Areas where Habersham County road crews are working should be safer now that a dozen members of the road department have received additional training in traffic flagging.
Public Works Director Jerry Baggett said the county was able to provide that training through a partnership with the state.
The training, provided through the Georgia Department of Transportation, saved county taxpayers some $3,000 it otherwise would have cost to train the road department employees.
The White County Warriors may have had the home court last night, but that didn’t stop Hebron Christian from having the advantage in round one of the Varsity Basketball GHSA State Playoffs.
It was a rough start in the first quarter as the Lions were off to an early lead before the Warriors were able to score. Hebron had a 10-0 run later in the first to end the period with the Warriors down by nine, 22-13.
The deficit for the Warriors only increased from there. White County headed to the locker room at the half down by thirteen, and fans holding onto hope for a rally in the second half.
The Warriors came back half-time and played stronger in the third, only allowing the Lions to increase their advantage by one, but White County never gained any traction in the second half, and the chance of moving up in the brackets in the playoffs started slipping away.
While the White County boys played well, the Lions brought this unremarkably average game to a close with a winning final score of 74-55.
White County Senior Jaden Yeh ends his high school varsity career as the school’s second all-time highest scorer, as well as being named Regional Player of the Year twice.
The loss in Wednesday night’s game brings White County’s 2023 Basketball season to a close with one major distinction, its first-ever Region 7 AAA title.
GIRLS
The Lady Indians’ season came to a close at Darlington on Wednesday night in a 57-36 loss in the first round of the GHSA State Tournament.
Darlington got out to a 19-7 start in the first quarter, though TFS outscored the home team 12-11 in the second to pull within 30-19 at the half.
In the third, Darlington created a bit more separation, and entered the final quarter up 43-29. From there, Darlington scored 13 in the final period to stamp the win.
Denika Lightbourne, playing in her final game for TFS, dropped in a team-high 17 points. Breelyn Wood and Molly Mitchell had 5 points apiece. Haygen James and Miracle Bain had 3 points each, Tanisha Seymour had 2, and Allie Phasavang had a point.
The Lady Indians end the season with an 8-17 overall record.
BOYS
The Indians held a slim lead at times at Chattooga on Wednesday night’s GHSA State Tournament opening round game but ultimately came up just short in a 60-57 final.
TFS was up 38-37 in the third with about two minutes to go, and continued to hang in there. Going into the final quarter, Chattooga held a narrow 43-42 lead. In the final seconds, the home team put the game away.
Anfernee Hanna had 22 points in the last game of his TFS career, while Vlad Popescu put up 19 in a gritty effort by the boys. The Indians close the season with a 17-10 overall record.
The Indians played perhaps their best game of the season so far in a 7-2 win at East Jackson on Wednesday night. Playing for a second straight night, TFS was able to come away with the bounce-back win in what proved to be a solid outing in every facet. Chase Pollock pitched a great game, Frankie Moree had a homerun as part of a 4-hit effort, and the defense played arguably its best game yet.
TFS scored in five of the innings and immediately put pressure on East Jackson with a pair in the first when bringing home one on an error and another on a bases loaded walk by Rohajae Pinder. The Eagles got a run back in the home half, but starter Pollock buckled down from there.
Danny Grant helped Tallulah Falls get the run back with a sacrifice fly to plate Zaiden Cox. Moree blasted his second homer in as many days with a one-out, solo round-tripper in the fourth inning, stretching the lead to 4-1. Pollock pitched a 1-2-3 fourth and fifth inning to keep East Jackson reeling.
In the sixth, BJ Carver doubled home Moree, who had singled moments before. That pushed the lead up to 5-1. After the Eagles scratched across their final run in the home half, the Indians retaliated with a Davante Brown hit by pitch with the bases full. Moments later, Moree singled in Brown to cap the scoring at 7-2.
Pinder pitched a quick seventh inning to conclude the game. Moree had 4 hits, including a home run, had 2 RBI and 3 runs scored, and added a walk and stolen base. Carver had 2 hits and an RBI, and a run scored. Grant, Pinder, and Brown all had an RBI as well. In total, TFS recorded 8 hits. Pollock went 6 innings to earn his second win of the season and struck out 6 against 4 hits and 3 walks.
TFS is now 3-2 on the season and is back in action on March 3 against Clay High School (FL).
(GA Recorder) — A Georgia House committee unanimously passed a plan on Wednesday that would mark a major shift in the future of electric vehicles in the state by establishing new charging fees that are similar to the cost of refueling a car.
House Bill 406 will allow for the owners of convenience stores and other commercial sites where electric vehicle chargers are set up to sell electricity based on the kilowatt hour instead of the amount of time it takes to recharge. The change also sets guidelines for new taxes that are designed to recoup some of the lost fuel taxes that currently bring in $2 billion annually to build and repair roads and bridges in the state.
The bill’s sponsor Rep. Rick Jaspere said that the measure implements many of the recommendations made to a Joint Study Committee on Electrification of Transportation as it met for several months to figure out how to reach a strong consensus.
The bill received the support of the state’s convenience store association, Tesla, the largest provider of electric charging stations, as well as Georgia Power and Georgia EMCs.
“We had testimony on auto dealers, on storage of cars, direct sales, we chased every rabbit that there was in the world. And that I think people looked at us to make sure that we, as a group, made sure they were safe and are accurate in taxing because nobody wants to pay more than they use,” the Jasper Republican said at Wednesday’s House Technology & Infrastructure Innovation Committee meeting.
The growth of electric vehicle and battery manufacturers in Georgia has prompted Gov. Brian Kemp to declare it his mission for the state to become the electric mobility capital of America.
As part of President Joe Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law passed last year, $135 million has been allocated to Georgia to help cover costs of installing new charging stations.
If the new legislation is approved, the Department of Agriculture would be in charge of inspecting charging stations for safety and to verify that electric vehicle owners are accurately being charged based on the amount of electricity it takes to recharge.
The bill has the backing of the state Department of Agriculture, which already handles the inspection of fuel pumps at gas stations. It could take several years as the emerging technology for the testing equipment is readily available and to allow time to hire enough inspectors to handle the growing electric vehicle market.
“Other states have moved forward, and then they’re having to kind of roll back a little bit, so I would love for us to jump in, in a handful of years,” said Katherine Russell, director of policy for the agriculture department. ”I think that it would be prudent that we really examine what that looks like by looking at other states’ experiences.”
During Wednesday’s committee hearing, one concern was whether electric vehicle owners will have to pay too many fees with excise and sales taxes to go along with an annual charge, making battery-powered vehicles less attractive to purchase.
The bill does not change the annual $211 fee paid by the owners of small battery-powered cars and $317 charged to owners of commercial electric vehicles. The fee is designed to cover the average amount in fuel taxes that a regular car owner would pay for wear and tear on state roads. The state charges about 30 cents per gallon in motor fuel taxes.
That fee, however, could go away in the coming years as the Georgia DOT will soon take part in a national pilot project that will allow drivers to track and pay based on how many miles they drive their electric car.
Many of Georgia’s convenience stores are in prime locations that can propel the state to become a national leader in electric vehicles, said Angela Holland, president of the Georgia Association of Convenience Stores.
However, there is concern that Georgia Power’s ability to recover the costs of its own charging stations will put the store owners at a competitive disadvantage, she said.
A three-year Georgia Power rate plan approved by state regulators earlier this year gives business owners first right of refusal if the utility company plans to install charging stations within a certain distance of the business.
The convenience store associations and other groups have recommended that regulated utility companies create a separate subsidiary that oversees electric charging stations.
“One of our fears is that utility companies provide a rate to private providers who will need to have some sort of markup on that to cover their costs,” Holland said. But if they deploy a charging station, what will they charge themselves at the same rate? Will it include demand charges? There’s nothing to require them to charge the same rate as a producer, distributor and now a retailer.”
Rep. Sam Park, a Lawrenceville Democrat, asked about the level of concern that the state could see a decline in revenue for roads and bridges as the electric vehicle market and other alternative fuel technologies become more efficient.
Jaspere said that’s an area where state leaders will continue monitoring to ensure there is enough funding. Georgia is one of the few states that are ahead of the game in figuring out this problem, he said.
“We are the leader,” he said. “We are absolutely on the cutting edge of this.”
(GA Recorder) — Georgia college and technical students who participate in the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program could get a break on their tuition thanks to a bill under consideration in the state House, but similar measures have failed in recent years.
DACA is an Obama-era program that shields people from deportation who were brought to the country as undocumented minors. As of Sept. 30, there were about 19,300 Georgia residents participating in DACA, according to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.
Those students who are in college now pay out-of-state tuition, which can be more than three times higher than in-state tuition. Bill author Rep. Kasey Carpenter says that’s not fair.
“We have talked about the declining enrollment in our colleges across the state for some time,” the Dalton Republican said at a House Higher Education Committee hearing Wednesday. “We’ve talked about border waivers that we offer to kids from Florida, from Tennessee, from Alabama, from South Carolina. And this piece would allow kids that have gone through our K-12 systems and have graduated who want to continue on in their educational process to attend them at a rate that’s affordable.”
Carpenter pitched his bill as an opportunity to fill empty college seats and boost Georgia’s workforce. Under it, DACA recipients, also known as Dreamers, would pay an opportunity tuition rate determined by the Board of Regents or State Board of the Technical College System, which could differ between institutions and be set to between 100% and 110% of the standard in-state tuition for the current year.
The bill exempts universities that have not admitted all qualified applicants in the two most recent academic years, which could leave out the state’s most competitive colleges. Schools would be required to give priority to students on in-state tuition and could defer applications of qualified opportunity tuition students until all in-state applications are resolved.
“I think the intention of the paragraph is to say, look, we’re going to check in-state first, out-of-state second, opportunity students third,” Carpenter said. “It’s just to make it very clear that American citizens are first and then and then the opportunity citizens are second.”
To qualify, Dreamers will need to be under 30 at the time of their application, have graduated from a Georgia high school or obtained an equivalency diploma and lived in Georgia since January 1, 2013, up to the present time, or be the dependent child of a parent who has.
They will also need to demonstrate that they have not been convicted of a felony, three misdemeanors or one high and aggravated misdemeanor — a misdemeanor can be elevated to high and aggravated under certain circumstances, for example, misdemeanor simple battery would be upgraded if committed against a pregnant woman or person over 65.
Rafael Aragon, an undocumented Georgian, said he moved to Connecticut for college because he could not afford to pay out-of-state tuition in Georgia. He eventually moved back, but many of his undocumented friends did not.
“So many of them graduated, engineering or computer science degrees, things that I think would be valuable to Georgia, and I think it’s an incredible and unfortunate loss of the investment that this state has made in us, in our K-12 education, to just allow these bright, intelligent people who love this state and want to continue living here to go somewhere else.”
Opposition to the bill is diverse.
David Garcia, director of policy and advocacy at the Georgia Association of Latino Elected Officials, said the bill is a step in the right direction, but GALEO is concerned the residency requirements could leave people out, and the two tuition classifications would create a two-tiered system.
D.A. King, an anti-illegal immigration activist, said the bill favors undocumented Georgians over American citizens living in other states.
“There was a time on this campus where the majority of the legislators were what we call pro-enforcement,” he said. “I don’t know if that’s true anymore, but this bill will certainly be an indicator.”
“There’s a lot of people out there watching this bill, and a lot of us consider a decision to do this to be very un-American,” he added.
The bill is similar to one Carpenter filed in 2021, which passed out of committee but did not get a House vote. That bill was seen as a compromise — a previous version of the bill would have charged Dreamers at the same rate as other in-state students. The year before, that version stalled in committee over concerns about a Supreme Court case.
March 6 is the deadline for a bill to easily pass from one chamber to the next.
I was delightfully honored to be asked to speak at a civic club meeting. After my response, “Of course!” I began to ponder the topic.
I conferred with trusted friends and decided it would be “Life Lessons.” As I was settling on a subject, an old photograph of my mother fell out of an album I was dusting.
Her dark brown eyes seemed to be searching my face as I studied hers.
Elizabeth Walker was stunning and dignified with a quiet disposition. She spoke softly, always choosing her words carefully. I never heard her yell or demean another human being.
Between Mom and her mother, I learned many life lessons, but the first rule they both lived by was, “Always walk a mile in another’s shoes before believing you know the answer.”
In the third grade, a little boy sat in the back of our classroom. He was always dirty, his clothes ragged, and often, his odor permeated the room. Kids mocked him, shunned him, and I, too, found it difficult to tolerate the stench. However, before I could join with the others in taunting the boy, I recalled hearing my mother’s words, “Walk a mile in his shoes.”
His shoes were dusty brown leather with laces that did not match, and socks turned gray with age. His blond hair curled around his smudged, somber face. When I put on his shoes, in my eight-year-old mind, my heart hurt, and as I held my nose, I decided to be a friend to the boy who had no friends.
“Mama, I have to pinch my nose, but I’m trying to walk in his stinky old shoes!” I proudly declared. A wry smile accompanied her response, “Well, that’s good because God will not need to hold his nose when He is around you.”
At the time, I never understood why The Almighty might have to hold his nose when I took a bath every day, but as the years passed, it became abundantly clear. Stench and dirt born within our souls are worse than the foul odor of unwashed bodies.
Compassion is the number one lesson we all must learn before we acquire understanding. We may have never experienced hunger, but if we put ourselves in the shoes of those waiting in line for food, we begin to feel the pain of starvation.
Unless we have endured discrimination, been bullied or mocked; lived in poverty, or been wracked with pain, hopelessness, or loss; do we really comprehend how any of it feels?
No, we do not.
God will begin to hold his nose because of our filth if we do not put on the clean clothes of understanding and empathy.
The most intelligent and satisfied people I have met were those who were educated in insight and love. They never owned the shiniest cars or the biggest houses, but they had no need for them. These were people who understood the art of living—brilliant folks who knew this earthly life is made richer by humility, sharing, kindness, and easing others’ burdens.
My Grandmother, aka Grandpa, gave away more things than I believe she ever kept. Whether it was her canned green beans, pies, or quilts, they found their way to those who wanted or needed them more than she did. She over cooked, over cared, over loved, and over enjoyed her life.
“Grandpa, what are you going to do with all those white gladiolas in the garden?” Every summer, the same flowers climbed toward heaven row after row.
“Honey, they go to the church on Sunday and then to the nursing home after that. Everybody always needs a flower!”
Everyone should have a heart like Grandpa’s. Her life was abundantly full because she gave it away one flower, one pie at a time, in doses of kindness all the days of her life. She continually walked a mile in other people’s shoes and felt every pebble under each sole.
I also found a photograph of my third-grade class in the old album. Not everyone is in the snapshot, but I am in the first row with Sally, Mary Margaret, and Wanda. I recognize most of them, along with the boy in the back with his sweet face smiling at the camera. His pale eyes search mine as I look back to the year when we were eight.
It was the year I walked a mile in his shoes and was blessed by the lasting lesson it taught me.
The state of tourism was discussed Tuesday as the White County Chamber of Commerce held the first of five vision information meetings.
Executive Director of the Georgia Association of Convention and Visitors Bureaus Jay Markwalter was the featured speaker. He shared with the group at the Mountain Education Charter School Office on the Helen Highway that White County is doing well in attracting tourism dollars to the area.
Markwalter provided information on the total dollars that visitors spend in the county, along with the jobs the visitor dollars help provide.
He said visitors generate the equivalent of $1,529 in tax savings for every household.
“Every car tag you see from outside of the area is pure economic development, cash they are leaving behind if it’s five dollars, it’s five dollars, but it is from outside the community. There is no cleaner industry,” he said.
According to Markwalter, not only should the Chamber work hard to promote the county, but work with the surrounding counties to attract visitors and encourage them to stay longer.
“Jump at every opportunity to represent and tell your story,” he said.
The White County Chamber Vision Series updates the progress of the Chamber’s Vision 2030 – a set of big ideas defined by the businesses and stakeholders of White County and the North Georgia mountains.
Presented by Habersham Electric Membership Corporation, the chamber has four other series that will include a discussion on healthcare, housing, technology, and the workforce.
The Board of the Georgia Academy for Economic Development this month held a program in Clarkesville. The Essentials program included a diverse group of participants, including economic development professionals, elected officials, public servants, business leaders, educators, and engaged citizens.
The Essentials provides attendees with an opportunity to gain an understanding of the complexities of economic and community development on the local, regional, and state levels.
Created in 1993, the Academy assembles a cross-section of experts, a research-based curriculum, and resources necessary for building a vibrant economy.
The Board of Directors of the Academy is comprised of public and private economic development organizations and agencies from across Georgia.
Georgia EMC and Georgia Power provide facilitators for the program on behalf of their members and stakeholders. The Georgia Department of Community Affairs provides staff and resources to execute the program statewide.
Since its inception, the Academy has provided training for thousands of Georgians.
For more information on the Georgia Academy for Economic Development: The Essentials, visit www.GeorgiaAcademy.org.
Essentials participants at the meeting in Clarkesville on February 8th included:
Health fads, including diets, come and go. One of the more recent is intermittent fasting. It has gained much popularity in recent years as an effective way of losing weight.
During this time of Lent, many Christians practice fasting as part of this holy observance. In addition to weight loss and spiritual strengthening, are there other health benefits? Let’s take a closer look.
In a 2018 US News and World Report article, the results of a study by Harvard and Duke were discussed. The results indicated that embracing dietary restrictions from time to time might reinvigorate cells and promote healthy aging. The study linked longevity to changes in the mitochondrial networks, which are structures within our cells responsible for producing energy.
In addition, studies performed by the USC Longevity Institute show a diet that mimics fasting may activate the immune system, making cancer cells more vulnerable to attack by the immune cells and more sensitive to chemotherapy.
According to a 2022 Verywell Health article, research shows that fasting may slow the progression of multiple sclerosis by decreasing inflammation and altering gut bacteria.
Recently, Healthline reported that several studies have found fasting may improve blood sugar control, especially useful for diabetics and those at risk of developing the disease, by reducing insulin resistance. Reducing insulin resistance allows insulin to transport glucose from the bloodstream to the cells more efficiently, keeping your blood sugar levels more steady.
Other studies have shown the psychological effects of fasting can lead to negative emotions, such as irritability, but also positive psychological experiences, such as elevated mood and a sense of reward and accomplishment.
To stay healthy while observing fasting avoid intensive exercise and stay hydrated. Eating enough protein and keeping a balanced diet when not fasting can also minimize irritability and fatigue. Diabetics who struggle with maintaining stable blood sugar, those with kidney disease or who are breastfeeding, are underweight, or those recovering from surgery or illness should avoid fasting from all food and drink and should contact their healthcare provider before attempting even short-term fasting.
In summary, fasting may provide short and long-term health benefits for healthy people as well as physiological and spiritual benefits when done in a healthy way. Fasting can be another tool in our toolbox, so to speak, to enhance our physical and spiritual well-being.
For more information on fasting, the National Institute on Aging’s website is an excellent resource.
________________
Tracy Backer is a Registered Nurse with 39 years in the medical field specializing in critical care nursing. Her health columns appear regularly on Now Habersham. She may be reached at [email protected]. For more health-related content, click here.
PLAINS (GA Recorder) — The first media caravan arrived here late Saturday after the news Jimmy Carter would forgo any medical intervention, and the family used the word “hospice” to describe his treatment going forward. The 39th president, the only one from Georgia, is 98 years old. People here dread the inevitable.
The townsfolk are shaking their heads in dismay at the sudden clamor. Some are perturbed. This is “Mister Jimmy,” one tough son of a gun, and the 700 people that live in this middle Georgia hamlet are fairly certain the obituary of their hero is being rushed.
“We’re not expecting to let him go any time soon,” said Jan Williams, a member of Carter’s church who has known the former president many years. “If the word ‘hospice’ wasn’t used would you all be here?”
“This is a rehearsal for y’all,” said George Williams, her husband, as if to say the media was getting organized for something not immediately imminent.
Jan Williams said Carter has been in and out of the hospital in recent months, but word “leaked” that he was being discharged and it prompted a statement from The Carter Center about his deteriorating health.
The number of SUVs ferrying media into town outnumbered the number of pickup trucks along the railroad tracks cutting through downtown Tuesday. At least four tents have been set up by TV stations. Reporters with microphones and cameras crowded the wooden walkway in front of the shops.
Business in the shops was brisk with the swelling crowd. Peanut ice cream at Bobby Salter’s place was the leading small-town treat of the day.
Still, the town was not ready for the attention.
“It feels a little too early for this,” said Stephanie Young, who owns Southwest Trophy & Gifts.
One store worker leaned forward across the counter and whispered, “This is so premature. He’s tough. He might hang on a while.” She declined to give her name without her boss’s permission.
Jimmy Carter, after all, is the longest-living president. Ever.
Another downtown worker said, “We hear he had a good day Monday,” she said. These are not rumors, she said. After all, the president has lived here for decades, and close friends and family stay informed.
There is good reason people here are reluctant to think “Mister Jimmy” will be gone shortly. Many recalled a storm that swept through town with such ferocity it brought down trees and thick limbs and thrust a pine needle into a brick on the side of a building. Carter, in his 90s, was out the next day helping with the cleanup.
The people here marvel over his resilience against melanoma on his brain and liver seven years ago, as well as bruising from several falls more recently. They are not accepting he will not be with them much longer.
At the Carter compound just outside of downtown, where the president and his wife Rosalynn Carter have lived full time for decades, Paulk’s Landscaping service was spreading fresh pine straw on the grounds, a familiar ritual when spring is close.
The red wagons full of eight tons of peanuts rumbled through downtown to scales. Carter was a peanut farmer before he was elected Georgia’s governor in 1970 and president of the United States in 1976. The wagons are still clearing peanuts out of the warehouses from the fall harvest.
If not for the flock of media, it would be business as usual.
“Vultures,” one woman said along the storefronts.
Still, the people who live here could brush away their annoyance to talk about “Mister Jimmy.” One lady handed out LeeAnne’s Oatmeal Lace Cookies and other sweets to media members parked on the benches downtown. They chatted about life in Plains and forgot they were annoyed, which was in keeping with the former president’s charitable spirit.
“We have a lot of pride here that President Carter is from Plains,” Young said. “A lot of pride. I promise you there is never going to be another president like him and all he has done for people in this country and around the world. With him, it was always ‘What can I give back.’”
Now, the people want to give back.
At Carter’s church, Maranatha Baptist, where he taught Sunday school, Lana Varley of Perry tried to peer through the stained glass windows, searching for a way inside. She drove 56 miles Tuesday, hoping there might be a prayer service or candlelight vigil.
“I’m Catholic. In times like these, we light candles,” she said.
Varley met Carter at the ribbon-cutting of a new restaurant in downtown Plains five years ago. “I got to shake his hand,” she said. Her reverence was clear.
Carter’s boyhood home, the farm where he was raised, welcomed a steady stream of visitors last weekend, almost 500, according to a National Park Service guide. Some of the traffic had to do with the Presidents’ Day holiday, but there is heightened interest in Carter with the weekend’s hospice announcement.
Plains is a respite from the sometimes coarse tone of today’s American politics. There is no rage, no hijinks, no willful abandoning of principle, which is more reason why there is some disdain for the rush on downtown by outsiders. It is spoiling their intimate moment in some ways.
It’s still a small town, no matter that one of its residents was once the leader of the free world. All the shops downtown were closed promptly at 5 p.m. Tuesday. Luther Perry, who was selling walking sticks downtown, said he was a “crackhead” in Marietta before he moved back here to his hometown. “Plains saved my life,” he said.
Jan Williams said there are plans being made for the inevitable. It will be organized and fit for a king, she says.
She, among others, isn’t ready to bid farewell just yet. The Carter family has farmed in this community for more than 100 years, and the story continues for the people here, never mind the noise from outsiders.
(GA Recorder) — Georgia House and Senate committees are lining up in favor of sports bettors this week as they consider bills that range from making it legal to place a wager while attending a game to putting money down by phone or via kiosks at restaurants or bars.
The most expansive sports betting proposal is sponsored by Republican Sen. Billy Hickman and would legalize sports gambling and horse racing. His legislation advanced through a Senate Economic Development and Tourism Committee on Monday with an 8-1 vote.
The three sports betting plans on the move so far have some significant differences. While none of the bills would clear the way for casinos to open, Hickman’s bill would allow up to three horse racing tracks to be licensed. The bills’ sponsors also disagree on whether Georgia voters should decide whether sports betting must be approved by a statewide ballot referendum.
With Hickman’s bill, up to three horse racing tracks could be sanctified. Hickman said sports betting and horse racing could bring new jobs to rural Georgia.
“We already have horse racing in Georgia,” Hickman said at the Feb. 14 committee hearing. “It’s legal in Georgia. There’s what we call bush tracks in rural Georgia. What this would do is put it under a lottery and there would be sanctioned tracks.”
Gambling expansion in Georgia is often criticized for introducing an addictive product to the state at the expense of some people’s mental health and families that can least afford to lose money. Opponents also complain the sport of horse racing has a sordid history of mistreating animals and fatally injuring some under the guise of competition.
At a Feb. 14 hearing, Peggy McCarthy, a volunteer with the Georgia Pet Coalition, asked legislators to remove horse racing legislation, saying the industry is losing its popularity in other states and often relies on getting a cut of revenue from casinos and government subsidies.
Once the horses are no longer able to compete on the race track, it usually means finding a program that can take care of them for the remaining 20-30 years of their lives.
“Everyone within the industry and outside of the industry agrees that the funding has not kept up and vulnerable horses will be left without a safety net (and) be vulnerable to slaughter.” McCarthy said. “Georgia can already not handle the current number of unwanted and neglected horses and will be easily overwhelmed by the additional influx.”
The three bills would create new betting commissions under the Georgia Lottery to oversee regulations and licenses that would fund college HOPE Scholarships and preschools. Georgia has generated $26 billion for education from scratch-offs, Powerball, and other games since 1993, when it sold its first lotto tickets.
On Tuesday, a House committee heard from online sports betting supporters and opponents during a public hearing on GOP Rep. Marcus Wiedower’s bill.
On Thursday, a Senate panel is expected to hear from Athens Republican Sen. Bill Cowsert on his sports betting referendum that proposes to legalize sports betting statewide. Cowsert’s legislation would require support from Georgians voting on a constitutional amendment, and a portion of the revenue would go toward needs-based scholarships.
In Cowsert’s bill, the state legislature would create a gaming corporation to oversee the licensing of sports betting kiosks in bars and restaurants, as well as online wagering.
For the past couple of years, the majority of legislators in both chambers have supported expanding legalized betting options, but none of the bills have been able to clear both chambers despite the push from professional sports franchises, casinos, and the horse gaming industry.
Last year, a House bill that included legalizing casinos, as well as horse race betting, stalled on the backstretch when a 34-17 Senate vote fell shy of the two-thirds majority required for a statewide ballot.
This week, Wideower amended his plan to boost the state’s take by setting the amount licensees would be required to pay to 20% of their adjusted gross income. Wideower expects north of $100 million in new revenue for education in the first year should his proposal pass.
Hickman cited a memo written by former Georgia Supreme Court Justice Harold Melton that argues that state lawmakers can avoid a state referendum if sports wagering is handled by the Georgia Lottery and horse racing is treated like other sports betting events.
Within the first year of legal sports betting, Georgia could reap more than $300 million in revenue based on national projections, Hickman said.
In September, Pew Research Center reported that one-in-five American adults had bet on sports within the last 12 months, with little variation based on educational level, income, or political affiliation.
