOP primary voters who will be demanding that a strong Religious Liberty bill be passed into Georgia state law as a pushback from the right against both the recent legalization of gay marriage and the ongoing demographic changes in the state that appear to be threatening to make the state's dominant bloc of conservative voters into a possible electoral minority in Georgia politics in the not-too-distant future.

Because next year is a very important election year, one should probably expect the Religious Liberty issue to comeback with even stronger next year so that incumbent Republican legislators will have something to run on in front of increasingly restless GOP primary audiences where Religious Liberty is a top priority.

One should probably expect the Religious Liberty issue to continue to be a factor in Georgia politics (particularly while the Georgia General Assembly is in session, and particularly during legislative and statewide election years) for the foreseeable future as long as Republicans hold the Governor's office and majorities in one and/or both chambers of the Georgia Legislature.

Unfortunately, for business-minded Georgians and metro Atlantans, the Religious Liberty issue likely is not going away anytime soon.

[Born 2 Roll]

Veteran Atlanta Journal-Constitution political writer and journalist Jim Galloway writes that the state's shifting political climate (by way of continuing demographic and political changes in Atlanta's expansive suburbs) appear to have put the state's dominant bloc of social conservatives on the defensive as of late

The wind has shifted at the state Capitol. Whether this is an errant breeze or isolated gust, it’s too soon to tell. But in the last 48 hours or so, a different group of people have been winning.

They are not the social conservatives who have dominated the marble-floored hallways for the last two decades. These victories have been aimed at suburban women in Georgia, who proved so crucial in 2018 and are likely to be more so in 2020.

Shifting winds in the Capitol put social conservatives on the defensive (Atlanta Journal-Constitution)

[midgeorgiaman]

Originally Posted by Born 2 Roll

I probably would not speak too soon about common sense being so common and about everyone suddenly waking up and coming to their senses in the Georgia General Assembly.

One main reason why this most recent Religious Liberty bill appears to have gone nowhere in the current 2019 session of the Georgia General Assembly is likely because the leadership of the Republican majority legislative caucuses convinced the more hardcore socially conservative legislators to hold off on introducing controversial bills on social and culture war issues until after the Super Bowl left Atlanta... That is so that the state of Georgia would not be embarrassed in a high-profile way while so much national and international media attention was focused on Atlanta and Georgia.

This most recent Religious Liberty bill likely was not able to gain enough steam to get even further this year because it was introduced fairly very late in the current legislative session (I don't think that the bill was even officially introduced until about mid February?).

Like midgeorgiaman noted, next year will be an important election year (the 2020 Presidential Election cycle) during which all 236 legislative seats in the Georgia General Assembly will be up for election.

Republican legislators who will be running for election next year will have to answer to deeply socially conservative GOP primary voters who will be demanding that a strong Religious Liberty bill be passed into Georgia state law as a pushback from the right against both the recent legalization of gay marriage and the ongoing demographic changes in the state that appear to be threatening to make the state's dominant bloc of conservative voters into a possible electoral minority in Georgia politics in the not-too-distant future.

Because next year is a very important election year, one should probably expect the Religious Liberty issue to comeback with even stronger next year so that incumbent Republican legislators will have something to run on in front of increasingly restless GOP primary audiences where Religious Liberty is a top priority.

One should probably expect the Religious Liberty issue to continue to be a factor in Georgia politics (particularly while the Georgia General Assembly is in session, and particularly during legislative and statewide election years) for the foreseeable future as long as Republicans hold the Governor's office and majorities in one and/or both chambers of the Georgia Legislature.

Unfortunately, for business-minded Georgians and metro Atlantans, the Religious Liberty issue likely is not going away anytime soon.

I agree. Next year is the year to watch. The sting of GOP losses in the suburbs will have faded. Primaries drive parties to their extremes and GOP pols will go far right to muster votes.

[Newsboy]

What’s really puzzling about Marty Harbin’s continued push for religious liberty legislation is that his son David is one of the principles behind Founders Studio in Tyrone. Further, he’s we’ll connected to Dan Cathy, the part owner / developer of Pinewood Studios and Pinewood Forest, and attends church with Brent Randolph and Mark Williamson, owners of Randolph-Williamson, the largest commercial real estate development firm in Fayette County and the people who in fact BUILT Pinewood Studios. Harbin is well aware of the potentially negative impact such legislation could have on the entertainment industry and particularly the economy of Fayette County. (Remember, it was the Fayette County Commission’s resolution in support of a religious liberty bill that led Facebook to cancel plans to build its data center in Fayetteville.)

All this leads me to believe that Harbin is just playing to his base, knowing that this thing would ever pass. “We tried but those awful evil liberals fought against us.” Either that or he’s incredibly arrogant and naive. The Facebook debacle proved that these people are serious when they say they won’t stand for discriminatory legislation.