Georgia Trend Daily – June 15, 2023
June 15, 2023 Georgia.gov
Gov. Kemp: Georgia Maintains AAA Bond Rating from Credit Rating Agencies
Staff reports that Gov. Kemp on Wednesday announced that the state has again secured the highest ratings of AAA with a stable outlook from each of the three main credit rating agencies: FitchRatings, Moody’s Investors Service, and S&P Global Ratings. Of the states that issue general obligation bonds, only ten currently meet this standard.
June 15, 2023 Georgia Trend – Exclusive!
Eco-Friendly Travel Experiences with Sea Turtles
Susana Hills reports that Jekyll Island Authority has an eco-friendly and educational travel experience for your summer vacation bucket list. Sea turtle nesting season lasts all summer on Jekyll Island, with nests being laid from early May through November.
June 15, 2023 Atlanta Journal-Constitution
$113M in grants to help Newton County prepare for Rivian’s water needs
Zachary Hansen reports that Newton County is using $113 million in federal grants to expand its water system to meet the growing needs of its industrial sector and its anticipated largest factory: Rivian’s $5 billion electric vehicle plant. In addition to a new water treatment facility, the funds will bolster the county’s existing water mains and pumps.
June 15, 2023 GlobalAtlanta.com
Atlanta International School Blends Online, In-Person Learning in New Partnership With Atlanta United Academy
Trevor Williams reports that Atlanta United is partnering with the city’s oldest international school on a pioneering educational program designed to support high-school-age players in development with the Major League Soccer franchise. Atlanta International School is providing a curriculum that will blend in-person instruction and engagement with online learning to ensure young players can earn a Georgia high-school diploma while meeting the rigorous demands of their athletic schedule.
June 15, 2023 WABE
Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation announces new key areas of giving
LaShawn Hudson reports that the Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation has announced a new focus strategy for the next decade. “We ended up with a strategy that is more focused on where the community is now and that is on affordable housing and financial inclusion,” said Fay Twersky, the president of the Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation.
June 15, 2023 Georgia Recorder
Camden kept taxpayer meter running well after voters, courts snuffed chances for spaceport launch
Stanley Dunlap reports that in the year since Camden County residents overwhelmingly voted against local rocket launches, county officials have spent hundreds of thousands of dollars trying to revive lofty plans to transform the region into Georgia’s space coast. A Georgia Supreme Court ruling in February upholding county residents’ rights to reign in unpopular government decisions ended supporters’ hopes of building a spaceport in southeast Georgia.
June 15, 2023 Augusta Chronicle
USG Board of Regents finalizes $10.71 billion budget. See how much AU is getting.
Abraham Kenmore reports that the Board of Regents for the University System of Georgia on Wednesday approved a $10.71 billion budget for Fiscal Year 2024. Augusta University has a total budget for the year of just under a billion dollars, at $928.1 million, while the University of Georgia has a budget of $1.44 billion.
June 15, 2023 GPB
Georgia’s child care workers are among the lowest paid in the nation
Ellen Eldridge reports that Georgia needs more federal and state government investment in child care, according to the Annie E. Casey Foundation and the Georgia Family Connection Partnership. Their annual Kids Count Data Book report uses information from early in the pandemic through 2021.
June 15, 2023 Marietta Daily Journal
No Mableton millage rate for 2023, mayor says
Staff reports that the city of Mableton has notified the Cobb County government that it has elected not to set a millage rate this year, Mableton Mayor Michael Owens announced in Wednesday night news release. Owens said the decision makes Mableton the only city within Cobb County that will not levy property taxes on its citizens.
June 15, 2023 The Current
Frequent misbehavior by Camden deputies leads to dropped insurance coverage
Jake Shore reports that repeated instances by Camden County deputies of jailhouse violence, car accidents and other misbehavior have prompted the insurance company that covers local law enforcement to end its coverage. As a result Camden taxpayers will have to swallow the cost of rising premiums that will likely double in the upcoming fiscal year from the $700,000 annual premiums previously charged to the county, according to Mike Spiers, human resources director for the Camden government.
June 15, 2023 The Center Square
Feds sending millions to eliminate Georgia railroad grade crossings
T.A. DeFeo reports that the federal government is sending more than $3.2 million to help close railroad grade crossings in Georgia. The money is part of more than $570 million in funds from the Railroad Crossing Elimination Grant Program for projects addressing hundreds of grade crossings in 32 states.
June 15, 2023 Capitol Beat News
Legislative tax credit review panel opens hearings
Dave Williams reports that maintaining a reliable Georgia film tax credit is essential to continuing the success story the state’s film industry has built, an administrator with the Georgia Department of Economic Development said Wednesday. Andrew Capezzuto, the agency’s general counsel, put up a robust defense of the state’s film tax credit during the opening hearing of a new joint legislative panel formed to review all of Georgia’s income tax credits and sales tax exemptions.
June 15, 2023 Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Georgia legislators attend White House summit on abortion access
Tia Mitchell reports, as the nation prepares to mark one year since the overturning of Roe v. Wade, the White House invited legislators from nearly every state to discuss strategies for ensuring access to abortion. Four Georgia Democrats were among the 49 lawmakers who attended the first day of the summit, which focused on states that have taken steps in recent years to limit abortion access.
