Georgia delegates Button Gwinnett, Lyman Hall, and George Walton signed the Declaration of Independence on August 2, 1776.
On August 2, 1983, the United States House of Representatives voted to observe Martin Luther King, Jr. Day as a federal holiday on the third monday in January.
On August 2, 1990, Iraq invaded Kuwait.
President Barack Obama visited Georgia on August 2, 2010 – his first trip to Atlanta and second to Georgia after his election in November 2008. The occasion of his 2010 trip, like his trip to Atlanta yesterday, was to deliver a speech to the Disabled American Veterans Conference at the Hyatt Regency. From his 2010 speech:
As a candidate for President, I pledged to bring the war in Iraq to a responsible end. Shortly after taking office, I announced our new strategy for Iraq and for a transition to full Iraqi responsibility. And I made it clear that by August 31st, 2010, America’s combat mission in Iraq would end. And that is exactly what we are doing — as promised and on schedule….
As agreed to with the Iraqi government, we will maintain a transitional force until we remove all our troops from Iraq by the end of next year.
At the same time, every American who has ever worn the uniform must also know this: Your country is going to take care of you when you come home. Our nation’s commitment to our veterans, to you and your families, is a sacred trust. And to me and my administration, upholding that trust is a moral obligation. It’s not just politics.
That’s why I’ve charged Secretary Shinseki with building a 21st century VA. And that includes one of the largest percentage increases to the VA budget in the past 30 years. We are going to cut this deficit that we’ve got, and I’ve proposed a freeze on discretionary domestic spending. But what I have not frozen is the spending we need to keep our military strong, our country safe and our veterans secure. So we’re going to keep on making historic commitments to our veterans.
Georgia Politics, Campaigns, and Elections
Governor Brian Kemp became the first Georgia candidate to setup a new style committee for unlimited fundraising, according to the AJC.
Kemp’s campaign created the Georgians First Leadership Committee last month.
The fund was set up seven days after a new law went into effect allowing the governor, the lieutenant governor, legislative leaders from both parties and a few statewide nominees to create funds that don’t have to adhere to contribution caps.
The leadership funds will also be able to take contributions during the legislative session, while lobbyists are working to pass legislation and get funding for their clients. Many of those clients traditionally are big donors.
Statewide candidates, such as those running for governor, are currently allowed to raise $14,000 per election cycle — $5,600 in legislative races — from individual donors. They can raise more if they wind up in a primary or general election runoff.
State Sen. Jeff Mullis, R-Chickamauga, who sponsored the legislation that created them, called the funds a way to get untraceable contributions out of the political system because every donation would have to be reported. He also said that those running the committees could use some of the money they raise to help fellow Republican and Democratic candidates.
Kemp backers have already had a political nonprofit called Keeping Georgia Strong that can take unlimited funds from donors, including — at least $45,000 from health care giant HCA, $15,000 from the nursing home lobby and $10,000 from the filmmakers PAC. But the nonprofit’s CEO, Capitol lobbyist Clay Huckaby, said it is being phased out now that the leadership committee has been created.
That’s because the new leadership committees are more advantageous for campaigns. Political nonprofits can’t — for instance — legally coordinate efforts directly with Kemp’s campaign. His new leadership committee can, essentially making it an arm of his reelection bid.
Governor Kemp swore in Verda Colvin as the state’s newest Supreme Court Justice, according to Fox5Atlanta.
“There’s a lot more to Judge Colvin in my option than what we have seen on paper. She upholds, in my opinion, the highest ideals of what the people of our state expect from their judicial system. Wisdom, justice, and moderation,” Kemp said. “But also compassion, belief in the rule of law, integrity, and a heart for the community she serves.”
The ceremony happened in the House Chamber at the State Capitol
Judge Colvin is the first African-American appointed to the state’s Supreme Court by a Republican governor.
“I was fortunate to be born and raised in Atlanta. I am a proud product of the Atlanta Public School System,” Colvin said. “This appointment is a testament to all that my birth home of Atlanta instilled in me.”
“I understand that justice refers to people who embody the law and judge refers to someone who speaks the law. I vow to each and every one of the justices and every citizen of the state of Georgia to be an avid student of the law, open and ready to continually learn from my colleagues,” Colvin said.
Previously, Justice Colvin served [on the Georgia Court of Appeals,] in the Macon Judicial Circuit, as an assistant US Attorney in the Middle District of Georgia, and also as an assistant Clayton County District Attorney.
That story was riddled with errors. In fact, Harold Melton was the first African-American appointed to the Georgia Supreme Court by a GOP Governor, having been tapped by former Governor Sonny Perdue for the state’s highest court. The article also omitted Verda Colvin’s service on the Georgia Court of Appeals. Almost inevitably, an eagle-eyed reader will point out an error I made today.
Governor Kemp’s office announced that $47 million dollars from the Governor’s Emergency Relief Fund will be available in grants for education uses, according to WALB.
Starting Aug. 1, the Office of Planning and Budget (OPB) will distribute the resources through an application process.
The purpose of the GEER II Fund is to provide local educational agencies, institutions of higher education, and other education-related entities with emergency assistance needed as a result of COVID-19.
“As we reflect on the past school year, Georgia’s education system has withstood many challenges and remained resilient,” said Gov. Kemp. “This second round of GEER dollars will help us make strategic investments in our education system to empower our school leadership, support staff, teachers, and students.”
Georgia will also begin accepting applications for more than $8 billion dollars in American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) federal funding, according to the Center Square via the Albany Herald.
Applications for more than $4.8 billion in funding opens up Sunday. State government entities, local governments, businesses and nonprofits have 30 days to apply for the aid.
The aid will be issued in two installments and cover expenses from March to the end of 2026, but the state has until December 31, 2024, to allocate all of the funds.
In late June, Gov. Brian Kemp created three committees to decide how to spend some of the aid. The legislative committees must figure out how to use $300 million for broadband infrastructure, $200 million for water and sewer infrastructure and $320 million to restore negative economic impacts on the state.
Applications for the aid will close Aug. 31, and the state plans to announce the awards the week of Oct. 18.
The legislative committees will score the applications based primarily on how well the applicant describe how the funding would accomplish the expected outcomes. Lawmakers will also score applicants based on how well they describe their issues and their competency and performance measures.
In the meantime, local governments in Georgia are planning how to spend $2.8 billion in ARPA money set aside by Congress in the Local Fiscal Relief Fund.
A federal eviction moratorium expired over the weekend, according to the Associated Press via WTOC.
The moratorium, put in place by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in September, was the only tool keeping millions of tenants in their homes. Many of them lost jobs during the coronavirus pandemic and had fallen months behind on their rent.
Landlords successfully challenged the order in court, arguing they also had bills to pay. They pointed out that tenants could access nearly $47 billion in federal money set aside to help pay rents and related expenses.
Advocates for tenants said the distribution of the money had been slow and that more time was needed to distribute it and repay landlords. Without an extension, they feared a spike in evictions and lawsuits seeking to boot out tenants who were behind on their rents.
“Tenants are panicked,” said Lindsey Siegel, an attorney with the Atlanta Legal Aid Society. “They’re waiting for rental assistance. A lot of them have already received eviction orders from the court and are just waiting for the marshals to show up at their door.”
One indication of the scope of the problem is census data showing 207,469 state residents concerned that they could be evicted over the next two months. Making people aware of rental assistance programs is key, said Protip Biswas, who spearheads efforts to address homelessness at the United Way of Greater Atlanta. “I’m hopeful that it won’t be as bad as it could be,” he said.
Columbus Mayor Skip Henderson says the city has been planning for the federal eviction moratorium to end since February. He says the city partnered with the Georgia Department of Community Affairs to prevent people from being put out.
“It concerns me because I don’t want anyone to have to worry about where they are going to stay,” Mayor Henderson expressed. “The plan that we’ve utilized all along was to get people to access some of these dollars that were available.”
Even though some people have not reached out for help before now, Mayor Henderson urges people to still seek help. “Access those resources and try to determine if they can get any kind of help.”
Mayor Henderson says local organizations like the Salvation Army will still be available after the federal eviction moratorium ends today. “Homeless resource network and our housing authority and all of these folks stand ready to try to help anybody who ends up losing their residence.”
From the Savannah Morning News:
The moratorium was put in place to prevent people who could not make rent due to the pandemic from losing their homes, but a recent Supreme Court decision prevented its extension beyond July 31 without Congressional authorization. As it ends, more than 22 percent of Georgia renters were not caught up on rent as of July 5, according to data from the Census Bureau, or more than 340,000.
In Augusta, there were 325 dispossessory filings for eviction in Richmond County Civil and Magistrate Court during the month of July, although not all of them may have been residential evictions. Evictions filed for reasons other than nonpayment of rent were able to proceed.
To help renters, Congress appropriated $46.55 billion for Emergency Rental Assistance to be distributed through the Treasury Department to local governments. But as of the end of June – the most recent data available – only about 12 percent of the first $25 billion had reached renters, according to Treasury Department data.
Georgia received $552 million and has distributed $8.4 million, while local governments had $157.9 million and have distributed $20.2 million. Georgia Department of Community Affairs did not return a request for comment.
When the courts open back up on these cases, Ninth District Opportunity housing/program planner Michael Fisher said he believes there will be a “wave of evictions unlike anything that our country probably has seen in modern times.”
“It’s going to cause such a disruption to our housing, to our economy,” Fisher said. “It’s going to be really a difficult thing to have to ride through, for clients, landlords and social community activists or workers as well.”
Hall County received $6.15 million as part of the relief package passed by Congress at the end of last year, part of what was known as the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021.
As of Tuesday, July 27, the county has expended a little less than a third — $2,063,689.09 — with $264,723.37 going to administrative and marketing expenses.
Hall County also received $1.9 million in a second allocation of emergency rental assistance funding. None of those funds have been expended.
Georgia counties, cities and the state government are still working to give out millions in rent relief funds the federal government meted out in February.
But The Atlanta Journal-Constitution found that slow rollouts, cumbersome paperwork for both renters and landlords, and landlords who decline to accept payments have left government programs sitting on piles of unspent aid just as renters need it the most.
As of July 20, only about 6% of the $710 million that Georgia and select local governments received in federal aid had gone to households at risk of eviction or behind on rent, the AJC’s analysis found.
Meanwhile, the Census Bureau estimates between 159,365 and 344,035 Georgians are “very likely” or “somewhat likely” to be evicted due to lack of payment, based on survey results from June 23 to July 5. Some of those at risk are immigrants and single-parent families, local advocates say.
In metro Atlanta, up to a quarter of renting households in Clayton, Cobb, DeKalb, Fulton and Gwinnett owe back rent, according to a nationwide analysis by nonprofit health organization Surgo Ventures. The average amount owed in each of the counties ranges from about $3,400 to more than $4,000.
Under federal guidelines, if 65% of a program’s funds have not been used by Sept. 30, the Treasury can claw the money back and reallocate it toward more efficient programs. No Georgia jurisdiction is close to meeting that mark.
“Out of all of the programs we’ve tried to implement,” DeKalb County CEO Michael Thurmond told the AJC, “rental assistance has been the most challenging.”
Gwinnett County, meanwhile, received $28 million, the most of all local governments, but spent only 8% as of July 20. Cherokee County had also spent 8% of its $7.7 million by the same date.
DeKalb Chief Superior Court Judge Asha Jackson took matters into her own hands, creating a county moratorium on evictions, according to the AJC.
DeKalb Chief Superior Court Judge Asha Jackson recently signed a new emergency order creating a ban on evictions throughout the county for another 60 days. The order was based on the continued COVID-19 public health emergency and the cyberattack that targeted DeKalb’s Tenant-Landlord Assistance Coalition earlier this year, dramatically slowing its distribution of federal aid.
According to Jackson’s order, 145 writs of eviction had already been scheduled to be executed in the county — and about 1,650 more were pending with the local marshal’s office.
“This emergency order is a godsend,” DeKalb CEO Michael Thurmond said in the news release. “Without this local extension to the CDC moratorium, thousands of DeKalb residents faced the stark reality of having their belongings set out on the street in the midst of surging COVID-19 infection rates.”
As of Friday, DeKalb had distributed about 11% of the $31 million it allocated for rental and utility assistance. The county had helped 763 households but still had 1,657 pending applications from tenants and landlords.
DeKalb had the extra hurdle of recovering from a March cyberattack that wiped out many initial emails and applications for its assistance program, but its struggle to quickly get federal aid to residents tracks with many other governments across the state and the country.
An AJC analysis found that, as of July 20, only about 6% of the $710 million that Georgia and select local jurisdictions received from the federal government had been distributed to renters and landlords.
Here’s my question: why no help for homeowners who are behind on their mortgages or rental property owners who are behind due to non-payment by renters?
Seven candidates for Augusta mayor have announced, according to the Augusta Chronicle.
The contest for Augusta mayor has grown to a seven-man race, with recent additions of a career food service worker and a tax preparer who frequents the ballot.
Few are openly seeking to fill openings on the Augusta Commission, with Betty Reece the only woman currently in the mix and one of only two announced commission candidates.
The election to replace Augusta Mayor Hardie Davis and fill five commission seats is May 24 in Georgia mid-year elections during which voters choose candidates in nonpartisan elections and decide party primaries. Winning the Augusta elections requires garnering over 50% of the vote, so June 21 runoffs are likely.
The United States Department of Defense will require mask use indoors at Fort Benning and other facilities in areas of high transmission, according to the Ledger-Enquirer.
Fort Benning service members, employees and visitors will be required to wear a mask indoors, regardless of vaccination status, beginning Friday.
Masks will also be required when people are unable to maintain six feet of social distance outdoors, according to an announcement on Fort Benning’s Facebook page.
The Army post will require face masks at all times at open graduations and Turning Blue ceremonies, according to the announcement. There will be extra face masks on hand for guests who may need one, and no graduation or ceremony will be at more than 60% capacity, according to the announcement.
The requirement applies to all Department of Defense installations and other facilities owned, leased or otherwise controlled by the federal agency in areas of “substantial or high community transmission.”
Lowndes County courts will require mask wearing, according to the Valdosta Daily Times.
The statement reads: “Effective immediately, Friday, July 30, 2021, the face mask requirement previously instituted by the Southern Judicial Circuit and recently amended, will be reinstated.
“All employees, attorneys, witnesses, spectators and visitors entering the courthouse in the circuit will be required to wear a mask even if they have been fully vaccinated.”
Hall County courts also resumed mask requirements, according to the Gainesville Times.
[T]he Hall County courthouse is reinstating its mask mandate “for all courtroom proceedings regardless of a person’s vaccination status.”
Chief Superior Court Judge Kathlene Gosselin signed an order Friday, July 30, to make masks mandatory starting Monday, Aug. 2, citing new guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
There have been 30 jury trials across the Northeastern Judicial Circuit — which includes Hall and Dawson counties — since a ban on proceedings was lifted in March by the Georgia Supreme Court.
Gosselin’s order also instructs people to stay home if sick or exposed to COVID, while encouraging fellow judges to use virtual proceedings when possible and limit proceedings where large numbers of people must attend at the same time.
Brunswick will resume requiring masks in city buildings effective today, according to The Brunswick News.
Masks will be available at the entrance of city buildings.
City officials are encouraging all businesses in Brunswick to follow Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommendations by requiring masks in all indoor settings.
According to the Coastal Health District, all eight counties are experiencing high levels of the COVID-19 Delta variant. In fact, the transmission rate in Camden County is now higher than at any previous point during the pandemic.
Harris County public schools will require some mask use, according to the Ledger-Enquirer.
During a called meeting Thursday night, the HCSD board approved the recommendation to require all faculty, staff and visitors to wear masks on campus. This is an addition to the requirement for all HCSD bus riders to wear masks. But masks will remain optional for students on campus.
The HCSD decision came a day after the school districts in Muscogee and Chattahoochee counties switched their mask policy from optional to mandatory for everyone inside district buildings as COVID-19 cases surge in the region.
Masks are required by the [Bibb County school] district on school buses and in buildings, but are not required to be worn outdoors or at breakfast/lunch.
COVID-19 vaccinations are not required but are strongly recommended and encouraged for any eligible individual 12 years and older, according to the district. The district is still implementing prior protocols, such as temperature checks, washing hands, social distancing by 3 feet in hallways, visitation by appointment, and suggestions of staying home when unwell if experiencing COVID-19 symptoms.
The Telegraph also has information on a number of other Middle Georgia county school systems as they return to the classroom.
Richmond County public schools will require masks, according to the Augusta Chronicle.
The school district will require masks for all students, staff and visitors, regardless of vaccination status, starting Monday, Aug. 2.
“If you have not been vaccinated, I urge you, please get vaccinated,” Mayor Hardie Davis said Tuesday. “Everyone talks about going back to some sense of normalcy and that sense of normalcy will continue to be challenged if we do not take heed to … science.”
During its Tuesday night meeting, Columbia County schools Superintendent Dr. Steven Flynt said the district will continue to keep masks optional for now in the classroom.
Richmond County students will be permitted to remove masks during lunch and while outside. Accommodations will be made for students and employees unable to wear a mask for documented medical reasons.
Floyd County public schools are not planning to require masks, according to the Rome News Tribune.
Bibb County Commissioners will consider incentives for employee COVID vaccinations, according to 13WMAZ.
Mayor Lester Miller plans to introduce an incentive to employees who are vaccinated. If passed, Miller says full-time employees will get $500 and part-time employees will get $250.
The mayor says they’re looking to allocate $800,000 from American Rescue Plan funds for the program.
“The bottom line is we’ll show some evidence that we lost several million dollars because of people not being vaccinated or getting sick with COVID. We suffered over $2 million in medical expenses out of pocket by the county alone,” said Miller.
Another big topic on the agenda is increasing the minimum wage for county employees.
And Bibb County is looking to cut the millage rate, which would decrease property taxes.
Miller says it would move from 20.331 to 19.901, and that it will drop even more if voters pass the OLOST – a special penny sales tax – in November.
“If the OLOST passes, we’ll certainly be the lowest we’ve ever been for a consolidated Macon-Bibb County, and probably the lowest in Middle Georgia,” said Miller.
Dalton City Council is expected to call for November municipal elections in their meeting today, according to the Dalton Daily Citizen News.
Members of the Dalton City Council are scheduled to call for a Tuesday, Nov. 2, city election when they meet Monday at 6 p.m. in City Hall.
Qualifying for that election will take place from Monday, Aug. 16, to Friday, Aug. 20, from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. in the city clerk’s office in City Hall.
The offices up for election on the City Council are Ward 2 (currently held by Annalee Harlan) and Ward 4 (currently held by Gary Crews). Both have said they are running for reelection.
There will also be a special election to fill the unexpired term of Derek Waugh for the Ward 1 seat. Waugh stepped down in July after taking a job in the Atlanta area.
Qualifying for Newnan City Council elections will be held in Augusta, according to the Newnan Times-Herald.
Three seats will be up for grabs in November on the Newnan City Council: the seat of Mayor and the two seats from Election District Two.
The Mayor’s seat is currently held by Keith Brady, while Rhodes Shell and Ray DuBose currently hold the two seats in Election District 2, which is on the north and northwest side of the city of Newnan.
Qualifying will begin Monday, August 16 and run through Wednesday, August 18. The hours for qualifying will be 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., with an hour allowed for lunch.
The qualifying fee for council seats will be $150, while the qualifying fee for the mayoral seat will be $300.
Savannah begins a pilot program testing aluminum cups for to-go drinks, according to WTOC.
The City of Savannah will launch their new aluminum to-go cup program on Monday. Some local businesses in the pilot program tested out the cups this weekend.
B. Matthew’s Eatery is one of 14 businesses taking part in the 60-day pilot program. The Gaslight Restaurant Group says the only barrier they anticipate implementing the aluminum to-cup program is cost.
A plastic cup costs around $0.07 and the aluminum cups used in the pilot program cost around $0.15. If businesses choose to continue paying for their own after the pilot program ends, the cups would cost around $0.35.
The goal is to develop a more sustainable way for Savannahians and visitors to enjoy to-go drinks but after using the new cups this weekend, the Gaslight Restaurant Group noticed some customers also wanted the cups as a keepsake.
The first sea turtle nest of the year hatched on Tybee Island, according to WTOC.
Members of the [Tybee Sea Turtle Project] group visited the island’s first nest of the 2021 season on Sunday morning and discovered that it had hatched “days ago,” according to the post. Permitted volunteers excavated the hatched nest according to the protocol developed by the Georgia Department of Natural Resources.
During the excavation, volunteers with the Tybee Sea Turtle Project discovered 82 hatched eggs and four live turtle hatchlings. The group called the nest “very successful” and the baby turtles were released to the ocean.
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