by Dave Williams | Apr 30, 2025 | Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA – The U.S. Senate has passed legislation introduced by Sen. Jon Ossoff, D-Ga., aimed at improving safety and security inside the federal prison system.
The Prison Staff Safety Enhancement Act, which senators passed by unanimous consent Thursday night, would require the Justice Department to develop and implement a comprehensive strategy for addressing inmate-on-staff sexual assault.
The department also would have to submit data on the prevalence of inmate-on-staff sexual harassment to the agency’s inspector general and establish a national standard for preventing and reducing sexual abuse in federal prisons.
The bill – which Ossoff is sponsoring with Republican Sen. Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee – is a follow-up to legislation then-President Joe Biden signed last year establishing independent oversight of the federal Bureau of Prisons.
“I remain focused on oversight of the federal prison system and ending sexual abuse in prisons and jails, including the abuse of prison staff,” Ossoff said Wednesday. “Senator Blackburn and I brought Republicans and Democrats together to pass this bipartisan bill to help end sexual abuse in federal prisons.”
According to a February 2023 report by the Justice Department, 40% of more than 7,000 prison employees surveyed reported having been sexually harassed by an inmate.
Ossoff and Blackburn launched an inquiry last September into reports of inmate-on-staff sexual assault through their leadership roles on the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations. That led to the Senate passing the bill late last year – also by unanimous consent – but Congress adjourned for the year without the U.S. House of Representatives acting on it.
by Ty Tagami | Apr 30, 2025 | Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA – Georgia’s former governor has thrown his clout behind the environmental movement to protect the Okefenokee Swamp, a move observers say will have political ramifications even though the legal impacts are probably minimal.
Sonny Perdue, a cabinet member during President Donald Trump’s first term, sent a letter to the U.S. Department of the Interior two weeks ago urging support for a years-long effort to get the national wildlife refuge designated as a United Nations World Heritage Site.
Perdue, who became chancellor of the University System of Georgia after serving as agriculture secretary for Trump, sent the message on Board of Regents letterhead, as reported by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution Wednesday.
The April 17 letter to Interior Secretary Doug Burgum cites a study by an environmental conservation group that said the designation would be an economic boon for the area around the Okefenokee.
“This effort represents an extraordinary opportunity to preserve a national treasure while also delivering incredible economic benefits to the state of Georgia,” Perdue wrote.
The letter did not mention the controversy surrounding one of the world’s largest freshwater ecosystems: draft permits the Georgia Environmental Protection Division has given to Alabama-based Twin Pines Minerals for a titanium mine along the southeastern border of the swamp.
The company has said the project would not damage the refuge, but opponents cite research showing it would threaten water levels, increase the risk of wildfires, harm wildlife and pollute the water with toxins.
Twin Pines President Steve Ingle said in response to Perdue’s letter that World Heritage designation by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization would not affect the company’s bid for a mining permit.
“The application for World Heritage designation does not have any bearing on our permit application, nor does it impact our plans to mine for titanium and zirconium in Charlton County,” Ingle said in a statement issued through a spokesman. He said the company’s “exhaustive, comprehensive” studies show that the proposed operations nearly three miles from the refuge would not harm the Okefenokee “or surrounding environs.”
But mine opponents said Perdue’s letter carries political weight that could influence the state’s permitting decision, as Trump considers rolling back conservation on public lands.
“Sonny is basically putting his imprimatur, for whatever it’s worth, on a very popular issue in his home state and he’s putting it into a global context,” said veteran Georgia environmental lobbyist Neill Herring. “And he’s basically telling the president, ‘Don’t go there.’ “
Perdue’s letter comes after fellow Republican U.S. Rep. Buddy Carter of Savannah joined Democratic members of the state’s congressional delegation in sending a similar letter to the Interior Department in February.
Josh Marks, President of Georgians for the Okefenokee, which opposes the mining permits, praised Perdue’s stance and said he hoped it would influence the administration of Gov. Brian Kemp.
“It’s time for Governor Kemp to stand up for the Okefenokee by saying no to mining and yes to World Heritage Site listing,” he said, adding that a mine could jeopardize World Heritage designation “because external threats are a key factor in the evaluation process, and the scientific community universally says mining will damage the swamp.”
by Ty Tagami | Apr 29, 2025 | Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA – Georgia’s lottery-funded pre-kindergarten program used to be the envy of the nation, offering high-quality schooling for free.
But the program peaked in 2019 as enrollment started to fall, a trend that accelerated during the pandemic.
“Ominously, some states that have been leaders in universal preschool continued a long-term decline in enrollment, including Florida, Georgia, Oklahoma, and Wisconsin,” the National Institute for Early Education Research said in a press release this week that sums up its latest annual report.
The quality of Georgia’s program, long a source of pride for state leaders, ranked below other states during the last school year, according to the institute’s just-released study, “The State of Preschool in 2024.”
The institution, based at Rutgers University, gave Georgia a score of eight out of 10 on its benchmarks for quality, dinging the state for relatively large class sizes.
The organization notes that its report doesn’t cover the current school year, when $97 million in new state funding took effect. That money is meant to boost pre-k teacher pay and reduce class sizes and student-teacher ratios. This presumably will result in a perfect score on the institute’s next report, said W. Steven Barnett, founder and senior director at the institute.
He suspects this year will mark a turning point for Georgia, with a return to national leadership in preschool excellence.
But enrollment will remain a challenge. Some states have maintained high enrollment rates, with four out of five eligible children attending public preschool, Barnett said. Georgia used to have over 60% enrollment, but that is down to 55%, according to the institute’s new report.
“Georgia is on its way back up, putting quality first, putting more money into the program,” he said. “But you’re still at 55% enrollment, and when you have states up over 80%, then that’s not a leading position.”
A host of studies have clarified the value of preschool, with children who attended quality pre-k programs finding an easier path to success in elementary school and after. Barnett said long-term studies have found the experience increases the odds of attending and graduating from college, tends to boost income and even correlates with better health and longevity.
Quality is key, and Barnett credited Georgia for its focus on that. The state has hit his institution’s eight benchmarks for good curriculum, teacher preparation, health screenings and use of data for program improvement. He noted a fundamental conundrum on the two benchmarks Georgia didn’t meet: by decreasing the number of students in each classroom to reduce class sizes and student-teacher ratios, the state will reduce capacity at each facility, which won’t help enrollment rates.
Amy Jacobs, commissioner of the Georgia Department of Early Care and Learning, acknowledged the shortage of seats but said the state is working on it. Lawmakers updated the state’s education funding formula to let schools count 4-year-olds in their enrollment numbers. Enrollment dictates how much money each school district gets, so that change will lead to capital funding to build more pre-k capacity in coming years, she said.
Jacobs said there remains a perplexing mismatch of supply and demand around the state, with some parents unable to find an open pre-k classroom for their child while seats in other areas go empty.
Enrollment used to hover around 80,000 but it’s dropped to around 70,000, she said, and it’s unclear why.
“We know the birth rate is down. It continues to be down in Georgia. I think that’s part of it,” Jacobs said. She added that the remote work and hybrid schedules that are a legacy of the pandemic have probably changed how parents approach child care and preschool.
Georgia is not alone on this. Although some states such as Iowa and West Virginia have maintained high enrollment rates, others have seen their numbers drop, Barnett said, especially in low-income neighborhoods. He thinks the de-emphasis on in-person attendance during the pandemic may have led some parents to devalue schooling in general. Maybe they’re dropping their kids off at the neighbor’s house where they’ll watch TV all day, he said, rather than driving their kids to pre-k.
by Dave Williams | Apr 29, 2025 | Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA – The U.S. Senate confirmed former Sen. David Perdue, R-Ga., Tuesday as United States ambassador to China, multiple news outlets reported.
Perdue received some bipartisan support in the 67-29 confirmation vote, with 15 Senate Democrats joining 51 Republicans and one independent in supporting his nomination.
During one six-year term in the Senate, Perdue was a staunch ally of President Donald Trump during the latter’s first term in office. Trump backed Perdue’s unsuccessful Republican primary challenge in 2022 to Gov. Brian Kemp, who had angered Trump for refusing to aid the president’s attempts to overturn the 2020 presidential election results in Georgia after his reelection defeat at the hands of Democrat Joe Biden.
Perdue was elected to the Senate in 2014 but lost his bid for a second term to Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff.
Before joining the Senate, Perdue gained significant business experience in the Far East, including China, in his roles as CEO of Dollar General and as a top executive at Reebok and Sara Lee.
Perdue’s new role will put him at the center of a trade war between the U.S. and China, with Trump slapping a 145% tariff on Chinese imports early this month and China reciprocating. During confirmation hearings, Perdue said he would make reducing China’s exports to Mexico of chemicals used to produce fentanyl a top priority.
by Dave Williams | Apr 29, 2025 | Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA – Georgia’s workforce development efforts are being bolstered by a two-year, $1 million grant from The BlackRock Foundation.
The grant to the Technical College System of Georgia (TCSG) was announced during Monday’s annual leadership summit the system of technical schools sponsored in Atlanta.
The money will help technical college students complete training programs designed to grow Georgia’s pool of skilled workers needed for the state’s rapidly growing construction and advanced manufacturing sectors.
“At The BlackRock Foundation, our mission is to help more people earn, save, and invest, and that includes increasing access to pathways that lead to long-term financial security,” said Claire Chamberlain, the foundation’s president. “This grant reflects our deep commitment to investing in the workforce of the future, and more importantly, putting more Georgians on a path to earning a thriving wage in the state’s high-demand industries.”
With more than 58% of Georgia employers reporting ongoing worker shortages, the state has established a goal of expanding Georgia’s workforce by 20% during the next five years.
“This partnership with The BlackRock Foundation is powerful investment in Georgia’s future workforce,” TCSG Commissioner Greg Dozier said. “By helping more students complete training and earn credentials – especially in rural communities and high-demand fields – we’re not only changing lives. We’re building the talent pipeline that keeps Georgia the No.-1 state for business.”
The TCSG oversees 22 technical colleges across Georgia that offer a wide range of workforce development programs, partnering with more than 2,200 companies that provide customized training and job opportunities.
