Lawmakers target illegal immigrants after hearing from murder victim’s father
ATLANTA - The Georgia Senate passed two bills aimed at illegal immigration this week, one day after the father of murder victim Laken Riley urged lawmakers to take a tougher stand on the issue. The 22-year-old nursing student was killed on the University of Georgia...
Oxendine pleads guilty in health-care fraud scheme
John Oxendine ATLANTA - Former Georgia Insurance Commissioner and gubernatorial candidate John Oxendine pleaded guilty in federal court Friday to conspiracy to commit health-care fraud in a scheme involving the ordering of unnecessary medical tests. Oxendine, 61,...
CON overhaul gains final passage in General Assembly
ATLANTA - Legislation containing the most significant reforms in decades to Georgia's law governing hospital construction and new medical services is on its way to Gov. Brian Kemp. The General Assembly give final passage late Thursday to a bill loosening restrictions...
New effort emerges to stop mining near the Okefenokee Swamp
ATLANTA - Legislative efforts to block a proposed titanium mine near the Okefenokee Swamp have taken a new turn. The Georgia House of Representatives is expected to vote Tuesday on a bill declaring a three-year moratorium on acceptance of applications for dragline...
General Assembly sets new elections for PSC members
State Senate President Pro Tempore John Kennedy ATLANTA - Legislation setting a new election schedule for members of the Georgia Public Service Commission (PSC) cleared the General Assembly Thursday. The state Senate voted 43-9 to hold the election for the PSC's...
Georgia Senate panel OKs fiscal ’25 state budget
State Sen. Blake Tillery ATLANTA - Georgia Senate budget writers approved a $36.1 billion state budget Thursday with pay raises for state employees and public school teachers fueled by a bulging revenue surplus. The spending plan, which takes effect July 1, would...
Georgia employment keeps reaching new highs
Georgia Commissioner of Labor Bruce Thompson ATLANTA - Georgia's economy continued to reach all-time highs on a number of fronts last month, the state Department of Labor reported Thursday. While Georgia's unemployment rate remained steady at 3.1% in February, the...
State Senate panel narrowly rejects Medicaid expansion
State Sen. David Lucas ATLANTA - A plan by state Senate Democrats and some Republicans to fully expand Medicaid coverage in Georgia was shot down Thursday by the narrowest margin - a tie vote in a Senate committee. Sen. David Lucas, D-Macon, working with Sen. Matt...