ATLANTA (AP) — Georgia’s Brian Kemp could tie New York’s Kathy Hochul for the highest-paid state governor under a proposal made Thursday.
State senators agreed to amend House Bill 86 to give big pay raises to most of Georgia’s statewide elected officials, who are all Republicans. The bill would also raise pay for judges on the state Supreme Court and other statewide courts.
The measure would raise Kemp’s pay from the $182,000 he made in the budget year that ended June 30 to $250,000. According to figures compiled by New York state government, that would tie Hochul, a Democrat for the most any governor is paid. Maine Gov. Janet Mills makes the least, at $70,000 a year, according to the figures.
The House must agree to the bill in the closing days of Georgia's 2025 legislative session before it would go to Kemp for his signature or veto, and changes could still be made. Rep. Rob Leverett, an Elberton Republican who sponsors the underlying measure, said he was “caught completely flat-footed” by the amendment and was still trying to decide whether he supported it.
Kemp had no advance notice of the proposal, said spokesperson Garrison Douglas, who otherwise declined to comment.
State Sen. John Albers, a Roswell Republican, said statewide official salaries need updating, noting that Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens is now in line to earn a higher salary than Kemp.
“I believe it’s time that we stood up and said it’s the right thing to do because it’s woefully out of date,” said Albers, who made the surprise proposal as Georgia's yearly legislative session nears its end.
Other statewide officials including Lt. Gov. Burt Jones, Attorney General Chris Carr and Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger would see their pay increase to $200,000 a year. So would Agriculture Commissioner Tyler Harper, Insurance Commissioner John King, incoming Labor Commissioner Bárbara Rivera Holmes and state schools Superintendent Richard Woods.
Currently, those officials earn a range of salaries between the $99,000 that Jones made last year and the $146,000 that Carr earned last year.
Also included in the bill is House Speaker Jon Burns, who would see his pay rise from $106,000 to $200,000. The raises would begin July 1, although some senators suggested any change would be more appropriate when officials are sworn in for new terms after upcoming 2026 elections.
Jones said if the measure became law, he would donate his raise back to the state treasury.
“Those things need to be vetted better than that,” Jones said immediately after the measure passed.
Raffensperger declined to comment while a spokesperson for Carr did not immediately respond to text messages seeking comment.
FILE - Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp addresses the Chamber of Commerce at the Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta, Jan. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Jeff Amy, File)
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has nominated a new domestic security chief, after he moved to fire the current one over a crisis of confidence that critics say was politically motivated.
Netanyahu on Monday nominated former Navy commander Vice Adm. Eli Sharvit to lead the agency, which surveils and thwarts attacks from Palestinian militant groups.
The nomination came as Israeli police said they have arrested two suspects in connection with an investigation into ties between the Gulf Arab state of Qatar and the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Netanyahu’s Likud party has slammed the arrest of a top aide to the Israeli leader, saying it is part of a civil servant-driven effort to topple Netanyahu’s rule. It named the adviser arrested as Jonatan Urich, a longtime aide to to the prime minister. It said in a statement that his arrest was “a new low in the political witch hunt” against the Israeli leader.
Earlier this month, Netanyahu moved to fire Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar, a step that sparked an uproar in Israel. Netanyahu said he lost faith in Bar over Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023 attacks and disagreements over ceasefire negotiations.
But critics said the dismissal undermined Israel’s independent state institutions and came at a problematic time, as Bar and the agency were investigating links between the Gulf state of Qatar and close advisers to Netanyahu.
Israel’s High Court froze Bar’s dismissal pending further hearings but cleared the way for Netanyahu to interview candidates for the job.
Here's the latest:
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party has slammed the arrest of a top aide to the Israeli leader, saying it is part of a civil servant-driven effort to topple Netanyahu’s rule.
The Likud named the adviser arrested as Jonatan Urich, a longtime aide to Netanyahu. It said in a statement that his arrest was “a new low in the political witch hunt” against the Israeli leader.
Police said earlier Monday it had arrested two suspects in connection with an investigation looking into ties between the Gulf state of Qatar and people in Netanyahu’s close orbit.
Israeli police say they have arrested two suspects in connection with an investigation into ties between the Gulf Arab state of Qatar and the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
The case is under a sweeping gag order and police did not name the suspects in their announcement on Monday.
The investigation is looking into accusations that Qatar, which is a key mediator between Israel and Hamas, hired people in Netanyahu’s orbit to manage public relations campaigns.
The alleged Qatar links are also being investigated by the country’s internal security agency.
Netanyahu moved to dismiss the agency’s head earlier this month, saying he had lost confidence in the official in part because of the security failures leading up to Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023 attack.
Critics accuse Netanyahu of trying to derail the Qatar probe and undermine state institutions that check his authority.
The Israeli military on Monday issued sweeping evacuation orders covering most of the southern city of Rafah in the Gaza Strip.
Israel ended a ceasefire and renewed its air and ground war against the Hamas militant group earlier this month.
Israel launched a major operation in Rafah, on the border with Egypt, last May, leaving large parts of it in ruins.
Israeli forces seized a strategic buffer zone along the border and did not withdraw from it as called for in the ceasefire agreement. Israel said it needed to maintain a presence there to prevent weapons smuggling.
A former Israeli hostage who learned upon his release that his wife and two young children were killed in captivity in Gaza called on U.S. President Donald Trump to bring an end to the war in Gaza.
In his first media interview since being freed in a ceasefire last month, Yarden Bibas told CBS’ 60 Minutes on Sunday that Trump was “the only one” who can convince Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Hamas to halt the renewed fighting.
He said as a hostage, as he was held in Hamas’ underground tunnels, Israeli strikes were terrifying. “You’re afraid for your life,” he said. “Everything could collapse at any moment.” He said his captors, who had taunted him over his family’s fate, told him “you’ll get a new wife. New kids. Better wife. Better kids.”
“Please stop the war and help bring all the hostages back,” Bibas called on Trump.
The United Nations has released footage from the operation to recover 15 first responders killed by Israeli forces in the Gaza Strip.
The footage released Sunday showed members of the Civil Defense, first responders who operate under the Hamas-run government, exhuming a body from a mound of sand. The body was wearing the same orange vest as the rescuers.
The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies called it the deadliest attack on its workers since 2017.
Israel said its forces opened fire on several vehicles that raised suspicions by advancing without headlights or emergency signals. The military said a Hamas operative and eight other militants were among those killed.
The United Nations humanitarian office said eight Red Crescent workers, six members of the Civil Defense and a U.N. worker were killed.
The shooting occurred when Israeli forces launched a surprise ground incursion into the Tel al-Sultan neighborhood of Rafah on March 23.
Hassan Abu Sultan mourns over the body of her son Jehad, who, along with his wife and three children, was killed when an Israeli army strike hit their tent, as heir bodies lie on the floor at a hospital in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, awaiting burial on the first day of the Muslim holiday of Eid, Sunday, March 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
Mourners walk by the bodies of the Abu Sultan family, killed when an Israeli army strike hit their tent before their burial at the hospital in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, Sunday, March 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
In this image made from a video released by the Israeli Government Press Office, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gives a statement Tuesday, March 18, 2025, in Tel Aviv, Israel. (Israeli Government Press Office via AP)
