by Dave Williams | Sep 19, 2024 | Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA – The General Assembly should take a carrot-and-stick approach to reducing gun violence in Georgia, a panel of pediatricians told members of a legislative study committee Thursday.
Tax credits to incentivize Georgians to buy safe firearm storage devices and a law requiring safe storage of guns with penalties for violators were among the recommendations members of Georgia Clinicians for Gun Safety delivered to the state Senate Safe Firearm Storage Study Committee during a hearing at the Georgia Capitol.
Firearms are the leading cause of death for young people in Georgia, said Dr. Sofia Chaudhary, a pediatric emergency medicine physician and chair of the GA American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) Chapter Injury And Violence Prevention Committee.
“This is a public health crisis,” Chaudhary said. “Georgia’s children deserve to grow up in an environment free from gun violence.”
While mass school shootings such as occurred at Apalachee High School near Winder this month draw the lion’s share of media coverage, teen suicides and unintentional shootings also are on the rise.
Dr. Kiesha Fraser Doh, also a pediatric emergency medicine physician affiliated with the AAP, said toddlers and teenagers are the most frequent victims of accidental shootings involving young people.
“Unintentional firearm injuries are preventable,” Doh said.
Tax credits to encourage Georgians to buy safe firearm storage devices such as gun safes and trigger locks were among recommendations state House Speaker Jon Burns, R-Newington, made last week in the aftermath of the school shooting in Barrow County.
Another Republican, State School Superintendent Richard Woods, this week called for state funding to provide a school resource officer and a crisis alert system in every Georgia school.
But for the most part, Georgia Republicans have been reluctant to back measures requiring adults to storage firearms in safe locations where children can’t get to them or a “red flag” law allowing the temporary seizure of firearms from a person deemed a danger to themselves or others.
But several witnesses who testified Thursday said gun violence also could be addressed through steps other than legislation.
Jessie Ojeda, state policy attorney for Giffords, a nonprofit founded by former Congresswoman Gabby Giffords of Arizona after she was shot in an assassination attempt in 2011, said the states of Tennessee, Texas, and Utah have launched public education campaigns using radio, TV, social media, brochures, and flyers to raise awareness of the need to keep firearms stored safely.
“Safe storage is not just a recommendation,” Ojeda said. “It is a necessity to protect our families and communities from preventable tragedies.”
Sen. Emanuel Jones, D-Decatur, the study committee’s chairman, said the panel will hold a final meeting next month before formulating recommendations to the full Senate. Jones said his goal is to develop specific legislation for the General Assembly to consider during the 2025 session starting in January.
by Dave Williams | Sep 19, 2024 | Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA – Georgia’s unemployment rate rose in August for the fourth month in a row, the state Department of Labor reported Thursday.
The state’s jobless rate of 3.6% last month was up two-tenths from July’s 3.4% but still six-tenths lower than the national unemployment rate. However, Georgia continued to set workforce records in August.
“Georgia’s growing labor force and business-friendly economy have kept us at the top as the best to do business for 11 straight years, but our work is far from over,” state Commissioner of Labor Bruce Thompson said Thursday.
“Bold action is needed to ensure every Georgian can benefit from the opportunities created by our job creators. By working together with our business community, we can turn today’s challenges into tomorrow’s successes.”
The number of jobs in Georgia increased last month to an all-time high of nearly 5 million. The sectors with the most over-the-month job gains were health care and social assistance, which added 2,900 jobs; private educational services, which increased by 1,700 jobs; and the information sector, including the motion picture and sound recording industries, which added 1,500 jobs.
The labor force also rose to a record high of more than 5.4 million. The labor force participation rate held steady at 61.8%.
On the down side, the number of employed Georgians declined for the first time since last November, to just more than 5.2 million. The number of unemployed increased to 192,612, the highest level since July 2021.
Initial unemployment claims were down by 4,067 in August to 23,198.
by Dave Williams | Sep 18, 2024 | Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA – The U.S. postmaster general would be subject to term limits and Senate confirmation under legislation introduced Wednesday by Sen. Jon Ossoff, D-Ga.
Ossoff has been highly critical of Postmaster General Louis DeJoy since reports surfaced earlier this year of months-long delays in delivering mail processed at a new regional distribution center in Fulton County.
The senator said during a committee hearing in April that only 36% of inbound mail processed at the center was being delivered on time, holding up prescriptions, delaying rent and mortgage payments, and preventing businesses from being able to ship products or receive supplies in a timely manner.
“What we have seen in the state of Georgia in the last year has been abysmal performance,” Ossoff said Wednesday. “We must hold the postmaster general accountable.”
The Postmaster General Reform Act would limit those who serve in that office to two consecutive five-year terms. The Senate would hold confirmation hearings on the president’s nominee for postmaster general both before his or her first term and between their first and second terms.
Postmaster general was a Cabinet position nominated by the president and confirmed by the Senate until 1971, when the U.S. Postal Service was converted into an independent agency. Since then, the postmaster general has been selected by the agency’s Board of Governors.
But Ossoff said the office is too important to leave to unelected officials.
“This is a job that so impacts our day-to-day lives the elected representatives of the people need the opportunity to ask questions,” he said. “There needs to be a real job interview.”
DeJoy testified at the April hearing that the delays in mail processing and delivery in Georgia were the result of problems encountered during the rollout last winter of a restructuring plan aimed at making the postal service economically self-sufficient.
Shortly after the hearing, DeJoy put the restructuring plan on hold to give the postal service time to figure out what went wrong and how to fix it.
He also announced specific solutions for the Fulton County center in Palmetto, including bringing in more than 100 personnel from other centers and revising transportation schedules between the Palmetto facility and other local mail processing centers.
In June, DeJoy reported improvements in service, but Georgians have continued to complain about delays sending and receiving mail.
by Dave Williams | Sep 18, 2024 | Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA – Georgia’s mental health agency is partnering with the University System of Georgia to place decals listing the 988 suicide and crisis hotline number in the dorm rooms of every public college and university campus.
“Partnering with the University System of Georgia on this vital initiative underscores our commitment to the mental health and wellbeing of young adults across the state,” said Kevin Tanner, commissioner of the state Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities (DBHDD).
“The placement of 988 decals in residence hall rooms will serve as a constant reminder to students that confidential help is always available, and they are not alone.”
Suicide is the second-leading cause of death among young people between the ages of 18 and 24 in Georgia, according to recent statistics.
The 988 decals are part of a broader effort under the university system’s Mental Health Initiative, a program launched in 2020 to significantly expand mental health services for students.
“Our students’ mental health is a top priority,” said Scot Lingrell, the system’s vice chancellor for enrollment management and student affairs. “This partnership with DBHDD helps raise awareness and get them help when they need it.”
Besides residence halls, the decals also will be placed at student activity centers and health centers to reach an estimated 200,000 students. In addition, 988 wallet cards will be distributed to faculty, staff, and students.
by Dave Williams | Sep 18, 2024 | Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA – Lake Oconee-area property owners complaining of exorbitant water rates urged Georgia lawmakers Wednesday to bring private water systems in Georgia under the same regulations that apply to municipal systems.
Piedmont Water Co., the state’s second-largest private water system, is charging the second-highest water rates in Georgia, lower only than the private system serving the community of Big Canoe, property owner Mike Hartman told a Georgia House study committee at a hearing in Greensboro. Hartman said he was charged $19,250 to connect his new home to the Piedmont system in 2022.
“Private water systems must be regulated,” he said. “That’s the only way to fix this problem.”
State Rep. Trey Rhodes, R-Greensboro, chairman of the House Study Committee on Private Water Systems, introduced legislation this year requiring the Georgia Public Service Commission (PSC) to regulate private water systems. The bill made it through the House Energy, Utilities, and Telecommunications Committee but failed to reach the floor for a vote.
“City and county water systems have public oversight. Private water systems do not,” Rhodes said Wednesday. “We need them, but we need to see if there needs to be oversight.”
Brent Hurst, Piedmont Water’s chief operating officer, said the company has spent almost $40 million on capital projects to keep up with growing demand for water in its fast-growing service area covering Greene and Putnam counties, including $15 million for a new water treatment plant.
Hurst said much of that new investment has been driven by a huge spike in demand every summer for irrigation needs.
“You have to have the production capability to meet it,” he said. “It requires a lot of investment.”
Hurst said most of the complaints about Piedmont’s water rates have come from irrigation customers who use a disproportionately large amount of water, a remark that drew laughter from the large crowd on hand for the hearing.
“This is not about just a few people,” said Rhodes, pointing to the crowd. “All I want for my people is a fair price.”
The company disputed Hartman’s characterization of its rates. Piedmont charges $82.55 per month for a family of four using roughly 5,000 gallons monthly, less than the Social Circle and Sky Valley water systems, according to a Piedmont power point presentation.
Hurst said giving the PSC jurisdiction over private water systems would force Piedmont to spend $500,000 to $750,000 to prepare a rate case study, driving up the company’s operating costs.
Rep. Debbie Buckner, D-Junction City, a member of the study committee, said Piedmont could recover those costs from customers, just as electric and gas utilities regulated by the PSC recoup such costs from ratepayers.
Commission Chairman Jason Shaw, also a member of the committee, said adding private water systems to the PSC’s responsibilities would require increasing the agency’s budget to hire more staff. With the commission legally bound to set rates that provide regulated utilities a fair return on their investment, there would be no guarantee water rates would go down, he said.
“The regulated model is not always the cheapest solution,” Shaw said.
But Jacob Fried, who owns a car wash in Eatonton, said there are real-life consequences to allowing private water systems to set rates with no oversight. He said he was forced into bankruptcy during a legal dispute with Piedmont and had to sell his house.
Fried urged the study committee to push for legislation that would provide that oversight.
“They have no rulebook to play by,” he said. “Give them a rulebook and some guidelines.”
