Policy Outcome Unclear As Georgia Speaker And Governor Clash

Gov. Brian Kemp, center, is flanked by House Speaker David Ralston, R-Blue Ridge, right, and Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan as he salutes former U.S. Senator Johnny Isakson, R-Ga., during the State of the State address before a joint session of the Georgia General Assembly in Atlanta.

John Bazemore / Associated Press

Is it bad enough to call it a feud? Maybe not yet, but tension between Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp and House Speaker David Ralston is becoming one of the defining features in the young 2020 session of Georgia’s General Assembly.

The conflict between the Republican officials flared again Wednesday, with Ralston telling reporters that House members are still unhappy with the budget information they’re getting from the Kemp administration. Earlier, lawmakers were miffed when Kemp told agency heads not to appear before legislative committees last summer after he announced budget cuts.

“We started asking for this information as far back as last September and were assured that we would have it, and frankly, some of the information we still don’t have,” Ralston said after he pushed through a weeklong timeout from normal legislative business. He wants House members to focus intensely on Kemp’s proposed budget cuts amid a revenue slowdown — cuts that are getting clear pushback from many House Republicans.