by Dave Williams | Feb 4, 2025 | Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA – The U.S. Senate voted Tuesday to confirm former U.S. Rep. Doug Collins of Gainesville as secretary of veterans affairs.
The Republican nominated for the post by President Donald Trump received strong bipartisan backing in a 77-23 vote, with both of Georgia’s Democratic senators, Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock, supporting the nominee.
“I congratulate Congressman Collins on his confirmation as our next VA secretary and look forward to working with him to ensure Georgia’s veterans receive the care, support, and respect they’ve earned,” Ossoff said in a prepared statement.
Collins, 58, served in the Georgia House from 2007 to 2013 before being elected to the U.S. House representing Georgia’s 9th Congressional District. As ranking Republican on the House Judiciary Committee, he gained national attention as one of Trump’s most vocal supporters during an impeachment inquiry launched during the president’s first term in 2019.
Collins was Trump’s preferred pick to run for the U.S. Senate following the retirement of the late Sen. Johnny Isakson. But Gov. Brian Kemp instead appointed Kelly Loeffler to fill the vacancy.
Collins ran for Loeffler’s seat in 2020 but failed to make the January 2021 runoff. Warnock defeated Loeffler in the runoff to win election to the Senate.
by Dave Williams | Feb 4, 2025 | Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA – The Georgia Department of Natural Resources (DNR) has awarded $24.6 million to help fund 12 land conservation projects across the state through the Georgia Outdoor Stewardship Program.
Voters overwhelmingly approved the program as a constitutional amendment in 2018. The program is funded through a sales tax on sporting goods.
The largest grant in this year’s round of funding – $5 million – will go toward the acquisition of Upatoi Ravines in Talbot County near Columbus.
Three grants worth $3 million each will help acquire an addition to the Phinizy Wildlife Management Area in Richmond County, restore Paradise Park in Thomasville, and renovate the day use area at Amicalola Falls State Park in Dawson County.
Here are the other grants the Georgia Board of Natural Resources approved late last week:
- $1.9 million to expand Campbellton Park in Chattahoochee Hills.
- $1.8 million to acquire additional acreage at Panola Mountain State Park in Henry and Rockdale counties.
- $1.6 million to acquire acreage on the Pinhoti Trail in Polk County.
- $1.3 million to acquire One Mile Branch Preserve in the city of Madison
- $1.3 million for waterway trail improvements at Stephen C. Foster State Park in Charlton County.
- $1 million for improvements at the Ocmulgee Heritage Trail Rose Hill Cemetery Connection in Macon.
- $993,651 for habitat restoration on state lands in Walton County.
- $808,500 to acquire the Grizzard Tract at Black Rock Mountain State Park in Rabun County.
by Dave Williams | Feb 4, 2025 | Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA – A Mitchell County grand jury has indicted 21 residents of Camilla accused of fraudulently obtaining loans from the federal Paycheck Protection Program (PPP).
The defendants allegedly claimed ownership of non-existent businesses and presented fabricated financial data to support their applications for loans through the program Congress created to help small businesses in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.
“In the face of an unprecedented global health pandemic, the Paycheck Protection Program was intended to help small business owners keep their doors open and their employees paid,” Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr said Tuesday.
“Those who took advantage of the system to fraudulently obtain funds will be held accountable. We’re committed to protecting taxpayer dollars no matter the amount, and we will continue to fight for our local businesses that are doing things the right way.”
Each defendant received at least one loan of $20,833 as a result of their actions, with some submitting more than one application and receiving a second loan. The total amount that is alleged to have been fraudulently obtained by all 21 defendants is $604,157.
The attorney general’s White Collar and Cyber Crime Unit presented evidence to the grand jury last month. The panel returned 13 separate indictments charging the defendants with theft by taking and false swearing.
The defendants range in age from 22 to 45.
by Ty Tagami | Feb 3, 2025 | Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA – The Republicans in charge of Georgia’s state Senate say they plan to focus on a host of consistent conservative issues this year, from tax cuts to transgender athletes.
During this legislative session, their attention will also be absorbed by something that paid no heed to partisan lines: the massive hurricane that wreaked havoc on the state last fall.
“The families that have been devastated by Hurricane Helene have suffered generational losses and they need help,” Senate President Pro Tem John Kennedy, said Monday. “We’re going to do all that we can, and we’re going to be creative.”
Kennedy praised the recovery funding that Gov. Brian Kemp placed in the budgets for the rest of this year and next. “But the truth is, there’s simply communities that are not going to recover if we don’t provide help,” the Macon Republican said.
Senate Republicans also expressed support for Kemp’s initiative to reduce payouts in lawsuits, known as tort reform.
Other priorities include Senate Bill 1, which would prohibit students from competing on teams or using locker rooms that do not match the sex on their birth certificates. It has already passed a legislative committee.
Steve Gooch, the Senate majority leader, placed that topic under a category of legislation he summed up as security-related.
Also under that umbrella: tax cuts (economic security), rejecting “woke” views (emotional security), and intercepting criminals and drugs that cross the U.S. border (physical security).
Gooch, R-Dahlonega, placed fentanyl in that last category.
He cited a new bill that would enhance penalties for trafficking the deadly drug.
It was introduced by Sen. Russ Goodman, R-Cogdell.
Goodman said a person caught trafficking 4 grams of fentanyl currently faces the same criminal penalty as someone trafficking cocaine.
The two shouldn’t be treated equally, he said. “I don’t think 4 grams of cocaine will kill 2,000 people, but 4 grams of fentanyl will.”
by Dave Williams | Feb 3, 2025 | Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA – Georgia House Speaker Jon Burns introduced school-safety legislation Monday stemming from last year’s school shooting in Barrow County that killed two teachers and two students.
The comprehensive proposal calls for improvements in information sharing among schools through a new anonymous app, increases penalties for those who make terroristic threats, and provides tax incentives to encourage gun owners to purchase firearm safety storage devices.
“The Georgia House is committed to taking strong action to ensure no parent, student or teacher ever has to fear for their safety when they drop their children off at school, go to class or go to work,” Burns, R-Newington, said during a news conference at the state Capitol. “This school safety plan is a comprehensive approach to securing our school buildings, prioritizing the mental health of our children and keeping Georgia’s students safe.”
A 14-year-old student at Apalachee High School, Colt Gray, was arrested at the scene of the shooting last September and charged with the murders. Gray had just transferred from another school, leading to a provision in the House bill requiring the establishment of a statewide student information sharing database to allow the timely transfer of pertinent student data between school systems, law enforcement officials, and mental health-care professionals.
The legislation also would require schools to use an anonymous reporting app where tips could be evaluated quickly and provided to law enforcement and the necessary personnel across the state as needed.
The measure would provide for the mandatory suspension of students who make threats until law enforcement and school personnel determine the student is cleared to return to school.
And the legislation would offer tax incentives for the purchase of safe gun storage equipment including firearm safes and trigger locks.
Apart from the school safety bill, the House mid-year budget would include funding to establish the student database as well as an additional $50 million for one-time school safety grants, which Gov. Brian Kemp announced last month. Every public school in Georgia would get $68,000 to spend as local school officials see fit.
“Each school system has unique needs and challenges,” said House Majority Leader Chuck Efstration, R-Dacula.
Burns and Efstration were joined at Monday’s news conference by Barrow County Sheriff Jud Smith, Barrow County School System Superintendent Dallas LeDuff, and the parents of Coach Richard Aspinwall, one of the victims of the Apalachee High shooting.
