ATLANTA – A legislative study committee voted Tuesday to recommend paying Georgia law enforcement officers a starting salary of $56,000 a year, the national average.
The House State and Local Law Enforcement Salaries Study Committee also proposed that the state create an optional statewide law enforcement retirement system retiring law enforcement officers and firefighters could choose to join rather than their local agency’s pension plan. Unlike local plans, the state plan would be transferable should the individual join another police agency or fire department.
At previous meetings earlier this fall, the committee heard representatives of state and local law enforcement agencies call for higher pay and benefits to make it easier to recruit and retain officers and investigators.
“Nationally, Georgia ranks sixth lowest in police salaries. That’s terrible,” Rep. Clint Crowe, R-Jackson, a former police officer, said Tuesday. “We’re losing numbers everywhere. … We’ve got to do some things to make folks want to stay in this profession.”
The $56,000 salary figure came from a presentation during an earlier meeting by Butch Ayers, executive director of the Georgia Association of Chiefs of Police. It was amended onto the study committee’s final report by Rep. Yasmin Neal, D-Jonesboro, also a former police officer, after the original version of the report made no mention of a specific salary goal.
“That’s the purpose of this committee. They’re looking for a number,” Neal said. “If you don’t give people somewhere to start, we’re leaving it up in the air.”
Besides the salary recommendation and statewide retirement system plan, the panel’s report also encourages the University System of Georgia to create a bachelor’s degree program in law enforcement and increase the number of public colleges and universities that accept Georgia Public Safety Training Center coursework toward degree credits.
This story is available through a news partnership with Capitol Beat News Service, a project of the Georgia Press Educational Foundation.
ATLANTA – TheGeorgia Ports Authority saw a rare decline in activity last month.
The Port of Savannah handled 464,883 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) of containerized cargo in November, down 6.2% compared to the same month last year.
However, Savannah’s numbers show an increase of 28% when measured over three years. That rate of growth is well above the authority’s pre-pandemic expansion, which averaged 4% to 5%annually.
“Container trade at U.S. ports is returning to a more sustainable growth pattern, which is a positive development for the logistics industry,” said Griff Lynch, the authority’s executive director.
“Along with the addition of more than 1 million TEUs of annual capacity, a slight reduction in demand will mean faster vessel service as we work to bring a new big ship berth online at Garden City Terminal in July.”
The impact of inflation and a shift in consumer spending patterns are partially responsible for a reduction in manufacturing and subsequent container demand. Weather also played a role in the November decline.
The Savannah River channel was closed to the largest vessels for more than three days last month because of adverse weather conditions, including Tropical Storm Nicole.
“While we are planning for a moderation in the container trade, we expect volumes to remain strong, though shy of the historic highs of the past year,” said authority board Chairman Joel Wooten said. “Announcements from automakers and other manufacturers coming to Georgia, as well as an array of their suppliers, will mean healthy increases in trade over the long term.”
Lynch said the current lull has allowed the Port of Savannah to reduce the number of container ships waiting in the harbor to 17, down 43% since the beginning of November, when there were 30 vessels at anchor. The authority expects to clear the backlog by early next month.
This story is available through a news partnership with Capitol Beat News Service, a project of the Georgia Press Educational Foundation.
ATLANTA — The state Department of Education (DOE) has identified 175 low-performing schools that need additional support to improve student performance for the 2022-2023 school year.
In good news, 57 schools exited the list for the year. This is the first year the state has updated the list of schools that will receive additional support since 2019 due to the data limitations imposed by the COVID pandemic.
The schools are all Title I schools – schools where at least 40% of the students are from low-income families. The schools are identified as needing either Comprehensive Support and Improvement (CSI) or Targeted Support and Improvement (TSI).
Schools are typically selected for the CSI list if they have very low performance on the state’s College and Career Ready Performance Index (CCRPI) or a graduation rate of less than 67%. This year, the DOE modified the selection process due to the COVID pandemic, focusing on progress on English-language learning and school readiness.
The 116 CSI-designated schools will receive additional support directly from the DOE’s Office of School Improvement. The schools are eligible for additional funding and receive specialist leadership and instructional support.
The 59 TSI schools will receive additional support from their school districts along with targeted assistance from the DOE. These schools are chosen based on the presence of a demographic subgroup performing in the lowest 5% of all CCRPI components.
While many of the schools are located in metro Atlanta, schools on the lists come from across the state and across grade levels. The program is part of the federal Every Student Succeeds Act Congress passed in 2015.
“It is our responsibility as a state to provide the support all schools need to improve,” said State School Superintendent Richard Woods, who was recently re-elected to his third term in office.
Woods emphasized that the designation is not meant to be punitive and that the schools on the lists faced serious challenges from the pandemic.
“Being identified for CSI or TSI support does not mean these schools are not making progress,” Woods said. “Over the last several years, our schools have faced enormous challenges beyond their control, and school leaders, teachers, and families have worked hard to get students back on track.
“CSI and TSI identifications allow us to come alongside these schools to ensure they have the resources and support necessary for academic recovery.”
“It was good to see that [the DOE] did consider progress, not just the standardized test scores but providing support for… students who are English-language learners and also considering students’ readiness for school,” said Lisa Morgan, president of the Georgia Association of Educators. “We know that our students in Title I schools face additional challenges due to circumstances beyond their control.”
“It is important that we change the language and the references we make around these issues…I think it is important that we’re not labeling schools [as failing], and therefore, educators, students and families,” said Morgan. “It’s important that we keep our students front and center and that the focus be on supporting students and the educators that are working with them every day, so that all of our students can be successful.”
Georgians can view the lists and learn more about the programs on the state DOE website.
This story is available through a news partnership with Capitol Beat News Service, a project of the Georgia Press Educational Foundation.
Pharmacist Ira Katz of Atlanta’s Little Five Points Pharmacy holds fentanyl test strips (left) and Narcan (right). He is able to distribute the life-saving drug Narcan for free through a partnership with the Atlanta Harm Reduction Coalition.
ATLANTA – As overdoses have skyrocketed in Georgia – more than 13,000 this year alone, according to the state Department of Public Health — so has demand for the life-saving drug naloxone, which reverses the deadly effects of an opioid overdose.
People who use drugs – or those who are frequently around them – are encouraged to keep naloxone on hand. It comes in several different forms, including as a liquid that can be injected and a nasal spray. The drug can almost instantly bring someone back from an overdose but will not harm a person if they have not overdosed.
But the miracle drug isn’t cheap. A two-unit box of Narcan, the nasal spray version of the drug, costs at least $45. That puts a strain on local governments, nonprofit organizations, and drug users who want to make sure the lifesaving drug is easily accessible.
The drug can be even more costly for consumers who want to purchase it at a pharmacy. It ranges between $40 and $143 at Atlanta-area pharmacies for a box of two units of the nasal spray, according to drug-pricing website GoodRx.
The cost is further compounded by the influx of the potent opioid fentanyl, which is now found mixed in many types of illicit drugs. Fentanyl-fueled overdoses require more naloxone to treat than past non-fentanyl overdoses, observers from across the state noted.
Whereas in the past, two units of Narcan may have been enough to keep someone alive until emergency services arrived, now one overdose may require four, five, or even six units, said Ira Katz, an Atlanta pharmacist.
Katz has sought to circumvent the high costs of naloxone by forming a partnership with the Atlanta Harm Reduction Coalition. His Little Five Points Pharmacy, located in the heart of an artsy and alternative neighborhood that draws visitors from across the state, hands out the drug for free.
“We want to do what we can to try to make it affordable,” said Katz, who has personally reversed overdoses at least seven times. He said the pharmacy gives out about 10 to 12 boxes of the drug per day, and he has people drive in from all over Georgia to get it.
Sometimes, pharmacists can give out free samples of the drug to those in need, said Jonathan Marquess, a vice president of the Georgia Pharmacy Association.
“We should never have anyone walk in a pharmacy and not be able to get a Narcan prescription,” Marquess said, either because the pharmacy does not have the drug in stock or because of cost.
“The numbers have gone up dramatically in the last few years,” said Robin Elliott, a co-founder of Georgia Overdose Prevention, a group that mails free naloxone kits out across the state.
Last month alone, the group distributed almost 2,600 kits. It sent out 28,000 in a 12-month period. Because it has a limited supply, the group tries to target those who are at highest risk and who are uninsured, Elliott said.
Other community groups across the state also distribute naloxone for free. Access Point of Georgia, a nonprofit group that serves Athens-Clarke, Oglethorpe, Madison, and Jackson counties, has had 337 overdose reversals reported so far this year, said Riley Kirkpatrick, the group’s founder. That number is likely an undercount, Kirkpatrick said, since not all overdose reversals are reported to the group.
Many law enforcement officers and first responders carry the drug with them. For example, Jackson County’s emergency services has attempted 172 reversals so far this year, said Tim Grice, assistant director of Jackson County Emergency Medical Services.
“[Cost] is always on our mind,” Grice said, though the county has had sufficient supply so far.
Local groups and governments should begin to see some additional financial support for distributing naloxone due to the influx of funds from the state’s opioid lawsuit settlements. Last year, the state announced it would be receiving almost $17 million from a settlement with global consulting firm McKinsey for that company’s role in promoting the drugs.
Georgia will use around $2 million from the settlement to supplement emergency service providers with the drug starting this month, said Eric Jens of the state Department of Public Health.
The department has also launched an Overdose Response Kit pilot project in locations where overdoses may occur, including restaurants, bars, and hotels. The project will install kits that include instructions about how to use naloxone, said Jens.
Money from the McKinsey settlement and other sources funds the purchase of more than 70,000 units of the drug for distribution via community groups and events, the Georgia Overdose Prevention Project, and local public health departments, said David Sofferin of the Georgia Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities.
Another $1 million from the McKinsey settlement has been allocated to the Georgia Harm Reduction Coalition to help distribute naloxone in communities across the state, he said. The agency trains law enforcement officers and first responders on how to use the drug.
The influx of the McKinsey settlement money comes on the heels of steps the state has already taken to address the overdose crisis.
A 2014 law provides legal amnesty to anyone who calls 9-1-1 after an overdose, shielding someone trying to get help for a friend or family member who has overdosed from legal prosecution for drug use. In 2017, Dr. Brenda Fitzgerald, then-commissioner of the Department of Public Health, issued an order that essentially gave all Georgians a standing prescription for naloxone, obviating the need to see a doctor.
During the last legislative session, the General Assembly approved legislation that removed fentanyl test strips from the list of illegal drug paraphernalia. The test strips help users determine whether their drugs have been mixed with potentially deadly fentanyl.
At the federal level, the Food and Drug Administration is moving to fast-track an application from Narcan’s manufacturer to make the drug available over the counter as soon as next year. That could help bring down the drug’s price as competition increases, said Mary Sylla, director of overdose prevention and policy for the National Harm Reduction Coalition.
It’s essential to make sure the drug is available everywhere, including schools, sporting venues, restaurants, government buildings, and places of worship, said Jeff Breedlove, chief of communications and policy at the Georgia Council for Recovery. He would like to see naloxone become as common as the defibrillator kits widely available in public places today, and he praised Delta Air Lines’ decision to ensure each plane has naloxone available on board.
“Government, business, and faith leaders have to accept the reality that overdose deaths are at historic highs, that their constituents and customers are dying and families need their help to save lives,” Breedlove said. “Forty-five dollars [the cost of naloxone] is a lot less money than the cost of a casket.”
This story is available through a news partnership with Capitol Beat News Service, a project of the Georgia Press Educational Foundation.
ATLANTA – Georgia’s economy will enter a mild, short recession early next year that should only persist for about six months, the dean of the University of Georgia’s Terry College of Business said Friday.
The downturn will be prompted by the series of interest rate hikes the Federal Reserve board has ordered this year to curb inflation, rising energy prices brought on by the war in Ukraine and hits to personal wealth including a down stock market, Ben Ayers told a luncheon audience at the Georgia Aquarium in downtown Atlanta.
Georgia, however, is better positioned than other states to weather the recession because of its strong labor market and several major economic development projects that will pour investment into the state and create jobs, Ayers said.
As a result, Georgia’s Gross Domestic Product is only likely to experience a “slight dip” of 0.2%, less than the national average, he said.
“We will continue to outperform the nation,” he said. “Growth will slow, but growth will not stop.”
Ayers said the state’s labor market should remain strong, adding jobs in health care, education, tourism, and government.
“Employers will be slow to lay off workers,” he said.
But Ayers warned losses are likely in some job sectors, including construction, finance, and manufacturing.
Ayers said housing in Georgia will suffer more than other economic sectors, with housing construction slowing significantly due to higher mortgage interest rates. Prices of existing housing are expected to decline by 12% next year, he said.
The good news, Ayers said, is that the housing market isn’t expected to crash to the extent it did during the Great Recession of the late 2000s.
“We do not expect a repeat of the housing bust,” he said.
Ayers said an economic recovery is likely to begin late next year. For one thing, the Fed probably will begin phasing out interest rate hikes in 2023 as inflation tapers off, he said.
Housing should rebound quickly once the Fed stops raising interest rates. Ayers said the increasing number of Georgians now working from home will boost interest in home construction.
Nationally, low- and middle-income families will be hit hardest by the recession, said Mark Vitner, founder and chief economist at North Carolina-based Piedmont Crescent Capital. Those income groups will have a particularly difficult time coping with higher food, energy, and rent costs, Vitner said.
“For half of the country, the inflation rate is essentially doubled, 18% to 20%,” he said. “Real purchasing power has been wiped out.”
While Vitner held out hope the U.S. economy will experience a soft landing from the coming recession, he said it’s more likely there will be a series of “rolling recessions” such as persisted during the 1980s.
Vitner said the only solution to the recession lies in getting inflation down. Still, he agreed with Ayers that the coming downturn won’t be as steep as the Great Recession. He said the approaching recession likely will be followed by slow growth during the next two to three years.
“This is going to be a challenging economic environment in the coming year,” Vitner said. “Recessions aren’t fun. … [But] they’re the exception, not the rule.”
This story is available through a news partnership with Capitol Beat News Service, a project of the Georgia Press Educational Foundation.
ATLANTA – Georgia tax collections suffered a rare but slight decline last month, the state Department of Revenue reported Friday.
The state brought in almost $2.29 billion in tax receipts in November, down $2.4 million – or just 0.1% – from November of last year. November marked the first month in more than a year that tax revenues have gone down, as steady increases have allowed the state to build a $6.6 billion budget surplus.
The largest sources of tax revenue actually increased last month. Individual income taxes rose 4.6% over November of last year, as tax refunds issued by the revenue agency fell 23.2%.
Net sales taxes were up 9.8%, while typically volatile corporate income taxes jumped by 358.1%, as payments increased and refunds decreased.
The slight drop in overall tax collections despite the rise of revenue in various key categories can be attributed to the ongoing suspension of Georgia’s sales tax on gasoline and other motor fuels. As a result, motor fuels tax revenues fell by 99.4% in November compared to the same month a year ago.
That won’t continue to be the case for long. With pump prices continuing to drop, Gov. Brian Kemp announced Thursday that the gas tax suspension will be lifted after Jan. 10.
Instead, the governor said he will ask the General Assembly this winter to use part of the bulging surplus to provide an additional $1 billion in income tax relief for Georgians on top of the tax rebate the legislature approved this year.
Kemp also plans to propose a $1 billion reduction in property taxes at the local level.
