Georgia Trend Daily – March 26, 2019
March 26, 2019 Georgia.gov
Patients First Act Headed to Kemp’s Desk
Staff reports, on Monday, the Georgia House of Representatives approved final passage of the Patients First Act (S.B. 106). In response, Governor Brian P. Kemp issued the following statement: “Today, with the passage of the Patients First Act, we are one step closer to lowering costs, increasing access, and improving the quality of healthcare for Georgia families. I thank Speaker Ralston, Lt. Governor Duncan, and members of the General Assembly for their bipartisan support of this landmark legislation.”
March 26, 2019 Georgia Trend – Exclusive!
Economy: Brunswick Benefits
Jeffrey Humphreys reports that Brunswick, the leisure and hospitality industry, the Port of Brunswick, the housing recovery and the in-migration of more new full- and part-time residents will power economic expansion in 2019. Employment will rise by 1.2 percent, or 500 jobs, well above the 300 jobs created last year.
March 26, 2019 Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Atlanta’s Cousins Properties to merge with Sun Belt competitor
Scott Trubey reports that Cousins Properties, one of Atlanta’s best-known developers and largest office landlords, on Monday announced it will merge with a Dallas-based rival in an all-stock deal set to create a nearly $6 billion real estate company by stock value. The combined company will retain the Cousins name and be based in Atlanta.
March 26, 2019 Atlanta Business Chronicle
Kia’s female workforce in Georgia making SUVs for Saudi Arabia’s first legal female drivers
Eileen Falkenberg-Hull reports that the Telluride’s arrival in the Kingdom marks an expansion to the Middle East for products made at Kia’s West Point, Georgia assembly plant.
March 26, 2019 GlobalAtlanta.com
Report: Tariffs Denting Positive Impact of Record Trade for Georgia
Trevor Williams reports, just a week after Georgia posted record trade numbers, an anti-tariff lobbying group has issued a report of its own suggesting that the economic boost could be offset by higher prices due to taxes on imports and exports.
March 26, 2019 Saporta Report
Oil drilling off Georgia’s coast an issue for Trump’s nominee for Interior secretary
David Pendered reports that the debate over oil exploration and drilling in federal waters off the Georgia coast, and much of the nation’s offshore waters, is likely to resume this week in a confirmation hearing for President Trump’s nominee to head the Department of the Interior. Many in Georgia are paying close attention to Thursday’s scheduled Senate confirmation hearing of Trump nominee David Bernhardt.
March 26, 2019 Savannah Morning News
Former Pooler mayor U.S. Rep. Buddy Carter at odds with city on offshore drilling
Mary Landers reports that resolutions opposing offshore drilling and seismic testing are moving through state and local governments, including a resolution that passed unanimously Monday in Pooler and twin resolutions making their way through the Georgia Senate and House of Representatives. But U.S. Rep. Buddy Carter, who began his political career on Pooler’s city council and served as mayor from 1996 to 2004 before being elected to the Georgia house and then senate, is unswayed by the opposition from his adopted hometown.
March 26, 2019 Gwinnett Daily Post
Woodall: Heavy rail ‘absolutely a hard sell’ for federal funding
Curt Yeomans reports that a heavy rail extension was a key part of plans to bring MARTA into Gwinnett, but U.S. Rep. Rob Woodall, R-Ga., said that may not have had much success with federal officials who dole out grants for transit projects. Woodall told the Daily Post on Friday that the anticipated time frame for extending rail from MARTA’s Doraville station to Jimmy Carter Boulevard would have hurt its chances in Washington.
March 26, 2019 Georgia Health News, Newnan Times-Herald
An epic, hectic day for health care legislation in Georgia
Andy Miller reports that the state House passed a high-profile bill Monday that would allow Gov. Brian Kemp to seek health care “waivers’’ from the federal government to expand and improve coverage in Georgia. And in another big vote, the Senate approved a bill to change Georgia’s controversial certificate-of-need system regulating medical providers.
March 26, 2019 Georgia Trend – Exclusive!
Make your 40 Under 40 nominations
Karen Kirkpatrick reports, each year Georgia Trend honors 40 of the state’s best and brightest under the age of 40. Whether you know someone who’s making a difference on the national stage or is a mover and shaker in his or her corner of the state, if they are under 40 years old as of Oct. 1, 2019, we want to hear about them.
March 26, 2019 Brunswick News
Sea Island exception removed from H.B. 445
Lauren MacDonald reports that the portion of House Bill 445 that included an exemption for the Sea Island spit was removed from the bill on Monday. Sen. William Ligon, R-White Oak, said Monday that a substitute bill was offered to the Senate Rules Committee and was unanimously adopted by the committee. The substitute bill did not include the exemption language regarding the Sea Island spit, a portion of beach-front land below the Cloister Hotel.
March 26, 2019 Rome News-Tribune
Voucher bill finds new life
John Popham reports that the Georgia Educational Scholarship Act — a measure that would divert public school funds to scholarships for private school students under certain conditions — has found new life through House Bill 68 which has been restructured to include the entire once dead Senate Bill 173. It is a legal move to attach a dead bill to one that has crossed over from one chamber of the Georgia General Assembly to the other as long as both bills fall under the same Georgia code.
March 26, 2019 11Alive, Atlanta Business Chronicle
Amazon, Coke execs. send letter opposing ‘heartbeat’ abortion bill
Dave Williams reports that a group of nearly 90 Georgia business professionals has sent a letter to the General Assembly opposing a controversial anti-abortion bill the Georgia Senate passed last Friday. The bill, which cleared the Republican-controlled Senate 34-18 along party lines, would be one of the strictest abortion laws in the nation. It has the backing of GOP Gov. Brian Kemp.
March 26, 2019 WABE 90.1
Republican Karen Handel Makes Bid To Flip Back Georgia’s 6th District
Jim Burress reports that Georgia’s 6th U.S. House District flipped last November, with Republican incumbent Karen Handel narrowly losing to Democrat Lucy McBath, a political newcomer. Now, Handel says she’s ready to flip the former Republican stronghold district back.
March 26, 2019 GPB
Kamala Harris Seeks ‘Justice’ On Presidential Campaign Trail In Georgia
Stephen Fowler reports that California U.S. Senator Kamala Harris campaigned in Atlanta Sunday, making public stops at two historic African-American institutions in her bid to become the Democratic nominee for president. At Ebenezer Baptist Church and Morehouse College, the former prosecutor and California Attorney General spoke on the theme of justice as she tried to make the case that she is best suited to defeat President Donald J. Trump in the 2020 election.
March 26, 2019 Atlanta Journal-Constitution
In surprise, Ga. hospitals could face new disclosure rules
Greg Bluestein and Ariel Hart report that Georgia lawmakers adopted Gov. Brian Kemp’s Medicaid waiver plan and boosted legislation that would overhaul hospital regulations. But a third move on Monday that got less attention could also set up sweeping changes to the healthcare system.
