by Ty Tagami | May 22, 2025 | Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA – Groups that promote access to abortion and medical services for Black women said Thursday that uncertainty about Georgia’s abortion restrictions were to blame for the decision to keep a brain dead, pregnant woman on life support.
Georgia’s so-called “heartbeat” law bans abortion once cardiac activity is detected in a fetus, typically six weeks into pregnancy.
There are exceptions for rape, incest and risk to the mother’s life, but the law, established by Gov. Brian Kemp’s signature on House Bill 481 in 2019, is silent about the situation that befell the family of Adriana Smith, who was reportedly placed on life support while pregnant after being declared brain dead.
“Just because HB 481 doesn’t explicitly mandate these devastating outcomes does not mean that anti-abortion politicians can wash their hands of responsibility,” said Aleo Pugh, who manages communications in Georgia for Unite for Reproductive & Gender Equity.
“Abortion bans like HB 481 don’t just outlaw care, they intentionally create fear and confusion in moments when urgency and clarity are needed. Providers are made to second guess what care is legal,” added Pugh, who was among several advocates who were critical of Georgia’s law during a news conference Thursday.
HB 481 drew bitter resistance from Democrats as Republican lawmakers pushed it through the General Assembly. On Tuesday, state Sen. Nabilah Islam Parkes, D-Duluth, sent Kemp a letter urging him to seek a legal opinion from Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr on what she called “the dangerously vague provisions” of the heartbeat law.
“Physicians and hospital administrators across Georgia are watching this developing situation closely, wary of being arrested for violating our abortion law if they provide medical care to mothers, or for violating its ‘fetal personhood’ provision if they make a reasonable medical judgment,” she wrote.
The senator’s letter said she wrote Carr last Friday seeking a legal opinion but hadn’t heard back. She noted that a statement his spokesperson gave to news outlets saying the law doesn’t require life support for a brain-dead pregnant woman “does not establish or interpret policy and does not carry the force of law.”
Kemp’s office on Thursday declined to comment about the law, referring to Carr’s statement.
WXIA-TV reported last week about Smith’s situation, quoting her mother as saying the medical decisions about her daughter should have been left to the family.
by Ty Tagami | May 22, 2025 | Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA – As communities continue to recover from last year’s Hurricane Helene, federal forecasters are predicting another vigorous storm season this year.
The National Weather Service is expecting an above-average number of hurricanes, giving 60% odds of above-normal activity in the Atlantic Ocean, 30% for near-normal and 10% for below-normal.
“Warm sea surface temperatures (are) probably the number one contributor,” Ken Graham, the National Weather Service director, said Thursday during a news briefing streamed from Louisiana.
The agency is forecasting 13 to 19 named storms (carrying minimum winds of 39 miles per hour) versus an average year of 14, and six to 10 hurricanes (with winds of at least 74 mph) versus the average seven.
Graham said the agency expects three to five major hurricanes, defined as Category 3 or above with sustained winds of at least 111 mph. The average is three major hurricanes.
He said forecasters can’t predict which regions would be affected.
Hurricanes aren’t the only threat. Graham said the warming atmosphere can hold more moisture.
“We’re seeing heavier rainfall rates,” he said. “Inland, coastal, the rainfall’s heavy year-round. We’re seeing some of these floods and we’re hearing from more and more communities” about unusual amounts of rain.
Graham said the risk is exacerbated by an influx of residents to coastal areas.
“There’s a lot more people in harm’s way,” he said.
Graham said the weather service is well prepared despite reports about deep cuts to his agency by the administration of President Donald Trump.
“We had some folks go, but we’re going to make sure that we have everything that we have on the front lines,” he said.
by Dave Williams | May 22, 2025 | Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA – An early task for Georgia lawmakers in determining how to regulate data centers should be determining how much electricity and water they’re sucking up, the head of a local nonprofit group said Thursday.
“How are you guys supposed to plan for the future if you don’t know what you’ve got right now?” Amy Sharma, executive director of Science for Georgia, told members of a House special committee Speaker Jon Burns created early this year to formulate policies for handling the growing demand for energy and water power-dependent industries including date centers are putting on the state’s resources.
Sharma said the lack of availability of reliable data is forcing “best guesses” on the impacts of the growing number of data centers springing up across Georgia.
According to Science for Georgia’s estimates, there are currently 97 data centers in the Peach State with another 19 announced but yet to be built. Those facilities are using 14,000 megawatts of electrical generating capacity, enough to power 6.3 million homes, and drinking up 27 billion gallons of water each year, enough to serve 560,000 people.
Sharma said Georgia is among the leading states for data centers because it boasts cheap land and cheap water as well as extensive broadband capability. Data centers have become a valuable source of property tax revenue in the areas where they locate.
But unlike manufacturing plants, they are not great job creators, Sharma said.
“They employ less than your average McDonald’s,” she said.
Also on the down side, huge warehouse-size data centers take up a lot of land, added Jennette Gayer, director of Atlanta-based Environment Georgia. The 85 million square feet data centers currently occupy would take up about 1,500 football fields, she said.
Gayer said data centers also are affecting air quality across the state, particularly in metro Atlanta, Augusta, Valdosta, and Northwest Georgia near Chattanooga, Tenn.
Sharma said the tax incentives big tech companies are getting as an enticement to build data centers in Georgia are costing $300 million a year in lost tax revenue.
“We need data centers, and we need AI (artificial intelligence),” she said. “[But] are we willing to incentivize them the same way we would a Hyundai plant?”
Sharma said a major uncertainty hanging over the industry is whether the growth of data centers will continue unabated or whether the current trend of rapid expansion is a bubble that could burst. She said there are already signs of a pause.
“Some of this growth is very speculative,” Sharma said. “They’re not saying they’re quitting. But they’re saying they’re not sure what they’re going to do.”
Rep. Brad Thomas, R-Holly Springs, the special committee’s chairman, said his goals for the panel’s work are long term.
“The purpose of this committee is what do the next 20 years look like,” he said. “A forward-thinking approach really can set up the next generation for success.”
The committee is scheduled to hold several hearings across the state this summer, with separate subcommittees focusing on energy use and water usage.
by Dave Williams | May 22, 2025 | Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA – Mercedes-Benz will move up to 500 jobs to an existing facility in Sandy Springs as part of the automaker’s plan to establish its North American headquarters in Fulton County, Gov. Brian Kemp announced Thursday.
The company’s “1MB” facility opened in 2018 and currently supports about 800 jobs.
“We’re excited that a job creator that already has close ties to Georgia is doubling down on the choice and growing their presence here,” Kemp said. “Georgia continues to lead the way in the future of mobility and technical innovation.”
“This strengthens our position for continued growth and reinforces our established commitment to the U.S. market,” added Jason Hoff, CEO of Mercedes-Benz North America. “Bringing our teams closer together will enable us to be more agile, increase speed to market, and ensure the best customer experience.”
The Sandy Springs facility will house the company’s existing sales teams as well as financial services teams and corporate functions.
Also on Thursday, Mercedes-Benz also announced plans to build a state-of-the-art research and development hub near the headquarters facility. The company expects the move to be completed by August of next year.
The Georgia Department of Economic Development’s Global Commerce team worked on the project in partnership with the city of Sandy Springs, the economic development agency Select Fulton, the Metro Atlanta Chamber, and Georgia Power.
by Ty Tagami | May 21, 2025 | Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA – A federal staffing shortage has resulted in the closure of Georgia lakeside recreational areas just ahead of the busy Memorial Day weekend.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ announcement Wednesday that it would close 31 parks and public use facilities around waterways in Georgia, Alabama and Mississippi is already drawing political heat.
U.S. Rep. Rich McCormick, R-Suwanee, issued a statement saying he was disappointed to learn of the closures of beaches and docks around Lake Lanier, noting the lake draws more than 10 million visitors a year. And Georgia’s two U.S. senators, Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff, both of them Democratics, blamed President Donald Trump.
The Army Corps announcement listed 20 sites at Lake Lanier, two at Allatoona Lake, and one along Lake George W. Andrews southwest of Blakely. The announcement also included a public shoreline area along the 240-mile Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint River system, which runs through Georgia.
Some sites in Alabama are near Georgia and those closures may also affect Georgia residents.
The Army Corps gave no reason for the closures, but the agency was targeted for cuts by the U.S. Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) that Trump established under billionaire businessman Elon Musk.
McCormick blamed Democrats in the House of Representatives, saying they blocked an appropriations bill introduced last year that would have prevented campground closures around Lake Lanier.
Warnock attributed the closures to “this administration’s reckless cuts,” and Ossoff said the Lake Lanier closures were “a direct and predictable result” of what he called the Trump administration’s “reckless and chaotic mismanagement.”
