by Dave Williams | Feb 14, 2025 | Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA – The state House of Representatives passed legislation last year offering tax credits to Georgians who buy safe firearm storage devices such as trigger locks and gun safes, but the bill died in the state Senate.
Doing nothing is no longer an option following last September’s mass shooting at Apalachee High School in Barrow County that killed two teachers and two students. During the opening weeks of this year’s General Assembly sessions, lawmakers have introduced a series of bills aimed at improving school safety.
“Our children are our future,” House Speaker Jon Burns, R-Newington, said early this month during a news conference unveiling a comprehensive school safety measure. “This House is committed to leaving no stone unturned when it comes to securing their safety.”
House Bill 268 calls for improvements in information sharing among schools through a new anonymous app for tips alerting law enforcement personnel or mental health-care providers that a troubled student could pose a treat to themselves or others.
The measure also would establish a statewide information-sharing database to allow the timely transfer of pertinent student data between school systems. The 14-year-old student at Apalachee High arrested for the murders, Colt Gray, had just transferred from another school.
The bill also requires school systems to create threat management teams, provides for the mandatory suspension of students who make terroristic threats, and offers tax incentives to encourage gun owners to purchase safe gun storage equipment.
On the Senate side, majority Republicans are backing legislation requiring schools to install alert systems that could be triggered discretely to warn nearby law enforcement agencies of an active shooter. Senate Bill 17 – Ricky and Alyssa’s Law – is named in honor of Ricky Aspinwall, the coach at Apalachee High who died in the September shooting, and Alyssa Alhadeff, one of the students killed in the 2018 mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla.
The bill also requires schools to develop maps showing first responders the layout of school buildings, including access points.
“The big picture is to save minutes, save time, to let first responders take down an active shooter and protect the lives of children and teachers in the building,” Sen. Jason Anavitarte, R-Dallas, the bill’s chief sponsor, told members of the Senate Education and Youth Committee Thursday.
“Time equals life,” added Lori Alhadeff, the mother of Alyssa Alhadeff and founder of the nonprofit Make Our Schools Safe. “We need to get our kids and teachers to safety quicker and reduce the response time for first responders.”
The committee approved Anavitarte’s bill, and it appears headed toward passing the full Senate. Legislation backed by Senate Democrats, however, likely faces tougher sledding.
The main difference between the approach Republicans and Democrats are taking on gun safety is that Democrats want to require firearm owners to store their weapons safely, while GOP lawmakers favor offering tax incentives to encourage gun owners to voluntarily take steps to secure their firearms.
Senate Bill 49, introduced by Sen. Elena Parent, D-Atlanta, criminalizes making a firearm accessible to anyone younger than 17 without adult supervision or leaving an unsecured firearm in a place where children are likely to gain access to it.
Parent criticized Republicans for merely encouraging gun owners to store their weapons safety rather than mandating safe storage.
“If you as an adult have a gun in an unsafe location and children can gain access to it, or if you give a child a gun, the message they’re sending is, ‘Please don’t do that,’ ” she said. “The message should be stronger.”
Georgia Rep. Michelle Au, D-Johns Creek, has introduced similar legislation in the House providing criminal penalties for adults who allow children access to firearms. She held a news conference on her bill recently with Apalachee High School students and their families.
“The families were appreciative of Speaker Burns and his attention to the issue of school safety but, like many, feel it does not go far enough to address the gun violence at the heart of the problem,” Au wrote in an update on the legislative session to her constituents.
Burns said he supports the Republicans’ voluntary approach to gun safety rather than a mandate to protect Georgia gun owners’ Second Amendment rights.
by Dave Williams | Feb 13, 2025 | Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA – A New York City man has pleaded guilty to running a massive investment fraud scheme involving a planned commercial real estate project in the Buckhead area of Atlanta.
Elchonon “Elie” Schwartz, 46, admitted his guilt on one count of wire fraud in federal court Wednesday and faces a maximum of 20 years in prison.
According to information presented in court, Schwartz began soliciting investments in the proposed Atlanta Financial Center in May 2022 and subsequently in a mixed-use building in Miami Beach, Fla. He ultimately raised $62.8 million from more than 800 investors.
However, before either real estate project closed, Schwartz diverted the funds to his personal bank account and accounts for other unrelated commercial real estate investments he controlled.
Schwartz spent the money, among other things, on luxury watches and stocks and options in a brokerage account. In July 2023, both of the corporate entities he formed to receive investments in the two projects filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
“Seeking to do nothing more than pad his own bank accounts and buy expensive luxury items, Elie Schwartz betrayed hundreds of investors who sought the opportunity to invest in these commercial real estate projects,” said Richard Moultrie Jr., acting U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Georgia.
“This office is committed to protecting investors from individuals, like Schwartz, who defraud donors out of their hard-earned money and seek to prioritize their own greed at the expense of legitimate investors.”
Schwartz is scheduled to be sentenced in May.
by Dave Williams | Feb 13, 2025 | Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA – The Port of Brunswick has supplanted Baltimore as the nation’s busiest port for autos and heavy equipment.
The Colonel’s Island Terminal in Brunswick handled more than 2 million tons of Roll-on/Roll-off cargo last year, Griff Lynch, president and CEO of the Georgia Ports Authority, said Wednesday at the annual Brunswick State of the Port luncheon.
“This is an important milestone in our journey to be the best Ro/Ro port in the industry,” Lynch said.
Brunswick also took the top spot in the nation for Ro/Ro exports, moving 600,000 tons, according to USATradeonline.
The ports authority completed $262 million in improvements at the Port of Brunswick last year, adding new warehousing and processing space, as well as 122 acres of Ro/Ro cargo storage.
Construction has begun on a new railyard on Colonel’s Island, while a fourth berth for Ro/Ro cargo vessels is in the design phase.
Baltimore slipped behind Brunswick for handling Ro/Ro cargo after the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapsed last March when one of its supports was struck by a container ship that lost power leaving the Port of Baltimore. Six of eight workers who were making repairs on the bridge died in the collapse.
The Port of Baltimore didn’t resume full operations until June.
by Dave Williams | Feb 12, 2025 | Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA – Tariffs President Donald Trump has imposed since taking office last month pose the greatest risk to Georgia’s economy, State Economist Robert Buschman told state lawmakers Wednesday.
Broad and high tariffs on imports likely will drive up prices for Georgia consumers, while retaliatory tariffs levied by America’s trading partners could damage export industries, Buschman said during his annual economic outlook presentation to the House Appropriations Committee. Buschman had been due to appear before the panel during the General Assembly’s annual budget recess last month but was postponed by a snowstorm.
Georgia is the 12th-largest state for exports, which play a large role in industries including aerospace, pulp and paper, machinery, computers and electronics, food and other agricultural goods, and motor vehicles and parts. The Peach State exported $49.9 billion in goods in 2023, accounting for 6% of the state’s Gross Domestic Product.
“You hit that 6%, you hit the economy of the state,” Buschman said.
Barring any potential disruption from tariffs, Georgia’s economy otherwise is strong, the economist said. Georgia continues to outperform the nation as a whole in income and employment. Personal income has grown by 10% since 2019, while Georgia’s jobless rate of 3.7% in December was above the national unemployment rate of 4%.
“Low unemployment is good for consumer confidence and puts upward pressure on wages,” Buschman said.
Inflation in Georgia peaked at 9% in 2022 but quickly fell to 3% the following year and has remained there, he said.
With inflation remaining low, Buschman predicted the Federal Reserve Bank will only reduce interest rates 1/4 point this year after cutting rates three times during the final months of last year.
He said the nation’s banking system and consumer financial health remain strong, while loan delinquency rates remain low.
On the other hand, Buschman said he’s concerned that interest rates on mortgage and auto loans are still high, while consumers continue to feel squeezed by inflation.
“Even though (inflation) has come down, incomes have just barely kept up,” he said.
by Dave Williams | Feb 12, 2025 | Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA – Gov. Brian Kemp has accepted an invitation to attend the Munich Security Conference in Germany this weekend to participate in a roundtable discussion with foreign leaders and partners on international economic relations and geopolitics.
The annual conference is the world’s leading multinational forum for debating international security policy. It also provides a valuable opportunity for bilateral meetings with economic development prospects that can lead to more jobs and investments in Georgia.
“I’m looking forward to representing Georgians and hardworking Americans at this year’s Munich Security Conference,” Kemp said Wednesday. “I will carry their loud and clear message that we need common-sense economic and security policy that does not disadvantage American families or their businesses.”
Kemp will hold meetings with private sector leaders in key industries while attending the conference, adding an economic development component to the overseas trip.
This will be the governor’s second trip to Europe already this year. Last month, he led a trade mission to Germany and Poland.
