White County Parks and Recreation has announced they have canceled the opening day baseball/softball activities that were planned for this Saturday.
“We were really disappointed on have to cancel the opening day Saturday due to the extremely cold temperatures and wind it was going to be too much to get the kids out in that,” said Kimberly McEntire Director for White County Parks and Recreation.
In an interview on WRWH News, McEntire said they have no plans for rescheduling opening day, but will have an end-of-the-season cookout.
White County Parks and Recreation Director Kim McEntire
During that same interview, McEntire talked about the recreation park facilities. She said the White County manager and board of commissioners have been proactive in making improvements. They’ve approved new bleachers for the gym and will install what she described as a “beautiful automatic gate” at the park entrance to showcase the facility.
The pavilion next to the pickleball courts at the White County rec complex on Asbestos Road was damaged in a recent storm. Depending on the weather, Mcentire said work should begin to rebuild the pavilion which is extensively used by the public.
As for the decision not to open the county’s public pool, McEntire said she knows it’s a “disappointment” but the county is working with Truett McConnel University to offer some aquatic activities.
In February, McEntire and White County’s Assistant Parks and Recreation Director Deena Cowart shared with commissioners that it’s not cost-effective to open the pool this summer, because of so many issues, plus McEntire said, “It’s hard to find lifeguards.” White County is considering possibly installing a Splash Pad at the park so kids can have some outdoor water activities.
The Cleveland City Council has announced that Tom O’Bryant has been named Director of Economic Development and Planning for the city.
The council made the announcement following an executive session Monday night. O’Bryant currently serves as the City’s Administrator. Cleveland Mayor Josh Turner said In his new role, Mr. O’Bryant will report directly to the Mayor and Council and will be charged with directing the economic development of the City, fostering relationships with businesses and investors, and creating an environment within the City where businesses can thrive and succeed. He will work closely with the Downtown Development Authority and assist with permitting, planning and zoning.
Mayor Turner said “Tom O’Bryant has a strong background in Economic Development and Planning and is the only person that the council would consider for this very important role. The Council has an immense amount of confidence in Tom to attract business and create a business-friendly environment. We are excited about the future with Tom at the helm to attract business and guide the city through these extraordinary times of growth.”
Tom O’Bryant commented “I am looking forward to this role with the City of Cleveland. I believe the City, and greater White County community, is positioned for tremendous growth. It is exciting to be able to plan and implement the economic future of Cleveland.”
O’Bryant previously worked in planning and development with the City of Commerce and Georgia Mountains Regional Commission prior to working for White County as the Director of Community and Economic Development from 2006 through 2017.
According to Mayor Turner O’Bryant will continue to carry out the duties of the City Administrator until his successor can be named.
The City of Cleveland will soon issue a job posting for the position of City Administrator.
The Tallulah Falls Indians unleashed their offense in a 14-run rout of visiting East Hall on Wednesday evening, playing well in all phases of the game in a 14-4 win.
The TFS lineup collected 16 hits, while 3 pitchers combined to throw a 1-hitter. The defense played an error-free ballgame, as the Indians got contributions from just about every player who came in the game.
Tallulah Falls held a slim 1-0 lead after the first 3 and a half innings but wore out home plate in the fourth inning with an 8-spot. East Hall retaliated with 4 runs in the fifth to pull it back to a 9-4 game. TFS scored 5 unanswered, including 4 in the sixth to walk it off with a game-ending bases loaded walk of Tate Shaw that triggered the mercy rule.
Shaw was one of 6 Indians with a multi-hit game. Norman Bastian, Jr. had 3 hits, while Joel Miller, Drew Bates, Frankey Moree, Danny Grant, and Shaw all had 2 hits apiece. Miller recorded 3 RBI, while Bates, Moree, and Tyler Popham all had 2 RBI. Meanwhile, Jeremy Medina went 4.1 innings, allowing 4 earned runs on no hits and 5 walks, striking out 8 and earning the win. Cole Bonitatibus and Aiden Gragg went 1.2 combined innings of relief to close out the game.
Bates had an RBI single in the first to plate Miller, staking Medina and the Indians to an early 1-0 lead. In the 8-run fourth, Popham drove in Caden Walker and Moree with a base hit before scoring himself on an error moments later. Miller, Bates, and Bastian, Jr. recorded RBI singles later in the frame to take a commanding 9-0 lead.
In the fifth, Miller’s single brought home Grant. The sixth inning featured a 2-run single by Moree and a bases loaded hit by pitch by David Medina and a walk with the sacks full by Shaw.
The Indians are now 3-3 on the season and return to the diamond on Friday at East Jackson.
The Habersham County Parks and Recreation Department announced this morning that the pools at the Ruby Fulbright Aquatic Center are currently closed for maintenance.
“We had some duct work that became a hazard and needed to be better secured,” Habersham County Parks and Recreation Director Kurt Cooper tells Now Habersham.
Cooper says they plan to reopen the pools to the public Thursday afternoon, Mary 10.
The Georgia House unanimously passed a bill Wednesday that would strip the prescription drug benefit function from Medicaid’s managed care companies.
It’s the second House bill approved in as many days that targets the financial practices of the three Medicaid insurers in Georgia.
On Tuesday, the chamber passed mental health legislation (House Bill 1013) that would require these insurers to spend at least 85 percent of the dollars they receive in premiums on medical care and quality improvements.
House Bill 1351 focuses on the Medicaid insurers’ use of pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs), corporate entities that act as middlemen between health insurers or large employers and drug companies in handling pharmaceutical benefits.
PBMs decide which medications are placed on an insurer’s list of covered drugs, and how much the insurer will pay for them.
The main sponsor of the legislation, state Rep. David Knight (R-Griffin), said carving out the drug benefit from Medicaid managed care plans, and placing it under direct state control, will improve access to care and save the state money.
Knight, a passionate critic of PBMs, said their “unscrupulous business practices’’ include steering cancer patients and other chronically ill people to distant PBM pharmacies instead of to drugstores in the patients’ local areas.
Knight
He said some pharmacists actually lose money on filling thousands of Medicaid patient prescriptions. And they face “retroactive fees’’ assessed by PBMs after the initial payment for the drugs, he added.
The General Assembly has previously passed legislation to crack down on these practices, Knight said, only to have “the games persist.”
Jesse Weathington, executive director of the Georgia Quality Healthcare Association, which represents the Medicaid insurers, has told lawmakers that he doubts a switch in the drug program will save the state money. He said a state study showed that under most scenarios, a change to regular prescription protocols will actually cost Georgia money.
Pharmacy dispensing fees will rise dramatically if the drug benefit is carved out of the health plans, said Weathington, whose group opposes the legislation.
Source: The Commonwealth Fund
Such a carve-out has already occurred in California’s Medicaid program, called Medi-Cal.
Leanne Gassaway, vice president of state government affairs at CVS Health, which has a PBM that serves Peach State, said in a recent statement that House Bill 1351 “would force Georgia’s Medicaid beneficiaries into an inferior pharmacy benefit and leave taxpayers on the hook for hundreds of millions of dollars in avoidable health care costs.”
Gassaway said that “California’s shift to fee-for-service has disrupted care for millions of beneficiaries and jeopardized timely access to needed drugs.”
Each year, Georgia pays CareSource, Peach State and Amerigroup a total of more than $4 billion to run the federal-state health insurance program for more than 1 million poor residents, many of them children.
The Georgia Pharmacy Association supports the carve-out proposal, saying the current set-up imperils independent drugstores.
Knight has noted that Centene, the parent company of Peach State, reached multimillion-dollar settlements in Ohio, Mississippi and other states after lawsuits alleged the company overcharged the states’ Medicaid programs for pharmacy services.
Travis McMichael, left, speaks with his attorney Jason B. Sheffield , center, during his sentencing, alone with his father Greg McMichael and neighbor, William "Roddie" Bryan in the Glynn County Courthouse, Friday, Dec. 7, 2022, in Brunswick, Ga. The three found guilty in the February 2020 slaying of 25-year-old Ahmaud Arbery. (AP Photo/Stephen B. Morton, Pool)
Two of the three white men convicted of committing a racially motivated hate crime in their murder of Ahmaud Arbery have asked Judge Lisa Godbey Wood to overrule a federal jury’s unanimous guilty verdict, claiming that the roads in Satilla Shores — the Glynn County neighborhood where the chase and killing occurred — were not public streets, as prosecutors had charged in their indictment.
In separatemotions filed Tuesday, attorneys for Travis McMichael and his father Greg McMichael argue that federal prosecutors failed to provide sufficient evidence that Glynn County “provided or administered” the roads, which were dedicated by a private developer to the county in 1958 — a dedication which the attorneys say was never accepted by county commissioners.
As of this article’s publication, prosecutors had not filed responses to the McMichaels’ motions — which the court docket indicates they have until March 22 to do — nor had co-defendant William “Roddie” Bryan filed an appeal of his conviction under the same hate crime statute as the one that prosecutors charged the McMichaels with.
That statute — one of a handful of federal hate crime laws — criminalizes the harming or threatening of a person on the basis of their race for engaging in “federally protected activities” — among them being the use of a facility provided or administered by a government, such as a public street.
Savannah-based attorney Amy Lee Copeland, representing Travis McMichael, wrote in her client’s motion for acquittal that although the Glynn County Board of Commissioners in 1958 approved the plot of land for Satilla Shores, it explicitly rejected the developer’s dedication of the streets to the county.
Copeland acknowledged that the Glynn County Public Works Department had responded to dozens of maintenance requests in Satilla Shores between 2009 and 2021, but argued that they did not rise to the level of “implied acceptance” of the developer’s dedication of the streets to the county.
“These service tickets overwhelmingly went to drainage, ditches, and mosquitos,” Travis McMichael’s motion reads. “The only asphalt repairs came in conjunction with the county’s drainage work. Not a single ticket involved a pothole repair.”
Copeland had made a similar argument during the trial itself, although not in as much detail as the 43-page motion, which references case law at both the federal and state levels, including a federal appeals case involving a 1979 clash in Alabama between Black marchers with the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and members of the Ku Klux Klan.
Richmond Hill-based attorney A.J. Balbo, representing Greg McMichael, echoed Copeland’s argument in his client’s motion. Additionally, Balbo claimed that the government’s evidence of racial animus against Bryan and Travis McMichael had unfairly tainted the jury’s perception of his client.
“Despite jury instructions directing the jury to consider the defendants individually, it seems clear that the impact of the racial animus evidence from the other two defendants contaminated the jury’s view of Defendant Gregory McMichael,” Greg McMichael’s motion reads. “The ‘spill over’ of that toxic evidence explains how the jury came to the conclusions that it did as to Defendant Gregory McMichael, even in the absence of sufficient evidence warranting a conviction.”
In addition to asking for acquittal on the hate crime and related firearms charges, both Copeland and Balbo requested that their clients also be acquitted of kidnapping. In their motions, the attorneys argued that Travis McMichael’s pickup truck used during the chase was not an “instrumentality of interstate commerce,” as federal prosecutors had charged in their indictment.
“The Ford truck was not moving in interstate commerce,” Travis McMichael’s motion reads. “Its use as a putative means of corralling or detaining Arbery came from the fact that it was parked, with McMichael standing outside. This would be akin to finding an interstate commerce nexus if a person used the receiver of a rotary dial telephone to bludgeon someone or its wire cord to garrote a victim.”
Federal sentencing has not been scheduled for the McMichaels and Bryan, each of whom has already been sentenced to life in prison for their state murder charges, with only Bryan having the possibility of parole after 30 years.
Federal rules generally require a probation officer to conduct a presentence investigation before a judge imposes a sentence. Court records do not show any such investigation thus far.
(GA Recorder) — House lawmakers signed off a tax cut proposal Wednesday that would cut state revenues by $1 billion over objections the proposal disproportionately benefits Georgia’s wealthiest residents.
The proposal would replace the state’s graduated income tax rate system, which now tops out at 5.75%, with a single, reduced 5.25% known as a flat tax.
The bill would also raise the standard exemption to $12,000 for single tax filers and $24,000 for married couples, which is a provision supporters say is meant to offset any tax increase on lower-income residents caused by the proposed flat tax.
The plan would take effect in 2024.
“With savings across the board, we believe this tax cut reform will make us more competitive for wage earners at every income level,” said Rep. Shaw Blackmon, a Bonaire Republican who chairs the committee focused on taxes. “It’s simple, it’s fair, and it allows Georgians to keep more of their money.”
House Speaker David Ralston, a Blue Ridge Republican, said the measure will “give Georgians meaningful, permanent tax relief.” The House recently backed the governor’s proposal to send $1.6 billion in surplus funds back to taxpayers as a one-time refund.
The bill, which was filed two weeks before a key legislative deadline, is a priority for House Republicans who are facing election-year pressure to cut taxes. Some candidates, like former U.S. Sen. David Perdue who is challenging Gov. Brian Kemp, have called for the elimination of the income tax.
“This bill has been rushed through and in an election year because it’s going to look good on a mailer,” said State Rep. Matthew Wilson, a Brookhaven Democrat who is running for state insurance commissioner. “But it’s not smart policy for Georgia and I ask you to oppose it.”
The bill cleared the House with a 115-52 vote, with more than a dozen Democrats siding with GOP lawmakers.
State Rep. Dexter Sharper, a Valdosta Democrat, said afterward that he thought people needed a break after a rough last two years, and he thought the proposal was a fair way to do it.
“There’s no way I was going to vote against giving people some of their money back,” Sharper said. “Let’s just give everybody something back so we can move forward and stimulate this economy because $1 billion is a lot of money.”
Critics, though, have panned the proposal as a tax cut primarily benefiting wealthier Georgians. About 62% of the savings would go to the top one-fifth of the state’s earners making more than $109,000, according to the Georgia Budget and Policy Institute.
Meanwhile, 1.4 million Georgians would see no change, and about 10% – or about a half-million people – would see a tax increase, according to GBPI.
“Members of the Senate must reject this risky, regressive plan to enrich the wealthiest at the expense of hardworking families that could jeopardize the fiscal health of our state,” said GBPI senior tax and budget policy analyst Danny Kanso.
State Rep. Jasmine Clark, a Lilburn Democrat, urged her colleagues to vote against the bill because of its potential to increase taxes for more than 500,000 people. She also questioned how the state will pay for the tax cut.
“Right now, our economy is recovering from the pandemic, and because of that, we are seeing record price increases. We’re seeing inflation, not to mention we’re in the midst of a war. Right now is not the time to raise taxes on some Georgians, on any Georgians,” Clark said.
State revenues have jumped in Georgia after an initial dip early in the pandemic. Last year, the state was left with billions in surplus revenues when the fiscal year ended June 30, and tax revenues for this year are up nearly $20 billion, or 16%.
Lawmakers are also considering increased spending, with the governor offering up a new $30.2 billion spending plan that is about $3 billion larger than this year’s budget as originally approved last year. The House is set to unveil its budget proposal Thursday morning.
Sean Lynes, Jr. was at it again with yet another 4-goal game to lead the Indians to a Wednesday win at home over Riverside Military Academy by a 6-2 final. The Indians were up 5-0 at the break, with the outcome never in question.
One of Lynes, Jr.’s goals was a beautiful shot outside the 18 to the opposite upper corner. Austin Ball also scored in the first half, while Giovanni Ramirez scored the lone second-half goal.
“Overall, the guys played tough tonight against a much-stronger and athletic RMA,” says coach Jeremy Stille. “We played very well against their press in the first half, seizing our opportunities on goal, but struggled in the second half conceding two early goals.”
Those goals narrowed the deficit to 5-2 before Ramirez’ goal off a Clay Kasky assist provided insurance.
“It was a good win to get back into the groove of games as we head into region play for the next nine games to fight for a playoff spot in the state tournament,” adds Stille.
Lynes, Jr. led with 4 goals and added an assist. It marked the third hat trick for Lynes, Jr. this season. Ball had a goal and 2 assists, while Ramirez had a goal and Kafsky an assist. The Indians are 5-1-1 on the season, and return to the pitch on Friday at Loganville Christian.
GOALS
4 – Sean Lynes, Jr. (15)
Austin Ball (7)
Giovanni Ramirez (1)
ASSISTS
2 – Austin Ball (8)
Sean Lynes, Jr. (2)
Clay Kafsky (4)
Walker was the keynote speaker for the event. (Hadley Cottingham/Now Habersham)
A crowd of around 200 northeast Georgians filled Habersham Central High School’s auditorium Tuesday night for a fundraiser event, featuring a keynote speaker who has become a household name in Georgia.
Football player, business owner and US Senate candidate Herschel Walker was the keynote speaker for the event, which raised funds through ticket sales to benefit the Boys and Girls Club of Lanier in Habersham County, an organization that provides after-school stability for area youth.
Representatives from the Habersham community, as well as members of the Boys and Girls Club of Lanier, spoke on the importance of supporting the organization and their goals of helping northeast Georgia’s children succeed.
“Our aim is to make sure every kid has an opportunity to be successful,” the Boys and Girls Club of Lanier CEO Steven Mickens told the audience. “You’ll be excited to know that 1,000 kids that attend our clubs daily are in a safe place that bolsters a learning environment. Between the hours of 2:30 p.m. and 6:30 p.m., our kids are involved in tutoring, academic enrichment activities, homework help [and] assistance, chess, checkers, you name it— we’re going to make sure kids are involved in them.”
Boys and Girls Club of Lanier CEO Steven Mickens says that the organization helps more than 1,000 children in the northeast Georgia area. (Hadley Cottingham/Now Habersham)
Mickens says that in Habersham County, the Boys and Girls Club serves 350 children at both the Tim Lee Boys and Girls Club and in the county’s elementary schools.
Wade Rhodes, Chairman of the Steering Committee for the Habersham-based Tim Lee Boys and Girls Club, says that investing in the organization is important to “breaking the cycle” of children becoming involved in illegal activities due to lack of a safe environment outside of school.
“It costs 90,000 to keep one child in a juvenile youth detention center for one year,” Rhodes said. “We can break the cycle of juvenile delinquency by investing in young people.”
Rhodes encouraged attendees to invest in the students walking the halls of Habersham’s schools by investing in the Boys and Girls Club, to give them a safe space after school to learn, grow and stay healthy.
Wade Rhodes, Chairman of the Steering Committee for the Habersham-based Tim Lee Boys and Girls Club, encouraged attendees to invest in the region’s youth. (Hadley Cottingham/Now Habersham)
Providing a home and a family
Jasmin Gaudlock, a Gainesville fourth grade teacher, first-generation college student, Boys and Girls Club tutor and alumna appealed to the audience to share how the organization helped her through the toughest times in her childhood.
She says the organization helped her overcome bullying and self-worth issues in middle school, and while things seemed to be on the up-and-up, in high school, everything changed.
“A few years later, my whole family and I began to experience homelessness,” Gaudlock said. “Around the age of 16, I became the sole provider for our family of eight due to unforeseen circumstances. I’m the second oldest of six siblings, so I had a lot of responsibilities to manage. I feel like it was such a rough time in my life and such a critical point as a 16-year-old girl. It was hard to think about going to school, maintaining a 3.8 GPA working 40 plus hours, trying to take care of my family, and making sure everybody was okay.”
Gaudlock says that she was under an extreme amount of pressure, and became separated from her family during this time in her life. Without the Boys and Girls Club, she says she might have given up and not become the person she is today.
“They inspired me and never gave up on me, even in the moments that I just wanted to give up on myself,” she said. “I was so close to some of them that they started to feel like family and the club started to feel like a home— and that’s a really big deal when you don’t have your own home.”
Gaudlock fights tears as she tells the story of how the Boys and Girls Club helped her through the toughest times of her childhood and early adulthood. (Hadley Cottingham/Now Habersham)
She said that the club continued to support her even after she had grown up. She began working with the organization to put herself through college, and they supported her through a horrible car accident her mother was in that left her with traumatic brain damage. She says that through her toughest times, the Boys and Girls Club was always the place she felt safest.
“When I needed them [the Boys and Girls Club] most, they were there, and they will always be there,” she said. “The Boys and Girls Club will continue to make a positive, everlasting impact on the many youth in our community who lead us into our future. And I hope I can lend a helping hand in that.”
Walker encourages youth to achieve their goals
Walker presented the story of how he pulled himself up over and over again through his childhood and early career to become the person he is today to the audience, and encouraged fundraiser attendees to help children to find the inspiration they need to improve themselves.
“Everyone knows the glory of Herschel Walker, but they don’t know the story,” Walker told the audience. He says through his childhood, he worked on his own to overcome a stutter, bullying and invested in his physical fitness to become one of the University of Georgia’s most accomplished football alumni.
He says that the successes of his post-football career businesses boil down to investing in members of his community, and his community investing in him, to give himself a fulfilling life.
“That’s why I thank all of you for being here,” Walker said. “Because if we help our kids, our kids are our future, and you’ve got to remember that. For every young man and young lady in this audience today, remember this: no matter what you can achieve, if you can see it, you’ve got to dream [it]. And don’t let anyone tell you you can’t.”
Walker closed the event out with a word of encouragement that anyone can succeed.
“God grabbed Herschel Walker out of Wrightsville, Georgia, and he put Herschel Walker through college and the NFL . . . and if he can do me, he can do you,” Walker said.
If you’d like to donate time or money to the Boys and Girls Club to keep the organization’s programs running, you can do so at their website here.
During the City of Baldwin’s Tuesday night work session, the council discussed whether or not they wanted to move forward with renewing their membership with Partnership Habersham. The fee for the city’s 2022 membership would be $2,500— and the council is wondering if those funds are better spent elsewhere.
The City of Baldwin needs to make a decision on whether or not they’ll continue to pay membership fees to have a seat at the Partnership Habersham table by Monday, and the council may be considering not renewing.
“I understand that their job, in general, is to be a bridge between cities and jobs and growth and things like that, but I’m really trying to see where that particular value [is],” Councilwoman Alice Venter said. “What is that they have done for us, where have they performed for us, and does that warrant us giving our taxpayers’ money to them?”
Councilwoman Stephanie Almagno said that she wondered if that $2,500 could be better used in the city’s budget, and that in her view, the membership didn’t provide a necessary service to the city.
“We’re Baldwin in two counties, and this is just Habersham,” Almagno said. “There’s not a Banks County component.”
Mayor Joe Elam, who is one of the more involved members of the council with Partnership Habersham, says that the goal of the membership is to make sure every municipality has “a seat at the table” with Partnership Habersham’s meetings.
“The partnership is much larger than our $2,500,” Elam said. “I would bet it’s not the money they’re worried about, as the opportunity to display some level of unity for the community as a whole.”
But Elam says the city’s current interaction with the group is presenting updates at monthly meetings and being involved with other meetings organized by members of Partnership Habersham.
“There’s some value in what they do,” Elam said. “Whether its value the council wants to support monetarily or not, that’s a decision that needs to be made.”
The council seems to be leaning towards terminating their membership with Partnership Habersham, but no official decision was made at the work session.
“What we receive from those meetings is access to business owners, access to UGA Archway folks, but I don’t think that access can only come through Partnership Habersham,” Almagno said. “I don’t see an immediate benefit for us.”
Almagno says that her opinion could be swayed, but when it comes down to numbers, she’d rather allocate those funds to other projects.
The council will make a decision on the membership at their upcoming regular meeting.
Editor’s Note: The following legislative update is from Rep. Victor Anderson (R-Cornelia) who represents the 10th State House District of Georgia. The opinions in this column are his. You may contact Rep. Anderson at victor.anderson@house.ga.gov
Rep. Victor Anderson (R-Cornelia)
Greetings from the Gold Dome!
Monday, February 28, we returned to the Gold Dome for week eight of our legislative session. It was an eventful week as we passed many bills and resolutions on the House floor. As our Crossover Day [March 15] deadline is quickly approaching, we are all working hard to ensure the passage of sound policy and positive legislation to benefit our citizens and state. Last week we tackled tax reform, healthcare and agriculture, which is covered in the full update below.
In addition to our regularly scheduled session this week, our Georgia Secretary of State will also be hosting qualifying week for the upcoming election cycle. After much prayer and consideration, I am excited to announce that I will be seeking re-election to continue my service as your House Representative within the Georgia General Assembly. Our family sincerely appreciates the guidance and wisdom so many have lent over the years, and we are grateful to have your support as we work to continue serving our home.
As always, I will be updating you weekly on all happenings concerning your government at work. If you have concerns or questions regarding legislation, I ask that you reach out to our office directly. Thank you for allowing me the honor and privilege of serving our home under the Gold Dome. May God bless you, and may He continue to bless the great state of Georgia.
Tax Reform
Tax reform is always an ongoing conversation and priority under the Gold Dome. Last week we successfully passed a number of tax friendly policies, most notably in the form of House Bill 1302 benefiting all Georgians and House Bill 1064 aimed towards assisting our veterans.
Our conservative stewardship of our state’s general fund has paid off, quite literally, as we have a surplus of $1.6 billion in undesignated funding. Therefore, it was an easy decision to vote in favor of House Bill 1302, which will give these funds back to our Georgia families. The tax credits outlined within the bill, based off 2020 filings, are as follows:
Provides a one-time tax credit for eligible Georgia taxpayers who filed income tax returns in both 2020 and 2021.
Single tax filers would receive a $250 refund.
Head-of-household filers would receive $375.
Joint filers would receive a $500 refund.
Refunds would not be available for non-residents, individuals who were claimed as a dependent for the 2020 or 2021 tax years, estates nor trusts.
If signed into law, the refund would be automatically credited on an individuals filed income tax return for 2021. This means the refunds would first be credited against a filer’s outstanding income tax liability prior to being issued directly to the taxpayer. Further, this tax refund would not be taxable under Georgia law, and taxpayers would not accrue interest on the rebate. After a tumultuous and uncertain couple of years, the ability to refund our hardworking citizens is affirmation that we made the right decision to reopen our state’s economy, trust in personal responsibility and continue to support our businesses during the pandemic.
Did you know that Georgia houses one of the largest military and veteran populations in the nation? To that end, we have always worked hard to ensure our men and women in uniform know they are appreciated. Last week solidified our efforts as a military-friendly state through the passage of House Bill 1064. This bill works to give money back to those who protect us.
The bill exempts up to $17,500 in military retirement income from state income taxes for retired service members under 62 years old. If a military retiree continues to work and earns at least $17,500, the retiree would be eligible for an additional exemption up to $17,500 in state income taxes for a total exemption of $35,000. If passed and signed into law, this exemption would become effective on July 1, 2022, and subsequently applicable to all taxable years starting January 1, 2022. We are grateful that so many U.S. military retirees have chosen to call Georgia home, and this legislation would greatly benefit these individuals, especially as the cost of living and inflation has increased recently.
Agricultural Education
As the largest economic engine in our state, adding billions to our state’s economy on an annual basis, Agriculture is always at the forefront of conversation during our legislative sessions. To continue our support of Georgia’s AG community, we successfully passed two bills that allow for hands-on agricultural experiences for our Georgia students.
House Bill 1303 authorizes the Georgia Department of Education (GaDOE) to implement agricultural education programs in all public elementary schools. This bill also requires our schools hire an agricultural education teacher for these programs.
We also passed House Bill 1292 to ensure that students would not be penalized for missing school when they participate in our state’s invaluable 4-H activities and programs. Under HB 1292, a school could request documentation from a 4-H representative if a student was absent due to involvement in the organization. We are hopeful these bills will educate Georgia students on our state’s largest industry while encouraging them to explore their career options in agriculture.
Healthcare
Last week we also passed House Bill 1348 which would add vaping to the Georgia Smoke-free Air Act and align our vaping laws with our cigarette smoking laws. Under the bill, vaping would be prohibited inside most public areas, such as restaurants and government buildings. Additionally, businesses would be able to designate enclosed areas for vaping that would be separate from non-vaping areas, and individuals who vape in prohibited public spaces would face a $100 to $500 fine.
Bills of Interest
During week eight of session, the following House bills and Senate bill were also passed:
House Bill 1 – or the Forming Open and Robust University Minds Act – which would establish that unrestricted outdoor areas of University System of Georgia and the Technical College System of Georgia campuses are public forums for their campus communities, and this bill would prohibit these institutions from restricting expressive activities in those areas or designating any campus areas as a “free speech zone;”
House Bill 389, which would codify existing case law to determine whether work classifies a person as an employee or an independent contractor, and this bill would create an enforcement mechanism by adding a civil penalty paid to the Georgia Department of Labor if an employer misclassifies its employees;
House Bill 508, which would make it unlawful for a person to advertise or conduct a performance or production in Georgia by using any false, deceptive or misleading affiliation, connection or association without authorization; this bill would also create the Georgia True Origin of Digital Goods Act to require websites that distribute commercial recordings or audiovisuals to consumers to clearly disclose its physical address, telephone number and email address on such website or online service;
House Bill 916, or the Superior and State Court Appellate Practice Act, which would modernize and simplify the manner of appealing from lower courts to state courts to ensure that appeal decisions are based on merits and not dismissed on complex procedural grounds;
House Bill 960, which would establish the Office of the Inspector General to investigate the management and operation of state agencies, including complaints alleging fraud, waste or corruption committed against or within an agency;
House Bill 961, which would authorize the apportionment of damages based on who was at fault in single-defendant lawsuits rather than solely in multi-defendant lawsuits;
House Bill 974, which would require recorded instruments, such as deeds, mortgages, liens, maps/plats and state tax executions, to be filed electronically or delivered in person to superior court clerks, and this bill includes certain instructions for these filings;
House Bill 1009, which would provide definitions and operation guidelines for personal delivery devices, such as driverless vehicles, and would prohibit local authorities from enacting ordinances regarding personal delivery devices under specific conditions;
House Bill 1056, which would allow the Georgia Firefighters’ Pension Fund to invest up to 15 percent of the fund’s total assets in alternative investments;
House Bill 1058, which would eliminate the requirement that affiliated corporations have prior approval from or have been requested to file a consolidated income tax return by the Georgia Department of Revenue, and instead, allow affiliated corporations to file these returns without the request or approval of the department;
House Bill 1084, or the Protect Students First Act, which would prevent the use of and reliance on curricula or training programs in state public schools that espouse “divisive concepts” that are specifically included in this bill, and the bill would require each local board of education to adopt a complaint resolution policy to address complaints or violations of this new policy, as well as establish an appeal process for violations through the State Board of Education;
House Bill 1150, or the Freedom to Farm Act, which would update Georgia laws in order to prevent a nuisance lawsuit from being brought against a farming operation that has been active for more than one year, address concentrated animal feeding operation (CAFO) requirements and clarify that the provisions of the proposed law do not apply if a nuisance is caused by negligence or illegal operations;
House Bill 1175, which would authorize and establish regulations and standards regarding the safety, transportation and sale of raw milk in Georgia and would give the Department of Agriculture permitting and enforcement authority;
House Bill 1178, or the Parents’ Bill of Rights, which would codify a parent’s fundamental right to direct the upbringing and education of their minor children, create certain standards to prevent schools from infringing upon these fundamental rights, as well as require the school board or its governing body to consult with parents, teachers and administrators to develop and adopt policies that promote parental involvement in public schools;
House Bill 1182, which would provide that specified provisions in Georgia law do not apply to the county sale of property that contains any portion of a manmade lake;
House Bill 1183, which would clean up existing Georgia law and revise the timeline for bond remissions in criminal cases by providing more time for the court to bring in defendants;
House Bill 1188, which would revise the crimes of “child molestation” and “sexual exploitation of children” to specify that each individual violation of the crimes can be charged as its own count;
House Bill 1216, which would enhance the penalties for fleeing or attempting to elude a police officer;
House Bill 1219, which would increase the number of members on the Georgia Board of Dentistry to include more dentists, dental hygienists, as well as a dental education expert;
House Bill 1271, which would prohibit a property owner’s association from enacting covenants after July 1, 2022, that forbid a lot owner from displaying an official U.S. flag in certain ways;
House Bill 1274, which would define “antisemitism” in Georgia’s laws as the harassment of a person of actual or perceived Jewish origin, ancestry, ethnicity or faith;
House Bill 1288, which would provide for the assignment of certain group-term life insurance benefits to pay for funeral services of a deceased individual who was a member of the Employees’ Retirement System of Georgia, the Georgia Legislative Retirement System or the Georgia Judicial Retirement System;
House Bill 1294, which would require landowners to send notice within three days to all responsible parties if a local government agent determines that an abandoned mobile home is derelict;
House Bill 1308, which would allow for a sponsor of a health benefit plan to consent on behalf of an enrollee to the electronic delivery of all communications and identification cards for the plan, and enrollees would be able to opt out of electronic communications;
House Bill 1324, which would require insurers to provide coverage for emergency physical or mental health care regardless of the diagnosis given;
House Bill 1346, which would allow a clerk of superior courts, who would otherwise be prohibited from practicing law in his/her name, to serve as a judge advocate or any other role in an active duty or reserve component of the armed forces;
House Bill 1349, which would change the qualifying date from July 1, 2005, to July 1, 2022, for land the Georgia Department of Natural Resources withholds from actions that result in the loss of state-owned acreage available for hunting;
House Bill 1352, which would provide certain protocols for the Georgia Department of Revenue when it handles unclaimed property, including processing unclaimed property claims and retaining wills or trusts;
House Bill 1377, which would authorize a civil cause of action for injunctive relief without having to show special or irreparable damage in the event that a non-government employer fails to properly deduct and withhold from wages as required by Georgia income tax law, and this bill clarifies that the court would award costs and expenses, including attorneys’ fees, to the prevailing party;
Senate Bill 472, which would update the election districts for members of the Georgia Public Service Commission.
The 10th House District includes portions of Habersham and White counties. Rep. Anderson serves on the House Energy, Utilities & Telecommunications Committee, Governmental Affairs Committee, and State Planning & Community Affairs Committee. He also chairs the study committee on annexation and cityhood issues.
This map from GA DOT marks the section of road in Toccoa that will be affected by the bridge work. Drivers should expect delays when traveling through the area, GA DOT says.
If you travel State Route 17 Alternate into Toccoa, prepare for delays. The Georgia Department of Transportation will close one lane of traffic near Stephens County Hospital as part of a bridge replacement project over Toccoa Creek
Crews will install the road closure near the hospital and Toccoa Falls College on March 10; it’s expected to remain closed for 30 to 60 days.
Northbound traffic will be shifted to the right before Hansen Road, ending just past Hospital Road, according to transportation officials. The speed limit will be reduced from 45 to 35 MPH in the work zone.
The bridge work is scheduled to be completed in November, weather permitting.
