by Dave Williams | Aug 13, 2024 | Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA – Legislative Democrats urged Gov. Brian Kemp Tuesday to accept federal funding for a program that provides low-income children with free meals during the summer when school is not in session.
Georgia is one of 12 states that did not participate in the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Summer EBT Program this summer and isn’t planning to participate next summer. The state faces a deadline of Aug. 15 to commit to the program.
“I’m enraged that Governor Kemp is choosing to disregard the needs of some of the most vulnerable families in Georgia,” U.S. Rep. Lucy McBath, D-Marietta, said Tuesday. “The state has to do better.”
The Summer EBT Program provides pre-loaded cards to families with eligible school-aged children worth $40 a month, totaling $120 for the months school is not in session.
Georgia suffers from one of the nation’s highest rates of food insecurity, said state Sen. Jason Esteves, D-Atlanta, a former teacher and former member of the Atlanta Board of Education.
“In some counties, one in four children live in food-insecure households,” he said. “Sixty-four percent qualify for free or reduced-price lunches.”
McBath and the other six Democrats in Georgia’s congressional delegation sent a letter last week asking Kemp to change his mind about opting out of the federal program.
On Tuesday, a spokesman for the governor cited the program’s cost to the state, $4.5 million a year to cover 50% of the administrative expense.
“While it is disappointing that the Biden administration continues to ignore reasonable concerns surrounding the program’s lack of nutrition standards and fiscal sustainability, we will continue to promote the many successful programs Georgia already has in place,” Garrison Douglas said.
The state Department of Education’s Seamless Summer program provided more than 2.5 million breakfasts and more than 3.2 million lunches in 2023, with the majority of school districts participating. Another state program, Happy Helpings, served 2.8 million meals at 997 sites in 2023.
But children in 59 of Georgia’s 159 counties did not have access to a Happy Helpings summer meal site last year, the congressional Democrats wrote in their letter to Kemp, citing numbers from the state Department of Early Care and Learning.
“Committing to participate in Summer EBT in 2025 is a simple, common-sense step that will ensure every child in our state, regardless of where they live, has access to food when they need it most,” the letter stated. “States that refuse to participate in Summer EBT for unsubstantiated reasons are needlessly putting children in jeopardy during the summer months.”
by Dave Williams | Aug 12, 2024 | Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA – A Florida-based furniture chain that has been a fixture in Georgia and other southeastern states for more than a century is going out of business.
Badcock Home Furniture & More, with more than two dozen locations in Georgia, announced on Facebook Aug. 6 that it’s closing all of its more than 370 stores in eight southeastern states. Badcock’s announcement came after its parent company – Texas-based Conn’s – filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection late last month.
“We want to extend our heartfelt gratitude for being a valued customer of Badcock Home Furniture & More,” the company wrote on Facebook. “Regrettably, we are going out of business, and all stores will be closing over the coming months.”
In the bankruptcy filing, Conn’s officials indicated the company owes creditors more than $100 million. Its financial struggles are being felt throughout the retail furniture business, as sales that peaked during the pandemic dropped off afterward.
Badcock’s Georgia locations are scattered across the state, from Lakeland in South Georgia near the Florida line up through metro Atlanta, east to the Augusta region and up through Northwest Georgia all the way to Fort Oglethorpe near the Tennessee line.
Meanwhile, Conn’s has seven locations in Georgia, mostly in metro Atlanta but also including Columbus and Augusta.
Badcock has about 1,200 employees, all of whom will be out of work when the stores shut down by the end of October.
The company provided answers to “frequently asked questions” on its Facebook posting to help customers through the process.
While Badcock no longer is offering financing for purchases, customers who have financed purchases may continue to make payments online, by phone, by mail or at a store. Items may still be purchased, depending on inventory levels in the company’s warehouses.
by Dave Williams | Aug 9, 2024 | Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA – Gov. Brian Kemp has made tort reform the main theme of his annual August address to Georgia political and business leaders two years running.
But his Aug. 7 speech at this year’s Georgia Chamber of Commerce-sponsored Congressional Luncheon had a different ring to it than the 2023 version.
Kemp followed up last year’s pledge to make tort reform a top priority by essentially pulling out the rug on the issue when he addressed the chamber again at the beginning of this year’s General Assembly session. He said significant tort reform would require more than one year.
Toward that end, lawmakers passed a Kemp-backed bill this year directing the state insurance department to gather data on legal trends affecting premiums and prepare a report by Nov. 1.
“The governor very smartly decided to take a step back and look at the data,” said Nancy Palmer, vice president of government affairs for the Georgia Chamber. “Lawsuit reform is a huge wide-ranging topic. We’re talking about the entirety of the civil justice system.”
Tort reform has been a goal of Georgia Republicans and their allies in the business community for decades. But the most significant reform legislation to make it through the General Assembly came way back in 2005, a bill that imposed a $350,000 cap on non-economic damage awards in medical malpractice and product liability lawsuits.
The cap immediately came under fire in the form of lawsuits challenging its constitutionality. The Georgia Supreme Court sided with the plaintiffs and threw out the cap in 2010.
Calls for tort reform have come like clockwork virtually every year since, with Republican lawmakers and conservative policy groups warning that huge jury verdicts from frivolous lawsuits are hurting job creation by forcing companies to close their doors.
“I hear stories every week from business owners who can’t get insurance or can’t afford it,” said Kyle Wingfield, president and CEO of the Georgia Public Policy Foundation, a think tank that advocates free-market approaches to public-policy issues. “There’s got to be more balance.”
Palmer said improving access to insurance is just as important to businesses as the premiums they have to pay for coverage.
“We have insurers who are leaving the marketplace,” she said. “What we want is for businesses not only to pay lower rates but to have more choices. … There should be more competition in this marketplace.”
Opposition to tort reform has come from trial lawyers and legislative Democrats, who have argued that Georgians injured by medical malpractice or faulty products deserve access to a legal remedy.
“Constitutionally, people have a right to their day in court, and appellate courts in Georgia have been protective of that,” said state Rep. Mary Margaret Oliver, D-Decatur, a member of the House Judiciary Committee.
Oliver suggested that Republicans have been unsuccessful thus far in passing major tort reforms because many past governors and legislative leaders – including Republicans – have been lawyers who understand the complexities of the issue.
“What’s unique about this time is (neither) the governor, lieutenant governor, nor (House) speaker are lawyers,” she said. “It makes it easier for them to say they’re for tort reform.”
One reform Republicans are expected to pursue in 2025 is in the area of premises liability. Business owners have long complained about being drawn into lawsuits after injuries or deaths occur on their properties that are not their fault and, in many cases, occur at night when the business is closed.
“When someone shows up and decides to commit a crime on your property without your permission, how much do you have to do to prevent that?” Wingfield said. “That ought to be a common-sense place to start.”
Two bills pertaining to the premises liability issue were before the General Assembly this year, but neither passed.
Palmer said the chamber is looking to Kemp for direction on which tort reforms lawmakers should pursue in 2025. Next year begins a new two-year term in the legislature, so whatever is considered has to start from scratch.
by Dave Williams | Aug 9, 2024 | Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA – Georgia’s cleanup from this week’s storm has moved from response to recovery, as the heavy rains and flooding brought by Tropical Depression Debby continue moving toward the mid-Atlantic and northeastern states.
“The storm is behind us, but certainly the recovery is not,” Gov. Brian Kemp said in Savannah Friday after touring damaged coastal communities by air.
Kemp said eight dams were breached after Debby hit earlier this week, four in Bulloch County alone.
About 138,000 customers had lost power at the height of the storm, while 59 schools were closed. Those numbers were down by Friday to fewer than 1,200 without electricity, while 13 schools remained closed, Kemp said.
Seven emergency shelters were opened, which ended up accommodating 142 evacuees, the governor said. Four shelters were still open on Friday, while the number of evacuees was down to 42, he said.
But the most serious damage occurred to farm crops and livestock. Commissioner of Agriculture Tyler Harper said the state lost about half of the tobacco crop, while other crops including peanuts also sustained heavy damage.
Some poultry houses were completely flooded, and some cattle also drowned, Harper said.
Kemp urged farmers and ranchers to document their losses to they can compile accurate applications for federal aid. President Joe Biden approved the state’s request for an emergency declaration covering 55 counties.
“It’s hard to get relief if we don’t have the proper documentation,” Kemp said.
There was one storm-related death in Georgia, which occurred on Monday when a tree fell on a home in Moultrie and killed a 19-year-old man.
“It could have been a lot worse,” said Chris Stallings, director of the Georgia Emergency Management/Homeland Security Agency. “But thanks to the rapid deployment of resources, we were able to get in front of it.”
The ports of Savannah and Brunswick were closed on Tuesday but reopened the following day. Kemp said it will probably take a week for them to resume normal operations.
by Dave Williams | Aug 9, 2024 | Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA – A state lawmaker from Cobb County is facing DUI charges following a crash Thursday night in the city of Atlanta.
According to the Georgia State Patrol, a car driven by Rep. Devan Seabaugh, R-Marietta, struck a bicyclist at Memorial Drive and Park Avenue in Atlanta’s Grant Park neighborhood. The cyclist was traveling in the bicycle lane.
Seabaugh was taken into custody and taken to the Atlanta City Jail. He faces seven charges, all related to driving under the influence.
“I’m thankful that no one was hurt in last night’s traffic incident,” Seabaugh wrote in a statement posted Friday on Facebook. “I appreciate the professionalism of the law enforcement officers on the scene, and we will let the legal process continue to play out. I look forward to the facts coming out and providing clarity to all concerned.”
Seabaugh was elected to the General Assembly in a special election in July 2021 after then-Rep. Bert Reeves left the legislature to take a job at Georgia Tech.
Seabaugh represents House District 34, which includes parts of Marietta and Kennesaw and portions of unincorporated west Cobb County.
