by Dave Williams | Nov 25, 2024 | Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA – The Georgia Department of Agriculture has launched a low-interest emergency loan program to help farmers who suffered losses from Hurricane Helene.
The application period for the SAFETY 24 Hurricane Helene Relief Loan Program, a partnership of the agriculture agency and the Georgia Development Authority, opened on Friday on a first come, first served basis.
Farmers who suffered losses from the storm and live in a federally designated disaster area or adjacent county are eligible to seek up to $500,000 at a 2% fixed-interest rate. That includes counties across South Georgia and the eastern half of the state.
The money can be used for income replacement, operating capital, repairing or replacing damaged farm structures or farm equipment, and the purchase of machinery necessary to recover from hurricane damage.
“Help is on the way for Georgia farmers affected by Hurricane Helene,” state Commissioner of Agriculture Tyler Harper said. “The SAFETY 24 program is meant to provide Georgia farm families with the capital they need to keep operating while we continue pushing Congress to deliver additional federal relief, and I strongly encourage all impacted farmers to apply so we can begin to build back.”
An update the University of Georgia College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences released on Friday reported a preliminary damage assessment of at least $5.5 billion in agricultural and timber losses from Helene, down from an earlier assessment of $6.46 billion.
The losses include an estimated $2.65 billion in damage to timber, $683 million to poultry, $577 million to nursery crops, $560 million to cotton, $291 million to pecans, and $275 million to beef cattle.
The application form and additional details about the program can be found online. Applications can be submitted online via email or by regular mail.
by Dave Williams | Nov 25, 2024 | Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA – Georgia Commissioner of Labor Bruce Thompson died Sunday at the age of 59, eight months after being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.
Thompson, a Republican from North Georgia, was elected to head the labor department in 2022 and took office at the beginning of last year. Before that, he served for eight years in the state Senate.
“A successful businessman and respected leader of his community, Bruce was a passionate voice for what he believed in throughout his years of service to the people of Georgia,” Gov. Brian Kemp wrote in a social media post.
Lt. Gov. Burt Jones, who served alongside Thompson in the Senate before the two won statewide election two years ago, praised his work at the labor department, which had been buffeted during the pandemic by heavy demand for unemployment compensation.
“He made significant changes to improve workforce outcomes for citizens across the state,” Jones said.
Thompson grew up on a farm in Montana and went on to serve six years in the U.S. Army National Guard.
He launched a series of businesses, including two automatic pool cover companies, six insurance agencies, two funeral homes, and several software firms.
At the labor agency, Thompson championed transparency, customer service, and fiscal responsibility.
He is survived by his wife, Becky, a son, and a daughter.
by Dave Williams | Nov 22, 2024 | Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA – President-elect Donald Trump is turning to Georgia again in his pick to head the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Eight years after choosing former Gov. Sonny Perdue as secretary of agriculture, Trump is expected to nominate former U.S. Sen. Kelly Loeffler, R-Ga., to the post, multiple media outlets reported Friday.
Gov. Brian Kemp appointed Loeffler to the Senate in January 2020 to fill the unexpired term of retired Sen. Johnny Isakson, who died late the following year. She ran for a full term later in 2020 but lost to Democrat Raphael Warnock in a runoff at the beginning of 2021.
Loeffler, a wealthy Atlanta businesswoman, is married to Jeff Sprecher, chairman and CEO of Intercontinental Exchange, which owns the New York Stock Exchange. She also was CEO of Atlanta-based Bakkt, a Bitcoin-focused subsidiary of Intercontinental Exchange, and was formerly a co-owner of the women’s pro basketball team the Atlanta Dream.
Loeffler has been a staunch loyalist to Trump, backing his unsuccessful legal efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election results that saw Trump lose to Democrat Joe Biden and calling for the resignation of Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger at that time amid unproven Republican claims of election fraud in Georgia.
After the dust settled from the 2020 election cycle, Loeffler founded the organization Greater Georgia to recruit Republican candidates and register GOP voters.
After Trump turned the tables on the Democrats this month to win a second term in the White House, Loeffler signed on as co-chair of the president-elect’s inauguration committee.
While Loeffler’s business career has not touched on agriculture, she grew up on a farm in southern Illinois. Her nomination will be subject to confirmation by her former colleagues in the Senate.
by Dave Williams | Nov 22, 2024 | Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA – Solar power advocates in Georgia are renewing a push for legislation that would let Georgia Power customers buy electricity from third-party providers of solar energy.
A bill that would open the door to so-called “community” solar projects in the Peach State failed to gain traction in the General Assembly during this year’s legislative session. However, the state House of Representatives created an ad hoc committee to consider the proposal this summer and fall.
Community solar projects are smaller than utility-scale solar projects but larger than rooftop solar panels installed by individual property owners. Community solar allows residential and business property owners who might not be able to afford rooftop solar to participate in solar energy development.
“We are confident a market-based community solar program under the regulation of the (Georgia) Public Service Commission (PSC) would be a benefit to Georgia,” Bob Sherrier, a staff attorney with the Atlanta-based Southern Environmental Law Center, told members of the committee during a hearing Nov. 19.
“What I see here is an opportunity for free-market principles to operate,” added state Rep. Brad Thomas, R-Holly Springs, a member of the committee.
Under this year’s House Bill 1152, customers could subscribe with community solar providers for projects producing no more than six megawatts of power and receive a credit in return. The fees subscribers pay would go toward building community solar projects.
Sherrier cited a recent study conducted by the Coalition for Community Solar Access, a national solar power advocacy group, that found solar projects create 16 jobs and $2 million in economic impact for every solar megawatt produced.
“The community solar model works … because community solar adds significant value to the whole grid,” he said.
But Georgia Power opposes third-party community solar projects for several reasons.
Wilson Mallard, the Atlanta-based utility’s director of renewable development, said Georgia Power already offers a robust community solar program with about 2,000 customers.
“We’ve got a vibrant renewable market,” he said. “Putting that at risk for the benefits this bill would provide is not in Georgians’ best interests.”
Since the PSC would regulate community solar providers under this year’s bill, the measure would not have applied to Georgia’s electric membership cooperatives (EMCs).
But Chris Stephens, president and CEO of Coweta-Fayette EMC, told the committee he’s concerned that any legislation introduced in 2025 might be extended to cover EMCs. He questioned the need for third parties to build community solar projects in Georgia when the state already ranks seventh in the nation for solar.
“For solar developers, House Bill 1152 is a dream piece of legislation,” Stephens said. “It allows any independent solar developer to set up as many 30- to 35-acre solar installations as they like across the state.”
Mallard also argued that allowing Georgia Power customers to buy electricity from third-party community solar providers would force customers who don’t sign up for community solar to shoulder some of the program’s costs.
“The customers who participate in community solar no longer pay to Georgia Power but to a third-party provider,” he said. “That causes a shortfall … a shift in the cost recovery from participants to non-participants.”
But Sherrier isn’t buying the cost-shifting argument.
“The utilities oppose customer-driven third-party owned projects like community solar because they threaten to supplant utility investments and take away from shareholder profits,” he said.
Rep. Ruwa Romman, D-Duluth, another member of the ad hoc committee, said the status quo doesn’t seem to be working when so few Georgia Power customers are participating in the utility’s in-house community solar program.
“If you’re only able to provide community solar to 2,000 out of 2.7 million customers, doesn’t it show something is not working here?” she asked Mallard. “Maybe we should be allowed to try something new.”
Mallard said Georgia Power is working to improve all of its solar programs.
“We need to add solar,” he said. “We just need to add it in a way that produces the best value for our customers.”
by Dave Williams | Nov 22, 2024 | Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA – Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger Friday officially certified the results of this month’s presidential election in Georgia.
Official certification of President-elect Donald Trump’s win in the Peach State over Vice President Kamala Harris came after county election officials completed a hand count of more than 700,000 ballots statewide.
The risk-limiting audit found minor discrepancies in the totals for Trump and Harris but nothing that would change the results. Trump gained 11 more votes than he received from the machine count after the polls closed on Election Night, while Harris received six fewer votes.
“The votes were counted accurately, securely, and quickly,” Raffensperger said Friday. “This was the most secure election in Georgia’s history.”
With the results now certified, the next step will be certification of Georgia’s slate of presidential electors by Gov. Brian Kemp. Those electors will meet at the state Capitol Dec. 17 to certify the results they will send to Washington, D.C., where Congress will meet on Jan. 6 to count all of the states’ electoral votes.
Trump won 312 electoral votes in this month’s election, well above the 270 required to win the presidency. Harris totaled 226 electoral votes.
by Dave Williams | Nov 21, 2024 | Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA – Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr Thursday became the first candidate to enter the race for governor in 2026.
The Republican said GOP victories in Georgia and across the nation two weeks ago have built momentum for his bid to succeed term-limited Gov. Brian Kemp.
“There’s a groundswell of support around the country for strong conservative leadership,” Carr said. “The time is now to prioritize better jobs, make our communities safer, and reverse the left’s failed immigration policies. I am and will remain committed to furthering these principles, just as I’ve done as your attorney general.”
While Carr is the first Republican to enter the gubernatorial race, he won’t be the last. Other likely candidates to succeed Kemp include Lt. Gov. Burt Jones and Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger.
Jones could have the inside track to gain the support of President-elect Donald Trump. While the lieutenant governor is a staunch Trump ally, the former president backed unsuccessful primary challenges to both Carr and Raffensperger in 2022.
Raffensperger’s refusal to “find” the 11,780 votes Trump needed to carry Georgia in 2020 following his defeat by Democrat Joe Biden in the Peach State garnered most of the attention. However, Carr also declined to take part in Trump’s efforts to overturn the election results.
On Thursday, Carr cited his work as attorney general to protect Georgia families from human trafficking, gang violence, and fentanyl. He also pointed to his role in making Georgia a business-friendly state while serving as commissioner of the state Department of Economic Development from 2013 until 2016.
Then-Gov. Nathan Deal appointed Carr attorney general in 2016. He won election to a full four-year term in 2018 and was reelected in 2022.
Before moving into state government, Carr served six years as chief of staff to U.S. Sen. Johnny Isakson.
