ATLANTA – The state board created last year to oversee Georgia’s new medical marijuana program has appointed its first executive director.
Andrew Turnage, who has headed both the state Board of Cosmetology and Barbers and the Georgia Board of Nursing, will take the helm of the Georgia Access to Medical Cannabis Commission.
Commission members voted Wednesday to hire Turnage based on the recommendation of an outside search firm that consulted national medical cannabis experts before suggesting a Georgian with experience in state government.
“Mr. Turnage not only has the experience The Goodwin Group recommended, but specifically in the area of state licensing, which is essential to getting us up and running and producing low-THC oil,” said Dr. Christopher Edwards, the commission’s chairman and principal surgeon at the Atlanta Neurological & Spine Institute.
The General Assembly passed legislation last year legalizing the cultivation of marijuana in Georgia, conversion of the leaf into low-THC cannabis oil and sale of the drug to patients suffering from a wide range of diseases, including seizure disorders and Parkinson’s.
Parents of children suffering from those diseases unable to get relief from any treatment other than cannabis oil played a large role in convincing lawmakers to approve the bill.
But the effort has gotten off to a slow start. The seven-member commission in charge of the program wasn’t appointed until last November, more than four months after the legislation took effect.
It has taken nearly six months more to get an executive director on board.
Turnage has a law enforcement background, having served as a deputy sheriff in Hall County, an important qualification considering many in law enforcement have expressed reservations about legalizing the growth of marijuana in Georgia even under the close supervision the new law requires.
Turnage also has a master’s degree from the University of Georgia in adult education.
“We have one goal, and that’s to get oil for families in need,” Turnage said. “We have families in Georgia that have struggled for years to get this basic need, low-THC oil, and our task will be to ensure that they receive it.”
The new commission will be able to buy and import cannabis oil from out of state while the in-state licensing program the law establishes unfolds.
ATLANTA – Nearly 230,000 Georgians filed initial unemployment claims last week, down from more than 266,000 claims filed during the previous week, state Commissioner of Labor Mark Butler reported Thursday.
That brings to nearly 1.6 million the number of initial unemployment claims filed in Georgia during the last seven weeks, since the state began feeling the economic effects of the coronavirus pandemic.
The largest number of claims by far – 446,437 – has come from the accommodation and food services sector. Health-care and social assistance workers have accounted for 183,328 claims, followed by the retail trade sector with 182,663.
The labor department has paid out more than $1.7 billion in combined state and federal unemployment benefits during those seven weeks.
“Over half a million Georgians have received a payment from the Georgia Department of Labor,” Butler said. “We have been enhancing our current systems and creating new ones to make sure every eligible applicant receives their [unemployment insurance] benefits as quickly as possible.”
Butler said Georgians whose claims are denied or ruled invalid still might be eligible for Pandemic Unemployed Assistance (PUA). This includes gig workers, people who are self-employed or 1099 contractors, or those who work for a church or other nonprofit.
The state began paying out PUA claims last week totaling more than $4 million.
The labor department is continuing to work with employers that are still hiring workers. More than 100,000 jobs are listed online at www.EmployGeorgia.com.
University System of Georgia Chancellor Steve Wrigley
ATLANTA – University System of Georgia faculty and staff are facing potential furlough days to help offset the economic impacts of the coronavirus pandemic.
The system’s Board of Regents voted Thursday to authorize either four or eight furlough days for most employees at all 26 of Georgia’s public colleges and universities, depending on their salary level. Employees earning salaries of $99,000 a year to $154,000 would take 12 furlough days, while those making $154,000 or above would take 16 furlough days.
System Chancellor Steve Wrigley and all university and college presidents would take 26 furlough days, equivalent to a salary reduction of 10%.
The furlough days are part of a plan to comply with 14% across-the-board state agency spending cuts Gov. Brian Kemp’s budget office and the heads of the Georgia House and Senate appropriations committee ordered last week.
For the university system, that represents a $361 million budget reduction in fiscal 2021, which starts July 1, on top of $350 million in losses the system suffered during the spring semester when the COVID-19 outbreak prompted the shutdown of all system campuses and the schools switched to online instruction, system Chancellor Steve Wrigley told the regents Thursday.
Wrigley said the university system has worked during the last three years to stream administrative costs, an effort that will result in savings of $100 million. A five-year initiative to tighten up on the system’s academic offerings has resulted in the termination of about 700 degree programs, he said.
“We’ve been making efforts to be more efficient and streamline,” he said. “But this is an unprecedented situation.”
State agencies have until May 20 to submit plans for how they will cut 14% from their fiscal ’21 budgets.
Wrigley said no firm decisions will be made on furloughs and other spending reductions until the General Assembly adopts a state budget for next year, which likely won’t happen until June.
“Employees of the University System of Georgia and our 26 colleges and universities continue to show resilience and dedication despite facing uncertainty and unprecedented challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic,” Wrigley said. “I deeply appreciate the contributions of our employees impacted by these measures.”
ATLANTA – Legislative Democrats stepped up the heat on the University System of Georgia Wednesday to let students forced off campus by coronavirus to opt in to a pass-fail grading system for the spring semester.
A group of Democratic state representatives held an online discussion of the issue featuring several students who have led the charge for pass-fail. With the deadline for professors to turn in grades looming next week, time is of the essence.
“We don’t think it’s too late if the [university system Board of] Regents would lift the handcuffs from the universities,” said Rep. David Wilkerson, D-Powder Springs, who hosted Wednesday’s discussion on Facebook. “It’s never too late to do the right thing.”
With the coronavirus pandemic gripping Georgia in mid-March, Gov. Brian Kemp ordered all of Georgia’s public colleges and universities to close until March 31, an order he later extended to the full spring semester. The university system moved to convert in-person classes to online instruction, but it took a couple of weeks for the changeover to fully take effect.
More than 10,000 students have signed a petition during the past several weeks asking the Regents to allow a pass-fail grading option. Student governments at the University of Georgia, Georgia Tech and Georgia State University have passed resolutions supporting the proposal.
Briana Hayes, one of the students who organized the petition drive, said many students from rural Georgia lack the internet connectivity necessary for online instruction.
“They need this because they’re living in an environment that is not conducive to learning,” she said.
Ciera Thomas of Augusta, a pre-med student at UGA, said online instruction is different from in-person classes.
“As much as our professors have done their best, some things are going to get lost,” she said.
University system spokesman Aaron Diamant said the Regents considered switching to a pass-fail system this semester but ruled it out because of potential long-term impacts including eligibility for financial aid and scholarships, admission to graduate school and professional licensure.
“These are truly unprecedented times, and we understand some of our students may be experiencing significant hardships,” he said. “ However, we are working hard to connect our students with critical resources.
“We trust our faculty to teach and grade students effectively, while also being compassionate and understanding of the life challenges we all find ourselves navigating now and in the months ahead.”
ATLANTA – As expected, the economic impacts of the coronavirus pandemic sent state revenues plunging last month.
The Georgia Department of Revenue collected nearly $1.84 billion in April, a 35.9% drop compared to April of last year. Tax revenues for the first 10 months of this fiscal year are 3.4% below the comparable year-to-date total for fiscal 2019.
Revenue agency officials attributed the sagging revenues in part to the coronavirus-related decision to postpone state tax payment deadlines from April 15 until July 15.
Individual income tax collections last month fell by $732 million, or 46.2%. Both tax payments and refunds issued decreased sharply.
Net sales tax collections also declined by 14.3% as Georgia’s economy shut down, with businesses closing and laying off employees.
Corporate income taxes were down 70.6% last month, driven largely by a 78.3% decrease in tax return payments.
Members of the Georgia House Appropriations Committee will be confronted with those dismal revenue numbers when they meet Thursday for the first time since the 2020 General Assembly was suspended in mid-March because of COVID-19.
The state is facing an estimated budget shortfall for fiscal 2021 of $3 billion to $4 billion. Working with state Senate budget writers, the House panel will have to find ways to cut spending across the board by 14%, far deeper than the 6% reductions Gov. Brian Kemp ordered last summer to address slow revenue growth that was plaguing the state well before the coronavirus pandemic began.
