August 1 , 2008

In this Issue:

Georgia Agriculture Commissioner Irvin criticizes FDA action on salmonella outbreak
Challenges and Change in the Georgia Senate
High Stakes Poker Game Unfolds in Georgia House

Georgia Agriculture Commissioner Irvin criticizes FDA action on salmonella outbreak

Burned by the FDA investigations into the recent tomato and jalapeño pepper salmonella outbreak in some states, Georgia Agriculture Commissioner Tommy Irvin ordered local jalapeño pepper samples tested and announced that all of them were negative. The FDA has since narrowed the warning to only Mexican jalapeños. But agriculture officials in Florida and Georgia said the agency failed to provide them with adequate information about its activities.

"They didn't tell us before they made the blanket statement on products," Mr. Irvin said. "We heard about it through news releases and media. That's not very good."

Subsequently Irvin announced that Georgia grown jalapeño peppers were safe to eat.

The FDA and the CDC rely heavily on states to collect samples and interview patients, among other things. But the lack of coordination with the federal government sometimes prevented federal officials from tapping into states' resources. Federal and state agencies do not have "clearly established protocols," a former FDA official said. With no "clearly established protocols" between federal and state agencies and the FDA tends to keep information to itself.

Challenges and Change in the Georgia Senate

On Saturday, July 26, 2008 Senate Republican Whip Mitch Seabaugh sent an e-mail to his caucus mates announcing he plans to challenge Senator Eric Johnson as Senate President Pro Tem, a position which is second only to the lieutenant governor in the chamber. Then on Thursday, July 31, Seabaugh announced that he would not vie for the Pro Tem position.

On that same day Eric Johnson, who was de facto lieutenant governor for four years after the new GOP majority stripped then-Lieutenant Governor Mark Taylor, a Democrat, of his powers, said he would run for the office of Lieutenant Governor in 2010. Chip Rogers, who was thought to be looking at a run for the Lieutenant Governor’s office as well, looks, instead, to be the next Senate Majority Leader, a position currently held by Tommie Williams, who now appears to be the next Senate President Pro Tem.

Where this leaves Senator Ronnie Chance, who traveled to Lyons recently to tell Senate Majority Leader Tommie Williams he plans to challenge him for that post, is hard to say.

With incumbent Governor Sonny Perdue’s second and last term expiring in 2010, Lieutenant Governor Casey Cagle is expected to run for governor.

High Stakes Poker Game Unfolds in Georgia House

State Representative David Ralston has announced that he is taking on Glenn Richardson for House Speaker post.

The Speaker of the Georgia House of Representatives is elected every two years by the full House in January. Both Republicans and Democrats nominate candidates during party caucuses in November and December. But in a gutsy attempt to oust Richardson, who was elected the first Republican leader of the chamber since Reconstruction, a group of as many as 15 republican representatives, including Tommy Benton of Jefferson, Terry England of Auburn, and Doug Collins of Gainesville have aligned themselves behind Representative David Ralston from Blue Ridge, who has announced a challenge to unseat Richardson from the Speaker’s post.

The 2008 legislative session saw the defeat of House initiatives to cut taxes, set up funding for a statewide trauma-care network and a local transportation-tax option. Those who support Ralston blame the heated rhetoric between Richardson and fellow Republicans Governor Sonny Perdue and Lieutenant Governor Casey Cagle for the failure of passing that legislation.

In launching his attempt to lead the 180-member House, Ralston an attorney from Blue Ridge, said, “The people of Georgia are wanting us to work together and get some things done. With the current climate we have, that's going to be extremely tough to do. I think we have an opportunity to do that. I didn’t go looking for this. There’s a lot of unhappiness among the membership. But what is more important is the level of frustration and disillusionment from the general public as to our inability to get things done at the end of this session."

Richardson's top allies in the House, Speaker Pro Tem Mark Burkhalter and Majority Leader Jerry Keen, said the speaker retains the allegiance of whose support would be critical to any proposed coup. Keen stated, "I'm confident he'll be re-elected as speaker. I don't think there's any doubt that he will be."

A Georgia House speaker can make sure a rebellious representative gets no plum committee assignments loses funding for local projects and the ability to get bills approved. That's what makes State Representative David Ralston's decision to take on Speaker Richardson such a daring move.

The Blue Ridge Republican, who has served as Chairman of the Non-Civil Judiciary Committee and on the Appropriations, Rules and Transportation committees risks banishment to the political hinterlands if he fails to unseat Richardson.

Chris Strickland, a 33-year-old teacher from Flowery Branch and the Democrat hoping to unseat Republican Representative James Mill in November for the District 25 House seat, has said that he’ll vote for David Ralston as Speaker of the House against Glenn Richardson if he gets that chance. He also circulated a press release in which he said, “I will support any North Georgia representative, Republican or Democrat, that challenges Speaker Richardson. The House leadership is broken.”

Could this mean that other Democrats will use the pending fight among Republicans in their fall campaigns? Only time will tell.

Before winning a seat in the House, Ralston, 54, served in the Senate from 1992-98 and in 1998, was the Republican nominee for state attorney general.

The late Tom Murphy, who served as speaker for three decades, was challenged twice for the gavel. In the late 1970s, Murphy was unsuccessfully challenged by state Representative Al Burruss, a democrat from Marietta. The same thing happened in 1993, when Murphy was challenged by state Representative DuBose Porter, a democrat from Dublin, who now serves as minority leader of the House.

Both Burruss and Porter suffered temporary setbacks in their leadership roles in the House following defeat.



Thank you.
 
 
John C. Heavener, MSM, CAE
President
johnh@georgiaretail.org
Telephone – 770-484-3449, ext. 21
Fax – 770-484-5727
 
Georgia Retail Association
 
About GRA: The Georgia Retail Association, with membership that comprises all retail formats and channels of distribution including department, specialty, discount, catalog, Internet, independent stores, and grocery stores has been serving the state’s business community since 1961. The Georgia Retail Association represents an industry with more than 71,300 retail establishments, and more than 715,000 employees - about one in five of Georgia’s workers - and 2004 sales of $115.2 billion.

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