ATLANTA – Former state Rep. Terry England is returning to the Gold Dome as chief of staff to House Speaker Jon Burns.
England, a Republican from Barrow County and longtime chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, will succeed the retiring Spiro Amburn on Sept. 1. However, England will begin his new job on Aug. 1 to allow him to work with Amburn and ensure a smooth transition.
“Terry is a trusted leader who has earned the respect of both the members of the House and our staff,” Burns, R-Newington, said Monday. “I know he will continue to be an invaluable counselor in this new role.”
England was elected to the House in 2005. The farmer and small business owner spent the last 12 years of his time in office as Appropriations chairman, retiring at the beginning of this year.
“Speaker Burns and I have been close friends for many years,” England said. “I am proud to stand by his side as he continues to lead the House of Representatives and provides a clear, positive vision for Georgia’s future.”
Amburn has served as chief of staff for 14 years. He was first appointed by the late Speaker David Ralston, R-Blue Ridge.
ATLANTA – Gov. Brian Kemp has promoted the head of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation’s Investigative Division to director of the GBI.
Chris Hosey will succeed former GBI Director Mike Register on Aug. 1.
:”Chris has dedicated his career to protecting the people of our state as a proud member of law enforcement,” Kemp said. “With over 35 years of experience at the GBI, he brings a wealth of institutional knowledge and skill to this role.”
Hosey began his GBI career in 1987 as a narcotics agent with the agency’s Local Violators Squad. In 2001, he was promoted to assistant special agent in charge of a multijurisdictional drug task force.
In 2012, Hosey moved up in the organization again. As an inspector, he was in charge of various drug operations and the GBI’s Training Unit. Three years ago, he became deputy director of investigations.
Hosey received a bachelor’s degree in sociology from Georgia Southwestern State University and a master’s degree in public administration from Columbus State University. He also is a graduate of the FBI National Academy.
Register is leaving the GBI at the end of the month to become Cobb County’s director of public safety.
ATLANTA – The Georgia Supreme Court has cleared the way for automaker Rivian to build an electric vehicle manufacturing plant east of Atlanta.
The justices have declined to hear an appeal challenging the $5 billion project’s bond agreements with the state and the Joint Development Authority of Jasper, Morgan, Newton, and Walton counties (JDA). The plant will create 7,500 direct jobs, not counting the indirect jobs various suppliers will generate.
The state Court of Appeals had earlier dismissed a lawsuit filed by a group of local residents accusing the state and development authority of bypassing local zoning regulations.
“To date, every decisive legal challenge has ruled in the state and JDA’s favor, reinforcing what we have known since December 2021 – Rivian is a generational opportunity for Georgians,” said Pat Wilson, commissioner of the state Department of Economic Development.
“With today’s news, we are looking forward to working with Rivian, our sister agencies, and local communities to capitalize on Georgia’s momentum at the forefront of the e-mobility revolution.”
Development of the 2,000-acre site began last year, with the plant expected to begin production in 2026.
The Rivian project is surpassed in scope only by the huge EV plant Hyundai is building west of Savannah. The Hyundai project, the largest economic development undertaking in Georgia history, represents a $5.5 billion investment and 8,100 jobs.
ATLANTA – Georgia taxpayers could be in for a third round of income tax rebates next year now that the state is reporting another hefty budget surplus.
But a progressive-leaning think tank that keeps a close eye on Georgia fiscal policies is arguing the tax rebates Gov. Brian Kemp and his fellow Republicans in the General Assembly adopted during the last two legislative sessions came at the expense of critical government services that have been underfunded since the Great Recession more than a decade ago.
The state completed fiscal 2023 at the end of last month with a surplus estimated at nearly $4.8 billion, not as much black ink as the $6.6 billion surplus at the end of the previous year but still hefty and far above the revenue estimate the Georgia Department of Revenue put out in January.
Kemp and lawmakers used the last two budget surpluses to fund state income tax rebates of $1 billion last year and $1.6 billion in 2021. That translated into tax rebates of $250 for single taxpayers in each of the last two years and $500 for married taxpayers filing jointly.
Those rebates are the result of conservative budgeting by the governor, said state Sen. Blake Tillery, R-Vidalia, chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee.
“We’re elected to be good stewards of other people’s money,” he said. “That’s why we are where we are.”
But Danny Kanso, senior fiscal analyst for the Georgia Budget and Policy Institute, said the fiscal 2023 surplus represents part of a three-year pattern of flat spending that is failing to meet the needs of Georgians in such vital areas as health care and public education.
“Despite the massive amount of cash on hand, our leaders continue to stand by as conditions worsen across state government, with record employee turnover and understaffing in critical areas such as human services,” Kanso said. “In the absence of a strategy to deploy these funds, a decade-plus of austerity still looms over state agencies and core functions of government.”
Case in point: When Kemp signed the $32.4 billion fiscal 2024 state budget in May, he vetoed nine spending line items and instructed state agencies to ignore an astounding 134 others.
Among the casualties was a pay raise of $6 an hour the General Assembly had earmarked for direct care workers serving Georgians with intellectual and developmental disabilities. At the time, Kemp argued the legislature failed to provide the estimated $105 million that would be required to pay for the raises.
The governor and lawmakers also slashed the University System of Georgia’s budget by $66 million, drawing fire from system Chancellor and former Gov. Sonny Perdue.
On the other hand, the spending plan also included pay raises of $4,000 to $6,000 for law enforcement officers and $2,000 increases for other state workers, teachers, and university system employees.
The budget fully funds Georgia’s Quality Basic Education (QBE) k-12 student funding formula with a record $13.1 billion in state dollars and covers 100% of tuition for Georgia’s HOPE scholars for the first time since 2011.
But Kemp said he’s reluctant to commit the unexpectedly large surplus to recurring spending on government services because of the uncertain nature of tax revenues.
Up to a point, Tillery agreed.
“I’m always going to be leery of adding to base budgets when revenues are unpredictable,” he said. “We’ve got a piggybank right now, but we can’t make next year’s budget with that. We have to make it on what’s going to come in.”
However, Tillery said some new spending may be in order.
“Some one-time expenses we need to invest in, particularly infrastructure,” he said. “We don’t have as many [state] workers anymore. We may have to do some things from a capital [spending] standpoint.”
The exact size of the surplus at this point is unknown. The state will release a more complete accounting this fall that details actual spending and total tax collections, including other sources of revenue that have not yet been reported.
ATLANTA – The U.S. Justice Department has launched an investigation into conditions at the Fulton County Jail following the death of an inmate covered in lice and filth.
“People held in jails and prisons do not surrender their constitutional and civil rights at the jailhouse door,” Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke, head of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, said during a news conference Thursday.
“Civil rights protections are particularly important for the vulnerable, including those who are in the control and custody of the government,” added Ryan Buchanan, U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Georgia.
Clarke said the Justice Department also will look into credible allegations that the jail is structurally unsafe, that violence resulted in three homicides last year as well as serious injuries, and that correctional officers are facing criminal charges for using excessive force against prisoners.
Clarke noted that 87% of the facility’s inmates are Black.
“This is a racial justice issue,” she said.
Because the inmate who died was being housed in the jail’s mental-health unit, the investigation will also examine whether Fulton County and the Fulton County Sheriff’s Office discriminate against inmates with psychiatric disabilities, Clarke said.
Both Clarke and Buchanan promised a thorough and fair investigation that is being opened with no pre-determined conclusions.
If the investigation finds systemic violations, the Justice Department will notify Fulton County of corrective actions it should take, Clarke said.
Individuals with information relevant to the investigation are encouraged to contact the Justice Department at 888-473-4092 or by email at fultoncountyjail@usdoj.gov.
