Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan, in a power play that ingratiates himself with new Gov. Brian Kemp, released a letter saying 64 appointments that then-Gov. Nathan Deal made between the end of the special legislative session on Nov. 17th and his last day in office are inoperative. He has ruled they weren’t properly submitted to the state Senate over which he presides.
InsiderAdvantage is told the decision will stand and is backed by the rest of the GOP-controlled Senate leadership.
During that time period, the Deal and Kemp teams did coordinate on a lot of the agency and board appointments involved. But not all. Included in this group are three Board of Regents appointments made by Deal in December. Regents Richard Tucker, Don Leebern Jr. and Dean Alford were re-appointed, and Kemp must decide whether those picks stand.
Duncan has also been involved with the re-emergence of a campaign to ratify the so-called Equal Rights Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. After a seven-year attempt, it was defeated for ratification in 1982. (In order to be added to the Constitution, three-fourths or 38 of the 50 states must approve any amendment through their legislatures.)
Liberal Democrats led by state Sen. Jennifer Jordan seek to resubmit the controversial ERA, long and bitterly opposed by conservatives nationwide since the 1970s. Sources say Duncan initially was considering letting it pass through the appropriate committee and to the floor for a vote. But a backlash among many GOP senators, who consider it a needless distraction, appear to have quashed that idea.
In fact, a constitutional scholar is scheduled to address the GOP caucus on Thursday to brief members on the ERA’s harmful and unintended consequences. And as this is written, some Republicans who originally thought it might be a good “bipartisan” idea to support the ERA are having second thoughts.
