what is sonny perdue doing now

[46] The land was adjacent to the 20,000 acres (81km2) Oaky Woods preserve being sold by Weyerhaeuser. You know, then there are many others outside the metro area. The administration began acquiring bond money for the Go Fish Education Center near his home in Perry, GA. Steve Fennessy: So there's a school of thought that Gov. Eric Stirgus: Yes. Perdue will begin his duties as the 14th chancellor on April 1, according to a press release from USG. Kemp replaced them with two additional members. Is that right? Today, reader support makes up about two-thirds of our budget, allows us to dig deep on stories that matter, and lets us keep our reporting free for everyone. What is it about this job that appeals to him? Republican Sen. David Perdue, a former Fortune 500 CEO, will face off against Democrat Jon Ossoff, a 33-year-old media executive, again in a runoff election Jan. 5. [News tape] Alex Ames, student activist, FOX5: And as governor, he chose to defund billions of dollars and begin, you know, a decades-long spree of defunding from our teachers and, you know, students and parent schools that we attend every day. He later served as U.S. Secretary of Agriculture and was named chancellor of the University System of Georgia in 2022.. Background and Education There's been some social media push against him. Let's go into November and be against Stacey Abrams together.". The credits are meant to offset the environmental impact of land development and they can be bought and sold on the marketplace. [News tape] WSB: In a statement, Perdue said education funding was affected by twin recessions while he was governor. This week on Georgia Today, we look at some issues Bottoms faced during her tenure as mayor with CNN national correspondentRyan Young. And you know, I think there have been a couple of state lawmakers who have publicly come out against the idea. And so, you know, I think he was one of those, you know, members who, you know, was part of that faction were against it. Eric Stirgus: During his time as agriculture secretary there was, you know, there's been some criticism about his record, you know, concerning issues such as climate change. It generated $102,077 in revenue or about 11 cents for every dollar it cost to run the center in years past. The first two companies are managed by Perdues children, according to Georgia records. Steve Fennessy: OK, Sonny Perdue is, I think he's 75. And so, you know, they point to things like that and they also point to issues, you know, point to things that, you know, hey, other states have hired elected officials and former politicians to lead colleges or universities. "The most important activity in which any governing board will be involved in is the selection of the CEO. Steve Fennessy: And when Wrigley said he was going to retire, was there kind of a shortlist floated around of possible successors? Jess Mador is our producer. There were so many cabinet members who who left, and then he had to appoint new ones. Its another death, wound, stab in the heart for anybody that works in the university system to have someone like this, he said. [24], Late in the evening of March 29, 2005, the penultimate day of the legislative session, Representative Larry O'Neal, who also worked part-time as Perdue's personal lawyer, introduced legislation making capital gains tax owed on Georgia land sales deferrable if the income goes to purchase out-of-state land, also, unusually, making the tax break retroactive. Former US Secretary of Agriculture and former Georgia Governor Sonny Perdue were named chancellor of the University System of Georgia by the Board of Regents today (USG). He referenced the pandemic and the phrase "Cultural Revolution." Eric Stirgus: There was some support on the regents, but not enough support to get him across the finish line to be named as chancellor. Many credit Pierre Howard for helping Perdue build the early foundation of what would become his future political career.[20]. The secretarys 2019 filing also shows nearly $140,000 in income from Soque River Conservation LLC, which holds land along the Soque River in northern Georgia and is held by a separate trust that Perdue first reported last year. Eric Stirgus: I think, you know, there's just some uncertainty among many faculty members about, you know, who will eventually serve in the position and you know what role they may take on, you know, on this, you know, systems operations. The U.S. Senate confirmed Secretary Perdue by a vote of 87-to-11 on Monday evening. Then there were the full-on MAGA-bots like Sonny Perdue, the Georgia politician and agribusiness entrepreneur who became agriculture secretary. I mean, you know, there is one former member now, Phillip Lehi, who did, you know, say, Hey, I like Sonny Perdue personally. [50], In September 2017, Politico reported that, according to 42 reviewed resumes, the department hired 22 former Trump campaign workers, many of which had no significant agricultural knowledge or experience with federal policies. "[45], The project overall has been scrutinized as a waste of taxpayer money due to mismanagement of bond money and extremely low visitors. Perdue claimed a combined $511,800 in income from Perdue Inc., a trucking company; Houston Fertilizer & Grain Co., which manages commercial real estate in Bonaire, Ga.; and StarPort Logistics LLC. [25], In 2007, Perdue convinced a skeptical legislature to approve a $19 million fishing tourism program he called Go Fish Georgia. Subsequently, the trust sold off AGrowStar LLC and Pro Ag Products LLC (none of the other assets posed any conflict of interest with his duties as Secretary of Agriculture). Revoking accreditation to schools including the University of Georgia, Fort Valley State and Georgia Southern would be a monumental step. Sonny Perdue won the 2002 Georgia governor's race, defeating the incumbent, Democrat Roy Barnes, to become the state's first Republican governor since Reconstruction. Steve Fennessy: Politics makes strange bedfellows. Since joining the Trump administration, Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue's complicated network of ties to Georgia-based entities including his family's company, Perdue Partners raised questions about potential conflicts of interest as well as his working relationship with his cousin, Georgia Sen. David Perdue. Similarly, while the pandemic savaged meatpacking workers, killing at least 563 as of mid-December, the ag department kept on with a trend it had started in 2019: allowing giant poultry companies to speed up their slaughterhouse kill lines. Georgia Today is a production of Georgia Public Broadcasting. 11/08/2018 02:42 PM EST. The Perdue USDAs largesse to large-scale farmers and agribusinesses went beyond cutting wages and protective measures for their workers. [64][65][66], In June 2021, a news story broke of financial dealings Perdue had after his nomination as Secretary of Agriculture but before his confirmation. Perdue is a kind of an easy-going Southern version of the president he served so zealously. earned Perdue a knuckle-rap from the Office of Special Counsel, publicly for a way to cut federally mandated wages, lavished mainly huge soybean, hog, and cotton farmers, more than double the price tag of President Barack Obamas 2009 auto bailout, join us with a tax-deductible donation today. Kemp has used congressional redistricting to add more Sonny Perdue supporters to the Board of Regents. Inexpensive, too! [11], Perdue played quarterback at Warner Robins High School and was a walk-on at the University of Georgia,[12] where he was also a member of the Beta-Lambda chapter of Kappa Sigma fraternity. Eric Stirgus: He has some interest in the job because, you know, he realizes the importance of higher education to the state's economy. [News tape] 11Alive: He tweeted, "Brian Kemp is running for governor of the Great State of Georgia. So, you know, we've been hearing that this from faculty members who have been upset about, you know, some of his credentials in that space. Students and faculty members around the state are reacting to news that Republican former Gov. [News tape] 11Alive: This is where angry parents are accusing the school board of trying to indoctrinate students with controversial curriculum on race and American history. Perdue, Trump's first and only agriculture secretary, is a notable exception. Steve Fennessy: This has been percolating for a while now, Eric: this this idea of Sonny Perdue as the next chancellor of the University of Georgia system. You know, I've worked with him, but you know, I just didn't feel like, you know, he was the best person for the job. The FALF Management Trust had no conflicting assets with his duties as Secretary of Agriculture, and therefore the Secretary could become a trustee of the trust. He spent his 2020 like he spent the other years of his Washington stint: flattering his boss at every opportunity, and lavishing largesse on political allies while undercutting poor people and food-system workers. Can you pitch in a few bucks to help fund Mother Jones' investigative journalism? Like Trump, hes a former Democrat who ascended to political power (in Perdues case, Georgia governor) in a stunning upset. We noticed you have an ad blocker on. What is that history? Kemp. Thanks for listening. The new questions surrounding Perdues 2017 agreement follow his rebuke last week by the Office of Special Counsel for using a taxpayer-funded event to promote President Donald Trumps reelection, in violation of the Hatch Act. Secretary Perdue has visibility into and control over the trusts and their underlying assets, and he continues to benefit from them despite the plain terms of his 2017 ethics agreement, Evers wrote to the inspector general. Steve Fennessy: So I'm guessing that maybe he wants to stay out of this altogether, or do we know if he is going to make any kind of public statement endorsing one way or the other? If you value what you get from Mother Jones, please join us with a tax-deductible donation today so we can keep on doing the type of journalism 2023 demands. So, you know, it'll be interesting to see. His nomination was transmitted to the U.S. Senate on March 9, 2017. Earlier this week, Georgia's Board of Regents announced that Sonny Perdue was the sole finalist for the job. [63], In August 2020, Perdue supported the president's re-election while promoting the Farmers to Families Food Box Program; Perdue was fined for violating the Hatch Act. The design of the 2001 Georgian flag was widely unpopular, being derisively named the "Barnes flag". What does it mean to be a chancellor? Across the state, teachers have found themselves caught in a conservative battle to ban divisive topics from classrooms, which Republican lawmakers define as a various list of ideas regarding race. [3], In 2004, Perdue sued the Environmental Protection Agency to block environmental regulations on reformulated gasoline. Faster kill lines boost packer profits even as they put already pandemic-stressed workers under greater strain, while also making proper social distancing even more difficult. [7] His appointment was approved by an 8711 vote by the Senate on April 24. Steve Fennessy: Initial discussion about the possible candidacy of Sonny Perdue for chancellor for next chancellor of the University of Georgia System, the president of SACS, the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, Belle Whelan, sends a letter to the chair of the Board of Regents of Georgia. Sonny Perdue's . [12], In education, Perdue promoted the return of most decision-making to the local level. Perdue has long been Trumps most effective advocate among rural voters, visiting all 50 states to spread the presidents message and spearheading massive taxpayer aid programs that kept farmers afloat through Trumps trade war and the pandemic. Governor Perdue stood out for his impressive experience and leadership in public service as well as a vast understanding not only of Georgia and its communities but of the issues facing the university system as we move forward, Harold Reynolds, the chair of the Board of Regents, said in a statement on Monday. Perdue wrote that "liberals have lost all credibility when it comes to climate science because their arguments have become so ridiculous and so obviously disconnected from reality. He was the only member of the Trump administration to endorse such a plan. The complex arrangements were criticized as breaking the spirit of the rule, however, and that Perdue and his family's ties to his corporation were not distanced as much as the law intended. The new law saved Perdue $100,000 in state taxes. You know, Steve Wrigley, you know, he worked in the university system before he became chancellor, so he did have some of that experience. The USDA's press office rejected CNN's request to interview Ziska, but not Politico's, where he went on to describe the department as internally fearful of Perdue's open skepticism towards climate change, which, according to Ziska, has led officials to "go to extremes to obscure their work to avoid political blowback". Sonny Perdue, of course, was a two-term governor of Georgia, as well as secretary of agriculture under former President Donald Trump. Not that Perdue lacks national stature - he was the governor of Georgia, a heavily agricultural state, from 2003 to 2011. In research shared with POLITICO, Accountable.US alleges that farm policies backed by the secretary could potentially have benefited his own or his familys interests beyond the two agribusinesses that were sold. Copyright 2023 Mother Jones and the Foundation for National Progress. "To me it was a boondoggle because of the amount of money they were spending and the location," said Rep. Alan Powell, R-Hartwell, a member of the House Appropriations Committee. [67], Perdue's assets during his time as Secretary were placed in blind trusts, as is common to prevent financial conflicts of interest. Perdue is one of the original Trump Cabinet appointees who remained by the president throughout the administration. On January 18, 2017, President-elect Donald Trump announced that he would nominate Perdue to be Secretary of Agriculture. Eric Stirgus: There are 26 institutions in the system. In July, as the general election heated up, the department tapped a Depression-era funding mechanism called the Commodity Credit Corporation to come up with $14 billionwithout having to consult Congressto hand to producers of commodities like corn, soybeans and wheat, ostensibly for losses due to the coronavirus. Help Mother Jones' reporters dig deep with a tax-deductible donation. Eric Stirgus: I think, you know, his critics have a couple of reasons that they're concerned. Eric Stirgus: His name is Steve Wrigley and he retired. [3], In 2006, Perdue was re-elected to a second term in the 2006 Georgia gubernatorial election, winning nearly 58% of the vote. [32] Perdue disappointed some Georgians by not making the 1956 flag one of the choices on the ballot, despite a campaign promise to do so. It is simply unacceptable for people to sneak into this country illegally on Thursday, obtain a government-issued ID on Friday, head for the welfare office on Monday, and cast a vote on Tuesday, he declared, backing up his rancid lies with a crackdown on undocumented people. Steve Fennessy: So the faction that was opposed or is opposed to the idea of Sonny Perdue as chancellor seems to be getting smaller. [30], In 2001, Democratic governor Roy Barnes replaced the 1956 state flag, which incorporated the battle flag of the Confederacy, and which had been adopted by Georgia largely as a protest against desegregation.

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