Georgia Trend Daily – Feb. 13, 2023
Feb. 13, 2023 Georgia.gov
January Net Tax Revenues Up 1.1 Percent
Staff reports that the State of Georgia’s net tax collections for January totaled nearly $2.99 billion for an increase of $32.9 million, or 1.1 percent, compared to January 2022 when net tax collections totaled $2.95 billion. Year-to-date, net tax collections totaled roughly $18.81 billion for an increase of almost $1 billion, or 5.6 percent, compared to FY 2022 when revenues totaled $17.81 billion at the end of January 2022.
Creating a Collaborative Mindset: Said Sewell, director of the AUCC’s Office of Academics, Research and Student Success
Photo: Ben Rollins
Feb. 13, 2023 Georgia Trend – Exclusive!
Engineering a Better World
Michele Cohen Marill reports that the phone call seemed to come out of nowhere. The city of Los Angeles Public Works wanted to know if Morehouse College senior Chase Garrison was interested in helping analyze an engineering problem.
Feb. 13, 2023 Atlanta Journal Constitution
Developer sought to breathe life into MARTA’s Garnett Station
Zachary Hansen reports that city officials are searching for a developer to transform MARTA’s Garnett Station in south downtown Atlanta into a gathering place with new housing options. Invest Atlanta has issued a request for proposals (RFP) on behalf of the city to find a company to redevelop land adjacent to the station, located near the intersection of Forsyth and Peachtree streets.
Feb. 13, 2023 Macon Telegraph
Georgia Power facing lawsuits over pollution concerns connected to Juliette’s Plant Scherer
Gautama Mehta reports that as Georgia Power prepares to shutter a massive Middle Georgia coal power plant over the next decade, it also faces several lawsuits from residents over the plant’s impact on their drinking water. Two lawsuits are expected to be heard in Monroe County courtrooms, where local juries and judges will have to weigh pollution concerns lodged against one of the county’s largest employers.
Feb. 13, 2023 GlobalAtlanta.com
Atlanta’s ‘French Tech’ Designation Renewed for Three Years
Trevor Williams reports that the French government’s stamp of approval for Atlanta as a tech hub was renewed for another three years this week, providing a fresh boost to efforts to woo startups and scale-ups from the country. The “La French Tech” designation, bestowed by France’s economic ministry on 67 communities around the world, serves as a signal that the local technology ecosystem is sufficiently hospitable to French firms.
Feb. 13, 2023 The Center Square
Georgia officials award $150.3M worth of transportation projects
T.A. DeFeo reports that the Georgia Department of Transportation awarded 31 projects valued at more than $150.3 million in December. The largest single investment was a roughly $16 million award to E.R. Snell Contractor.
Feb. 13, 2023 Marietta Daily Journal
County to spend $98M of federal stimulus funds, including $7M for south Cobb clinic
Chart Riggall reports that the Cobb Board of Commissioners has, for nearly a year, been mulling how to spend tens of millions of dollars it received courtesy of the federal American Rescue Plan Act. Next week, the board is expected to vote on allocating the vast majority of that COVID-19 relief money — roughly $98 million — to an array of infrastructure projects, public safety initiatives, nonprofit partners, and more.
Feb. 13, 2023 Georgia Recorder
Georgia joins trend of GOP-controlled states pushing legislation restricting gender-affirming care
Ross Williams reports that the Georgia Legislature has joined the surge of GOP-controlled states to seek to restrict doctors’ ability to provide gender-affirming care to transgender minors, even with parental permission. A bill filed Thursday by Gwinnett Republican Sen. Clint Dixon would restrict health care providers from prescribing puberty blocking drugs or sex hormones or performing surgery or procedures that “remove any healthy or non-diseased body part or tissue.”
Feb. 13, 2023 Rome News-Tribune
After months of questions, Congressional office in Rome quietly closes
John Bailey reports that Rome’s congressional office in the federal building downtown quietly closed without much fanfare near the end of 2022. For months prior to the closing of the Rome office, repeated questions to the staff of 14th District Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene about plans for the office went unanswered.
Feb. 13, 2023 The Brunswick News
Carter cosigns letter to FDA seeking better naloxone access
Hank Rowland reports that Coastal Georgia’s delegate in Congress and an Iowa Republican are asking the federal government to allow a drug that counters overdoses to be available over the counter. U.S. Reps. Buddy Carter, R-1, and Mariannette Miller-Meeks, R-Iowa, have co-authored a letter to Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Robert Califf calling for the FDA to make naloxone available without a prescription.
Feb. 13, 2023 Valdosta Daily Times, CNHI News
Judge won’t unseal cannabis documents
Asia Ashley reports that a look into the Georgia cannabis commission’s criteria for selecting medical cannabis licenses is still encountering roadblocks as a judge denied a motion to unseal the commission’s records. Upon the request by the Georgia Access to Medical Cannabis Commission, Administrative Law Judge Stephanie Howells in June ordered that the Commission’s matters be designated confidential.
Feb. 13, 2023 Capitol Beat News
Rising sales, corporate taxes in Georgia mask drop in income taxes
Dave Williams reports that Georgia tax collections rose slightly last month, as a decline in individual income tax receipts was offset by gains in sales and corporate income tax revenue. The state Department of Revenue brought in nearly $3 billion in January, up 1.1% over January of last year.
Feb. 13, 2023 Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The Jolt: With Shafer out, the battle for Georgia GOP chief begins
Patricia Murphy, Greg Bluestein and Tia Mitchell report that David Shafer’s decision not to seek another term as Georgia GOP chair after a tortured tenure sets up a wide-open battle to replace him — and a larger debate over the future of the beleaguered organization. Under Shafer’s watch, the state GOP’s influence withered badly.
