Georgia House threatens Delta tax break after CEO slammed new voting restrictions



[ad_1]

The State Senate did not take the step until lawmakers adjourned for the year, rendering her dead for this year – but the threat underscores the potential political backlash businesses could undergo to oppose the efforts. aimed at restricting voting.

Voting rights activists are pressuring big business to take a stand against election bills under consideration in major political battlefields, where Republicans are working to erect new barriers to voting after a record turnout in 2020 that helped Democrats win the White House and a majority in the US Senate.

Many Republicans pushing these bills have cited former President Donald Trump’s false allegations of electoral fraud to tighten voting rules. Lawmakers in 47 states have introduced 361 bills providing for voting restrictions as of March 24, according to an updated tally released Thursday by the liberal-leaning Brennan Center for Justice.

Lawmakers in Texas, Georgia and Arizona have introduced the most restrictions, according to the center’s tally.

Endangered Jet Fuel Tax Relief

The Georgia House action on Wednesday, the last day of the state’s legislative session, sought to revoke the company’s aviation fuel tax break and took place amid an intense confrontation between the Delta CEO Ed Bastian and Republican political leaders from Georgia.

Earlier Wednesday, Bastian issued a note to employees blowing up the state’s new election law, which places new voter identification requirements on absentee votes, limits drop boxes and criminalizes giving away. food and water for voters lining up to vote.

“The whole rationale for this bill was based on a lie: that there was widespread electoral fraud in Georgia in the 2020 election,” Bastian wrote. “This is simply not true. Unfortunately, this excuse is being used in states across the country trying to pass similar legislation to restrict voting rights.”

Late Wednesday, Georgia House added a provision to a tax bill to begin collecting jet fuel levies on July 1.

The bill did not mention the voting controversy. But Georgia Republicans had made clear their dissatisfaction with Bastian and other business leaders who had criticized the overhaul of the election.

“They love our public policy when we do things that benefit them,” Georgia Republican House Speaker David Ralston said, according to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “You don’t feed a dog that bites your hand.”

Delta officials did not immediately respond to a CNN request for comment Thursday morning. In an interview on CBS “This Morning”, Bastian said he was not going to respond to the threat from Georgian lawmakers and continued to condemn the law.

“It’s something more than money,” he said. “It’s about protecting the voices of our people.”

Republicans control both houses of the Georgia assembly.

Georgian lawmakers have previously targeted the multi-million dollar tax break on jet fuel as political punishment. In 2018, state lawmakers killed the tax cut after Delta ended a cut for members of the National Rifle Association – which angered Republicans in the assembly.

Several months later, then-Gov. Nathan Deal suspended collection of the tax.

[ad_2]

Source link