Georgia Trend Daily – Dec. 5, 2023
Dec. 5, 2023 Capitol Beat News
Kemp wants to accelerate state income tax cuts
Dave Williams reports that Gov. Brian Kemp said Monday he will ask Georgia lawmakers to provide additional tax relief during the upcoming legislative session by accelerating a state income tax cut lawmakers adopted last year. House Bill 1437 set in place a reduction in the state’s income tax rate from 5.75% to 4.99%, to be phased in over several years.
Dec. 5, 2023 Georgia Trend – Exclusive!
2023 Top Hospitals: Leading the Way in Healthcare
Mark A. Thompson reports, hospital rankings can provide useful benchmark information; however, it is important to understand what factors may impact such rankings. Every year, Georgia Trend evaluates Georgia hospitals that participated in the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
Dec. 5, 2023 Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Fulton panel considers $10M tax break to Elon Musk’s X
Zachary Hansen reports that a Fulton County agency is considering granting a more than $10 million property tax break to the social network belonging to the world’s richest man — Elon Musk — an incentive for computers in an existing Atlanta data center that would create no new jobs. The Development Authority of Fulton County (DAFC) will consider the proposed tax break Tuesday for X Corp., formerly Twitter, that will reduce the company’s tax bill over a 10-year period.
Dec. 5, 2023 Georgia Recorder
Georgia Power again presses case for customer rate hike to pay for Plant Vogtle expansion
Stanley Dunlap reports, state regulators heard familiar complaints on Monday about Georgia Power customers paying more for electricity after years of being saddled with runaway nuclear expansion costs. Plant Vogtle’s two nuclear reactors took center stage as the Georgia Public Service Commission began a hearing to determine how to divide the project’s expenses among Georgia Power shareholders and customers.
Dec. 5, 2023 Savannah Morning News
Georgia Power no longer plans to acquire energy-generating ‘asset’
John Deem reports, just days after formal opposition from environmental groups, Georgia Power has dropped its pursuit of an energy-generating “asset” to help make up for what the state’s largest utility calls an unexpected spike in demand. On Friday, Georgia Interfaith Power & Light, an environmental justice advocacy organization, filed a motion with the Georgia Public Service Commission challenging Georgia Power’s secrecy over the possible purchase.
Dec. 5, 2023 Saporta Report
Mayor Andre Dickens gives update to Atlanta Rotary, hints at a deal with WellStar
Maria Saporta reports that a warmly received Mayor Andre Dickens gave a State of the City update to the Rotary Club of Atlanta on Dec. 4, touting several accomplishments since he had last spoken to the organization in May 2022. The mayor said the city is trying to find a deal that makes sense to buy the property from Wellstar, which closed the hospital a little more than a year ago.
Dec. 5, 2023 GPB
After sitting empty for over a decade, a health clinic in Taylor County is opened again with help
Sofi Gratas reports, with help from the Mercer University School of Medicine, a once vacant doctors office in Taylor County is now open again and taking patients. It’s the latest to open as part of the school’s efforts to strengthen rural health care.
Dec. 5, 2023 GlobalAtlanta.com
Crystal Peach Awards Honor France-U.S. Deals, Alliance
Trevor Williams reports, this November, the French-American Chamber of Commerce Southeast’s Crystal Peach Awards were about much more than celebrating deals between France and a dynamic region of the United States. The awards program started nearly two decades ago ventured into new territory, honoring those who laid the groundwork on which the historic allies built lasting commercial ties.
Dec. 5, 2023 Marietta Daily Journal
Poll: Majority of Cobb voters ‘likely’ to support 30-year transit tax
Hunter Riggall reports, asked if they are likely to support a 30-year program to expand transit and build a new rapid bus system in Cobb County, 63% of voters said they likely would, according to a new poll. The findings of the poll, commissioned by a group of Cobb business leaders, indicate that the majority of the county is supportive or undecided on a 30-year, 1% sales tax to fund transit in next November’s election, while a quarter of voters are opposed to the idea.
Dec. 5, 2023 New York Times
Georgia County Signs Up to Use Voter Database Backed by Election Deniers
Alexandra Berzon and Nick Corasaniti reports that Columbia County, a heavily Republican county outside Augusta, is the first in the country known to have agreed to use a new voter information database endorsed by the election denial movement, called EagleAI. Its supporters claim the system will make it easier to purge the rolls of ineligible voters.
Dec. 5, 2023 CNHI News
Congressional district proposal adds Black district while removing Democratic area
Asia Ashley reports, Georgia Republicans’ proposed congressional map adds a majority Black district as ordered by the court, but opponents say it still targets a heavily diverse minority area and uproots a Democratic district. Critics of the proposal said Dec. 4 that it unfairly targets the Gwinnett County-based District 7, represented by Democrat U.S. Rep. Lucy McBath — whose district lines have been changed twice before. The district also includes a small portion of Fulton County.
Dec. 5, 2023 Gwinnett Daily Post
Republicans propose splitting Gwinnett between four congressional districts
Curt Yeomans reports, Republicans in the Georgia General Assembly are planning to split Gwinnett County between four congressional districts in order to comply with a federal court ruling concerning congressional districts without sacrificing any GOP-held seats in the state’s congressional delegation. The state Senate redistricting committee unveiled the GOP’s plan for congressional redistricting on Friday afternoon.
Dec. 5, 2023 Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Georgia House’s vote to condemn ‘evil’ Hamas exposes Democratic divide over Israel
Greg Bluestein reports that the Georgia House adopted a resolution that condemned the deadly Hamas attack against Israel as a “disgusting display of hatred and evil” in a vote Monday that exposed a sharp Democratic divide over the growing conflict in the Middle East. It passed 129-2 after an hourlong debate, with dozens of Democrats abstaining from the vote. Others were marked absent after several Democratic lawmakers said they wouldn’t back the measure.
