ATLANTA – Cases of COVID-19 and flu have risen sharply in Georgia since the Christmas holidays, State Epidemiologist Dr. Cherie Drenzek reported Tuesday.
COVID cases have increased by about 50% since last week, hospitalizations are up 75%, and deaths have risen by 10%, Drenzek told members of the Georgia Board of Public Health. However, cases still remain well below levels experienced during the pandemic, she said.
Cases involving a new COVID variant – JN.1 – that surfaced recently have jumped 62% in the last month, Drenzek said. It is not thought to be as severe as some previous variants, she said.
“The most recent booster is thought to provide protection,” she said.
Drenzek said cases of flu in Georgia have more than doubled during the last month, accounting for more than 10% of all health-care visits. Hospitalizations have increased 50% since last week, while flu has caused 10 deaths in Georgia, she said.
Most of the flu cases involve the H1N1 strain, which typically peaks in January, she said.
The good news is that cases of RSV, another respiratory virus the public health agency tracks, have declined dramatically since an October peak, Drenzek said. Severe outcomes from RSV are most likely in children from birth to 6 months of age, while the RSV vaccine is targeted primarily for infants and pregnant women.
Drenzek said it’s not too late for Georgians to get the latest COVID booster or a flu shot, despite the lateness of respiratory illness season.
“Everyone over the age of 6 months should have a flu vaccine,” she said.
ATLANTA – Georgia tax collections declined by 5% last month, down $159.1 million from the $3.21 billion in taxes the state Department of Revenue brought in during December of 2022.
Individual income tax receipts were down 3.6%, driven largely by a 114% increase in tax refunds issued to Georgia taxpayers.
Net sales tax collections rose by 1.4% in December compared to the same month in 2022.
Corporate income taxes declined by 16.1% last month due to the combination of a 64.7% increase in refunds and a 19.3% decrease in payments.
For the first half of the current fiscal year, which ended Dec. 31, net tax collections were up 1.6%. However, that was mainly because the state resumed collecting sales taxes on gasoline and other motor fuels at the end of November, while the tax was suspended during December of 2022.
Aside from the changes brought about by resuming the collection of the motor fuels tax, revenues for the first six months of fiscal 2024 were down 2.5% from the first half of the previous fiscal year.
The negative numbers might be expected to give pause to legislative budget writers, who will begin reviewing Gov. Brian Kemp’s spending recommendations next week. However, the state has built up a whopping $16 billion budget surplus during the last three years that should make current revenue trends of less concern than they would be otherwise.
Kemp will release his budget proposals to the General Assembly later this week.
ATLANTA – Seven Georgia school districts will receive nearly $60 million in federal funding for new electric and low-emission buses.
The Georgia grant is part of $1 billion going to school systems across the country to pay for clean buses. The money comes from the bipartisan infrastructure spending bill Congress passed in 2021.
Every day, nearly 25 million children ride more than 500,000 predominantly diesel buses to school in the U.S., which contributes to air pollution that exposes children to unhealthy air.
“This is about converting fleets of diesel-powered school buses into clean energy vehicles for the future,” said U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock, D-Ga., who was instrumental in getting the school bus funds into the infrastructure bill. “This investment demonstrates the power of bipartisan cooperation to deliver tangible results for our communities.”
The Georgia grant will provide 156 new electric buses. The Clayton and DeKalb County school districts will receive 50 buses each, with 25 going to Richmond County Schools, 15 to Bibb County schools, 10 to the Carrollton City School District, and six to Glynn County schools.
In addition, the Marietta school system will receive 15 propane-fueled buses.
ATLANTA – The state awarded more than $9 million Monday to support more than 400 housing units in four Georgia communities, the second round of grants through a program Gov. Brian Kemp created last year.
The Rural Workforce Housing Initiative, which Kemp announced during his annual State of the State address last January, includes $35.7 million to help spur the development of critically needed workforce housing across the state. The first round of grants totaling nearly $8.4 million was announced last September.
“This latest round of grants will help four more communities provide the needed infrastructure to meet demand as even more opportunity comes to rural parts of our state,” Kemp said Monday. “Georgians deserve to be able to live in the same communities where they work, and this program is helping make sure they can.”
Three of the grants, worth about $2.5 million each, are going to the cities of Alma and Vidalia, and to the Development Authority of Donalsonville and Seminole County.
Alma’s grant will go to construct water, sewer, and street improvements to accommodate 60 new homes at the 40-acre Teresa’s Estate subdivision. Vidalia will use its funding for water, sewer, street, and drainage improvements for the Triple Oaks subdivision, which will include 70 homes and the capacity for an additional 150 in the second and third phases of the project.
The grant to the Development Authority of Donalsonville and Seminole County will go toward the necessary water, sewer, and drainage improvements for 53 homes in the first phase of a subdivision. The development also has the capacity for an additional 67 homes.
The fourth grant, for $1.5 million, will go to the Dalton-Whitfield County Joint Development Authority for street and stormwater drainage required to complete the South Hamilton Residential Infill Project, which will support 39 new homes.
In addition to meeting OneGeorgia Authority requirements, applicants for the grants leveraged other funding sources to demonstrate community commitment to increasing access to affordable workforce housing.
ATLANTA – The 2024 General Assembly session got off to a slow start under the Gold Dome Monday.
With Democratic and Republican leaders already have been chosen last year at the start of the two-year legislative term, there were no leadership elections. Rep. Jon Burns, R-Newington, began his second year as Georgia House speaker, while GOP Lt. Gov. Burt Jones did the same as presiding officer of the state Senate.
The two legislative chambers were content with passing resolutions formally notifying Gov. Brian Kemp that the General Assembly is in session and scheduling a joint session for Thursday to hear Kemp deliver his annual State of the State address.
Despite the relative lack of activity on Monday, the 40-day session is expected to pick up quickly. Lawmakers will be anxious to complete their business as soon as possible so they can get out of the campaign trail in this election year. All 236 seats in the legislature will be on the ballot in November, and candidate qualifying is set for early March.
Easter comes early this year – on March 31 – giving legislative leaders another reason to move forward at a fast pace.
The governor’s State of the State message will be his second of the 2024 session’s opening week. Kemp is scheduled to headline Wednesday morning’s Eggs and Issues breakfast sponsored by the Georgia Chamber of Commerce, being held this year at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in downtown Atlanta.
