Georgia Trend Daily – Jan. 11, 2021
Jan. 11, 2021 Capitol Beat News
Georgia ends calendar year with strong tax revenue numbers
Dave Williams reports that Georgia lawmakers will begin the 2021 General Assembly session on Monday fresh off some positive news. State tax collections rose by 7.7% last month compared to December of 2019, the Georgia Department of Revenue reported late Friday.
Jan. 11, 2021 Georgia Trend – Exclusive!
Bringing food and healthcare to Georgians
Mary Ann DeMuth reports, as the COVID-19 pandemic continues, more Georgians than ever find themselves in need of food and healthcare services. MUST Ministries, a Marietta nonprofit dedicated to helping homeless and struggling individuals and families, has provided more than 1.7 million pounds of food to those in need since the pandemic began.
Jan. 11, 2021 Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Unemployment claims increase as many await federal help
Michael E. Kanell reports that new jobless claims jumped 65% in Georgia in the past week as the pandemic’s slow recovery stretched into 2021. More than 31,000 people filed initial jobless claims for the week ending Jan. 2, joining roughly half-million people already out of work.
Jan. 11, 2021 Savannah Morning News
Parker’s establishes the The Parker’s Community Fund with $20M donation
Katie Nussbaum reports, continuing the company’s commitment to the community, Parker’s has announced the formation of the The Parker’s Community Fund, which will be administered through the Savannah Community Foundation. The fund is made possible by a $20 million donation from the Savannah-based convenience store company.
Jan. 11, 2021 GlobalAtlanta.com
With $100M Raise, Atlanta’s Newest Unicorn Eyes International Expansion
Trevor Williams reports that SalesLoft may be born and bred in Atlanta, but the nine-year-old sales engagement software provider that just became the city’s newest unicorn is looking beyond U.S. borders to bolster its already impressive growth. SalesLoft announced Thursday it had raised a $100 million Series E round led by Owl Rock Capital, bringing its total private funding raised to nearly a quarter-billion dollars and valuing it at $1.1 billion.
Jan. 11, 2021 Brunswick News
Leak in barge barrier leads to fuel sheen on East River
Larry Hobbs reports that oily sediment leaked into the East River this week through a crack in the pollution protection barrier on the barge 455-8, which holds the severed stern of the shipwrecked Golden Ray at the Mayor’s Point docks in Brunswick, according to Unified Command. Someone reported a possible oil leak on the river Wednesday night, using the National Response Center hotline that Unified Command disseminates for just such instances, said Coast Guardsman Michael Himes, spokesman for Unified Command.
Jan. 11, 2021 Augusta Chronicle
Bill splitting Augusta Judicial Circuit, changing city government headed to General Assembly
Susan McCord reports that Augusta could get a lot of discussion in the Georgia General Assembly when it convenes, with a bill splitting the judicial circuit reported to be imminent and a discussion of changing the Consolidation Act – and commissioner pay raises – on the horizon. Also forthcoming is redistricting Augusta Commission and school board, state House and Senate and congressional seats based on the 2020 census, officials said at a joint meeting Thursday of the commission and members of the Augusta legislative delegation.
Jan. 11, 2021 Athens Banner-Herald
Watkinsville mayor: Break from Athens, create new judicial circuit
Wayne Ford reports that Watkinsville Mayor Bob Smith recently sent a letter to three area members of the General Assembly proposing that Oconee County break away from the Western Judicial Circuit to form its own circuit, which he labeled the “Oconee North Circuit.” The Western Circuit comprises Oconee and Athens-Clarke counties.
Jan. 11, 2021 Georgia Recorder
Annual legislative suppers, breakfasts to start session with digital socializing
Stanley Dunlap reports that the COVID-19 pandemic means changes to some of the signature annual events that typically mark the start of a new legislative session as lawmakers return to the state Capitol this week. Often the governor and other top state leaders kick off their legislative agenda at the Georgia Chamber of Commerce’s breakfast at the Georgia World Congress Center.
Jan. 11, 2021 The Center Square
Georgia lawmaker seeks more transparency in developing tax-incentive proposals
Nyamekye Daniel reports that a Georgia lawmaker is pushing for more transparency in tax-incentive proposals for developers ahead of the upcoming legislative session. Rep. Mary Margaret Oliver, D-Decatur, has pre-filed a legislative package that would allow local governments and school systems to be involved in the development of annexation and tax-abatement plans.
Jan. 11, 2021 Gainesville Times
Lawmakers to use first session to prepare for reapportionment, redistricting later this year
Jeff Gill reports that the decennial ritual of redrawing district lines for future elections may not be the only issue on lawmakers’ plates during a special legislative session later this year, as it’s possible the legislature’s regular session may be cut short. The regular session, beginning Monday, Jan. 11, could be shortened out of concerns over COVID-19, which could mean other items that didn’t make the cut could be added to the list in the later session, in addition to redistricting and reapportionment, said state Sen. Butch Miller, R-Gainesville, president pro tempore of the Georgia Senate.
Jan. 11, 2021 Capitol Beat News
Voting laws, criminal justice reform highlight 2021 General Assembly agenda
Dave Williams reports that legislative leaders are promising to tackle two issues that dominated the news in Georgia and across the nation when the 2021 General Assembly session kicks off on Monday. Weeks of protests and legal challenges sparked by President-elect Joe Biden’s razor-thin victory over President Donald Trump in Georgia and other battleground states have prompted a call for changes to voting laws in Georgia, including restrictions on mail-in voting.
Jan. 11, 2021 The Current
Carter: Objection to Biden certification was about state process, not Trump
Margaret Coker reports that U.S. Rep. Buddy Carter tried to distance himself Thursday from what he described as an attack by a “few” on the U.S. Capitol and insisted that the violence was divorced from his own objections to the 2020 election, despite both being based on spurious allegations of widespread fraud.
Jan. 11, 2021 Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Senate runoffs reshape Georgia politics as lawmakers look to session, next election
Greg Bluestein reports that Georgia lawmakers return to the Capitol on Monday with Democrats on a stunning winning streak, years in the making, that helped oust President Donald Trump from the White House and capped with a sweep of last week’s runoffs that flipped control of the U.S. Senate.
