Georgia Trend Daily – March 1, 2024
March 1, 2024 Capitol Beat News
Kemp signs midyear budget
Dave Williams reports that Gov. Brian Kemp signed a record $37.9 billion fiscal 2024 midyear budget Thursday that includes $5.5 billion in new spending. “This is a very, very good budget,” House Speaker Jon Burns, R-Newington, said during a signing ceremony at the state Capitol. “It reflects the shared priorities of both (legislative) chambers.”
March 1, 2024 Georgia Trend – Exclusive!
Leading the Change
Christy Simo reports, for these six women who are considered leaders in their field here in Georgia – including healthcare, telecommunications, hospitality, education and manufacturing – leading with a sense of authenticity is key. Whether it’s committing to climate action, helping people facing a crisis or addressing health disparities around the state, these women are looking for ways to make our world a better place in a way that rings true to them personally and to the organizations they lead.
March 1, 2024 Atlanta Journal-Constitution
UAW targeting South, Georgia as part of new union drive
Michael E. Kanell reports that after decades, union power in the auto industry has been in reverse, and in the South, it hasn’t gotten traction at all, but the United Auto Workers has vowed to get organized labor back into the fast lane. The UAW in late February committed $40 million to an organizing drive aimed at non-union workers at auto and battery plants, especially in the South, targets that include large Georgia factories — some in operation, some still being built.
March 1, 2024 GlobalAtlanta.com
Atlanta Black Chambers Names Outreach Leads for Africa and Diaspora Regions
Trevor Williams reports that just before some of its members jet off for their latest international trade mission to Africa, the Atlanta Black Chambers has named point people for its outreach to strategic countries. The chamber’s Global Opportunities Committee has appointed what it calls Regional Leads to coordinate efforts to boost trade and investment links with nations in Africa or countries and regions with prominent African diaspora populations, from Colombia and the Caribbean and Panama to the South Pacific.
March 1, 2024 Rome News-Tribune
Cave Spring Awarded $12M State Loan for Water System Improvements
Staff reports that Cave Spring is among the 11 communities awarded financing totaling $43.1 million for water, wastewater, sewer, solid waste and storm water projects by the Georgia Environmental Finance Authority board of directors. The $12,000,000 conservation loan will come from the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund, to be used to finance improvements to the water distribution system and replace water main.
March 1, 2024 GPB
‘Grand Farm’ in Perry? State senator explains idea behind Georgia’s ‘Silicon Valley of agriculture’
Peter Biello reports that an effort is underway to make Georgia the so-called “Silicon Valley of agriculture” with a “Grand Farm” planned for the central Georgia city of Perry. That farm would, in partnership with UGA, be a proving ground for the newest farming technology, including artificial intelligence, robotics, and genetic research.
March 1, 2024 Dalton Daily Citizen, CNHI News
Carpenter bills see movement
James Swift reports that the Georgia House Committee on Governmental Affairs on Feb. 27 gave a favorable report to a piece of legislation that, if signed into law, would provide “preferential treatment” for some senior citizen voters. House Bill 559 was initially introduced to the Georgia General Assembly on Feb. 22, 2023.
March 1, 2024 Georgia Recorder
Crossover Day wrap-up: new immigration laws, power company rules and state white shrimp homage
Jill Nolin and Toni Odejimi report that Georgia lawmakers voted on dozens of bills Thursday as a key legislative deadline came and went. They dubbed the white shrimp as the state’s official crustacean and moved forward a GOP bill creating an “America first” license plate but only after a Democrat tried to change it to a “Donald Trump first” plate.
March 1, 2024 Savannah Morning News
Bill sparks clash over future of historic Georgia rice plantations
John Deem reports, supporters say Georgia House Bill 370 would encourage “restoration” for tens of thousands of acres scarred by straight-line canals carved into marshland by slaves centuries ago to manage water flow on the state’s string of rice plantations. From an environmental standpoint, opponents counter that nature has spent hundreds of years adapting to those alterations and that reversing the process now could needlessly threaten the unique habitats that have evolved there.
March 1, 2024 State Affairs
Bills to track illegal immigrants, oust squatters, boost film industry make the cut on Crossover Day
Tammy Joyner and Jill Jordan Sieder reports, it’s part of the Georgia legislature’s midsession ritual known as “Crossover Day,” the last chance for bills to pass at least one chamber in the General Assembly. A succession of bills underwent rapid-fire discussion, debate and votes throughout the day.
March 1, 2024 WABE
Georgia Senate passes religious liberty bill despite LGBTQ discrimination concerns
Patrick Saunders reports that a bill that would enhance religious protections in Georgia but which critics say would do so at the expense of LGBTQ people took a major step in becoming law on Thursday. The Georgia Senate passed Senate Bill 180 — the Georgia Religious Freedom Restoration Act — by a vote of 33-19.
March 1, 2024 Savannah Morning News
House passes bill to restrict funding to Georgia law enforcement that fail to work with ICE
Maya Homan reports that legislation that would restrict funding for Georgia law enforcement agencies that fail to aid federal immigration authorities passed on Thursday in the state House, backed exclusively by Republican lawmakers. House Bill 1105, which would withhold federal and state funding from sheriffs who refuse to report undocumented detainees and prisoners to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, passed in the House on Crossover Day in a 97-74 vote, adding teeth to an existing state law that has largely gone unenforced.
March 1, 2024 Capitol Beat News
Legislation limiting film tax credit clears Georgia House
Dave Williams reports that the state House of Representatives passed legislation Thursday that would put new restrictions on Georgia’s generous film tax credit. House Bill 1180, which passed 131-34, would require film production companies to meet at least four of 10 criteria to qualify for an additional 10% income tax credit on top of the 20% base credit the General Assembly enacted in 2008.
March 1, 2024 Atlanta Journal-Constitution
PG A.M.: Crossover Day marked by legislative hits and misses. What to know.
Greg Bluestein, Tia Mitchell, Patricia Murphy and Adam Van Brimmer report that Georgia lawmakers worked late into the night on Crossover Day, a key internal legislative deadline. Dozens of bills were approved, while dozens of others never made it to a vote.
