Latest news with #D-Tyrone
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Progressive Candidate Bucks Establishment in Run For Governor
Launching a gubernatorial campaign with a conversation about the need for reparations for descendants of the enslaved isn't something you see every day— especially in Georgia. But state Rep. Derrick Jackson, D-Tyrone, who officially announced his bid for governor last week, says he wants to be a voice for Black voters looking for more aggressive Democratic leadership that isn't afraid to fight for bold ideas that benefit the masses. Raising Georgia's minimum wage to $27 an hour over the course of three years, continuing conversations about a Georgia reparations program, and eliminating state income taxes on teachers, nurses, military veterans, and seniors are just a few of the policies Jackson proposed during a recent interview with Capital B Atlanta. The five-term state lawmaker said he won't shy away from fighting for proposals that directly benefit Black Georgians if he's elected. 'Will there be some things specifically for Black people? Yes, because you've got a lot of things specifically for white people,' Jackson said. 'When [the federal government passes] a tax cut for the top 1%, 99% of the top 1% are white. We don't have that many Black millionaires and billionaires.' Jackson, 59, is a Navy veteran and a married father of seven who characterized himself as the anti-establishment, progressive fighter in an increasingly crowded field of candidates vying to replace Brian Kemp in the governor's mansion in 2026. Name-checking rising Democratic stars like U.S. Reps. Jasmine Crockett and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez along with trailblazers like U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, Jackson cites the huge crowds Sanders and AOC received at anti-oligarchy rallies as evidence Democratic voters are looking for more progressive, populist candidates. He accused fellow Georgia Democratic leaders, including state Rep. Carolyn Hugley, D-Columbus, of being too moderate and trying to find common ground with Republicans in the Georgia General Assembly instead of outright opposing the GOP agenda. Hugley overcame Jackson and other Democrats late last year to replace James Beverly as state House Minority Leader. Jackson argues President Donald Trump's victory in Georgia and across the country made some Democrats question whether voters want them to moderate their positions or resist the controversial president's agenda, suggesting the uproar over federal employee layoffs in Georgia shows voters want the party to fight harder. 'I lost when I ran for minority leader because the caucus did not want a fighter as their minority leader,' Jackson said. 'They chose the status quo, and they regret that right now.' Earlier this year, Jackson sponsored a bill that would gradually raise Georgia's minimum wage to $27 an hour in 2028. The legislation, which failed to advance out of committee this year, would have raised the state's current $5.15 an hour minimum wage to $15 an hour this year, $18 an hour next year, and $21 an hour in 2027 before maxing out at $27 an hour in 2028. His plan to get progressive policies like this passed isn't to work with Republicans, who have majority control of the state House and state Senate. It's to defeat them at the ballot box during next year's midterm election cycle and give Democrats control of the state House. 'While I'm running for governor, I'm working to flip the [state] House,' Jackson said. 'I never believed in extending the olive branch to the Republican Party because it never worked. You've never heard a Republican say, 'I'm going to reach across the aisle,' so why am I going to extend my arm so you can chop it off?' Jackson also supports repealing Georgia's six-week abortion ban and the statewide ban on rent regulation that prevents setting limits on increases. He said he wants to make Georgia a top destination for working families, not just business owners, taking a shot at one of GOP Gov. Brian Kemp's primary talking points. 'Instead of us being the number one state for business, we're going to be the number one state for families,' Jackson said. 'If we do this right, eventually single citizens will say, 'Georgia is the best place to raise a family. Georgia is the best place in terms of affordability. Georgia is the best place for health care.'' 'The American Dream is fading for a lot of people,' Jackson continued. 'I know the governor has the responsibility to make sure that the state in which they govern is creating an environment that's conducive for everybody.' He's hoping his policy agenda will help the Democratic Party reenergize the Black voters who helped them turn the state blue in 2020, but haven't matched the same turnout rate since. 'They're disinterested because they see Democrats and Republicans as the same,' Jackson said of Black voters. 'They don't see nobody fighting for them. They don't see our interests being met. They see everyone else's interests being met and satisfied and accomplished, but we're still left behind.' Jackson joins a field of candidates that includes Attorney General Chris Carr, state Sen. Jason Esteves, D-Atlanta, former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms and former lead pastor and founder of Impact United Methodist Church Olu Brown. Other rumored candidates include Stacey Abrams, Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, Lt. Gov. Burt Jones, and former DeKalb County CEO Michael Thurmond. The post Progressive Candidate Bucks Establishment in Run For Governor appeared first on Capital B News - Atlanta.
Yahoo
11-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Atlanta Residents' Calls for Rent Control Ignored by Lawmakers
Atlanta Housing Justice League Executive Director Alison Johnson expressed anger and regret on Monday after bills backed by her organization failed to advance before the legislature's Thursday Crossover Day deadline. Failure to pass related bills in the state House or the state Senate by the end of Crossover Day means it's unlikely Georgia's legislature will pass any new laws addressing housing affordability this year, despite determined efforts by Johnson and her allies. 'We're deeply disappointed that housing, again, is not a priority with our elected officials,' Johnson told Capital B Atlanta on Monday. 'We can't wait, and we ain't going to wait until next year to continue to protest, to continue to elevate our voices and bring the people with us who are impacted by this [affordable housing] crisis.' At least 100 mostly Black renters from across the state traveled to the Gold Dome on Feb. 26 with Johnson and other affordable housing advocacy groups, including leaders of Georgia Advancing Communities Together, to demonstrate and lobby in support of rent control and other policy ideas aimed at reducing the cost of housing, which remains a top priority for Black voters this year. An Atlanta Regional Commission report released in December found nearly 60% of Black folks in the area are considered 'cost-burdened renters,' meaning they spend at least 30% of their income on rent. That's slightly higher than the estimated 56% national average for cost-burdened Black renters, according to the report. As a result, metro Atlanta's homeless population is expected to increase for the third consecutive year after increasing 33% year over year in 2023 and 7% in 2024. Still, as of now, the pro-rent regulation lobbying efforts of affordable housing advocates and the communities they support appear to be in vain. Georgia Democrats, including Reps. Jasmine Clark, D-Lilburn, and Derrick Jackson, D-Tyrone, say Republican leaders — who have maintained majority control of both legislative chambers inside the Gold Dome for two decades — are the biggest obstacles to state lawmakers passing legislation that could help Black Georgians in desperate need of rent relief, which Clark referred to as 'business as usual' at the Capitol. 'We have a lot of people who say they want to do something about affordable housing,' Clark said. 'They say they care about Georgians and their struggles. They say they want to do right by working Georgians. But then when you present them with opportunities to do those things, those bills don't even get so much as a hearing.' When asked on Monday why he declined to allow a pair of key housing-related bills to receive an up-or-down vote ahead of Crossover Day, state Rep. Victor Anderson, R-Cornelia, said he didn't think the measures were ready for a vote yet. 'I really don't know if there is a short-term solution,' Anderson told Capital B Atlanta of the state's affordable housing crisis on Monday. 'The process that we have here takes time, unfortunately. But the understanding of the issue and the problem has to make its way through enough people to where we can get some momentum to make it happen.' Anderson acknowledged that state lawmakers have already spent years examining Georgia's rent and housing supply-related concerns, and have considered similar measures to address the problem during past legislative sessions. Yet he maintained that related bills — including House Bill 299, which would repeal a statewide ban on rent regulation, and HB 305, which would limit the ability of wealthy investors to purchase and convert large volumes of single-family homes in Georgia into rentals — still needed to be refined before being voted on. HB 299 and HB 305 are just two of the housing-related bills that were assigned earlier this year to the state House's Government Affairs Committee, where Anderson serves as chairman. He noted that the committee's members advanced HB 399, a measure that would require out-of-state landlords who own at least 25 single-family homes or duplexes in Georgia to hire at least one in-state staffer to address tenant concerns. 'We're working with the authors on those [bills],' Anderson continued. 'We're trying to get to a point where we've got something that can provide some relief and some assistance.' Republican leaders have suggested repealing the statewide ban on rent regulation and limiting investors from buying single-family homes would violate the free market ideals their party tends to favor. Gov. Brian Kemp has supported other potential solutions to the state's affordable housing crisis, including the Rural Workforce Housing Initiative, which his office says has awarded more than $42 million in infrastructure grants to 21 rural communities. 'An overwhelming majority of these grants have been awarded to communities whose population is predominantly made up of Black Georgians,' Kemp press secretary Garrison Douglas told Capital B Atlanta via email on Tuesday. Kemp says the property tax relief Republicans have backed via the new HB 581 homestead exemption, which voters approved in November, and multiple tax cuts, rebates, and suspensions have put $7.6 billion back in the pockets of Georgians struggling with higher housing costs and overall inflation. The city of Atlanta and other local governments have opted out of HB 581. Some argue the tax break benefits corporate landlords more than individual homeowners and will starve cities of much-needed tax revenue that would hurt their ability to service taxpayers effectively. Georgia House Speaker Jon Burns, R-Newington, noted his party's support for the Safe At Home Act last year, in addition to the launch of the Georgia Dream Homeownership Program nearly a year ago. The Georgia Dream program provides higher income limits and maximum home purchase prices so more homebuyers can take advantage of market-rate Federal Housing Administration loans. 'The General Assembly will continue to support measures that lower costs for our citizens and increase access to housing — all while protecting the free-market principles that keep our state the best place in the nation to do business,' Burns said in an emailed statement. Johnson, the Atlanta Housing Justice League director, noted that it's still possible for standalone bills that didn't get passed in either legislative chamber before Friday to be added as amendments to measures that did. She encouraged those who want state lawmakers to do more to address Georgia's affordable housing crisis to contact Republican leaders like Kemp, Anderson, Burns, and Lt. Gov. Burt Jones. 'People need to be reaching out to them,' she said. 'People need to be calling them. People need to be holding them accountable as well.' The post Atlanta Residents' Calls for Rent Control Ignored by Lawmakers appeared first on Capital B News - Atlanta.
