State Sen. Sonya Halpern, D-Atlanta, discusses her new proposal to create HBCU planning districts during a press conference in February. (Photo credit: Rebecca Grapevine)
ATLANTA – A new bill with bipartisan support would, if passed, take the first step toward creating “prosperity planning districts” around Georgia’s 10 Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs).
“These planning districts allow … governments as well as private and philanthropic interests to leverage their resources to support innovation, technology, entrepreneurship at our HBCUs and modernize the campuses and surrounding communities,” said state Sen. Sonya Halpern, D-Atlanta, who introduced the measure this week.
The idea is to leverage the resources of the HBCUs to improve the economic and workforce prospects of surrounding communities, Halpern said. If eventually created, such prosperity planning districts around HBCUs would likely be the first of their kind in the country.
“Perhaps some mixed-use housing could be developed on land owned by our HBCUs, also creating another revenue stream for the schools themselves,” Halpern said.
Halpern also suggested that funding for broadband upgrades could benefit both the colleges and their surrounding communities.
Halpern’s bill proposes creating an 11-member commission within the state’s Department of Community Affairs to spearhead research about the needs of communities around the state’s HBCUs, with an eye toward recommending economic development measures around those campuses.
The commission would establish advisory committees for planning districts around Albany State University, Savannah State University, the Atlanta University Center, Fort Valley State University in Middle Georgia, and Paine College in Augusta.
The proposal grew out of a Senate study committee focused on HBCUs that was chaired by Halpern and met several times last fall.
Halpern is the main sponsor of the new bill, which has garnered support from Republican cosponsors Sens. Jason Anavitarte of Dallas, Brandon Beach of Alpharetta, and Billy Hickman of Statesboro.
It has been assigned to the Senate Economic Development and Tourism Committee, which is chaired by Beach.
This story is available through a news partnership with Capitol Beat News Service, a project of the Georgia Press Educational Foundation.
Rep. Dale Washburn, R-Macon, introduced two bills aimed at housing affordability this week.
ATLANTA – Georgia Rep. Dale Washburn, R-Macon, introduced two bills this week aimed at solving the Peach State’s affordable housing shortfall.
The first, House Bill 517, or the Georgia Homeowner Opportunity Act, would prevent counties or municipalities from regulating a long list of building design elements, from the style of porches to the number and types of rooms. The bill would not affect certain historical buildings or the state’s minimum building standards.
A second bill, HB 514, the Housing Regulation Transparency Act, would bar local governments from indefinitely extending moratoriums on new housing construction.
“These bills are intended to lower housing costs, so that our Georgians who would like to buy a home will have a better opportunity on the path to financial freedom and financial stability and … to creating some generational wealth,” Washburn told Capitol Beat Thursday.
“[The bills] will cut government red tape, encourage private sector innovation, and increase access to safe, affordable housing for every Georgian,” said Chris Clark, president and CEO of the Georgia Chamber of Commerce, one of the groups making up the new coalition. The other members are the Home Builders Association of Georgia, the Georgia Association of Realtors and Habitat for Humanity.
The measures have also garnered support from some Democrats. Rep. Debra Bazemore, R-South Fulton, and Rep. Marvin Lim, D-Norcross, both signed on as co-sponsors, indicating that debates about affordable housing and local government control do not always break along party lines.
“I definitely believe in local control in general, but there are certainly issues and times where we as a state need to stand up ultimately for the people and not just for the governmental jurisdiction,” Lim told Capitol Beat.
“I hope anyone that opposes this does consider not just aesthetics and not just the ability of people in the highest income areas to be able to build the aesthetics they want … but [also] what … these regulations do to impede the building of affordable housing.”
But local government advocates say the bills go too far.
HB 517 bars local governments from regulating design elements and would stymy local control and the power of people’s votes, said Clint Mueller, director of government affairs at the Association County Commissioners of Georgia.
Local governments must consider a number of infrastructure concerns – such as roads, sewage, and schools – when making decisions about housing and therefore have a direct interest in housing regulation, Mueller said.
“A local government’s job is to balance the wishes and needs of the community,” he said. “They are elected to provide that balance in the community … and they are able to respond to the needs of their community with the powers that they have.”
Mueller gave the example of local governments that regulate architectural features such as roofing materials or design to ensure local homes can adequately withstand local conditions, such as high winds in coastal areas.
The bill also provides no guarantee that cost savings from reduced regulation would be passed on to the consumer, Mueller said.
“Just because [builders] have less regulations, that doesn’t mean they’re going to sell the house for less,” Mueller said.
“They’re just going to continue to do what they’ve always done and maximize the profit.. They’re not altruistic.”
Mueller said targeted incentives might work better. He and local government advocates suggest that the incentive of relaxed design standards should be balanced by regulations requiring builders to actually reduce housing costs.
“If state resources, city resources, county resources are going to be put into some type of … housing development, there needs to be some assurance of affordability,” agreed Jim Thornton, director of governmental relations at the Georgia Municipal Association. “There is nothing in the current legislation that does that.”
Washburn pushed back on that argument.
“I’m a former county commissioner,” he said. “But when you start going beyond land use and telling people how big a house they have to build, what they have to build it out of, how big a lot they have to put it on, that is government overreach and it intrudes upon personal choice.”
Both of Washburn’s bills have been assigned to the House Governmental Affairs Committee. Washburn said he hopes the bills get hearings next week.
Democratic Rep. Spencer Frye of Athens – who is a real-estate developer – introduced a bill last week with a different approach. HB 490 is aimed at large institutional investors who are snapping up single-family homes and then renting them out in Atlanta and across the state.
Frye’s bill would eliminate the tax benefit that allows rental-property owners to reduce their tax liability by about 3.6% of the cost of the rental property annually. The bill is aimed at large investors, not mom-and-pop operations, Frye said.
“They are allowed to use a rental home as a depreciation tax shelter,” he said. “They’re offsetting the rental gains with their depreciation tax shelter gains, and they make profit on the appreciation after they sell [the houses] in five to 10 years.”
“We need to cut the corporations out of the American nightmare and turn it into an American dream. By changing the tax code to remove the depreciation in their state taxes, we will disincentivize hedge funds from wanting to invest in Georgia.”
Frye’s bill has been assigned to the House Ways and Means Committee.
This story is available through a news partnership with Capitol Beat News Service, a project of the Georgia Press Educational Foundation.
Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta CEO Donna Hyland was joined by Mercer School of Medicine Dean Dr. Jean Sumner, former state governor Nathan Deal, and current state leaders in announcing a new partnership aimed at bolstering rural pediatric rural care. (Photo courtesy Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta)
ATLANTA – Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta has created a $200 million fund and formed a partnership with Mercer University School of Medicine to bolster rural healthcare for the youngest Georgians.
The new partnership will fund 10 full scholarships for medical students who study at Mercer and agree to practice pediatric medicine in rural Georgia for four years after completing their training.
The new fund will also support a number of pilot projects to improve pediatric care outside of metro Atlanta. One is aimed at ensuring that eight rural emergency rooms are “kid ready.”
The hospitals that will participate are: Clinch Memorial Hospital, Coffee Regional Medical Center, Crisp Regional Hospital, Dodge County Hospital, Mountain Lakes Medical Center in Rabun County, Taylor Regional Hospital in Pulaski County, Upson Regional Medical Center and Washington County Regional Medical Center.
The new project will also help five rural pediatricians with peer support and additional training: Dr. Grace Davis in Worth County, Dr. Leah Helton in Laurens County, Dr. Brittany Lord in Dodge County, Dr. Jennifer Stroud in Coffee County and Dr. Jennifer Tarbutton in Washington County.
The new partnership will work to develop a “comprehensive approach” to mental health services, including virtual mental health services and suicide prevention programs, in Washington and Jefferson counties.
Children’s will also increase funding for the Atlanta-area Ronald McDonald House charities. These charities provide support – including housing – for families that must travel to Atlanta to get care for their children.
Children’s serves pediatric patients from every Georgia county, with the system providing care to more than 32,000 patients from rural counties last year, CEO Donna Hyland said.
“The purpose of this effort is to expand access to quality care in rural communities and provide rural children with the right care at the right time in the right place,” said Dr. Jean Sumner, dean of the Mercer University School of Medicine, which is the home of the Georgia Rural Health Innovation Center.
“We hope that rural pediatricians will be empowered to serve patients … and families will be able to stay closer to home, when possible, for convenient care and follow-up.”
Sumner and Hyland were joined by Gov. Brian Kemp, Lt.-Gov. Burt Jones, state House speaker Jon Burns and former governor Nathan Deal during a Wednesday press conference announcing the partnership at the state Capitol.
State lawmakers and others have, in the past, criticized non-profit hospital systems for allegedly inadequate spending on charity care. Such criticism resulted in the passage of a 2019 GOP-sponsored bill requiring nonprofit hospitals to post financial data on their webpages.
This story is available through a news partnership with Capitol Beat News Service, a project of the Georgia Press Educational Foundation.
The state House of Representatives approved Gov. Brian Kemp’s proposal to provide income tax refunds to Georgians this year.
ATLANTA – The Georgia House of Representatives Thursday approved Gov. Brian Kemp’s proposal to provide Georgia taxpayers with state income tax refunds this year.
Single taxpayers or married taxpayers filing individually are set to receive $250. A head of household would receive a $375 refund, and married couples filing jointly would get $500. The $1 billion to cover the cost of the refund would come from Georgia’s record budget surplus.
“We’ve had a surplus in Georgia,” said Rep. Lauren McDonald, R-Cumming, the bill’s sponsor and the governor’s floor leader in the House. “It’s our responsibility to give the money back to the taxpayers that’s theirs.”
The only change this year is that people who are claimed as dependents can also get the $250 tax refund. This would allow young people such as high-school students who also work to reap the benefit, McDonald said.
Rep. El-Mahdi Holly, D-Stockbridge, voted in favor of the bill but suggested that the House should in the future approve a state tax credit similar to the federal earned income tax credit for low- and middle-income families.
The bill passed nearly unanimously, with a 170-2 vote. Reps. Al Williams, D-Midway, and Spencer Frye, D-Athens, were the sole no votes.
The bill now moves to the Senate for consideration.
The state House Thursday also approved a resolution retroactively approving Kemp’s executive orders from last year that temporarily suspended the state’s gasoline tax.
“The governor’s actions delivered much-needed temporary relief to Georgians at the pump, which saved taxpayers approximately $1.7 million,” said Rep. Matthew Gambill, R-Cartersville, the resolution’s main sponsor.
This story is available through a news partnership with Capitol Beat News Service, a project of the Georgia Press Educational Foundation.
ATLANTA – Georgians ranging from expert scientists to a high-school student testified against a proposed mining site on the edge of the Okefenokee Swamp Tuesday night during a virtual public hearing.
The diverse group outlined the potential environmental and cultural damage the proposed titanium oxide mine could inflict on the largest blackwater swamp in North America.
Twin Pines Minerals, an Alabama mining company, has applied for permission to build the mine along Trail Ridge in Charlton County near the southeastern edge of the swamp.
The controversial proposal has been the subject of a jurisdictional back-and-forth between federal and state environmental agencies.
Currently, the state Environmental Protection Division (EPD) has jurisdiction over the mining company’s plan. Earlier this year, Twin Pines submitted a draft Mining Land Use Plan to EPD. The plan must be finalized before the EPD can proceed with a draft permitting process.
During the hearing, opponents outlined a host of reasons they believe the mine should not be built.
“According to numerous independent scientists, the mine will damage the swamp, first by lowering the swamp’s water level and second by dumping over one ton per day of salt into the swamp as a result of its wastewater evaporation,” said Joshua Marks, president of Georgians for the Okefenokee.
Marks also highlighted a letter signed by University of Georgia professor Rhett Jackson and ten other hydrology professors that contends the EPD used incorrect locations in evaluating the impact of the mine.
“EPD used the wrong river gauge [location], 15 miles downstream of the swamp to evaluate the mine’s impact, instead of the gauge right next door,” Marks said. “This would be like going to a doctor for a shoulder sprain [but the] doctor instead examines your ankle.”
Seventeen-year-old Natalie Kloss, a student at The New School in Atlanta, recently visited the Okefenokee Swamp on a field trip.
“It’s a beautiful place. It’s inspiring.” Kloss said. “It’s an invaluable resource for students and for young people, especially now, and I think it’d be a shame for Georgia to be the one that allows it to be unprotected.”
Brian Foster of the Georgia Conservancy explained some of the unique benefits the swamp provides to Georgia: It is a gold-tier International Dark Sky Park, a national wilderness area, and a national natural landmark that provides boating, fishing, birding, hunting and photography opportunities. The swamp, which is home to the headwaters for both the St. Marys and Suwanee rivers, draws more than 650,000 annual visits and supports 800 jobs.
In contrast, the jobs the new mine might provide are not worth the cost, said Stephanie Ramage, who grew up in Laurens County.
“Anyone who has eyes to see and ears to hear … can see that it is unlike any place in the world,” Ramage said. “Look, South Georgia, don’t trade what you’ve got – don’t trade it for a handful of jobs because that’s all you’re going to get.”
Maelyn Belmondo, who lives in Blackshear in Pierce County, described visiting the swamp as a child with her parents and grandmother.
“Some of my greatest memories were trawling around in the swamp,” Belmondo said. Now she hopes to recreate those memories with her own children.
“We have started going canoeing as a family,” Belmondo said. “I also look forward to planning our first overnight canoe trip … so we can lay out under the stars and enjoy the darkness of the swamp due to the lack of light pollution.”
“When I think about these memories that I have … I think about how traumatic this mining project can be.”
