ATLANTA – The Georgia Chamber of Commerce is pulling together local chambers from cities across Georgia outside of metro Atlanta to focus on issues of interest to those communities.
The new Hub Chamber Council will advocate on behalf of chambers of commerce in Albany, Athens, Augusta, Brunswick, Columbus, Dalton, Macon, Rome, Savannah, Valdosta, and Warner Robins.
“This new council will help coordinate federal, state and local policy in these dynamic and growing economic centers,” said Chris Clark, president and CEO of the Georgia Chamber. “Our hope is that by galvanizing these communities together in one direction it will produce outcomes greater than if their efforts were individualized.”
The Hub Chamber Council is modeled after the Georgia Chamber Center for Rural Prosperity, which opened in Tifton five years ago to help raise the profiles of rural communities and improve coordination of efforts to boost their economies.
The new council will work to increase the influence of the member chambers at the Georgia Capitol and in Washington, D.C., and improve the economic prosperity of the larger cities and counties outside of metro Atlanta. Specifically, it will focus on workforce housing, recruiting talent and building the infrastructure needed to foster economic development in those areas.
David Bradley, president and CEO of the Athens Area Chamber of Commerce, will serve as the council’s inaugural chairman.
“I look forward to all this council will be able to achieve towards a better understanding of how these communities, like ours in Athens, can have their needs met through a coordinated statewide effort,” he said. “The Georgia Chamber is uniquely positioned to host this newly formed Hub Chamber Council, which will have lasting impact for our Georgia metro communities.”
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 has named a former commissioner of the Georgia Department of Administrative Services to chair the board that oversees the state’s struggling medical marijuana program.
Sid Johnson, who now serves on the faculty at the University of Georgia’s Carl Vinson Institute of Government, took over as board chairman of the Georgia Access to Medical Cannabis Commission on Monday, succeeding Dr. Christopher Edwards.
“I’m looking forward to the insight that Sid Johnson will bring to the commission,” Kemp said. “He has a keen understanding of how local, state, and federal policies interact and impact citizens, and with his wealth of experience he will assuredly be successful in navigating the commission’s mission in the years to come.”
The commission was created in 2019 as part of a bill that legalized growing marijuana in Georgia and converting the leafy crop into low-THC cannabis oil for sale to patients suffering from a variety of diseases.
But the program has yet to get off the ground. After issuing a request for proposals, the commission tentatively awarded two “Class 1” licenses last summer authorizing the winning bidders to grow marijuana in up to 100,000 square feet of space and four “Class 2” licenses to grow the crop in a space of up to 50,000 square feet.
Sixteen other companies that applied for but did not receive licenses filed legal protests charging the licensing process was unfair and arbitrary, threatening to tie up the program in lengthy litigation.
The General Assembly tried to fix the problem during the recently concluded 2022 session. But legislation aimed at breaking the logjam tying up the licensing process was tabled in the session’s final hours.
Besides appointing Johnson to head the commission’s board, Kemp also directed $150,000 from the Governor’s Emergency Fund to the commission to expedite hearings of pending legal protests at the Office of State Administrative Hearings.
This story is available through a news partnership with Capitol Beat News Service, a project of the Georgia Press Educational Foundation.
Gov. Brian Kemp signed four bills Monday benefiting members of the military and their families.
ATLANTA – Gov. Brian Kemp has signed a series of bills benefitting members of the military, their spouses and military retirees.
Monday’s signing ceremony took place at the National Infantry Museum in Columbus before an audience of active-duty service members and retirees.
“These men and women, and others like them around our state who proudly wear a uniform, have chosen careers of service above self,” Kemp said. “They make our nation stronger, they defend our freedom and way of life, and they make our communities better places to call home.
“So today, we are taking important steps forward in more fully recognizing and thanking them for those contributions.”
Kemp signed legislation providing the first military retirement income tax exemption in Georgia history. He also signed bills to expedite the issuance of professional and business licenses to military spouses and allow veterans to use their Veterans Health Identification Card when they seek the service of a public notary.
A fourth measure, named in honor of the late state Sen. Jack Hill, will allow taxpayers to donate all or part of their annual state income tax refund to scholarships for disabled veterans.
Georgia has the nation’s fifth largest military population, with almost 700,000 former service members and more than 101,000 military retirees calling the Peach State home.
This story is available through a news partnership with Capitol Beat News Service, a project of the Georgia Press Educational Foundation.
ATLANTA – Democrat Marcus Flowers, a U.S. Army veteran, outraised incumbent U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Rome, in the first quarter in Northwest Georgia’s 14th Congressional District.
But Greene, a conservative lightning rod since winning the seat two years ago, has raised more money overall than Flowers in her bid for a second term and has more cash left in her campaign war chest heading into next month’s Republican primary.
Flowers raised more than $2.4 million in the heavily Republican district during January, February and March, according to a report filed with the Federal Election Commission. That brought his total for the election cycle to nearly $7.1 million.
Greene raised almost $1.1 million during the first quarter. However, her campaign has brought in more than $9.9 million overall.
The Greene campaign reported more than $3 million cash on hand as of March 31, compared to more than $1.9 million for Flowers.
Despite the national name recognition Greene has built, the 14th District race has drawn a lot of interest from both parties.
Joining Flowers on the Democratic side is small business owner Holly McCormack, who raised nearly $1.7 million through the first quarter of this year. Longtime Democratic Party activist Wendy Davis raised $451,202.
Several Republicans are challenging Greene in the May 24 GOP primary. However, only health-care consultant Jennifer Strahan has raised more than $100,000. Strahan’s campaign has brought in $322,625 and had $157,549 cash on hand as of March 31.
This story is available through a news partnership with Capitol Beat News Service, a project of the Georgia Press Educational Foundation.
ATLANTA – Emergency room physician Dr. Rich McCormick has raised more money than any other candidate in a crowded Republican primary field in Georgia’s 6th Congressional District.
But Jake Evans, former chairman of the Georgia Government Transparency & Campaign Finance Commission, has a little more cash on hand than McCormick for the final weeks heading into the May 24 GOP primary.
McCormick raised $605,054 during the first quarter of this year, according to a report filed with the Federal Election Commission. But he had already raised a lot more earlier in the 2022 election cycle, which brought his total campaign fundraising to about $3 million through the end of last month.
Evans raised $411,163 during January, February and March, bringing his total to more than $1.5 million. But since Evans has held onto most of his money to be spent in the campaign’s final stages, he still had $1.24 million cash on hand as of March 31, compared to $1.16 million for McCormick.
Both men have relied on loans to help bolster their bottom lines. Evans has loaned his campaign $700,000, while McCormick has put up $680,200 of his money in the form of a loan.
After the General Assembly’s Republican majority redrew the 6th Congressional District map to heavily favor the GOP, the race drew a lot of interest from Republicans. Besides McCormick and Evans, six other Republicans are on the primary ballot.
Business owner Mallory Staples raised $726,372 through the first quarter, including a $250,000 personal loan. Former state Rep. Meagan Hanson raised $531,186 through March 31, including a personal loan of $50,000.
Blake Harbin raised $260,263 through the first quarter. However, $250,000 of that came in the form of a loan Harbin made to his campaign.
Suzi Voyles raised $124,277 through the end of last month, slightly ahead of Byron Gatewood’s $105,376. Eugene Wu’s campaign brought in $74,145, including a personal loan of $50,000.
The only Democrat running in the 6th District, Bob Christian, is self-financing nearly all of this campaign. Of the $106,540 he has raised, $105,220 came through a personal loan.
The 6th District, currently served by U.S. Rep. Lucy McBath, D-Marietta, was substantially reshaped during the special redistricting session of the General Assembly last November to extend north through Republican-friendly Forsyth and Dawson counties, and eastern Cherokee County.
As a result, McBath is now running in the 7th Congressional District against fellow Democratic Rep. Carolyn Bourdeaux, who defeated McCormick two years ago to win her seat in Congress.
This story is available through a news partnership with Capitol Beat News Service, a project of the Georgia Press Educational Foundation.
