Delta's Tax Breaks Threatened After NRA Decision

Georgia's lieutenant governor Casey Cagle announced Monday on Twitter that he plans on blocking any legislation that provides tax benefits for Delta Air Lines after the company cut ties with the National Rifle Association.

The Atlanta-based airline announced Saturday that it would no longer offer customers who are NRA members discounted rates. In addition, Delta revealed it would remove all NRA information from its website.

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

- Casey Cagle (@CaseyCagle) February 26, 2018

Delta officials said the decision was made to stay neutral in the gun control debate after 17 students and teachers were murdered on February 14 during the recent Lakeland school shooting. The student who carried out the massacre used a legally purchased semiautomatic rifle.

While the airline has severed ties with the NRA, Delta announced it continues to support the Second Amendment, according to Reuters.com.

[READMORE]READ MORE: Enterprise Brands End Discounts for NRA Members[/READMORE]

Delta joins several other major companies in the United States to cut ties with the NRA, including fellow carrier United Airlines.

The legislation Cagle has threatened to block is a jet fuel tax exemption proposal that was designed to benefit Delta. Several state Republicans have taken Cagle's side and said they plan on withdrawing support due to the airline's decision to stop working with the NRA.

While some of questioning the legality of the threats from the lieutenant governor and his supporters, Emory University School of Law Professor Robert Schapiro revealed the statements don't violate any constitutional principle, according to Reuters.

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