Georgia Trend Daily – Feb. 23, 2024
Feb. 23, 2024 Georgia.gov
Gov. Kemp Announces 66 Appointments to State Boards, Authorities, and Commissions
Staff reports that Gov. Kemp, on Thursday, announced the appointment and re-appointment of the following 66 Georgians to various state boards, authorities, and commissions.
Feb. 23, 2024 Georgia Trend – Exclusive!
Franklin County | Leveraging Growth
Jennifer Hafer reports Franklin County in Northeast Georgia, is a place of natural beauty and abundant history – a promising backdrop for a new era of opportunity. The county is home to two state parks, covering a combined 895 acres and offering fishing, golf, camping and other activities in a picturesque setting.
Feb. 23, 2024 Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Confusion clouded Atlanta during AT&T service outages
Zachary Hansen and Rosana Hughes report, while AT&T customers nationwide struggled Thursday to make calls or check their emails on the go, Jennifer Lundy had a different problem — she couldn’t get into her bank account. Due to the cellular carrier’s widespread outage, Lundy, who lives in Valdosta, wasn’t able to receive text messages from her bank to get access to her accounts through two-factor authentication, causing her to worry she could miss important payments.
Feb. 23, 2024 Savannah Morning News
GPA looks to pay for faster federal review of Savannah River terminal project
John Deem reports that the Georgia Ports Authority plans to tap its financial resources to expedite approval of a key permit for a proposed 400-acre terminal on the Savannah River, and federal officials say they intend to go along with the deal. But not before the public has a chance to weigh in, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers disclosed in a notice posted Wednesday.
Feb. 23, 2024 Rome News-Tribune
Clean Air Industries Looking To Expand Rome Operations
John Bailey reports, fresh off a recent rebranding, Clean Air Industries has its eyes on expansion in Rome. The industrial and educational air filtration business recently acquired 19 Superior Drive next to its current Rome facility at 7 Superior Drive in the Floyd County Industrial Park off Cedartown Highway.
Feb. 23, 2024 Capitol Beat News
State Senate passes $37.5 billion midyear budget
Dave Williams reports that the state Senate passed a $37.5 billion midyear budget Thursday that increases spending by $5 billion, including $2 billion from an unprecedented $16 billion surplus. The legislation, which sailed through the Senate 54-1, represents a 9.4% increase over the fiscal 2024 budget the General Assembly passed last spring.
Feb. 23, 2024 Augusta Chronicle
$10.7 million budget item could jumpstart new research era at Medical College of Georgia
Joe Hotchkiss reports that budget additions approved by the Georgia Senate on Thursday include a proposed $10.7 million to fund the design of a $146 million translational research building for the Medical College of Georgia. The Senate voted 54-1 to pass House Bill 915, which adds money to the current fiscal year budget effective through June 30.
Feb. 23, 2024 The Brunswick News
Mining moratorium legislation proposed
Gordon Jackson reports that a three-year moratorium on new surface mining permits is being proposed by state Rep. John Corbett, R-Lake Park. The state Environmental Protection Division would be banned from accepting new permit applications for dragline mining in areas where permits have not been previously issued during that time.
Feb. 23, 2024 Georgia Recorder
‘Religious liberty’ legislation emerges from eight-year slumber at the Georgia Capitol
Stanley Dunlap reports that the Georgia Senate Judiciary Committee advanced a divisive bill on Thursday that its backers contend will give people more protection from government intrusion while practicing their faith. It now heads to the full Senate for a vote that could clear the way for it to make a crucial Crossover Day deadline Thursday.
Feb. 23, 2024 Savannah Morning News
Georgia civics bill emphasizing patriotism, dangers of communism heads to Senate floor
Maya Homan reports that members of the state Senate’s Education & Youth Committee could not precisely define what a newly-introduced civics bill meant by the term “upright and desirable citizenry” at a public hearing Tuesday. Nevertheless, starting in the 2025-26 school year, that’s the standard K-12 students in Georgia schools could be expected to uphold.
Feb. 23, 2024 WABE
State lawmakers try to squeeze in bill allowing foreign medical professionals to work in Georgia
Emily Wu Pearson reports that on Thursday, the Senate Regulated Industries and Utilities Committee discussed bill SB529. The bill is a response to a state rural health study that found granting temporary licensure to foreign medical professionals could greatly improve rural health outcomes by increasing the number of doctors available in the state.
Feb. 23, 2024 Georgia Recorder
Georgia House panel debates proposed public school trans bathroom bill, prompting sharp criticism
Ross Williams reports, where should transgender students go to use the bathroom? That’s one of the questions pondered by the Georgia House Education Policy Subcommittee Thursday as it considered a bill calling on school districts to designate multiple occupancy restrooms either for people whose bodies produce eggs or whose bodies produce sperm.
Feb. 23, 2024 Cherokee Tribune, Capitol Beat News
Thomas’ Political Ad Deepfake Bill Clears Georgia House
Dave Williams reports that legislation that criminalizes the use of “deepfakes” generated by artificial intelligence to impersonate candidates in political campaign ads cleared the Georgia House of Representatives Thursday. House Bill 986, which passed 148-23, creates the crime of fraudulent election interference. Anyone who knowingly perpetrates a political deepfake within 90 days of an election would face two to five years in prison and a fine of up to $50,000.
Feb. 23, 2024 Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Slain Israeli soldier’s father challenges Georgia Democratic lawmaker
Greg Bluestein reports that the father of a Dunwoody woman who was murdered in November while serving as a police officer in the Israeli army is challenging a Democratic lawmaker who abstained from voting on a measure aimed at combating antisemitism. David Lubin told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution that he decided to run against Democratic state Sen. Sally Harrell in the party’s May primary after she criticized the antisemitism measure and then didn’t vote on it.
