by Dave Williams | May 2, 2025 | Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA – University of Georgia officials broke ground Friday on a research farm next to the Georgia National Fairgrounds in Perry.
The 250-acre Grand Farm will serve as a hub for research, education, and sustainable farming practices. Innovative technology including precision agriculture, robotics and data analysis will be used to increase productivity while conserving resources.
Grand Farm will partner with UGA’s College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences on the project.
“This collaboration represents the perfect marriage of tradition and innovation,” said Nick T. Place, the college’s dean and director. “By bringing together the college’s world-class researchers and the UGA Institute for Integrative Precision Agriculture with Grand Farms’ cutting-edge technologies, we will revolutionize the way we feed and clothe the world’s population.”
The roots of the partnership go back five years, when University System of Georgia Chancellor Sonny Perdue helped launch a Grand Farm project in North Dakota while serving as U.S. secretary of agriculture.
“This partnership is a great example of how Grand Farm works to advance agriculture technology and solve grower pain points across varied geographies,” Grand Farm Executive Director William Aderholt said.
“Collaborating with the University of Georgia allows us to leverage their extensive research capabilities and expertise in agricultural sciences, enhancing our ability to innovate and implement solutions that are tailored to diverse agricultural environments.”
The farm’s first field projects are expected to roll out this year.
by Dave Williams | May 1, 2025 | Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA – Gov. Brian Kemp signed legislation Thursday codifying into state law the right of women struggling to get pregnant to receive in vitro fertilization.
House Bill 428, which the General Assembly passed with just one “no” vote, was among a half dozen health-care measures the governor signed during a ceremony at the Savannah Convention Center.
The legislation’s chief sponsor was Rep. Lehman Franklin, R-Statesboro, whose wife June received IVF treatment and is expecting a child next month.
“(Families) deserve to have the chance to experience this great gift from God,” Kemp said before signing the bill.
The legislation was prompted by an Alabama Supreme Court ruling last year that declared frozen embryos created through IVF must be treated as children. The decision essentially banned the procedure in that state until Alabama lawmakers passed a bill protecting IVF and Republican Gov. Kay Ivey quickly signed it.
“We needed to ensure that here in Georgia, no family would have to question accessibility to IVF,” said state House Speaker Jon Burns, R-Newington, who made the IVF measure one of his top priorities for this year’s legislative session.
Other health-care bills the governor signed Thursday included:
- House Bill 94, which requires insurance companies to cover the costs of fertility preservation services when medically necessary treatments for cancer and other life-threatening diseases impairs fertility.
- House Bill 89, requiring health-care providers, hospitals, and pharmacies to release clinical records of certain deceased patients to the state’s Maternal Mortality Review Committee.
- House Bill 584, which transfers oversight of various mental-health programs from the Georgia Department of Community Health to the state Department of Behavioral Health and Development Disabilities.
- House Bill 473, an annual update of the list of controlled substances that are considered dangerous.
- Senate Bill 55, which provides a pay raise to Georgians with disabilities who are currently being paid subminimum wages.
by Dave Williams | Apr 30, 2025 | Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA – The U.S. Senate has passed legislation introduced by Sen. Jon Ossoff, D-Ga., aimed at improving safety and security inside the federal prison system.
The Prison Staff Safety Enhancement Act, which senators passed by unanimous consent Thursday night, would require the Justice Department to develop and implement a comprehensive strategy for addressing inmate-on-staff sexual assault.
The department also would have to submit data on the prevalence of inmate-on-staff sexual harassment to the agency’s inspector general and establish a national standard for preventing and reducing sexual abuse in federal prisons.
The bill – which Ossoff is sponsoring with Republican Sen. Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee – is a follow-up to legislation then-President Joe Biden signed last year establishing independent oversight of the federal Bureau of Prisons.
“I remain focused on oversight of the federal prison system and ending sexual abuse in prisons and jails, including the abuse of prison staff,” Ossoff said Wednesday. “Senator Blackburn and I brought Republicans and Democrats together to pass this bipartisan bill to help end sexual abuse in federal prisons.”
According to a February 2023 report by the Justice Department, 40% of more than 7,000 prison employees surveyed reported having been sexually harassed by an inmate.
Ossoff and Blackburn launched an inquiry last September into reports of inmate-on-staff sexual assault through their leadership roles on the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations. That led to the Senate passing the bill late last year – also by unanimous consent – but Congress adjourned for the year without the U.S. House of Representatives acting on it.
by Dave Williams | Apr 29, 2025 | Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA – The U.S. Senate confirmed former Sen. David Perdue, R-Ga., Tuesday as United States ambassador to China, multiple news outlets reported.
Perdue received some bipartisan support in the 67-29 confirmation vote, with 15 Senate Democrats joining 51 Republicans and one independent in supporting his nomination.
During one six-year term in the Senate, Perdue was a staunch ally of President Donald Trump during the latter’s first term in office. Trump backed Perdue’s unsuccessful Republican primary challenge in 2022 to Gov. Brian Kemp, who had angered Trump for refusing to aid the president’s attempts to overturn the 2020 presidential election results in Georgia after his reelection defeat at the hands of Democrat Joe Biden.
Perdue was elected to the Senate in 2014 but lost his bid for a second term to Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff.
Before joining the Senate, Perdue gained significant business experience in the Far East, including China, in his roles as CEO of Dollar General and as a top executive at Reebok and Sara Lee.
Perdue’s new role will put him at the center of a trade war between the U.S. and China, with Trump slapping a 145% tariff on Chinese imports early this month and China reciprocating. During confirmation hearings, Perdue said he would make reducing China’s exports to Mexico of chemicals used to produce fentanyl a top priority.
by Dave Williams | Apr 29, 2025 | Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA – Georgia’s workforce development efforts are being bolstered by a two-year, $1 million grant from The BlackRock Foundation.
The grant to the Technical College System of Georgia (TCSG) was announced during Monday’s annual leadership summit the system of technical schools sponsored in Atlanta.
The money will help technical college students complete training programs designed to grow Georgia’s pool of skilled workers needed for the state’s rapidly growing construction and advanced manufacturing sectors.
“At The BlackRock Foundation, our mission is to help more people earn, save, and invest, and that includes increasing access to pathways that lead to long-term financial security,” said Claire Chamberlain, the foundation’s president. “This grant reflects our deep commitment to investing in the workforce of the future, and more importantly, putting more Georgians on a path to earning a thriving wage in the state’s high-demand industries.”
With more than 58% of Georgia employers reporting ongoing worker shortages, the state has established a goal of expanding Georgia’s workforce by 20% during the next five years.
“This partnership with The BlackRock Foundation is powerful investment in Georgia’s future workforce,” TCSG Commissioner Greg Dozier said. “By helping more students complete training and earn credentials – especially in rural communities and high-demand fields – we’re not only changing lives. We’re building the talent pipeline that keeps Georgia the No.-1 state for business.”
The TCSG oversees 22 technical colleges across Georgia that offer a wide range of workforce development programs, partnering with more than 2,200 companies that provide customized training and job opportunities.
