Ups, Downs and In-betweens
Voting Systems Debate: The Election Equipment Specifications and Standards Committee, established by the Georgia legislature during this summer’s special session, has now had two of its scheduled meetings as of press time to figure out what to do to overhaul the state’s touchscreen-based voting system. State lawmakers had self-imposed a deadline of July 1, 2026 to phase out the existing QR-code method of counting votes but kicked that can down the road to 2028 during the special session. The committee has a mandate to focus on switching to a hand-marked paper ballot voting system.
Many elections supervisors across the state have expressed concern about the complexity and time needed to implement such a system, as well as the cost to over-haul the existing system. Election funding comes partially from county budgets, which are fueled in large part by property taxes – the very ones impacted by SB 33, a homeowner’s tax relief bill that was signed into law by Kemp earlier this year.
The final price tag for each county would likely depend on its population and number of races. More races and more people voting would mean more ballots to be printed out and more resources – such as ink and paper – to print them.
Rural Healthcare Support: Georgia is using $93 million from the federal government to support rural hospitals. The funding is the remainder of a $218.9 million award for the first year of the Georgia Rural Enhancement and Transformation of Health (GREAT Health) initiative. The money will be used to add technical innovations like surgical robotics and telehealth, plus medical training and recruitment, maternal and behavioral services and newborn screenings at Georgia’s rural hospitals.
The funds are part of a five-year, $50 billion funding program across the country that was approved as part of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. In Georgia, the GREAT Health program will use the money to support projects in five initiatives: creating a sustainable health system in rural Georgia, strengthening the continuum of care, improving healthcare access, growing a highly skilled healthcare workforce and leveraging technology to strengthen delivery, expand innovation and improve administrative systems. Georgia received the seventh largest amount nationally.
School Board Suspended: Kemp has appointed seven temporary replacements to the Dublin City School Board after suspending the previous board, following a $20 million budget crisis. The move follows a unanimous recommendation from the state Board of Education.
The school system, which serves some 2,300 students, was faced with having its accreditation removed entirely due to financial difficulties, including not paying into the state health plan for employees for more than a year. The state Department of Education’s Chief Financial Officer Rusk Roam testified at an August hearing that the district was the “worst financially managed school system” he had seen in his career. The district’s financial struggles are not new; it had seen challenges since 2009.
Higher Ed Impact: The University System of Georgia (USG) released its latest economic impact figures, setting a new record once again. The Selig Center for Economic Growth study reports USG generated $25.1 billion in economic impact – an 8.9% increase over the previous fiscal year – and supported more than 170,000 jobs across the state. That number includes $16.3 billion in direct spending by students along with $8.8 billion generated by indirect spending in local communities. And while earnings growth varies depending on the academic degree, the report notes that graduates from the class of 2025 can expect to earn a combined lifetime total of $249 billion, $77 billion more than what they would have earned without completing college or graduate school.
Commissioner Stan Wise. Photo credit: Contributed
PSC Changes: Gov. Brian Kemp named Stan Wise to serve out the remainder of Tricia Pridemore’s term on the Georgia Public Service Commission. Pridemore, who represented District 5 that encompasses 23 counties in Metro Atlanta and surrounding areas, had opted not to run for reelection this year, instead launching a campaign to represent District 11 in theU.S. Congress. She finished third in the May primary and did not qualify for the runoff.
Wise stepped away from his role at the Atlanta-based economic development consulting firm Pendleton Group to serve out the remainder of Pridemore’s term, which expires on Dec. 31, 2026. He served on the PSC from 1995-2018 and was chair four times throughout his tenure.
Pridemore was first appointed to the PSC in 2018 by former Gov. Nathan Deal before winning a six-year term that November. She was up for reelection in 2024, but that race was delayed due to a voting rights lawsuit. In November, Republican Josh Tolbert will face Democrat Shelia Edwards for the District 5 seat.
