ATLANTA – Georgia’s economy not only has recovered from pre-pandemic levels but has expanded past numbers reported just before the coronavirus pandemic struck the Peach State two years ago.
The number of employed Georgians last month was up 75,000 compared to before the pandemic to an all-time high of nearly 5.1 million, the state Department of Labor reported Thursday. The state’s labor force has increased by 50,000 over the pre-pandemic level, and the number of unemployed has declined by 25,000.
“This state has continued to be successful in creating jobs and getting Georgians employed,” Georgia Commissioner of Labor Mark Butler said. “All of this has led to our number of unemployed being the lowest since June of 2001.”
The state’s unemployment rate in February was unchanged from January at 3.2%. The number of jobs was at an all-time high of 4.7 million, up 232,000 compared with February of last year.
First-time unemployment claims last month were down 6,180 to 22,077, a 22% decrease from January and an 80% decline from February 2021.
There are more than 230,000 jobs listed online at EmployGeorgia.com, resulting in a minimum of more than 320,000 unfilled positions. Industries with more than 10,000 job postings included health care with 38,000 postings, manufacturing with 22,000 postings, and retail trade with 21,000.
This story is available through a news partnership with Capitol Beat News Service, a project of the Georgia Press Educational Foundation.
Facebook and Twitter suspended former President Donald Trump’s accounts last year, sparking legislation in states including Georgia to prevent the censoring of most content on large social media platforms.
ATLANTA – Legislation prohibiting giant social media platforms from censoring content based on the author’s viewpoint drew criticism on several fronts Wednesday in a Georgia House committee.
Some opponents argued the bill, which the state Senate passed two weeks ago, is an unconstitutional violation of the free-speech rights of companies including Facebook and Twitter. Others said it could foster harassment of vulnerable young people.
Senate Bill 393 would prohibit social media platforms with more than 20 million followers from discriminating against an author posting content based not only on the person’s viewpoint but his or her race, color, ethnicity, religious or political beliefs, national origin, sex, gender or sexual orientation. The companies still could keep obscene or pornographic content off their sites.
“What we’re trying to do with this bill is eliminate viewpoint-based censorship,” Sen. Greg Dolezal, R-Cumming, the bill’s chief sponsor, told members of the House Judiciary Committee.
The legislation was sparked when Facebook and Twitter suspended former President Donald Trump’s accounts last year following the attack on the U.S. Capitol by Trump supporters.
Similar bills to the Georgia measure passed by lawmakers in Texas and Florida are being challenged in court. Opponents argued Wednesday the Georgia bill’s backers should wait for the results of those cases before moving forward.
“Why should Georgians have to pay for the litigation?” asked Rep. Matthew Wilson, D-Brookhaven. “Why not wait to see what the courts say?”
Rep. Mike Wilensky, D-Dunwoody, said giving people virtually free rein to post content on giant social media platforms would allow cyber bullying of teens. In some instances, teenagers have committed suicide after being targeted on social media.
“These platforms are doing a good job these days controlling harassment,” Wilensky said. “This bill will eliminate these platforms from saving lives.”
But Dolezal said his bill would allow social media platforms to prevent harassment. He said his bill would strike a blow for free speech and open discussion.
“Social media companies are the 21st century public square,” he said. “Any idea – no matter how asinine – we believe there is room in this country to discuss.”
The committee will hold at least one more hearing on the bill before deciding whether to move it forward.
This story is available through a news partnership with Capitol Beat News Service, a project of the Georgia Press Educational Foundation.
ATLANTA – Gov. Brian Kemp signed legislation Wednesday providing Georgia taxpayers a $1.1 billion tax refund.
The one-time windfall for taxpayers is the result of unexpectedly strong state tax collections that have left Georgia with a flush budget surplus.
“When government takes in more than it needs, I believe those dollars should be returned to the taxpayer, because that is your money – not the government’s,” Kemp said. “In Georgia, we are … putting taxpayer dollars back in the pockets of hardworking Georgians.”
The refund is included in the $30.3 billion mid-year budget the governor signed last week. It provides a tax credit to Georgians who filed state income tax returns for the 2020 and 2021 tax years.
Single taxpayers will receive a $250 refund. Married taxpayers filing jointly will get $500.
Taxpayers who have already filed their taxes for tax year 2021 will not need to adjust their returns. They will receive their refund by paper check or direct deposit, depending on which method they indicated on their tax return.
This story is available through a news partnership with Capitol Beat News Service, a project of the Georgia Press Educational Foundation.
ATLANTA – Gov. Brian Kemp’s $30.2 billion fiscal 2023 state budget is another step closer to passage.
The Georgia Senate Appropriations Committee approved the spending plan Wednesday, sending it to the Senate floor for action as soon as Friday.
The budget raises state spending for the fiscal year starting July 1 by 10.8% over the budget the General Assembly adopted last spring. It annualizes $5,000 raises most state employees received in the fiscal 2022 mid-year budget Kemp signed last week and gives teachers a $2,000 raise to go with the $3,000 increase they received three years ago.
Unexpectedly healthy state tax collections despite the coronavirus pandemic made the spending boom possible, Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Blake Tillery said Wednesday.
“[Taxpayers’] continued resilience through the pandemic has put us in a position to fund these things,” Tillery, R-Vidalia, told committee members.
Tillery highlighted a series of budget line items where the Senate increased spending above what the state House of Representatives approved two weeks ago. The committee added $28 million to the Governor’s Office of Student Achievement to reward elementary schools that report positive results in third-grade reading proficiency, $2.8 million to establish a new Georgia Bureau of Investigation medical examiner’s office in Macon and $2.5 million for a pilot summer program offering tours of college campuses to teenage foster children.
The Senate also added $2.5 million in bond financing to design a building for the new medical examiner’s office and slightly raised the next installment of state bond funding for the Savannah Convention Center expansion from $80 million to $83 million.
The committee also supported a House proposal to eliminate the institutional fee on University System of Georgia students a cash-strapped Board of Regents approved during the pandemic.
This story is available through a news partnership with Capitol Beat News Service, a project of the Georgia Press Educational Foundation.
ATLANTA – Georgia senators are digging in their heels when it comes to how the state’s medical marijuana program should be operated.
The Senate Health and Human Services Committee Tuesday essentially scrapped legislation the Georgia House of Representatives passed last week aimed at breaking a logjam that has sidetracked the program. Instead, the panel approved the same version the full Senate passed last week.
Both bills would throw out the selection process a state commission created to oversee the program used to tentatively award licenses last summer to six companies to grow marijuana and convert the leafy crop to low-THC cannabis oil. The process left 16 losing bidders disgruntled and threatening to tie up the process in litigation.
The House version would require the Georgia Department of Administrative Services (DOAS) to issue a new request for bids by the end of this year that would be scored by an independent consultant. The Senate bill would envision a shorter timetable, requiring a do-over from the Georgia Access to Medical Cannabis Commission by the end of May without the involvement of the DOAS.
“We want the commission to do their danged job by May 31,” said Sen. Ben Watson, R-Savannah, the Senate committee’s chairman. “That’s the message we’re sending.”
With about 20,000 eligible Georgia patients signed up on a state registry to receive cannabis oil, lawmakers on both sides of the Capitol are anxious for the licensing process to move forward. While the House bill doesn’t envision licenses to be awarded until next year, it also includes a provision requiring the commission to “immediately take all necessary steps to purchase or obtain” enough cannabis oil to meet the state’s needs by Aug. 1.
The General Assembly created the commission back in 2019. At first, it couldn’t get off the ground because it took four months for its members to be appointed. Then, another year went by before the commission released a request for proposals from interested companies.
The full Senate could re-adopt its version of the legislation by the end of this week. However, the differences between the House and Senate bills could land the measure in a joint conference committee during the final days of this year’s legislative session to see if an agreement can be reached.
This story isavailable through a news partnership with Capitol Beat News Service, a project of the Georgia Press Educational Foundation
