On July 7, 1742, General James Oglethorpe was victorious over the Spanish at the Battle of Bloody Marsh and the Battle of Gully Hole Creek; a week later Gov. Montiano would call off the invasion of Georgia from Florida, leaving Georgia to develop as a British colony.
Sliced bread was invented on July 7, 1928 at the Chillicothe Baking Company in Chillicothe, Missouri.
On July 7, 1958, President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed the Alaska Statehood Act.
The first female cadets enrolled at West Point on July 7, 1976.
Sandra Day O’Connor was nominated to the United States Supreme Court by President Ronald Reagan on July 7, 1981.
Georgia Politics, Campaigns, and Elections
Early voting opens today in the Special Democratic Primary Runoff Election for Public Service Commission District 3, according to WRDW.
You’ll see Keisha Waites and Peter Hubbard on the ballot.
They got close to receiving enough votes during the primary.
One of them will be up against Republican Fitz Johnson in the next cycle.
The runoff election is next week on July 15.
The runoff election comes after last month’s statewide special primary where no candidate received 50% of the vote, although Waites came close. With 58,022 votes, Waites won over about 46% of voters in the primary, and Hubbard trailed 16,110 votes behind her with about 33% of the vote. Robert Jones, a third challenger, accounted for the remainder of votes. Daniel Blackman also campaigned as a District 3 Democratic candidate but was disqualified last month for failing to meet residency requirements, and any votes cast in his favor were not counted.
District 3 includes Clayton, Fulton and DeKalb counties, but commissioners are elected statewide and must live within the district for 12 months to be eligible.
While both candidates support lowering utility bills, they both share concerns about the effectiveness of a recent rate freeze. Since 2023, the average Georgia Power customer is paying $43 more each month. Last week, current commissioners unanimously approved a plan from Georgia Power that will freeze current rates through 2028, though customers’ bills could still rise next year.
With storm clean-up fees and fuel cost adjustments likely awaiting Georgia Power ratepayers in the future, Waites compared the freeze to purchasing an airline ticket and still being stuck with additional baggage and seat charges.
“The fees, the riders and the fuel cost adjustments are still there and can fluctuate at any time,” Waites said. “So Georgia Power can come back and say, ‘hey’, they can submit a proposal and ask for it to be reviewed. So the rate freeze is really disingenuous.”
Hubbard says the freeze “locks in” six rate increases approved by commissioners over the past three years. He said the promise of at least $2.89 of monthly relief on power bills in previous long-term plans have since been abandoned.
“They’re saying, ‘hey, look, we’re going to freeze rates so there’s no downward pressure,’ which is really a fiction, from the point of view of the Republican policy,” Hubbard said. “They just have never delivered on downward pressure on rates.”
The future of nuclear energy in Georgia has also dominated campaign messages.
Worried about the potential health impacts of toxic coal ash ponds, Waites said she does not see a problem with nuclear energy. With confidence that the sun and wind are both constant renewable resources, she would like to see increased conversation surrounding wind and solar energy.
“When you look at the $296 million that we’ve given out of incentives to incentivize data centers to come to Georgia, I think that we can start to put some programs in place to introduce more families to solar,” Waites said.
While Hubbard’s nuclear support corresponds with its carbon-free nature, he said he is acutely aware of the costs associated with the energy source. He says that while Plant Vogtle helped reduce the state’s carbon footprint, this was not a cheap accomplishment. The expansion project was years behind schedule and billions of dollars over budget when it was completed last year.
“Once you have the nuclear plant, it’s cheap to dispatch, it’s cheap to run, but it’s very expensive to build,” Hubbard said. “So that’s the part that concerns me, is if we’re proposing to build any new nuclear (plants) there must be strict cost controls.”
Both candidates hope to advance to November’s general election for a chance to face appointed Republican Commissioner Fitz Johnson. Commissioners typically serve six-year staggered terms, but a long-running legal challenge targeting the system for electing commissioners means that the District 3 winner will serve a one-year term and be back up for election next year.
A lawsuit challenging the at-large voting method for the district-based commission seats is pending with the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. That case, originally filed in 2020, argues that the statewide elections dilute the voting strength of Black voters. Only one Black commissioner has ever been elected under the system. Johnson, who is Black, was appointed to the seat by Gov. Brian Kemp in 2021.
The District 3 race will be on the November ballot with the District 2 race between Republican Commission Tim Echols and Democratic challenger Alicia M. Johnson. District 2 represents a wide swath of southeast Georgia, stretching from Hart County to Savannah.
There will be one week of early voting that will start Monday, July 7. With only a 2.5% turnout in the June primary, the Democratic runoff is also projected to see low turnout. Some counties will only operate a single early voting location to accommodate an anticipated limited number of voters. Voters can check their registration status and polling place location at the Georgia Secretary of State’s My Voter Page.
If this year’s Georgia Public Service Commission election stays on track, it will be the first time since 2020 that voters have been able to elect members to the panel.
Early voting begins Monday across Georgia for the Democratic primary runoff for Public Service Commission, but turnout is expected to be so low that many counties are closing polling places.
Seventy-seven of Georgia’s 159 counties are planning just one voting location on election day under a state law that allows closures after turnout falls below 1%.
Meanwhile, the statewide election will come with a significant cost to taxpayers. The price tag for the runoff could reach $100 per voter, according to an estimate by The Associated Press.
“It’s a lot of tax money for a low turnout,” said Catherine Hunnicutt, elections supervisor in Glascock County, a heavily Republican area where just five people voted in last month’s Democratic Party primary. “I get in there and handle the election just like normal. I wish we did have a larger turnout, but it is what it is.”
The runoff is required under Georgia law because none of the three candidates in the Democratic primary received a majority of votes.
Many of the counties that have reduced voting locations are rural, Republican areas where few people turned out in the Democratic Party primary. Both Republican candidates, Johnson and incumbent Tim Echols, won their primaries without the need for a runoff.
But the polling place closures include some counties in the metro Atlanta area, such as Cherokee, Forsyth and Paulding counties.
Low turnout is caused by an election scheduled during the summer, in an odd-numbered year, for an office that many voters aren’t familiar with, said Travis Doss, president of the Georgia Association of Voter Registration and Election Officials.
“Not to disparage the PSC, but we knew going in it would be a very hard sell to get voters energized for this election,” Doss said. “It’s still a vital process to allow people to vote for their representatives. We just have to do the best we can with what we have.”
In Richmond County, where Doss is the elections director, the cost of the primary was about $40 for each of the nearly 4,000 voters, and turnout was 2.5%. That price could rise in the runoff if turnout declines further.
The PSC election is taking place now — rather than in a typical election year with other races on the ballot — because of a law passed by the Georgia General Assembly.
Legislators scheduled the election for this summer after PSC races had been canceled since 2022 in response to a federal lawsuit alleging that statewide elections for PSC candidates violated the Voting Rights Act, resulting in almost all-white representation on the commission.
A Special Election for Tift County Commission District 5 was canceled after only one candidate qualified, according to the Tifton Gazette.
With only a single candidate qualifying, the county’s election department declared last week that the election that would appoint a commissioner to carry out the remaining unexpired term of the late District 5 commissioner Fred “Buck” Rigdon would not be necessary.
The candidate, Thomas Tyler Riddle, was the only such to qualify by the end of the write-in qualifying period at 5 p.m. yesterday, and thus would run unopposed were the election to take place in September as originally planned.
Riddle is the CEO of local medical supply business MRS Homecare, and currently serves as the chair of the City of Tifton’s Urban Redevelopment Agency. Information on the circumstances of his swearing in as the new District 5 commissioner will be provided as it is made available.
New state tax legislation went into effect last week, according to the Moultrie Observer.
Gov. Brian Kemp signed into law a number of bills concerning tax legislation that took effect July 1. These will affect Georgia residents in the coming year.
In light of last year’s large increase in property tax, which affected residents statewide, a couple of bills passed that sought to address the issue.
SB 44, sponsored by Sen. Sam Watson lowers the required millage rate for board of educations from 14 mills to 10 mills. Therefore, school boards are still eligible for State Equalization Grants if they opt to decrease their millage rate.
House Rep. Chas Cannon, who presented the bill on the House floor during the last session, said recently that this piece of legislation has a potential for significant property tax reduction for school systems across the state.
Although, HB 28 and HB 29 don’t take affect until they are voted on by residents of Colquitt County, these pieces of legislation increase both the county and school board’s standard homestead exemption to $10,000. Cannon sponsored these two bills, which are specific to Colquitt County. The increase applies to all residents who have an existing exemption. The legislation will be on the May 2026 ballot.
“Once again, these are designed to reduce some of the financial burden on your everyday citizens,“ Cannon said earlier this year on the legislation. “How do you positively impact the most amount of people in this district?“
Other new tax legislation that took effect last Tuesday concerns state income tax. HB 111 decreases Georgia’s income tax rate from 5.39% to 5.19%. HB 136 gives a $250 tax credit for childcare expenses to tax-payers that have children age 5 and under.
Then, HB112 gives a one-time tax credit to residents who filed taxes in 2023 and 2024. The Georgia Surplus Tax Refund is $250 for individuals, $375 for head of household and $550 for filing jointly. Some tax-payers may have received the refund already. All of the refunds will go out by mid-August.
Savannah Mayor Van Johnson apologized for incorrect statements on a local shooting, according to WSAV.
In the wake of the Oglethorpe Mall shooting on July 2, Savannah Mayor Van Johnson apologized for Thursday’s miscommunication in the charging of two juveniles.
SPD announced Thursday that two juveniles involved would be charged with possession of a firearm under the age of 18. Later, it reversed course, announcing they would not be charged.
Johnson gave WSAV News 3’s Sarah Smith a statement regarding the charging of the juveniles:
“I think what happened was our communications team got out in front of us. I think that the police working with the district attorney will make the appropriate charges at the appropriate time. I want to make sure we get it right.”
“I think that we should not charge until we not only know all who’s involved, but know and understand the extent of their involvement and then charge appropriately. Unfortunately and as fluid as these things are, sometimes things get out quicker without going through all of the channels.”
“To our community, I apologize and take responsibility for that. You know, we have to communicate singularly in one voice. But, for those who had some feeling that we were letting somebody off the hook, nothing could be further from the truth.”
This came after District Attorney Shalena Cook Jones sought to correct the record, according to WTOC.
In those statements, Mayor Johnson said, “It has been determined that this morning’s arrestee and several other identified suspects in this case have gang affiliations, but further investigation will be necessary to determine if this incident was gang-involved.”
SPD released a similar statement: “During the course of the investigation, information has revealed that this individual and other identified suspects in this case have known gang affiliations.
This is regarding the arrest of the 3rd arrest made in the Oglethorpe Mall shooting on July 2nd. 20-year-old Aujawan Tyrell Hymon, who was charged with Possession of an Illegal Weapon, a felony, and is being held on no bond.
DA Jones said in a full press release to the public, “It has been less than a week since District Attorney Shalena Jones stood on the courthouse steps and made a public appeal about this case, something she has rarely done. DA Jones sates that she “specifically and intentionally” directed the Police Chief, prosecutors and all detectives on this case not to identify suspects or arrestees by name or photo at this time.”
She continued, “Doing so could compromise the investigation, increase chances of a retaliatory event, scare away witnesses, create danger to the public, arresting officers, and compromise this office’s ability to prosecute this case. Though everyone working the case agreed and understood, top City leaders have made premature and ill-informed statements about the case.”
“This is now the second time that leaders’ public statements about this case have been premature and problematic. Although the DA did not speak with the Mayor and Council, a phone call and text message were sent offering updates on this case. Said contact was received by the City’s leader, but never responded to.”
“When leaders become more concerned with power and politics over people, citizens suffer. In times like these, nothing is more critical than protecting the criminal justice process and preserving public safety. “While it is true that information and opinions move fast in a serious incident like this one, and there is a desire to report quickly, we must not get ahead of ourselves,” the DA says. “But, in instances where miscommunication and ‘bad messaging’ can be avoided, it should be.”
The press release continues, “As DA Jones stated on Wednesday, this is a time for community leaders to unify and speak with one voice. Distancing oneself from law enforcement when allegations of wrongdoing are afoot, while taking credit and speaking without at least consulting them on the investigation and strategy of this case is not only improper, but dangerous.”
Gunmen and shooters should never be more coordinated than community leaders. “I applaud all elected officials who sacrifice their lives for public service. This is no easy feat. I respect their right to do their job and, in the interest of public safety and prosecution, I only ask that they allow me to do mine.”
“To the individuals working hard since last Wednesday to investigate this case, we thank you. Let’s continue working hard to bring this case home.” We will continue to provide relevant and timely updates on this case as they are available.
Following the Oglethorpe Mall shooting, Chatham County District Attorney Shalena Cook Jones expressed her discontent with elected officials’ recent public statements.
DA Cook Jones stated Saturday in a press release that she “specifically and intentionally” directed the police chief, prosecutors and detectives to withhold suspect and arrestees’ names and photos to avoid compromising the shooting investigation.
“This is now the second time that leaders’ public statements about this case have been premature and problematic,” the release reads. “In instances where miscommunication and ‘bad messaging’ can be avoided, it should be.”
The release also stated that DA Cook Jones did not speak with Mayor Johnson regarding the case, but in an unanswered message, she offered updates.
“When leaders become more concerned with power and politics over people, citizens suffer,” the release continues. “Gunmen and shooters should never be more coordinated than community leaders.”
Miscommunication was also cited in the investigation of the Columbus city finance department according to the Ledger-Enquirer.
Sheriff Greg Countryman’s office launched the investigation on Jan. 2, 2024, after being asked by Mayor Skip Henderson and then-City Manager Isaiah Hugley. More than a year later, in May, city Finance Director Angelica Alexander and former city Revenue Manager Yvonne Ivey were charged as a result of that investigation.
But Yvonne Ivey’s two charges of simple battery quickly were dismissed due to the two-year statute of limitations for misdemeanors. The sheriff’s office identified potential charges for four other Columbus government employees, but they weren’t charged, according to an administrative report from the investigation accessed through Georgia open records law. With only Alexander facing charges for allegedly obstructing law enforcement, Countryman blamed miscommunication and delays in getting a prosecutor on the case.
“This has been the worst experience that I’ve experienced in my 35 years,” Countryman said in an interview with the Ledger-Enquirer. “It’s not throwing mud on anyone. It’s the reality. We could not communicate with anyone.”
In an interview with the Ledger-Enquirer, Lt. Jeremy Hattaway, an investigator for MCSO, said the documents for the investigation were forwarded to the district attorney’s office within about nine months of the investigation starting.
But Chattahoochee Judicial Circuit District Attorney Don Kelly recused himself from the case in July 2024. Hattaway said losing the prosecuting authority caused the sheriff’s office to lose the ability to file subpoenas.
Towaliga deputy chief assistant DA Wayne Jernigan was later assigned as a special prosecutor in the case.
Countryman said the sheriff’s office dealt with “a long wait” getting an assigned prosecutor. He said it took months for the Prosecuting Attorneys’ Council of Georgia to assign the case to a district attorney’s office.
Countryman also said there were communication issues between the sheriff’s office and the new prosecutors.
Countryman said they were able to contact Jernigan, but he also said, “In the course of this investigation, even when there were questions, it was not like you could freely pick up the phone and you know, reach out and call the District Attorney because he had cases he was working on.”
Countryman said he understands prosecutors have big caseloads, but he said, “In this type of a case we needed a district attorney’s office that could really focus on this case.”
President Trump’s “One Big, Beautiful Bill” could stymie Georgia’s clean energy industry, according to the Ledger-Enquirer.
It is expected to cause difficulty for solar, battery and electric vehicle industries in Georgia by pulling back on tax credits that sought to fight climate change.
The bill is aimed at cutting the national deficit, and cutting the green energy incentives is estimated to save about half a trillion dollars, according to the New York Times. Trump and Republicans have said they want these cuts to “to further defeat inflation” saying that the Inflation Reduction Act, which created these green energy incentives, “sets us back.”
Georgia has been at the center of a clean energy transition since the tax incentives were created in 2022, attracting 45 clean energy projects across every corner of the state. This has brought $24 billion in private investment in just two years. A dozen of those projects, such as solar manufacturers and battery plants, are in rural parts of the state, marking the highest rate in the nation.
“The renewable energy sector, solar manufacturing, battery production, electric vehicle manufacturing that are core to Georgia’s economic development right now are now being destroyed,” Sen. Jon Ossoff said in a press conference on Wednesday. “Georgia has made out better than just about any other state in the country. This bill is a direct attack on the industry that is driving Georgia’s economic development, job creation and wealth creation in our state right now.”
An advanced manufacturing tax credit for green energy growth in the Inflation Reduction Act aided several solar companies in Georgia: Sunviva in Norcross, QCells in Dalton and NanoPV in Andersonville. Electric vehicle battery companies such as Hyundai near Savannah, SK batteries in Commerce, or Ascend Elements in Covington are also associated with the manufacturing tax credit.
The new law shrinks the timeline for advanced manufacturing projects such as QCells – the largest solar panel manufacturing plant in North America – in Dalton. Those projects can only claim tax credits at 100% until 2031, which cuts the benefits off a year earlier than the previous law.
Despite just a one-year change, critics argue that the incentives that helped electrify the economy around the country and the state will change because other cuts in the Trump-backed bill will reduce demand for green energy initiatives. Other cuts include the $7,500 new electric vehicle tax credit, the $4,000 used EV tax credit, and the commercial EVs tax credit. Those credits expire in 90 days, on Sept. 30, rather than remaining in place for seven years as they did under prior law.
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, whose district includes Dalton, is less optimistic about the clean energy economy and called these incentives the “green new scam.” She previously told the Ledger-Enquirer that businesses shouldn’t have to rely on the government if they are a sustainable business. Greene voted in favor of the bill.
But Brion Fitzpatrick, president of the Georgia Solar Energy Industries Association, said any major source of industry such as nuclear, coal, gas or hydropower has been stimulated by federal incentives.
“All major businesses are reliant on government incentives,” he said. “It doesn’t matter if you’re talking about a Georgia-based airline or a car manufacturer, or a nuclear power plant. They are all reliant on government incentives.
“And, since we’ve been getting incentives, we’ve driven down the cost of the manufacturing of solar modules, the development and construction of solar projects, and the overall deployment of solar.”
Fitzpatrick worries about what will happen to QCells and the solar jobs in the state.
“On a nationwide scale and companies like QCells, and some of these other companies, they’re going to lower their capacity and lower their jobs,” he said. “So instead of growing they’re going to start redacting how many modules they’re producing.”
There were 82,000 people working in the solar industry in Georgia in 2024, according to the Georgia Chamber of Commerce.
To pay for those priorities, it makes deep cuts to funding for clean energy projects and government aid programs, including Medicaid. But even with the reduced spending, it’s projected to add around $3.3 trillion to the federal deficit over the next decade, according to the independent Congressional Budget Office.
Georgia has been one of the top states for solar, electric vehicle and battery manufacturing investment since a raft of federal incentives were created during former President Joe Biden’s administration. Their goal was to wean the economy off polluting fossil fuels, create jobs, build domestic supply chains and combat Chinese dominance in clean energy and EV sectors.
Now, many of the tax credits Georgia companies had banked on will soon go away completely or be scaled back earlier than expected.
A $7,500 consumer tax credit for the purchase of certain EVs will now disappear at the end of September. New material sourcing restrictions for factories that manufacture solar panels, batteries and related components to claim credits are coming. And by the end of this year, a 30% federal tax break available to homeowners to install rooftop solar will sunset.
It’ll take time for the full impact of the changes to be felt, but some are warning they could be dire.
U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock said in a statement that, “Georgia Republicans just voted to put 42,000 good-paying Georgia jobs at risk,” citing an estimate of the potential job losses in the state’s clean energy sector.
“This is a sad reminder that Washington politicians are not working for ordinary Georgians,” Warnock added.
During a media briefing earlier this week, U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff called the bill “a direct attack on the industry that is driving Georgia’s economic development, job creation and wealth creation in our state right now.”
Turbulent times could also be on the horizon for Georgia’s EV sector.
Hyundai Motor Group, which opened its $7.6 billion plant near Savannah last year, said last week it believes electric vehicles represent “a significant long-term opportunity.” The company also noted it still offers gas-powered vehicles and hybrids “so that U.S. consumers can choose the vehicle that best fits their needs.”
Rivian, which plans to construct a $5 billion EV factory 50 miles from Atlanta, declined to comment on the legislation’s passage.
Elected officials offered their opinions on the legislation, according to WRDW.
Ga. Gov. Brian Kemp – “The passage of the One Big Beautiful Bill is a major win for hardworking Georgians and their families. From extending vital tax cuts and securing the border, to reducing spending and unleashing American energy independence — Republicans are delivering real results and putting the American people first. Great work by President Trump, Leader Thune, Speaker Johnson, and our Republican majorities!”
Sen. Raphael Warnock – “This is highway robbery. The bill Republicans just passed steals from you to give to the rich. Robin Hood in reverse.”
“To my Republican colleagues: Was it worth it? Was it worth selling out the working class, stripping millions of their health care, taking food away from hungry children. All to give your wealthy donors another tax cut?”
Sen. Jon Ossoff – “This bill is a trillion dollar cut to Medicaid…I have been warning for months that this gutting of the Medicaid program puts Georgia seniors, Georgia mothers, Georgia children at risk.”
“This bill is a direct attack on the industry that is driving Georgia’s economic development, job creation, and wealth creation in our state right now.”
Republicans who represent parts of Gwinnett in Congress cheered the passage, while Democrats jeered.
“The One Big Beautiful Bill is on its way to President Trump’s desk, and I couldn’t be prouder to be a part of this moment in history,” Republican U.S. Rep. Mike Collins, whose district includes eastern Gwinnett, said in a social media post after the vote. “The Golden Age of America is here, and we’re not looking back.”
U.S. Rep. Andrew Clyde, a Republican whose district includes north Gwinnett, said he tried to push for greater Second Amendment protections in the bill, but could not get everything he’d aimed for. Regardless, Clyde said he fully supports Trump’s agenda.
“I will also be voting YES on final passage, because I support fulfilling President Trump’s America First agenda and the promises we made to the country,” Clyde said before Thursday’s vote. “I look forward to President Trump signing the One Big Beautiful Bill into law so we can deliver a safer, stronger, and more prosperous America.”
But, U.S. Reps. David Scott and Hank Johnson, both D-Ga., each referred to the legislation as the “Big, Ugly Bill” and criticized its provisions, saying they would hurt Americans more than it would help them. The Democrats represent parts of the western and southern portions of Gwinnett County.
“What has been called big and beautiful is as cruel and ugly a piece of legislation as I have ever seen in my 19 years in Congress,” Johnson said. “This Big Ugly Bill cuts access to healthcare for 17 million Americans, so thousands each year will die premature and preventable deaths because big shots in government want to give their multimillionaire and billionaire donors … another huge tax cut.
“This cruel legislation also cuts funding for food to feed the needy. All who voted yes on this Big Ugly Bill should be ashamed of themselves.”
Scott called the bill a “disaster for Georgia” and argued tax cuts included in the bill will come “at the expense of working families, children, veterans, and seniors across Georgia.”
He added that 750,000 Georgians could lose their insurance, and as many as 60 rural hospitals in the state could lose funding because of Medicaid cuts while Georgia would become responsible for half-a-billion dollars in food stamp costs.
State Rep. Jasmine Clark, D-Lilburn, praised House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and other Democrats who spoke out against the bill on the House floor during the debate over the legislation. She asserted south Gwinnett and other parts of the 13th Congressional district, which she is running to represent, will be hit hard by the bill’s provisions.
Clark said as many as 41,000 people in the 13th District could lose their health insurance while 33,000 people in the district could see their food stamp benefits reduced or eliminated all together. She added that if rural hospitals in Georgia are forced to close because of Medicaid cuts, that hospitals in the 13th District would become overburdened.
“Today marks a dark day in our nation’s history,” Clark said in a statement. “While many Americans were preparing to celebrate the Fourth of July, Republicans worked through the dead of night to jam through a bill that would kick more than 17 million Americans off of their health insurance and strip SNAP benefits from more than 4.5 million, all so millionaires and billionaires can get another tax break.”
The legislation could affect healthcare coverage for 750,000 Georgians, according to WRDW.
A Congressional Budget Office analysis estimated some 17 million Americans, and around 750,000 Georgians, will lose their health coverage by 2035 under the “Big Beautiful Bill” that has been signed into law.
The measure pushed by President Donald Trump contains cuts to Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act.
In Georgia, 70% of seniors in nursing homes are on Medicaid and 40% of Georgia children are also participants in the medical assistance program. Half of all births in the state are covered, at least in part, by Medicaid.
It narrowly passed the Senate on Tuesday, kicking off an all-day-and-all-night effort in the House to get it across the finish line.
“This bill is a catastrophe for healthcare in Georgia and for Georgia’s economy,” said Georgia Sen. Jon Ossoff, a Democrat. “Voting for this bill is betraying the state of Georgia.”
Sen. Raphael Warnock, D-Ga., said that in addition to the loss of Medicaid coverage, the measure will threaten 66 rural Georgia hospitals.
“Washington politicians aren’t working for ordinary people,” Warnock said.
“But the power of the people is more powerful than the people in power. As the pastor of Dr. King’s church, I understand that our fight is not about any one vote, but about a moral vision for a world where all of God’s children can succeed.”
About 310,000 Georgians are expected to lose health insurance under the legislation.
The Senate expanded the House’s cuts to Medicaid enrollment, cutting Medicaid spending by $1 trillion over 10 years. That’s the largest spending cut in the legislation.
Georgia’s portion of that cut will likely result in the state losing about $10 billion, according to the health research organization KFF.
A major cut to Georgia Medicaid funding could come from decreasing the amount of extra money facilities like hospitals and nursing homes can draw down from special funding pools.
Headlines across the country about the bill have focused on Medicaid losses through work requirements for most adult recipients. But Georgia already has work requirements.
Instead, Medicaid enrollment in Georgia will be decreased mostly as a result of the bill increasing red tape for those people and others on Medicaid. KFF estimated 56,000 Georgians would lose Medicaid in the House version of bill, and it is likely to be similar with the final version.
Some of those cut from the program are DACA recipients — also known as immigrant “Dreamers” — who up to now have been eligible.
Georgia’s biggest health insurance coverage loss would come not through Medicaid but through changes to the Affordable Care Act exchange, also known here as Georgia Access. About 1.5 million Georgians are currently insured through Georgia Access. By increasing the red tape for those people, the bill is expected to result in about 250,000 Georgians losing coverage, according to KFF.
Extra pandemic-era ACA “enhanced” subsidies are set to expire at the end of this year. Congress so far is allowing them to expire. As a result, the number of Georgians losing ACA coverage is expected to increase to 690,000, according to KFF.
The Georgia Supreme Court released recommendations for AI in the court system, according to the Capitol Beat News Service.
It started harmlessly enough, with kids using artificial intelligence to cheat on their writing assignments, but the technology has become a palpable threat to society as lawyers and others in the justice system have conducted novel experiments with it and even clearly misused it.
In the five years since OpenAI unleashed Chat GPT-3 on the public, people have found creative and sometimes unwise uses for the technology, including attorneys who harnessed it to write briefs with fake citations.
Recognizing the risk, the Georgia Supreme Court undertook a 10-month review in August and released new recommendations on Thursday. The state’s high court proposes a three-year process to adapt to AI.
It will start with establishing leadership and governance and conclude with new policies and processes for all the courts in Georgia’s judicial system. There will be community engagement, process reviews, education and training, and the establishment of business and technology architectures along the way.
The committee behind the new report, “Artificial Intelligence and Georgia’s Courts,” was led by Justice Andrew A. Pinson. It incorporates observations by the State Bar of Georgia’s Board of Governors, who produced their own report on the risks of AI in early June.
The bar’s report said revisions to a rule of conduct for lawyers was “particularly critical” because it was about their competence and proficiency with technology.
“It is the committee’s assessment GenAI tools will in short order become ubiquitous,” the bar report’s authors wrote.
Pinson’s committee cited numerous examples of AI uses that occurred just during the 10 months of their review process, such as the Indiana Supreme Court’s introduction of AI for voice-to-text transcriptions, the Arizona Supreme Court’s use of AI avatars to deliver news about rulings by their justices, and a family’s use of AI to create a victim impact statement by their dead relative during the sentencing phase of the trial over his road rage death.
“A key challenge the committee faced during its work is the rapidly evolving nature of a technology new to courts and organizations across the country,” Pinson’s committee concluded.
The panel noted acceptable uses for AI such as for research and scheduling, unacceptable uses such as for jury selection and “black box” sentencing algorithms, and potential uses that need more study and testing such as language translation and sentencing and risk assessments.
Some Georgia veterans seek expanded access to medical cannabis, according to WALB.
Veterans and physicians who work with medical cannabis say the medical cannabis can help one stay calm when they are triggered by loud noises, such as fireworks.
Right now, they are urging Georgia lawmakers to pass legislation for more access.
Veterans like Gary Herber, who suffers from PTSD, want their experiences and stories to make a difference. Herber told Atlanta News First the Fourth of July holiday is a high-trigger time for him after a combat tour in Afghanistan in 2009.
“Fourth of July is a time when we, especially we as veterans, should celebrate,” Herber said. “But it was also a time when it brings up a lot of memories of places and things that were out of my control.”
Elmore Alexander, a physician with US420doc who specializes in medical cannabis, said there is a need for expansion so they can get better products for their patients and more control for physicians.
Savannah city council member Nick Palumbo got the old pie bucket of water in the face prank, according WTOC.
WTOC had cameras rolling Saturday afternoon as Savannah city council member Nick Palumbo was attacked at a protest downtown.
It happened at city market as protestors made their voices heard about horse-drawn carriages.
Our team watched a man take a bucket from the carriage station and throw it on Alderman Palumbo.
This protest comes after the city manager sent a memo that could change the temperature at which horses would be allowed outside.
Palumbo has proposed to bring the current 95 degrees Fahrenheit requirement down 10 degrees.
He told WTOC this behavior was unacceptable.
“They’ve attacked a member of the council, a sitting member of the council. And I imagine my colleagues, we’re going to stand together against these behaviors. This is where we draw the line, you do not attack sitting council members when they are here exercising their First Amendment right,” Palumbo said.
Palumbo was among about a dozen protestors.
He said in a statement along with a video of the incident,
“Dear Horse Drawn Carriage Operators: This is why our horses overheat. You’re wasting your water throwing it at elected officials.
“I attended a peaceful demonstration today at City Market with fellow allies seeking to lower the operational temperature of horse-drawn carriages to a similar level of other cities. The current ordinance in Savannah permits amongst the highest temperatures in the Nation for cities that still allow the practice (most do not).”
“A revised ordinance will appear on Council’s Agenda this THURSDAY at 2pm when we meet at 2 Laura Avenue. Please support a reformed ordinance that lowers the temperature to humane and science-backed levels. Please contact City Council today to let your voice be heard. Together, we can be the City we need to be that is safe and humane for all.”
United States Representative Buddy Carter (R-SSI) relinquished his Chairmanship of the House Energy and Commerce Committee Subcommittee on Health, according to The Brunswick News.
“I am stepping down as chairman of the Energy and Commerce Committee’s Subcommittee on Health,” Carter wrote in a letter earlier this week to U.S. Rep. Brett Guthrie, R-Ky., chairman of the Energy and Commerce Committee.
“It has been an honor to serve under [Chairman Guthrie] in this capacity. However, my state and district deserve my undivided attention as I continue to put Georgians’ interests first.”
In the letter, Carter thanked Guthrie and the committee for entrusting him with an important position and “affording me the opportunity to shepherd the One Big, Beautiful Bill Act through the committee process on behalf of President Trump. It has been the privilege of a lifetime.”
During his time as chairman committee, Carter worked to bring pharmaceutical industries back to the states, noting that the United States is dependent on imports for 90% of all generic drugs and ran a $127 billion trade deficit in pharmaceuticals in 2024.
“China determines whether we have the pharmaceutical products we need in the United States to keep our citizens healthy,” Carter said when launching the American-Made Medicines Caucus as committee chair. “That is a terrifying reality, one we must address before the next public health crisis.
During an earlier address to the committee, Carter said the United States should never be dependent on the Chinese Communist Party for the antibiotics and essential medicines.
“But that’s exactly the dangerous position we are in today,” he said.
He said the nation didn’t just outsource manufacturing.
“We outsourced the sovereignty and safety of our health care system,” he said.
A five-term congressman, Carter will challenge U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff, a Democrat, for his seat in the senate. Others also have expressed an interest in the office.
Rep. Carter also said his granddaughters were at the Texas camp that flooded, according to WTOC.
Rep. Buddy Carter took to social media Sunday afternoon, sharing that his granddaughters were at the summer camp in Texas that flooded. He says while they are safe, they lost their cousin in the flooding.
The congressman is asking everyone to join in prayers for Texas.
Dalton’s city charter has been updated, and city council is working to update ordinances to reflect the revisions, according to the Dalton Daily Citizen.
In late 2022, the Dalton City Council asked City Administrator Andrew Parker to begin the process of drafting a new city charter, the first complete overhaul of the charter in some 50 years.
A city’s charter is similar to the U.S. Constitution. It sets the basic terms of a city’s structure, powers and authority. But over the years, Dalton’s charter had grown well beyond that, including items that other cities address through ordinances as well as sections that were out of date and in conflict with current city practices or state law. Parts of the charter are 100 years old.
For instance, according to officials, there were references to city residents paying for their share of road resurfacing based on their road frontage. There’s also a section that mandated a technique to pave roads that hadn’t been used in about 50 years.
In 2024, the city sent the charter to the state Legislature for approval. The charter was approved in the spring of 2024.
Wrens City Council discussed House Bill 581‘s expanded property tax homestead exemption, according to the Augusta Chronicle.
This piece of legislation written by Rep. Shaw Blackmon, R-146, was passed by the Georgia General Assembly last session, March 28, 2024 and Governor Brian Kemp signed the bill into law April 18, 2024.
Once the bill was passed the local government entities had until March 1, 2025 to opt out of participating in the Floating Homestead exemption, which required passing a resolution and holding three local hearings.
Jefferson County opted to be a part of HB 581, which will limit the annual assessment increases on homestead property to the rate of inflation. The rate of inflation is based on the consumer price index which is set annually by the Georgia Department of Revenue.
The base year of the assessment will be set at the 2024 value and will not reset unless the property is sold or a substantial upgrade is made.
“Today I have a copy of an intergovernmental agreement that the council will vote on for the July 1 city council meeting, that’s in your packet,” Wrens City Manager Arty Thrift said.
The intergovernmental agreement will authorize a one percent County Special Floating Local Option Sales Tax (FLOST) within the special district of the county for the exclusive purpose of property tax relief. County and qualified municipalities met to discuss the FLOST referendum, June 17.
The intergovernmental agreement was between Jefferson County and the municipalities of Avera, Bartow, Louisville, Stapleton, Wadley, and Wrens. Upon passage of the referendum which will be decided by voters of Jefferson County on Nov. 4, 2025, the FLOST specifies a proposed tax rate between 0.05% and 1.0% up to five years and distributed to those participating municipalities.
Thrift pointed out how population and the net taxable assessments decide the cities’ share of SPLOST.
“Based off of a spreadsheet that Jefferson County Administrator Jerry Coalson provided, Wrens would receive 14.113% of the FLOST proceeds which would equate about 352,823 to provide citizens of the city of Wrens property tax relief,” Thrift said.
Tifton municipal officials attended the 2025 Georgia Municipal Association Annual Convention in Savannah, according to the Tifton Gazette.
“The ability to network, gather new ideas, recharge and refuel with colleagues in municipal government is invaluable,” said Tifton Mayor Julie Smith. “I always come back recharged and ready to get back to work for Tifton after the conference. Attending the classes, work sessions, and keeping up with state and federal legislative policy helps us better serve the good people of Tifton,” Smith added.
The convention included days packed full of events such as municipal trainings, policy committee meetings, awards ceremonies, and more. Tifton City Council members took classes in topics such as “How Shall We Live – Practical Ethics for Public Life,” “Making Citizen Engagement Work in Our Communities,” “Information Privacy and Security Breaches,” “Strengthening the Wellbeing of Children and Youth,” and more.
The two distinguished speakers for the convention were Jon Gordon, best-selling author and keynote speaker, and Justice Verda M. Colvin, member of the Georgia Supreme Court.
The 2025 GMA Annual Convention welcomed over 2,600 attendees, 51 Harold F. Holtz Municipal Training Institute classes, opening and general sessions with engaging and inspiring speakers and panels, award ceremonies, and more. The mission of GMA is to anticipate and influence the forces shaping Georgia’s cities and to provide leadership, tools and services that assist municipal governments in becoming more innovative, effective and responsive. GMA currently represents 537 cities in Georgia. A 62-member Board of Directors, composed of city officials, governs GMA.
Mayor Smith currently serves on GMA’s federal and state legislative policy committees, the Georgia Municipal Employee Benefits committee, is a former GMA President, and serves on the Executive Board and Board of Directors.
White County Commission Chair Travis Turner was reappointed Chair of the Association of County Commissioners of Georgia’s General County Government Policy Committee, according to AccessWDUN.
“It is an honor to continue serving as Chair of the General County Government Policy Committee,” said White County Chairman Travis Turner. “This committee plays a critical role in shaping policies that strengthen local governance across our state. I look forward to working alongside Vice-Chair Perdue, my fellow committee members and the ACCG staff to advocate for the needs of Georgia’s counties. I greatly appreciate ACCG President Clinton Johnson’s support and confidence in appointing me to this leadership role.”
Georgia’s County Commission policy committees develop positions on issues impacting county government through a consensus-based policy development process.
The General County Government Committee works to address issues involving the structure of county government and intergovernmental relations between counties, constitutional officers, the courts, and federal, state and city governments.
A lawyer for former Columbus City Manager Isaiah Hugley released a complaint he says he’ll file with the EEOC, according to WTVM.
The complaint is over 300 pages, and Attorney Scott Grubman, argues there was a pattern of discrimination toward the former City Manager.
It starts by pointing out Hugley’s age and race going on to say Councilwoman Charmaine Crabb made the motion to fire him.
The complaint refers to statements Crabb made during an investigation with the Muscogee County Sheriff’s Officewhere she referred to Hugley as “little mafiosos” who “dabble in organized crime” and exhibit “mafia-type behavior.”
The complaint also includes a long list of Hugley’s accomplishments in the city manager position.
Grubman outlines what he calls a pattern of discrimination against Hugley. The lawsuit states that Hugley’s workplace became hostile after he showed support for Police Chief Freddy Blackmon in 2022..
Then, it goes into detail about an audit that showed $45 million in missing funds. Allegations Grubman says were completely fabricated.
These are just a few of the points Grubman is basing the EEOC complaint on.
The complaint is dated July 14, and Grubman said he’ll only file it on that date if the City does not reinstate Hugley as City Manager.
In the draft, which Grubman shared with the Ledger-Enquirer, he argues that comments Columbus Councilor Charmaine Crabb of District 5 made to investigators showed racial bias. During Crabb’s interview with investigators, she alleged that there was “skin color”-based discrimination in CCG’s hiring, benefiting Black people who are members of Historically Black sororities and fraternities. Crabb also questioned the qualifications of Black department heads and referred to Black pastors who spoke during the public agenda of council meetings as “little mafiosos”
Grubman noted in his draft that Crabb was the councilor who introduced the motion to fire Hugley.
Hugley’s outspoken support for former police chief Freddie Blackmon led to retaliation against the former city manager, Grubman also alleges in the draft.
“Soon after Chief Blackmon’s termination, the City — through several of its Councilmembers along with certain City and County employees and others aligned with those Councilmembers — developed a plan to defame, and quite literally frame, Mr. Hugley for alleged misconduct that simply did not occur, as a pretext for his ultimate termination,” Grubman wrote in the draft.
He argues that the internal audit was “designed to harass and retaliate” against Hugley and states that the auditor allegation that $45 million in city funds was missing was made without evidence.
The external auditor, Troutman-Pepper, reported that they found “no evidence to support the claim” that $45 million was missing when they presented their own findings, Grubman wrote in the draft. Troutman-Pepper estimated the revenue loss at $20.1 million to $26.9 million between Jan. 1, 2016, and Sept. 2023. Grubman also said the 2024 audit by Mauldin & Jenkins contained a “clean audit opinion.”
Related Posts
The Marietta Daily Journal – Possible rightward movement on Cobb Commission?
Porsche 911 GT3 RS Detailed – Rumor Central | Automobilemag.com
U.S. House moves spending bill with a strike at health care law | www.myajc.com
Georgia Politics, Campaigns & Elections for May 24, 2013
Land buy for new city square gets first nod | Politics | Macon.com
Comments ( 0 )