On February 24, 1803, the United States Supreme Court under Chief Justice John Marshall decided the case of Marbury v. Madison, enunciating the principle of judicial review under which the Court has authority to review Congressional action and hold them unconstitutional.
In writing the decision, John Marshall argued that acts of Congress in conflict with the Constitution are not law and therefore are non-binding to the courts, and that the judiciary’s first responsibility is always to uphold the Constitution. If two laws conflict, Marshall wrote, the court bears responsibility for deciding which law applies in any given case.
Union troops under General George Thomas attacked Confederates led by General Joseph Johnston near Dalton, Georgia on February 24, 1864.
Casualties were light. Thomas suffered fewer than 300 men killed, wounded, or captured, while Johnston lost around 140 troops. The Union generals did learn a valuable lesson, however; a direct attack against Rocky Face Ridge was foolish. Three months later, Sherman, in command after Grant was promoted to commander of all forces, sent part of his army further south to another gap that was undefended by the Confederates. The intelligence garnered from the Battle of Dalton helped pave the way for a Union victory that summer.
The first prisoners of war were moved to Andersonville on February 24, 1864.
The Atlanta Journal was first published on February 24, 1883.
On February 24, 1988, the United States Supreme Court held in the case of Hustler Magazine v. Falwell, that the First Amendment protects publishers against claims for intentional infliction of emotional distress where the plaintiff is a public figure being parodied by the publication.
On February 23, 2020, Ahmaud Arbery was murdered in Glynn County, Georgia.
Arbery, a 25-year-old Black man, was chased down by three white men while he was jogging in southeast Georgia on Feb. 23, 2020.
According to investigators, father and son Greg and Travis McMichael, and William “Roddie” Bryan grabbed their firearms and chased Arbery down in the street, shot and killed him, after confronting him about recent burglaries in the area.
The three men were convicted in both Georgia and federal court.
A former Brunswick district attorney was also charged for allegedly trying to protect the McMichaels. Her trial ended earlier in February after a judge dismissed the charges.
The Georgia General Assembly declared Feb. 23 as “Ahmaud Arbery Day.” As part of the resolution, state representatives encourage people to walk or run 2.23 miles on that day and reflect on how Arbery’s life was cut short while jogging in 2020.
Valdosta hosted their first Black History Parade, according to WALB.
On Saturday, Feb. 22, Valdosta hosted its first Black History Month parade.
“We can’t let politics dictate our history,” Sam Allen said.
“Making awareness is going to give them hope…a lot of people feel like we can’t do anything or don’t have anything but it is,” Sandra Tooley said.
Much of Valdosta’s Black history began on the South Side. Once home to prominent Black educators, doctors, and entrepreneurs who built thriving businesses, this historic district now serves as the marching grounds for the city’s first Black History Parade.
“It’s the heart of the African American side of town. On the south side the heartbeat of African American history and culture,” Kristina Cheek, Southern Georgia Black Chambers Brand Ambassador, said.
Georgia Politics, Campaigns, and Elections
If you hold a protest against President Donald Trump and nobody shows up, do you really hate him? Warner Robins police prepared for a protest, but the resistance no-showed, according to the Macon Telegraph.
A busy road in Warner Robins was quiet Saturday after police warned possible protesters to keep away.
Nobody showed up to what was supposed to have been a demonstration, seemingly against President Donald Trump, from 3-6 p.m. in front of At Home furniture store at 2063 Watson Blvd.
The Warner Robins Police Department got wind of a flyer that was “distributed in a local school to assemble and protest,” a Friday afternoon news release from WRPD stated.
Protests were also planned for every Saturday until March 22, according to the flyer. The flyer advised anyone who felt oppressed or threatened by Trump to “defend your rights.” It also called on Republican House Rep. Austin Scott to “stand up for Georgians harmed by executive orders.”
The poster urged people to bring flags and signs “if you haven’t felt safe since Trump took office …, can’t ‘love thy neighbor’ without getting condemned …, or maybe it’s as simple as cheaper eggs for you.”
The laws require a public demonstration permit to be filed no more than 90 days and no fewer than seven days before the event.
The city and police department said they support the rights of free speech and protests “on designated public facilities,” but they must “(protect) property, public safety, health and welfare, and controlling use of streets and other public facilities and venues,” the news release said.
Under the Gold Dome Today
TBD Senate Rules : Upon Adj 450 CAP
8 AM Senate Appropriations 341 CAP
9 AM HOUSE CREATIVE ARTS & ENT 406 CLOB
9 AM HOUSE RULES 341 CAP
10 AM HOUSE FLOOR SESSION (LD22) House Chamber
10 AM Senate Floor Session (LD 22) Senate Chamber
1 PM HOUSE EDUCATION 506 CLOB
1 PM PUBLIC & COMM. HEALTH 606 CLOB
1 PM HOUSE Ways & Means Sub Income Tax 406 CLOB
1 PM Senate Econ Dev & Tourism MEZZ 1
1 PM Senate Public Safety 450 CAP
1:15 PM HOUSE Ways & Means Sub Ad Valorem (Upon Adj Inc) 406 CLOB
1:30 PM HOUSE Ways & Means Sub Sales Tax (Upon Adj Ad Val) 406 CLOB
1:30 PM HOUSE JUDICIARY (Upon Adj) 132 CAP
1:45 PM HOUSE Ways & Means Sub Pub Fin (Upon Adj Sales Tax) 406 CLOB
2 PM HOUSE HEALTH 403 CAP
2 PM HOUSE REGULATED IND 606 CLOB
2 PM Senate Health & Human Svcs 450 CAP
3 PM Senate Finance MEZZ 1
4 PM Senate Judiciary 307 CLOB
Senate Bill 16 by Senate Rules Committee Chair Sen. Matt Brass (R-Newnan) was the first legislation to pass both chambers and be sent to Gov. Brian Kemp, according to the Capitol Beat News Service.
The Georgia General Assembly has adopted its first bill of this year’s legislative session, a measure that allows bail bond businesspeople to hold more elective offices.
The state House of Representatives passed the legislation 159-6 Friday, following Senate passage of the measure 51-2 in early February.
A mostly forgotten state law says people in that business can only serve on a local school board. Senate Bill 16 expands that to any local office as long as it is not in a county where the person does business.
On Friday, Rep. David Huddleston, R-Roopville, said deleting the prohibition would help attract good candidates for elective office in rural areas, where he said they are hard to find.
No one spoke against the measure on the House floor, though one representative asked if SB 16 was being pushed by a bail bondsmen association. No, Huddleston responded.
The bill by Sen. Matt Brass, R-Newnan — the Senate’s majority caucus vice chair — came about after a candidate who had won an election in Heard County discovered the old law and chose not to take office. Huddleston said lawmakers subsequently learned of instances where people in the bail bond business had held office in violation of the 1980s law without realizing it.
House Speaker Jon Burns, R-Newington, prefaced the brief debate on the measure with a slight nudge to his colleagues in the other wing of the Gold Dome to get things moving. The session ends in less than two months, just before the Masters Tournament in Augusta, as is customary.
“We’re taking up a Senate Bill,” Burns said. “We hope they’ll do same for us in the Senate.”
The bill now heads to Gov. Brian Kemp’s desk for his signature.
Senate Bill 68 by State Senator John F. Kennedy (R-Macon), part of Governor Brian Kemp’s Tort Reform package, passed the Senate last week, according to the Capitol Beat News Service via the Valdosta Daily Times.
A sharply divided Georgia Senate passed a comprehensive tort reform bill Friday that is Republican Gov. Brian Kemp’s top priority for the 2025 General Assembly session.
Senate Bill 68, which the Senate’s GOP majority passed 33-21 primarily along party lines, is aimed at reining in huge jury awards in civil lawsuits Kemp and his legislative allies say are raising insurance premiums, forcing businesses to lay off workers or close their doors and reducing access to health care by driving physicians out of Georgia and shuttering hospitals.
“This legislation is not about protecting corporate profits. It’s not about caving in to the demands of insurance companies or denying Georgians their ability to be fully and fairly compensated when they need to go to court,” said Senate President Pro Tempore John Kennedy, R-Macon, the bill’s chief sponsor, responding to criticism of the measure leveled by Democrats and trial lawyers. “Instead, it’s about stabilizing costs and putting all Georgians, no matter where your zip code is, first.”
The wide-ranging bill contains a number of provisions, including:
• prohibiting plaintiff lawyers in a civil lawsuit from asking a jury for a specific amount of damages until closing arguments.
• requiring judges to rule on motions to dismiss a case filed by defense lawyers before the start of what tends to be an expensive discovery process.
• prohibiting plaintiff lawyers from filing motions to dismiss a case and refiling a lawsuit after the jury has been seated and opening statements have taken place. Refiling at such a late stage forces defendants to spend money unnecessarily.
• prohibits lawyers for either side from seeking double recoveries of attorney fees from the other side.
• allows defense lawyers to introduce into evidence whether a plaintiff injured in an auto accident was wearing a seat belt.
• establishes “premises liability” guidelines for when plaintiffs can sue business owners for negligence due to injuries suffered from criminal acts committed by a third party outside of the defendant’s control.
• allows plaintiffs to seek economic damages based only on the actual costs of the medical care they receive.
• requires liability in a civil suit to be determined before the jury considers damages if either the plaintiff or defendant requests such “bifurcation” of trials.
Senators unanimously passed an amendment submitted on the floor Friday with the governor’s backing that would allow deliberating juries to ask the judge whether a plaintiff has health insurance, the amount of the injured party’s medical bill, and how much of the claim the insurance company paid.
The amendment would strike a balance between the interests of business owners bombarded with skyrocketing insurance premiums and the constitutional rights of injured Georgians seeking compensation, said Sen. Bo Hatchett, R-Cornelia, a plaintiff lawyer by trade and the amendment’s sponsor.
“No one wants to be crushed by baseless claims,” Hatchett said. “At the same time, I believe no one wants corporations operating unchecked.”
After Hatchett’s amendment passed, the Senate defeated a second amendment brought by Sen. Nabilah Islam Parkes, D-Duluth, that would have prohibited insurance companies from raising premiums faster than the annual rate of inflation. Her amendment died by the same 33-21 margin.
“Nothing in this bill requires a single penny of premium reduction,” Islam Parkes said of Kennedy’s underlying legislation. “What this bill does is hand more power to the insurance industry.”
Senate Democrats also introduced alternative tort reform legislation Thursday aimed specifically at the premises liability issue. Senate Bill 223 would shield business owners from any negligence lawsuit brought simply because their business is located in a high-crime area. Business owners who take reasonable steps to ensure customers’ safety such as installing security cameras and adequate lighting would have a “rebuttable presumption” against liability.
In closing Friday’s debate, Kennedy acknowledged there are no guarantees that his bill will result in lower insurance premiums. But he said other states that have enacted similar tort reform measures have started to see lower rates.
“If we don’t pass Senate Bill 68, your insurance premiums, my insurance premiums, and rest of Georgia’s insurance premiums will go up,” he said.
Senate Bill 68 now heads to the state House of Representatives.
From the Associated Press via WSAV:
Georgia senators voted 33-21 on Friday to support Gov. Brian Kemp’s top-priority legislation to limit lawsuits, but not before some of Kemp’s fellow Republicans extracted a concession in exchange for the votes necessary to secure a majority.
Senate Bill 68 moves on to the House for more debate as Kemp continues to marshal a political and lobbying push. A second bill that would limit third-party funding of lawsuits has not yet come before the full Senate.
Kemp’s bill sets stricter standards for when owners are accountable for injuries on their property, and stops attorneys from recovering fees twice for the same case. It allows separate trials for assigning responsibility and determining damages, and tries to make sure defendants can get a baseless case dismissed before engaging in expensive pretrial preparation.
Senate President Pro Tem John Kennedy, a Macon Republican sponsoring Kemp’s measure, said Friday that it’s “an effort to balance our civil justice system and stabilize cost for health care providers, job creators and most importantly, Georgia consumers.”
“The cost of doing nothing is incredible,” Kennedy said. “Our system is broken and we’ve got to fix it.”
Democratic Sen. Emanuel Jones of Decatur broke with his party to support the bill. The only Republican who voted against it was Sen. Colton Moore of Trenton.
Proponents say the legislation, which they call tort reform, would help businesses, physicians, property owners and others save money from lawsuits and lower insurance rates. Opponents say there’s no proof insurance rates would drop and worry people wouldn’t win compensation when they’re wronged.
“What we’re seeing here is not about fixing a broken system,” said Sen. Nabilah Islam Parkes, a Duluth Democrat. “It’s about creating a manufactured crisis to justify stripping away consumer protections and handing even more power to billion-dollar insurance corporations.”
Senators rejected an amendment by Islam Parkes to limit insurance rate increases to the rate of inflation.
A last-minute compromise softened one of the bill’s provisions governing how jurors determine medical damages. Right now, jurors only see bills sent by hospitals and physicians before insurers bargain them down and pay for part. Kemp wanted jurors only to see the actual cost that injured people paid, arguing that paying the face value of the bills meant people were collecting “phantom” damages. The agreement says jurors will see both and decide on appropriate damages.
“What we’ve come up with is, tell the jury the truth,” said Republican Sen. Bo Hatchett of Cornelia. “If the jury wants to know if the plaintiff has insurance, show them. If the jury wants to know how much the bill was, show them.”
The deal averted opposition from Hatchett and some other Republicans who are lawyers, clearing the way for the measure to pass the Senate. The vote came after Cody Hall, a political strategist for Kemp, broadcast an extraordinary threat on Thursday that Kemp would fund challengers to any Republican who opposed or watered down the measure.
“We’re going to make darn sure that people who are with us are supported, but we’re also going to make sure that voters are reminded of those who do not stand with him,” Hall told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Lobbyists on both sides are spending heavily and Kemp has threatened a special session if his bills don’t pass. Friday, before senators voted, clerks handed out letter after letter from business groups supporting the measure.
Democrats proposed an alternative to part of Kemp’s bill, which they say goes too far.
“You basically foreclosed the courthouse,” Senate Minority Leader Harold Jones II said.
Democrats suggested restricting when property owners can be sued for injuries resulting from crimes on their property, and shield businesses from liability if they implement security measures. It also clarifies that being in a high-crime area doesn’t make an owner liable.
House Bill 561, the “Okefenokee Protection Act,” and HB 562 by State Rep. Darlene Taylor (R-Thomasville) would enhance legal protections for Georgia’s Okefenokee swamp, according to the Capitol Beat News Service via The Brunswick News.
Supporters of the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge are taking another crack at protecting the environmentally fragile swamp from mining.
Two bills introduced in the Georgia House of Representatives Thursday call for prohibiting mining along Trail Ridge, the Okefenokee’s eastern hydrologic boundary, where Alabama-based Twin Pines Minerals is seeking state permits to open a titanium mine. One bill would place a five-year moratorium on mining, while the other would prohibit future mining altogether.
Both bills are sponsored by state Rep. Darlene Taylor, R-Thomasville, who has introduced legislation during the last several years to prohibit mining adjacent to the Okefenokee. Thus far, none of those measures has reached the House floor for a vote despite dozens of lawmakers signing on as cosponsors.
The House did pass a bill late in last year’s legislative session calling for a three-year moratorium on mining along Trail Ridge, but the Georgia Senate didn’t take it up before the General Assembly adjourned for the year.
“Both of these bills provide the opportunity for all the legislators and leadership to respond to their constituents to save the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge from mining that would harm the swamp and swamp tourism upon which the economies of the local communities depend,” said Rena Peck, executive director of the nonprofit Georgia Rivers.
Twin Pines officials say the demonstration mine they’re planning along Trail Ridge would not threaten the Okefenokee and that the native vegetation would be restored after mining activity is completed. But scientific studies have concluded the project would significantly damage one of the largest intact freshwater wetlands in North America by drawing down its water level and increasing the risk of drought and fires.
Two state Representatives introduced House Bill 533, the “Wrongful Conviction Compensation Act” to overhaul how wrongly-convicted inmates are compensated, according to the Capitol Beat News Service via the Savannah Morning News.
A Georgia House Republican and Democrat introduced bipartisan legislation Thursday to overhaul the system used to compensate the wrongfully convicted in Georgia.
Current law requires a person who has been exonerated after spending years in prison for a crime they didn’t commit to find a legislative sponsor to introduce a compensation resolution. The House has passed a series of such resolutions in recent years, but the Senate has refused to take them up.
“Two wrongs do not make a right,” said Rep. Katie Dempsey, R-Rome, chief sponsor of House Bill 533. “That is our challenge here.”
Dempsey’s bill would remove the General Assembly from the process of compensating wrongfully convicted Georgians. Instead, claims for compensation would be heard by administrative law judges, who would make a recommendation to the chief justice of the state Supreme Court.
“We’re trying to create a system that is fair and takes politics out of the process,” said Rep. Scott Holcomb, D-Atlanta, a cosponsor of the measure.
Exonerated individuals who are able to prove their innocence based on a “preponderance of evidence” would receive $75,000 in compensation for every year they have been incarcerated.
Holcomb said people released from prison after years behind bars are at a huge disadvantage because they can’t get a loan to start a business and haven’t been able to save for retirement.
“Is ($75,000) a fair figure? No,” he said. “Is it a reasonable figure? Yes.”
The bill has some influential Republican backing. Cosponsors include House Majority Leader Chuck Efstration, R-Mulberry, and Rep. Tyler Paul Smith, R-Bremen, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee (Non-Civil).
Both state legislative chambers are considering legislation that would afffect transgender youth, according to the Capitol Beat News Service via the Savannah Morning News.
Transgender people, particularly youths, remain a subject of Republican-led policy in Georgia, as lawmakers consider several bills that would regulate their interactions with the medical industry and with female athletes.
Both the Georgia Senate and House of Representatives have measures that would ban transgender students born male from female teams in K-12 schools and in higher education.
The Senate has gone further, with legislation that would ban puberty blockers and the use of state resources — health insurance, hospital facilities and medical personnel — for gender-related procedures.
The conflict has made for confusing hearings, where experts disagreed about core facts.
For instance, one doctor testified at a recent hearing on Senate Bill 30 that substances known as puberty blockers have long-term consequences, and that children should not be deciding whether to take them.
“They’re not capable of making life-altering decisions,” she said. “We don’t leave them alone for the weekend.”
Another doctor contradicted her, saying puberty blockers are reversible. He described the legislation as government overreach. The committee passed SB 30 that evening.
Senate Bill 39, the bill that would ban the use of state resources for gender-change procedures, and Senate Bill 1, which seeks to ban transgender athletes from female athletics, have already passed the full Senate.
The sports measure may get the most traction in the House, which is moving its own legislation on transgender athletes.
House Bill 267 passed the House Education Committee on Friday. Like SB 1, it seeks to ban transgender students born male from participation on female teams — and from using female locker rooms and other shared facilities where nudity occurs.
HB 267 is named the “Riley Gaines Act.” Gaines is a collegiate swimmer whose encounter with a transgender athlete at a 2022 national championship meet at Georgia Tech has been widely reported.
Like other women who’ve testified at recent hearings about that event, Gaines was outraged about having to compete against — and share a locker room with — a transgender woman whom Gaines said was unlike a woman due to “fully intact” male genitalia.
“I am very proud and really honored to lend my name to the fight to reclaim the English language and, of course, to save women’s sports,” Gaines said at the committee hearing on HB 267 Friday.
She introduced herself as a 12-time NCAA All American, a five-time Southeastern Conference (SEC) champion, an SEC record holder in the 200-meter butterfly, a two-time Olympic trial qualifier, and “one of the fastest Americans of all time.”
Yet, she said, she could not beat a transgender athlete at that 2022 event who had previously performed poorly against male swimmers.
Democrats have mostly opposed these measures, asserting that they are not grounded in fact or science.
They dismiss arguments that the sports legislation is intended to promote fairness for girls, countering with their own measures that demand equity in “funds, facilities access, equipment, supplies, and other resources.” Senate Bill 41 and House Bill 221 have yet to get a hearing.
For Rep. Karen Lupton, D-Chamblee, the role of religion is a concern. Frontline Policy Action, a Christian group, helped write HB 267, and she saw hypocrisy in that.
“Did Jesus say that the highest expression of faith is to love a neighbor?” Lupton asked at Friday’s hearing, suggesting that HB 267 was not “loving trans kids as you would wish to be treated.”
Frontline Policy Action also helped write SB 1, the Senate’s version of HB 267. And a representative of that group, along with one from the Georgia Baptist Mission Board, have been a consistent presence at these hearings.
The transgender sports issue has proved a popular one for Republicans, who suggest alarming scenarios where these athletes could overpower and even injure females.
The GOP pushed through a bill in 2022 that allowed the Georgia High School Association to ban transgender athletes from teams that don’t match their birth certificates.
President Donald Trump signed an executive order in early February that withholds federal funding from schools that do not “oppose male competitive participation in women’s sports.” And the GOP-led U.S. House narrowly passed its own bill with the same goal in January.
Critics contend that Republicans are capitalizing on a handful of well-publicized events, such as the one involving Gaines. They say such high-stakes competitive scenarios are rare, with injury rarer still.
“Why do we keep hearing about Riley Gaines every time we have one of these hearings?” complained one woman at a subcommittee hearing on HB 267.
Critics also say that the GOP initiatives against transgender people will expose an already marginalized group to more bullying, raising their risk of suicide, which is already relatively high.
Republican lawmakers acknowledge they have no data to describe the scope of transgender participation in sports in Georgia, but they and their supporters counter that just one occurrence is too many.
The conflict around the medical regulation of gender may be the most emotional.
Transgender people and parents of transgender children say they are being targeted like gay people were decades ago.
Peter Isbister, an Atlanta-area dad, said at a hearing earlier this month on SB 30 that such measures can’t turn back history. He also implied that they would mainly affect those from lower-income households. He said he can take his child out of state to obtain puberty blockers or other gender-affirming care if necessary.
“My 11-year-old son will get the health care he needs, I am privileged to say, because I will go to the ends of the earth to make sure that he does,” Isbister said. “Why? Because I love him as you love your children, because our love is not different than your love.”
The full Senate has yet to consider SB 30, the bill Isbister was testifying against. But that chamber has already sent SB 39 and SB 1, the sports bill, to the House.
SB 1 may get the most support there, since the House’s version, HB 267, could soon get a vote before the full House.
In a rare appearance that was clearly intended to send a message of support for the bill, House Speaker Jon Burns spoke at Friday’s hearing on the House bill.
The Republican from Newington said he was concerned about transgender participation in sport because he has four granddaughters.
“It’s simple,” he said. “Biological men have an undeniable and scientifically proven advantage against women when it comes to athletic competition.”
Burns said the legislation “levels the playing field and ensures that our daughters and our granddaughters are not robbed of their opportunity for fair and safe competition.”
Two State House Bills – House Bill 58 and HB 205 – would regulate drones, according to the Capitol Beat News Service via the Valdosta Daily Times.
Drones would be subject to more restrictions under a couple of pieces of legislation that passed the Georgia House of Representatives Friday.
House Bill 58 would prohibit flights over public gatherings. It would require that drones stay at least 400 feet from the airspace of ticketed entertainment events, unless they are being used for an authorized official purpose.
House Bill 205 seeks to address national security by banning official use of certain drones due to concerns about data security. The measure is aimed at China.
Rep. David Clark, R-Buford, said nine out of 10 drones are manufactured by two companies in that nation and that those companies must share any data they acquire with the Chinese government.
“This legislation does not ban drones outright,” he said. “Instead, it ensures that drones used by our government agencies can be rendered safe from foreign interference. And the key requirement is simple: drones must not be capable of transmitting data to unauthorized parties.”
Fellow lawmakers spoke favorably of the bill. Among their concerns were the risk of using drones to spy on military bases absent this proposed regulation.
Local and state governments would be encouraged to acquire drones from a list that the state would develop, based on Federal Aviation Administration standards and clearance by the U.S. Department of Defense.
But the compliance would cease to be voluntary in three years, which, Clark said, is the average lifespan of a drone.
Starting Jan. 1, 2028, officials in Georgia would have to acquire drones only on the state’s safe list, which would be updated semiannually.
Both bills passed with bipartisan support, with only four votes against HB 58 and one against HB 205. They now head to the state Senate.
Senate Bill 122, the “Craft Beer and Local Economy Revitalization Act” by State Sen. John Albers (R-Alpharetta) is getting some pushback from distributors, according to the Newnan Times-Herald.
Senate Bill 122 proposes allowing the breweries to self distribute up to 3,000 barrels of their product, deliver and accept delivery from other small breweries and donate their product directly to a charity rather than going through a distributor.
The legislation gives breweries advantages that allow them to grow, said Martin Smith, executive director of Georgia Beer Wholesalers Association. But it does that at the expense of their retail and distributor partners.
“Over the last 10 or 15 years, there’s been a number of changes that are common sense business practices that have helped forge the business,” Martin Smith said. “Whether that is the creation of tap rooms, the ability to do some on and off premise sales.”
Those changes have allowed the craft beer industry to flourish and now 181 brewers make the state their home. Georgia is 18th in the nation for craft brewing and 45th in the nation for per capita brewing.
This latest legislation, which has been floated before, goes far beyond that and creates an environment that could damage the state’s three-tier system for producing and delivering alcohol to the marketplace.
State law has set up the system of getting beer to the marketplace as manufacturer to wholesale distributor to retailer. The system requires that every ounce of alcohol that travels through Georgia must go through a distributor.
It’s because of the three-tier system that the company is able to carry Anheuser-Busch along with these small craft brews, said Al Zachry, president of LaGrange Grocery Company. Without it, the nationwide brewer would just deliver their own beer to retailers controlling the access that small breweries had to retailers, Zachry said.
“There’s a reason that the system separates the breweries from the retailers,” he said. “It said that one will not have undue influence over the other. If these breweries are essentially functioning as retailers, then you have to let all breweries function as retailers and that can lead to things that are anti-competitive.”
Martin Smith illustrated the point.
“Go down any aisle in a grocery store and find variety. It doesn’t exist. You’ve got all the same parent companies selling every cookie, selling all the same bread,” he said. “Where is there variety? In the alcohol aisle. You can get any brand. They’re all there because they had equal access to the market.”
Zachry said without the three-tier system, the independent distributors like himself would eventually disappear.
The three-tier system protects everyone, Martin Smith said. It provides a level playing field for all the participants. It provides a path for moderation in consumption, he said, and it lets retailers know they’re getting what they paid for.
With the expanded alcohol sales allowed under SB 122, the tap rooms would be operating as bars, he added. Yet many of the cities that the small breweries reside in, including Newnan, don’t allow bars, said Casey Smith, owner of Redneck Gourmet and Below the Neck in Newnan’s downtown.
Senate Bill 242 by State Sen. Jason Anavitarte (R-Dallas) renews calls for a statue of Georgia-born United States Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, according to the AJC.
Senate Republicans are once again pushing for a statue of Georgia native and U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas.
But instead of placing it on the grounds of the state Capitol, Senate GOP leaders are now advocating for the monument to stand at the judicial building across the street. And it could bring a thorny new political fight.Under a newly introduced measure, Senate Bill 242, a six-member Capitol Art Standards Commission would oversee the design and placement of a statue of Thomas within the Nathan Deal Judicial Center.
The legislation, sponsored by state Sen. Jason Anavitarte, R-Dallas, says the monument would be paid for by outside groups and private individuals — and that no public funding would be involved.
Sponsors hope the shift, along with Thomas’ growing influence on the high court, will generate a warmer reception. But it could also spark another bitter partisan battle.
The idea has long been opposed by Democrats, particularly Black leaders, who point to Thomas’ controversial confirmation hearings in 1991, which remain a flash point in judicial and political debates today.
Lieutenant Governor Burt Jones’s staff will meet with constituents in Brooks and Lowndes County on Wednesday, February 26, 2025 at the Brooks County Courthouse, 100 E. Screven St. in Quitman, from 10 AM to noon and at the Lowndes County Courthouse, 100 E. Central Ave., from 1 to 3 PM, according to the Valdosta Daily Times.
Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens will deliver his “State of the City” address, according to the AJC.
As he gears up for reelection, the mass gathering of the city’s most important political, business and community leaders gives him the opportunity to tout his administration’s successes and pitch an agenda for the remainder of the year.
During an interview with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s editorial board earlier this month, Dickens boasted about a “stabilized” city and noted that City Hall was still shut down because of the COVID-19 pandemic, violent crime rates were up and some residents in Buckhead were leading an effort to split Atlanta apart when he took office in 2022.
“This point in time is a lot more comfortable as a mayor,” Dickens said.Sources inside the mayor’s office said that with those threats under control the mayor is looking forward at jump-starting promised development across neighborhoods, particularly in downtown as the arrival of the FIFA 2026 World Cup looms.
Affordable housing has been a cornerstone of Dickens’ policy priories. He ended 2024 with a flurry of affordable housing projects in an effort to meet a lofty goal of creating or preserving 20,000 such units by 2030.
And the city’s controversial public safety training center is now open after years of pushback from community members surrounding the site. The mayor is likely to highlight improvements in crime around the city and his efforts to bolster the police force.
The mayor has also made a commitment to achieve “100% clean energy” for all Atlantans by 2035 — a goal that the city is far from hitting.
Grovetown City Council will vote on whether to opt out of the HB 581 Homestead Exemption, according to WRDW.
The city of Grovetown will hold a special called meeting to consider and vote upon whether the city will “stay in” or “opt out” of House Bill 581, Statewide Floating Homestead Exemption.
The meeting will be open to the public and will be livestreamed via the city’s Facebook page on Thursday at 6 p.m.
The Columbia County Board of Education voted 3-2 in favor of opting out of the Homestead Exemption Act nearly two weeks ago.
This is why the board of education told us last month, that they were weighing all options.
“We get about 60% of our revenue from the state of Georgia and then we get the other 40% from local taxes, mainly our millage rate,” said Steven Flynt, Columbia County superintendent. “And so that 40% is really what we’re talking about with this.”
“You are going to have a major problem with price increases, residential taxes, non-homestead taxes and business taxes,” says one Columbia County resident. “It all depends if Columbia County wants to have growth.”
Fort Valley City Council member Juanita Bryant was arrested after an argument in a City Council meeting, according to 13WMAZ.
A Fort Valley councilmember was arrested for simple battery and making terroristic threats at city hall on Feb. 13, according to an incident report from the Fort Valley Police Department.
The incident report says that council members Juanita Bryant and Laronda Eason were involved in an argument at the city council work session on Feb. 13. Per the report, Bryant has been charged with simple battery and making terroristic threats, after striking Eason during the argument.
They say that officers attempted to escort Bryant out of the meeting to de-escalate the argument, but Bryant continued to make threats toward Eason.
The report says that after the meeting, Eason said she was experiencing pain in her shoulder from when she was struck. She also said she intended to press charges against Bryant.
Per the report, multiple Fort Valley police officers were present at the meeting to witness the argument. Bryant has since posted bond and been released.
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