by Dave Williams | Mar 18, 2025 | Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA – Gov. Brian Kemp named a Southwest Georgia businesswoman Tuesday to serve as the state’s 11th labor commissioner.
Barbara Rivera Holmes will step down next week from her role as president and CEO of the Albany Area Chamber of Commerce to succeed Bruce Thompson, who died of cancer last fall.
Holmes also is a former member of the University System of Georgia Board of Regents, which she joined after then-Gov. Nathan Deal appointed her to the post in late 2017.
“With her unique experience in economic development – especially in rural Georgia – and education, she brings unmatched knowledge and ability,” Kemp said during a news conference at the state Capitol.
“Throughout my career, I’ve been committed to creating job opportunities,” Holmes said after the governor introduced her. “As labor commissioner, I pledge to continue this work.”
Thompson, a former state senator, was elected labor commissioner in 2022. He was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in March of last year and died last November. Louis DeBroux has been serving as interim labor commissioner since then.
When asked, Holmes didn’t indicate whether she plans to run for a full four-year term next year. However, Kemp stepped in to declare in no uncertain terms that she will run and will do so as a Republican.
She will become Georgia’s first Latina statewide elected official.
by Dave Williams | Mar 18, 2025 | Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA – A human resources company serving small and medium-sized businesses will build a new corporate center in Dunwoody, Gov. Brian Kemp announced Tuesday.
TriNet will invest $15.4 million in the 150,000-square-foot project, expected to create 750 jobs during the next five years.
“As the No.-1 state for business, one of the key drivers of our success is our metro Atlanta area that continues to attract a strong ecosystem of job creators like TriNet,” Kemp said. “TriNet’s services for small businesses will further that network while creating meaningful jobs and investment for the Dunwoody and the DeKalb County community.”
“We look forward to opening a new TriNet office in metro Atlanta and becoming a part of this vibrant and growing business community,” added Mike Simonds, TriNet’s president and CEO.
“We are excited to partner with Atlanta’s strong universities and thriving small business ecosystem as we expand our local team and establish a hub where TriNet colleagues from across the country can come together for training, development, and collaboration to better serve our customers.”
TriNet will immediately begin hiring for technology, HR consulting, client management, and sales roles, with plans to leverage its increased presence to grow its regional Atlanta and Southeast customer base.
To learn more about TriNet, including where interested individuals can apply for jobs, visit www.trinet.com/about-us/careers.
The state Department of Economic Development’s Global Commerce team worked on the project in partnership with the city of Dunwoody, Decide DeKalb, the Metro Atlanta Chamber, the University System of Georgia, and Georgia Power.
by Dave Williams | Mar 17, 2025 | Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA – All 1,100 sworn officers at the Georgia Department of Public Safety (DPS) will receive training from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to help identify and apprehend illegal immigrants considered a public safety risk, Gov. Brian Kemp announced Monday.
DPS Commissioner Billy Hitchens has submitted a Memorandum of Agreement request to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, which oversees ICE, to participate in the federal 287(g) program.
“We take the safety of Georgians and travelers to this state very seriously,” Hitchens said Monday. “This training and collaboration between agencies increases our ability to keep our communities safe.”
The 287(g) program, authorized by the 1996 Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act, enables ICE to delegate to state and local law enforcement officers the authority to act under the federal agency’s direction and oversight.
Also, an executive order issued by President Donald Trump requires ICE to utilize the program in partnership with state and local law enforcement.
The DPS isn’t the first state agency taking part in the program. The Georgia Department of Corrections has a longstanding agreement with ICE to enforce the 287(g) program inside state prisons.
Last week, ICE asked the corrections agency for two additional correctional officers to assist in the deportation of illegal immigrants who have committed crimes in addition to the sergeant and three correctional officers already taking part in the program.
While the Trump administration maintains the illegal immigrants it is deporting are criminals, lawyers representing some of those being deported say their clients’ only offense is being in the U.S. illegally, which under the law is a civil violation rather than a crime.
by Dave Williams | Mar 14, 2025 | Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA – Georgia’s two Democratic U.S. senators voted Friday against advancing a temporary spending bill to keep the federal government open through September, charging Republicans with ramming through a harmful “continuing resolution” without consulting Democrats.
Sens. Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock, however, were on the losing side, as nine Senate Democrats and one independent joined Republicans in a 62-38 vote to move forward with the bill. The measure was expected to gain final passage Friday night.
Warnock said Republicans put Democrats in an impossible position in forcing the Senate to vote on a bill that already had passed the House without a single Democratic vote.
“Instead of working together to actually improve people’s lives, craven politicians shut the door on bipartisan conversation and reemerged with an ultimatum: vote for a partisan government funding package or let the government shut down,” Warnock said.
“Make no mistake, this government funding bill is bad policy: it would spike grocery prices, cut investments in education and health care, and defund care for servicemembers exposed to burn pits.”
Ossoff suggested a better alternative for Republicans would have been to negotiate a 30-day stopgap funding bill to avoid a shutdown, giving Congress time to work out a bipartisan budget.
“The House bill … irresponsibly fails to impose any constraints on the reckless and out-of-control Trump administration,” Ossoff said. “The administration is gutting the CDC (the Atlanta-based Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) and the VA (Veterans Administration) while destabilizing the economy. Both parties in Congress must fulfill our constitutional obligation to check the president.”
Senate Democrats who voted to advance the bill – spearheaded by Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York – argued that a government shutdown would have played into President Donald Trump’s hands by allowing the president and advisor Elon Musk even freer rein to further dismantle federal government agencies and fire thousands of workers.
by Ty Tagami | Mar 14, 2025 | Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA – A societal backlash against the dizzying distraction of smartphones has gained momentum in the General Assembly, where legislation to ban the devices in schools remains in play after last week’s deadline to move bills between chambers.
House Bill 340, which passed the state House of Representatives with broad bipartisan support, would prohibit student use of personal electronic devices from the first ring of the school bell in the morning to the last ring in the afternoon.
The “Distraction-Free Education Act” would only apply to elementary and middle schools, for now. Teenagers are so connected to their devices that lawmakers fear pushback from families if they try to include high schools.
That could change in the future if the legislation becomes law and loosens the grip of the devices on younger kids, said the bill’s chief sponsor, Rep. Scott Hilton, R-Peachtree Corners. He predicted that a ban would increase academic performance, reduce bullying and improve student mental health, and he said he thinks people will wonder why cellphones were ever allowed in schools.
“Years from now, we’re going to look back and say, ‘I can’t believe we ever allowed ourselves to do it,’ ” Hilton said.
The backlash against cellphones in schools has been brewing for years, as public consciousness has grown about the addictive nature of smartphones and the pervasive social media usage they enable.
Documentaries such as “The Social Dilemma” have explored how social media companies target children and their attention. Books such as “Stolen Focus” by British journalist Johann Hari have described the impact of the resulting distraction on their ability to function.
It has been years since the Georgia legislature recognized the risk of smartphone distraction and made it illegal to hold one while driving. Now, experts are finding that the devices affect students by forcing constant shifts of focus, encouraging misbehavior and undermining socialization.
Common Sense Media, a nonprofit that reviews the age appropriateness of books and technology targeting children, reported last month that 97% of students aged 11-17 who have smartphones use them throughout the school day. In 2023, the organization published a study of smartphone use by kids in that same age group, using data from about 200 students. Half were receiving 237 or more notifications per day.
Adriana Harrington, who used to work for the Tennessee Department of Education and now directs policy for ExcelinEd, a Florida-based education think tank, drove home the impact of such statistics during a presentation for lawmakers in early February.
Hari, the author, spoke at a national summit last fall. He said it takes 23 minutes to regain the same level of focus after tending to a smartphone notification.
“If you do the math, there is no possible way to maintain focus throughout a school day with that much disruption occurring in your pocket,” Harrington told the lawmakers.
JAMA Pediatrics, published by the American Medical Association, reported last month that kids aged 13 to 18 spend an average of 8.5 hours a day using screen-based media.
“Smartphone use during school has become a concern, and school-based smartphone bans have been increasingly considered,” the report said. “Smartphones may distract from classroom learning and opportunities for real-world interactions.”
There will likely be resistance to a ban in Georgia, especially in middle school, where many kids already have a smartphone. Parents have grown accustomed to the technological tether to their children, and the increasing anxiety about school shootings is causing many to clutch tightly to that link.
During the House floor debate on HB 340 last week, Rep. Imani Barnes, D-Tucker, said her son had recently texted her from school during a lockdown.
“It terrified me,” she said. “He sent the information firsthand, quickly, from his phone. I don’t want him on his phone while he’s in class, but what are your suggestions in those situations?”
Hilton, a father of three, responded that he also worries about the safety of his own kids at school, but he said experts he heard from said cellphones escalate the danger during an emergency.
“All of them agree on one thing,” Hilton said. “In the case of an emergency, the last thing we want is a child to have a phone in their hand. They want the undivided attention of that student on the teacher, getting directions as to where to go.”
The legislation would require schools to develop policies that allow parents to reach their kids in school, for instance, by calling the principal’s office. It also would require exemptions from the ban for students with disabilities or medical conditions that require them to use a device for learning or for health uses, such as checking their glucose level.
Georgia would be following a half dozen states that already ban phones in classrooms. They’re reporting fewer disruptions and more interaction among students.
Harrington said teachers in schools that have eradicated phones have noticed a culture shift, with kids playing cards in the lunchroom instead of hunching over a device.
Grant Rivera, superintendent of Marietta City Schools, has seen this increased socialization firsthand. His school board backed a ban on cellphones in middle school that started this school year.
Rivera said at the legislative presentation last month that one in five of his middle school students surveyed said the ban had led to improved learning. Two thirds of teachers surveyed said they felt less stressed about managing their classrooms and about teaching their students due to the policy.
Disciplinary problems are down now that kids can’t start and promote fights on social media, Rivera said. And lunchrooms that were quiet are now abuzz with conversation.
“It impacts academics, it impacts their well-being, it impacts their relationships,” Rivera said.
Proponents say high school students experience the downsides of cellphone use, too. But a ban at that level would be trickier. Teens who testified at a House subcommittee hearing in late February said students have jobs and that employers may want to contact them during school hours. And they said students have club meetings to coordinate.
John Zauner, executive director of the Georgia School Superintendents Association, predicted that if HB 340 passes and a ban takes hold in elementary and middle schools, the “culture” around smartphone use will lose its grip as younger kids rise to high school.
The former high school principal told lawmakers that he supported the proposed ban in K-8 schools, “knowing that we can build that culture, actually break that culture, and create a new one at (grades) 9-12 in a pretty short amount of time.”
HB 340 passed a House subcommittee unanimously, before passing the House Education Committee despite a couple of dissenters. It passed the full House 143-29 last week and awaits a hearing by the Senate Children and Families Committee.
If the legislation becomes law, school districts would have until January to write policies and procedures for locking up kids’ phones in elementary and middle schools, and they would have to implement those policies by the summer of 2026.
