Georgia Politics, Campaigns and Elections for March 11, 2025

On March 11, 1779, Congress created the United States Army Corps of Engineers.

On March 11, 1861, the Confederate Congress, assembled in Montgomery, Alabama, adopted the Constitution of the Confederate States of America. Today the original signed manuscript of the Confederate Constitution is in the Hargrett Rare Book and Manuscript Library at the University of Georgia Special Collections Libraries.

On March 11, 1942, General Douglas MacArthur obeyed the President’s order dated February 20, 1942, and left the Philippines.

On March 11, 2005, Brian Nichols shot and killed Fulton County Superior Court Judge Rowland Barnes and court reporter Julie Brandau in the Fulton County Courthouse, leading to a lockdown of the state capitol and a number of nearby buildings. Nichols killed two more before taking a young woman hostage in Duluth; that woman, Ashley Smith, would talk Nichols into surrendering the next day. Nichols was eventually convicted for four murders and is serving consecutive life sentences.

Happy Birthday to former Governor Roy Barnes, who served from 1999-2003, and lost to Republican Sonny Perdue in 2002, and to current Governor Nathan Deal in 2010.

Georgia Politics, Campaigns and Elections

Bulloch County voters continue early voting ahead of the March 18, 2025 Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (SPLOST) referendum, according to the Statesboro Herald.

The referendum on whether to extend the 1% Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax six years for a projected $138 million revenue will conclude with next Tuesday, March 18 as Election Day. An intergovernmental agreement approved by the county Board of Commissioners and the city and town councils of Statesboro, Brooklet, Portal and Register in November proposed the SPLOST extension and set out how the revenue will be shared. If approved, the new six-year run of the tax will begin Oct. 1.

Savannah-Chatham public schools are touting the benefits of passing the March 18, 2025 Special Purpose Local Option Sale Tax for Education (E-SPLOST), according to WTOC.

Monday, voters are just about a week away from the March 18, special education tax election in Chatham County. This is the fifth time Chatham County locals will have the chance to vote on the one cent sales tax known as ESPLOST.

This time around, the district could invest about $115 million in Pooler alone.

“If you’ve been in that area recently, you know that the population there has exploded and schools there are bursting at the seems,” said the district’s superintendent, Dr. Denise Watts.

Dr. Watts said if the public votes in support of ESPLOST V, they’ll build a multi-complex in Pooler. That complex would bring the city its first ever high school, along with a K-8 school, and potentially an athletic complex.

“In order to ensure that our students and our faculty and staff, have the proper environment, or at least an appropriate environment, we would have to reevaluate how we spend, we would have to look at what the impact that has on the millage rate,” said the superintendent. “There would be a lot of discussions about how we allocate and reallocate resources that generally can go to student learning, can go to salaries for teachers.”

Early voting on ESPLOST opened up about two weeks ago. In that period, as of last Friday, only about 1,400 people cast their ballots out of the more than 240,000 registered voters in Chatham County.

Cobb County voters go to the polls today in a Special Primary Runoff Election for Commission District 2, according to the AJC.

Jaha Howard won the Democratic primary for Cobb County Commission District 2 in May last year. Today, he’ll try to do it again.

Howard’s 2024 victory was thrown out after a judge ruled the county’s electoral map unconstitutional, the result of a power struggle between the Democratic-controlled commission and the Republican-controlled state Legislature.

Howard made it through the rescheduled Democratic primary last month, but this time he finished second to former state Rep. Erick Allen. The two men face off today in a runoff election.

Both men are familiar to voters. Howard is a former member of the Cobb County Board of Education. He owns a dental practice in Atlanta and was an unsuccessful candidate for state superintendent of education in 2022.

Allen spent two terms in the state Legislature before his unsuccessful bid for lieutenant governor in 2022. A management consultant, Allen is also chair of the Cobb County Democrats.

The winner will face Republican Alicia Adams in the general election on April 29.

Under the Gold Dome

Tuesday, March 11 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . convene for legislative day 30
Wednesday, March 12 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . committee work day
Thursday, March 13 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . convene for legislative day 31

Tuesday – March 11, 2025

TBD Senate Rules : Upon Adj 450 CAP
8AM HOUSE MOTOR VEHICLES 606 CLOB
8AM HOUSE SMALL BUS DEV 506 CLOB
9:30 AM HOUSE Reg Ind Reg Sub 606 CLOB
10AM Senate Floor Session (LD 30) Senate Chamber
1PM HOUSE FLOOR SESSION (LD30) House Chamber
1PM Senate Retirement 310 CLOB
1PM Senate Children & Families 307 CLOB
2PM HOUSE PUBLIC & COMM HEALTH 606 CLOB
2PM HOUSE RETIREMENT 406 CLOB
2PM HOUSE MARTOC 506 CLOB
2PM HOUSE Rules Sub Lawsuit Reform (Upon Adj) 341 CAP
2PM Senate MARTOC 506 CLOB
3PM HOUSE ENERGY, UTILITIES & TCOM 403 CAP
3PM Senate Higher Education 307 CLOB
3PM Senate Insurance and Labor MEZZ 1
4PM Senate Regulated Industries & Utilities 450 CAP

Governor Brian Kemp’s Office released state revenue numbers for February 2025, according to a Press Release.

The State of Georgia’s net tax collections in the month of February approached $2.13 billion, for an increase of $94.2 million, or 4.6%, compared to February 2024, when net tax collections totaled $2.03 billion for the month.  Year-to-date, net tax revenue collections totaled $21.53 billion, for an increase of $379.2 million that was driven chiefly by the collection of the state’s motor fuel excise tax, which was suspended by Executive Order for a period of two and a half months during FY 2024.  Adjusting for the motor fuel tax changes, year-to-date net tax revenue collections for the period-ending February 28 were down $82.7 million, or 0.4%.

The changes within the following tax categories account for February’s overall net tax revenue increase:

Individual Income Tax:  Individual Income Tax collections for the month totaled roughly $1.01 billion, for an increase of $130.5 million, or 14.9%, compared to last year, when net Individual Tax revenue totaled $878.8 million.

The following notable components within Individual Income Tax combine for the net increase:

Individual Income Tax refunds issued (net of voided checks) decreased by $55.7 million or 12.1%
Income Tax Withholding payments were up by $64.7 million, or 5.2%, over February 2024
Individual Income Tax Return payments increased by $4.2 million or 10.3% from FY 2024
All other Individual Tax categories, including Estimated Tax payments, were up a combined $5.9 million

Sales and Use Tax:  Gross Sales and Use Tax collections in February totaled nearly $1.45 billion, for an increase of $34.4 million, or 2.4%, over FY 2024.  Net Sales and Use Tax declined by $18.2 million or 2.6% compared to last year, when net Sales Tax totaled roughly $701 million. The adjusted Sales Tax distribution to local governments totaled $752.2 million for an increase of $46.2 million, while Sales Tax refunds increased $6.4 million.

Corporate Income Tax:  Corporate Income Tax collections for February decreased by $14.4 million, or 16.2%, compared to FY 2024, when net Corporate Tax revenues totaled $88.9 million for the month.

The following notable components within Corporate Income Tax make up the net decrease:

Corporate Income Tax refunds issued (net of voids) were down $10 million or 31.9% from FY 2024
Corporate Income Tax Estimated payments declined by $19.8 million, or 45.9%, compared to last year
All other Corporate Tax payments, including Corporate Return payments, were down a combined $4.6 million

Motor Fuel Taxes:  Motor Fuel Tax collections during the month increased by $3.7 million, or 2.1%, from last year when motor fuel tax collections totaled $176.7 million in February of FY 2024.

Motor Vehicle – Tag, Title & Fees:  Motor Vehicle Tag & Title Fee collections for the month decreased by roughly $0.7 million, or -1.5%, while Title ad Valorem Tax (TAVT) collections increased by $3.2 million or 4.3%.

The State House Appropriations Committee passed their version of Governor Kemp’s FY 2026 state budget, sending it to the floor, according to the Capitol Beat News Service via the Savannah Morning News.

Georgia House budget writers approved Gov. Brian Kemp’s $37.7 billion fiscal 2026 budget Monday, a spending plan that emphasizes the needs of the state prison system.

The budget, which takes effect July 1, builds on the mid-year budget the General Assembly adopted last week, which added $345 million in new spending on prisons. The fiscal ’26 spending plan antes up another $250 million for a prison system that was blasted in a federal audit last fall for failing to protect inmates from widespread violence.

“It (is) a historic infusion of cash, highlighting the sense of urgency,” House Appropriations Committee Chairman Matt Hatchett, R-Dublin, told committee members before Monday’s vote.

The $250 million increase for prisons includes $125 million Kemp recommended to the legislature in January and $125 million added by the House. The money would go to hire more correctional officers to lower the ratio of inmates to staff, give those officers a pay raise, and provide temporary space for inmates inside new modular units to make way for repairs and renovations at existing prisons.

Education is another main driver in the fiscal ’26 budget, with the House adding $98 million to the governor’s spending recommendations. Of that total, $60 million would go toward student support services, including $20 million in grants to hire mental-health counselors for Georgia middle schools and $28 million to support students from low-income families.

Another $25 million would go toward school safety initiatives, which already received a major boost in the $40.5 billion mid-year budget. The House also earmarked $10 million to hire more literacy coaches.

Other big-ticket items include $32 million in increased reimbursement fees for health-care providers serving Medicaid patients and $8.3 million to bolster the state’s graduate medical education program.

The full House is expected to take up the budget later this week.

House Bill 296 by State Rep. Houston Gaines (R-Athens) passed the House and would allow Georgia drivers to present their license on their smartphone, according to the Capitol Beat News Service via the Statesboro Herald.

Drivers in Georgia would be able to leave home without their wallet, so long as they bring their smartphone, if legislation that seeks to require police to accept a digital version of drivers’ licenses becomes law.

House Bill 296 passed the Georgia House of Representatives by a wide bipartisan majority last week, and on Monday a Senate committee hit the accelerator on the bill.

“I think it’s a great and smart use of technology,” said Sen. John Albers, R-Roswell, chairman of the Senate Public Safety Committee, which voted unanimously to move HB 296 to the Senate Rules Committee to schedule a possible vote by the full Senate.

A similar measure passed the House last year with broad support but stalled in the Senate. A Senate committee passed the measure, but it never got a vote on the Senate floor.

Rep. Houston Gaines, R-Athens, the chief sponsor of HB 296, said about 450,000 Georgians are already using an official Georgia drivers’ license in Apple Wallet or Google Wallet. So far though, the identification is only accepted by the Transportation Security Administration at airports.

HB 296 wouldn’t expand the use beyond police officers in traffic stops. It doesn’t mention using digital identification at bars to confirm age, for instance, and it specifically excludes their use in polling places.

That last element about polling places was absent from last year’s version, House Bill 1001. The polling place exclusion in this year’s version may make lawmakers more comfortable with the idea, given the concerns about election security in recent years.

The only holdup at this point is ensuring that all police officers have a smartphone equipped to validate a digital license. The validation works by tapping phones, like in the supermarket checkout line. Officers don’t want to have to carry a driver’s phone back to their cruiser to verify identity, Gaines said, so a device they can carry to the driver’s side door is key.

The technology already exists.

“Any officer with an iPhone can now just scan a driver’s license and verify that information,” Gaines said.

The bill includes a requirement that law enforcement agencies equip their officers with the necessary devices by July 2027, though Gaines said that date could be pushed back if agencies encounter problems.

The legislation also says officers could not search a driver’s phone for other information simply because the driver handed it over for license verification. And it clarifies that drivers could still use a traditional analog license during a stop.

Gaines advised drivers to carry both even if this measure becomes law.

The State House last week passed two bills for tax rebates, according to the Capitol Beat News Service via the Savannah Morning News.

The Georgia House of Representatives passed two tax relief bills Thursday, one unanimously and another that proved controversial.

House Bill 112, which cleared the chamber 175-0, would provide $1 billion in one-time income tax rebates to Georgia taxpayers.

Single filers would get a rebate of $250, while heads of households would receive $375 and married couples filing jointly would get $500.

House Bill 111, on the other hand, drew substantial opposition from Democrats before passing 110-60. The legislation calls for reducing Georgia’s income tax rate from 5.39% to 5.19% retroactive to the beginning of the current tax year.

Rep. Saira Draper, D-Atlanta, said she supported a similar tax cut the General Assembly passed last year because it was tied to certain financial benchmarks that would only allow it to take effect if the state’s finances were strong.

“I was good with that approach because it was thoughtful and conservative,” she said.

Draper said she opposed HB111 because Gov. Brian Kemp and legislative Republicans are going ahead with additional tax cuts even though the state’s revenue estimate for this year is lower than last year.

Other House Democrats complained the tax cut would benefit primarily the wealthy while the state is failing to adequately essential services including health care and education adequately.

But House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Shaw Blackmon, R-Bonaire, said reducing taxes would help all Georgia taxpayers. Under the bill, a family of four wouldn’t pay any taxes on its first $32,000 of income, he said.

“This measure allows Georgians to keep more of their money – not the government’s – and reduces the tax burden for every family that pays taxes,” Blackmon said.

Both bills now head to the state Senate.

More on school safety from WJBF:

The Georgia Senate has given the green light on three legislative bills to improve school safety in the state.

Georgia’s Lieutenant Governor Burt Jones said these bills will build on school safety initiatives to keep both students and teachers safe.

Just last week, Governor Brian Kemp signed the FY 2025 amended budget which allocates $50 million dollars for school safety grants.

Senate Bill 17, or Ricky and Alyssa’s Law, will require all Georgia schools to have mobile panic alarms to alert first responders.

Senate Bill 61 will strengthen the state’s law so attempted murders and terror acts towards schools by juveniles will be tried as adults.

Senate Bill 179 will require transferring students to show their academic and disciplinary records to the new school within 10 days, and let the parents or guardian to know about the transfer within 5 days.

Lawmakers are using the school shooting last year at Appalachee High School on how to strengthen safety.

“In this situation at Apalachee High School, that was not as appropriate as it could have been. Certainly the security officers limited the mortality related to that shooting,” said State Senator Ben Watson.

State house lawmakers will review the bills in committee and may add changes to the legislation, but will have to do so before session ends up on April 4.

House Bill 340 by State Rep. Scott Hilton (R-Peachtree Corners) passed the House and the Senate is now considering the ban on cellphones in schools, according to the Savannah Morning News.

Also known as the “Distraction-Free Education Act,” Georgia HB 340 prohibits public schools students in grades K-8 from accessing personal electronic devices including, but not limited to, smartphones, headphones, tablets, and smartwatches.

Each school system and public school would be required to adopt policies and procedures that ensure the law is being followed. This includes having methods for storing devices, facilitating any necessary communications between parents and students, and ensuring there are consequences for violations.

Schools and school systems must ensure these policies and procedures are in effect by Jan. 1, 2026.

The bill does not apply to private schools or to public high school students. It also only applies to the “bell-to-bell” school day, meaning from the first bell signaling the start of instructional time to the final bell signaling the conclusion of the school day. This indicates after-school activities are an exception.

HB 340 also does not prohibit or limit students’ access to devices provided to them by the school for educational purposes. Additionally, a student whose Individualized Education Program, Section 504 Plan, or medical plan explicitly mandates the use of a personal electronic device for medical or educational purposes shall be permitted access to their devices as necessary.

It has been referred to the Georgia Senate Children and Families Committee which consists of Sens. Kay Kirkpatrick, Bo Hatchett, Matt Brass, Max Burns, Jason Esteves, Nabilah Islam Parkes, Kim Jackson, Derek Mallow, Chuck Payne, and Brian Strickland.

House Bill 307 by State Rep. Bethany Ballard (R-Warner Robins) would prevent the use of “three cueing” instructional methods for reading, according to WRDW.

State Rep. Bethany Ballard (R-Warner Robins) filed a bill last month to prohibit public schools from using “three cueing,” a theory where kids are often encouraged to sample the letters and the words in the text, relying mostly on prediction and context for comprehension.

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

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

Reading Recovery’s teaching methods are often associated with using three-cueing strategies. Two years ago, a University of Delaware study found its teaching methods harm children’s ability to read. Reading Recovery requested the study, which tracked thousands of students over 13 years.

“Reading Recovery is not in line with the science of reading,” Ballard, a former high school English teacher, said. “We [want to] make sure our schools and our teacher preparation schools will be teaching the right thing and making sure everybody’s aligned with the science of reading.”

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

“It is of critical importance to note that laws that ban three-cueing inadvertently ban teachers from teaching phonics, grammar, comprehension, and any number of other ways children approach text,” Molasso said.

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

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

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

Ballard has championed similar legislation in the past. In 2023, she helped pass The Georgia Early Literacy Act, which now mandates kindergarten through third-grade teachers be trained in the science of reading. According to the National Center on Improving Literacy, the science of reading is an approach to teaching reading that is based on decades of research and evidence. It’s not a specific program.

State Sen. Rashawn Kemp (D-Atlanta) filed a companion bill about the same time. “[It] takes a big step toward making GA #1 in literacy!” the Atlanta Democrat said on X after filing his bill. Kemp is a former schoolteacher and principal.

The legislation is supported by an important ally, Sen. Billy Hickman (R-Statesboro), chairman of the Senate Committee on Education and Youth. Hickman’s wife is a former educator.

All three lawmakers say the goal of the legislation is to address Georgia’s literacy crisis. By fourth grade, only on in three Georgia students can read proficiently. “This is Georgia’s most solvable problem,” Hickman said.

Governor Brian Kemp’s litigation reform legislation (comprising SB 68 and SB 69 by State Sen. John F. Kennedy) is being discussed in the State House, according to State Affairs.

Here are three main aspects of the bill:

‘Nuclear’ jury awards

Over the past decade, juries have awarded nearly $60 billion in legal damages to people suing over car accidents, medical procedures and injuries at businesses in Georgia, according to a 2024 report from the state Office of Commissioner of Insurance and Safety Fire.

Though many of those awards amounted to a few thousand dollars, some climbed into the tens — even hundreds — of millions, devastating sued businesses and hospitals in what tort reform advocates call “nuclear verdicts.”

Brent Walker, an attorney for the Medical Association of Georgia, told lawmakers last week about a recent Cobb County case in which a patient sued an emergency room doctor for a “catastrophic injury” that resulted in a multimillion-dollar payout.

Those types of cases have caused premiums for medical liability insurance to shoot up almost 90% since 2016, prompting hospitals particularly in rural areas to risk closure and newly graduated medical students to flee Georgia for less litigious states, Walker told members of the House Rules Subcommittee on Lawsuit Reform last week.

“Fear of litigation is very real for our physicians,” Walker said. “The rules are being leveraged against our physicians in order to create an unfair and unjust playing field.”

SB 68 proposes ending the practice of “anchoring,” in which suing attorneys push juries to award far more in damages than they expect to receive, often swaying jurors to settle on an arbitrarily high payout.

The bill also would prohibit lawyers from deliberately selecting prospective jurors who might be open to excessive awards and would require that payouts for medical damages be closer to the amount an injured patient should “reasonably” receive after a botched operation or lack of proper care.

But critics argue that change would strip jurors and judges of the discretion to determine appropriate compensation for an injured person. Dax Lopez, a former state court judge in DeKalb County, stressed that juries “usually get it right” — even when it comes to large awards.

Seat belts

Auto insurance rates in Georgia have spiked in recent years, climbing to around $2,800 in average annual premiums last year — a 21% jump from 2023, according to the analysis group Insurify. Those premiums are expected to rise again by nearly 10% this year.

Tort reform supporters place much of the blame on current state law that forbids juries from considering evidence of whether someone was wearing a seat belt during a car accident. SB 68 would reverse that law, allowing seat-belt evidence to be presented in civil trials.

Opponents pressed lawmakers to keep the existing ban on seat-belt evidence. John Pope, an attorney at the Gainesville-based Hasty Pope LLP, said proving seat belt use is often difficult because most people usually exit their cars to check on the other driver’s well-being after a collision — and remove their seat belts when doing so.

“It sounds good,” Pope told the committee. “But what you’re doing is you’re putting the onus on the victim to prove they had their seat belt on.”

Negligence and victims

A third major tort reform sticking point centers on proposals to shield business owners from injuries committed on their property by someone other than themselves, their employees or contractors hired to provide security.

Opponents have slammed that measure, saying it could embolden bad-actor businesses to shirk safety and security needs on their properties and give people no legal recourse to sue if they are hurt — or sexually abused.

From the AJC:

An emotional hearing about Gov. Brian Kemp’s proposal to overhaul civil litigation rules underscores just how tough the vote could be in the Georgia House.

Over five hours on Monday, House lawmakers heard wrenching testimony from sex trafficking victims who warned the proposal could make it impossible to hold hotels and businesses accountable for turning a blind eye to their abuse. A half-dozen survivors of sex crimes pleaded with lawmakers to carve out an exception in the bill that ensures victims can seek damages from property owners.

Chanda Santana, who runs an Athens nonprofit that helps sex trafficking survivors, said many of the women she assists are victimized by “profiteers of pain” like motels whose workers ignore warning signs or, worse, are complicit.

“If we pass this bill without an exception to hold motels accountable, we’re telling survivors their pain isn’t worthy of justice,” she said.

And Jon Tonge, an attorney who specializes in filing civil litigation against businesses that profit from sex trafficking, warned the bill would all but eliminate those lawsuits in Georgia’s court system.

“With the bill as currently written, there will never be another survivor who files a case in Georgia courts,” he said. “It would be malpractice.”

Their words didn’t fall on deaf ears. Several GOP committee members told us they were seeking ways to sharpen a carveout in Kemp’s proposal as it heads toward a House floor vote within days.

Their message could touch a nerve with Kemp, too. His wife, Mary Kemp, has made it her mission to crack down on sex trafficking and has spearheaded the passage of a raft of legislation to toughen penalties on offenders and help victims of the horrific crime.

United States District Court Judge J.P. Boulee (ND-GA) dismissed a lawsuit over Georgia election law, according to the AJC.

U.S. District Judge J.P. Boulee ruled Friday that the plaintiffs, a labor union of TV and theater workers, couldn’t sue because voting isn’t part of the group’s purpose.

While the ruling tossed the lawsuit, Boulee didn’t address whether Georgia’s election law defied federal law.

“In short, plaintiff is a labor union and not a voting organization,” Boulee wrote in a 19-page decision. “It represents the interests of its members as laborers in a particular industry and not as voters in the state of Georgia.”

A conservative organization, Restoring Integrity and Trust in Elections PAC, praised the decision against the labor union, the International Alliance of Theater Stage Employees Local 927.

“This case was nothing more than yet another attempt to undermine common sense election safeguards that protect against last-minute chaos and help enable secure and orderly absentee voting,” said Derek Lyons, president and CEO of RITE PAC, which supported the Georgia Republican Party’s participation in the lawsuit.

Several other lawsuits opposing Georgia’s 2021 voting law, Senate Bill 202, are still pending.

Grovetown Police Chief Jamey Kitchens is advocating for a state retirement system for law enforcement, according to WRDW.

Grovetown Police Chief Jamey Kitchens is pushing for a statewide law enforcement retirement plan in Georgia.

That’s partly because Georgia doesn’t have a state-wide retirement plan for them.

One local chief is pushing to change that. When Kitchens isn’t leading his officers, he’s scratching his head.

“The state of Georgia doesn’t have a state law enforcement retirement,” said Kitchens. “I don’t mean just state law enforcement. I’m talking about law enforcement in general. The reason I brought this up is that every state that touches Georgia does.”

“For those of us in law enforcement, and have been in law enforcement, i’m approaching three decades myself, this is something that’s always been repeatedly shot down or dismissed,” said Kitchens. “Every time it’s been brought up, it’s been ‘oh this will never happen in Georgia.’”

Kitchens says there are plenty of models for state lawmakers to look into.

“We aren’t reinventing the wheel,” he said. “Go to any of these states and ask them how they’re doing it.”

District 125 Representative Gary Richardson agrees.

“I think the average citizen is not even aware that there’s not a long-term retirement plan, a state-wide retirement plan,” said Richardson.

As the legislative session continues, so will Richardson’s push for a state-wide retirement plan.

“I’m interested in finding out why we aren’t there. What is the hold up?” said Richardson.

Kitchens says agencies are fighting to hire and retain qualified employees. Right now, the Grovetown Police Department is working to fill positions.

“So if there has ever been a time to come to the table to and say what can we do to recruit these folks and bring some back, offer up something that says, ‘Ok I can do 25 years and I can still retire as a young person and go do something else, if I want to,’” said Kitchens.

The Georgia Sheriff’s Association says it’s for the retirement fund, but says it comes down to having the funding to kick start it and keep it going.

We reached out to Governor Brian Kemp’s office twice to get his thoughts on the subject.

Grovetown City Council supports the idea of a state law enforcement retirement system, according to WJBF.

Grovetown City Council wants to recommend adopting a State Retirement System for all Georgia Law Enforcement Officers. Mayor Pro Tem Eric Blair was the one to bring this to the council’s attention.

“South Carolina started theirs in 1952, Alabama started theirs in 1945, Mississippi they’ve had one since 1958, and Georgia is one of the few states in the nation that do not have a state retirement plan. And I think that our legislation needs to consider that. So that’s the idea of this resolution,” said Eric Blair, Mayor Pro Tem, Grovetown City Council.

Right now, the Retirement plan in Georgia is based on various municipalities or county governments one works at, so there are no portable retirements allowing officers to carry over years of service to go from one job to another unless going from one that is a part of the Georgia Municipal Association.

“You have someone that starts at a local department and spends five or six years and then says, well, I want to go to the State patrol. Well, that’s five of six years that they’re not even going to get credit for. They’re going to have to start over again at the state patrol, or the GBI, or vice versa,” said Chief Jamey Kitchens, Grovetown Police Department.

Grovetown Chief of Police, Jamey Kitchens, told me the job is not only difficult in nature, but they want to have more incentive to bring in new officers and retain them.

“I’m just representative of many. I guess I’m just the loudmouth that got out here. Nobody should expect anybody to give forty years in this profession. With what it takes on you physically, mentally,” said Kitchens.

The motion was passed, and Grovetown will bring the resolution to state officials to show that they support this idea and encourage surrounding counties to do so as well.

United States Secretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs Doug Collins discussed the Trump Administration’s actions, according to AccessWDUN.

Veteran Affairs Secretary and Gainesville native Doug Collins came on WDUN’s “The Martha Zoller Show” Monday to speak about his initiatives in his new role.

“It’s the issue of homelessness and suicide, which are prevalent and that we have spent a lot of money at the VA but are not making the progress that we need to make,” Collins said.

Collins added that there is $3-billion in the VA budget for homelessness, but there are still roughly 40,000 homeless veterans.

Collins also said that everybody is claiming he’s “cutting into VA” and that “it’s going to be terrible.”

It is important to note that on the Department of Government Efficiency’s (DOGE’s) website, the VA is listed over 50 times under contracts cut.

“Let me just reiterate some facts … programs and operations have serious vulnerabilities for fraud, waste, and abuse in management,” Collins said. “Our mission is the veteran.”

Collins added that $130-billion and 80,000 employees have been added to the VA over the last four years.

“We’re going to start answering and giving solutions instead of trying to do the same old line,” Collins said.

Collins closed saying that their technology is “nowhere” where it needs to be, but that they are getting it back on track.

Tifton City Council is considering a gunshot detection and location system, according to the Tifton Gazette.

City police chief Steve Hyman came before council members during their March 3 meeting requesting their approval in acquiring and implementing a gunshot identification system from crime prevention support and surveillance company Flock Safety.

Hyman explained that the police department had been experiencing difficulties with false reports of gunshots in certain areas of the city, as residents calling 911 to report such incidents had sometimes mistaken the sound for something like a firecracker going off.

He reported that he, city manager Larry Lawrence, and councilman M. Jay Hall, as well as a few city detectives, had been meeting with representatives of the firm and come to the conclusion their support would help solve the issue they were facing.

The proposed system, known as the Raven system, would establish sensors throughout the target areas to aid in more accurately identifying the sound of a gunshot compared to other similar noises.

Hyman asserted that once the system had detected a gunshot, it could identify the area from where the sound originated within a 100-foot range, and, with the system being installed on the laptops utilized by police patrol cars, they would be able to respond even before a report could be made.

Augusta City Commissioners will consider a moratorium on new apartments, according to WJBF.

With the growing number of apartment complexes, some city leaders believe Augusta has reached its limit. At their meeting Tuesday, city leaders are scheduled to discuss a freeze on future apartment construction.

“Rather have house tops, roof tops than apartment complexes. Apartment complexes put an impact on our infrastructure puts an impact on our school system,” said Mayor Pro-Tem Wayne Guilfoyle.

But city leaders say the downtown business district would not be included in the apartment moratorium.

“Because that’s where the millennial are going to be living,” said Guilfoyle.

Relators say the increasing number of apartments hinders building single family homes.

“There needs to be more opportunities for home owners to be able to buy if there’s too many apartments there’s no need to purchase homes,” said Jones.

But there are concerns a moratorium on apartment building would impact supply and increase rent costs.