Georgia Trend Daily – March 20, 2025
March 20, 2025 GlobalAtlanta.com
How Two Cobb Exporters Are Weathering the Tariff Storm With Solutions, Flexibility
Trevor Williams reports, if COVID-19 didn’t break them, neither will a little trade disruption. That’s how two exporters based in Cobb County are thinking about the early days of this most recent trade war, a time of upheaval where it’s unclear which proposals will move from bluster to policy — or which policies when enacted will prompt retaliation from key partners.
March 20, 2025 Georgia Trend – Exclusive!
Looking Forward in Women’s History
Tharon Johnson writes, March has traditionally been celebrated as Women’s History Month, encouraging Americans to learn more about both the contributions of women and the progress of women’s rights. From the 19th amendment giving women the right to vote in 1920 to the Pentagon lifting the ban on women in combat in 2013, the 20th and early 21st century have been marked by hard-fought, often slow progress for women to achieve the rights that men have enjoyed for centuries.
March 20, 2025 Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Summer shucking ahead for lovers of Georgia farm-raised oysters
Adam Van Brimmer reports that state regulators have proposed rules that would allow the operators of Georgia’s two existing floating oyster farms to harvest their crop year-round for the first time. Those growers would face strict guidelines during what was previously a closed season — when coastal waters warm to 81 degree and above, usually from early June to late September.
March 20, 2025 GPB
EPA rollbacks could change rules at GA coal plants. Could they affect your health?
Margaret Walker reports that the Environmental Protection Agency is rolling back dozens of rules, programs and grants — a handful of which will alter regulations for Georgia’s coal-fired power plants. EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin announced the more than 30 rollbacks in the first week of March.
March 20, 2025 Capitol Beat News
Georgia Supreme Court takes up State Election Board rules changes
Dave Williams reports that lawyers representing civil rights and voting rights groups asked the Georgia Supreme Court Wednesday to uphold a lower-court ruling that invalidated seven controversial changes to state election laws the Republican-controlled State Election Board (SEB) adopted last fall. But lawyers for the state, the Republican National Committee and the Georgia Republican Party argued the plaintiffs lacked legal standing to bring their lawsuit and that the SEB was within its rights to approve the new election rules.
March 20, 2025 Albany Herald
Speed cameras have generated more than $14 million in Albany; now they’re up for debate in the Georgia legislature
Lucille Lannigan reports that Albany school zone speed cameras continue to watch out for speeding drivers as the Georgia legislature debates whether to better regulate or outright ban them. Camera critics say the cameras are a money grab and signal an overdependence on fines and fees to fund city projects.
March 20, 2025 Marietta Daily Journal
Kemp Talks Tort Reform, Immigration, Tax Rebates
Isabelle Manders reports, in a speech to the Cobb County Republican Women’s Club Wednesday, Gov. Brian Kemp talked tort reform, immigration and tax rebates, also telling attendees “to keep working hard” for the midterm elections. “Even though I’m term-limited, you can rest assured that I will be engaged to make sure that we have a Republican U.S. senator and we have a Republican back in the governor’s office,” Kemp told the group during their monthly luncheon at the Hilton Marietta Conference Center.
March 20, 2025 Saporta Report
Ranked Choice Voting is back on the chopping block, but how effective will a ban be?
Mark Lannaman reports, ranked choice voting (RCV) — also called instant runoff voting — is at the center of a bill to ban the voting system that has been gaining popularity around the country. The Senate Bill, SB 175, would effectively “prohibit the use of ranked choice voting” in the state — with some exceptions, like the bill not applying to military personnel deployed overseas.
March 20, 2025 Rome News-Tribune
Bill To Promote Charter Schools Moving in Ga. General Assembly
Rachel Hartdegen reports that charter schools are gaining traction in Northwest Georgia, with the NWGA Charter Academy seeking approval from the state to open and a new charter, Cherokee Classical Academy, opening in the fall. Amid the rising interest, state legislators are working to address one of the main problems facing charter schools: low approval rates from local school systems.
March 20, 2025 Augusta Chronicle
More THC in medical marijuana? How the Georgia Senate has reshaped cannabis regulations
Vanessa Countryman reports that the Georgia Senate has officially passed three significant bills, altering the state’s approach to both medical and recreational cannabis. These bills, one of which passed ahead of Crossover Day deadline last week, saw votes split across party lines, highlighting the ongoing debate surrounding cannabis regulations.
March 20, 2025 Georgia Recorder
Down to the wire, Georgia GOP lawmakers prepare to pass trio of culture war bills
Stanley Dunlap and Ross Wiliams report that time is running out on the Georgia legislative session and likely also lawmakers’ chance to make laws for the rest of the year. Several Georgia legislative committees spent Wednesday holding hearings on controversial issues like transgender sports participation, library materials deemed to be obscene for children and a religious freedom bill detractors call a license to discriminate.
March 20, 2025 Capitol Beat News
State Senate health committee approves IVF bill
Dave Williams reports that legislation codifying into state law the right of women seeking to become pregnant to receive in vitro fertilization (IVF) treatment cleared a Georgia Senate committee unanimously Wednesday. House Bill 428, which the state House of Representatives passed unanimously last month, was prompted by an Alabama Supreme Court ruling last year declaring that frozen embryos created through IVF should be treated as children.
March 20, 2025 Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Fate of Brian Kemp’s priority bill rests on likely House vote today
Greg Bluestein, Tia Mitchell, Patricia Murphy and Adam Beam report, b arring a seismic change, the Republican’s plan to rewrite litigation rules is headed for a House vote later today, likely the last major legislative hurdle it faces. The question won’t be whether the measure passes — House Speaker Jon Burns and other Kemp allies won’t bring it to a vote if the outcome is in doubt — but rather whether any other changes are needed to win over wavering Republicans.
