by Dave Williams | Oct 31, 2024 | Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA – The Georgia Supreme Court issued two rulings Thursday that upheld the arrests of two Democratic state lawmakers for protesting inside the state Capitol and declared constitutional a state tax levied on adult entertainment establishments.
In the first case, state Rep. Park Cannon of Atlanta and then-state Sen. Nikema Williams of Atlanta – now a member of Congress – were arrested several years ago in separate incidents.
The two neither intended to disrupt the General Assembly nor actually caused any disruptions, Atlanta civil rights lawyer Gerald Weber told the state Supreme Court during oral arguments last May. The lawmakers also argued the state law at issue in the two cases violates the Georgia Constitution’s free-speech protections.
But in Thursday’s unanimous ruling, Justice John Ellington upheld the law.
“These provisions do not prohibit a substantial amount of protected speech relative to their plainly legitimate sweep of prohibiting conduct likely to prevent or disrupt legislative business,” Ellington wrote.
However, six other justices wrote in a concurring opinion that the law is far from perfect.
“(T)he state should not confuse this limited victory with a clean bill of health for the statute,” Presiding Justice Nels S.D. Peterson wrote. “The statute is seriously flawed. Those charged with its enforcement should take care to avoid those flaws, and the General Assembly should seriously consider revising it.”
In the second case, the Georgia Association of Club Executives argued the state’s 1% tax on strip clubs aimed at raising money to combat child sex trafficking unfairly punishes owners of businesses that aren’t responsible for those crimes because minors aren’t allowed in the clubs either as dancers or customers.
Peterson wrote the majority opinion in the decision upholding the law.
“Georgia local governments have often imposed total bans on adult entertainment establishments offering the combination of nude dancing and serving alcohol,” he wrote. “In this case, the state stopped short of a total ban, imposing a 1% tax on gross revenue on adult entertainment establishments that choose to offer the combination of nude dancing and serving alcohol.
“This tax is significantly less burdensome than similar taxes upheld by other courts. And it can be avoided entirely by not serving alcohol or not performing substantially nude.”
by Dave Williams | Oct 31, 2024 | Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA – Demand for solar panel recycling services has grown so much that a solar recycling company is accelerating its planned operations in Polk County, Gov. Brian Kemp announced Thursday.
SOLARCYCLE will invest an additional $62 million to increase its solar panel recycling capacity in Cedartown to 10 million panels per year, a project that will create 640 full-time jobs.
The company already has under construction a 1.1-million-square-foot solar glass factory there representing an estimated $344 million investment and 617 new jobs.
“As Georgia continues to lead the nation in attracting jobs from emerging industries, we’re thankful SOLARCYCLE is moving up creation of these opportunities in Northwest Georgia, benefitting that entire region’s economy,” Kemp said. “I look forward to its impact in the years to come.”
The new factory will position SOLARCYCLE as one of the first manufacturers of specialized glass for crystalline-silicon photovoltaics in the nation.
“In response to continued demand for solar recycling and domestic manufacturing, we will be able to scale operations and begin hiring sooner than planned,” said Suvi Sharma, cofounder and CEO of SOLARCYCLE.
The new facility will be located in an existing 255,000-square-foot building that will be renovated to house the company’s solar panel recycling operations.
The company is filling full-time jobs in manufacturing, engineering, management, research and design, and support staff. Interested individuals can find out more by clicking on www.solarcycle.us/careers.
The new plant will begin operations during the second half of next year.
The Georgia Department of Economic Development’s Global Commerce team worked on the project in partnership with the Development Authority of Polk County, Georgia Power, and the Technical College System of Georgia’s Quick Start program.
by Dave Williams | Oct 31, 2024 | Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA – Georgia Power executives Thursday pitched a proposal to build battery energy storage systems (BESS) at four sites to the state Public Service Commission (PSC).
The Atlanta-based utility plans to construct BESS facilities adjacent to both Robins Air Force Base in Bibb County and Moody Air Force Base in Lowndes County. A third BESS would be located at Georgia Power’s retired coal-fired Plant Hammond in Floyd County.
A fourth battery-storage facility would double the storage capacity at the McGrau Ford Battery Facility under development in Cherokee County.
The projects, which would add 500 megawatts of electrical generating capacity, are included in Georgia Power’s plan to add 6,600 megawatts to the company’s energy-supply portfolio from sources including natural gas and solar energy.
“We have tremendous economic growth in Georgia,” Jeff Grubb, Georgia Power’s director of resource policy and planning, told members of the PSC Thursday.
“The BESS project portfolio is a vital part of the company’s approach to meeting the growing electricity needs of the state and continuing to provide our customers with the reliability they expect and deserve.”
Under an agreement Georgia Power reached last week with the commission’s Public Interest Advocacy Staff, the company must submit quarterly reports while the projects are under construction updating spending and the construction schedule.
The PSC is scheduled to vote on the projects Dec. 3.
by Dave Williams | Oct 31, 2024 | Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA – Georgia Chief Justice Michael Boggs has ordered the creation of a study committee to look for ways to address the state’s civil justice gap.
The 13-member committee will develop recommendations by June of next year to increase access to civil legal services for rural or low-income Georgians while maintaining high standards for legal practitioners.
“The Supreme Court of Georgia is vested by the Georgia Constitution with the responsibility to regulate the practice of law to ensure that the public is protected and that the people of Georgia receive competent legal counsel,” said state Supreme Court Justice Carla Wong McMillian, who will chair the committee.
“But there may be narrow areas where people who are not lawyers can be trained to serve clients who otherwise wouldn’t be able to afford lawyers or who live in areas without lawyers. … This committee will use data-driven methodologies to be innovative in exploring and discerning what regulatory reforms could address the issues preventing Georgians receiving critical legal services without diminishing consumer protections.”
Stephen Louis A. Dillard of Macon, the presiding judge on the Georgia Court of Appeals, will serve as vice-chairman of the committee.
“Being from Central Georgia, I understand just how crucial it is to carefully examine this important issue,” Dillard said. “I look forward to working closely with Justice McMillian and many other stakeholders to come up with meaningful solutions that will make justice more accessible.”
The National Center for State Courts will provide technical assistance to support the committee’s work.
by Dave Williams | Oct 29, 2024 | Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA – Enrollment in Georgia’s year-old limited Medicaid expansion program is well below expectations because of a cumbersome enrollment process and restrictive eligibility criteria, an Atlanta-based public policy group reported Tuesday.
Only 4,231 low-income Georgians were enrolled in the Georgia Pathways program as of the end of last month, well below the 25,000 the state Department of Community Health (DCH) had projected for its first year and even further behind the 240,485 individuals ages 19 through 64 with incomes below 100% of the federal poverty level, according to U.S. Census data from 2022.
“Potentially eligible Georgians face a steep ‘paperwork’ burden – from completing a lengthy online application to compiling documents to verify qualifying activities and hours,” Leah Chan, director of health justice for the Georgia Budget and Policy Institute (GBPI), wrote in a 32-page report.
“Preliminary data also indicate that at least one of every five denials for those who do submit a complete application is due to failure to meet the qualifying hours and activities requirement.”
The state launched Georgia Pathways to Coverage in July of last year, providing Medicaid coverage to Georgians with household incomes up to 100% of the federal poverty level, $15,060 for an individual and $31,200 for a family of four.
Georgia is the only state in the nation to make eligibility for coverage contingent upon completion and reporting of at least 80 hours per month of work, higher education, job training, volunteering or other qualifying activities.
Supporters of the work requirement argue it ensures that enrollees in the program are trying to improve their lives to a point that they can get off of Medicaid.
But a former Georgia Pathways enrollee said Tuesday she encountered unanticipated consequences fulfilling the work requirement.
Kelsey Shields said she was able to sign up for the program quickly and was covered for three months before being informed that her income was too high to qualify and that she, therefore, was being dropped. Shields said she didn’t understand the decision to drop her because she was still working the same job for the same pay.
Deanna Williams, a health insurance navigator for the nonprofit Georgians for a Healthy Future, said Georgia Pathways enrollees sometimes run afoul of the work requirement because their hours may differ from week to week, which can put them temporarily above the income-eligibility limit.
Another would-be enrollee, Muna Ali, said she was denied coverage through Georgia Pathways without being given a reason.
Chan said some of those who apply for the program are denied because of paperwork mistakes.
Williams said in some cases, people who tried to sign up for Georgia Pathways were denied because other members of their household were enrolled in Medicaid, which created confusion.
“The systematic errors have been somewhat addressed,” she said.
The GBPI report attributed the disappointing number of enrollees to lack of knowledge about Georgia Pathways. Chan said many Georgians the organization interviewed said they had never heard of the program.
The DCH launched a $10.7 million ad campaign in August to spread the word about Georgia Pathways, complete with a new website (pathways.georgia.gov) that explains the program, who is eligible to sign up, and how to apply.
“It remains to be seen what the impact of that has been,” she said.
The GBPI report recommended improving the eligibility and enrollment processes to make them more “human-centered.” It also suggested eliminating the activities requirement and fully expanding Medicaid to cover Georgians with incomes up to 138% of the federal poverty level.
Republican Gov. Brian Kemp and GOP legislative leaders have consistently opposed a full Medicaid expansion as too costly to Georgia taxpayers.
DCH spokesperson Fiona Roberts wrote in an email to Capitol Beat that the agency is aware of the report and is reviewing it.
