Political Rewind: Kemp waits for answer on Medicaid plans; Ralston and mayor-elect talk Buckhead

Caption

Advocates for expanding Medicaid in Kansas staged a protest outside the entrance to the statehouse parking garage in Topeka in May 2019.

Credit: John Hanna, AP

The Panelist:

Greg Bluestein — Politics reporter, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

The Breakdown:

1.  Gov. Brian Kemp's proposal for a limited expansion of Medicaid in Georgia awaits federal approval.

• The Trump administration approved Kemp's plans for health care waivers in late 2020. However, the Biden administration put a pause on those same plans months ago.
• On Tuesday, Kemp was not invited to meet with the Biden administration's top Medicaid official, Chiquita Brooks-LaSure, when she visited Atlanta. 
• Approximately 500,000 Georgians are uninsured under the state's current Medicaid rules.

2. Man with Georgia ties sentenced to more than two years for threats against House Speaker Nancy Pelosi following the Jan. 6 U.S. Capitol insurrection. 

• Cleveland Grover Meredith Jr., 53, was sentenced to 28 months in federal prison.
• Meredith graduated from Sewanee: The University of the South in 1990. He also owned and operated the CarNutz car wash on U.S. Highway 41. 
• U.S. District Court Judge Amy Berman Jackson also sentenced Meredith to three years of probation.

3. Former U.S. Sen. David Perdue on his plans to defeat incumbent Gov. Kemp.

• An incumbent governor has not lost a primary in Georgia in almost 100 years. 
• Here's what reporter Greg Bluestein had to say about Perdue's strategy.

4. Atlanta Mayor-elect Andre Dickens works to halt the Buckhead cityhood movement. 

• Dickens said he's spoken with Georgia House Speaker David Ralston about the issue several times since winning his bid for mayor last month.
• Bluestein weighed in on the likelihood that the proposal would make it to the floor of the house in the upcoming January General Assembly session. 

Tomorrow on Political Rewind: We are joined by The Atlanta Journal Constitution's editor Kevin Riley.