Georgia Trend Daily – March 4, 2024
March 4, 2024 Georgia Recorder
Georgia Power’s request for more electricity comes under fire
Emily Jones reports that Georgia’s energy regulators are considering Georgia Power’s request to generate and buy more electricity to meet what the utility calls a surge in demand from new businesses in the state. State lawmakers, meanwhile, are grappling with a leading source of that increased power demand: high-tech data centers.
March 4, 2024 Georgia Trend – Exclusive!
AI: The Next Frontier
Phillip Maister reports, AI – Artificial Intelligence – has the potential to transfigure business. Or cost millions of jobs. Or make us all more productive. Or pose an existential threat (according to one letter signed by heavy hitters in the AI world).
March 4, 2024 Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Microsoft pays $6M for land to expand data center south of Atlanta
Zachary Hansen reports that Microsoft has ponied up millions of dollars to expand its data storage farm in south Fulton County. The tech giant paid $6 million last month to acquire nearly 21 acres next to its existing Palmetto data center campus, according to county property deeds.
March 4, 2024 GlobalAtlanta.com
Colombia Invites Georgia Companies to 100th Matchmaking Forum in April
Trevor Williams reports that Colombia is inviting Georgia firms looking to diversify their product sourcing to its 100th matchmaking forum, this year held in the coastal tourism hub of Cartagena. The four-day event is to run from April 22-26.
March 4, 2024 Cherokee Tribune
Woodstock Looking at New Standards for Highway 92 Development
Ethan Thompson reports that Woodstock leaders and staff are looking at creating a roadmap for redevelopment along Highway 92. The Woodstock City Council voted 5-0 Feb. 26 to award a $200,000 contract to Lord Aeck Sargent for the Highway 92 Development Standards Livable Centers Initiative Tactical Study.
March 4, 2024 Saporta Report
Student organizers fight education bills at Georgia’s Crossover Day
Delaney Tarr reports that every year, hundreds of state officials and politically active Georgians pack into the State Capitol building for crossover day — the deadline in Georgia’s legislature where bills must “cross over” one chamber to the other to move forward and become law. The deadline spurs a lot of activity among different political and activist groups advocating for and against legislation on the chopping block.
March 4, 2024 The Brunswick News
House passes military zone legislation
Gordon Jackson reports that legislation designed to make it easier to open a business in military zones in non-metro areas has been approved by the Georgia House of Representatives. House Bill 1020 expands tax credit eligibility for businesses located near federal military installations in less developed areas.
March 4, 2024 GPB
In Georgia, a bill to cut all ties with the American Library Association is advancing
Tovia Smith reports that those who’ve been trying to remove certain books from childrens’ sections at public libraries are now taking aim at what they see as a source of the problem: the American Library Association. A growing number of states and local libraries are cutting ties with the nation’s predominant library professional association, saying the ALA has become too radical.
March 4, 2024 The Current
As state house sprints toward session’s end, it’s hit and miss for Coastal Georgia priorities
Craig Nelson reports, as the 12-day sprint that caps the Georgialegislative session gets set to begin in the capitol this week, it’s a good time to take stock of how much our elected representatives have accomplished. Whether expanding mental health care across Georgia or health care services in rural areas of the state, there were advances and setbacks.
March 4, 2024 Rome News-Tribune
Dempsey’s Interstate Social Work Compact Among Crossover Day Survivors
Diane Wagner reports that social workers in Georgia could one day practice under multistate licenses, expanding the number of professionals authorized to provide services that are often in short supply. That’s the premise behind House Bill 839, the Social Work Licensure Compact Act, sponsored by state Rep. Katie Dempsey, R-Rome. Missouri and South Dakota have already enacted the compact using the same model ordinance.
March 4, 2024 Capitol Beat News
Crossover Day yields mix of survivors, casualties
Dave Williams reports that Crossover Day has come and gone in the General Assembly this year, with some bills making the deadline to remain eligible for passage in 2024 and others falling by the wayside. Significant progress has been made on sports betting and reforming Georgia’s Certificate of Need (CON) law governing hospital construction.
March 4, 2024 Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Many changes to Georgia election laws advanced by GOP lawmakers
Mark Niesse reports, from eliminating ballot bar codes to adding audits, Georgia election laws could change in many ways this year, with 10 bills advancing in the Republican-run General Assembly ahead of the presidential election. Heading into the final weeks of Georgia’s legislative session, it’s unclear how far lawmakers will go.
