ATLANTA – While only four states have grown more than Georgia since the release of the 2020 U.S. Census, the Peach State’s population increase came as the nation’s population grew at the slowest rate since its founding.
Georgia gained 73,766 residents between July 2020 and July of this year to just less than 10.8 million, the U.S. Census Bureau reported Tuesday. Only four states saw larger population increases: Texas, Florida, Arizona and North Carolina.
Nationally, the population rose only 0.1% during that period to nearly 331.9 million.
Census Bureau officials attribute the slow rate of growth to decreased net international migration, lower fertility and higher mortality due in part to the coronavirus pandemic.
“Population growth has been slowing for years because of lower birth rates and decreasing net international migration, all while mortality rates are rising due to the aging of the nation’s population,” said Kristie Wilder, a demographer in the Population Division at the Census Bureau. “Now, with the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, this combination has resulted in an historically slow pace of growth.”
Georgia remains the nation’s eighth most populous state, just behind Ohio’s 11.8 million residents. California’s population of 39.2 million makes it by far the most populous, well ahead of the 29.5 million Texans. Florida is third with 21.8 million residents.
Texas, however, was the fastest growing state as of last July, adding 310,288 residents since July of last year.
New York saw the largest numeric decline in population, losing 319,020 residents. The Empire State also was the top state in rate of decline, losing 1.6% of its total population in just one year.
This story is available through a news partnership with Capitol Beat News Service, a project of the Georgia Press Educational Foundation.
ATLANTA – The state Department of Education is responding to last week’s announcement that a major electric vehicle manufacturing plant will be built in Georgia by creating an EV career pathway.
The department’s Career, Technical and Agricultural Education (CTAE) staff will work with industry representatives and educators to develop courses to prepare students for careers in the electric vehicle industry.
The curriculum will include EV-specific coursework along with instruction in engineering, manufacturing, drafting/design, and automotive technology.
“As educators, it is our responsibility to prepare students for successful futures, so it’s essential that we mount a rapid response to emerging workforce needs within the state of Georgia,” State School Superintendent Richard Woods said.
“The development of a new Electric Vehicle Career Pathway will continue to expand the career pipeline.”
Gov. Brian Kemp announced last week that EV startup Rivian will invest $5 billion in a manufacturing plant off Interstate 20 east of Atlanta that will create 7,500 jobs. He called it the largest economic development project in Georgia history.
CTAE Director Barbara Wall said in addition to creating the EV career pathway in Georgia high schools, the department is considering ways to provide early exposure to the careers Rivian offers to elementary and middle school students.
The new career pathway is expected to pay dividends particularly in the school systems closest to the planned Rivian plant: Jasper, Morgan, Newton and Walton counties and the Social Circle City School District.
This story is available through a news partnership with Capitol Beat News Service, a project of the Georgia Press Educational Foundation.
ATLANTA – A planned commercial spaceport in southeastern Georgia has achieved a major milestone.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) issued a long-anticipated “record of decision” Monday approving a launch site operator license for Spaceport Camden. The license authorizes up to 12 small-vehicle launches per year.
“In the 20th century, Camden County was declared the ‘Gateway to Space,’ ” said Steve Howard, Camden County administrator and project lead for Spaceport Camden, referring to the county’s role as a rocket testing location and alternative launch site for the Apollo program.
“With this license, we have retained that title again in the 21st century. … Georgia is part of the new space race, and we will become one of the leaders.”
“It has been long time coming, but Camden County is immensely proud of this accomplishment,” added Camden County Commission Chairman Gary Blount. “With this license … we are no longer a one-dimensional economy solely reliant on the brave sailors and contractors at Naval Submarine Base Kings Bay for economic prosperity.”
Camden County officials and other backers of Spaceport Camden – including many of Georgia’s top political leaders – have been working for more than five years to get the project off the ground.
They have pitched Spaceport Camden as an economic engine that ultimately could create up to 2,000 jobs and help sway a new generation of aerospace engineers, many graduates of Georgia Tech, to remain in the state while pursuing their careers.
But the project has been beset by either concerns or outright opposition from a host of parties, including property owners on Little Cumberland Island – which lies in the path of the planned launches – environmental groups, the National Park Service – which operates the Cumberland Island National Seashore – and the U.S. Navy.
Among those expressing reservations is U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock, D-Ga., who asked the FAA in a letter last May to slow down its review of the project.
Among other things, the letter cited a decision to change the project’s design from launching medium-to-large rockets to small rockets.
The county’s revised application revealed that 20% of small rockets launched from Spaceport Camden would likely fail, a much larger failure rate than would occur with medium-to-large rockets, Warnock wrote.
“Virtually from the start, the FAA’s review of Spaceport Camden has been fraught with factual mistakes and legal errors,” said Brian Gist, senior attorney for the Southern Environmental Law Center. “We will carefully review the FAA’s decision to ensure that it fully complies with all applicable laws.”
Some of Spaceport Camden’s opponents have gone to court seeking an injunction to stop the project until a voter referendum can be held on whether the county can buy the property where the spaceport would be located. A ruling could come early next year.
Despite granting the operator license, the FAA still must approve each individual launch separately.
ATLANTA – Former U.S. Sen. Johnny Isakson died Sunday at the age of 76, his family and the foundation he started to raise money for Parkinson’s disease announced.
The Republican from Cobb County retired from the Senate at end of 2019 due to Parkinson’s and other health issues, the only Georgian to have served in both chambers of Congress and the General Assembly.
“We are grateful for everyone’s prayers as we mourn the loss of our father,” said Isakson’s oldest son, John Isakson.
Isakson was elected to the Senate in 2004 after serving five years in the U.S. House, where he succeeded former House Speaker Newt Gingrich.
Before that, he was chairman of the Georgia Board of Education, appointed by then-Gov. Roy Barnes,
The owner of a real estate business, Isakson was elected to the Georgia House of Representatives in 1976, where he served as minority leader, and was instrumental in building the state’s Republican Party.
Isakson went on to serve in the Georgia Senate after an unsuccessful bid for governor in 1990. He made another run at the Governor’s Mansion in 1996 but came up short in the Republican primary.
In an era of increasing partisanship in Washington, Isakson was known for reaching across the aisle to work with Democrats. He played a leading role in the No Child Left Behind education reform legislation in 2001 while a member of the House and improved the law during his time in the Senate.
Also in the Senate, Isakson as chairman of the Veterans Affairs Committee worked to better the lot of the nation’s veterans, championing legislation to improve health care and other benefits for veterans.
“Georgia has lost a giant, one of its greatest statesmen, and a servant leader dedicated to making his state and country better than he found it,” Gov. Brian Kemp said Sunday.
“Johnny Isakson … answered the call to public service many times over his career as a state legislator, minority leader in the Georgia House, chair of the state Board of Education, congressman, and finally as senator.
“His work to champion our veterans, deliver disaster relief for Georgia farmers after Hurricane Michael, and always stand up for Georgia’s best interest in the U.S. Senate will live on for generations to come.”
“Senator Isakson was a statesman who served Georgia with honor,” added U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff, D-Ga. “He put his state and his country ahead of self and party, and his great legacy endures.”
After retiring from Congress, Isakson founded the Isakson Initiative to raise awareness and funding for research related to neurocognitive diseases including Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s and related dementia.
Funeral arrangements will be shared when they are finalized.
This story is available through a news partnership with Capitol Beat News Service, a project of the Georgia Press Educational Foundation.
Judy Fitzgerald, commissioner, Georgia Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities
ATLANTA – A three-digit national mental health crisis hotline due to begin service next summer poses a mixed blessing for Georgia.
The new 988 line is expected to more than double the number of Georgians who will reach out for help. But state mental health officials and advocates warn a workforce shortage will make it hard to meet that increased demand.
The need for mental health and substance abuse services has ballooned during the coronavirus pandemic.
Georgia’s mental health crisis hotline has experienced a 24% increase in calls, texts and chats since the pandemic began, while mental health screenings have soared by 426%, said Judy Fitzgerald, commissioner of the state Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities.
The state also saw a 36% increase in drug overdose deaths between April 2020, when the pandemic was in its early stages, and last April.
“People are looking for help [with] feelings of isolation, fiscal and economic impact … the challenges of coping during the COVID environment,” Fitzgerald told members of the Georgia House Rural Development Council early this month.
Even as the state tries to meet the increased demand for services, the behavioral health agency is hamstrung by a workforce shortage.
Fitzgerald said the department has suffered a net loss of 998 workers at the five state mental hospitals since January of last year, a 26% reduction in the workforce. Also, 10% of the system’s community crisis beds are “offline” on any given day due to staffing shortages, she said.
Fitzgerald said low pay is largely responsible for driving workers away. The result is more people with mental health or substance abuse problems crowding hospital emergency rooms or jails, she said.
“We are not competitive with the private sector in our state hospitals and community settings,” she said. “When people are not able to access the crisis hotline or a hospital bed, they often end up in places we don’t want them to be.”
The state is projecting the new 988 hotline will draw 564,608 calls during its first year of operation, more than double the volume of contacts the state crisis hotline is handling each year.
“This will help take some of the burden off 911,” Fitzgerald said. “We’re going to have a pathway in when someone or a relative is in one of the most difficult moments of their life.”
The higher demand for services that is bound to accompany the 988 line will come at a time Georgia is ranked 48th in the nation in access to mental health care.
That dismal ranking has prompted a coalition of 14 advocacy groups to develop a plan for improving mental health care and substance abuse treatment in Georgia.
Kim Jones, executive director of the National Alliance on Mental Illness’ Georgia chapter, said the plan focuses on reaching people suffering mental health or substance abuse issues before they land in a crisis unit.
“In Georgia, we have focused on crisis,” she said. “We don’t have anybody looking at preventing people from going into crisis.”
The coalition has released recommendations[DW1] that include fully funding the 988 hotline and addressing a lack of parity in the mental health system, both in terms of pay for mental health care workers and in the way insurance companies cover mental illness.
“Insurers are treating physical health and mental health differently,” said Abdul Henderson, executive director of Mental Health America of Georgia.
Henderson’s organization is calling on the state to create a position of parity coordinator within the Georgia Department of Insurance.
Legislative leaders are taking the need to beef up mental health and substance abuse services seriously. Georgia House Speaker David Ralston announced last summer he will ask the General Assembly to earmark $75 million for additional law enforcement and mental health services.
“We will attack this through both standalone legislation and budget appropriations,” Ralston, R-Blue Ridge, told the House Rural Development Council. “Improving mental health in Georgia will remain a top priority for me as long as it takes to get the job done.”
This story is available through a news partnership with Capitol Beat News Service, a project of the Georgia Press Educational Foundation.
