Georgia’s first colonists landed at Yamacraw Bluff on February 1, 1733.
The United States Supreme Court held its first session in New York City, Chief Justice John Jay presiding, on February 1, 1790.
On February 1, 1861, Texas seceded from the Union.
On February 1, 1871, Jefferson Franklin Long of Macon, Georgia became the first black Member of Congress to speak on the floor of the United States House of Representatives. Long was born into slavery and taught himself to read and write. Long was a prominent member of the Republican Party, speaking on its behalf in Georgia and other Southern states. He helped elect 37 African-American members to the 1867 Georgia Constitutional Convention and 32 members of the state legislature; Long continued after his term in Congress as a delegate to Republican National Conventions through 1880. In 1880, Long’s support of Governor Alfred Colquitt showed that African-Americans could be an electoral force in Georgia politics.
On February 1, 1965, Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. arrived in Selma, Alabama, where he was arrested.
Richard M. Nixon announced his candidacy for President of the United States on Feburary 1, 1968.
On February 1, 2003, the Space Shuttle Columbia exploded while re-entering the Earth’s atmosphere.
The Ledger-Enquirer has a great historical profile of Primus King, who fought for voting rights in Georgia beginning in the 1940s.
When he walked into the Muscogee County Courthouse in 1944 to try voting in the all-white Democratic Party Primary, he was midway between being born a Russell County sharecropper’s son in 1900 and dying a successful Columbus businessman and Baptist preacher in 1986.
His actual aim was not to vote, but to be denied that right on account of his race. And he was: A white police detective accosted him, called him the N-word, and asked what he thought he was doing.
“I’m going to vote, sir,” King said.
The Democrats in 1944 claimed theirs was a private party that only white people were allowed to join. Black residents could register to vote, but they couldn’t vote in the primary, and the primary decided Georgia’s elections, because only Democrats won office back then.
Georgia Politics, Campaigns, and Elections
Overdose deaths nearly doubled last year in Chatham County, according to WTOC.
According to the Chatham-Savannah Counter Narcotics Team (CNT), overdose deaths nearly doubled in Chatham County last year, from 26 in 2020 to 48 in 2021. CNT Director Michael Sarhatt said those numbers are not final, because they are still waiting on final autopsy results from other state agencies. Meaning, that number could still grow.
DEA agent Robert Murphy says the crisis is fueled by fentanyl.
“They’re not accidental. These are poisonings,” Murphy said.
Murphy believes China is behind the epidemic.
“China knows the chemicals they’re sending,” Murphy said. “They know what the outcome is going to be. The Mexican cartels that are producing it and shipping it across our border know what the outcome is going to be.”
DEA agent Murphy says protecting kids from fentanyl is their top priority. He says a big part of that is holding social media giants accountable for what people sell on their platforms.
“You name it: Instagram, Snapchat, all of them are basically just open drug markets now. Anybody can go online and get it,” he said.
Under the Gold Dome Today – Legislative Day 9
TBD – Senate Rules Upon Adjournment – 450 CAP=
8:00 AM – HOUSE GOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS COMMITTEE – 406 CLOB HYBRID
8:00 AM – HOUSE MOTOR VEHICLES COMMITTEE – 606 CLOB HYBRID
9:00 AM – HOUSE RULES COMMITTEE – 341 CAP
10:00 AM – HOUSE FLOOR SESSION (LD 9) – House Chamber
10:00 AM – Senate Floor Session – Senate Chamber
1:00 PM – HOUSE Natural Resources and Environment Resource Management Subcommittee – 606 CLOB HYBRID
1:00 PM – HOUSE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AND TOURISM – 506 CLOB HYBRID
1:00 PM – HOUSE Education Academic Innovation Subcommittee – 341 CAP HYBRID
1:00 PM – Senate Insurance and Labor Committee – Mezz 1
1:00 PM – Senate Higher Education Committee – 450 CAP
1:30 PM – HOUSE Judiciary Gunter Subcommittee – 132 CAP HYBRID
1:30 PM – HOUSE EDUCATION COMMITTEE – 341 CAP HYBRID
2:00 PM – HOUSE HEALTH & HUMAN SERVICES COMMITTEE – 606 CLOB HYBRID
2:00 PM – HOUSE REGULATED INDUSTRIES COMMITTEE – 506 CLOB HYBRID
2:00 PM – HOUSE RETIREMENT COMMITTEE – 406 CLOB HYBRID
2:00 PM – Senate Health and Human Services Committee – 450 CAP
2:00 PM – Senate Public Safety Committee – Mezz 1
3:00 PM – Senate Agriculture and Consumer Affairs Committee – Mezz 1
3:00 PM – Senate Regulated Industries and Utilities – 450 CAP
4:00 PM – Senate Judiciary Committee – 307 CLOB
Governor Brian Kemp spoke at a Forsyth County school, according to AccessWDUN.
Pay raises, the COVID-19 pandemic, and banned books. These were all issues covered during an education-focused roundtable discussion Monday morning between Governor Brian Kemp and state and local leadership at Alliance Academy for Innovation.
The governor’s proposal includes in part an one-time payment of $2,000 for teachers, then a permanent pay raise of $2,000 each year after it. The proposal fulfills the governor’s pledge of a total $5,000 raise for teachers.
School administration also recently made the decision to remove eight books from school shelves. Bearden said the books were removed as a result of parent complaint and administrative review.
“We had parents notifying us about books that had sexually explicit content and that’s where adminstratively we reviewed the books…there were eight books that we determined to not be appropriate for schools, so we removed those books,” said Bearden. “Now there are more books that are being challenged, and those books will have to go through that formal process.”
Kemp said state and local education leaders would continue to discuss the issue of banned books.
“I’m concerned as a parent on those types of issues, that’s something that we’re going to be working with the General Assembly on, but we’ll have a lot of dialogue,” said Kemp.
State Senator Bo Hatchett (R-Toccoa) and State Rep. Emory Dunahoo (R-Gillsville) spoke about legislation on education, according to the Gainesville Times.
Senate Bill 377, was introduced last week by Sen. Bo Hatchett, R-Toccoa, who said in a press release that CRT and other “divisive topics” must be banned in higher education before they start “seeping down into our K-12 schools.”
Rep. Emory Dunahoo, R-Gillsville, said he and his colleagues “have found a lot out” during their investigations in the past year, but for now they are holding their cards close to their chests. He co-sponsored House Bill 888, which concerns public elementary and secondary schools.
Together, the bills propose to withhold funding from schools and universities that violate their dictates.
SB 377 threatens to withhold up to 10% of state funding from public elementary and secondary schools; HB 888 20%. The offending school or school system must comply with a “corrective action plan” issued by the state superintendent, after which funds will be restored within 45 days. A specific figure is not given for public universities.
“There will be an appeal process to the State Board of Education and then at that point, funds could be withheld for egregious noncompliance,” Hatchett said, adding that egregious “is the key word there.”
“I have gotten a lot of blowback because there’s some people that misunderstand what our intention of this bill is,” Hatchett said. “I think people believe that what we’re trying to do is erase history, and that is not what we’re trying to do.”
Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger (R-ish) is asking for state funding to send redistricting notices to voters, according to the AJC.
Each of the state’s 7.7 million registered voters will receive notification in the mail this spring showing his or her districts for congressional, state and local offices.
The once-a-decade redistricting in the fall changed district lines across the state, with new political boundaries and representation before the May 24 primary elections and Nov. 8 general election.
State law requires notifications by first-class mail to voters following redistricting. The U.S. Postal Service’s bulk rate for this type of presorted mailing is 33.5 cents per parcel.
Local election office budgets are already strained by the cost of buying special security paper for ballots that includes features to verify their authenticity, as required by Georgia’s voting law, Senate Bill 202, said Todd Edwards of the Association County Commissioners of Georgia, an organization that advocates for counties. Election officials can use an infrared scanner to check whether ballots are printed on official security paper.
Prices vary, but in Cobb County, officials paid 13 cents per in-person ballot and 29 cents per absentee ballot last year.
“It would certainly be considerate of the state to fund this expense for counties, particularly considering the added expenses counties are assuming because of the passage of SB 202,” Edwards said.
Some in law enforcement question legislation to allow “Constitutional Carry” of weapons in Georgia, according to the AJC.
Legislation scheduled to be heard in a Senate committee on Tuesday would get rid of that process [to acquire a carry permit], and current and former law enforcement officials are split over whether the state should move toward allowing Georgians to carry handguns without a permit.
Danny Agan, who retired from the Atlanta Police Department after 29 years, said it’s “not such a bad idea” to have a licensing process in place.
“It likely removes those who are less focused and serious about gun safety and the responsibility that goes with gun ownership from just being able to strap a gun on and walk out the door,” said Agan, who served as the homicide commander when he retired. “The permit maybe makes a person give deeper thought to what they are doing when carrying a gun, since they went through the process.”
The bill also doesn’t change where guns are allowed, meaning handguns will still be prohibited in places such as the secured areas of airports or government buildings that have security at the entrance — including the state Capitol.
Terry Norris, a lobbyist for the Georgia Sheriffs’ Association, said the sheriffs in his organization are split on the issue and have not taken a position on the bill.
United States District Court Judge Mark H. Cohen heard arguments from former U.S. Senator David Perdue that life is hard a new state fundraising campaign law unfairly benefits Governor Brian Kemp, according to the Georgia Recorder via the Albany Herald.
Perdue’s lawyers Monday argued that limiting him to a maximum individual donation of $7,600 while Kemp can collect as much as he likes from his leadership fund is unfair and violates his free speech rights. They are asking U.S. District Court Judge Mark H. Cohen to stop the governor from spending any more of his leadership committee money.
Cohen did not reject the idea, but he took issue with Perdue’s lawyer’s complaint, which named Kemp as governor rather than chair of his leadership committee, Georgians First. Running the committee is not part of Kemp’s duties as governor, Cohen said, and he could not order Georgians First to stop spending unless they were named on the complaint. He gave Perdue’s lawyers until the end of the day Tuesday to amend their complaint and Kemp’s team until the end of the day Thursday to file a response.
Kemp’s lawyers sought to convince the judge that Perdue does not have legal standing, arguing that his issue is not with the new law, but with Georgia’s fundraising limits. They said halting the law would limit Kemp’s free speech and that of those who want to donate to his leadership committee. It would leave Kemp unable to raise money until the end of session, set for April 4, the day before early voting starts, they said. And, they noted that he faces a serious challenge from a member of his own party — the first time that’s happened in Georgia in decades — and Perdue is backed by former President Trump.
Cohen said he hopes to move the case along as quickly as possible once the lawyers amend their complaints, but he said that while he may decide to stop Kemp’s campaign from spending any more of the committee funds, there is essentially nothing he can do about the money that was already spent, including television ads for which the campaign has already paid that have not yet aired.
The Athens-Clarke County Board of Elections is seeking poll workers for this year’s elections, according to the Athens Banner Herald.
The May 24 election will decide the mayoral race, races for seats on the commission and school board as well as the fate of the TSPLOST, a special sales tax to fund transportation projects.
ACC Elections Assistant Lisa McGlaun estimated 280 poll workers will be needed.
Because of the demands of being a poll worker, McGlaun said one group of people who have the time to do it are retirees. But because of the COVID-19 pandemic, she has faced a struggle with hiring.
“That community has to be careful about COVID. It’s created a really big challenge for hiring people and getting people who want to stay on for more than one election,” said McGlaun.
U.S. Representative Buddy Carter (R-Pooler) wants residents to show their respect for First Responders, according to The Brunswick News.
“Our first responders – EMTs, police, firefighters – are truly our heroes,” Carter said. “They do more on one shift than most people do in a lifetime.
“We want them to know how much we appreciate them. After all, when you call them, they are there.”
Dubbing the valentine campaign First of the First, Carter said it is especially important for citizens to show their support today with movements like defunding police striving for traction nationwide.
“There is such a lack of respect for our first responders,” he said. “We want to change that.”
So that all valentines arrive in one location, Carter’s staff is asking that they be mailed to: First of the First, Care of Congressman Buddy Carter, 6602 Abercorn St. Suite 105B, Savannah, GA 31405.
“Our staff is going to take it to them,” Carter said. “We’re going to make sure we get them all throughout the district by (Feb.) 14.”
Madeline Ryan Smith, a Georgia Southern graduate student, is running as a Democrat for State House District 158, according to the Statesboro Herald.
“I’ve always been interested in politics and have always been looking at what’s going on in the world, but the 2016 election threw me into being a political activist,” she said.
“With 2020 and Joe Biden getting elected, Georgia’s political climate is changing a lot, and I really wanted to be a part of that.
“My interest in politics really comes from the fact that we can study what the data says, and what political scientists say and what social scientists say, and I think we’re having a lot of trouble mending the bridge between the scientists and the politicians in our government,” she said.
Georgia House of Representatives District 158 is currently represented by Larry “Butch” Parrish (R), who has indicated he will run for re-election.
District 158 includes the counties of Bulloch, Candler, Emanuel and Jenkins and represents a population of 56,451 people, according to the 2020 Census.
Former Governor Roy Barnes endorsed fellow Democrat Charlie Bailey for Lieutenant Governor, according to the Albany Herald.
Barnes said Bailey “has what it takes to defeat Burt Jones or Butch Miller,” the Republican candidates who are seeking to replace outgoing Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan, who chose not to seek re-election.
“Working together with Charlie, I’ve seen him represent people fighting for their rights against big insurance companies and small businesses who were taken advantage of by corporations,” Barnes wrote in fundraising appeal. “He is relentless in his drive to help Georgians get justice when they’re harmed by powerful interests, and I know he’ll bring that same passion to serving the people of Georgia as our next lieutenant governor.”
“I’m proud to endorse Charlie’s campaign.”
“Right now, the Republicans running for LG only cater to the whims of the furthest right wing of their party in a competition over who can be the biggest authoritarian,” the former governor said. ”Meanwhile, they are ignoring the millions of Georgians who could use some help from the state Legislature as we close in on two years of the COVID-19 pandemic disrupting our lives.”
“Charlie is building a strong campaign team to win back the LG’s office, with support from party leaders like Reps. Lucy McBath and Hank Johnson, State Rep. Al Williams, former Democratic Party Chair DuBose Porter, and dozens of community leaders and volunteers from all across Georgia. And perhaps most importantly, Charlie is powering his campaign with grassroots dollars, not big checks from special interests.”
Savannah will spend $19 million dollars on affordable housing, according to the Savannah Morning News.
In this year’s budget, aldermen and the mayor approved a record $19 million in funding to tackle the affordable housing crisis and issues of homelessness. The dollars will flush the existing housing and neighborhood departments in the city with enough cash to reach as many as 1,050 households and spur $145 million in investment into affordable, safe housing for low- and middle-income Savannahians.
“This is about making good community,” City Manager Jay Melder said. “And this is about an investment in Savannah. Good cities thrive on having a multitude of housing options. And that’s what this fund, and our work, sets out to create.”
Of the $19 million reserved for housing-related issues, $7 million went into the city’s Affordable Housing Fund, which is managed by the Community Housing Services Agency.
For 2022, the city plans to directly aid 653 households through new construction, home repairs and rental assistance. Fretty said a few private projects are in the works, which could boost the number of households assisted to somewhere between 800 and 1,100 for the year.
Programs to help with rental security deposits (first and last month’s rent, usually), home repairs for seniors, new home construction and blighted property fixes are all planned as part of the multi-pronged approach to addressing the issues, Fretty said.
Statesboro City Council this morning considers a revised package store ordinance, according to the Statesboro Herald.
The version on the agenda for the 9 a.m. Feb. 1 meeting calls for a minimum 1,000-yard spacing between any two liquor stores – which is double the minimum distance required under Georgia law – and a minimum 3,000 square feet of floor space in any one store, including product storage space as well as the showroom.
But this draft includes neither a specific limit on the number of stores, which Mayor Jonathan McCollar had long suggested, nor a minimum dollar value of liquor inventory, as had emerged from a discussion with his ad hoc community committee in December.
Tybee Island City Council members discussed their strategic priorities, according to WTOC.
Gillen says this is the beginning of the budget process. During the meeting they will discuss how the city’s various departments can focus their resources in order to complete the projects on their to-do list. Gillen says while the list of projects is extensive, one of the biggest projects is infrastructure – things like water and sewer.
“The council will then give guidance on here’s where we want to be, here’s some things we want to get achieved. We then, as staff, can go back and start getting the tactical level things of specific projects and specific initiatives within a department to try to achieve those goals. Then we build the budget around that,” said Tybee City Manager Shawn Gillen.
Tybee Island City Council continues working on a short term rental ordinance, according to WTOC.
A moratorium preventing people from registering new rental properties has been in place since August.
The city council gave city staff four specific tasks to complete. As of Friday, all of them have been done. City Manager Shawn Gillen says having these tasks done is great, but the moratorium won’t end until the new STVR ordinance is written.
Gillen says the once the ordinance is final, the council will have to review it, debate it, get public input, and pass it. He says because of the time this takes it’s hard to put a time stamp on when the moratorium will end.
Comments ( 0 )