by Dave Williams | Jul 29, 2025 | Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA – The Georgia Ports Authority moved 5.7 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) during the last fiscal year, an 8.6% increase over fiscal 2024, the agency reported Tuesday.
The Port of Savannah accounted for most of that growth, posting its second busiest year on record.
“Georgia ports continue to grow U.S. East Coast market share,” said Griff Lynch, the authority’s president and CEO. “With the shifting of trade patterns in Asia and India, that bodes well for our future.”
Savannah moved 410,400 TEUs in June, while averaging more than 475,000 TEUs per month for all of fiscal 2025. March, April, and May each came in with more than 500,000 TEUs.
At the Port of Brunswick, volume was flat compared to fiscal 2024, an all-time record year. Brunswick handled 870,775 units of autos and heavy equipment in fiscal 2025.
The ports authority completed $470 million in projects during the last fiscal year, including eight new ship-to-shore cranes at Savannah, the largest on the East Coast, and additional warehousing and storage space at Brunswick.
The coming fiscal year will see construction of a new berth at Brunswick’s Colonels Island Terminal designed to ensure future capacity keeps pace with demand. The $100 million berth is due to open in 2027.
The redevelopment of Savannah’s Ocean Terminal will add 1.5 million TEUs of annual capacity. The project will include a new overpass linking the terminal to Route 17 designed to keep terminal truck traffic away from local neighborhoods.
by Dave Williams | Jul 28, 2025 | Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA – Georgia lawmakers resumed a perennial debate Monday over whether gambling should be legalized in Georgia.
“We’ve been talking about this issue since my hair was black,” decidedly gray state Rep. Ron Stephens, R-Savannah, quipped as the newly formed House Study Committee on Gaming in the State of Georgia kicked off a series of hearings due to run through the fall.
While future meetings will take up online sports betting and pari-mutuel betting on horse racing, Monday’s hearing at the Oconee County Administrative Building in Watkinsville focused on casino gambling.
Ed Clark, president of EchoPark Speedway – until recently known as Atlanta Motor Speedway – used the occasion to reiterate the facility’s plan to build a “destination” casino resort adjacent to the racetrack in Hampton.
He said the project would create up to 3,000 construction jobs and another 2,500 to 3,000 permanent full-time and part-time jobs for Henry County residents, 70% of whom currently work outside of the county.
“This is an opportunity for them to work closer to home and make a comparable salary,” he said.
Legislation introduced in the General Assembly in previous years called for building six destination casino resorts around the state, which would generate an economic impact of $2 billion a year.
Clark cited a straw poll the Georgia Republican Party conducted during last year’s GOP primary that showed overwhelming public support for putting legalized gambling before voters in a statewide referendum.
“I don’t think the legislature should be legislating morality,” he said. “I think the citizens of Georgia need to decide.”
But Paul Smith, executive director of the Christian public policy organization Citizen Impact, said the deck would be stacked in any voter referendum on gambling by well-heeled industry lobbyists able to underwrite an expensive campaign in favor of legalization.
Mike Griffin, public affairs representative for the Georgia Baptist Mission Board, said any tax revenue the state could bring in from legalized gambling would be more than offset by the social costs.
“When gambling increases, crime goes up, bankruptcies go up, addiction goes up,” he said. “Jobs go down, savings go down, and spending on necessities goes down.”
Several members of the committee said a key question that will occupy their upcoming debate over legalizing gambling will be how to allocate the state’s share of the proceeds.
Rep. Yasmin Neal, D-Jonesboro, suggested the General Assembly consider using tax revenue from gambling to recover some of the federal dollars the state will lose because of spending cuts by the Trump administration.
Others favored putting the funds toward health care or using it for education along the lines of the Georgia Lottery, which steers tax revenue from ticket sales to Georgia’s HOPE Scholarships and pre-kindergarten programs.
Committee members who have backed legalizing gambling during past sessions countered the moralistic arguments against it by asserting that gambling is already widespread in Georgia. However, it is unregulated and the state isn’t benefitting in the form of tax revenue.
“My effort is not to expand or encourage but to regulate and put guardrails around things already happening in this state,” said Rep. Marcus Wiedower, R-Watkinsville, the committee’s chairman.
A resolution Wiedower sponsored this year calling for a constitutional amendment to legalize sports betting in Georgia remains alive for lawmakers to consider next year. The study committee has until Dec. 1 to issue recommendations.
by Dave Williams | Jul 25, 2025 | Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA – Columbus-based Synovus Financial Corp. and Pinnacle Financial Partners, headquartered in Nashville, Tenn., have announced a planned merger, an $8.6 billion deal that will create the highest-return regional bank in the Southeast.
Under an agreement announced Thursday, shares of Synovus and Pinnacle will be converted into shares of a new Pinnacle parent company. Synovus shareholders will own about 48.5%, and Pinnacle shareholders will own about 51.5%.
“We are two high-performing institutions with one powerful future,” said Kevin Blair, chairman, CEO and President of Synovus. “Our belief in the success of this merger is grounded in a decade of strong results and proven execution from both companies, each delivering top-tier earnings and total shareholder returns.”
“We are pleased to join forces with Synovus in a combination that prioritizes client experience and inspires associates,” added Terry Turner, president and CEO of Pinnacle. “By combining Pinnacle’s operating model, which is anchored in a disciplined entrepreneurial spirit, with Synovus’ talented team and strong presence in attractive and fast-growing Southeastern markets, we will extend our legacy of building share in the most attractive markets nationally.”
The agreement provides for Turner to serve as chairman of the combined company’s Board of Directors. Blair will serve as president and CEO of the combined company.
The deal is expected to close during the first quarter of next year, subject to required regulatory approvals and the approval of Synovus and Pinnacle shareholders.
by Dave Williams | Jul 24, 2025 | Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA – The state Senate is about to begin laying the groundwork for making Georgia the 10th state with no income tax.
Sen. Blake Tillery, R-Vidalia, who chairs the budget-writing Senate Appropriations Committee, announced plans Thursday for a series of hearings a newly created committee will hold later this summer and fall to pave the way for him to introduce legislation during the 2026 General Assembly session to eliminate Georgia’s income tax.
“This is about competitiveness, economic freedom, and letting hardworking Georgians keep their money in their pockets,” Tillery said during a news conference inside the state Capitol.
Tillery will chair the new Senate Committee on Eliminating Georgia’s Income Tax, which will include eight Republican senators and three Democrats. The panel is being formed by Lt. Gov. Burt Jones, the Senate’s presiding officer, who has pledged to make getting rid of the state income tax a key platform plank as he seeks the GOP nomination for governor next year.
Georgia Republicans have long made reducing the tax a major priority but have stopped short of abolishing it altogether. This year, the legislature’s Republican majorities passed a bill backed by GOP Gov. Brian Kemp that cut the income tax rate from 5.39% to 5.19% retroactive to the beginning of the current tax year.
Various proposals to repeal the tax that have sounded good on the campaign trail have prompted concerns over how to replace the lost tax revenue. States that don’t have an income tax have tended to offset that revenue with higher sales taxes.
Tillery said the nine states currently doing without an income tax have not suffered the financial catastrophe detractors have predicted. While the list mostly includes Republican-led states like Texas, Tennessee, and Florida, the Democratic-controlled states of New Hampshire and Washington also have done away with their state income taxes.
Tillery said he’s not entering the committee process with preconceived ideas of how to replace the revenue Georgia would lose by abolishing the state income tax. He said he wants to hear from Jones, fellow committee members, and from representatives of the nine states without an income tax.
“We’ve got plenty of ideas to choose from,” he said.
The committee will have until Dec. 15 to report its findings and recommendations to the full Senate.
by Dave Williams | Jul 24, 2025 | Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA – A leading food company will build a plant to produce prepared foods in Northwest Georgia, a $400 million investment expected to create more than 630 jobs when at full capacity, Gov. Brian Kemp announced Thursday.
The new Pilgrim’s plant will be located in Walker County, with hiring expected to begin in 2027.
“Georgia’s No.-1 industry of agriculture continues to drive growth with companies like Pilgrim’s creating quality jobs in communities like LaFayette,” Kemp said. “As our state’s economy continues to advance, we are excited to see these continued innovations and the opportunities they will bring for hardworking Georgians.”
Pilgrim’s already has a strong presence in Georgia. The company currently operates seven food production plants supporting an estimated 7,500 jobs in addition to supporting facilities like feed mills and hatcheries.
“Expanding the Pilgrim’s footprint in Georgia highlights our ongoing commitment to the region and our company’s long-term growth strategy,” Pilgrim’s CEO Fabio Sandri said Thursday. “This significant investment will allow further growth of our prepared foods business.”
The new plant will produce a variety of fully cooked chicken products. Interested individuals can learn more about the company and how to apply for jobs by clicking on jobs.pilgrims.com.
The state Department of Economic Development’s Global Commerce team worked the project in partnership with the Walker County Development Authority and the Technical College System of Georgia’s Quick Start program.
