Georgia Trend Daily – May 8, 2023
May 8, 2023 Capitol Beat News
Kemp inks $32.4 billion state budget
Dave Williams reports that Gov. Brian Kemp signed a $32.4 billion fiscal 2024 state budget Friday that provides pay raises of $4,000 to $6,000 for law enforcement officers and $2,000 increases for other state workers, teachers, and university system employees. The budget, which takes effect July 1, increases state spending by $2.2 billion, or 7.4%, over the budget the General Assembly adopted last spring.
May 8, 2023 Georgia Trend – Exclusive!
Spotlight on Small Business Triumphs
Kenna Simmons reports, when we hear that Georgia is pro-business or that it has claimed the title of top state to do business for a record ninth year, what comes to mind? A gleaming office tower, a sprawling factory? How about a small business?
May 8, 2023 Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Plan for 20-story mass timber apartment tower grows roots in Buckhead
Zachary Hansen reports that Buckhead could soon be home to one of the country’s tallest timber-framed buildings, a construction style seen as more friendly to the environment than massive towers of steel and concrete. Chicago-based developer Harbor Bay Ventures presented a proposal Wednesday for a 20-story building with more than 300 apartments.
May 8, 2023 News Times-Herald
Hitachi in Newnan to expand
Laura Camper reports, the Coweta County Development Authority on Thursday approved a memorandum of understanding with Hitachi as it prepares to expand its current location into the regional headquarters. The expansion is expected to create 92 jobs with an average wage of $111,000 said Sarah Jacobs, president of the authority.
May 8, 2023 Rome News-Tribune
Ranger officially loses township as Kemp signs House Bill 773
Blake Silvers reports that Gordon County has one less municipality, as a bill dissolving the Town of Ranger has become law. A bill introduced in March by State Rep. Matt Barton, R-Calhoun, aiming to strip Ranger of its township passed both the House and the Senate and has now been signed by Gov. Brian Kemp, according to Barton.
May 8, 2023 Albany Herald
Phoebe building projects ‘on target, on budget’
Carlton Fletcher reports that the the Living & Learning project and work on Phoebe’s Trauma/Critical Care Tower are “on target and on budget,” Phoebe Putney Health System President/CEO Scott Steiner said while discussing the twin projects Friday. The Phoebe CEO said construction watchers can expect “significant progress” on both projects in the next six months.
May 8, 2023 Savannah Morning News
EPA, Ossoff announce $4 billion in federal funding for port electrification
Marisa Mecke reports that Savannah’s ports could be getting plugged into the nation’s expanding efforts to electrify transportation and logistics to reduce air pollution and address environmental injustice. Michael Regan, administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, on Friday joined U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-GA) and Joel Wooten, chair of Georgia Ports Authority, at the Port of Savannah berths to announce $4 billion of Inflation Reduction Act investments that will go toward developing programs in the nation’s port infrastructure and reducing air pollution.
May 8, 2023 The Brunswick News
Commissioners fund emergency bridge over East Beach tidal pool
Gordon Jack and Taylor Cooper report that the Glynn County Commission approved a $140,000 emergency contract at its Thursday meeting to purchase modular bridges for a growing tidal pool at St. Simons Island’s East Beach. The tidal pool is located at the Massengale Park beach crossover, Glynn County spokeswoman Katie Baasen said. It’s expanded in size in recent months toward the King and Prince Beach & Golf Resort.
May 8, 2023 Georgia Recorder
Turbulence roils waters despite Georgia law to calm tensions between anglers, riverside landowners
Jill Nolin reports that a dispute over whether a popular stretch of the Flint River in Upson County can be the exclusive fishing hole of those who own the shoreline drove a frenzied last-minute push to protect the public’s access to Georgia’s streams earlier this year. The legislative fix seemed to emerge out of nowhere in the final hours of the last day of this year’s session and rapidly cleared both chambers in the span of just four hours, crossing the finish line in the Senate a few minutes after midnight.
May 8, 2023 The Center Square
Georgia transportation officials award $65.2 million for projects
T.A. DeFeo reports, the Georgia Department of Transportation said it awarded 18 projects valued at more than $65.2 million in March. The largest spend, $15 million awarded to E. R. Snell Contractor, goes toward a bridge construction project on State Route 212 over Lake Jackson in Jasper and Newton counties.
May 8, 2023 Valdosta Daily Times, CNHI News
Government employees can be charged with felony for soliciting election grants
Asia Ashley reports that city or county government employees who solicit or accept donations for election-related purposes can now be charged with a felony under new law signed by Ga. Gov. Brian Kemp. Kemp signed the law May 3, alongside conservative supporters, who lauded the signing and posted pictures of the event on social media.
May 8, 2023 State Affairs
Bill that hands lifetime sentences and ankle monitors to many sexual offenders signed by governor
Jill Jordan Sieder reports that Gov. Brian Kemp signed House Bill 188, or Mariam’s Law, into law on Thursday. Named in honor of murder victim Mariam Abdulrab, HB 188 toughens requirements for sexual offenders upon their release from prison, and mandates electronic monitoring as a condition of probation for repeat sexual offenders.
May 8, 2023 Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Kemp vetoes bill expanding need-based aid for college students
Greg Bluestein reports that Gov. Brian Kemp vetoed legislation that would have provided more needs-based financial aid to Georgia college students and would have allowed veterans to participate in a tuition-free, commercial driver’s license training program. The governor’s veto of House Bill 249 on Friday was among 14 measures he rejected ahead of a deadline next week to sign proposals into law or nix them.
