The weather is warming up, which means it is time to get out the telescopes and start enjoying these warm spring nights.
April 5th: Moon meets Mars, Castor and Pollux
April 5th will feature the first big conjunction of the month when the Moon meets up with Mars. Both will be high overhead at sunset, shining brightly.
The quarter-phase moon will also be near Castor and Pollux, a stunning pair of stars named after the twin half-brothers in Roman and Greek mythology. In reality, these stars are nowhere near twins, with Castor being a bright white star around 51 light years away and Pollux appearing golden around 34 light years away.
Castor is fascinating because it isn’t one star but rather six. With a decent telescope, you can see that it is at least two stars very close together, but larger telescopes have resolved six separate stars that make up what we see as “Castor” with our eyes.
By NASA/JPL-Caltech; edited by Nicholas Beeson – https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/infographics/infographic.view.php?id=10884, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=95191242
April 12: Smallest full moon of the year
The smallest full moon of the year comes on April 12th. The full moon will officially occur at 8:22 PM EDT, making it possible to see at its precise full moment across North Georgia as it rises in the east.
You’ve heard the term “supermoon” but this month we will have a “micromoon.” Since the moon’s orbit is elliptical, it is sometimes farther away or closer when it reaches its full phase. A supermoon is when it is close, a micromoon far.
This year’s micromoon will appear about 5% smaller than average, so you likely won’t notice much. It will also be hanging directly beneath Spica, the brightest star in the constellation Virgo and one of the brightest stars in the sky.
April 21-22: Lyrid Meteor Shower
While nowhere near as impressive as meteor showers later in the year, the Lyrids can be a nice teaser and a good opener for the spring sky-watching season. This year, the shower is expected to peak overnight on April 21, with the best rates likely between midnight and dawn on the 22nd.
The shower will have a radiant near the bright star Vega, which rises before midnight in the northeast. This year, you can expect to see only 10-15 meteors per hour, and the last quarter moon could make it a bit of a challenge once it rises in the pre-dawn hours.
An interesting fact about the Lyrids is that they have been known to have unusual outbursts of up to 100+ meteors per hour. Unfortunately, these outbursts seem to occur roughly every 60 years, with the next one not likely until 2042.
April 24/25: Moon meets Venus and Saturn
Early risers will get the chance to see a crescent moon near Venus and Saturn during the early morning hours of April 24th and 25th. You will find it up and right on the 24th and down and left of the pair of planets on the 25th.
Venus should be easy to spot, but Saturn may be more challenging to see in the early morning twilight.
April 28/29: Moon meets Jupiter
The last big event of the month will come for us evening folks on April 28 into the 29th as the freshly crescent moon lines up near Jupiter in the evening sky. Jupiter is quickly racing toward the horizon and will soon become invisible behind the sun, but right now, it shines brightly in the west after sunset. We’ll close out the month with the moon and Jupiter making a stunning pair.
Get out this month and take advantage of the still cool but comfortable night air!
White County is getting some additional outdoor warning sirens. This week, the White County Board of Commissioners approved the purchase of three additional warning sirens.
White County Public Safety Director David Murphy told the commissioners that these new sirens will be located at Yonah Preserve, Skylake Community, and White County High School. Murphy noted that there is currently an alert siren located just south of the high school, but since the school campus has grown over the years, they need the new siren to cover the campus completely.
Murphy talked about the funding for this project: “So that’s just part of an overall plan, and we typically don’t fund these unless we get a hazard mitigation grant, and these came from a grant that was applied for about four years ago,” said Murphy.
The county will receive $78,000 in federal funds, with the county to provide $8,698 in local SPLOST funds. In the overall plan for outdoor sirens, Murphy said they have three more, and they will seek funding to be placed in key areas around the county.
The commissioners also approved $2,615 in SPLOST funding for the purchase of 1,000 weather alert radios that will be distributed to White County residents. Director Murphy said they want to primarily distribute these radios to the elderly population, but any resident of the county would be eligible to receive one.
These may be the last major SPLOST purchases the county commission makes for a while. During Monday night’s meeting on March 31, commissioners discussed a possible moratorium on new spending until current economic conditions stabilize.
New era begins for Union County with Rob Stowe set as the new head coach. He boasts a pair of region titles at Wilcox County, posting a 50-24 record from 2019-24 with six playoff runs. That’s the level of success he wants to bring to the Panthers.
For seven years in a row, Union has made the postseason. But the one thing eluding the program is a region championship. Could that be on the horizon?
One interesting decision right off the bat for Stowe and his staff is at QB – rising senior Cade Dockrey never got to showcase what he could do last year, as he tore his ACL in the scrimmage game. That led to freshman Kamden Kendrick taking over and running with it. He had some growing pains but has truly emerged as a QB1. How will Union utilize Dockrey?
There are several guys back in the mix, including Bentley Rich, Chetley Cox, Tyler Parker, Brandyn Lynch, Micah Wallace, etc. This was a good young team hungry for that next step this time around.
House lawmakers celebrated the end of the 2025 session by ripping up and tossing paper in the air after the Senate had already said peace out to making laws. (Ross Williams/Georgia Recorder)
ATLANTA (Georgia Recorder) — The 2025 legislative session ended abruptly Friday when the Senate suddenly adjourned earlier than usual, catching many people in the bustling Georgia Capitol off guard and throwing the House into disarray.
The last day of the 40-day legislative session, when the House and Senate usually crank out legislation right up until midnight and celebrate at the end of the night by throwing torn-up pieces of paper into the air, ended with a whimper.
Lt. Gov. Burt Jones sent senators home a little after 9 p.m. Friday. Senators seemed to be taken off-guard – the floor of the chamber was littered not with the customary shreds of paper but entire crumpled up sheets.
Lt. Gov. Burt Jones (Ross Williams/Georgia Recorder)
“We’d already gotten all our priorities done, and I’ve been saying all day, of course, I’ve been leading up to the last two days saying we’re going to adjourn early,” Jones told reporters after the Senate gaveled out. “I actually was trying to get done earlier than now, but there were a few more priorities that we went ahead and got some ‘agrees’ on and everything, but it was a good session, and we got a lot of things done.”
Not all of Jones’ top priorities were successful, including the Red Tape Rollback Act, also known as Georgia’s DOGE, aimed at cutting government bureaucracy.
The abrupt ending to Senate business seemed to surprise House lawmakers. After a break, the chamber gaveled back in to pass a few more bills and resume the ceremonial thank-yous to House staff and the throwing of the paper scraps.
Speaking to reporters after the final gavel, Newington Republican and House Speaker Jon Burns said the House had accomplished what it had set out to, with the exception of efforts to rein in the use of school zone speed cameras.
Dozens of bills were left in limbo Friday but will still be active when lawmakers return for the second half of the biennium next January.
Burns also lobbed a jab at the other chamber.
Georgia House Speaker Jon Burns (Ross Williams/Georgia Recorder)
“I just think it shows that the House is focusing on its priorities and getting the job done, and we’re not worried about moving on to some kind of higher office. We came here to do a job and we did our job, and that’s what drives the House,” Burns said.
Jones is widely expected to announce a run for governor in 2026, and other high-ranking senators are reportedly mulling runs for other top positions like lieutenant governor and attorney general. At least one senator, McDonough Republican Sen. Brian Strickland, who is running for attorney general, has filed his papers to run for statewide office.
Friday night was a peculiar end to a session that had been dominated by debate over new limits on lawsuits, a slate of culture war bills largely focused on transgender Georgians and efforts to improve security on Georgia’s campuses after last year’s Apalachee High School shooting that left two students and two teachers dead.
Lawmakers pass next year’s budget amid economic uncertainty
Lawmakers passed a budget for the next budget year on the final day of this year’s legislative session as economic uncertainty looms on the national level.
The $37.8 million budget notably includes spending boosts for the state’s prisons and schools, and it’s slightly larger than the one Gov. Brian Kemp unveiled when the legislation session began. The governor, who sets the spending level, added $50.4 million to next year’s revenue estimate Friday.
The budget, which takes effect July 1, was sent to the governor as the Trump administration’s historic tariffs upset the global economy and as economic forecasters say the U.S. economy could be heading toward a recession.
The S&P 500 has dropped 10% over two days after Trump unveiled his tariff plan.
Rep. Matt Hatchett (Ross Williams/Georgia Recorder)
“Our budget is predicated on a revenue estimate, and I think it’s fair to say that since we reconvened in January, the macro-economic picture has changed pretty dramatically in just over the last few days,” Rep. Scott Holcomb, an Atlanta Democrat, said to the House’s top budget writer, Rep. Matt Hatchett.
“How comfortable are you with the probability that the revenue estimates that make this budget will hold throughout the year?” Holcomb said.
Hatchett, a Dublin Republican, responded that if there are “huge swings,” then lawmakers would likely need to return to Atlanta for a special session to adjust the spending plan.
But Hatchett and other House Republican leaders told reporters later that they do not think that is likely.
“Certainly, a good businessperson is always looking forward and trying to be ready for what’s coming next,” Burns said. “If we don’t do that, then we’re not doing our job. So, we’re conscious of those possibilities, and we’re in a very, very strong position when it comes to reserves.”
Hatchett said Friday that the state has over $12 billion in reserves. Although he said he thinks it’s unlikely that lawmakers will need to be summoned back later this year, he said he thinks a “correction” could be on the horizon.
Lawmakers pass bipartisan landlord bill
A bipartisan bill intended to hold out-of-state landlords more accountable for managing single-family homes across Georgia is awaiting the governor’s signature.
Rep. Mary Margaret Oliver (Ross Williams/Georgia Recorder)
Decatur Democratic Rep. Mary Margaret Oliver, who is the sponsor of House Bill 399, called the measure a good first step to deal with investor-owned homes that are popping up all over metro Atlanta. Under the legislation, landlords with single-family homes or duplexes have to hire Georgia brokers or other in-state management to handle tenant maintenance and other housing issues.
Both chambers passed the bill before this year’s session ended late Friday, with the Senate passing it with a 46-9 vote.
Advocates for housing rights point to the significant economic hit caused by fewer single-family homes available for first-time buyers.
“We know that the local property owners, the local property managements, are struggling with this competition that’s coming from the hedge funds, the out-of-state investors who are impacting our market in a bad way,” Oliver said following Friday’s Senate vote on her bill.
Oliver’s bill was carried in the Senate by Sylvania Republican Sen. Max Burns, who said the problem is more widespread than Atlanta.
“It’s an issue in our smaller, urban areas as well as our metropolitan areas,” Burns said. “It’ll impact rural Georgia when it gets down to Bulloch County, Statesboro, Valdosta or Macon. You’re not seeing it just in Metro. If you look at the districts where there’s more than 25% of available rental housing owned by investors, that creates a challenge.”
Many bills left lingering
The first year of the two-year legislative session concluded without the final passage of one of Jones’ top priorities, a so-called red tape rollback bill as coined by Jones to be a state-level version of the Elon Musk-led federal Department of Government Efficiency.
Senate Bill 28, which cleared the chamber in February by a 33-21 vote that fell along party lines, failed to make it to the House floor for debate Friday. This is the second year Jones’ red tape rollback had not made it out of the House.
The House adjourned before legislators were presented with a substitute version of House Bill 397 that cleared the Senate after the addition of several proposals such as expanding State Election Board powers and banning Georgia from being a member of multi-state voter rolls sharing databases. Instead, the House passed a resolution Friday creating a study committee that will examine election rules later this year.
A pair of firearm-related bills were also left unfinished. The House had spent more than an hour Friday debating a proposal that targets a Savannah ordinance penalizing gun owners who leave their firearms in unlocked vehicles. Under the proposal, someone facing a fine would be able to sue the city for as much as $25,000 in damages.
And a House proposal that originally aimed to encourage safe gun storage through an income tax credit stalled after a compromise version limited the tax credit to gun safety training and spliced it with a Senate bill creating a four-day sales tax holiday for firearms, ammunition and other accessories, like scopes and magazines – as well as gun safes.
This year, lawmakers passed a ban on transgender athletes in girls’ sports and signed off on another bill seeking to block inmates from receiving gender-affirming care. This also proved to be the year that legislators passed a so-called religious freedom bill, which Kemp signed Friday over concerns that it would lead to discrimination against LGBTQ people and religious minorities.
But other controversial red meat bills were left behind for now, including a ban on diversity, equity and inclusion programs or policies from all state public schools and universities. Other stalled measures would have banned gender-affirming care for state workers and made it harder for minors to be treated with puberty blockers for gender dysphoria.
Georgia Recorder freelancer Maya Homan contributed to this report.
The U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., is pictured on Feb. 25, 2025. (Jennifer Shutt/States Newsroom)
WASHINGTON (States Newsroom) — U.S. Senate Republicans, in the early morning hours Saturday, approved their budget resolution that will aid the party in maintaining the 2017 tax cuts but also paves the way for them to add nearly $6 trillion to the deficit under an outside analysis.
The 51-48 vote sends the compromise measure to the House, where Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., hopes to adopt the tax-and-spending blueprint within the next week. No Democrats backed the bill and no Democratic amendments were accepted during an overnight marathon voting session.
Maine Sen. Susan Collins and Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul were the only two Republicans who voted against the resolution, which needed only a majority vote under the complicated process being used in the Senate.
The lengthy voting session, known as the vote-a-rama, included debate on 28 amendments, with one adopted.
Alaska Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan was the only member of either party to have their change agreed to, following a 51-48 vote. His amendment addressed Medicaid, which has become a flash point in the battle over the budget this year, as well as Medicare.
Sullivan said his proposal would strengthen Medicaid, the state-federal health program for lower-income people that House GOP lawmakers are looking at as one place to cut spending, and Medicare, the health insurance program for seniors and some people with disabilities.
“We should all want to weed out waste, fraud and abuse in Medicaid and Medicare, and we must keep these programs going. We should do both,” Sullivan said.
Oregon Democratic Sen. Ron Wyden spoke against the amendment, saying it didn’t clearly define which “vulnerable people” would have their access to Medicare and Medicaid protected.
“By not defining the vulnerable, the Sullivan amendment is code for states to cut benefits or kick people off their coverage altogether,” Wyden said. “To me, the Sullivan amendment basically says if somebody thinks you’re not poor enough, you’re not sick enough, or you’re not disabled enough, we’re not going to be there for you.”
Democrats unsuccessfully offered messaging amendments dealing with everything from Social Security phone service to the minimum wage to contracts with farmers.
‘Start the game’
Senate Budget Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said during a floor speech Friday the budget resolution will clear the way for lawmakers to extend the 2017 tax cuts permanently, bolster federal spending on border security and defense, rewrite energy policy and cut spending.
“The resolution opens up that process that will be done by the House and Senate authorizing committees,” Graham said. “So this doesn’t do anything other than start the game and it’s time this game started.”
Wyden, ranking member on the Senate Finance Committee, vehemently opposed the budget resolution, saying the tax cuts it sets up would predominantly help the wealthy.
Wyden argued the tariffs that President Donald Trump has instituted would negate any potential positive impacts of the upcoming GOP tax cuts. The tariffs sent markets diving on Friday for a second day in a row.
“People following along at home are going to hear a lot of sweet-sounding promises from Republicans about what they’re trying to accomplish,” Wyden said. “They claim their tax bill is just all unicorns and rainbows. They’ll say everybody is going to benefit from a tax cut and typical families will get the help they need. They’ll promise rising wages and a booming economy.
“It’s just not true. The reality is, unless you’re way out at the upper end of the income scale, any benefit you get from this Republican bill is going to get blown out of the water as the Trump tariffs continue to hike inflation.”
Paul said during floor debate that he was “concerned” about how his colleagues had written the measure.
“What worries me is that so many things in Washington are smoke and mirrors,” Paul said. “On the one hand, it appears as if all of this great savings is happening. But on the other hand, the resolution before us will increase the debt by $5 trillion.”
Paul offered an amendment that would have changed those instructions to set up a three-month debt limit extension, but it was not agreed to following a vote of 5-94.
Framework for tax hikes and policy bill
Congress’ budget isn’t a bill but a concurrent resolution, meaning it never goes to the president for a signature. Its various provisions take effect once both chambers vote to adopt the same version.
The budget resolution also doesn’t include any real money, just plans for the next decade.
But it does lay the groundwork for the GOP to use the complex reconciliation process to extend the 2017 tax law, much of which was set to expire at the end of this year.
Republicans plan to use that reconciliation bill to boost spending on border security and defense by hundreds of billions of dollars and make changes to energy policy.
The budget resolution also includes instructions to raise the debt limit by between $4 and $5 trillion later this year.
The reconciliation instructions give a dozen House committees and 10 Senate committees targets for how much they can increase the deficit or how much they need to cut spending when they draft their pieces of the package.
All of those panels are supposed to send their bills to the Budget committees before May 9, so they can be bundled together in one package and sent to the floor.
The House GOP set a minimum of $1.5 trillion in spending cuts, while Republicans in the Senate set a floor of $4 billion in funding reductions. Those vast differences foreshadow an internal GOP struggle to achieve a final deal.
Nearly $6 trillion deficit increase
The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office will ultimately calculate the deficit impact of the reconciliation bill once it’s written, but several outside organizations have said they disagree with how Republicans are moving forward.
The nonpartisan Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget released an analysis Friday showing the reconciliation bill would increase deficits during the next decade by nearly $6 trillion.
“A $5.8 trillion deficit-increasing bill would be unprecedented,” CRFB’s analysis states. “It would add 14 times as much to the deficit than the bipartisan infrastructure law ($400 billion), more than three times as much as American Rescue Plan ($1.8 trillion), three times the 2020 CARES Act ($1.7 trillion), and nearly four times the original score of the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act ($1.5 trillion). In fact, it would add more to the deficit than all four of these major laws combined.”
Sharon Parrott, president of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, a left-leaning think tank, wrote in a statement “the tax cuts called for in the budget plan are so expensive that deficits will rise substantially, raising economic risks associated with higher debt in service to expensive tax cuts skewed to the wealthy.”
“Policymakers need to course-correct and remember their campaign pledges to help ease families’ strained budgets, not contort the budget to the desires of the very wealthy,” Parrott wrote. “That would mean crafting a budget bill that doesn’t raise families’ health and grocery costs but instead invests in making health care more affordable and expands the Child Tax Credit to support families who face challenges affording the basics. These investments and lower deficits can be achieved by a sounder tax policy that requires corporations and the wealthy — who benefit enormously from public investments — to pay their fair share.”
An analysis from The Cato Institute, a libertarian think tank, called the GOP budget resolution a “fiscal train wreck.”
Romina Boccia, director of budget and entitlement policy, and Dominik Lett, a budget and entitlement policy analyst, wrote that Republicans need to start over.
“This budget isn’t just a missed opportunity; it actively worsens our nation’s debt trajectory,” they wrote. “The resolution abandons the House’s concrete spending reductions desperately needed in today’s high-debt environment, sets a dangerous precedent by adopting a so-called current policy baseline that hides the very real deficit impact of extending tax cuts, and adds hundreds of billions in new deficit spending. The Senate should go back to the drawing board.
A man holds the Ukrainian and U.S. flags at a ceremony at the Holodomor Genocide Memorial in Washington, D.C., on Feb. 4, 2025, as the three-year anniversary of the Russian invasion neared. The memorial honors victims of a famine in Ukraine in 1932-33. (Jane Norman/States Newsroom)
WASHINGTON (States Newsroom) — Unknown numbers of Ukrainians received emails by mistake from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security saying their humanitarian protected status was being revoked and they would have to leave the United States within days, the agency said Friday.
“A message was sent in error to some Ukrainians under the U4U program. The U4U parole program has not been terminated,” a DHS spokesperson told States Newsroom, referring to the Uniting for Ukraine program.
Attorneys challenging the Trump administration’s pause of humanitarian applications for Ukrainians and Afghans, as well as the end of legal status programs for nationals from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela, filed a copy of the termination notice sent to Ukrainians in the U.S. District Court of Massachusetts on Friday.
The notice, given on Thursday, instructs any Ukrainians in the Uniting for Ukraine humanitarian parole program to leave the U.S. within seven days of receiving the notice, according to court filings.
“It is time for you to leave the United States,” according to the notice sent to some Ukrainians that immigration rights groups filed in court. “If you do not depart the United States immediately you will be subject to potential law enforcement actions that will result in your removal from the United States — unless you have otherwise obtained a lawful basis to remain here.”
The next hearing is set for Monday before U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani, who was appointed by former President Barack Obama.
‘Numerous reports’ of erroneous emails
“Plaintiffs’ counsel have received numerous reports throughout the day today that other Ukrainian members of the putative class—potentially thousands—have received an identical letter, including individuals with approximately two years left on their parole period,” according to the brief by Justice Action Center, an immigrant rights group.
According to the brief filed Friday, attorneys with the Justice Action Center notified the Department of Justice attorneys handling the case. The lawyers said the response from those DOJ attorneys was “to say that they ‘have been looking into this’ but ‘don’t have any information to share yet.’”
The Biden administration’s renewed work and deportation protections for 103,700 Ukrainians are set to expire on Oct. 19, 2026.
Trump and Zelenskyy
In late February, President Donald Trump got into a heated exchange with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy during a meeting at the White House, breaking with Ukraine and its resistance to Russia’s invasion more than three years ago.
Former President Joe Biden’s administration created temporary protections for Ukrainians because of Russia’s invasion of the country.
Trump’s history with Ukraine, which was at the center of his first impeachment when he halted security aid approved by Congress, and his friendly relationship with Russian leader Vladimir Putin, have moved the U.S. further away from European allies who have coalesced around Ukraine’s fight for its democracy.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt in early March denied that the Trump administration was revoking protections for Ukrainians.
“The truth: no decision has been made at this time,” Leavitt wrote on social media.
A Lavonia man faces first-degree vehicular homicide charges for a wreck that killed his girlfriend and injured his two young children.
State troopers determined that Dustin Cecil Owen was driving under the influence when the pickup truck he was driving ran off the road and crashed into a tree. The afternoon wreck occurred April 2 on Lankford Road in Hart County, southeast of Lavonia.
The wreck killed 22-year-old Brittney Nicole Lewis of Lavonia. She was pronounced dead at the scene. Owen’s 1-year-old son and 2-year-old daughter were also with him during the crash. They sustained minor injuries, troopers say.
The wreck seriously injured the 29-year-old Owen. Officials took him into custody following his release from a Greenville, South Carolina hospital. He was extradited back to Georgia after waiving his right to an extradition hearing and is now being held at the Hart County jail, says Cpl. William Jordan of Georgia State Patrol Post 52 in Hartwell.
Troopers from Post 52 and members of the Georgia State Patrol’s Specialized Collision Reconstruction Team investigated the crash.
In addition to vehicular homicide, troopers charged Owen with driving under the influence, two counts of child endangerment, failure to maintain lane, reckless driving, and violating tire requirements.
Cpl. Jordan says the investigation into the accident remains active and ongoing.
Georgia House of Representatives in session on Friday, April 4 (Jerry Neace/Now Habersham)
With just hours left on the clock, lawmakers scrambled under the Gold Dome at Georgia’s State Capitol to strategize, negotiate and move to pass legislation on Friday, April 4 – the final day of this year’s legislative session, otherwise known as Sine Die.
Sen. Steve Gooch (R-Dahlonega) told Now Habersham at the Capitol on Friday that he feels this year’s legislative session was a positive one for Georgians, specifically for investments made in certain areas while also maintaining fiscal conservatism in passing a $37 billion budget.
Sen. Steve Gooch (R-Dahlonega) poses alongside the design of a new license plate, which he pushed for, expected to be offered to Georgians (Brian Wellmeier/Now Habersham.com)
“A lot of good, conservative legislation has passed (this session),” Gooch said. “Of course, our biggest focus every year is the budget. We just finished putting the final touches on the budget … state funds will be spent primarily on public safety and education. We’re proud of the work we’ve done on that.”
On Friday, just after 10 a.m. outside the House Chamber, Rep. Victor Anderson (R-Cornelia) said that while he’s glad to see this session come to a close, he’s eager to continue working on legislation for Georgians in the months before next year’s session.
“I can’t wait to get this one over with – not because I don’t love what we do here – it just gets so intense at this level,” Anderson said. “It’s time for us to take a little break, but the break won’t be long. We have a study committee coming up, as well as other duties and responsibilities for constituents back home. (After today), I’ll be as busy a month from now as I am right now.”
Rep. Victor Anderson (R-Cornelia) speaks to colleagues in the House Chamber Friday, April 4 (Brian Wellmeier/Now Habersham.com)
District 50 Sen. Bo Hatchett (R-Cornelia) also described the 2025 session as successful.
“This was a very productive and really efficient session,” said Hatchett, who pointed to the passage of legislation addressing human trafficking to Senate Bill 1, which prohibits transgender females from participating in women’s sports, as top accomplishments.
Sen. Drew Echols (R-Gainesville) had just come out of the Senate Chamber when he expressed his thoughts on the session as a whole.
“I feel like I got some things done,” Echols, who took office last year, said. “I got three or four bills through the Senate, over to the House and back to the governor’s desk…I feel good about that.”
Sen. Drew Echols (R-Gainesville), left, at Georgia’s Capitol on the final day of the legislative session on April 4, 2025. (Brian Wellmeier/Now Habersham.com)
District 32 Rep. Chris Erwin, R-Homer, said that while the session would likely end by midnight Friday, he felt ready for the days ahead.
“I’ve still got a lot of energy – because we’ve got to finish strong,” Erwin said. “…I’m also very excited to get back to God’s country in Northeast Georgia. I’ve still got the energy, but I’ve still got the desire to be back there where home is.”
In the coming days, Now Habersham will have more from our local lawmakers about this year’s legislative session and the expected impacts their actions will have on Georgians.
ATLANTA (AP) — Georgians may be able to sue local governments for enacting local gun safety measures under a bill passed Friday that supporters say ensures localities don’t violate people’s gun rights.
Senate Bill 204, would let people sue local governments if they have been “aggrieved” by a rule that conflicts with gun rights granted by state law and seek compensation for some damages. The Senate will likely give final approval to the measure that passed in the Republican-led House 99-74 on the last day of the legislative session.
Trenton Republican Sen. Colton Moore proposed the original measure to thwart gun safety ordinances like one in Savannah that punishes people who leave weapons in unlocked cars. But Moore said he no longer supports the move in part because the most individuals can receive in compensation is $25,000 instead of $50,000.
Democrats — including those who said they own and value their guns — said the bill would hinder local governments that want to protect people from preventable gun violence.
The legislation also comes months after a mass shooting at Apalachee High School, the school northeast of Atlanta where a 14-year-old boy stands accused of killing two teachers and two students and wounding several others last year on Sept. 4. He obtained a firearm from his father.
“The Apalachee families have come here again and again, asking you to pass common-sense safe storage laws,” said Atlanta Democrat Shea Roberts. “And how do we respond? With a bill that precludes safe storage? SB 204 is a slap in the face to those families. And for what? To punish Savannah for trying to prevent gun theft and violence?”
Republican Rep. Alan Powell called it a “shame” for Democrats to bring up the shooting, arguing it had nothing to do with ensuring state gun laws are upheld.
“This is an affirmation of our strong and unwavering support of the Second Amendment and this legislation ensures that Georgians are protected from government overreach,” said Republican House Majority Leader Chuck Efstration.
Democrats also accused Republicans of “hijacking” bills. The measure got tacked onto a separate Senate Democratic bill.
Gov. Brian Kemp’s office said he declined to comment on pending legislation, including whether the Republican would sign the bill if it reached his desk.
Another Democratic proposal would have created a $300 tax credit for safe storage devices and lessons and had bipartisan support in past years. Democrats also wanted to make it a crime for adults to let kids get their hands on a gun if they didn’t store it safely.
Their proposals got stripped down and merged with House Bill 79 to create a four-day sales tax holiday in October for guns and gun accessories. It instead offers a $300 tax credit for people who participate in an in-person course on safe gun use. The bill awaits Senate approval.
The U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., is pictured on Thursday, March 14, 2024. (Jennifer Shutt/States Newsroom)
WASHINGTON (States Newsroom) — The nonpartisan Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget released an analysis Friday showing the budget resolution Republicans plan to adopt later this month would allow Congress to add up to $5.8 trillion to the deficit during the next decade.
The organization wrote the reconciliation instructions included in the budget would allow GOP lawmakers to draft a bill later this year that could outpace the deficit impact of many big-name laws enacted during the last two administrations.
“A $5.8 trillion deficit-increasing bill would be unprecedented,” the analysis states. “It would add 14 times as much to the deficit than the bipartisan infrastructure law ($400 billion), more than three times as much as American Rescue Plan ($1.8 trillion), three times the 2020 CARES Act ($1.7 trillion), and nearly four times the original score of the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act ($1.5 trillion). In fact, it would add more to the deficit than all four of these major laws combined.”
That deficit impact, CRFB wrote, “would be the equivalent of adding a large new welfare program to the federal deficit.”
No Democratic votes needed
Republicans in Congress must adopt a budget resolution in order to use the complex reconciliation process to pass many of their core campaign promises.
The special legislative pathway will let the GOP enact changes without needing the support of Democrats to get past the Senate’s 60-vote legislative filibuster.
The largest deficit increase within the package would come from extending the 2017 GOP tax law, about $4.5 trillion in deficits, and likely making other changes to the U.S. tax code, about $1.5 trillion.
House Republicans want to try to offset some of that $6 trillion total in new deficits by cutting about $1.5 trillion in federal spending, though exactly how they’d do that remains under discussion.
Centrist Republicans in Congress have raised concerns about the House’s instructions calling on the Energy and Commerce Committee to find at least $880 billion in spending cuts.
That panel oversees Medicare and Medicaid and couldn’t reach that level of spending cuts without making some substantial changes to one or both of the programs.
GOP leaders and President Donald Trump have repeatedly said they won’t touch Medicare, leaving Medicaid, the state-federal program for lower-income people, as the likely source of the funding cuts.
Senate GOP approach
Senate Republicans wrote themselves a much lower threshold for cutting government spending in the budget resolution — a $4 billion minimum from four different committees across the 10-year budget window.
The Senate instructions, CRFB wrote in its analysis, “would allow a reconciliation bill that is nearly as large as the largest federal spending programs.
“A bill adding $5.8 trillion to deficits would be more than three-quarters (77 percent) as large as all projected Medicaid spending. It would equal 69 percent of base defense spending over the same time period, including being three times as large as projected spending dedicated to the Army. It would even equal half of all net spending on Medicare and a third of all spending on Social Security.”
CRFB wrote that Congress should change its course now.
“Instead of passing a bill with an historically large deficit impact, lawmakers should use this opportunity to rein in borrowing with a fiscally responsible package that can set the stage for a permanent package of thoughtful tax extensions and budget savings that grows the economy and improves our debt outlook.”
The Senate is expected to vote sometime this weekend to approve the compromise budget resolution and send it back to the House for final approval.
Once both chambers vote to adopt it, they can formally begin writing, debating, amending and voting to approve the reconciliation package.
ATLANTA (Georgia Recorder) — Former Albany Herald business reporter Bárbara Rivera Holmes became the first Hispanic woman to hold a statewide executive office position when she was sworn in Friday as state labor commissioner.
During Friday’s swearing-in ceremony, Republican Gov. Brian Kemp trumpeted Holmes’ groundbreaking accomplishment of becoming Georgia’s first Hispanic woman to become a constitutional officer. The former news reporter resigned as president and CEO of the Albany Area Chamber of Commerce after being selected by Kemp to fill the remaining term of former Labor Commissioner Bruce Thompson, who died in November following an eight-month battle with pancreatic cancer.
“Like I said last month when we announced the appointment of Bárbara Rivera Holmes to this position, I said that she was smart, accomplished, and dedicated to growing opportunities for hard-working Georgians,” Kemp said. “She also brings unique experience in economic development, especially in rural parts of our state, and education at the highest levels in our state will benefit all those who are looking for work.”
Holmes will begin leading the Georgia Department of Labor amid rising fears of a recession as President Donald Trump’s administration levies historic tariffs that critics argue could raise the price of U.S. goods while disrupting the global economy.
Her predecessor, Thompson, spent a decade in the Senate prior to becoming labor commissioner in 2023, taking over a state agency that had struggled to process a surge of unemployment claims since the start of the pandemic.
On Friday, Holmes credited her family’s sacrifices, including her grandparents’ 1961 search for political refuge from Cuba in America, as the driving force behind her becoming the state’s 11th labor commissioner.
Holmes said Friday that she plans to run for a four-year term as labor commissioner when her current term ends in the 2026 election year.
“The Department of Labor is vital to our state’s economy for supporting workforce development, job attainment, safe working conditions and the prosperity of our communities,” she said.
The U.S. Forest Service has lifted its week-long burn ban for the Chattahoochee-Oconee National Forest.
The ban was issued on March 27 in response to extreme fire weather conditions across Northeast Georgia.
Effective immediately, visitors to the Chattahoochee-Oconee National Forest may resume campfires and other permitted fire activities following local regulations and forest guidelines.
The public is reminded to follow fire safety best practices, including:
Keeping fires small and manageable;
Never leaving fires unattended;
Fully extinguishing fires before leaving an area;
Checking for any additional local fire restrictions.
