ATLANTA – The grandson of the late U.S. Sen. and Gov. Zell Miller is running for lieutenant governor on a platform that includes restoring full funding of the HOPE Scholarship program his grandfather started.
Bryan Miller of Watkinsville announced Thursday he will seek the Democratic nomination to succeed Republican Geoff Duncan as Georgia’s lieutenant governor. Duncan is not seeking re-election.
Miller recently stepped down as executive chairman of the Zell Miller Foundation, a nonprofit he launched in 2016 to build on the elder Miller’s legacy by focusing on education, leadership and public service.
Zell Miller, who died in 2018, was the driving force behind the Georgia Lottery, which voters approved in a 1992 referendum to raise money to start the HOPE program as well as statewide voluntary pre-kindergarten.
The General Assembly began reducing HOPE coverage in 2011, citing the financial stress growing college enrollments and rising tuition costs were putting on the program.
“I am running to restore the HOPE Scholarship back to its original promise of providing full tuition to any student who earns a ‘B’ average or higher,” Bryan Miller said. “Since my grandfather created it, nearly 2 million Georgians have gone to college on HOPE. Unfortunately, too few poor and minority students have been able to enjoy the full benefits of HOPE as intended.”
The younger Miller grew up in Young Harris. After graduating with a bachelor’s degree in business and public policy from Young Harris College, he earned a law degree at Mercer University.
Two other Democrats – state Reps. Erick Allen of Smyrna and Derrick Jackson of Tyrone – already have entered the race for lieutenant governor.
Republican candidates for the post include Georgia Senate President Pro Tempore Butch Miller of Gainesville and Jeanne Seaver, a GOP activist from Savannah.
Before being elected governor in 1990, Zell Miller served four terms as lieutenant governor. After two terms as governor, he was appointed to the U.S. Senate in 2000 and completed the unexpired term of Sen. Paul Coverdell after the Atlanta Republican died in office.
ATLANTA – Saturday will be a big day for Georgia’s medical marijuana program.
The Georgia Access to Medical Cannabis Commission announced Wednesday it will hold a public meeting in Walker County on Saturday to reveal which applicants will be licensed to grow marijuana in Georgia, convert the leaf crop into cannabis oil and sell the finished product to eligible patients.
Under legislation the General Assembly passed two years ago, the commission will issue up to six licenses to private companies to grow marijuana in hothouses under close state supervision. Two licenses will allocate up to 100,000 square feet of growth space each, while the other four licensees will be limited to no more than 50,000 square feet of growth space.
Two other licenses will go to Georgia’s two land-grant universities, the University of Georgia and Fort Valley State University, for research purposes.
Licensees will be limited to producing low-THC cannabis oil, containing no more than 5% THC, the psychoactive ingredient that gets marijuana users high.
The drug will be sold at licensed dispensaries or specially licensed pharmacies to patients suffering from a range of diseases including cancer, seizure disorders, multiple sclerosis, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), Crohn’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, mitochondrial disease and sickle-cell anemia. Patients must be enrolled in a registry overseen by the state Department of Public Health and have a doctor’s prescription.
Georgia lawmakers first legalized the use of cannabis oil in 2015. However, the law provided no legal way for patients to obtain the drug inside the state.
The 2019 legislation created the seven member commission to oversee the rollout of Georgia’s medical cannabis program. Nearly 70 businesses have applied for a license.
ATLANTA – The coronavirus pandemic, after depressing Georgia’s film industry during its early months, actually helped the state bounce back strong during the last fiscal year.
Movie and TV productions accounted for a record $4 billion in direct spending during fiscal 2021, which ended June 30, the Georgia Department of Economic Development reported Wednesday.
That came on the heels of a decline the previous fiscal year, when the economic impact of the pandemic drove down direct film industry spending in Georgia to $2.2 billion, down from $2.9 billion in fiscal 2019.
“Because Georgia was the first state in the country to reopen our economy and worked with film productions across the state to ensure they could safely continue operations, the Peach State’s film industry is leading the nation,“ Gov. Brian Kemp said. “This record-breaking announcement also highlights Georgia’s incredible momentum in economic recovery as we emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic.”
Besides the early reopening of Georgia’s economy, the pandemic itself ironically boosted direct spending by the film industry. Safety expenses TV and movie producers incurred to protect their workers from the virus increased the industry’s direct spending, as did pent-up demand for film projects that built up during the hiatus in shooting that accompanied the pandemic.
“Georgia allowed productions to return before other markets, so we not only had returning shows that shut down due to the pandemic, but we were also able to attract new shows that were slated to shoot in other, locked-down markets,” said Lee Thomas, director of the Georgia Film Office.
“This additional slate of projects, combined with increased budgets due to the need for additional crew and space, plus stringent safety measures, led Georgia to have an even higher than projected record year.”
During fiscal 2021, 366 productions filmed in Georgia, represented by 21 feature films, 45 independent films, 222 television and episodic productions, 57 commercials, and 21 music videos.
Georgia’s film industry took off after the General Assembly passed lucrative tax credits in 2008 to incentivize producers to shoot their projects here. For more than a decade, the industry has posted exponential growth with new record spending regularly set by productions.
Besides its wide range of natural settings for filmmaking from the mountains to the coast, Georgia now offers 2.1 million square feet in purpose-built stage space and 3.2 million square feet in retrofitted stage and dedicated warehouse space.
Additional Georgia-lensed film and television programs are set to be released in the weeks and months ahead, including Disney’s “Jungle Cruise,” the DC Films production “The Suicide Squad,” and a movie adaptation of the hit Broadway show “Dear Evan Hansen.”
Georgia House Speaker David Ralston (Photo by Beau Evans)
ATLANTA – Georgia House Speaker David Ralston will ask House budget writers this winter to earmark $75 million for additional law enforcement and mental health services.
Ralston, R-Blue Ridge, made the announcement Wednesday during a speech at the Prosecuting Attorneys’ Council Summer Training Conference on Jekyll Island.
“We owe it to our communities to bolster law enforcement and mental health services in a time when some areas of our state are seeing a dramatic increase in crime and the number of individuals in need of mental health care,” he said. “This proposal is one I am proud to offer and the House of Representatives will stand firmly behind when we consider it as part of our 2022 budget process.”
Wednesday’s announcement came just two days after Ralston called for a $3 million increase in funding for law enforcement during a meeting of the House Public Safety and Homeland Security Committee to talk about the recent crime wave in Atlanta. The $3 million is part of the much larger funding package Ralston proposed on Wednesday.
The $75 million includes $25 million in one-time $1,000 bonuses for sworn law enforcement officers, which will be made available to law enforcement agencies through grants.
“Georgia is a state that stands firmly with those who wear the badge,” Ralston said. “This $25 million is about rewarding those police officers and sheriff’s deputies who protect and serve our communities each and every day, often putting themselves in harm’s way in the line of duty.”
Of the other $50 million the speaker is seeking, more than $20 million will go to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation and $10 million will go toward pay raises for state prosecutors and public defenders. The remaining $20 million will be divided among a dozen other state agencies based on requests and program needs, with a particular focus on mental health services.
Georgia ranks 51st and last in the nation for access to mental health care. Ralston has made improving mental health services a key priority of his legislative agenda.
“I have said many times that for us to continue to be a great state, we must also focus on being a good state – one that cares for those who need it,” he said. “Mental health is something that touches almost every family in this state, so investing in mental health services and our accountability courts is not just good business – it is also a way of helping people recover and reunite with their families.”
Ralston’s spending proposals will be considered during the 2022 General Assembly session beginning in January.
ATLANTA – Georgia Public Service Commission Chairman Chuck Eaton is leaving the office after being appointed a Superior Court judge in the Atlanta Judicial Circuit by Gov. Brian Kemp.
Eaton, a Republican, was elected to the commission in 2006 and reelected to six-year terms in 2012 and 2018. Before winning a seat on the PSC, he worked in real estate.
Kemp announced Eaton’s judicial appointment late Tuesday, then followed up early Wednesday by naming businessman Fitz Johnson to fill the commission vacancy left by Eaton. Johnson will represent the PSC’s District 3, which includes Fulton, DeKalb, Clayton and Rockdale counties.
Johnson, a 21-year veteran of the U.S. Army, owns his own company in the business services sector. He has been active in his community as a board member at several nonprofits, including the Kennesaw State University Foundation and Wellstar Health System. He also has served on the State Charter Schools Commission.
Johnson ran for state school superintendent in 2014 but lost in the Republican primary. He also ran unsuccessfully for a seat on the Cobb County Commission last year.
“Fitz Johnson’s remarkable record of service to our nation, experience as a private sector business leader, and dedication to his community uniquely qualify him to serve our state on the Public Service Commission,” Kemp said Wednesday.
“With his diverse background and real-world leadership credentials, I know Fitz will work hard every day to ensure Georgia remains the top state for business and the best place to live, work, and raise a family.”
The five-member PSC regulates Georgia electric utilities and telecom providers. While its members are elected statewide, each represents a different district around the state.
