by Ty Tagami | May 16, 2025 | Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA – Georgians have had a long relationship with beer, an affection that grew during the pandemic before it started to unravel.
Now, many are attracted to a new and different product, something with intoxicating power but without the familiar downsides: hemp beverages.
Beer sales plummeted nationally and in Georgia after COVID-19 subsided. The golden liquid comprises two-fifths of state revenue from alcohol beverage taxes, and income from that tax had been bubbling up about 1% a year before the big lockdown. Then, during fiscal year 2020, which ended that July, four months into the pandemic, it fizzed up 4%. The next year, like a shaken can of beer, the sales tax exploded by nearly 10%, according to the Georgia Department of Revenue.
But sales flattened as the pandemic subsided, hitting negative territory starting in fiscal year 2023.
Breweries started closing, and Georgia was hit hard, said Matt Shirah, co-founder of Scofflaw Brewing in Atlanta.
“Smaller breweries with distribution are experiencing heavy double-digit declines,” he said.
Lawmakers even introduced a bill this winter called the “Georgia Craft Brewery Innovation and Survival Act.”
Observers cite many reasons for the shift away from beer, including a post-pandemic hangover, generational change, rising costs, and concerns about alcohol toxicity.
“I think that alcohol is kind of the tobacco of our generation,” said Ian Dominguez, a fund manager who has long invested in alcohol but is shifting to hemp products. He thinks hemp beverages are entering a period of tremendous growth.
“We think this category is going to be bigger than craft beer in 10 years,” he said. “I’ve never been as confident of something in my career.”
Hemp beverages had a global market valued at $1.16 billion in 2023, according to the industry trade publication Beverage Information Group, which reported projections of compound annual growth at 19.2% to 2030.
Canada and the United States are major markets, as is Europe and particularly Germany — that bastion of beer.
Last month, Shirah attended the International Cannabis Business Conference in Berlin, where industry representatives, policy makers and others from more than 80 countries were expected to attend. The organizers cited market research that had the overall cannabis market in Germany alone reaching $4.6 billion in less than a decade. Lawmakers legalized cannabis in that country last year.
Cannabis is not legal for general consumption in Georgia, but hemp is legal due to a 2018 federal law called the Agriculture Improvement Act.
As long as the intoxicating component known as tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, is 0.3% or less “on a dry weight basis,” it’s no longer considered a controlled substance.
Katherine Russell, policy director for the Georgia Department of Agriculture, told state lawmakers in March that she believed Congress wanted to open a legal lane for industrial hemp, for products such as Hempcrete or for flooring used in construction.
In doing so, federal lawmakers — and President Donald Trump, who signed the farm bill into law during his first term — opened what some are calling a loophole for cannabinoids, the intoxicating substance in the plant.
Subsequently, Georgia began passing laws to allow and to regulate the industry, with new rules coming online late last year.
In the interim, all sorts of hemp products of varying quality flooded Georgia convenience stores and other outlets.
Hemp and cannabis are essentially the same plant, as similar as an azalea and a dwarf azalea, Russell explained, adding that the intoxicating capacity of the plant can be controlled by practices such as the timing of the harvest and the admixture of other compounds, such as hexahydrocannabinol, or HHC, a semisynthetic analogue of THC.
“We’re dealing with an industry of entrepreneurs who are very creative thinkers,” Russell said. “We’ve seen people have novel responses to some of the regulations.”
Gary Long, CEO of a Georgia hemp consumables production company, said highly intoxicating products were getting dumped onto shelves by companies from outside Georgia during the period between the federal farm bill and Georgia’s new Hemp Farming Act, which took full effect last Oct. 1.
Before that, with little in the way of a regulatory framework, state enforcement of the federal limits was inconsistent, he said.
“There are products, or have been products, in our market in Georgia that have far exceeded the federal limits,” said Long, who started out as a licensed medical cannabis provider then, last year, opened ONE59, with a new 133,000-square-foot hemp production facility in Glennville. His products include hemp gummies, absorptive skin creams, and beverages aimed at consumers seeking transparency with ingredients.
“I think the Department of Agriculture is now enforcing the law much more readily than they were,” he said.
This winter, Georgia lawmakers had mixed reactions to the onslaught of hemp products. They unleashed a flurry of conflicting billsthat would have alternately promoted and suppressed the budding industry, including a bill from the Senate that would have banned hemp beverages altogether.
That bill died by the hands of Rep. Alan Powell, R-Hartwell, chairman of the House Regulated Industries Committee. Instead of substantial change, both the House and Senate settled on establishing a committee to review the subject. “We’re going to be studying this in depth this summer,” Powell said in March.
Jim Higdon, co-founder of Louisville-based Cornbread Hemp, which sells beverages, gummies, oils and related products, said something similar happened in the Kentucky legislature, where he said distillers used their clout in an attempt to kneecap his industry.
He said hemp advocates limited the impact by asking customers to contact their lawmakers about it.
Higdon thinks lawmakers will eventually embrace hemp for a simple reason. “The tax revenue potential for hemp beverages and hemp products writ large is significant,” he said.
“Wine and spirits are definitely against hemp beverages and want them to go away,” he added. “But the microbreweries and hemp beverages have a symbiotic relationship because what hemp beverages need is a good canning line, and these microbreweries have canning lines with capacity.”
Shirah said it was clear to him by 2023 that he had to pivot Scofflaw into hemp drinks.
“Hemp beverages will drive at least half of our revenue this year and at least two thirds of 2026 top line revenue, maybe more,” he said.
Scofflaw makes several THC-infused beverages, with Strawberry Lemonade and Sweet Tea Lemonade among the more popular items. Shirah said he is working on a hemp-infused, non-alcoholic, malt-based beverage.
Meanwhile, the Hemp Beverage Alliance is high on Georgia. Their national expo will be July 9-11 at the Omni Atlanta Hotel.
Minnesota was among the first states to embrace the hemp industry, and Christopher Lackner, the president of the alliance, said communities there have seen the benefits of the tax revenue. He said Georgia is primed to follow, despite the ban proposed during this year’s legislative session.
“Since the Georgia regulations and rules came in last year, we have all pegged Georgia as the next Minnesota, which is to say, the next hemp beverage marketplace,” he said. “So we’re very excited that this legislative session ended without a ban.”
by Dave Williams | May 16, 2025 | Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA – An eight-count federal court indictment unsealed in the Southern District of Georgia charges 30 alleged members of the Sex Money Murder (SMM) gang and associates with crimes including racketeering and murder.
The suspects were arrested in four Georgia cities – Savannah, Hinesville, Augusta and Atlanta – according to an indictment unsealed on Wednesday.
According to court records and testimony, the defendants trafficked large amounts of deadly drugs – including methamphetamine, cocaine, and heroin – throughout the Savannah area. They also are accused of taking part in sophisticated fraud schemes to obtain federal COVID-19 relief and unemployment benefits, causing a loss of more than $850,000.
The indictment also charges Byron Hopkins in the shooting death of a 19-year-old gang member who wanted to leave the gang.
“Today’s indictment is an important step in ending gang violence on our streets and in our prisons,” said Tara Lyons, acting U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Georgia. “My office will continuously work with our law enforcement partners to ensure public safety.”
According to court documents, Hopkins and other SMM members intercepted a 19-year-old man in February 2020 and took him to a rural residential neighborhood, where Hopkins shot him to death. The victim had reportedly expressed a desire to leave the gang after accusing Hopkins of having sex with a minor girl who became pregnant.
If convicted, the defendants face up to life in prison for the murder, up to life in prison for the racketeering conspiracy, and up to 30 years behind bars for wire fraud.
The case is being investigated by the FBI, the U.S. Department of Labor, the Army’s Criminal Investigation Division, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, the state Department of Corrections, and nine local law enforcement agencies.
The SMM gang is a subset of The Bloods, a gang that originated in Los Angeles in the early 1970s. From there, the gang spread to areas along the East Coast, including Georgia, where it operates inside and outside of prisons and jails.
by Ty Tagami | May 15, 2025 | Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA – As Georgia looks ahead to the 2026 elections, a court fight is still brewing over the election maps scheduled to be used.
The federal court of appeals in Atlanta heard three cases Thursday stemming from those early maps, which were drawn by state lawmakers in response to the decennial population count in 2020.
The outcome could influence the next elections, and it could inform future courts about how to interpret the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which prohibits race-based discrimination.
At issue is the way lawmakers responded to a district court’s order to redraw maps that were found to have discriminated against Black voters by diminishing their influence.
The court ordered the state to redo the maps so that more districts were majority Black.
The state redrew them, and the court approved the results, leading to the appeals by the American Civil Liberties Union and by numerous voters.
Lawyers in those three cases made many of the same points Thursday morning.
The plaintiffs argued that the state violated the federal election law by creating new Black majority districts by using Black voters from other Black majority districts or districts where white voters tended to vote with Black voters.
The state’s attorney countered that the law doesn’t prohibit that.
“Are there the right number of districts? Yes,” said Stephen J. Petrany, solicitor general for Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr. “Are they basically in the right area? Yes. That is the end of this case.”
Judge Adalberto Jordan, one of the three judges hearing the cases before the U.S. 11th Circuit Court of Appeals, pressed Petrany, saying the plaintiffs were asserting that the state’s remedy “completely excludes” the aggrieved Black voters who used to be part of a racial majority voting area but were now in the minority, by creating new Black-majority districts with other Black voters.
Petrany said not all Black voters were so moved and that it wouldn’t be illegal if they had been.
Abha Khanna, arguing for the plaintiffs in two of the cases — Coakley Pendergrass et. al. v. Georgia Secretary of State and Annie Grant et. al. v. Georgia Secretary of State — said the state was moving voters around on a board without changing the game.
“In the Grant case, there are 185,000-plus Black voters who have suffered a vote dilution injury,” she said, meaning they were shifted into a white-majority area that was unlikely to elect Black candidates while other Black voters in a Black-majority voting district were moved to a new district with a Black majority.
“It was a shell game,” she said.
Ari Savitzky of the ACLU argued for the plaintiffs in the third case, Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. v. Georgia Secretary of State. He said the district court failed to do due diligence on the remediation maps.
He alleged that the state simply re-labeled districts and that the district judge accepted them on their face.
“The district court fundamentally didn’t look at these numbers,” Savitzky said.
It is unclear when the appeals court will issue decisions. Judge Jordan said there would be no ruling until another case also pending in the appellate court is decided. That is the case that led to the remediation maps.
Although the state lost that first round and then redrew the maps, it also appealed that court loss.
It’s unclear whether any of these decisions will be made in time to affect next year’s elections.
by Dave Williams | May 15, 2025 | Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA – The University System of Georgia Board of Regents approved a $70 million plan Thursday to renovate Bobby Dodd Stadium on the Midtown Atlanta campus of Georgia Tech.
The project, to be funded by the Georgia Tech Athletic Association, will create a new premium level of seating on the stadium’s west sideline, replacing the existing president’s lounge and entry lobby with a 7,700-square-foot Founder’s Club featuring 124 seats.
The west sideline renovations also will include eight new Founder’s Suites and eight new elevated suites, plus renovations to 16 existing suites, press operations, and food service.
Fifteen suites on the east sideline will be renovated, as will the Field Club lounge measuring 20,000 square feet. The plan also calls for creating a new Speakeasy Club.
Ten existing suites in the north endzone also are slated for upgrades. Work in the south endzone will involve renovations to three suites, a relocated press area, and booths for security, radio, statistics, and flexible use.
Upgrades to general seating will include new chairback seating throughout the bowl except in the student areas. New video boards will be added at the south end and northwest corner of the stadium.
The project will cost an estimated $39.7 million to build, while $18 million will go toward equipment. The work will be done between the end of the 2026 football season and the start of the 2027 season.
by Dave Williams | May 15, 2025 | Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA – Georgia Senate Majority Leader Steve Gooch will seek the Republican nomination to run for lieutenant governor next year.
Gooch, R-Dahlonega, announced his candidacy Wednesday in a press release, describing himself as “unapologetically pro-life, pro-Second Amendment, and pro-school choice.”
“Georgia deserves bold leadership that will stand up to the insanity of the Democrat Party, protect our families from the invasion of criminal illegal aliens and keep our economy vibrant and strong,” Gooch said. “I see a Georgia that is the gold standard for our great country — a state that leads the way in securing our borders, stopping violent crime, abolishing the state income tax, and defending the values that make America great.”
The 2026 lieutenant governor’s race is expected to draw a crowded field of candidates looking to succeed Lt. Gov. Burt Jones, who is expected to vacate the post to run for governor.
Gooch was elected to the state Senate in 2010 after serving as a member of the State Transportation Board and in Lumpkin County government. His Republican colleagues elected him majority leader in 2022 after he previously served as majority whip and chairman of the Senate Transportation Committee.
Gooch holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration from North Georgia College and State University (now known as the University of North Georgia) as well as a master’s degree in public administration. He owns an environmental services company in Dahlonega.
by Dave Williams | May 15, 2025 | Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA – Georgia’s unemployment rate held steady at 3.6% last month for the 11th consecutive month, the state Department of Labor reported Thursday.
The jobless rate in the Peach State remained six-tenths lower than the national unemployment rate.
“This sustained economic success supporting a globally competitive labor force of over 5 million is a testament to the collaboration between our state government, business leaders, and communities,” Georgia Commissioner of Labor Barbara Rivera Holmes said. “Great economies are built on great partnerships, and Georgia continues to prove that a jobs-first approach benefits everyone.”
The number of jobs in Georgia rose by 3,700 in April to 4.98 million. The job sectors posting the most gains during the month were accommodation and food services, with an increase of 3,500 jobs, and transportation and warehousing, which gained 3,100.
The largest declines occurred in the information sector, which lost 4,000 jobs in April. Professional, scientific and technical services declined by 2,700 jobs.
Several key jobs indicators lost ground in April. The state’s labor force fell by 3,992 to 5.38 million. The number of employed Georgians decreased by 3,628 to nearly 5.19 million.
Initial unemployment claims rose by 2,610 last month to 21,906.
