{"id":14836,"date":"2018-03-01T23:36:19","date_gmt":"2018-03-02T07:36:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/associatednews.info\/content\/georgia-lawmakers-punish-delta-air-lines-over-nra-feud\/"},"modified":"2018-03-01T23:36:19","modified_gmt":"2018-03-02T07:36:19","slug":"georgia-lawmakers-punish-delta-air-lines-over-nra-feud","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/associatednews.info\/content\/georgia-lawmakers-punish-delta-air-lines-over-nra-feud\/","title":{"rendered":"Georgia Lawmakers Punish Delta Air Lines Over NRA Feud"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Scott Neuman<\/a><\/span> <\/p>\n

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\n A Delta Air Lines flight takes off from Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport in Atlanta in January of last year.<\/p>\n

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David Goldman\/AP<\/p>\n

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David Goldman\/AP<\/p>\n

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Republican lawmakers in Georgia made good on a threat to eliminate a proposed tax break for Atlanta-based Delta Air Lines, after the carrier declined to reverse a decision to cut ties with the National Rifle Association.<\/p>\n

Earlier this week, Delta \u2014 the state’s largest private employer with 33,000 workers statewide<\/a> \u2014 was among numerous companies to announce that it would end discounts for NRA members in the wake of the mass shooting that killed 17 people at a Parkland, Fla., high school.<\/p>\n

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Immediately afterward, Georgia’s Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle, a Republican and staunch NRA ally, said he would “kill” legislation<\/a> to give the airline a sales tax exemption on jet fuel. The proposal, estimated to be worth at least $38 million to Delta and other airlines, had until then been largely uncontroversial.<\/p>\n

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I will kill any tax legislation that benefits @Delta<\/a> unless the company changes its position and fully reinstates its relationship with @NRA<\/a>. Corporations cannot attack conservatives and expect us not to fight back.<\/p>\n

\u2014 Casey Cagle (@CaseyCagle) February 26, 2018<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n

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Ignoring warnings that taking on Delta could harm the state’s pro-business image<\/a>, the GOP-controlled House, which had earlier approved a larger tax bill containing the exemption, voted 135-24 on Thursday for a new version stripped of the provision. Meanwhile, some experts have raised First Amendment concerns<\/a> over the legislature’s punitive move.<\/p>\n

House Speaker David Ralston, a Republican, made it clear that there was a direct link between the vote and the NRA controversy: “I hope they are better at flying airplanes than timing P.R. announcements,” he said.<\/p>\n

The Senate passed the tax cut bill 44-10.<\/p>\n