Georgia Passes Bill That Stings Delta Over N.R.A. Position
By RICHARD FAUSSETMARCH 1, 2018
ATLANTA — Georgia lawmakers approved a bill on Thursday
that stripped out a tax break proposal highly coveted by Delta Air Lines — the most stinging punishment that America’s pro-gun forces have leveled so far on one of the many corporations recalibrating their positions on firearms after the Florida high school massacre.
“We were not elected to give the late-night talk show hosts fodder for their monologues or to act with the type of immaturity
that has caused so many in our society to have a cynical view of politics.”
In addition to being one of Georgia’s biggest employers, Delta is the economic engine of Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson Airport, the busiest airport in the world
and a bragging point in the city’s claim to national and even international stature.
In a sign of the gulf that has opened between gun-rights purists
and Republicans with a more pro-business bent, Mr. Deal this week appeared to chastise fellow Republicans who sought to punish Delta, and thus potentially harm Georgia’s business-friendly reputation.
But Mr. Deal is a supporter of the jet-fuel tax break,
and he said he would sign the bill only because it also included a significant reduction in personal and corporate tax rates.
Mr. Cagle, the presumptive front-runner in the governor’s race, presides over the State Senate,
and his threat on Monday to kill the tax break was interpreted here as a way to protect his right flank from his Republican rivals.
