Georgia Trend Daily – March 28, 2024
March 28, 2024 Capitol Beat News
Georgia Power, PSC staff reach agreement on request for more generating capacity
Dave Williams reports that Georgia Power and state energy regulators have agreed on a plan to increase the Atlanta-based utility’s electrical generating capacity including the construction of three new gas combustion turbines at Plant Yates near Newnan. The revenue that new capacity would produce for the company would more than offset the costs to generate the additional power, Aaron Abramovitz, Georgia Power’s chief financial officer and treasurer, told members of the state Public Service Commission (PSC) Wednesday.
March 28, 2024 Georgia Trend – Exclusive!
Catching up with… Stephanie Fischer
Karen Kirkpatrick reports that Stephanie Fischer was named president and CEO of the Georgia Restaurant Association (GRA) in September. These are edited highlights from an interview.
March 28, 2024 Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Home Depot buys SRS Distribution in huge play for home contractors
Michael E. Kanell and J. Scott Trubey report that Home Depot, the home improvement giant, said Thursday it will buy SRS Distribution for $18.3 billion, the largest acquisition ever by the company, as the retailer pushes deeper into the market serving residential contractors. Texas-based SRS serves several sectors of the home renovation market, including roofers, landscapers and companies that install pools.
March 28, 2024 The Brunswick News
More cargo ships headed to Port of Brunswick
Gordon Jackson reports that the Port of Brunswick will likely be busier than normal in the wake of the cargo ship that slammed into the Francis Scott Key Bridge Tuesday, causing it to collapse in the Patapsco River and blocking the Port of Baltimore. A Georgia Ports Authority official said they have already been approached by customers looking for a port capable of handling roll-on/roll-off cargo.
March 28, 2024 CNBC
Hyundai considering hybrid vehicle production at $7.6 billion Georgia EV plant
Michael Wayland reports that Hyundai Motor is reevaluating its plans to exclusively produce all-electric vehicles at a new plant under construction in Georgia, an executive told CNBC on Wednesday. José Muñoz, Hyundai president and global chief operating officer, said the company is evaluating whether or not to produce hybrid or plug-in hybrid electric vehicles at the $7.59 billion plant in addition to all-electric vehicles.
March 28, 2024 Georgia.gov
Gov. Kemp Announces Appointments to Superior Court, State Courts
Staff reports that Gov. Kemp on Wednesday announced four judicial appointments, three to state courts and one to superior court. The Governor will appoint the Honorable Matthew Rollins to the Superior Court of the Paulding Judicial Circuit, Matthew Swope to the State Court of Coweta County, the Honorable Charles Bailey to the State Court of Dekalb County Division A, and the Honorable Phyllis Williams to the State Court of Dekalb County Division B.
March 28, 2024 Macon Telegraph
Georgia on shortlist for more domestic manufacturing facilities, jobs in this industry
Brittany McGee reports that Georgia is on a shortlist of states considered as potential sites for creating a national network of bioindustrial manufacturing pilot facilities. In October 2020, the U.S. Department of Defense awarded $87 million to BioIndustrial Manufacturing and Design Ecosystem (BioMADE), a nonprofit organization aiming to increase domestic bioindustrial manufacturing.
March 28, 2024 Savannah Morning News
Could a bridge collapse happen in Georgia?
Amy Paige Condon reports, some Brunswick, Georgia, residents may have shuddered at the image of the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapsing after being hit by the cargo ship, Dali. Fifty-two years ago, on the night of Richard Nixon’s landslide re-election, the SS African Neptune cargo ship crashed into the Sidney Lanier Bridge just after 10 p.m.
March 28, 2024 Dalton Daily Citizen
Dalton gets half a million dollars in extra state road money
Charles Oliver reports that state officials have informed the city of Dalton the city will receive an additional $540,980 in Local Maintenance and Improvement Grant (LMIG) money, basically doubling the city’s share of LMIG funding. That’s a result of the state legislature adding some $200 million to the LMIG fund when it amended the fiscal year 2024 budget earlier this year. That raised the total LMIG money available to local governments to $428 million.
March 28, 2024 State Affairs
Voting ‘no’ is a legislative way of life for these two Georgia lawmakers
Tammy Joyner and Jill Jordan Sieder report, when it comes to voting ‘no’, Rep. Charlice Byrd and Sen. Colton Moore are the top two naysayers in the Georgia General Assembly. The two conservative, Republican lawmakers have been in lockstep on several key pieces of legislation throughout the session.
March 28, 2024 WABE
8 things to watch on the final day of Georgia’s 2024 legislative session
Sam Gringlas reports that lawmakers have spent three months debating, revising and voting on hundreds of bills – and with just one day to go in the session, lawmakers are racing to pass (or kill) a slew of measures still in flux. Legislators are expected to work late into the night on Thursday – before they tear their papers and toss them into the air with shouts of “sine die” sometime around midnight.
March 28, 2024 Georgia Recorder
Fishing Rights Bill Wins Final Passage In General Assembly
Jill Nolin reports that conservationists and environmental groups have sounded the alarm over a measure that they say will unravel the protections for fishing and hunting in Georgia that were fast-tracked last session. The state Senate gave final passage to House Bill 1172 Tuesday night 34-18, with a sizable contingent of opponents arguing it doesn’t go far enough to protect public access. The bill now heads to the desk of Gov. Brian Kemp.
March 28, 2024 Savannah Morning News
Senate passes bill restricting public access to Georgia’s navigable rivers and streams
Maya Homan reports that a bill that could restrict Georgia residents’ access to public rivers and streams passed in the state Senate in a 34-18 vote. House Bill 1172 would remove the public trust doctrine from all navigable rivers and streams in the state, clarifying an earlier law that sought to codify property rights for Georgia’s waterways.
March 28, 2024 Capitol Beat News
General Assembly OKs COAM reform bill
Dave Williams reports that legislation aimed at allowing businesses to provide gift cards for Georgia’s coin-operated amusement machine winners is headed to Gov. Brian Kemp’s desk after squeaking through the state Senate. Senators passed House Bill 353 Tuesday night 29-24, the minimum number of votes needed to pass legislation in the 56-member chamber.
March 28, 2024 Atlanta Journal-Constitution
PG A.M.: Countdown to Sine Die begins. Expect the unexpected
Greg Bluestein, Tia Mitchell, Patricia Murphy and Adam Van Brimmer report, you’ve seen words like “chaotic,” “frenetic,” and “frenzied” used to describe the last all-out rush to pass pending measures before the final gavel ends another 40-day session of the General Assembly. But that hardly does justice to the hurry-up-and-wait process that defines the do-or-die last day, which begins at 8 a.m. with a meeting of the House Higher Education Committee.
