by Dave Williams | Jul 9, 2024 | Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA – The Republican-controlled State Election Board voted Tuesday to move forward with a proposed rule that would give members of local election boards discretion in deciding whether to certify election results.
The rule would give counties the authority to conduct a “minimum level of oversight” of election results before they’re certified, Salleigh Grubbs, who chairs the Cobb County Republican Party, told the five-member board before the 3-1 vote.
“There is a crisis of confidence in our elections,” Grubbs said. “The oversight of elections in each county is critical to restoring trust.”
But opponents argued that election officials in Georgia do not have discretion to vote against certification.
“Though the petition claims this rule will clarify ambiguity about an election official’s duty to certify results, the Georgia Supreme Court has consistently interpreted that duty as a ministerial one rather than discretionary,” the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University and the voting rights organization United to Protect Democracy wrote jointly in comments submitted to the board before Tuesday’s meeting.
“Therefore, this language conflicts with longstanding Georgia case law and would sow disorder in the state’s election administration processes, which already have safeguards to ensure election results are accurate and reliable.”
Sara Tindall Ghazal, the lone Democrat on the board, said the proper time to address complaints of voter fraud is after an election has been certified.
“There are procedures for investigating after the fact,” she said. “Without certification, a candidate cannot contest an election.”
Board Chairman John Fervier proposed an alternative to the rule Grubbs presented that would have restricted the types of documents a local election board member could request to see before voting on certifying an election. Otherwise, he said, local boards could be inundated by limitless requests for documents that would unnecessarily drag out the process.
But board member Dr. Janice Johnston, who made the motion to approve Grubbs’ proposal, opposed putting restrictions on the number of documents a board member could request.
“Every election document should be available to every member of the board,” she said.
Three of the four Republican board members supported the rule, with Ghazal voting in opposition and Fervier abstaining.
The board is expected to conduct a final vote on the proposed rule next month.
by Dave Williams | Jul 9, 2024 | Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA – Bus systems in two Georgia cities will receive nearly $20 million in federal funds to replace older buses with electric models.
Augusta Transit will get almost $12.1 million for quieter, safer, and more reliable electric buses. The agency also will receive funding to buy a bus simulator to use in workforce training.
The Chatham Area Transit Authority in Savannah will get more than $7.8 million to replace old diesel buses with electric buses, furthering the agency’s transition to zero-emission transit vehicles.
“This is about improving our transit services for all riders and converting fleets of diesel-powered buses into clean energy vehicles for the future,” said U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock, D-Ga., who made the announcement of the funding Tuesday in conjunction with Sen. Jon Ossoff, D-Ga. “This is a ride to the future.”
The money comes from the bipartisan infrastructure spending bill Congress passed in 2021.
The funding announced Tuesday is in addition to nearly $60 million in federal funding seven Georgia school districts received in January for new electric and low-emission buses.
Besides the money going to Augusta and Savannah, MARTA will get more than $25 million to build a transit hub in South DeKalb County for both bus and rail connections.
by Dave Williams | Jul 9, 2024 | Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA – U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff, D-Ga., and Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., introduced bipartisan legislation Tuesday to strengthen support for victims of human trafficking.
Ossoff chairs the Senate’s Human Rights Subcommittee, and Blackburn is the ranking Republican on the panel.
The bill would give the Justice Department’s Office for Victims of Crime more flexibility in funding for programs that serve human trafficking victims and help increase training and technical assistance for organizations that receive federal grants to help those victims.
“Human trafficking in Georgia and nationwide is a crisis,” Ossoff said. “That’s why Sen. Blackburn and I are introducing this bipartisan bill to strengthen support and protections for victims of trafficking.”
“The modern-day slave trade of human trafficking is a $150 billion a year global industry that is devastating our communities,” Blackburn added. “By passing the Supporting Victims of Human Trafficking Act, the Department of Justice’s Office for Victims of Crime will be more responsive to the needs of organizations serving survivors of human trafficking.”
Ossoff and Blackburn also teamed up on the REPORT Act, which President Joe Biden signed into law in May. The measure requires websites and social media platforms to report crimes involving child trafficking to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.
Companies that knowingly and willfully fail to report child sex abuse material on their sites will face increased fines.
The new bill is being backed by key organizations that support victims of human trafficking, including Hope for Justice, Street Grace, Wellspring Living, 3Strands Global Foundation, Polaris, and Thistle Farms.
by Dave Williams | Jul 8, 2024 | Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA – The condition of Georgia’s infrastructure received a decidedly mediocre grade of “C+” Monday in a report released by the Georgia section of the American Society of Civil Engineers.
“This is a wakeup call,” Tim Echols, vice chairman of the Georgia Public Service Commission (PSC), said during a news conference at the state Capitol. “We need to get better.”
Georgia ports achieved the highest score – “B+ – among 14 categories the report examined. The conditions of the state’s bridges, freight rail system, energy infrastructure, and schools came in next with “B” grades.
In fact, Georgia scored above the national report card in 12 of the 14 categories the report examined.
But the state of transit in the Peach State rated lowest, receiving a grade of “D.” As many urban policymakers in Georgia have complained for years, the state has historically underinvested in transit, according to the report.
State Rep. Vance Smith, a former commissioner of the Georgia Department of Transportation and former chairman of the House Transportation Committee, praised the “C+” grade the report gave the condition of aviation in Georgia as an improvement.
The General Assembly has stepped up funding of the state’s general aviation airports in recent years, many located in predominantly rural areas. Smith said improvements at those airports are helping attract businesses to Georgia that aren’t interested in having to cope with Atlanta’s traffic congestion.
“That’s economic development for these (small) communities,” he said. “It spreads the economy across our whole state.”
Echols said Georgia’s relatively strong showing in energy infrastructure stems from last spring’s PSC vote approving Georgia Power’s request for 6,600 megawatts in additional electrical generating capacity as well as the completion of the nuclear expansion at Plant Vogtle in May.
“Georgia has extra energy here,” he said.
The condition of drinking water in Georgia received a grade of “C+” on the report, a mediocre showing that was dramatically demonstrated when major water main breaks in the city of Atlanta in late May forced an emergency declaration and disrupted service for five days.
“While there is a lot to be proud of, there is still room for progress, especially for water systems that serve Georgia’s growing population,” said Julie Secrist, who chaired the committee of engineers that prepared the report.
“As more people and businesses move here, these life-sustaining systems need increased funding to grow, improve, and become more resilient to new and ongoing threats.”
by Dave Williams | Jul 8, 2024 | Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA – Georgia House Speaker Jon Burns Monday announced the creation of a special subcommittee to consider funding recommendations aimed at improving safety in the state’s prison system.
The panel will function as a subcommittee of the House Appropriations Committee.
The Georgia Department of Corrections hired a consultant last month to conduct an assessment of Georgia prisons.
Gov. Brian Kemp announced the hiring of Chicago-based Guidehouse Inc. a day after an inmate at Smith State Prison in Glennville shot and killed a food-service worker before turning the gun on himself. An investigation revealed the inmate had been involved in a “personal relationship” with the worker.
More than 3,500 assaults between inmates occurred in state prisons between 2021 and last year, according to state prison data, while 98 inmates were killed during that time.
“The General Assembly has placed significant emphasis on improving the safety, security and conditions of our state-operated corrections facilities,” Burns, R-Newington, said Monday.
“With Governor Kemp’s ongoing assessment of Georgia’s prisons, we want to ensure we are prepared to take immediate action when subsequent recommendations and appropriations requests are delivered in January or during the interim.”
The new subcommittee will be headed by Rep. Matt Hatchett, R-Dublin, who chairs the full House Appropriations Committee. The panel will include five Republicans and two Democrats.
