Political Rewind

Friday on Political Rewind: A contentious GOP election law passed along partisan lines in the General Assembly yesterday. The omnibus bill changes many aspect of Georgia elections, and includes stricter identification requirements for absentee voting and a more narrower window to request an absentee ballot. The State House approved SB 202 early Thursday with a 100-75 party-line vote, and the Senat...

Thursday on Political Rewind: The coronavirus pandemic dominated headlines this past year. But the news this week returned to a different public health crisis: the massive toll of gun violence in the United States. The killing of 18 people in Georgia and Colorado in the past week prompted renewed calls for change. In Congress, lawmakers are calling for stricter gun control measures, including incr...

Wednesday on Political Rewind: All adults in Georgia will be eligible for COVID-19 vaccinations. Gov. Brian Kemp said the dramatic expansion is the state’s return ticket to normalcy. In the state Capitol, voter restrictions bills proposed by Republican lawmakers continue to change. A measure restricting Sunday voting is now off the table, but legislation mandating stricter voter identification and...

Tuesday on Political Rewind: Gov. Brian Kemp is expected to announce an expansion of vaccine eligibility to all adults in Georgia. The move could come as soon as the first weeks of April. But will the state be able to meet the challenge of the expected surge of people seeking COVID-19 vaccinations? Also, shooting violence in Boulder, Colo., yesterday is the latest example of an epidemic of gun vio...

Monday on Political Rewind, as the legislative session winds down, efforts to change how Georgians vote move in multiple directions. The most restrictive measures, ending no excuse absentee voting and eliminating Sunday early voting, are no longer part of negotiations. But now, new proposals could give Republicans an edge in runoffs and special elections. Or panel reviewed the dozens of election b...

Friday on Political Rewind, President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris planned today’s visit to Atlanta as an opportunity to tout the COVID-19 relief package. Instead, they are taking a more somber track. The pair will meet with leaders of the Asian community here to mourn the victims of the recent shootings in metro Atlanta. We discussed the visit with state Rep. Sam Park, who will be i...

Thursday on Political Rewind: Investigations continue today into the string of violence seen at massage parlors in the Atlanta metro area Tuesday night. The shocking crime is refocusing attention on an increase in violence and incidents of bigotry against Asian Americans and people of Asian descent nationwide. Will authorities have the evidence they need to use the state’s new hate crimes law? Als...

Wednesday on Political Rewind: A shocking string of violence in metro Atlanta raises questions of racial hatred and bigotry. Nationwide, civil rights organizations report an uptick in violence towards Asian-American and Pacific Islander communities in recent times. How does Tuesday night's violence fit into this concerning trend? Also, President Joe Biden faces a crisis at the country’s southern b...

Tuesday on Political Rewind: a pandemic year in review as we looked back at the devastating track of the coronavirus in Georgia. The pandemic dramatically shifted many lives in our state. More than 16,000 Georgian died of coronavirus-related illness, while  around one million people were infected by COVID-19. But can we see the light at the end of the tunnel? Yesterday, eligibility for COVID-19 va...

Monday on Political Rewind: Around two-thirds of Georgia adults can now receive COVID-19 vaccinations now. Gov. Brian Kemp lowered the age threshold for vaccines to 55 and added people with significant health issues. With the dramatic expansion, officials hope to turn around the state’s tepid vaccine rollout efforts. Georgia’s poorest families will be among the biggest beneficiaries of President J...

Friday on Political Rewind: a conversation with one of the most respected and beloved artists to come out of the Atlanta theater community. Kenny Leon is a Tony award-winning director of Broadway theater, filmmaker and a director of several prime time television shows. His work often illuminates the social issues of our day, and seeks to bring us together across racial, religious and political div...

Thursday on Political Rewind: Gov. Brian Kemp issued guidelines yesterday to expand eligibility for COVID-19 vaccinations to more than three million additional Georgians. The move lowers the age threshold to 55 and covers those with a broad range of health conditions. The announcement follows recent criticism of Georgia's vaccine rollout. A Centers for Disease Control report ranked Georgia poorly...

Wednesday on Political Rewind: The U.S. House prepares to take a final vote on President Joe Biden’s $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief package. Gov. Brian Kemp continues to criticize the measure as a bailout for Democratic-majority states. Our panel discusses if Georgia stands to benefit and Kemp’s objections. Also, a gun bill championed by Georgia U.S. Rep. Lucy McBath could soon see a vote in the U....

Tuesday on Political Rewind: New progress was made on major pieces of legislation as state lawmakers worked late on Crossover Day. The legislature faced a self-imposed deadline yesterday to pass bills through either body of the General Assembly. Our panel of insiders discussed the legislation that made the cut, including bills restricting absentee voting and citizen’s arrest reform. Plus, Gov. Bri...

Monday on Political Rewind: Legislators face an important deadline at the state Capitol. Crossover Day at the General Assembly means any legislation unable to pass out of either legislative chamber today are dead until next year. Several measures remain up for consideration in the General Assembly, including legislation restricting voting access for Georgians and a much-discussed reform of the sta...

Friday on Political Rewind: The coronavirus pandemic has highlighted and exacerbated existing inequities across society. One example is the severe economic and personal toll coronavirus has had on women — both at work and at home. Data that has emerged during the COVID-19 crisis underlines a stark economic reality for women. Since the beginning of the economic shutdown last year, 2.1 million women...

Thursday on Political Rewind: The U.S. House passed H.R. 1 yesterday, a bill that, if passed by the Senate and signed into law, would enact sweeping consequences for Georgia election law. Experts say the legislation is one of the most significant enhancements of federal voting protections since the 1960s. If enacted, the legislation would weaken state-imposed voter ID laws, mandate automatic voter...

Wednesday on Political Rewind: Reforms or restrictions? That's the question on the latest bundle of laws that would change the way Georgians vote. Voting access advocates are expressing concerns this legislation will make voting harder, and describe it as an attempt at voter suppression by state Republicans. But first, we remember the life of civil rights leader Vernon Jordan. The Atlanta-born act...

Tuesday on Political Rewind, our focus is the ongoing debate over voting rights. The Georgia House yesterday passed a package of bills that critics say will likely reduce turnout in future elections. The state senate will now add those House bills to its long list of measures to change how Georgians vote. Protestors, including representatives from the ACLU and NAACP, gathered at the capitol buildi...

Monday on Political Rewind: It’s been more than 150 years since Confederate general Robert E. Lee surrendered to Gen. Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox, Va., effectively ending the Civil War. But that conflict refuses to rest easily in history. To this day, some argue why the war was fought, while a larger battle rages over how the nation honors those who led a rebellion against their own country. As...

Friday on Political Rewind: Georgia teachers will soon be able to be vaccinated against COVID-19. Yesterday, Gov. Brian Kemp announced his plan to expand the circle of Georgians eligible for shots to include educators and school staff starting early in March. Kemp said the move is an important step in encouraging schools to reopen for in-person classes. Also, Democrats and voting rights groups are...

In this morning's headlines, starting March 8th, teachers and school staff in Georgia are eligible for a COVID-19 vaccine.  Gov. Brian Kemp expanded the list of those eligible to receive the vaccine yesterday, to the relief of the state's teachers who have been asking for this as many students return to in person learning.

Thursday on Political Rewind: Few areas of our lives during the pandemic have been as fraught with anxiety and uncertainty as our schools. As the virus rages through communities across Georgia, school systems have struggled to open classroom doors to students. Georgia teachers have died of the virus, and many fear the risks they take leading in-person classes. Parents struggle to balance their hop...

Wednesday on Political Rewind: Legislators move on consequential bills in the Georgia General Assembly. The state Senate yesterday passed a first wave of measures designed by Republicans to change how Georgians vote. A bill that requires increased proof of identity such as a photo identification or driver's license for absentee voting now heads to the state House. Rene Alegria of Spanish-language...

Tuesday on Political Rewind: A year has passed since the death of Ahmaud Arbery. The 25-year-old was shot and killed in a residential neighborhood outside of Brunswick, Ga., not far from his home. Gregory and Travis McMichael, accused of his murder, claim they believed Arbery was responsible for a string of burglaries in the area. But on that day one year ago, the incident received little attentio...