ATLANTA – The 2023 session of the General Assembly beginning Monday is expected to get off to a slow start.
With the Georgia Bulldogs vying for their second straight college football championship on Monday night and Thursday’s inauguration of Gov. Brian Kemp for a second term, there won’t be a rush to get down to legislative business on the session’s front end.
Since it’s not an election year, lawmakers also won’t be in a hurry on the back end to finish up under the Gold Dome and hit the campaign trail.
But once the ceremonies have been dispensed with, new legislative leaders have been elected, and committee assignments are in place, the General Assembly will take up an agenda likely to include mental health, public safety, tax policy, education funding, electric vehicles, and the perennial debate over legalizing gambling.
A highlight of last year’s legislative session was a lengthy overhaul of the state’s mental health-care delivery system championed by the late House Speaker David Ralston. The goal this year is to build on the success of that measure.
Legislators are more likely to introduce smaller, individual bills this year to address problems with mental health services in the state, said Roland Behm, chairman of the board of the Georgia Chapter of the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention.
The Georgia Behavioral Health Reform and Innovation Commission issued a report recently recommending the state set up a loan forgiveness and repayment program for mental and behavioral care professionals. To qualify, providers would need to accept Medicaid patients and practice for five years in areas where there is a shortage of mental health-care services.
The commission also recommended increasing funding for inpatient psychiatric beds and other behavioral services and streamlining licensing requirements for mental health professionals.
The legislature likely will consider a bill letting patients more easily access and obtain insurance coverage for the mental health-care services they need, Behm said.
It’s also likely lawmakers will consider increasing the number of home- and community-based slots serving people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, as a state Senate study committee recommended last month.
Public safety agenda
Kemp, too, is looking to build on his first-term success in the public safety arena. At the height of campaign season last October, the governor unveiled a second-term platform that calls for increasing penalties for gang members who recruit minors.
Taking aim at criminal justice system reforms that include the granting of no-cash bail, Kemp also wants to require judges to consider a defendant’s criminal history when issuing “own-recognizance” bonds.
“Although we’ve made significant progress putting dangerous criminals behind bars and making our communities safer, we still have work left to do,” he said.
Along with public safety, Kemp also built his successful reelection campaign around cutting taxes. He backed two bills last year that provided a $1.1 billion tax refund, which quickly appeared in checks to Georgia taxpayers, and a longer-term measure that will reduce state income tax rates starting next year.
This year, the governor is calling for another $2 billion in tax relief, a $1 billion income tax rebate and a $1 billion property tax rebate.
Sitting atop a $6.6 billion budget surplus, the state can easily afford the additional tax cuts.
But with economic forecasters predicting a recession later this year, soaring tax revenues aren’t likely to last, said Kyle Wingfield, president and CEO of the Georgia Public Policy Foundation.
“Everybody expects revenues will come back to Earth at some point,” he said.
Wingfield said one-time tax rebates are attractive at a time inflation is running high. But he sees accelerating the reduction of income tax rates to the current tax year as a better approach.
“If you take the same amount of money and cut rates for the future, you’re giving people an incentive to work harder, save more and invest more,” he said.
The General Assembly also is expected to consider overhauling the state’s education funding formula to provide additional support for children living in poverty, higher student transportation costs, and the need to fund school support staff. The Quality Basic Education (QBE) formula was adopted back in the mid-1980s.
“We’ve spoken with leaders in both political parties, and [changing the funding formula] seems to be an area of interest,” said Matt Smith, director of policy and research for the Georgia Partnership for Excellence in Education, a nonprofit affiliated with the Georgia Chamber of Commerce.
A proposal to decrease the student-to-school counselor ratio also has the support of both Kemp and the state Department of Education.
EV charging stations
With Rivian and Hyundai beginning construction on huge electric vehicle manufacturing plants in Georgia – the two largest economic development projects in the state’s history – Georgia policy makers are anxious to accommodate the industry by rolling out a network of EV charging stations.
A legislative study committee that grappled with the issue last summer and fall was unable to come up with a way to balance the interests of retailers that might want to build stations – including convenience stores – and utilities also wishing to enter that space.
The state Public Service Commission stepped in last month by approving a provision as part of a Georgia Power rate hike request that gives retailers a right of first refusal when the utility seeks to build a charging station in their area. After Georgia Power publishes a list of addresses of stations it plans to build, local retailers wishing to build nearby will have 18 months to object, said Angela Holland, president of the Georgia Association of Convenience Stores.
The provision also limits Georgia Power to building no more than 11 charging stations per year, which must be in rural areas, which are considered less likely to attract private investment.
“That addresses of a lot of our issues,” Holland said.
The study committee did recommend legislation requiring EV charging stations to charge motorists by the kilowatt-hour for the electricity they sell rather than according to the amount of time they spend charging their vehicles.
Supporters of legalized gambling are expected to renew their push for sports betting, casinos, pari-mutuel betting on horse racing, or some combination of the three, armed with a statewide poll.
The survey, released in October by the Georgia News Collaborative, a consortium of more than 100 news organizations including Capitol Beat, found 59.7% support for legalizing casinos in Georgia and 45.6% favoring the legalization of online sports betting, slightly ahead of the 42.6% opposing it.
Legalizing any of those forms of gambling in Georgia would require the General Assembly to pass one or more constitutional amendments, which then would go to voters.
“It’s clear that people will vote it in,” said Rick Lackey, an Atlanta-based real estate developer backing several proposed casino resorts scattered across the state.
Georgia Rep. Ron Stephens, R-Savannah, a longtime proponent of legalized gambling, said he’s optimistic it could pass this year given the large number of new lawmakers taking office on Monday. Also, newly elected Lt. Gov. Burt Jones, a former senator who introduced a sports betting bill in 2020, will be presiding over the Senate.
“Every term, there’s less opposition to it,” Stephens said.
While there’s been debate over the years over how the state should spend the tax revenue legalized gambling would generate, much of the focus has been on propping up the HOPE Scholarship program, which no longer covers the full cost of tuition for many eligible students.
“There’s nowhere else to get the kind of revenue we need long term,” Stephens said. “When you’re not fully funding HOPE … it’s time has come.”
This story is available through a news partnership with Capitol Beat News Service, a project of the Georgia Press Educational Foundation.
ATLANTA – Georgia lawmakers expressed frustration Thursday that the state’s medical marijuana program has yet to yield a drop of cannabis oil nine months after Gov. Brian Kemp announced a plan to break a logjam of lawsuits.
The Georgia Commission for Access to Medical Cannabis voted in September to award the first two of six low-THC cannabis oil production licenses the General Assembly authorized in legislation the General Assembly passed in 2019.
But those licenses remain on hold until the commission adopts rules governing the state’s medical cannabis program, Chase Bradshaw, chief of operations for Botantical Sciences LLC, one of the two licensees, told members of a Georgia House study committee Thursday.
The other four licenses haven’t even been awarded because of lawsuits mounted by 16 companies that weren’t chosen when the commission tentatively awarded the six licenses in 2021.
State Rep. Alan Powell, R-Hartwell, a member of the study committee, blamed the legislature’s failure to pass a bill he introduced last year aimed at heading off the potential for lengthy litigation by the 16 losing bidders by increasing the number of licenses to be awarded from six to 22.
After the legislation died on the final day of last year’s legislative session, Kemp responded by directing $150,000 from the Governor’s Emergency Fund to expedite the hearing of legal protests filed by the losing bidders.
Powell, chairman of the House Regulated Industries Committee, said a legislative fix still is needed.
“You’re going to be hearing a lot more about this issue this session,” he said.
Meanwhile, the commission is moving forward with rules for the program.
Andrew Turnage, the commission’s executive director, said a public hearing on the proposed rules will be held Jan. 18. The commission’s board is scheduled to vote on the rules a week later, he said.
Rep. Dale Washburn, R-Macon, another member of the study committee, said he’s frustrated the state’s medical cannabis program still isn’t delivering almost four years after the General Assembly legalized the in-state growth and distribution of a product that remains illegal in Georgia.
“This medicine is needed,” he said. “People are suffering every day who need it and have to break the law.”
The 2023 session of the General Assembly kicks off next week.
This story is available through a news partnership with Capitol Beat News Service, a project of the Georgia Press Educational Foundation.
The boards of the Georgia Regional Transportation Authority (GRTA) and the Atlanta-Region Transit Link Authority Thursday named Jannine Miller executive director of the two agencies. The two votes came one day after the State Road and Tollway Authority (SRTA) board appointed Miller to head that agency.
Gov. Brian Kemp nominated Miller for the three posts last month. Miller, currently director of planning for the state Department of Transportation (DOT), will succeed Chris Tomlinson as head of the three agencies.
“Jannine Miller is a great public servant who has distinguished herself as a leader in the field of transportation and infrastructure on both the state and national levels,” said Kemp, who besides being governor chairs the SRTA board. “She will bring an innovative approach and a deep knowledge of the issues facing commuters and those who move Georgia-made products through and beyond Georgia as she steps into this new role.”
Before joining the DOT, Miller served as senior advisor to then-U.S. Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao. Prior to that, she built a lengthy track record with the state, including an earlier stint at the helm of GRTA and at the head of the Georgia Department of Economic Development’s Center for Innovation and Logistics.
“Jannine Miller is no stranger to the GRTA board,” Sonny Deriso, chairman of the GRTA board, said Thursday. “The board is pleased to have the opportunity to work with Jannine again and have a leader with institutional knowledge and experience with GRTA’s work that also includes a vision for its future.”
Miller holds a Master of Business Administration degree in global commerce from Georgia Tech, as well as a Master of Public Administration and a Bachelor of Science degree in community nutrition from Georgia State University.
This story is available through a news partnership with Capitol Beat News Service, a project of the Georgia Press Educational Foundation.
ATLANTA – Georgia Power Chairman, President and CEO Chris Womack will take over leadership of the utility’s parent, Southern Co., later this year, Atlanta-based Southern announced Thursday.
Womack, 64, will succeed Tom Fanning, Southern’s current chairman, president, and CEO, at the end of March following Southern’s annual stockholders meeting. Fanning, 65, will become executive chairman of Southern’s Board of Directors.
“Tom has guided Southern Company through a period of significant change,” said David Grain, Southern’s lead independent director. “Under his oversight, Southern Company has delivered substantial value to stockholders and increased the dividend annually, while safeguarding the interests of employees, the communities in which the system operates and the entire spectrum of the company’s stakeholders.”
Womack has led Georgia Power for nearly two years, since the retirement of Paul Bowers, the utility’s former chairman, president, and CEO. Before that, Womack was executive vice president and president of external affairs at Southern Co.
The Greenville, Ala., native began his career with Southern in 1988.
“Chris’ leadership, vision and integrity during his career with Southern Company have uniquely prepared him to guide Southern Company into a new era,” Fanning said. “With our recent progress at Plant Vogtle and continued conversion of our operations towards net-zero emissions, I believe that now is an ideal time to transition to new leadership.”
Womack is preparing to take the reins at Southern Company as Georgia Power works to bring into service the first of two new nuclear reactors being built at Plant Vogtle south of Augusta. The unit is scheduled to begin operations in March after years of delays and cost overruns.
The Vogtle reactors are the first new nuclear units to be built in the United States in more than 30 years.
“It is an important time in our industry as the energy landscape continues to rapidly evolve and customers’ needs continue to change,” Womack said. “Southern Company is at the forefront of that evolution.”
Womack will be succeeded at Georgia Power by Kim Greene, 56, currently chairman, president, and CEO of Southern subsidiary Southern Company Gas.
This story is available through a news partnership with Capitol Beat News Service, a project of the Georgia Press Educational Foundation.
ATLANTA – The Statesboro area has landed a second automotive parts manufacturer in recent months.
Ecoplastic Corp. will build a new automotive parts plant in Bulloch County, a $205 million investment that will create 456 jobs, Gov. Brian Kemp announced Thursday. The plant will supply the huge Hyundai electric vehicle manufacturing facility being built near Savannah.
“We’re proud to welcome Ecoplastic to our growing ecosystem of manufacturers, logistics professionals, suppliers, and more, building on the record-breaking jobs and investments that are on their way to the Peach State,” Kemp said. “This great company … will find a welcoming community of hardworking Georgians and close proximity to our ports system.”
Established in 1984, Ecoplastic produces plastic automobile parts for original equipment manufacturers and other suppliers, including bumpers, consoles, trims, and plastic molds.
The Korean company expects to begin operations by October of next year and will be filling positions in human resources, finance, parts development, quality control, facility maintenance, injection, and paint production. More information on jobs with Ecoplastic is available at www.eco-plastic.com.
The Georgia Department of Economic Development worked with the Development Authority of Bulloch County, the Georgia Ports Authority, Georgia EMC, and the Technical College System of Georgia to land the project.
Two months ago, auto parts manufacturer Joon Georgia announced it will invest $317 million in a new manufacturing plant in Bulloch County that will create 630 jobs. That made it the new Hyundai EV plant’s first confirmed supplier.
This story is available through a news partnership with Capitol Beat News Service, a project of the Georgia Press Educational Foundation.
