ATLANTA – Legislation U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff, D-Ga., introduced to protect children from online abuse and exploitation has been signed into law.
President Joe Biden signed the bipartisan REPORT Act Tuesday, which Ossoff introduced in partnership with Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn.
The bill requires websites and social media platforms to report crimes involving the trafficking and enticement of children to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC). Companies that knowingly and willfully fail to report child sex abuse material on their sites will face increased fines.
“My bipartisan law with Senator Blackburn will ensure tech companies are held accountable to report and remove child sex abuse material and to strengthen protection for kids online,” Ossoff said. “At a time of such division in Congress, we successfully brought Republicans and Democrats together to protect kids on the internet, and now our bill is law.”
“Children are increasingly looking at screens, and the reality is that this leaves more innocent kids at risk of online exploitation,” Blackburn added. “Under this law, Big Tech will now be required to report trafficking, grooming or enticement of children found on their sites.”
Ossoff chairs the Senate’s Human Rights Subcommittee, while Blackburn serves as the panel’s ranking Republican. An investigation they launched early last year to assess the safety of children in foster care found lax oversight by federal and state child welfare agencies when it comes to missing children.
Ossoff cited audits of multiple states that found 45% of missing child incidents were not reported to the NCMEC and that most missing children were not screened for sex trafficking after they were recovered.
The NCMEC endorsed the REPORT Act as well as a companion bill introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives.
“The REPORT Act provides critical child safety improvements,” said Michelle DeLaune, the NCMEC’s president and CEO. “We look forward to continuing our work with Congress to prioritize the safety of children online because every child deserves a safe childhood.”
This mug shot of Donald Trump was taken after he turned himself in at the Fulton County Jail last August.
ATLANTA – The Georgia Court of Appeals agreed Wednesday to hear an appeal of a lower court ruling allowing Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis to continue leading the prosecution of former President Donald Trump.
The appellate court’s decision means further delays in a case that already has been slowed by a defense motion to remove Willis from prosecuting Trump and 18 co-defendants because of a romantic relationship between the DA and Nathan Wade, the special prosecutor she hired to lead the case.
Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee ruled in March that Willis could remain on the case if Wade resigned, which he did several hours later.
A Fulton grand jury handed down an indictment last August charging Trump and his associates with racketeering for allegedly participating in a conspiracy to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election in Georgia. Democrat Joe Biden carried the Peach State by the razor-thin margin of 11,780 votes.
Since then, several of the defendants have pleaded guilty, while McAfee has dismissed six of the 41 counts filed against Trump and several co-defendants. The judge declared the charges legally defective.
In the March ruling on the motion to disqualify Willis, McAfee declared the defendants failed to meet their burden of proof that the relationship between the DA and Wade resulted in an actual conflict of interest. But the judge declared that the appearance of a conflict was sufficient to infect “the current structure of the prosecution team.”
He gave Willis the option of removing herself from the case or remaining if Wade stepped aside.
ATLANTA – Gov. Brian Kemp has wrapped up the annual bill-signing season by putting his signature to a package of election law changes backed by Republicans but criticized by Democrats and voting-rights advocates.
Kemp signed the three bills on Tuesday, the deadline for the governor to either sign or veto legislation the General Assembly passed this year.
The three-bill package marked the latest bid by Georgia Republicans to overhaul state election laws in the wake of Democrat Joe Biden’s victory over incumbent Republican President Donald Trump in 2020. Biden narrowly carried the Peach State, the first Democratic presidential candidate to do so since Bill Clinton in 1992.
Passing mostly along party lines, the package included:
Senate Bill 189, which makes it easier to file mass voter challenges, eliminates QR codes from paper ballots, and eases requirements for third-party presidential candidates to get on Georgia’s ballot.
House Bill 1207, which allows fewer voting machines on election days, requires poll workers to be U.S. citizens, and allows closer access for poll watchers.
House Bill 974, which requires the secretary of state to set up a statewide system to scan and post paper ballots at a minimum resolution and requires more audits of statewide election results.
Republican supporters praised Kemp for signing into law legislation they said will promote the cause of election integrity.
“Although there is always more work to be done, our new laws will ensure even more accuracy, safety and transparency,” said former U.S. Sen. Kelly Loeffler, R-Ga., now serving as chairwoman of Greater Georgia, a nonpartisan nonprofit dedicated to mobilizing voters and protecting election integrity.
“On the eve of a presidential election, Georgians deserve to have confidence that – despite the best efforts of liberal activists in our courts, our media, and our federal government – their votes will count.”
But a representative of the American Civil Liberties Union, which had threatened to sue if Senate Bill 189 became law, said the legislation imposes more barriers on both Georgia voters and election administrators.
“SB 189 is a step back for voters’ rights and voting access in the state of Georgia,” said Andrea Young, executive director of the ACLU’s Georgia chapter.
“Most importantly, this bill will require already overburdened election workers to spend time processing unnecessary voter challenges. … We are committed to protecting Georgia voters and will see the governor in court.”
Most of Senate Bill 189 will take effect ahead of the November elections. The two House bills become effective immediately.
ATLANTA – Gov. Brian Kemp vetoed a dozen bills Tuesday that the General Assembly passed this year, including legislation that would have temporarily suspended a state sales tax exemption aimed at attracting data centers to Georgia.
Republican legislative leaders supported House Bill 1192, arguing the rapid growth of data centers is putting a strain on the state’s energy grid. But business leaders – notably the Georgia Chamber of Commerce – urged Kemp to veto the bill.
In his veto message, the governor wrote that the timing of the measure would have left companies planning to set up data centers in Georgia in the lurch.
“Only two years ago, the legislature extended these tax exemptions for an additional three years, through 2031,” Kemp wrote.
“The bill’s language would prevent the issuance of exemption certificates after an abrupt July 1, 2024, deadline for many customers of projects that are already in development – undermining the investments made by high-technology data center operators, customers, and other stakeholders in reliance on the recent extension, and inhibiting important infrastructure and job development.”
Representatives of the data center industry also maintained that cutting off the tax break would send the wrong message to corporate prospects, making them likely to take their business to states that offer the sales tax exemption.
Other bills Kemp vetoed on Tuesday include House Bill 1019, which called for doubling the statewide homestead tax exemption from $2,000 to $4,000, subject to a referendum.
The legislation was part of a tax-cut package introduced by House Republican leaders early in this year’s session. In vetoing the bill, Kemp pointed to a major 11th-hour change that he argued made the measure untenable.
“After the Senate Finance Committee changed the exemption amount, the Senate adopted a floor amendment late on the final day of the legislative session to return the bill to its original form,” the governor wrote.
“This amendment, however, did not change the language of the constitutionally required voter referendum, which references a $10,000 exemption. Voters would therefore be approving a different exemption which the legislature did not pass, while the statutory language would never receive the voter approval needed for it to take effect.”
Kemp also vetoed Senate Bill 368, which would have prohibited foreign nationals from making political contributions. In his veto message, the governor noted that such contributions already are prohibited under federal law.
In addition, the measure would have imposed additional state-level requirements on “agents of foreign principals,” including some that were not intended by the bill’s sponsor, Kemp wrote.
ATLANTA – Gov. Brian Kemp signed what he called an “historic” $36.1 billion state budget Tuesday containing healthy raises for state employees and public school teachers.
The fiscal 2025 budget, which takes effect July 1, represents an increase of $3.7 billion over the fiscal 2024 budget the General Assembly adopted last spring, including record spending on education and mental health and significant increases for public safety.
“This budget is the biggest demonstration of our priorities,” Kemp said during a ceremony inside the Georgia Capitol. “Because we refuse to spend beyond our means, we’re able to invest in these core areas while cutting taxes at the same time.”
The budget provides 4% cost-of-living raises for most state and university system employees, with an additional $3,000 for workers in state agencies suffering high turnover rates, including law enforcement officers and welfare workers. Teachers will get a pay raise of $2,500, bringing the total to $9,500 since Kemp took office in 2019.
Addressing both education and public safety, the spending plan earmarks $108 million in grants to upgrade security on public school campuses. Every public school in Georgia will get a grant of $45,000.
“We want to and we will keep our children safe,” said Georgia House Speaker Jon Burns, R-Newington.
Also in the public safety arena, the budget provides $10.7 million for a technology upgrade inside state prisons to head off a flood of cellphones and other contraband being smuggled in to inmates. Another $4.8 million will go to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation to launch a gang task force in Columbus.
The budget kicks in additional funding for a number of programs already underway, including $20 million for a state reinsurance plan begun last year that aims to hold down health coverage premiums and $6 million for the Rural Workforce Housing initiative, also launched in 2023.
“Every Georgian should be able to live in the same community where they work,” Kemp said.
On the mental health front, the budget puts $16.5 million toward a network of behavioral health crisis centers across the state.
Despite the record spending, Kemp and the General Assembly also are continuing to reduce taxes, which they can afford to do thanks to a $16 billion budget surplus. The legislature signed off this year on the governor’s proposal to accelerate a state income tax cut lawmakers adopted last year.
Altogether, the governor and General Assembly have returned more than $5 billion to Georgia taxpayers, Kemp said.
ATLANTA – A Georgia man and his two adult sons have been arrested on charges related to the breach of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
William Gallagher, 55, of Ellijay was charged Monday with civil disorder, a felony, and misdemeanor offenses of knowingly entering or remaining in a restricted building or grounds without lawful authority, disorderly conduct, and demonstrating in the Capitol.
The FBI also arrested Gallagher’s two adult sons – James Gallagher, 22, and Thomas Gallagher, 25 – on misdemeanor charges related to the attack on the Capitol.
According to court documents, closed-circuit television footage of the Capitol shows William Gallagher entering the Rotunda shortly after its doors had been breached. He then made his way to Statuary Hall and back to the Rotunda before placing calls to his two sons.
William Gallagher then participated with other rioters in pushing the Rotunda doors to open them from the inside.
Court documents say he placed his gloved hands on a Capitol Police officer and forcibly pulled the officer off the doors. He then put his hands on the officer again and, with the help of another rioter, pushed the officer out of the entryway. As a result, the Rotunda doors were breached, allowing rioters to stream into the building.
At this point, Gallagher’s two sons entered the building via the Rotunda doors and met up with their father in the Rotunda. The three men then made their way toward the Senate Chamber.
Law enforcement officers began clearing the area of rioters a short time later, and the three men exited the Capitol building via the Rotunda doors.
The case is being prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia and the Justice Department’s National Security Division’s Counterterrorism Section. Assistance was provided by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia.
The case is being investigated by the FBI’s Atlanta and Washington field offices, with help from the U.S. Capitol Police and the Metropolitan Police Department.
