Ups, Downs and In-betweens
New Med School: The University of Georgia will soon get the state’s second public medical school. The Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia authorized opening a new independent school at the state’s flagship university, a move aimed at addressing the critical shortage of medical professionals, especially primary care doctors, in Georgia.
UGA Today newspaper.
UGA President Jere Morehead said in a statement that the new school “will significantly expand the pool of medical professionals in Georgia, attract more top-tier scientists and researchers to the state, and produce more physicians to serve underserved and rural Georgia communities.”
UGA and Augusta University, which currently houses the state’s only public medical school, have had a medical partnership since 2010.
Prior to the Regents’ vote, Gov. Brian Kemp recommended spending some $50 million in state funds to design and build the new medical school. The funds were included in the amended budget signed into law by the governor.
Houston Retiring: Veteran State Rep. Penny Houston (R-Nashville), who was first elected in 1997, will not seek re-election. Houston’s district includes Berrien County and parts of Tift and Cook counties. She is chair of the Appropriations Subcommittee on Economic Development and serves on the several committees.
Antisemitism Bill Becomes Law: Kemp signed HB 30 into law, noting the measure reaffirms “our commitment to a Georgia where all people can live, learn and prosper in safety – because there is no place for hate in our state.”
The new law provides for a definition of antisemitism, based on the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance Working Definition, and states that “use of this definition of antisemitism, although it is not to be taken as an exhaustive definition, will increase the awareness and understanding of the parameters of contemporary anti-Jewish discrimination in certain circumscribed areas.”
The basic definition states: “Antisemitism is a certain perception of Jews, which may be expressed as hatred toward Jews. Rhetorical and physical manifestations of antisemitism are directed toward Jewish or non-Jewish individuals and/or their property, toward Jewish community institutions and religious facilities.”
Antisemitism is now covered by Georgia’s hate crimes statute, but antisemitic speech is protected by the First Amendment.
The Georgia law requires state agencies and departments to consider the definition when determining whether an alleged act was motivated by discriminatory antisemitic intent.
Kemp singled out State Reps. Esther Panitch (D-Sandy Springs), the only Jewish member of Georgia’s General Assembly, and John Carson (R-Marietta) for their leadership on HB 30 along with Senate President Pro Tem John Kennedy (R-Macon) and Senate Minority Leader Gloria Butler (D-Stone Mountain) for moving the measure quickly through the Senate.
New Role for ASU President: Marion Ross Fedrick, who has been president of Albany State University since 2018, will have a new job on July 1 as executive vice president and chief of staff to Georgia State University President Brian Blake.
Additionally, she will serve as University System of Georgia (USG) Chancellor Sonny Perdue’s senior advisor for initiatives related to the system’s three public historically Black colleges and universities.
“Marion has built a formidable reputation with USG for her resourcefulness and creative ability to support the success of faculty, staff and students,” Perdue said in a statement.
Padgett to Court of Appeals: Gov. Brian Kemp has named J. Wade Padgett, a Superior Court judge in both the Augusta Judicial Court and the Columbia Judicial Circuit, to the state Court of Appeals to fill the vacancy left by Christian Coomer’s removal.
In Memoriam: Savannah’s Arthur M. Gignilliat Jr., a Democratic state representative from 1966 to 1980, died in February at 91. Gignilliat served as chair of both the Board of Regents and the Georgia Ports Authority.
