ATLANTA – Health care and economic assistance should get top priority when it comes to spending $4.8 billion in federal COVID-19 relief Georgia is receiving through the American Rescue Plan (ARP), according to a new poll.
The survey of 1,042 registered Georgia voters commissioned by the Georgia Budget and Policy Institute (GBPI) found that 33.8% rated restoring economic security to Georgians affected by the pandemic as their top priority for the federal money. Health care was next, with 24.1% of respondents rating it as their highest priority.
The poll, released Thursday, was conducted July 21-24 by the University of Georgia’s School of Public Affairs Survey Research Center.
Gov. Brian Kemp has appointed three committees to review applications for the federal funding from state agencies, local governments, businesses and nonprofits. The committees, which began taking applications this week, will focus on three categories of projects: broadband deployment, water and sewer improvements, and projects aimed at offsetting the economic impact of COVID-19.
“As COVID cases continue to rise, Georgia leaders face a unique opportunity to invest in our state’s people and help our communities recover and thrive,” GBPI spokeswoman Caitlin Highland said.
“Although the state currently plans to focus on one-time investments … polling shows the majority of people want the state to build on these priorities by enacting solutions that leverage the power of our people – through increased support of health care, economic opportunity and education.”
Indeed, 63.7% of those who responded to the poll called for spending Georgia’s allocation of ARP funding on priorities other than broadband, water and sewer projects and economic impact.
A huge majority – 84.1% – called for using the money to restore budget cuts Kemp and the General Assembly imposed during the early months of the pandemic last year.
While Georgia ended the last fiscal year June 30 sitting on a large surplus, Kemp has asked most state agency heads not to request spending increases in next year’s budgets.
Solid majorities of those voters surveyed supported converting the federal funds into various forms of direct payments to low-income Georgia families. Nearly 70% called for the creation of a state-level Earned Income Tax Credit.
Almost 76% of the respondents supported increased funding for Georgia’s elementary and secondary schools, with the money dedicated to students from low-income families.
In keeping with the respondents’ desire to use the federal money for purposes other than those being focused on by the three committees, 43.1% said the funds should be allocated by the General Assembly through the normal budgeting process. A slightly smaller 37.5% supported having the governor’s office distribute the federal aid.
Kemp and Republican legislative leaders have pointed to the one-time nature of the ARP funding in limiting its uses to one-time investments rather than committing to ongoing expenses the state might not be able to cover when the program expires in 2024.
ATLANTA – The right of Americans to vote in federal elections would be codified in federal law for the first time under legislation introduced this week by U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff, D-Ga.
The Right to Vote Act is aimed at new laws around the country legislatures in Republican-controlled states have passed or considered since last year’s elections, including an election-law overhaul in Georgia that took effect July 1.
Ossoff’s bill would empower U.S. citizens to challenge in court any state or local government act that makes it more difficult to vote. Defendants in such cases would have to demonstrate a legitimate governmental interest in enacting such a law and that the new law is the least restrictive alternative available to accomplish that goal, Ossoff said Thursday.
Ossoff said the aftermath of Democrat Joe Biden’s victory over incumbent Republican President Donald Trump last November points to the need for establishing a statutory right to vote.
“We see that politicians in Georgia and states across the country are seeking to restrict access to the ballot, targeting Black voters just to gain a partisan advantage in elections,” Ossoff said.
Georgia Republicans have defended the law the General Assembly passed last March as restoring public trust in the electoral process by making it harder for those bent on committing voter fraud either at the polls or through absentee ballots.
Democrats have criticized the additional restrictions in the new law as voter suppression pushed by Republicans determined to reverse last year’s high-turnout victories in Georgia by Biden, Ossoff and fellow Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock.
Along with Ossoff’s bill, congressional Democrats are working to pass other legislation that would set national voting standards.
Republicans, including Gov. Brian Kemp, say such efforts represent an unconstitutional usurpation of states’ rights to run elections.
A companion bill to Ossoff’s legislation has been introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives by Rep. Mondaire Jones, D-N.Y.
ATLANTA – The Georgia Secretary of State’s office is sending notices this week to 185,666 Georgians who haven’t had any contact with the state’s elections system for at least five years.
Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger described the move Thursday as another step to protect election integrity in Georgia by updating the state’s voter lists.
“Accurate voter lists … ensure ineligible people cannot vote, allow counties to effectively allocate resources so there are no long lines, and help make sure voters get accurate information about casting their ballot,” he said.
This week’s notices to “no contact” Georgians follows a round of notices Raffensperger’s office sent in June to 101,789 potential voters deemed eligible to be purged from the voter lists because they had not contacted Georgia election officials in any way – either directly or through the state Department of Driver Services – for two general elections.
The notices going out this week will classify those Georgians’ voter registrations “inactive” if they do not respond within 30 days.
Federal law prohibits removing voters from the rolls during general election years due to federal mandates before federal elections.
The last voter purge Raffensperger conducted in 2019 removed nearly 300,000 voter files that had been deemed obsolete. That purge sparked a legal challenge from Fair Fight Action, a voting rights advocacy group founded by 2018 Democratic gubernatorial nominee Stacey Abrams.
Following Raffensperger’s June announcement, Fair Fight Action launched an online tool, GeorgiaVoterSearch.com, to help voters in danger of being purged from the state’s voter lists.
“It is critical that every Georgia voter check their voter registration status to make sure it is active and up to date,” said Liza Conrad, voter protection director for Fair Fight Action. “GeorgiaVoterSearch.com will allow Georgia voters to make sure they are not unjustly stripped of their access to the ballot box.”
Raffensperger pointed to legislation then-President Bill Clinton signed in 1993 requiring states to regularly maintain their voter lists.
Georgians receiving a notification from Raffensperger’s office can return it, postage-free, to avoid being classified as inactive.
ATLANTA – A pioneer in robotic-assisted surgery is expanding its presence in Georgia with an investment of more than $500 million that will create about 1,200 jobs, Gov. Brian Kemp announced Wednesday.
Intuitive will add to the approximately 180 professionals already based in Gwinnett County. The company, which has been in Peachtree Corners for a decade, plans to grow its campus to include more than 750,000 square feet of manufacturing and engineering operations, state-of-the-art training facilities for surgeons and hospital care teams, and administrative offices.
“With our advanced medical environment, dynamic workforce, pro-business policies, and thriving economy, Intuitive made the right decision in choosing Georgia,” Kemp said.
Headquartered in Sunnyvale, Calif., Intuitive is the manufacturer of the da Vinci robotic-assisted surgical systems, which surgeons worldwide have used in more than 8.5 million procedures. Growing demand for robotic-assisted technologies spurred the Gwinnett expansion.
“Intuitive needs a highly educated, committed, and diverse workforce, quality infrastructure and the right geography to meet the rising demand for minimally invasive surgical technologies,” Intuitive CEO Gary Guthart said. “We’ve found that here, and we’re excited to continue to grow in the state.”
Intuitive is expected to open its new campus in phases, with completion by 2024.
The company plans to fill a variety of jobs in manufacturing, production, distribution, engineering, sales, training and customer service. Individuals interested in future careers with Intuitive are encouraged to check careers.intuitive.com/us/en.
The Georgia Department of Economic Development’s Global Commerce Division worked with Partnership Gwinnett, the city of Peachtree Corners, the Metro Atlanta Chamber, and Georgia Power to land the project.
“The last year truly has highlighted the need to aggressively expand our life sciences and health care device ecosystem and partner with cutting-edge companies like Intuitive as they continue to innovate and grow,” state Commissioner of Economic Development Pat Wilson said.
“We are grateful to Intuitive for their commitment to creating hundreds of quality jobs in this vital strategic industry right here in Georgia.”
ATLANTA – A civil rights group Wednesday criticized Georgia’s new absentee ballot form as an invasion of privacy.
Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger unveiled the new ballot on Tuesday. Based on the controversial election law overhaul the Republican-controlled General Assembly passed in March, it requires absentee voters to provide their driver’s license number or some other form of state ID.
“Georgia’s anti-voter law is requiring voters to provide sensitive personal information in an era where identity theft is easy,” said Rahul Garabadu, voting rights attorney of the ACLU of Georgia.
“Our lawsuit challenges these unnecessary and more burdensome ID requirements that will have the heaviest impact on voters of color and voters with disabilities.”
The ACLU, other civil rights and voting rights groups and the Biden administration’s Justice Department have sued to overturn the new law, which took effect July 1.
Among other things, the legislation replaces the signature-match verification process for absentee ballots with the ID requirement, restricts the location of ballot drop boxes and prohibits non-poll workers from handing out food and drinks within 150 feet of voters standing in line.
Raffensperger has defended requiring absentee voters to provide a driver’s license number as an objective form of identity verification compared with signature matches, which have long drawn complaints from Democrats and Republicans as requiring subjective judgment.
The law’s opponents say it amounts to politically motivated voter suppression, with requirements that will disproportionately affect low-income and minority voters.
Supporters say it’s a voting integrity measure aimed at restoring public trust in the electoral process.
