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.
by Dave Williams | Oct 29, 2024 | Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA – A funeral home owner in Coffee County has been arrested following the discovery of 18 bodies in various stages of decomposition.
Chris Johnson, 39, of Douglas was charged with 17 counts of abuse of a dead body.
Johnson was arrested on Sunday after Coffee County Sheriff’s deputies serving an eviction notice at Johnson Funeral Home & Cremation Services discovered the bodies on Saturday. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) was called in and made the arrest.
Johnson ran unsuccessfully for Coffee County coroner last May.
Additional charges are expected, according to a news release from the GBI.
As the investigation is continuing, anyone with information is encouraged to contact the Coffee County Sheriff’s Office at 912-384-4227 or the GBI Regional Investigative Office in Douglas at 912-389-4103.
Anonymous tips can be submitted by calling 1-800-597-TIPS, reported online by clicking on https://gbi.georgia.gov/submit-tips-online, or by downloading the See Something, Send Something mobile app.
Once the investigation is completed, the case will be sent to the Waycross Judicial Circuit District Attorney’s office for prosecution.
by Dave Williams | Oct 28, 2024 | Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA – Former President Donald Trump brought his 2024 presidential campaign to the campus of Georgia Tech in Midtown Atlanta Monday night.
Just eight days before Election Day, the Republican nominee called Georgia critical to a Trump victory over Vice President Kamala Harris on Nov. 5.
“We win this state and we win the whole ball of wax,” Trump said during a rally at Tech’s McCamish Pavilion to a cheering crowd waving “47” signs. The next president of the United States will be the 47th in the nation’s history.
As he has throughout the campaign, Trump put an emphasis on his pledge to secure America’s southern border
“The day I take the oath of office, the migrant invasion ends and the restoration of our country begins,” he said.
But Trump also made some promises of more recent vintage. He said he would push for legislation offering tax credits to family caregivers and making interest payments on car loans fully tax deductible if the vehicle was made in the U.S.
Trump also vowed to cut energy prices in half during his first year in office, making America energy dependent through his “drill baby drill” mantra.
The former president repeated a litany of criticisms of Harris as an incompetent candidate with “radical left lunatic policies.”
At the same time, he pushed back on attacks Harris and other Democrats have leveled at him, that he is a fascist who, at age 78, doesn’t have the energy to serve a second term in the White House.
“I’m not a Nazi,” he said. “I’m not tired. I’ve done this (campaigning) for 58 days in a row, and I’m not tired, not even a little bit.”
Trump also characterized as politically motivated his indictment in Georgia last year on charges of trying to overturn the 2020 presidential election in Georgia.
“We didn’t do anything wrong,” he said. “They went after their political opponent, and they made me more popular.”
Trump said he was pleased with the record-setting pace of early voting in Georgia but urged his supporters who haven’t yet voted not to get complacent.
“Get out and vote,” he said. “We can’t take any chances.”
While Trump predicted he will defeat Harris, Democrats cited the huge crowd that attended her rally in Clarkston last week as proof positive that her campaign has built energy and enthusiasm in the Peach State.
“As Trump and (Republican vice presidential nominee) JD Vance parachute into our state, Georgians are ready to turn the page on Trump’s extreme Project 2025 agenda,” said Matt Blakely, Georgia rapid response director for the Harris campaign.
by Dave Williams | Oct 28, 2024 | Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA – Early voting has become the option of choice for many Georgia voters.
As of 12:30 p.m. Monday, more than 2.7 million voters in the Peach State had cast their ballots during the early voting period that began two weeks ago. Combined with 177,192 absentee ballots, more than 40% of active voters in Georgia already have voted.
That Day 15 early voting total shattered the previous record of nearly 2 million for the same day in the 2018 early voting period. Nearly 1.98 million had voted early by Day 15 in 2020, and more than 1.6 million had cast ballots early by the same day in 2022.
“Georgia voters know we’ve made it easy to cast a ballot. It’s really that simple,” Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger said Monday. “Over the past four years, we’ve worked tirelessly to prepare for this election by adding early voting days and investing in infrastructure. … We’re battle tested and ready.”
Statewide, reports of long early voting lines were minimal, although some voters were waiting in line for more than 30 minutes in a few popular voting locations in metro areas.
The early voting period comes to an end this week. The last day for early voting is Friday, four days before Election Day a week from Tuesday.
