State House approves bill requiring mandatory minimum sentences for gang recruitment
Rep. Soo Hong, R-Lawrenceville, sponsored an anti-gang-recruitment bill in the state House. (Photo credit: Rebecca Grapevine) ATLANTA – The Georgia House of Representatives passed legislation Monday imposing mandatory minimum prison terms for gang recruitment....
State Senate panel approves compromise truck weights bill
ATLANTA - A Georgia Senate committee further scaled back legislation Monday that would raise the weight limit on trucks plying state and local highways. The Senate Transportation Committee voted 7-4 in favor of a compromise version of House Bill 189 to let certain...
Georgia Film Academy brings on new executive director
ATLANTA - A Georgia native with 35 years of experience in the entertainment industry has been named executive director of the Georgia Film Academy (GFA). C. Scott Votaw got his start in Hollywood working on sets for commercials, film and episodic television, before...
Jones hoping sports betting, school vouchers succeed in session’s final stretch
Lt. Gov. Burt Jones presides over the state Senate (Photo credit: Rebecca Grapevine) ATLANTA – With less than two weeks remaining in this year’s General Assembly session, Lt. Gov. Burt Jones has morphed from a lighting-rod political figure to a de facto life...
Lawmakers weighing overhaul of compensating wrongfully convicted Georgians
ATLANTA - It was eight minutes after midnight last April 5 when the Georgia Senate voted unanimously to compensate Kerry Robinson financially for spending more than 17 years in prison for a rape he did not commit. One minute later, another unanimous Senate vote...
State Senate panel OKs electric vehicles bill
ATLANTA - The General Assembly moved closer Thursday toward putting a framework in place to accommodate the growing popularity of electric vehicles in Georgia. The state Senate Regulated Industries Committee unanimously approved legislation that would pave the way for...
State retirement fund managers confident of little impact from bank failures
ATLANTA – Georgia’s Teachers Retirement System (TRS) lost about $33 million when two large banks – Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) and Signature Bank – failed earlier this month. TRS lost $18 million from the SVB failure and $13 million from the Signature Bank...
State Senate committee resurrects sports betting
ATLANTA - Legislation to legalize sports betting in Georgia left for dead after Crossover Day in the General Assembly last week was brought back to life Thursday. None of the four measures on sports betting introduced early in this year's session made it through the...