ATLANTA – Officials at the Port of Savannah cut the ribbon Friday on the Mason Mega Rail Terminal, a project that will immediately increase rail capacity to and from the port by more than 30%.
A first set of nine new rail tracks at the $218 million project opened for business last year, and the other nine tracks are now operating.
The project is well timed, with the port working to overcome a backlog of cargo containers resulting from pandemic-induced supply chain disruptions.
“The added rail capacity, along with new container storage on and off terminal, are already serving as important tools to resolve the supply chain issues for Georgia and the nation,” Gov. Brian Kemp said Friday.
Efforts to clear the backlog of containers at the port are paying off. Since Sept. 1, the ports authority has seen a 60% reduction in the amount of time containers are on terminal, as major retailers have begun moving cargo away at a faster pace.
The improved flow of cargo and additional space at the Garden City Terminal is allowing the Port of Savannah to expedite vessel service, reducing the number of ships waiting at anchor by 40%.
As early as Monday, the authority will open its first off-terminal overflow container yard fewer than five miles from the port.
“We’re setting up multiple inland locations that will be connected via truck or rail to the Port of Savannah,” said Griff Lynch, the ports authority’s executive director. “We think this will make a huge difference for both importers and exporters as we clear out our yard.”
The Mason Mega Rail Terminal will increase the port’s rail lift capacity to 1 million containers of cargo per year, opening Savannah to new markets in the Midwest, including Chicago, Cincinnati and St. Louis.
ATLANTA – The bipartisan $1.2 trillion infrastructure spending bill Congress passed early this month promises massive investments in Georgia highways and bridges, public transit, electric-vehicle charging stations and broadband deployment.
But some of the infrastructure improvements the legislation will help fund will come sooner than others.
“We know there are projects there that can start being built,” said Chris Clark, president and CEO of the Georgia Chamber of Commerce. “[But] some of this is going to require the federal government to expedite the permitting process.”
The U.S. House of Representatives gave final passage to the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act Nov. 5, and President Joe Biden is expected to sign it into law on Monday. Under the bill, which remained in the same form as when the U.S. Senate passed it in August, Georgia will receive:
$8.9 billion to repair and rebuild roads and highways.
$1.4 billion for public transit.
$913 million for water projects.
$619 million for airport improvements.
$225 million to repair and replace bridges.
$135 million to expand the state’s network of electric-vehicle charging stations.
$100 million for broadband deployment.
“The bipartisan infrastructure deal will touch every corner of the Peach State,” U.S. Rep. Nikema Williams, D-Atlanta, chairman of the Democratic Party of Georgia, said this week. “[It] is going to have an unprecedented impact on Georgia’s economy.”
Georgia’s roads and highways are in better shape than those in a lot of other states, due to the region’s milder weather but also thanks to transportation funding legislation the General Assembly passed in 2015 that provides about $900 million a year.
Only 2% of the state’s roads and bridges are rated in poor condition, Meg Pirkle, chief engineer for the Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT), told the Georgia House Transportation Committee early this month.
However, the average bridge in Georgia is more than 42 years old, while 40% are 50 or older, Pirkle said.
“Even with good maintenance, bridges that have reached their useful life need to be replaced,” she said.
Clark said the state has laid the groundwork to move quickly on some of the projects the infrastructure bill will help fund.
A study committee in the General Assembly began meeting this year to look for ways to pay for needed improvements at airports across Georgia to bolster the state’s aviation industry.
Last summer, Gov. Brian Kemp announced the formation of a task force aimed at strengthening Georgia’s status as a leader in the electric mobility industry.
A commission of state lawmakers and logistics industry executives has been exploring what the state can do to ease the movement of freight through Georgia, an issue that has grown more pressing in recent months due to supply-chain disruptions.
“We’ve got a good list of projects,” Clark said. “We know where they need to go.”
Tejas Kotak, chairman of the Georgia chapter of the Sierra Club’s Transportation Committee, said the infrastructure bill represents the largest investment in public transit since the 1970s.
Georgia Commissioner of Transportation Russell McMurry said the state will see a 30% increase in federal transit funding.
MARTA will receive the largest share of the transit money headed to Georgia since it’s by far the state’s largest transit agency.
But Kotak said smaller transit systems across Georgia also will be able to apply for capital investment grants through a new initiative included in the infrastructure legislation.
“It will be up to a competitive grant process as to who gets it,” he said.
Kotak said the federal funds earmarked to build more electric-vehicle charging stations should help revive demand for EVs in Georgia, which has flattened out since the General Assembly eliminated a state tax credit on EV sales in 2015.
The repeal’s supporters argued that EVs had become so popular the incentive of a tax credit was no longer necessary. But Kotak said that reasoning was premature.
“In the next five years, federal and state subsidies might not be needed as much, but we’re still in that transitional period,” he said.
Georgia utilities have been aggressively rolling out broadband service to previously unserved communities across the state – largely rural – since the General Assembly passed legislation two years ago allowing electric membership cooperatives (EMCs) to deploy broadband.
Kevin Curtin, senior vice president of government relations for Georgia EMC, said the $42 billion included in the infrastructure bill for broadband projects nationwide will further help states close the “digital divide” between rural and urban communities. The bill is expected to extend broadband availability to at least 649,000 Georgians now without internet.
“It may serve as a once-in-a-generation opportunity to ensure all Georgians have access to robust broadband service and help co-ops assist in meeting the needs of the communities they serve,” Curtin said.
While the new federal bill provides huge funding allocations for a variety of infrastructure needs, obstacles stand in the way of fulfilling those promises quickly.
Clark said Georgia is still suffering from a labor shortage, even with companies paying workers up to twice what they paid before the coronavirus pandemic struck the state.
“I don’t know that federal spending is going to alleviate that,” he said.
McMurry said procedural requirements mean funding the bill provides for some transportation programs will come before money for others.
“It is expected that the existing transportation formula programs will see the increased funding levels immediately,” McMurry wrote in an email to Capitol Beat. “New programs, formula or discretionary, will have to be developed by [the U.S. Department of Transportation], have public comment, and then be implemented.”
McMurry said the amount of increased infrastructure funding Georgia ultimately receives remains uncertain because of the rules governing the awarding of grants.
.”A significant portion of the overall funding increases in the [legislation] are in competitive grants, which are not guaranteed to any individual state,” he wrote. “GDOT and local governments will have to compete for current and newly established infrastructure grants along with other states.”
Shane Hix, spokesman for the Georgia Environmental Finance Authority (GEFA), said the U.S. Environmental Protection still must work through “program administration and funding allocation issues” before GEFA can be certain about the impact the additional funding will have on water system improvements in Georgia.
But once the kinks get ironed out, the bill promises to create an influx of new jobs.
Sandra Williams, executive director of the Atlanta North Georgia Labor Council, said the legislation is projected to generate about 2 million jobs per year nationwide during the coming decade.
“This is a major win for Georgia workers,” she said. “We’re going to see thousands of good-paying jobs reach Georgia.”
This story is available through a news partnership with Capitol Beat News Service, a project of the Georgia Press Educational Foundation.
ATLANTA — The state Senate took another step Friday toward completing the once-in-a-decade task of redrawing Georgia’s legislative and congressional districts, approving a map drawn by the House of Representatives.
The Senate’s Republican majority prevailed 32-21 in a vote that fell nearly along party lines.
Earlier this week, the Senate approved a map that redraws its own districts. The House has not yet approved the Senate map, though. as state Sen. John Kennedy, R-Macon, said Friday, there is a longtime understanding that neither chamber will alter or change the other’s proposed maps.
With Republicans holding majorities in the House and Senate, both maps were drawn by GOP legislative leaders. Democrats continued to complain the Republican-led map-drawing processes have been rushed and have not allowed sufficient public input.
Kennedy, who chairs the Senate Reapportionment and Redistricting Committee, said the process of drawing the maps has been fair and devoid of any political gamesmanship or partisanship.
Democrats including Sen. Donzella James, D-Atlanta, vehemently disagreed.
“All Georgians want are fair maps,” James said. “These maps are rushed and are not fair.”
State Sen. Matt Brass, R-Newnan, was the only Republican who voted against the House map after his GOP constituents from northern Coweta County packed committee hearings to complain about the map.
The new House map essentially draws incumbent Republican Rep. Philip Singleton of Sharpsburg out of his district and instead moves northern Coweta into two new districts that include enough of Fulton County to allow Democrats to pick up those seats.
“They’re loud, obnoxious, crazy,” Brass said of the Coweta voters who showed up at the state Capitol. “But they’re my crazies. They’re mine. I’m theirs. One of my constituents back home who’s not happy about his new district told me, ‘Sometimes you have to lose it all to gain something worth having.’ ”
“There’s nothing crazy about the city of Decatur wanting fair representation,” countered state Sen. Elena Parent, D-Atlanta.
Decatur Mayor Patti Garrett appeared before the Senate redistricting committee on Thursday to protest her city’s new legislative district lines.
The House map, which now heads to Gov. Brian Kemp’s desk, likely would result in Democrats gaining up to six seats in the House, according to an independent analysis, reflecting minority population growth during the last decade. Currently, Republicans outnumber Democrats in the lower legislative chamber 103 to 77.
But Democrats and civil and voting rights advocates complained as the map went through the legislature that a fairer map would have set the stage for larger Democratic gains.
While the Senate map is still awaiting House approval, the final step in the redistricting process is redrawing Georgia’s congressional districts.
For Republicans, the key question will be whether to try to regain one of the two congressional seats in Atlanta’s northern suburbs lost to the Democrats during the last two election cycles or go for broke and try to take back both seats.
A congressional map Georgia Senate Republicans released in late September goes after the 6th Congressional District seat Rep. Lucy McBath, D-Marietta, won in 2018 by moving heavily Republican Forsyth County into the district and removing portions of North Fulton and North DeKalb counties more friendly to Democrats.
This story is available through a news partnership with Capitol Beat News Service, a project of the Georgia Press Educational Foundation.
ATLANTA — A Georgia Senate committee approved a controversial bill Thursday to almost double the size of the Gwinnett County Commission, one day after it came under heavy fire from Democrats.
Senate Bill 6EX is sponsored by state Sens. Clint Dixon, R-Buford, and Lee Anderson, R-Grovetown.
The Senate State and Local Governmental Operations Committee approved the bill along party lines after a more than 90-minute hearing Thursday morning.
Democrats unsuccessfully attempted to table the bill for more discussion.
State Sen. Emanuel Jones, D-Decatur, said Dixon’s bill is designed to dilute minority voting power in one of the state’s most diverse counties.
“Choosing to draw maps behind closed doors and rush past any public processes unjustly silences nearly one million Gwinnettians,” the Georgia Youth Justice Coalition said Thursday.
“We understand Sen. Dixon’s push to diminish the voices and votes of Gwinnett to be yet another instance of racist backlash against diversity and inclusion in this county. The interests of one politician should not come before those of our communities.”
But Sen. Steve Gooch, R-Dahlonega, said expanding the commission’s size is a task that should have been completed years ago.
“There were no shenanigans involved in creating these new districts,” Dixon said.
More than a dozen people spoke against the measure, including Phyllis Richardson, policy and engagement manager for Common Cause Georgia, whose father and husband both served in the military.
“I should be with my husband attending events and parades in honor of all those who have served,” Richardson said. “Shame on you for holding a hearing on this sacred day. Instead I’m here to speak against a Republican attempt to gerrymander our communities of color.”
Along with Dixon, state Rep. Chuck Efstration, R-Dacula, said the maps are legal and consistent with all federal voting rights laws.
Democrat Nicole Love Hendrickson, chairman of the Gwinnett County Commission, said her county is a model of efficient representation and asked the committee to reject the proposal.
“At their core, the bills targeting Gwinnett County represent a blatant, unprecedented attempt to break up communities of color after record voter turnout in 2020 changed the makeup of the county’s governing bodies,” said Poy Winichakul, an attorney with the Southern Poverty Law Center.
“The bills violate both state and federal law. If passed by the General Assembly and signed into law by Gov. Kemp, these manufactured new districts will take decisions out of the hands of Gwinnett voters and put them into the hands of politicians who would implement agendas based on falsehoods about education curriculum and elections.”
This story is available through a news partnership with Capitol Beat News Service, a project of the Georgia Press Educational Foundation.
ATLANTA — A move to expand the size of the Gwinnett County Commission came under heavy partisan fire Wednesday in the Georgia Senate.
Senate Bill 6EX is sponsored by state Sens. Clint Dixon, R-Buford, and Lee Anderson, R-Grovetown.
Dixon and Anderson also have introduced a bill — Senate Bill 5EX — that would make Gwinnett school board elections a non-partisan affair, a move the Senate State and Local Governmental Operations Committee approved along party lines.
The General Assembly is holding a special session to redraw Georgia’s legislative and congressional district lines. Time constraints Wednesday tabled discussion of Dixon’s bill to expand the commission.
Both of Dixon’s bills came under fire from House and Senate Democrats, who decried the moves as Republican power grabs in a metro Atlanta county that has become more aligned with the Democratic Party.
“This is an overarching abuse of power and an example of meddling in local affairs with total disrespect,” said Sen. Nan Orrock, D-Atlanta, who is also critical of a proposed city of Buckhead that would be carved out of the city of Atlanta.
“We have people introducing bills who aren’t part of the communities that are being influenced,” Orrock said. Having a majority vote in this chamber is not a license to abuse power.”
Dixon said making the Gwinnett board of education non-partisan is the top issue in his district.
“Some of the proposed curriculum in my county includes the teaching of critical race theory,” Dixon said. “My constituents are very concerned about radical agendas such as these being taught in our schools.”
Sen. Nikki Merritt, D-Grayson, was highly critical of Dixon’s moves.
“In 2018 and 2020, Gwinnett County voters chose to elect Democratic majorities to our delegation, county commission and school board,” Merritt said.
“Republicans are showing their belief that local governments only exist to serve their party. They are weaponizing local legislation to force an unprecedented power grab that is attempting to take over Gwinnett, one of the most diverse counties in our state.”
Dixon conceded to Sen. Michelle Au, D-Johns Creek, that he has not brought his measures to either the Gwinnett Board of Education or the commission.
“This is not a new issue, and I’ve had numerous discussions with my constituents,” Dixon said.
The Georgia Redistricting Alliance opposes expanding the Gwinnett commission.
“Quietly dropping a bill that calls for major changes to the Gwinnett County Board of Commissioners map shows blatant disregard for any process whatsoever,” the group wrote in a prepared statement.
“We have and will continue to demand that Georgians have opportunities for meaningful input toward the redistricting process at all levels of government. It is unfathomable to us that broad changes to the most diverse county in Georgia would be undertaken only in a language that a large percentage of its residents do not prefer.”
State Rep. Jasmine Clark, D-Lilburn, vice chairman of the Gwinnett legislative delegation, said no Democrats in her delegation were even aware of Dixon’s proposals and called the process an attack on people of color in Gwinnett.
Dixon defended expanding the commission as a way to keep pace with Gwinnett’s growth.
“Gwinnett is one of the most rapidly growing counties in the state,” he said. “Right now, we have four commission members representing about a quarter million people each.”
Sen. Emanuel Jones, D-Decatur, said Dixon’s legislation didn’t include maps of the proposed new districts.
“I can’t tell what I’m being asked to vote on,” Jones said.
Dixon said new Gwinnett commission maps have not yet been developed but will be drawn with the assistance of state officials if the bill passes.
“Republican legislators are rushing through bills that directly impact Black and Brown communities without adequate public notice or public input,” said Common Cause Georgia Executive Director Aunna Dennis. “These bills are an insult to the voters of Gwinnett County. They are completely contrary to the principle that Gwinnett County voters should be able to govern themselves.”
This story is available through a news partnership with Capitol Beat News Service, a project of the Georgia Press Educational Foundation.
