by Dave Williams | Nov 7, 2024 | Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA – The state should actively promote developing sustainable aviation fuel and mass timber construction as emerging markets for a struggling timber industry, a legislative study committee recommended Thursday.
While Georgia is the nation’s No-1 state for forestry, the industry has been hit with shrinking demand for timber, resulting in an oversupply.
“Market volatility and out-of-state closures within the supply chain have posed significant risks and continue to pose significant risks,” state Senate President Pro Tempore John Kennedy, R-Macon, said Thursday at the final meeting of the Senate Advancing Forest Innovation in Georgia Study Committee. “These challenges result in higher prices for consumers and create uncertainty for the industry.”
The study committee chaired by Kennedy unanimously approved recommendations that include funding a Georgia-based nonprofit or research facility affiliated with an academic institution that would work to develop innovative forestry markets including sustainable aviation fuel (SAF).
SAF is a biofuel that can reduce greenhouse gas emissions up to 85% compared with conventional petroleum-based fuel. The European Union will require commercial aircraft to burn at least 6% SAF by 2030, a percentage that will increase gradually each year until it reaches 70% in 2050.
The Federal Aviation Administration recently awarded two grants to help accelerate the development of SAF in Georgia.
SAF producer LanzaJet will receive nearly $3.1 million to support a new production facility in Soperton, while Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport in Atlanta will get $240,000 to build the infrastructure needed to deploy SAF at the world’s busiest airport.
The other technology included in the study committee’s recommendations – mass timber construction – involves using prefabricated wood panels as an alternative to concrete and steel in building multi-family residential or commercial structures that are larger than single-family homes. The first commercial building in Georgia constructed with mass timber is at Atlanta’s Ponce City Market.
The study committee also suggested the state conduct a study to determine what can be done to promote Georgia’s pulp-and-paper industry. Mills have been going out of business in large numbers due to foreign competition.
Finally, the panel’s report asks the Georgia Forestry Commission and Georgia Forestry Association to put together a list of burdensome regulations that are hurting the timber industry.
The recommendations will be forwarded to the full Senate to consider during the 2025 session of the General Assembly starting in January.
by Dave Williams | Nov 6, 2024 | Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA – Georgia Democrats were unable to put a dent in the General Assembly’s Republican majorities in Tuesday’s legislative elections.
After the dust settled from Election Night, Republicans remained in control of the Georgia Senate with the same 33-23 majority the GOP enjoyed going into this week. The only seat Republicans lost in the state House of Representatives went to a candidate running as an independent, leaving Democrats with the same 78 seats to 101 for the GOP.
“Republican House members have focused on the issues that matter to Georgia voters: cutting taxes for families facing rising costs, keeping communities safe, and investing in our children’s education,” House Speaker Jon Burns, R-Newington, said Wednesday. “We are honored by this clear vote of confidence from Georgians.”
In the Senate, most incumbents were reelected easily, with many unopposed.
The closest race came in District 48, where Republican Shawn Still defeated Democratic challenger Ashwin Ramaswami in a district that includes Johns Creek, the Sugar Hill area of Gwinnett County, and portions of southern Forsyth County. Still won with 53.6% of the vote despite having been among the Republican “fake” electors indicted in the Georgia election interference case against Donald Trump.
Several newcomers won election to the Senate. Republican Drew Echols of Gainesville was unopposed in District 49. He will succeed his wife Shelly Echols, who didn’t seek reelection to a second term.
Three Democratic newcomers were elected to succeed Democrats who retired. Kenya Wicks will take over in District 34 for Sen. Valencia Seay of Riverdale, and Rashaun Kemp will assume the seat being vacated by Sen. Horacena Tate of Atlanta.
The Senate is losing Minority Leader Gloria Butler of Stone Mountain to retirement. Butler will be succeeded in the District 55 seat by former state Rep. Randal Mangham.
On the House side, Republican Rep. Noel Williams Jr. of Cordele became an independent and was reelected without opposition.
As was the case in the Senate, most House incumbents won reelection unopposed or prevailed by wide margins.
But several House races in districts with large minority populations were close. In House District 99, which includes the Duluth and Suwannee areas of Gwinnett County, incumbent Republican Matt Reeves was running ahead of Democratic challenger Michelle Kang 51% to 49%.
Still closer were the contests in House Districts 105, 128, and 145. In District 105, incumbent Democratic Rep. Farooq Mughal of Dacula was trailing Republican challenger Sandy Donatucci by a razor-thin 50.14% to 49.86%, according to unofficial results.
District 128 incumbent Democratic Rep. Mack Jackson of Sandersville held an extremely narrow lead over GOP challenger Tracy Wheeler, 50.08% to 49.92%. And in House District 145, an open seat including portions of Macon-Bibb and Monroe counties created when the General Assembly redrew the House map last year, Democrat Tangie Herring held a narrow lead over Republican Noah Harbuck, 50.47% to 49.53%.
In a part of Atlanta’s northern suburbs that has been trending Democratic in recent years, Republican Rep. Deborah Silcox of Sandy Springs held onto her House District 53 seat, defeating Democratic challenger Susie Greenberg 52% to 48%.
Like the state Senate, the Georgia House also is losing its minority leader. Democratic newcomer Anissa Jones easily won the District 143 seat located mostly in Macon-Bibb to succeed departing Minority Leader James Beverly of Macon.
by Dave Williams | Nov 5, 2024 | Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA – Former President Donald Trump won Georgia’s 16 electoral votes Tuesday, defeating Vice President Kamala Harris by a narrow margin, several national news outlets projected before 1 a.m. Wednesday.
With only three rural counties not having reported, Republican Trump led with 50.8% of the vote in the Peach State to 48.5% for Democrat Harris, according to unofficial results.
With the vice president’s loss in North Carolina, another critical swing state, the so-called “Blue Wall” states of Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin appeared to be the Democrats’ best chance at retaining the White House.
As of midnight, Trump was leading Harris in Georgia by nearly 120,000 votes, far outperforming 2020, when Democrat Joe Biden narrowly defeated the incumbent president by just 11,799 votes. That razor-thin margin became infamous in January 2021, when Trump urged Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, a fellow Republican, to “find” him the 11,780 votes he needed to prevail.
Raffensperger refused to go along, and GOP Gov. Brian Kemp turned down a push by some of Trump’s Republican allies in Georgia to call a special session of the General Assembly to appoint an alternate slate of presidential electors. Kemp said he didn’t have the authority under the state Constitution to give Trump what he wanted.
Kemp and Trump mended fences in recent weeks to the point that the governor gave Trump a key endorsement.
Both Trump and Harris traveled to Georgia for numerous rallies during the campaign. In a bid to gin up his already strong support in rural counties, Trump held a rally at a church in Zebulon and staged his final Georgia campaign rally in Macon.
As of early Wednesday, Trump needed to win just one of the Blue Wall states to become only the second president to lose a reelection bid and return to office for a second term four years later. Democratic President Grover Cleveland lost to Republican challenger Benjamin Harrison in 1888 but came back to defeat Harrison in 1892.
by Dave Williams | Nov 5, 2024 | Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA – The makeup of Georgia’s congressional delegation likely will remain unchanged, as voters were poised Tuesday night to reelect 13 of the 14 U.S. House lawmakers and choose Republican Brian Jack to succeed retiring GOP Rep. Drew Ferguson.
The result would leave Republicans with the same 9-5 majority the GOP won two years ago.
Jack, the newcomer and a former aide to former President Donald Trump, was leading Democrat Maura Keller in the 3rd Congressional District in west-central Georgia, according to unofficial results. Jack had amassed 67% of the vote to 33% for Keller.
Two congressional incumbents were headed toward reelection after flipping districts thanks to the new congressional map the Republican-controlled General Assembly drew last year.
Rep. Lucy McBath, D-Marietta, switched from the 7th District to the 6th District after the legislature reformed the 7th into a heavily Republican district and redrew the 6th to favor Democrats. The new 6th District includes central and southern Fulton County, south Cobb, eastern Douglas, and northern Fayette counties.
Rep. Rich McCormick, R-Suwanee, switched from the 6th to the 7th, which now includes GOP-friendly northern Fulton County, all of Forsyth, Dawson, and Lumpkin counties, eastern Cherokee County and western Hall County.
On Tuesday, McBath racked up 75% of the vote in defeating Republican Jeff Criswell, while McCormick won 65% of the vote in besting Democrat Bob Christian.
The other reelected incumbents included Reps. Buddy Carter, R-Savannah; Sanford Bishop, D-Albany; Hank Johnson, D-Stone Mountain; Nikema Williams, D-Atlanta; Austin Scott, R-Tifton; Andrew Clyde, R-Athens; Mike Collins, R-Jackson; Barry Loudermilk, R-Cassville; Rick Allen, R-Augusta; David Scott, D-Atlanta; and Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Rome.
Bishop, the longest serving member of Georgia’s congressional delegation, was the only incumbent in that group with less than 60% of the vote. With 26 of 30 counties reporting in Southwest Georgia’s 2nd Congressional District as of 9:15 p.m. Tuesday, Bishop was leading with 53% of the vote to 47% for Republican challenger Wayne Johnson.
by Dave Williams | Nov 5, 2024 | Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA – Georgia voters were poised to overwhelmingly approve two tax-relief measures on the statewide ballot Tuesday night, while a third tax-related proposal held a smaller lead.
With 122 of the state’s 159 counties reporting, a constitutional amendment offering property tax relief had racked up 63% of the total, according to unofficial results.
A second proposal on the statewide ballot increasing the exemption on Georgia’s personal property tax also was headed toward passage with 66% of the vote.
The property tax relief measure – Constitutional Amendment One – would prohibit local governments from raising residential property assessments in a given year by more than the annual rate of inflation, even if a home’s market value has gone up more.
Cities, counties and school districts would be allowed to opt out of the provision if they choose. However, any local government that wishes to go that route would have to advertise its intent to do so and hold at least three public hearings.
Referendum A would increase the exemption on personal property taxes from $7,500 to $20,000. While the exemption would benefit all Georgians, supporters pitched it as aimed mainly at small business owners.
Constitutional Amendment Two was ahead Tuesday night but by a narrower margin than the two tax-relief measures. The amendment calling for the creation of a state tax court was supported by 51% of the voters to 49% opposed.
Supporters argued the new court would be staffed with judges who have expertise to decide cases related to the assessment and collection of state or local taxes. The same argument carried the day back in 2018 when voters approved the creation of a Statewide Business Court.
