Georgia Trend Daily – Feb. 3, 2021

Feb. 3, 2021 University of Georgia

Georgia Ag Forecast: 2021 offers opportunity for ‘rural to shine’

Josh Paine reports that the pandemic has put a strain on all sectors of the economy, and the agricultural and food industries were no exception. From supply chain disruptions that led to dumping milk and crops to increased consumer demand for plants, there were many ups and downs in 2020 markets.

Feb. 3, 2021 Georgia Trend – Exclusive!

2021 Georgia Legislative Guide

Ben Young and Christy Simo report that the 2021-2022 Georgia General Assembly session is underway and it’s a good time to know your lawmakers and the issues they’re likely to focus on this year. Our 2021 Legislative Guide will help you navigate the layers of state and regional government with its listing of the entire General Assembly, including 180 members in the House of Representatives and 56 in the Senate, plus statewide leaders and Georgia’s congressional delegation.

Feb. 3, 2021 Atlanta Journal-Constitution

UPS reports record revenue as pandemic fuels online orders

Kelly Yamanouchi reports, parcel delivery giant UPS reported $1.4 billion in net income for 2020, a challenging year that brought a surge in online shopping capped off with a hectic holiday shipping season and the start of vaccine deliveries.

Feb. 3, 2021 GlobalAtlanta.com

Georgia Should Invest in Its Biggest ‘Global Creative Export’: Music

Trevor Williams reports that the state that produced James Brown, the Allman Brothers, Ray Charles, Outkast and a litany of other great names should invest more in music, its biggest “cultural export.” That’s according to Tammy Hurt, managing partner of Placement Music and vice chair of the Recording Academy, who is helping lead the effort to build its GRAMMY Museum in Atlanta and lobbies through Georgia Music Partners for policymakers to better recognize the impact of music and the arts on the state’s economy.

Feb. 3, 2021 Albany Herald

Gray Television to acquire nine primarily Midwest TV stations

Staff reports that Gray Television Inc. has entered into an agreement to acquire nine TV stations from Quincy Media Inc. for $925 million in cash. The stations would give Gray a presence in a total of 102 markets representing 25.4% of U.S. households.

Feb. 3, 2021 The Current

After 50 years, Thiokol blast families seek to be remembered

Laura Corley reports, those killed and maimed weren’t wearing uniforms like the thousands of Georgians deployed aboard during the war. They were mostly poor, Black women who worked for $1.65 an hour assembling trip flares for the U.S. Army at the Thiokol Chemical Corp. munitions plant.

Feb. 3, 2021 Kennesaw University

KSU and Wellstar Health System announce exclusive $5 million endowment for honors nursing students

Staff reports that Kennesaw State University and Wellstar Health System announce the establishment of the Wellstar-Tom and Betty Phillips Elite Honors Nursing Scholarship, a new $5 million endowment that will create an opportunity for highly qualified undergraduate students to gain acceptance into the Wellstar School of Nursing as early as their freshman years.

Feb. 3, 2021 Rome News-Tribune

House committee to hear testimony about Rep. Greene Wednesday, proceedings to be streamed online

Diane Wagner reports that U.S. House Committee on Rules is scheduled to meet at 3 p.m. Wednesday to consider a resolution to strip Northwest Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of her committee assignments. The Rome Republican has come under fire in recent weeks as more of her controversial online activity has surfaced, and calls for her removal or censure grow louder each time she doubles down.

Feb. 3, 2021 Georgia Health News

State is years behind in reporting on Medicaid program quality

Rebecca Grapevine reports that Federal law requires states to update their plans for improving Medicaid health care quality at least every three years. Georgia, however, published its most recent quality plan in February 2016. It’s at least two years out of date.

Feb. 3, 2021 WABE 90.1

Kemp Introduces Legislation To Strengthen Georgia’s Teacher Pipeline

Martha Dalton reports that Gov. Brian Kemp introduced legislation aimed at beefing up Georgia’s teacher pipeline Tuesday. Kemp said the plan will help recruit, prepare, mentor and retain the best teachers across the state. One big change Kemp wants to make is to diversify the workforce.

Feb. 3, 2021 GPB

Republican lawmakers introduce multiple bills that would restrict absentee voting in Georgia

Stephen Fowler reports, after a failed attempt by some Republicans to overturn Georgia’s thrice-counted certified election results that gave President Joe Biden a victory, GOP lawmakers in the state Senate have filed a barrage of bills that would add more barriers to the ballot box for many voters. If all of the proposals announced by Senate Republican leadership Monday became law, future elections would look dramatically different.

Feb. 3, 2021 The Center Square

Georgia Department of Labor refutes claim it jeopardized state’s financial rating

Nyamekye Daniel reports that Georgia Department of Labor officials said claims the agency caused a delay that could harm the state’s financial rating are inaccurate. Sen. Steve Gooch, R-Dahlonega, said the state could be at risk of losing its AAA rating if the state auditor doesn’t receive additional documents from the Georgia Department of Labor (GDOL) to complete the state’s end-of-year comprehensive financial report.

Feb. 3, 2021 Capitol Beat News

Critics warn bill before General Assembly threatens local embrace of clean energy

Dave Williams reports that legislation environmental advocates fear would prohibit Georgia cities and counties from setting clean energy goals for their communities has been introduced in the General Assembly. Under House Bill 150, local governments in Georgia would not be allowed to adopt building codes based on the source of energy they use.

Feb. 3, 2021 Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Georgia’s $90 billion teacher pension system has seen big COVID recovery

James Salzer reports that next year’s state budget proposal includes an extra $66 million for Georgia’s massive teacher and university pension system to keep it on solid financial footing. But after not meeting its assumed rate of investment return in fiscal 2020 — which ended June 30 — the more than $90 billion Teachers Retirement System has made a strong recovery during the COVID-19 pandemic, as did the investment markets it relies on to make sure it can pay pensions to 137,000 former educators.