by Dave Williams | Oct 23, 2024 | Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA – U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff, D-Ga., introduced legislation Wednesday aimed at strengthening federal oversight of state foster care systems.
The bipartisan bill, cosponsored by Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, follows a 13-month investigation a Senate subcommittee chaired by Ossoff conducted into the abuse and neglect of children in Georgia’s foster care system.
Among the Human Rights Subcommittee’s findings were incidents involving “hidden” foster care placements, which occur when a state child protection agency places a child with a caregiver informally.
In many cases, these placements involve relatives. Such placements are happening without the oversight of a court, and these children are not counted in official foster care numbers.
Ossoff’s bill would require states to measure and report to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) incidents in which children are separated from their parents and placed with a caregiver informally. HHS would be required to submit a publicly available report to Congress on the use of hidden foster care.
“This bipartisan legislation … will strengthen federal oversight of state foster care systems and better protect foster children from physical abuse, sexual abuse, or human trafficking,” Ossoff said.
The subcommittee interviewed more than 100 witnesses and reviewed thousands of pages of documents to investigate the human rights violations children may be suffering in foster care.
by Dave Williams | Oct 23, 2024 | Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA – More than 1.8 million Georgians cast their ballots during the first week of early voting, Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger said Wednesday.
That record number, which included early votes through Tuesday, was expected to cross the 2 million mark by midday Wednesday, representing more than 26% of the state’s electorate.
Raffensperger reported the early voting numbers during a news conference in which he also revealed that a citizenship audit his office conducted last summer turned up only 20 non-U.S. citizens on Georgia’s voter rolls out of 8.2 million registered voters. The secretary of state’s office canceled their voter registrations
“Georgia has the cleanest voter list in the entire country,” Raffensperger said. “Georgians can trust in their elections.”
Gabriel Sterling, the agency’s chief operating officer, said the 20 registered voters who turned out not to be citizens were identified because they had signed affidavits indicating they weren’t citizens in order to get out of jury duty. They came from Bibb, Clayton, Cobb, DeKalb, Fulton, Gwinnett, and Henry counties, he said.
Sterling said the secretary of state’s office referred156 other registered voters suspected of being non-citizens to local authorities for further investigation.
Raffensperger said the agency identified 432,474 registered voters last year who have changed residences, moving either inside Georgia or out of state. He credited those results to Georgia’s membership in the Electronic Registration Information Center (ERIC), a network of states that share data on voters.
“I believe every state should be a member of ERIC,” he said.
Sterling also shot down a conspiracy theory that Georgia’s Dominion voting system has been “flipping” votes.
“There’s zero evidence of machines flipping votes,” he said. “That was true in 2020, and it’s true now.”
Sterling said non-citizens have no incentive for trying to game the voter registration system because, if they get caught, they lose their chance to become a citizen.
“It’s very high risk and low reward,” he said.
Early voting in Georgia will continue through Nov. 1, four days before Election Day.
by Dave Williams | Oct 23, 2024 | Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA – Leading global insurance company American International Group Inc. (AIG) will establish a new innovation hub in DeKalb County that will create more than 600 jobs, Gov. Brian Kemp announced Wednesday.
The project will triple AIG’s current Atlanta-area office space to accommodate more than 1,000 employees.
“Again and again, job creators are choosing the No.-1 state for business not just for first-time investment, but for expansion as well,” Kemp said. “AIG’s decision to grow their footprint here in Georgia is just the latest confirmation that we have what businesses want and are leveraging those assets to their fullest so we can bring new opportunity to all parts of our state.”
AIG’s new Atlanta innovation hub, set to open in 2026, will be designed as a collaborative workspace where various teams can work together to test new processes and incubate digital capabilities for customers.
“This investment is part of our commitment to continue to enhance our expertise to help our clients and partners navigate complex and emerging risks while building additional capabilities for the future,” said Peter Zaffino, AIG’s chairman and CEO.
The company will be hiring to fill various roles in underwriting, claims, operations, data engineering, and artificial intelligence. Interested individuals can learn more at www.aig.com/careers.
The Georgia Department of Economic Development’s Global Commerce team worked on the project in partnership with the economic development authority Decide DeKalb, the Metro Atlanta Chamber, the University System of Georgia, and Georgia Power.
by Dave Williams | Oct 22, 2024 | Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA – The Georgia Supreme Court Tuesday denied an expedited appeal of a Fulton County Superior Court ruling that invalidated a series of election law changes approved by the Republican-controlled State Election Board.
Tuesday’s unanimous decision means none of the rules changes opposed by Democrats and some Republicans will be in effect for the Nov. 5 elections.
Last week’s decision in the Fulton County case came in a lawsuit filed by Eternal Vigilance Action, a Georgia-based advocacy group headed by former Republican state Rep. Scot Turner.
“The quick decision by a Fulton County judge followed closely by a unanimous vote of the state Supreme Court should erase any doubt about the merits of our arguments,” Turner said Tuesday. “I’m a Republican and this is a conservative policy organization. I do not like fighting my friends, but in this instance, fealty to the Georgia Constitution demands it.”
The most consequential of the rules changes would have required counties to hand-count the number of ballots cast at polling places on Election Day and allow local election officials to delay certifying results of an election in order to conduct a “reasonable inquiry” if they suspect voter fraud.
The five-member State Election Board’s three Republican members have approved the rules changes during several meetings since August, arguing they were trying to restore public confidence in the electoral process after many Republicans in Georgia and around the country questioned the results of the 2020 elections. Dozens of court cases in the Peach State and across the nation concluded there was no widespread voter fraud.
Opponents countered that the new rules were aimed at sowing chaos and confusion by delaying next month’s election results, potentially allowing former President Donald Trump to claim victory in Georgia even if Vice President Kamala Harris wins more votes.
“Today’s ruling is a huge win for Georgia voters and the rule of law,” said Lauren Groh-Wargo, CEO of Fair Fight, a voting-rights organization founded by two-time Democratic gubernatorial nominee Stacey Abrams. “This is a critical victory in the ongoing fight to protect independent elections.”
by Dave Williams | Oct 22, 2024 | Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA – Georgia Chief Justice Michael Boggs Tuesday announced the formation of an ad hoc committee that will assess the risks and benefits of using artificial intelligence in the state’s court system.
The committee, to be chaired by Justice Andrew Pinson, will look for ways to maintain public trust and confidence in Georgia’s judiciary as the use of AI increases during the coming years.
“We recognize that, while there is much discussion around this subject, many of the opportunities and threats associated with AI are unknown at this point,” Pinson said. “We hope the work of this committee will educate and guide the judiciary as we explore this new technology.”
The committee will include representatives of the various classes of state courts as well as partner agencies that work within the judicial system.
The Judicial Council of Georgia, which serves as the policymaking body for the judicial branch of state government, will support the committee’s work.
The potential impacts of AI technology are being examined throughout state government. The State Bar of Georgia has created its own committee to explore the subject.
The Georgia House and Senate also have separate study committees addressing the topic.
