Georgia Politics, Campaigns, and Elections for April 2, 2025

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.

Georgia began its love affair with the regulation of what can and cannot be sold on April 3, 1735, when James Oglethorpe, founder of the colony, helped gain passage of “An Act to prevent the Importation and Use of Rum and Brandies in the Province of Georgia.” The act provided that after June 24, 1735, “no Rum, Brandies, Spirits or Strong Waters” shall be imported into Georgia.” Permission was also required to sell beer, wine, and ale.

On April 3, 1776, the Continental Congress authorized “privateers” holding a letter of marque and reprisal to attack British ships. This essentially legalizes what would otherwise be considered piracy. Issuing letters of marque and reprisal is among the enumerated powers of Congress under Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution, though they have seldom been used.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XdP9UL_KfZg

On April 3, 1865, Richmond fell. On April 4, 1865, President Abraham Lincoln toured Richmond, Virginia the day after the Confederate Capitol fell to Union forces.

On April 3, 1898, President William McKinley called on Georgians to contribute 3000 volunteers for the Spanish-American War.

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.

The Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., accompanied by Georgians Hosea Williams and Ralph D. Abernathy, was in Memphis, Tennessee, supporting a strike by sanitation workers on April 3, 1968. He delivered what is known as the “Mountaintop Speech.”

“[L]ike anybody, I would like to live a long life. Longevity has its place. But I’m not concerned about that now. I just want to do God’s will. And He’s allowed me to go up to the mountain. And I’ve looked over, and I’ve seen the promised land. I may not get there with you, but I want you to know tonight that we as a people will get to the promised land. So I’m happy tonight. I’m not worried about anything. I’m not fearing any man. Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord.”

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

Voters in Albany will elect a new Ward 6 commissioner in a Special Runoff Election on April 15, 2025, according to WALB.

As Ward 6 candidates Samuel Gaines and Diana Brown prepare for the runoff election on April 15, they say they have plans to bring economic development growth–something they say hasn’t happened in the last 30 years.

“We are so behind because of a lack of knowledge, mindset, and how we move it? We ourselves running for politics have to be held accountable,” Brown said.

Gaines said he plans to use economic development to improve an ongoing housing issue in the area.

“Albany State has a graduation every year. These people graduate and leave. If we put economic development, develop their credit, and offer them a house if they stay in Albany, Georgia, we’ve got to do the plans,” he said.

The Ward 6 special election is scheduled for April 15, but early voting starts April 7 and ends April 11.

Under the Gold Dome Today

Wednesday, April 2 . . . . . . . . . . convene for legislative day 39
Thursday, April 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . committee work day
Friday, April 4 . . . . . (Sine Die) convene for legislative day 40

Wednesday, April 2, 2025

TBD Senate Rules: In Recess 450 CAP
9:00 AM HOUSE RULES 341 CAP
10:00 AM HOUSE FLOOR SESSION (LD39) House Chamber
10:00 AM Senate Floor Session (LD 39) Senate Chamber

House Bill 793 by State Rep. Rick Townsend (R-SSI) places a homestead exemption referendum on the ballot in November 2025 for Glynn County voters, according to The Brunswick News.

Once the governor signs the bill, citizens will vote on whether to enact the exemption in a special election that will run concurrently with the November municipal elections this year. The exemption will only apply to a homeowner’s primary residence in the city limits.

According to the bill — House Bill [793] — “each resident of the city of Brunswick is granted an exemption on such person’s homestead from city of Brunswick ad valorem taxes for municipal purposes in an amount equal to a percentage of the assessed value of such person’s homestead … based upon how long such resident has owned such homestead.”

The exemption follows a tiered structure, with residents of five years or less receiving a 5% reduction in their property taxes; six to 10 years, 10%; 11-20 years, 20%; 21-29 years, 30%; and 30-plus years, 50%.

Residents will have to apply to City Hall to receive the exemption, and the exemption will pass on to spouses of deceased recipients so long as the spouse continues to occupy the home as the primary residence.

It will not affect county or school property taxes. Both agencies have other homestead exemptions homeowners can claim.

The bill was sponsored in the state House by Rep. Rick Townsend, R-St. Simons Island, and in the Senate by Sen. Mike Hodges, R-St. Simons Island.

“I am pleased that Mayor Cosby Johnson and the Brunswick City Commission have taken the historical action of allowing a partial exemption from ad valorem taxes for the city’s homeowners,” Hodges said. “They have also recognized the importance of long-time residents by basing the exemption amount on the number of years of residency. It was my pleasure to work with the mayor and commissioners on this important legislation.”

Townsend said the tiered structure of the exemption will likely serve as a model for other municipalities in the state.

The special election also will be held concurrently with the election for Public Service Commission seats 2 and 3 on Nov. 4. Early voting runs from Oct. 14-31.

The deadline to register for the election is Oct. 6.

Senate Bill 36 by State Senator Ed Setzler (R-Acworth), the “Georgia Religious Freedom Restoration Act” passed the Senate and awaits House action, according to the Capitol Beat News Service via the Savannah Morning News.

Proponents of religious freedom gathered in the Georgia Capitol Tuesday to pressure the state House of Representatives to vote on a measure that would limit government intrusion into actions based on religious beliefs.

Opponents say religious rights are not under attack and that Senate Bill 36 would make it legal to discriminate against people under the banner of faith.

Proponents say religious freedom has been seriously infringed in other states and could be a problem in the future in Georgia. They have cited two cases in this state — one involving a student who wanted to hand out religious literature on a college campus and another involving a college counselor who was disciplined for asserting that her religious rights were compromised by having to advise LGBTQ students.

The Senate passed SB 36 along party lines in March. A committee of the House of Representatives then passed it, over the opposition of Democrats and one Republican.

The legislation has not come up for a vote on the floor of the House, and the 2025 legislative session ends Friday.

“It’s time to move, now,” W. Thomas Hammond, Jr., executive director of the Georgia Baptist Mission Board, said Tuesday, with supporters arrayed behind him on the marble steps of the state Capitol.

The bill is being sponsored by Sen. Ed Setzler, R-Acworth, who said Georgia should join 39 other states with a Religious Freedom Restoration Act.

“We’re the only Republican-led state in the nation that does not have this protection,” Setzler said after Hammond spoke.

Critics of SB 36, including fellow Republican Rep. Deborah Silcox from Sandy Springs, have noted that Georgia is one of a few states lacking a comprehensive civil rights law that protects against discrimination in public spaces, workplaces or housing.

The federal Civil Rights Act prohibits discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex or national origin. Many states have expanded civil rights protections to also prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation, gender identity or both.

Eighteen cities and counties in Georgia have non-discrimination ordinances. Silcox and Democrats said SB 36 would pre-empt such local laws, and they pushed for language in Setzler’s bill they said would counterbalance religious interest.

Setzler opposed the amendment, saying SB 36 would not override local non-discrimination ordinances and that establishing a statewide non-discrimination law was a separate policy discussion.

Setzler explained Tuesday that he also opposed the amendment because the non-discrimination language was a “Trojan horse” that would “exempt” the religious protections in SB 36. If someone were to raise a non-discrimination claim, he said, the religious freedom protections wouldn’t apply if Silcox’s language had been added.

SB 36 seeks to prohibit government intrusion into the exercise of religion except in cases involving a “compelling government interest.”

Silcox’s amendment would have added that the government’s interest includes “protecting persons against discrimination on any ground prohibited by federal, state or local law.”

On Tuesday, Rep. Stacey Evans, D-Atlanta, refuted Setzler’s assertion. In an interview after he spoke, Evans, who had voted for the Silcox amendment, said religious freedom protections can co-exist with protections against discrimination against LGBTQ+ people.

“If Senator Setzler was not interested in using this RFRA bill to discriminate against Georgians,” she said, “he would have no problem with an anti-discrimination amendment to the bill.”

At this point, it is up to the House Rules Committee to decide whether to put SB 36 to a vote of the whole House. Should the committee withhold the bill when the House gavels to order on Wednesday and Friday, it would remain in play when lawmakers return next year, but it would be sidelined for the remainder of this year.

Asked for comment about the pressure campaign to bring SB 36 to a vote, a spokesperson for House Speaker Jon Burns, a Republican from Newington, texted this statement:

“There are several issues that the House will consider over the next two legislative days, and as always, we’ll focus on prioritizing policies that matter most to our fellow Georgians.”

House Bill 162 by State Rep. Leesa Hagan (R-Lyons) was recommended for passage by the Senate Judiciary Committee. From 13WMAZ:

Georgia lawmakers are on the verge of passing House Bill 162, a measure that supporters say could transform the lives of thousands of first offenders by addressing loopholes in the state’s ‘Second Chance’ law.

The bill, which has garnered bipartisan support, proposes sealing criminal records earlier in the judicial process to improve access to jobs, housing, and rehabilitation opportunities.

The First Offender Act, enacted in 1968, was designed to help individuals convicted of certain crimes, avoid the stigma of a criminal record. However, advocates argue that the law is not working as intended in today’s digital age.

Jeff Thompson, grassroots engagement director for Americans for Prosperity, said he understands it first-hand.

“I think I was either 19 or 20. I was just a young kid trying to party too much, got caught with something that I didn’t know was a felony,” Thompson said. “It’s like you have a scarlet letter that you can hide sometimes, but eventually it’s gonna come up and you don’t know how to deal with it. It’s an embarrassment.”

Currently, records under the First Offender Act remain visible during background checks until the sentence is completed, creating barriers for employment and housing. House Bill 162 seeks to address this issue by sealing records at sentencing rather than after completion.

“What HB 162 would do is a pretty simple fix. It would say instead of just restricting the GBI record, we need to both restrict that and seal the court-level records,” Wade Askew, Georgia Justice Project Policy Director said.

Supporters argue this adjustment would protect the nearly 98% of individuals who successfully complete their sentences, according to the Georgia Justice Project, under the act.

The Georgia Justice Project has highlighted how employment reduces recidivism rates, making this bill critical for public safety. Askew from the organization said that stable jobs and housing are key to preventing repeat offenses. However, some crimes—including violent felonies, serious sexual offenses, and DUIs—remain ineligible under the act.

The bill has already passed unanimously in the Georgia House and is now awaiting final approval in the Senate.

House Bill 307 by State Rep. Bethany Ballard (R-Warner Robins) passed both chambers and would prohibit “three cueing” as a method of teaching reading, according to WTOC.

On Monday, the House of Representative gave final approval to House Bill 307, which would prohibit schools from using “three cueing,” a theory where kids are often encouraged to sample the letters and the words in the text, relying mostly on prediction and context for comprehension.

The bill was sponsored by state Rep. Bethany Ballard (R-Warner Robins). The bill is now headed to Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp’s desk as the state legislative session enters its final week.

Ballard’s bill would also remove Reading Recovery as a state-approved intervention program used for decades to help struggling readers in first grade. While many schools stopped using it over recent years, it’s codified in Georgia law.

Some experts believe cueing doesn’t put enough emphasis on phonetics, or sounding out words. It’s currently banned in at least 19 states.

The Reading Recovery of North America opposed Ballard’s bill and criticized the idea of banning three cueing. “Reading Recovery is the most studied, most successful short-term reading intervention in the world,” said Billy Molasso, executive director of Reading Recovery Community. “While Reading Recovery certainly does not claim to ‘cure’ all reading problems for every child, there are 40 years of documented success.

The Georgia School Superintendents Association criticized the bill. It worries that banning any kind of reading strategy could make teachers anxious about getting in trouble if they used unapproved methods.

“To use the word ‘ban’ from the classroom instills a sense of fear in teachers,” said Dr. Bubba Longgrear, superintendent of the Candler County School District.

Ballard said the ban on three cueing would not ban teachers from using picture books. “All of this can be used as supplemental material in the classroom, but they may not be used as the primary means of instruction,” Ballard said during a February state House Education Committee meeting.

Senate Bill 241 by State Sen. Rick Williams (R-Milledgeville) passed both chambers and would legalize composting corpses, according to the Capitol Beat News Service via the Savannah Morning News.

Legislation that would regulate an alternative method for disposal of the dead is on its way to Gov. Brian Kemp.

The Georgia House of Representatives on Monday adopted Senate Bill 241 by a vote of 157-4. The Senate had already approved the bill in a near unanimous vote in early March.

SB 241 was brought to the legislature by Sen. Rick Williams, R-Milledgeville, who is in the funeral home business.

“It’s just human composting,” he explained in a hearing about the measure several weeks ago, a hearing that was ripe with quips about the “Breaking Bad” bill and a 1950s song called “Dry Bones.”

But Williams said his measure was important for community safety and for the dignity of the deceased. He referenced a recent case in Colorado where remains were not properly disposed of, creating a health hazard.

Williams said properly composted corpses produced safe and hygienic soil that could be returned to families to use as they choose, including in the garden.

File Under: Only Mostly Dead: House Bill 127 by State Rep. Brent Cox (R-Dawsonville) received a transplant of the guts of Senate Bill 120 by State Sen. Marty Harbin (R-Tyrone), according to Atlanta News First via WALB.

Despite not getting a vote on the state House or Senate floor before the crucial halfway point of the legislative session, a bill banning diversity, equity and inclusion programs in public schools still has life.

If legislation doesn’t pass one chamber or the other before Crossover Day, it can still be revived if lawmakers attach it to a bill that did pass the House or Senate. That’s what happened when a group of legislators gutted House Bill 127 — a proposal intended to let public school teachers roll over five paid-time off days instead of the three they currently can — and instead, replaced it entirely with language on the DEI ban.

Under Senate Bill 120, the language of which was essentially copied and pasted into HB 127, K-12 schools and colleges and universities that receive state dollars would lose that funding if they fail to abolish programs that “promote, support or maintain any programs or activities that advocate for diversity, equity and inclusion.”

“The DEI initiative actually ostracizes some people because they don’t believe in the philosophies that are there,” said state Sen. Marty Harbin (R-Tyrone), the sponsor of SB 120. “Defunding these programs does not mean that we do not support diversity. It means we support true diversity of thought where students and faculty are engaged in open dialect without fear of reprisal.”

The Georgia effort to ban those programs almost directly mirrors an attempt by President Donald Trump to ban DEI at the federal level by withholding federal funding to public entities that receive it.

Time is running out for a vote on the ban. This year’s legislative session ends Friday.

File Under: More News of the Quick and the Dead. From State Affairs:

What is presumed dead may never really die at the state Capitol.

A flurry of high-profile bills thought to be stalled in the Legislature have been given new breath in the final days of the legislative session, which ends Friday.

They include a sales tax holiday for firearm purchases, stiff punishments for librarians who allow children to access “harmful” materials and a ban on policies and curriculums that promote “diversity, equity and inclusion” ideas in schools.

Those measures — and more — were tacked onto unrelated bills that lawmakers stripped and replaced in recent days amid the General Assembly’s time-honored tradition of gutting legislation as the annual session draws to a close.

Senate Bill 120, sponsored by Sen. Marty Harbin, R-Tyrone, failed to advance by the “Crossover Day” deadline last month and was presumed dead — so much so that Harbin held a news conference to lament its fate.

Then came last Thursday’s hearing of the Senate Education and Youth Committee, whose members gutted House Bill 127, sponsored by Rep. Brent Cox, R-Dawsonville, which would have increased sick leave for teachers from three to five days. The committee replaced it with Harbin’s DEI ban.

Lawmakers used the gut-and-switch legislative method to resurrect several tax breaks in the session’s final week.

After weeks of setbacks, legislators on the Senate Rules Committee on Monday reshaped a measure on property assessments, House Bill 129, sponsored by Rep. Chas Cannon, R-Moultrie, by adding a lucrative tax credit for film postproduction activities such as editing and visual effects.

Efforts to restore the tax credit — which expired in 2023 — met with resistance earlier in the session as some lawmakers questioned whether social media influencers who make internet videos might try to qualify for a tax break.

“I guess I’ll call this ‘the Mr. Beast provision,’” said Sen. Josh McLaurin, D-Sandy Springs, referring to a popular internet personality during a hearing last week.

Lawmakers last week also added a four-day tax holiday for gun purchases to House Bill 79, sponsored by Rep. Mark Newton, R-Augusta, which gives a tax credit to people who take a firearms safety course or buy gun lockers. The firearm tax holiday originated from Senate Bill 47, sponsored by Sen. Jason Anavitarte, R-Dallas.

Another measure, Senate Bill 170, sponsored by Sen. Kim Jackson, D-Stone Mountain, would have created a new council to address homelessness issues. It was gutted last week and replaced with House Bill 262, sponsored by Rep. Angie O’Steen, R-Ambrose, which provides grant funds for rural hospitals to install backup generators.

Other bills likely to be stripped

The session’s last days will likely see lawmakers attempt to strip out the original contents of many other bills and add their own proposals that have stumbled in recent weeks.

Other overhauled bills:

HB 14: Originally made cornbread the official state bread; now creates a state office for promoting Georgia’s music industry. Sponsored by Rep. Kasey Carpenter, R-Dalton.

HB 254: Originally created a marker at the Capitol to commemorate those who fought in the Revolutionary War; now adds the placement of a statue of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas on the Capitol grounds. Sponsored by Rep. Debbie Buckner, D-Junction City.

HB 233: Originally made Brunswick stew the official state stew; now adds cornbread as the official state bread, establishes Nov. 4 as National Sugarcane Syrup Day in Georgia and prohibits state government officials from contracting with companies owned by “foreign adversaries” such as Russia, Iran, North Korea and China. Sponsored by Rep. Rick Townsend, R-Brunswick.

Senate Bill 39 by State Sen. Blake Tillery (R-Vidalia) passed out of the House Health Committee and would prohibit the State Healthcare Benefit Plan from paying for gender-affirming care, according to the Capitol Beat News Service via the Savannah Morning News.

Republican-backed legislation denying coverage of gender-affirming health care though the State Health Benefit Plan (SHBP) advanced in the Georgia House of Representatives Tuesday.

The House Health Committee approved a bill that originated in the state Senate and passed that legislative chamber in February.

The House panel added a provision to Senate Bill 39 that would extend the denial of coverage beyond employees of state agencies, public schools, the University System of Georgia and the Technical College System of Georgia to also apply to state prison inmates.

The legislation defines gender-affirming care to include hormone therapy and sex reassignment surgery. It would also ban state-owned health-care facilities and physicians who work for the state from providing such care.

“There’s many places within health insurance where certain surgeries or procedures aren’t covered,” Rep. Brent Cox, R-Dawsonville, who is carrying the bill in the House, told committee members Tuesday. “Certain things we have to pay for out of our own pocket. … This is to be responsible with the funds we have.”

Legislative Democrats have argued the bill is part of a broader Republican agenda attacking Georgia’s transgender community for political gain.

Democrats on the committee pointed to a series of lawsuits over coverage of gender-affirming care for state employees the state has lost or settled going back to 2015. Plaintiffs have successfully challenged those denials as a violation of the U.S. Constitution’s equal-protection clause.

“These types of laws have been overturned by the judicial branch in multiple states,” said Rep. Jasmine Clark, D-Lilburn. “How are we saving money for the state if we’re having to spend more money in litigation?”

Rep. Trey Kelley, R-Cedartown, said the state has lost those lawsuits because there’s no state law on the books addressing the issue.

“This will correct that problem and help avoid litigation,” he said.

Dr. Cassie Ackerley of Atlanta objected to the provision extending the bill to prison inmates. She said inmates who in some cases have been receiving hormone therapy for years would be suddenly cut off.

“You’re forcing a person to de-transition while incarcerated,” she said. “That’s cruel and egregious.”

Republicans on the committee defeated an amendment Clark proposed to allow Georgians already enrolled in the SHBP to continue receiving coverage for gender-affirming care, then passed the underlying bill along party lines.

The legislation heads next to the House Rules Committee to schedule a floor vote on one of the final two days remaining in this year’s General Assembly session.

House Bill 268 by State Rep. Holt Persinger (R-Winder) addresses school safety and awaits Governor Kemp’s signature or veto, according to Atlanta News First via WALB.

On Monday, House Bill 268 was overwhelmingly passed by the House and Senate and sent to Gov. Brian Kemp’s desk for him to sign into law.

House Bill 268 was the last of the Speaker of the House Jon Burns’ priority legislation.

“As legislators, we have no higher calling than to provide every student across our state with a safe and secure learning environment,” said Burns.

Burns picked State. Rep. Holt Persinger, who represents Winder — where the deadly Apalachee High School shooting happened last year — to carry the bill.

At a news conference on Monday, Persinger was left tearing up as his emotions of the day caught up to him.

“It’s been a long, hard road since Sept. 4. We’ve been working on this almost every single day. I’m just glad to be a part of it,” said Persinger.

Persinger said it became clear the state needed to make a change. The bill contains mental health and safety improvements for Georgia schools.

Schools will need to submit electronic maps to law enforcement agencies at the local, state, and federal levels to help them respond in case of a shooting.

The bill will head to the governor’s desk for final approval.

House Bill 579 by State Rep. Matt Reeves (R-Duluth) passed both chambers and would streamline professional licensing, according to the Gwinnett Daily Post.

State Rep. Matt Reeves, R-Duluth, worked with fellow legislators to draft House Bill 579 to expedite the licensing application and review process for professions ranging from nurses and barbers to plumbers. The bill, which the Georgia House of Representatives had already signed off on in early March, passed out of the Georgia Senate last Thursday.

The governor will now consider whether to sign the bill into law after the General Assembly’s 2025 session ends on Friday.

“Hardworking Georgians deserve excellent customer service from our state government, and HB 579 cuts red tape and will make licensing more economical and efficient for the sake of our workforce and small businesses,” Reeves said in a statement on Monday.

A Joint Blue-Ribbon Committee to Investigate Licensing Issues looked at the state’s licensing laws and how they could be improved last year. That committee was led by House Appropriations Committee Chairman Rep. Matt Hatchett, R-Dublin, and Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Sen. Blake Tillery, R-Vidalia.

House Bill 579 was the result of that committee’s work.

The bill creates a pathway by which compliant license applications can be processed faster. As a result, professional licensing boards would have more time to evaluate Georgia’s workforce needs and deal with reports of misconduct by “bad licensees.”

Straight Outta Philly: Wawa will open a convenience store in Tifton, according to the Tifton Gazette.

Based out of Pennsylvania and operating over a thousand locations across the East Coast, the convenience store chain offers customers a more extensive array of products and services than most minimarts of its kind, including the standard snacks, refreshments, and convenience items, made-to-order sandwiches, blended drinks, and breakfast foods, catering, and personal brand products like iced tea, juice, and milk.

The expansion into Tifton is part of a larger effort by the company to branch out into Georgia that began last year. Sparky Lamb, Tifton community development director, reported that the chain had consulted with the city in 2024 about opening a location in Tifton.

The property undergoing development was formerly the Ole Times Country Buffet, which closed about five years ago and remained abandoned until this project began.

At this time, it is unknown when the convenience store will be completed.

Pass the Tasty Kake Butterscotch Krimpets.

Macon-Bibb County Commissioners allocated $3 million in speed camera fines to officer recruitment, according to 13WMAZ.

Last November, Bibb leaders approved more than $3M in ticket revenue to fund more crossing guards, Verkada and FLOCK cameras and school zone lights.

On Tuesday, commissioners agreed to use $3 million to prioritize officer recruitment in Bibb County Schools and on the roads.

Bibb County Schools will receive $1 million to fund resource officers and install new or improve crosswalks. $2 million will tackle one of the biggest needs within the Bibb County Sheriff’s office: increasing deputy pay.

“We know that school safety is a focus, we want to make sure that despite what people may believe, we have walkers in school system where we have crossing guards,” Mayor Lester Miller said. “The money is going to where the state law requires it to go. Public safety is where it’s supposed to go. Now maybe it’s not exactly the public safety you would have in mind, and maybe the legislature may even change that this week. And whatever they do, we’re perfectly happy following the law.”

The school zone camera program has grown more personal for Mayor Pro Tempore Seth Clark as the county awaits guidance from the State Senate. Clark says his wife and his son walk to Vineville Academy everyday, where cameras will not ticket drivers until further notice.

“Since we turned off that enforcement, behavior has changed to go back to something that we’ve regretted existed before these cameras,” Clark said. “I just hope that we can get guidance from Atlanta, to get those things back on in a responsible manner. Because at the moment, I feel as a father, that my wife and my son and their friends and family that walk with them every day are less safe.”

Both current employees and new deputy hires are set to receive a $5,000 raise. A non-certified officer just starting out will soon bring home nearly $45,700 dollars a year.

“Regardless of what you think of the speed cameras and regardless of what they do in the State, this is a good start,” Howell said. “This is another good shot in the arm for the Sheriff to get more deputies on the road and better response times. All of this is important and it starts with us… this is not coming out of our general funds, this is not coming out of your tax dollars. This is coming strictly out of fines.”

Augusta Commissioners approved a timeline for putting a Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (SPLOST) vote on the ballot, according to WJBF.

Augusta commissioners setting the stage for what will impact the city for decades to come: the ninth phase of the special purpose sales tax of SPLOST.

“I would hope that we would be able to put together a really comprehensive package that we can agree upon because this maybe actually one of the most important SPLOST packages that we ever put together,” said Commissioner Alvin Mason.

It’s been more than four years since the commission approved the project list for the current SPLOST.

“That ought to be every one of the commissioners top priorities up here when we decide on SPLOST 9,” said Commissioner Catherine Smith Rice.

Commissioners are facing some big dollar decisions and according to the just approved time line, the SPLOST 9 project list will be approved in July.

United States District Court Judge Loren AliKhan (DC) upheld a decision by the U.S Army Corps of Engineers allocating water from Lake Allatoona for Metro Atlanta , according to the Capitol Beat News Service via the Savannah Morning News.

The state of Georgia has won another legal case in its long-running “water wars” with Florida and Alabama.

A federal judge Monday sided with Georgia, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the Atlanta Regional Commission (ARC), and the Cobb County-Marietta Water Authority in a dispute over allocation of water from Lake Allatoona.

The decision upheld the Corps’ decision in 2021 to grant Metro Atlanta’s water supply requests from the lake and allocate more of the reservoir to meet the long-term needs of Cartersville and Bartow County. The state of Alabama had challenged the federal agency’s decision, arguing it would allocate too much water from the Alabama-Coosa-Tallapoosa (ACT) River Basin to Georgia.

“Backed by thorough analysis, factfinding, and experience, the Corps determined that granting Georgia’s water-supply request would have little, if any, effect” on Alabama’s water needs, U.S. District Judge Loren AliKhan wrote in a 38-page decision. “The record is replete with evidence showing negligible or non-significant impacts.”

Danny Jackson, managing director of natural resources at the ARC, praised the ruling.

“We are pleased to have a final decision that brings long-awaited certainty to all ACT stakeholders after decades of litigation,” he said. “This ruling affirms our communities’ responsible management and investment in water resources. We look forward to collaboration with all of the stakeholders in our shared river basins to address water challenges together.”

In Georgia’s other long-running water wars battle with the state of Florida, the U.S. Supreme Court also sided with Georgia, ruling in 2021 that Florida failed to prove its allegations that Georgia’s water consumption from the Chattahoochee and Flint river systems caused the failure of Florida’s oyster industry in Apalachicola Bay.

Representatives of water supply systems in Gwinnett, Forsyth and Hall counties finalized an agreement with the state of Georgia the following year guaranteeing them water from Lake Lanier through 2050.

From the AJC:

To serve Atlanta’s growing suburbs, Georgia requested in 2018 to increase its allowed daily withdrawals from Lake Allatoona from 37.1 million gallons to 94 million gallons. The extra water serves the Cobb County-Marietta Water Authority and its roughly 900,000 customers, along with the city of Cartersville in Bartow County.

In 2021, the corps granted Georgia’s request to increase its withdrawals, but Alabama challenged the decision in court, arguing the move violated the federal Water Supply Act. Alabama said the corps overstepped its legal authority in giving Georgia approval to pull more water from the reservoir. The state claimed the size of the increase should have required Congress to approve it and argued the corps did not adequately assess the impact of the new withdrawals on users downstream.

But the judge disagreed sharply, writing the corps “conducted a comprehensive analysis of Georgia’s request and determined that it would have no ‘appreciable effect.‘” The judge also found it was within the corps’ power to approve the added withdrawals without Congress’ approval.

In a statement, Gov. Brian Kemp said the ruling “brings greater certainty to our state’s access to the water supply from Allatoona Lake.”

“The state of Georgia will continue to work with stakeholders and be a good steward of our natural resources as we continue to grow,” Kemp added.

The ruling is the latest legal decision to break Georgia’s way in the “water wars” cases, some of which have also involved Florida.

In a separate case in 2021, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled against Florida, which had argued water use from the Chattahoochee and Flint rivers by Georgia residents during a 2012 drought crippled the Apalachicola Bay oyster industry.

In another ACT Basin case, a federal judge in 2023 delivered another ruling in Georgia’s favor. In that litigation, the court found the corps followed the law in crafting its new master plan for the basin system, which allowed more water to be stored in Georgia’s reservoirs.

Vidalia Mayor Pro Tem Raymond Turner has died, according to WTOC.

Mayor Doug Roper shared the following statement:

“It is shared with profound sadness we announce the passing of Mayor Pro-Tem Raymond Turner. While he leaves tremendous void in our community, we celebrate his over four decades of service to the City of Vidalia. When I think about servant leadership, Mr.Turner is the epitome of what embodies that terminology. Through service to our country, his family, church, and pour community, Mr. Turner touched countless lives. We will be forever grateful for his long-lasting impact, and we will strive relentlessly to honor and continue his legacy.”

The city says Turner will be remembered not only for his leadership and public service but for his quiet strength, steady presence, and deep love for the Vidalia community.