Georgia Trend Daily – March 29, 2024
March 29, 2024 Georgia Recorder
Immigration crackdown, election law changes go to the governor as other hot-button proposals fizzle
Jill Nolin reports that state lawmakers closed out the 2024 legislative session with a flurry of votes that spilled over into the early morning hours. But the night ended with some of the most closely watched bills – like a bill banning puberty blockers for minors and a proposal to put sports betting on the ballot this fall – fizzling out in the House.
March 29, 2024 Georgia Trend – Exclusive!
Wellroot
Candice Dyer reports that the state of Georgia’s foster care system, which supports around 11,000 children, is facing a crisis. Wellroot Family Services, a Tucker-based nonprofit that assists foster kids and their families, reports a 50% drop in inquiries from families interested in taking in a child since the pandemic.
March 29, 2024 Atlanta Journal-Constitution
With Rivian’s pause, neighbors near factory site wonder what’s to come
Kelly Yamanouchi and Zachary Hansen report, a row of excavators and dump trucks stood single file earlier this month next to hundreds of acres of compacted red clay, perfectly flat and a little soupy from heavy rains days before. A brand new four-lane road with hardly anyone on it was similarly poised for action, built to ferry thousands of Rivian workers and newly built electric vehicles those future employees are expected to assemble.
March 29, 2024 Rome News-Tribune
Proposal Made To Offer Tax Incentives For Former Hospital Property Development
David Crowder reports that the former Northwest Georgia Regional Hospital site may become the City of Rome’s newest redevelopment area, eligible for Tax Allocation District funding, although the discussions are in the very early stages. Missy Kendrick, Rome Floyd Development Authority CEO, told the Rome Redevelopment Committee on Wednesday that the cost of redevelopment is so much higher than what it was expected to be, and that she wanted to test the waters to see if there was interest in a TAD.
March 29, 2024 Athens Banner-Herald
Find out the latest on redevelopment of the former Varsity site near downtown Athens
Jim Thompson reports that two development firms and an associated real estate investment company, with home bases in Georgia, North Carolina and Colorado, now have a hand in bringing a massive mixed-use development to the former longtime site of the Varsity near downtown Athens.
March 29, 2024 Marietta Daily Journal
‘Accountability and Protection’: Marietta Discusses Squatting Solutions
Annie Mayne reports that there are roughly 1,000 homeless people living in Cobb County, many of them receiving shelter and resources from nonprofits based in Marietta. Citing an influx of calls from citizens reporting homeless people squatting on their property, Mayor Steve Tumlin has asked the City Council to consider curtailing their ability to set up camp in the Gem City.
March 29, 2024 Dalton Daily News, CNHI News
Whitfield County receives ‘connectivity’ grant
James Swift reports that Whitfield County is among three counties recently awarded grant funding via Connect Humanity’s Appalachian Digital Accelerator initiative. “Whitfield County was initially notified of the opportunity by Thrive Regional Partnership and its Regional Broadband Alliance,” stated Rhett Bentley, a representative of the partnership, in an email.
March 29, 2024 The Brunswick News
Bat species added to list prompts GDOT-DNR agreement
Taylor Cooper reports that the addition of a fourth bat species native to Georgia — and the only one that ranges across the entire state — to the endangered species list has prompted an agreement between two state agencies, the Georgia Department of Transportation and the Department of Natural Resources. The new agreement is a commitment from the GDOT to pay into the Georgia Bat Conservation Fund at a rate of around $4 million a year, allowing the DNR to buy land to which it can move endangered bat species that are in the way of state infrastructure projects, according to the transportation department.
March 29, 2024 WABE
Law that would ban the American Library Association from Georgia falls short on final day of session
Juma Sei reports that Republican leadership tabled Senate Bill 390 in the morning, bringing it short of a final vote. The bill would have outlawed the American Library Association from Georgia’s public and school libraries, making it illegal for them to accept ALA funding.
March 29, 2024 Savannah Morning News, Augusta Chronicle
Bill privatizing water rights for Hyundai workforce housing passes in Georgia Senate
Maya Homan reports, a bill that would allow private companies to supply water for workforce housing near the new Hyundai plant in Bryan County passed in the Senate on the last day of the legislative session, with a contentious 32-22 vote. The bill, one of few that did not cleanly fall along party lines, with Sen. Derek Mallow (D-Savannah) voting for the bill and Sen. Frank Ginn (R-Danielsville) opposing it.
March 29, 2024 Georgia Recorder
Bill banning puberty blockers for minors languishes alongside other culture war measures
Ross Williams reports that two bills watched with dread by transgender Georgians and their allies withered away in the wee hours Friday morning after the House took no action on them on the final day of the 2024 Legislative session. Every year under the Gold Dome brings new battles in the culture wars and bills often based more upon ideology than practicality, nestled firmly within the crusty crannies of the cultural divide.
March 29, 2024 Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Legislature adjourns without new limits on mining near Okefenokee
Drew Kann and Greg Bluestein report that another session of the Georgia General Assembly ended after midnight Friday without any new protections for the Okefenokee Swamp passing, as a controversial strip mine planned near the refuge moves closer to becoming reality. A bill that would have paused permitting of new mines like the one Alabama-based Twin Pines Minerals wants to develop on the swamp’s doorstep cleared the Georgia House earlier this week. But the measure — SB 132 — was not brought to the Senate floor for a vote on the session’s final day.
