D.A. King said the May 25 Cobb Board of Commissioners meeting will be the last time he politely requests the commissioners to end its membership with the Association of County Commissioners of Georgia before conducting rallies on the Marietta Square with a "stronger, different tone."

Vice Chairman Woody Thompson said he expects the county will continue its membership.

King, an anti-illegal immigrant activist and Marietta resident, has told the board during its regular meetings since April 13 that the ACCG has been successfully lobbying against and halting the passage of stricter laws regarding the employment of illegal immigrants. King said the county currently pays over $30,000 a year for membership fees to the ACCG and that dues for 2010 will be due on July 1.

"The ACCG has free reign right now. It has associate memberships from which it takes dues from businesses, many that are contractors doing business with the counties and cities. The ACCG is co-mingling funds taken from the taxpayer with money with businesses with their own interests. If the county pulled out, the message would be unmistakable that we are serving the best interests of our voters and citizens and not the contractors," King said.

King said the ACCG consistently lobbies against bills during the Georgia legislative session that would provide stricter punishments for those who knowingly employ illegal immigrants and would require more regulation and documentation of illegal immigrants seeking employment and admittance to public universities.

One of those laws seeking further regulation of illegal immigrants and was killed in the House rules committee is House Bill 1164, which would have required counties to provide additional documentation, verifying their employees are not illegal residents. It also would include harsher punishments, such as the loss of qualified government status, for governments that knowingly employ illegal immigrants. King said he lobbied in favor of the bill, and because the ACCG is one of the most powerful lobbying organizations at the capitol and opposed the bill, HB 1164 was subsequently killed. The ACCG posted on its Web site on Feb. 26 that it opposed the bill, King noted, through a print out of ACCG's Web screen that states it was in opposition.

But Beth Brown, communications director for the ACCG, said the organization does not actively lobby against legislation and eventually supported HB 1164 once the bill was developed to provide better definitions. Brown said the ACCG actually testified in support of HB 1164 in the House Judiciary committee on March 23.

"Part of our role is to serve as an advocacy group for the counties and to receive input from the counties, but we do not lobby against bills and we were with Mr. King during legislative discussions of the bill and he even nodded his head that he supported what we eventually supported," Brown said. "We monitor bills coming through on behalf of the counties and address concerns we have with the bill sponsors so that we can work with them to develop clear definitions and make sure the sponsors understand what it will take for the counties to follow through with what they propose."

Brown said one of those definitions includes that of public benefits.

"We have worked really hard to get counties on board with both the E-Verify and SAVE (Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements) programs so that they understand what they have to do to follow those programs, which go above and beyond other regulations. And we support the policy of ensuring that county employees are legally able to work in our state and that we are not providing public benefits to citizens who should not receive them. But we have raised issues about laws that would make compliance impossible or unfairly punish counties for noncompliance without clarifying how the counties should comply with the laws," Brown said.

Thompson said he expects the county will renew its membership with the ACCG, and that the organization does "much more good than any harm."

"I appreciate what D.A. is trying to do and his efforts, but the ACCG really provides several valuable assets to the county. They provide certification programs for commissioners, keep us up-to-date with everything going on across the state and help us to be effective leaders. I will watch the legislation more closely next year, but really don't see us stopping our membership at this time," Thompson said.

King said his first rally will be on June 8, and said the ACCG will continue to lobby against enforcement of stricter immigration laws as long as Cobb County and others pay their dues.

"They will never stop doing this, they have no reason to," King said. "And they are not honest about what they do and what their intent is. If the Cobb County government continues its membership with the ACCG, it will betray the interests of the American worker and taxpayer."