Georgia Trend Daily – April 17, 2023
April 17, 2023 Georgia.gov
March Net Tax Revenues Decline 3%
Staff reports that the State of Georgia’s net tax collections for March totaled almost $2.68 billion, for a decrease of nearly $83 million or -3 percent, compared to March 2022, when net tax collections totaled $2.76 billion. Year-to-date, net tax collections totaled nearly $23.61 billion, for an increase of roughly $1.09 billion or 4.8 percent, compared to last year, when net tax revenues totaled $22.52 billion at the end of the third quarter.
April 17, 2023 Georgia Trend – Exclusive!
Where Education and Employment Intersect
Patty Rasmussen reports that the Technical College System of Georgia (TCSG) inhabits the space where two critically important priorities intersect – education and workforce development. And as economic development investment poured into Georgia, creating as many as 17,500 new jobs in the first half of Fiscal Year 2023 according to the Georgia Department of Economic Development, the state recognized the need to do some investing of its own.
April 17, 2023 Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Size of looming rate hike for Georgia Power customers comes into focus
Drew Kann reports that Georgia Power and Georgia Public Service Commission (PSC) staff have reached a tentative agreement to raise customers’ rates dramatically as soon as June 1 to cover the cost of the coal, gas and nuclear fuel used in its power plants. According to the framework filed Thursday, Georgia Power appears likely to receive most of what it asked for in its initial “fuel cost recovery” request filed February 28.
April 17, 2023 GPB
UGA scientists aim to adapt pecan trees to survive climate change
Devon Zwald and Sarah Kallis report that an international team of researchers, including four at the University of Georgia, are looking for ways to adapt one of Georgia’s top commodities: pecans. The adaptations aim to help the plant survive a changing climate.
April 17, 2023 The Brunswick News
EPA says no cause for concern in air after massive Pinova fire
Michael Hall reports that the Environmental Protection Agency said Sunday there was no cause for public concern about air pollution from the fire at Pinova on Saturday that prompted an evacuation order around the facility and a shelter-in-place order on St. Simons Island. The Glynn County Emergency Management Agency said in a statement on Sunday afternoon that the EPA distributed seven air monitors around the perimeter of the polyterpene resin plant that measured air quality overnight Saturday.
April 17, 2023 GlobalAtlanta.com
Trans Globe Named Small Business Association Exporter of the Year in Georgia
Trevor Williams reports that Metro Atlanta-based Trans Globe LLC, a trader of agricultural commodities like food and feed, has been recognized by the U.S. Small Business Administration as the 2023 exporter of the year for the organization’s Georgia district office. Based in Woodstock, Trans Globe has steadily grown its exports, the lifeblood of its business, since its founding in 2017.
April 17, 2023 Marietta Daily Journal
Cobb lawmaker sounds alarm on changes to Medicaid
Caleb Groves reports that State Rep. Lisa Campbell, D-Kennesaw, joined a Georgia think tank to discuss the reassignment of thousands of Georgians’ eligibility for Medicaid at Kennesaw State University this week. The think tank argued that the government is not doing enough to communicate to Georgians that their health care coverage may soon change
April 17, 2023 Albany Herald
State prison near Pelham expected to close for a year of more for renovations
Alan Mauldin reports that the Georgia Department of Corrections is closing Jimmy Autry State Prison in Mitchell County to make repairs that are expected to take a year or more. All of the inmates at the facility will be moved to other prisons during that time, Mitchell County Commission Chairman Hayward, who was notified of the closing on Friday morning, said.
April 17, 2023 The Current
Covid’s over but county jails still profit from virtual communication
Jake Shore reports that hundreds of people jailed and awaiting trial in Chatham County pay $8 for a 20-minute video call. A text message the length of a tweet from detainees in the Liberty County jail costs close to a dollar.
April 17, 2023 Valdosta Daily Times, CNHI News
Bill would reduce foster care numbers
Asia Ashley reports that efforts to reform Georgia’s foster care system and reduce the number of children housed in hotels and offices were among the top bipartisan successes during the 2023 legislative session. One of the most crucial bills, Senate Bill 133, seeks to reform how children enter foster care, stemming from “inconsistencies in different courts in the state” in placing a child into the custody of Department of Children and Family Services, the bill’s sponsor, Sen. Brian Strickland, a McDonough Republican, said.
April 17, 2023 Capitol Beat News
Federal judge blocks new EPA water-protection rule in Georgia and 23 other states
Rebecca Grapevine reports that a federal district court judge in North Dakota has temporarily blocked the operation of a new federal rule in 24 states about what water bodies the federal government can regulate. The ruling comes in response to a lawsuit filed by the attorneys general of 24 states about the definition of the term “waters of the United States,” or WOTUS, under the federal Clean Water Act. Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr helped lead the lawsuit.
April 17, 2023 Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The Jolt: Billionaire-purchased property belongs to Clarence Thomas’ mother
Patricia Murphy, Greg Bluestein and Tia Mitchell report that a modest residential street in Savannah is at the center of the latest blockbuster report about the relationship between U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas and Texas Republican megadonor Harlan Crow. In a follow-up to ProPublica’s investigation on Thomas’ globetrotting travels with Crow, the outlet reported that the billionaire’s companies paid about $133,000 to Thomas, his mother and relatives of his late brother in 2014 for an aging single-story home and two nearby vacant lots.
