On April 2, 1513, Spanish Explorer Juan Ponce de Leon discovered Florida, claiming it for the Spanish crown. Today he is best-known in Georgia for giving his name to be mispronounced daily on a sketchy street in Atlanta. It is not known if he was wearing jean shorts, or if those were developed later. Georgians began mispronouncing his name immediately.
On March 31, 1776, Abigail Adams wrote to her husband, John Adams, asking that he and his colleagues “remember the ladies” in the fight for Independence.
The future First Lady wrote in part, “I long to hear that you have declared an independency. And, by the way, in the new code of laws which I suppose it will be necessary for you to make, I desire you would remember the ladies and be more generous and favorable to them than your ancestors. Do not put such unlimited power into the hands of the husbands. Remember, all men would be tyrants if they could. If particular care and attention is not paid to the ladies, we are determined to foment a rebellion, and will not hold ourselves bound by any laws in which we have no voice or representation.”
In perhaps the most fitting historical tidbit ever, the United States House of Representatives first met on April 1, 1789 in New York City. Frederick Augustus Conrad Muhlenberg of Pennsylvania was elected the first Speaker of the House. Georgia’s first Members of Congress were James Jackson, Abraham Baldwin, and George Mathews.
On March 31, 1870, Thomas Mundy Peterson became the first African-American to vote after the passage of the Fifteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution.
The iconic vote was cast in a local election in Perth Amboy, New Jersey for the town’s charter. Gary Sullivan of the News Tribune stated, “Exercising his right to vote in a local election on March 31, 1870. Peterson became the first black man in the United States to cast a ballot. The amendment had been ratified on February 3, 1870, and within just two months the Fifteenth Amendment was put to use.
An interview with Peterson showed who encouraged him to vote, “I was working for Mr. T. L. Kearny on the morning of the day of election, and did not think of voting until he came out to the stable where I was attending to the horses and advised me to go to the polls and exercise a citizen’s privilege.” Peterson also revealed his vote in this election, “As I advanced to the polls one man offered me a ticket bearing the words “revised charter” and another one marked, “no charter.” I thought I would not vote to give up our charter after holding it so long: so I chose a revised charter ballot.”
On April 1, 1870, Robert E. Lee, President of Washington College in Lexington, Virginia, arrived in Savannah, Georgia. Lee’s career in the United States Army began with his first assignment at Cockspur Island near Savannah. While in Savannah for the 1870 trip, Lee was photographed with former General Joseph E. Johnston, who was in the insurance business there.
On March 31, 1889, the Eiffel Tower opened in Paris.
The Eiffel Tower remained the world’s tallest man-made structure until the completion of the Chrysler Building in New York in 1930. Incredibly, the Eiffel Tower was almost demolished when the International Exposition’s 20-year lease on the land expired in 1909, but its value as an antenna for radio transmission saved it. It remains largely unchanged today and is one of the world’s premier tourist attractions.
On April 2, 1917, Jeanette Rankin took office as the first woman elected to Congress, representing Montana.
Born on a ranch near Missoula, Montana Territory, in 1880, Rankin was a social worker in the states of Montana and Washington before joining the women’s suffrage movement in 1910. Working with various suffrage groups, she campaigned for the women’s vote on a national level and in 1914 was instrumental in the passage of suffrage legislation in Montana. Two years later, she successfully ran for Congress in Montana on a progressive Republican platform calling for total women’s suffrage, legislation protecting children, and U.S. neutrality in the European war. Following her election as a representative, Rankin’s entrance into Congress was delayed for a month as congressmen discussed whether a woman should be admitted into the House of Representatives.
Finally, on April 2, 1917, she was introduced in Congress as its first female member. The same day, President Woodrow Wilson addressed a joint session of Congress and urged a declaration of war against Germany.
On March 31, 1999, The Matrix opened in theaters.
On April 2, 1985, Governor Joe Frank Harris signed legislation recognizing the Right Whale as the official state marine mammal.
Georgia Politics, Campaigns, and Elections
House Bill 196 by State Rep. Alan Powell (R-Hartwell) aimed at unclustering the medical cannabis program, failed final passage, leaving Georgia terminal patients with no legal access to low-THC oil. From the Capitol Beat News Service:
The state Senate balked at major 11th-hour changes the Georgia House made to House Bill 196, including inserting an entirely different bill regarding the regulation of hemp products into the underlying medical cannabis measure.
Rep. Alan Powell, R-Hartwell, House Bill 196’s chief sponsor, took to the House floor Wednesday with a new version of the legislation calling for abolishing the commission lawmakers created in 2019 to oversee the medical cannabis program and turning over its duties to the Georgia Department of Agriculture.
The commission has been criticized for taking too long to begin awarding licenses to companies to grow marijuana in Georgia and convert the leafy crop to low-THC oil for sale to patients suffering from a range of diseases.
But the version of the bill the Senate had passed earlier in the week stopped short of getting rid of the commission by authorizing the agriculture department to study how the commission was handling the program and return by Dec. 1 with recommendations.
“It seems unfair to unilaterally abolish a commission without holding any hearings on that,” Senate Regulated Industries Committee Chairman Bill Cowsert, R-Athens, said Wednesday night when the bill got to the Senate floor.
The House bill also sought to address the rash of lawsuits filed by nine companies that lost bids for licenses that are holding up the licensing process by asking Commissioner of Agriculture Tyler Harper to mediate their complaints by May 31. Mediation could lead to those companies being awarded licenses if they agreed to drop the legal challenges, Powell said.
“We’re not saying the commission will give a license,” he said. “They can go through mediation.”
The House bill did find some support in the Senate. An impatient Sen. Carden Summers, R-Cordele, urged his Senate colleagues to pass Powell’s bill.
“This has been going on for four and a half years,” he said. “This bill is a solid bill that moves the state forward. It is time for us to get off the pot and deliver.”
The final straw that irked senators as well as some House members was the 39-page medical cannabis bill had an additional 15 pages tacked onto the end concerning hemp products, which had not gone through the normal vetting in committee. The key provision in the bill would prohibit Georgians under age 21 from buying consumable hemp products with a THC content of more than 0.3%, including the popular Delta-8 gummies.
Senators first narrowly defeated a motion by Summers essentially to pass the House bill, then voted overwhelmingly to disagree with the House. That put the bill on a path to be resolved by a joint legislative conference committee, but time ran out on the 2023 session before that could happen.
Sunday is the five-year anniversary of the death of the late Mrs. GaPundit from Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease. Luckily, she identified as a Democrat, so retains her eligibility to vote. Her career was devoted to expanding medical options for underserved Georgians, including passage of a 2014 Constitutional Amendment to dedicate an add-on fee for reckless driving to the Georgia Brain and Spinal Injury Trust Fund Commission.
After the passage of the Haleigh’s Hope law and Governor Deal’s signature in April 2015, Mrs. GaPundit was diagnosed with ALS, which made her eligible for the Low-THC oil registry and her docs got her signed up. Nearly eight years later, the promise of Haleigh’s Hope remains unfulfilled. It is a bitter irony that when she needed medication, the political system failed her. I’m seldom at a loss for words regarding politics, but here I sit. No more words.
Florida Man Governor Ron DeSantis (R-Magical Kingdom) spoke in Smyrna yesterday, according to the AJC.
About two dozen Republican state senators gathered in the state Capitol’s second-floor lobby on Thursday, still bleary-eyed from the previous night’s legislative chaos.
They weren’t there to rehash the clamorous finale of the legislative session. They were enthusiastic attendees of a closed-door meeting with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, the presumptive presidential contender in town for a stop on his book tour.
But DeSantis’ visit to Atlanta illustrated anew how willing many Georgia Republicans are to encourage rivals to Trump’s comeback bid. His stop at Adventure Outdoors, a gun store in Smyrna, was filled with GOP activists and officials who were once as enthusiastic about Trump.
And more than a dozen state legislators piled into the second floor of the gun shop, along with Agriculture Commissioner Tyler Harper, to hear DeSantis’ remarks. Also spotted in the crowd was Brad Carver, an Atlanta attorney who was one of the fake Trump electors in 2020.
Before a crowd of roughly 650, DeSantis praised Georgia lawmakers for expanding gun rights and banning “sex change operations for minors,” a reference to a new law that limits what health care treatments transgender youth can receive. And the audience roared when he called his state the place where “woke goes to die.”
“As we have recently seen many red counties in Georgia flip blue, I believe Georgia voters need to hear what Gov. DeSantis has to say,” said Jason Shepherd, a former Cobb GOP chair and outspoken Trump critic. “More so, we need his kind of leadership now more than ever.”
Senate Bill 107, called “Izzy’s Law” by Sen. Max Burns (R-Sylvania) passed, according to the Statesboro Herald.
Sponsored by Sen. Max Burns (R – Sylvania), Izzy’s Law would require the Department of Public Health to develop a widely-accessible safety plan for aquatic activities based on the standards for nationally-accredited swim instructors.
Izzy’s Law is named after Israel “Izzy” Scott, a 4-year-old who died as a result of a drowning accident during a backyard swim lesson in Burke County in June 2022.
“I am grateful to the Georgia General Assembly for passing this important measure with bipartisan support,” Burns said. “This bill is a reflection of the hard work and advocacy of the Scott family, who have been there through every step of the legislative process.
“Izzy’s Law ensures our children are protected through the development of safety aquatic plans for private swim instructors. I am honored to see the passage of this legislation that will create a safer Georgia and thoughtfully honor the life of Israel Scott.”
House Bill 249 by State Rep. Chuck Martin (R-Alpharetta) passed both chambers and would increase financial aid for some students, according to 13WMAZ.
It passed the general assembly and now it’s waiting for Governor Kemp’s signature.
Students who may have had that dilemma of dropping out due to money in front of them may have more options now that House Bill 249 has passed.
The bill is beefing up the amount of completion grants – those are needs based funding for students who have completed most of their studies but have stalled on money.
“It just gets a little more difficult at the very end and that’s when we start getting creative and start finding ways to help students,” Middle Georgia State University financial aid director said.
If the governor signs off on House Bill 249, those in need could get a $1000 dollar bump in funds, an increase from $2500 to $3500.
The bill will also allow students to receive aid earlier while completing their credits.
“We needed to adjust those, and we think we have adjusted those so that deserving students will be eligible for the completion grants,” Representative Chuck Martin said.
“We were aware that a lot of students get really close to the finish line and it’s just a few hundred or a thousand dollars that stops that, stops them from finishing and there is some pretty good information that says if you stop it’s hard to get going again,” he explained.
House Bill 189 by State Rep. Steven Meeks (R-Screven) to increase allowable truck weights on some Georgia roads, passed the legislature, according to 13WMAZ.
The bill went through several revisions before getting final approval late Wednesday. After lawmakers initially pumped the brakes a few weeks ago, they limited the new standards to trucks hauling timber and other agricultural items.
HB 189 allows trucks hauling timber and agricultural items to tow 88,000 pounds of product. That’s up from 80,000.
It’s a difference of four tons.Lawmakers say it’s to help get shipping times back on track.
The 80,000 pound standard will come back in July 2025. That means lawmakers will either need to pass an extension or another bill altogether to keep them in effect.
Trucks hauling the extra 8,000 pounds will have some restrictions. They can only drive 150 miles from the farm or place where they picked up their product.
The University System of Georgia decried the $66 million dollar haircut they took in the state budget, according to the Savannah Morning News.
The state Senate Appropriations Committee last week issued a version of the budget to include a $105 million cut to USG. The total cuts in the final version of the budget, approved by a joint House and Senate committee, reduced that number to $66 million.
Though millions less than previously proposed, USG said in a statement that the cuts still will significantly impact teaching, staff and students.
“This is an incredibly disappointing outcome, given the work done over the years by our state leaders to elevate higher education and send Georgia on a path to ascension,” USG Chancellor Sonny Perdue was quoted as saying in the statement. “It will have a significant impact on institutions and the services that students and families depend on to advance their prosperity and help Georgia succeed.”
The money cut from the teaching line of the budget will be pulled replaced from carryover funds, which are attached to each institution. According to a report on carry over funds published in October, these total $504 million across the 26 institutions that make up the university system.
The budget now goes to Gov. Brian Kemp for his approval. A spokesman said the measure is “undergoing a thorough review process” and declined further comment.
The cut represents just over half the $105 million approved a few weeks ago by Kemp and lawmakers for a new electronic medical records system for the Medical College of Georgia, part of Augusta University. Senate leaders have questioned that cost, approved amid talks for Wellstar Health System to partner with AU Health System.
The Senate had proposed trimming a similar amount from the upcoming University System budget. House Appropriations Chairman Matt Hatchett, R-Dublin, told his chamber Wednesday that the House was able “to soften the reduction” by $39 million.
He, along with Senate Appropriations Chairman Blake Tillery, R-Vidalia, urged the University System to limit any damage from the cut by dipping into $504 million in “carry forward” funding left over in college budgets.
“There’s a lot of comments that this will be disproportionately impactful to smaller schools. That does not have to be the case,” Tillery told lawmakers Wednesday.
State Senate Finance Committee Chair Chuck Hufstetler, R-Rome, fired back after University System of Georgia Chancellor Sonny Perdue bemoaned another round of cuts to the system’s budget.
“(Perdue) requested $105 million to help the Wellstar takeover of Augusta University Hospital, but he did not supply us with the details of the contract,” Hufstetler said.
“We don’t get to say where they spend that money,” Hufstetler said. “They have $504 million in carryover funds and he could easily pull the $66 million from there. If (Perdue) decides that’s how he wants to spend that cut, that’s on him — it’s his decision.”
The University System of Georgia Board of Regents has since approved the merger of AU Health into Wellstar, according to the AJC.
The Georgia Board of Regents voted Friday to approve Wellstar Health System’s potential takeover of Augusta University’s hospitals.
The move advances a deal that is a top priority of Gov. Brian Kemp’s administration and the center of a bitter feud between powerbrokers at the state Capitol.
Wellstar would become the “sole corporate member” of Augusta University Health System, according to the board’s vote. Specifics of the pact, including finances, were not immediately released. Officials previously said the attorney general must review the agreement before it’s finalized.
Officials have said the pact would bring significant investment to existing facilities and a new hospital in Columbia County, which Augusta University recently received approval for after a six-year legal battle against competing hospital systems. It’s also expected to expand physician training for the Medical College of Georgia, part of Augusta University.
“This has been a long and thorough process,” said board chair Harold Reynolds, just before the vote. “I know the partnership will benefit the Medical College of Georgia, our students and faculty, patients served by the health system and the entire state of Georgia.”
Sonny Perdue, chancellor of the University System of Georgia, previously said the deal is critical to the medical college’s future. Faculty, physicians and residents of the state’s only public medical school work and train in the AU system’s hospitals and clinics. Perdue has said many academic medical centers nationwide are moving to partnerships because medical students need to hone their skills in hospital systems with “a critical mass” and where patients “want to come and be served.”
Legislators added 500 spots to the waiver program to benefit Georgians with disabilities, according to the AJC.
Another 500 people with disabilities will be newly eligible for services in Georgia as part of a spending plan the Legislature approved late Wednesday.
Georgia now has thousands of people with disabilities who have been waiting for services amid a crumbling support system in the state. Places that care for Georgians with disabilities are closing down, and the agencies that are open are struggling to retain staff.
The new waivers will cost the state about $9.4 million dollars more annually. This is a fraction of what’s needed to clear the waiting list. Advocates say there are about 7,000 people who are waiting for services, although a chunk of those people do not yet qualify.
The state is now covering services for about 13,500 people with disabilities through this fiscal year, covering everything from day programs to at-home care. The 500 new slots will be added starting July 1st.
The core issue, though, is the state lacks enough workers to provide those services. The worker shortage has meant that even some disabled people who have been approved for new services can’t yet get them.
To that end, state officials have put in motion a plan to boost wages for professional caretakers from about $10.63 an hour to $15.18 an hour. Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities officials say that in the last week they’ve revised the proposed wage yet again — to $16.70 an hour — after receiving a flood of comments asking them to boost the wage even more. That proposal still has layers of state and federal approval to go through, and it could be a year before it’s in place.
The Troup County NAACP is asking for an investigation into the county school system’s police department and the LaGrange police department, according to WTVM.
Leaders with the Troup County NAACP say this public meeting occurred to “expose an emergency and crisis” in the area. The group held a news conference at LaFayette Square in Downtown LaGrange.
Two weeks ago, Troup County NAACP leaders say a letter was sent to the governor’s office, requesting help in investigating both the city police department and county school system.
“Based off of complaints that we received from citizens in the community, that led to this morning’s press conference,” said Troup County NAACP President Mike Meredith.
NAACP leaders point to the turnover of three major positions as a sign of disorder within the local government. Willie Edmonson was recently sworn in as mayor just months after his predecessor resigned in October to work for the Georgia Municipal Association.
In December, the city’s fire chief, John Brant, announced his resignation from the department. Additionally, in January, longtime LaGrange Police Chief Lou Dekmar announced his retirement.
Bulloch County Economic Development Authority CEO Benjy Thompson will Chair the Georgia Economic Developers Association Board of Directors, according to the Statesboro Herald.
The Board is a non-profit association of professionals and volunteers who are involved with the economic development in Georgia. The Georgia group is the largest economic development association in the state, with more than 700 member practitioners. The Economic Developers Association is a resource for professional development, public policy and networking for the state’s economic development community.
This is Thompson’s second year serving as GEDA’s Board chair.
Since 1963, the Georgia Economic Developers Association has been a leadership voice on issues affecting economic development policies and regulations such as leading an initiative to establish sales and use tax exemptions on industry machinery and support for the constitutional amendment establishing the Freeport Inventory Tax Exemption.
More recently, the organization supported legislation that expanded the potential uses of Tax Allocation Districts, created the OneGeorgia program, authorized job tax credits, and the reduction in the sales and use tax on energy used during the manufacturing process.
The City of Savannah is accepting suggestions to rename Calhoun Square, according to the Savannah Morning News.
The city is accepting public proposals for a new name for the “square formerly known as Calhoun,” as Mayor Van Johnson put it at the November meeting where council voted unanimously to remove Calhoun’s name. The city will be accepting completed applications until 11:59 p.m. on May 15.
The vote came nearly two years after an activist group called the Center for Jubilee, Reconciliation and Healing and its founders, Patt Gunn and Rosalyn Rouse, began pushing for the square to be renamed for Suzie King Taylor, a Savannah icon.
But every Savannah resident will have the same opportunity as Gunn and Rouse. The public space naming process outlined in the city codebook will be the guidepost for the open process, and it includes a long list of requirements, including a letter of support for the name from either Mayor Van Johnson, At-Large Post 1 Alderwoman Kesha Gibson-Carter, At-Large Post 2 Alderwoman Alicia Miller Blakely or District 2 Alderman Detric Leggett.
Judge Kelley Martin Robertson takes her seat on the Hall County State Court bench, according to AccessWDUN.
Several court judges and county officials spoke to the character of Judge Robertson during the robing ceremony, as they detailed her long and storied history serving the county. Chief Judge Kathlene Gosselin specifically commented on the long path Robertson has navigated to land her new position.
“I’ve been a judge since January of 1987, so for a very long time,” Gosselin said. “One of the fun things about being a judge for so long is to see the people that came to you early in their career, and where they’ve gone … and Kelley was my law clerk 20-something years ago.”
“Always remember that it is a great responsibility to be a judge,” Gosselin said. “And you have people that are in the courtroom that work with you and for you and are participants, either voluntarily or not voluntarily. And they deserve respect as well.”
Judge Robertson previously served as the Chief Assistant District Attorney in the Northeastern Judicial Circuit since 2005. Before that, she held a staff position within the same circuit.
“It’s overwhelming,” Robertson said. “I’m very humbled and honored to have this opportunity to serve the people of Hall County. I meant what I said when I said I grew up in this courthouse watching great judges administer justice and do the right thing every day. And I hope to emulate them and follow in their footsteps and take all the things I learned from practicing in front of them and then serve the people by being fair, getting cases to court quickly and ensuring that justice gets done in State Court.”
The Georgia Ports Authority is adding 55 hybrid cranes to reduce emissions, according to WTOC.
“We’re adding these rubber-tired gantry cranes that service containers in the yard, that service both the ships and our front-end customers the truck drivers. And we’ve gone with these hybrid, rubber-tired gantry cranes. It’s the first time for us,” said Griff Lynch, the Executive Director of the Georgia Ports Authority.
The Georgia Ports Authority has placed an order for 55 Hybrid Yard Cranes or RTG’s to move shipping containers.
Executive Director Griff Lynch says the new machines, along with other port expansion, will help fix supply chain issues.
“We’re going all in. We’re doubling down and we’re going to create more capacity. We’re talking about a 50% increase in our ship and container capacity over the next 2 years.”
The port says the new cranes will use electric battery power causing 50% fewer emissions than similar diesel machines…leading to $1.6 million in savings per year.
“These new RTGs being battery powered will save – eliminate the use of 500,000 gallons a year of diesel.”
