by Dave Williams | Aug 26, 2024 | Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA – The state Department of Education (DOE) laid the groundwork for the Georgia Early Literacy Act during the past school year.
Now, it’s time to implement legislation the General Assembly passed last year aimed at improving the quality of early reading instruction, Amy Denty, the DOE’s literacy director, told members of the Georgia Council on Literacy Monday.
The work got underway this summer with a requirement that all Georgia students in kindergarten through the third grade be screened for reading proficiency by Aug. 1, Denty said during the council’s meeting on the campus of Georgia College & State University in Milledgeville.
Under House Bill 538, which the legislature passed with only one “no” vote, students who are identified as falling behind in reading will receive an individual reading improvement plan within 30 days of being identified followed by intensive reading intervention until they catch up.
“The more quickly we can determine a child’s deficit, the quicker we can intervene,” Denty said.
The legislation also contains a teacher training component. By next July, the bill requires all K-3 teachers to complete a state-approved literacy training program. The emphasis will be on “the science of reading” – a method of literacy instruction that draws on evidence from psychology and neuroscience and includes phonics.
“Teaching reading is the most complex thing we do in our schools,” Denty said. “We are placing a lot on the plates of our teachers. (But) I believe our teachers can step up to this.”
Legislative Republicans made improving literacy in Georgia a major priority of their agenda for the 2023 General Assembly session, citing statistics showing not a single school district in the state had an acceptable percentage of third-grade students reading on level.
The news got worse this year. The 2023-24 Georgia Milestones test results released last month showed English/language arts proficiency declined by one point among the state’s third graders.
Allison Timberlake, the DOE’s deputy superintendent for assessment and accountability, attributed the decline to lingering effects of the pandemic, when many schools were closed and students were forced to rely on online instruction.
by Dave Williams | Aug 26, 2024 | Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA – Georgia Democrats called on Republican Gov. Brian Kemp Monday to remove three GOP members of the State Election Board for approving “11th-hour” changes to state elections laws they say could disrupt the November elections.
The board has adopted rules changes in recent weeks that, among other things, would empower local election officials to delay or refuse to certify election results. Democrats say that could sow chaos and uncertainty following the Nov. 5 elections and pave the way for former President Donald Trump to capture Georgia’s 16 electoral votes, even if Vice President Kamala Harris has won more votes.
“What is unfolding in Georgia is nothing less than an effort to subvert democracy and move us backward,” U.S. Rep. Lucy McBath, D-Marietta, said Monday during a news conference at the state Capitol. “We must not allow our State Election Board to be taken over by Donald Trump.”
“This is not just unethical. It’s illegal,” added state Sen. Nabilah Islam Parkes, D-Duluth, who filed a formal complaint last week asking that board members Janice Johnston, Rick Jeffares, and Janelle King be removed from the board. “Their actions undermine the will of the people.”
One of the groups that has advocated the rules changes, VOTERGA, released a statement Monday arguing that none of the rules changes conflict with state law.
“We have led the election integrity movement in Georgia for over 17 years and believe it is important to distinguish the difference between Georgia election law and political theater,” said Garland Favorito, a co-founder of the group.
Democrats are asking Kemp to refer the complaint to the State Office of Administrative Hearings, which would appoint an administrative law judge to hear the case for removal.
A spokesman for Kemp said Monday the governor has received letters calling for removing the three board members.
“Due to uncertainty regarding whether this office has authority to act under Code Section 45-10-4 in response to these complaints, we have sought the attorney general’s advice regarding the application of the statute to the letters,” Garrison Douglas wrote in an email. “We will respond following receipt of this advice and further evaluation of the letters.”
by Dave Williams | Aug 23, 2024 | Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA – The state agency that runs Georgia Medicaid is going all out to increase enrollment in Gov. Brian Kemp’s limited Medicaid expansion initiative beyond the paltry numbers who signed up during its first year.
The Georgia Department of Community Health (DCH) launched a $10.7 million ad campaign this month to call attention to the Georgia Pathways program, complete with a new website (pathways.georgia.gov) that explains the initiative, who is eligible to sign up, and how to apply.
Georgia Pathways provides Medicaid coverage to Georgians with household incomes up to 100% of the federal poverty level, $15,060 for an individual and $31,200 for a family of four. Full-blown Medicaid expansion under the federal Affordable Care Act (ACA), which 40 states have adopted, covers those with incomes up to 138% of the poverty level.
While Georgia Democrats and health-care advocates have long pushed for full-blown Medicaid expansion, Kemp said the purpose of his more limited program is to transition low-income Georgians from Georgia Pathways to Georgia Access, a program that provides insurance coverage through the private sector.
“The goal of Georgia Pathways is not – and has never been – to keep hundreds of thousands of Georgians on government-run health care forever,” the governor said Aug. 19 during a roundtable discussion updating his administration’s efforts to expand access to health insurance coverage. “Georgia Pathways was meant to be exactly that – a pathway to an education, a job, a career, and a better life without government assistance.”
Pathways, launched in July of last year, has struggled mightily. As of early June, the program had enrolled only about 4,300 Georgians, far below the 25,000 the DCH had anticipated for the first year.
Georgia Commissioner of Community Health Russel Carlson blamed the low numbers on delays in rolling out Pathways. The Biden administration initially rejected the program because it requires enrollees to spend at least 80 hours per month on work-related activities, which can include a job, education and job training.
“We lost about two years,” Carlson said.
The state went to court and won the right to undertake the Pathways initiative. But by the time the DCH was able to begin implementing the program, Georgia and other states were in the midst of “redetermination.”
The federal government prohibited disenrolling any Medicaid recipients during the COVID pandemic. When the national public health emergency was declared at an end in April of last year, states began the complicated process of reassessing eligibility for Medicaid coverage.
“That was a tremendous strain on the system,” Carlson said.
The state has had a lot more success with Georgia Access. Kemp said private health coverage through Georgia Access gives enrollees more options than Medicaid and offers health-care providers better reimbursement rates.
The program also has led to an increase in the number of insurance companies offering coverage in Georgia, which has driven premiums down an average of 11% statewide and 29% in rural areas, the governor said.
Enrollment in Georgia Access has grown from 460,000 five years ago to more than 1.3 million, including 400,000 Georgians previously on Medicaid, Kemp said.
But supporters of a full-blown Medicaid expansion say the state still is missing about 240,000 Georgians in the “coverage gap,” who do not qualify for Medicaid coverage and do not earn enough to qualify for federal tax credits to help pay for private insurance.
“We cheer the meaningful increases in private health insurance enrollment among Georgians,” said Laura Colbert, executive director of Georgians for a Healthy Future. “But that does not resolve the larger issue at hand. Hundreds of thousands of Georgians remain uninsured and without meaningful access to health care until Georgia leaders fully close our state’s coverage gap.”
A newly created state commission looking for ways to improve health-care access and quality for low-income uninsured Georgians is expected to consider fully expanding Medicaid through the ACA as an option. However, with the Kemp administration committed to a “Georgia-centric” approach that emphasizes private health coverage, the Medicaid expansion alternative isn’t expected to make much headway.
by Dave Williams | Aug 23, 2024 | Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA – Georgia will receive $1.15 million in federal funds to help schools and child-care centers reduce lead in drinking water.
The Georgia funding is part of a $26 million allocation nationwide by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, which will be used by 55 states, the District of Columbia and U.S. territories.
“The science is clear: There is no safe level of exposure to lead,” said Bruno Pigott, the EPA’s acting assistant administrator for water. “This $26 million will help protect our children from the harmful impacts of lead.”
The EPA also is investing $15 billion to remove lead pipes and is helping local communities develop and put in place lead pipe replacement projects.
While children are especially susceptible to harm from lead, most states haven’t done enough to safeguard their schools’ water, according to an analysis by the Environment Georgia Research & Policy Center.
“For far too long, testing has been the main approach to lead in water,” said Jennette Gayer, the center’s director. “Yet, lead concentrations in water are so highly variable that even taps where no lead is detected can be highly hazardous.
“It is crucial that Georgia officials use that (EPA) funding on actions that will actually get the lead out – such as installing filters and replacing old fountains with new water stations at school.”
by Dave Williams | Aug 23, 2024 | Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA – The Justice Department is suing Georgia Tech and the Georgia Tech Research Corp. for failing to follow cybersecurity requirements governing federal contracts.
The federal lawsuit follows a whistleblower suit current and former members of the university’s cybersecurity team brought against the school and its research corporation.
The complaint alleges that at least since 2019, Georgia Tech has had no enforcement mechanisms in place for contracts with the Defense Department. Instead, the university routinely gave in to the demands of “star researchers” who were treated like “star quarterbacks” because they were bringing in large government contracts.
Specifically, the lawsuit claims the Astrolavos Lab at Georgia Tech failed to develop and implement a required system security plan setting out cybersecurity requirements. Even when Astrolavos did implement a plan, it fell short of including all covered laptops, desktops, and servers.
Additionally, the lab failed to install, update, or operate anti-virus or anti-malware tools on desktops, laptops, servers, and networks. Georgia Tech and its research corporation then submitted a fraudulent cybersecurity assessment score to the feds, the suit alleges.
“Cybersecurity compliance by government contractors is critical in safeguarding U.S. information and systems against threats by malicious actors,” said Ryan Buchanan, U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Georgia. “For this reason, we expect contractors to abide by cybersecurity requirements in their contracts and grants, regardless of the size or type of the organization or the number of contracts involved.”
Georgia Tech disputed the allegations in a statement, arguing the lawsuit is “entirely off base” and vowing to defend the university’s position in court.
“This case has nothing to do with confidential information or protected government secrets,” the university stated. “The government told Georgia Tech that it was conducting research that did not require cybersecurity restrictions, and the government itself publicized Georgia Tech’s groundbreaking research findings. In fact, in this case, there was no breach of information, and no data leaked.”
by Dave Williams | Aug 22, 2024 | Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA – The Georgia Board of Community Health approved a $5.7 billion budget request for fiscal 2026 Thursday for the agency that runs the state’s Medicaid program.
That represents a $347 million increase over the Department of Community Health’s (DCH) current spending plan, which took effect last month.
While Georgia’s aged, blind, and disabled populations account for the largest number of Medicaid enrollees, most of the spending increase – $287 million – would go toward low-income Medicaid recipients, primarily women and children.
The DCH is projecting a significant increase in Medicaid enrollment later this year and next year with the end of the federal redetermination process, Joe Hood, the agency’s chief operating officer, told board members Thursday.
The federal government prohibited disenrolling any Medicaid recipients during the COVID pandemic. When the national public health emergency was declared at an end in April of last year, states began reassessing eligibility for Medicaid coverage.
As a result, Medicaid enrollment in Georgia declined. However, a surge in enrollment is expected to start later this fiscal year moving into fiscal 2026, which takes effect next July.
“Enrollment is what is really driving our budget request,” Hood said.
The fiscal 2026 budget request board members approved Thursday also includes increases for nursing home operations and prescription drugs.
The DCH will submit the proposed spending plan to the Governor’s Office of Planning and Budget later this year. Gov. Brian Kemp will present his budget recommendations to the General Assembly in January.
