by Dave Williams | Oct 22, 2024 | Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA – For the second time in three years, Gov. Brian Kemp is giving Georgians a tax rebate worth more than $1 billion.
Kemp said Tuesday he will include the rebate in the mid-year budget he introduces to the General Assembly in January. He said the extra money will come in handy, particularly for Georgians who suffered losses from Hurricane Helene.
“We all know that even if inflation has fallen, high prices haven’t,” he said. “Families see that every day when they go to the grocery store or the gas pump. … People shouldn’t have to deal with that added burden, especially in the wake of tragedy.”
Tuesday’s announcement was the second tax relief measure the governor has issued in recent weeks. Kemp temporarily suspended collection of the state sales tax on gasoline and other motor fuels shortly after Helene struck large portions of South Georgia and the Augusta region.
The governor proposed a similar tax rebate two years ago worth about $1 billion. The General Assembly approved that rebate during the 2023 legislative session.
Under the new tax rebate, single tax filers will receive $250. A single filer who is the head of his or her household will get $375, and married couples filing jointly will receive $500.
Kemp said the state can afford the rebate because conservative budgeting has helped the state build up a huge budget surplus. He said he’d rather send that money back to taxpayers instead of pouring it into new government programs.
“This is one-time money … a way for us to use our excess surplus to get it back to the people we believe know how to use it best,” he said. “The worst mistake the state could make would be to grow government with one-time money.”
by Dave Williams | Oct 22, 2024 | Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA – Investigators interviewing witnesses to Saturday’s tragic gangway collapse on Sapelo Island and examining evidence won’t have a quick answer to what caused the structure to give way, Georgia Commissioner of Natural Resources Walter Rabon said Tuesday.
“This could go for a week if not months,” Rabon said after updating members of the state Board of Natural Resources on the incident at their monthly meeting in Atlanta.
As many as 40 people may have been on the gangway late Saturday afternoon preparing to take a state-operated ferry from the island’s Marsh Landing Dock back to the mainland when the 80-foot aluminum structure buckled and collapsed.
About 700 people were on the island that day for the annual Sapelo Cultural Day celebration of the Georgia barrier island’s Gullah Geechee community, Rabon said Tuesday.
Of up to 20 people who went into the water, seven died and several were injured.
Two of the injured are still hospitalized, Rabon said
“There’s no telling how many lives were saved thanks to the actions of first responders and Good Samaritans,” he said.
Rabon said the gangway passed its most recent inspections, one by manufacturer Crescent Equipment Co. last December and another by Department of Natural Resources (DNR) staff after Hurricane Helene struck the area late last month.
“It showed no damage, topside and bottom side,” he said.
Rabon said the number of people on the gangway shouldn’t have caused the collapse.
“It should have been able to support a much larger number,” he said.
Rabon declined to speculate on what did cause the collapse.
“We’ve got multiple staff there interviewing witnesses,” he said. “This is an ongoing investigation.”
Families of some of the Black victims have hired a team of civil rights law lawyers, who vowed Monday to conduct their own investigation that could lead to a lawsuit.
The Georgia Legislative Black Caucus also weighed in on the tragedy.
“This unnecessary loss of life is heartbreaking, and as representatives of the community, we owe it to the victims and their families to seek answers and advocate for accountability,” said state Rep. Carl Gilliard, D-Savannah, the caucus’ chairman.
On Tuesday, Board of Natural Resources members observed a moment of silence for another of the victims, Charles Houston of Darien, who served as a chaplain on the island for the DNR.
by Dave Williams | Oct 21, 2024 | Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA – State House speakers in six Southeastern states affected by three hurricanes in recent months – including Georgia House Speaker Jon Burns – sent a letter to congressional leaders Monday asking for disaster relief funds.
Significant portions of Georgia, Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina, Alabama, and Tennessee sustained heavy damage from hurricanes Debbie, Helene, and Milton, devastating communities and farms.
In a letter to U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La.; House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y.; Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y.; and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., the state legislative leaders suggested Congress send block grants to the affected states, as was done following Hurricane Michael in 2018.
“Timely delivery of disaster assistance is extremely important as farmers will be unable to secure financing for planting next year’s crop without this support,” the letter stated. “The groundwork Congress laid after Hurricane Michael was extremely beneficial through providing block grants to the affected states.”
The letter also asked Congress to provide a special supplemental appropriation through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development that could be used to help states with long-term recovery, restoration of infrastructure, housing, and economic development.
A third request seeks funding through the Federal Highway Administration to rebuild roads and bridges destroyed along the paths of the hurricanes.
“These historic storms have left countless citizens, farmers, and businesses facing generational impacts on their way of life and the places they call home,” said Burns, R-Newington. “This aid will be critical to ensuring the timely assistance of our most heavily impacted states.”
by Dave Williams | Oct 21, 2024 | Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA – A Georgia man has been arrested in connection with the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol that disrupted the counting of electoral votes from the 2020 presidential election.
Cylester Maxwell, 42, of Alpharetta was taken into custody in Georgia on Friday and charged with assaulting law enforcement officers with a dangerous weapon and civil disorder, both felonies. He also faces misdemeanor charges of entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds and engaging in physical violence in a Capitol building or grounds.
According to court records, Maxwell was identified in video footage marching with a crowd of rioters away from the “Stop the Steal” rally at the Ellipse toward the Capitol building. Maxwell then entered the restricted grounds of the Capitol and positioned himself near the front of a crowd confronting a police line on the West Plaza.
A short time later, he joined others in the crowd in shoving a giant metal-framed “TRUMP” sign into the line of police like a battering ram. A few seconds later, he let go of the sign and pulled a barricade away from the police line.
Maxwell later joined the front of the mob as it broke through the police line. He then remained on or near the West Plaza as rioters flooded the Capitol’s Lower and Upper West Terraces.
The case was investigated by the FBI’s Atlanta and Washington field offices and is being prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia and the Justice Department’s Counterterrorism Section.
by Dave Williams | Oct 21, 2024 | Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA – The Sapelo Island Ferry resumed operations Monday following the weekend collapse of a gangway that killed seven and seriously injured three others.
The incident occurred during the annual Sapelo Cultural Day celebration of the Georgia barrier island’s Gullah Geechee community, descendants of enslaved West Africans.
At least 20 people went into the water when the 80-foot gangway at Sapelo’s Marsh Landing Dock collapsed at about 4:30 p.m. Saturday. The Georgia Department of Natural Resources (DNR), which operates the ferry, along with personnel from other local and federal agencies responded to the scene with boats equipped with side-scan solar and with helicopters, securing the gangway and accounting for all of the victims.
DNR officials said Sunday that the gangway was inspected last December by Crescent Equipment Co. However, the area has been hit by three tropical storms this year.
Georgia Commissioner of Natural Resources Walter Rabon said the collapse was caused by a “catastrophic failure” of the gangway’s aluminum structure. The DNR is investigating to determine the cause of the collapse, working with the Georgia State Patrol, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, the McIntosh County Sheriff’s Office, the McIntosh County Fire Department, and the U.S. Coast Guard.
“Our hearts continue to go out to the victims, their families, and all of those involved in Saturday’s tragic occurrence on Sapelo Island,” Rabon said Monday. “We will allow the investigators to take their time and conduct a thorough investigation.”
Among the victims was Charles Houston of Darien, who served as a chaplain for the DNR. None of the victims were residents of Sapelo Island, which is accessible only by boat.
