Georgia Trend Daily – June 18, 2020
June 18, 2020 Capitol Beat News
Georgia Power offers special payment plan as ban on disconnections nears end
Dave Williams reports that Georgia Power Co. is offering customers behind on their electric bills because of the coronavirus pandemic a chance to pay them back over time. Customers who enroll in the Atlanta-based utility’s special payment plan will be able to pay past-due balances over six months from October through next March with no late fees.
June 18, 2020 Georgia Trend – Exclusive!
Sustainable Georgia Roundup
Mary Ann DeMuth reports that Atlanta’s Emory University and Georgia Tech are actively working on initiatives to reclaim and reuse wastewater generated on the respective campuses. While uses for the treated wastewater differ, both institutions are focused on reducing water consumption, which will be increasingly important given the projected global population growth and effects of climate change.
June 18, 2020 Atlanta Journal-Constitution
What it’s like opening a business during a pandemic
Mary Welch reports, imagine all your life you dreamed of throwing the ultimate party. You spent years selecting the top suppliers; you researched your friends’ preferences. You rented a space, hired people to help, spent your life savings and waited anxiously for the big day. And no one came.
June 18, 2020 Saporta Report
Emory University’s 15,000-plus solar panels show commitment to net zero goals
David Pendered reports that Emory University’s decision to install more than 15,000 solar panels exemplifies the leadership role universities are able to take in the global effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, the founder of the company working on Emory’s project said Wednesday.
June 18, 2020 Rome News-Tribune
Relationship-focused rehabilitation: Accountability courts facing deep budget cuts
John Bailey reports that rehabilitation is an expensive venture, but those involved in Floyd County’s accountability courts would argue it’s much, much less expensive than incarceration. Floyd County’s three accountability courts have already taken cuts to their programs this year, Superior Court Judge Jack Niedrach said.
June 18, 2020 University of Georgia
Extension’s mobile farmers markets rolling again in metro Atlanta
Joshua Paine reports that mobile farmers markets are rolling again in metro Atlanta to continue serving fresh produce and delivering nutrition education to communities through curbside pickups and digital content through the summer.
June 18, 2020 WABE 90.1
Georgia Weighs Another Hemp Bill As New Industry Begins
Molly Samuel reports that this summer, Georgia farmers are legally planting hemp for the first time in decades after the federal and state governments moved to allow hemp production again. Soon, Georgia-grown CBD oil could be coming to store shelves.
June 18, 2020 GlobalAtlanta.com
Georgia’s Sen. Loeffler Aims to ‘BEAT China’ by Reshoring Medical, Drug Factories
Trevor Williams reports that a new bill introduced by Sen. Kelly Loeffler, R-Ga., would reward American firms that move medical manufacturing into the U.S. from overseas, a bid to reduce a perceived dependence on supplies of drugs and devices from overseas. The move is targeted at China and is one of many calls Washington for the U.S. to “decouple” the economies as their geopolitical rivalry heats up amid tiffs over the pandemic and growing trade tensions.
June 18, 2020 Georgia Trend – Exclusive!
Brunswick | Golden Isles: Strategic Reset
Betty Darby reports that it took a pandemic to derail the year-over-year records tourism was setting for Brunswick and the Golden Isles, but officials there are already talking about a recently freshened set of attractions and the potential contained in undeveloped resources as they anticipate recovery. “Tourism is a major industry here, and this won’t change despite what we’re going through,” says Scott McQuade, president and CEO of the Golden Isles Convention and Visitors Bureau.
June 18, 2020 GPB
Lt. Gov.’s Hate Crimes Proposal Sets Up Legislative Showdown
Stephen Fowler and Donna Lowry report that Republican Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan announced Wednesday the Senate’s version of a bill that would create a hate crimes statute in Georgia, setting up a tug-of-war with a House-backed measure that was passed more than a year ago. Duncan said the four-page Senate bill would go further than the House bill.
June 18, 2020 Gainesville Times
This law passed by the General Assembly would prevent surprise medical bills
Megan Reed reports that the Georgia Senate voted Wednesday, June 17 to approve legislation that would help patients avoid “surprise bills,” or unexpectedly high medical costs from receiving care from an out-of-network provider at an in-network facility.
June 18, 2020 Dalton Daily Citizen-News, CNHI
State Senate budget proposal limits furloughs, makes large cut to school funding
Riley Bunch reports that State Senate budget writers released a fiscal year 2021 budget on Wednesday that would reduce furloughs in priority state agencies but make a deep cut to school funding. Lawmakers returned to the Capitol on Monday with only one action required by law, finalize the fiscal year 2021 budget.
June 18, 2020 Georgia Recorder
Senate GOP unveils police reform bill that draws Democratic rebukes
Allison Stevens reports that Senate Republicans unveiled a police reform bill Wednesday that takes a markedly different approach to parallel efforts backed by congressional Democrats. The Senate GOP bill would give police departments incentives to ban chokeholds, increase the use of body cameras, improve training in de-escalation tactics and require that prior performance records be taken into greater account when making hiring decisions.
June 18, 2020 Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Bourdeaux gets key backup in bid to flip Georgia 7th
Greg Bluestein reports that Democrat Carolyn Bourdeaux is getting some timely reinforcements after sealing the party’s nomination in her second bid to flip a Republican-held suburban Atlanta district. Cheri Bustos of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee said Thursday that Bourdeaux was tapped to the group’s “Red to Blue” program that promises to steer resources to the Gwinnett-based district.
