On May 13, 1607, English settlers founded the first permanent English settlement in America, at Jamestown on the James River. This led to the first English-language politics in America:
Dispatched from England by the London Company, the colonists had sailed across the Atlantic aboard the Susan Constant, Godspeed, and Discovery. Upon landing at Jamestown, the first colonial council was held by seven settlers whose names had been chosen and placed in a sealed box by King James I. The council, which included Captain John Smith, an English adventurer, chose Edward Wingfield as its first president.
On March 12, 1739, James Oglethorpe, recognized as the Founder of Georgia, wrote the Georgia Trustees, urging them to continue the ban on slavery in the new colony.
Lyman Hall arrived in Philadelphia as a delegate to the Second Continental Congress on May 13, 1775.
On May 13, 1798, a Constitutional Convention adopted the Georgia Constitution of 1798.
The Mexican War began on May 13, 1846.
Georgia Whigs, led by Governor George Crawford, Alexander Stephens, and Robert Toombs, criticized the war for raising divisive questions about slavery in the territories. Georgia Democrats, led by Howell Cobb and Herschel Johnson, staunchly supported the war and states’ rights afterward. Because Whigs, nationally, appeared to be antislavery, Georgia Whigs lost the governorship in 1847. The Compromise of 1850 temporarily settled the slavery question in the territories, but the moderating influence of Georgia’s Whigs dissolved in the heated rhetoric of states’ rights in the 1850s. The next war would find Americans fighting Americans.
The first fighting at Resaca, Georgia took place on May 13, 1864 and Union forces marched into Dalton.
Juliette Gordon Low held the first meeting of the Girl Guides, which would later be renamed the Girl Scouts, in her home in Savannah, Georgia on March 12, 1912.
Gianni Agnelli was born on March 12, 1921 in Turin, Italy, and would come to be the wealthiest man in Italy, head and principal shareholder of Fiat, and recognized as an Italian Senator for Life in 1991. Among those who follow fashion, Agnelli has long been recognized as an archetype of the Italian approach to menswear.
His style was about more than clothes—it was an attitude, a philosophical response to absurdity. Watching him could tell you how to live, how to behave. In Italy, they call it sprezzatura, making the difficult look easy. Americans are gonzo, a spirit personified by Hunter S. Thompson, who defined it as a man who learns to fly by falling out of a plane. Agnelli might look gonzo—especially on nights when he showed up in boots and an ill-fitting tie—but was, in fact, sprezzatura; he knew how to fly all along. “When he was not perfectly dressed, it was contrived,” says Taki Theodoracopulos, the writer, columnist, socialite and son of a Greek shipping tycoon. Taki is one of the few surviving members of Agnelli’s social circle. “The tie askew, the unbuttoned shirt—nothing was an accident. Or, to put it another way, it was meant to be an accident, which made it even more stylish.”
On May 13, 1981, Pope John Paul II was shot at St. Peter’s Square in Rome.
Clarence Thomas, originally from Pin Point, Georgia, was sworn in to the United States Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit on March 12, 1990.
On May 13, 2005, the Pentagon Base Realignment and Closure Commission (BRAC) recommended the closing of Fort McPherson in Atlanta, Fort Gillem in Forest Park, the Naval Air Station in Marietta, and the Naval Supply Corps School in Athens.
R.E.M. was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on March 12, 2007.
Happy birthday to former Atlanta Braves slugger Dale Murphy.
Georgia Politics, Campaigns, and Elections
Friday is the last day for Bulloch County voters to cast their ballots early in the March 18, 2025 Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax referendum, according to the Statesboro Herald.
Cobb County Democrats nominated former State Rep. Erick Allen for Commission District 2 in yesterday’s Special Primary Runoff Election, according to the AJC.
Allen, a consultant, captured about 56.7% of the vote to defeat dentist Jaha V. Howard, according to unofficial election results.
Allen will face Alicia Adams, a Republican, in the special election April 29. The contest for the board’s District 4 seat also will be decided that day.
Cobb County was forced to hold the special elections after a protracted legal dispute over County Commission district lines caused a do-over of last year’s election because the districts drawn by county officials were deemed unconstitutional.
The heavily blue District 2 seat came open when incumbent Jerica Richardson’s home was drawn out of the district by the state Legislature in 2022 — the issue that led to the legal battle over district lines.
Cobb County Superior Court Judge Kellie Hill ruled that last year’s primaries had to be redone, concluding the county-drawn electoral map used was unconstitutional. This year’s special election is being held using a map drawn by the Georgia Legislature.
Former Governor Nathan Deal will sign “Veto, the Governor’s Cat,” at Valdosta State University on Wednesday, March 26, 2025, according to the Valdosta Daily Times.
Deal has served the citizens of Georgia as state senator, United States congressman, and 82nd governor. He released his children’s book, “Veto, the Governor’s Cat,” in August 2024. The 60-page illustrated publication is an inspiring tribute to his late wife, Sandra Deal, who was a fierce champion for literacy and early childhood education throughout her life, including during her career as a teacher and her tenure as Georgia’s first lady. She believed that children who can read are children who can learn.
A portion of the proceeds from “Veto, the Governor’s Cat” support literacy projects and other educational initiatives through The Deal Foundation.
“Writing ‘Veto, the Governor’s Cat’ has been a deeply personal and rewarding journey for me,” Deal said. “Through the adventures of Veto and Bill, I share the values of empathy, resilience, and love that Sandra cherished. I sincerely hope young readers and their families find joy and comfort in these pages.”
Hosted by the James L. and Dorothy H. Dewar College of Education and Human Services, Deal’s VSU visit will feature an informal conversation facilitated by Dr. Richard A. Carvajal, university president; an opportunity for attendees to ask questions; and a book signing.
Under the Gold Dome
Wednesday, March 12 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . committee work day
Thursday, March 13 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . convene for legislative day 31
Wednesday – March 12, 2025
8:00 AM HOUSE INSURANCE 506 CLOB
8:00 AM HOUSE AG & CONS AFF 606 CLOB
8:00 AM Senate Econ Dev & Tourism 450 CAP
9:00 AM HOUSE RULES 341 CAP
9:00 AM Senate Science & Tech 310 CLOB
9:00 AM Senate Ethics 307 CLOB
10:00 AM HOUSE INDUSTRY & LABOR 506 CLOB
10:00 AM CANCELED – HOUSE BUDGET & FISC AFF 606 CLOB
10:00 AM Senate Banking & Fin Inst 450 CAP
11:00 AM HOUSE JUDICIARY JUVENILE 406 CLOB
11:00 AM Senate Education & Youth 307 CLOB
12:00 PM Senate State & Local Govtal Ops MEZZ 1
12:00 PM Senate Judiciary 307 CLOB
1:00 PM HOUSE Ed Curriculum Sub 415 CLOB
1:00 PM HOUSE HIGHER EDUCATION 606 CLOB
1:00 PM HOUSE PUB SFTY & HL SEC 506 CLOB
1:00 PM HOUSE Reg Ind Occ/Pro Lic Sub 406 CLOB
1:00 PM HOUSE W&M Income Tax Sub 341 CAP
1:00 PM Senate Transportation MEZZ 1
1:00 PM Senate Public Safety 450 CAP
1:15 PM HOUSE W&M Ad Valorem Sub 341 CAP
1:30 PM HOUSE W&M Pub Fin & Local Policy Sub 341 CAP
2:00 PM HOUSE Judy Non-Civil Gullett Sub 132 CAP
2:00 PM HOUSE W&M Compliance Sub 341 CAP
2:00 PM HOUSE Education Policy Sub 415 CLOB
2:00 PM Senate Agriculture & CA 307 CLOB
2:30 PM HOUSE W&M 341 CAP
3:00 PM HOUSE GOVTAL AFF 606 CLOB
3:00 PM HOUSE SPECIAL RULES 415 CLOB
3:00 PM Senate Finance MEZZ 1
4:00 PM Senate Health & Human Svcs 450 CAP
Thursday – March 13, 2025
TBD Senate Rules Committee: Upon Adj 450 CAP
7:30 AM Senate Approp: Ed & Higher Ed Sub 307 CLOB
7:30 AM Senate Approp: Econ Dev Sub 450 CAP
9:00 AM FLOOR SESSION (LD31) House Chamber
10:00 AM Senate Floor Session (LD 31) Senate Chamber
1:00 PM HOUSE ECON DEV & TOURISM 403 CAP
1:00 PM Senate Approp: Crim Justice Pub Sfty Sub 450 CAP
1:00 PM Cancelled – Senate Education & Youth 450 CAP
2:00 PM Senate Appropriations: Transport Sub MEZZ 1
2:00 PM Cancelled – Senate Judiciary 307 CLOB
3:00 PM Cancelled – Senate Reg Ind & Utilities 450 CAP
4:00 PM Senate Insurance and Labor MEZZ 1
Georgia Rivers (fka Georgia River Network) will host “Boater’s Day” at the State Capitol on March 18, 2025, according to AccessWDUN.
A coalition of outdoor recreation groups representing thousands of boaters across Georgia will rally on March 18 at the Georgia State Capitol to urge legislators to protect Georgia’s outdoor recreation heritage and record-setting tourism economy by supporting policies that keep the state’s rivers and streams accessible to the public.
The Freedom to Float Coalition encourages boaters to attend the free event and speak with their legislators. The coalition consists of Georgia Rivers, Georgia Canoeing Association (GCA), Tennessee Valley Canoe Club (TVCC), American Whitewater (AW) and American Canoe Association (ACA).
Boaters Day begins at 8 a.m. in the Capitol with a briefing by coalition leaders. Attendees will then meet with their state senators and representatives between 9 a.m. and Noon to educate them about Georgia’s outdoor recreation industry and the importance of protecting public access to the state’s rivers and streams.
Interested parties can register for the event at: https://georgiarivernetwork.regfox.com/freedom-to-float-boaters-day-at-the-state-capitol-2025 or call 706-409-0128 for more information.
A press release from Joe Cook of Georgia Rivers says The Freedom to Float Coalition has urged state leaders to adopt legislation that affirms the public’s right to pass down streams that are capable of floating recreational watercraft. Neighboring states, including Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina and Florida all have similar policies, and asserts that “right of passage” laws have been part of Georgia’s legal tradition since statehood and in the modern era the ability to float down streams supports the state’s outdoor recreation economy and record-setting tourism industry.
Cook says In December, a special House Study Committee on Navigable Streams issued a report recommending no changes to Georgia’s existing laws, and legislators have stood by those recommendations.
The groups say that during the past two legislative sessions, legislators have grappled with where the public can boat, fish and hunt on the state’s streams. In 2023, a measure supported by Gov. Brian Kemp was adopted, declaring that Georgians had the right to boat, fish and hunt on all of the state’s navigable streams.
But, the state’s 1863 definition of “navigable streams” has been a point of debate for years. Georgia code says that a stream is navigable if it is capable of floating a “boat loaded with freight in the regular course of trade for the whole or part of the year.”
The groups planning to rally at the Capitol building March 18th include:
Georgia Rivers, formerly known as Georgia River Network-a statewide non-profit river advocacy group with the mission to connect people with and protect Georgia’s rivers. Georgia Rivers is GA DNR’s non-profit river recreation partner coordinating the statewide water trails program and created the Georgia River Guide free mobile app.
American Whitewater – a national non-profit river conservation organization with the mission to protect and restore America’s whitewater rivers and to enhance opportunities to enjoy them safely.
American Canoe Association – a national non-profit organization that serves the broader paddling public by providing educational programs, supporting stewardship initiatives that affect paddlers and offering competition opportunities for athletes of all abilities.
Georgia Canoeing Association is a non-profit organization that promotes public river access, boating safety and canoeing and kayaking opportunities across the state.
Tennessee Valley Canoe Club is a 501(c)(7) organization based in Chattanooga/North Georgia that brings together a diverse population of people who are interested in canoeing, kayaking, and related activities; to increase the knowledge, safety, and appreciation of paddle sports; and to support conservation and preservation of recreational waterways.
For more information, you can contact Joe Cook at 706-409-0128 or joe@garivers.org
Weird Headline of the Week: Legislature considers alternative path for corpses, from the Capitol Beat News Service via the Valdosta Daily Times.
Legislation that would regulate an alternative method for disposing of the dead is moving through the Georgia General Assembly, leaving astonished lawmakers in its wake.
“You’re blowing my mind here today because I didn’t know this was allowed,” said Sen. Bill Cowsert, R-Athens, chairman of a committee that heard Senate Bill 241 last month.
The measure seeks regulations for “organic human reduction facilities.”
It was brought to the legislature by Sen. Rick Williams, R-Milledgeville, who is in the funeral home business.
“It’s just human composting,” he said.
After testimony about how composting works, including technical details such as the proper temperature and duration to turn a body into soil, the Senate Regulated Industries and Utilities Committee unanimously approved SB 241.
“This committee never ceases to amaze me,” said Sen. Matt Brass, R-Newnan, just before the vote. “Me either,” Cowsert said.
The bill then passed the full Senate 51-1 last week.
On Monday, it took a brief spin through a subcommittee in the House of Representatives, which sent it to the House Regulated Industries Committee in another unanimous vote.
The presentation Monday was brief after Rep. Jason Ridley, R-Chatsworth, who was leading the Regulatory Subcommittee, introduced Williams by quipping that he would be presenting his “Breaking Bad bill.” Ridley was referring to a television series from more than a decade ago in which a lot of characters die unnaturally.
Despite the wisecracks around SB 241, the bill is deadly serious. Operators would need to be licensed and inspected, and they would have to use the proper equipment, Williams said. Georgia has no rules around composting the dead, he said, adding that he wants to avoid a repeat of what happened in Noble, Ga.
That’s where authorities discovered a grisly scene in 2002: 339 bodies — or their parts — scattered around the grounds of the Tri-State Crematory in various stages of decomposition. A more recent example comes from Colorado, where nearly 200 bodies were found decaying at the Return to Nature Funeral Home last year, in a maggot-infested building with bodily fluids several inches deep.
The ghoulish nature of SB 241 troubled Sen. Frank Ginn at that February Senate committee hearing.
“It’s really scary,” the Republican from Danielsville said, adding, “I remember you brought the bill a year or two ago about dissolving people.”
Ginn wanted to know what happens to the composted remains, and Williams said the family can take possession of them, just like with the ashes that result from cremation.
As with cremains, relatives can have their loved one’s material mixed with paints used to create a portrait, Williams said, or they can have a company add the ashes or soil to shotgun shells, then scatter the remains across a dove field on opening day of dove season.
“You can send them to a pyrotechnics place and have them stuffed into fireworks, or you can scatter them, you can keep them, whatever you want to do with them,” Williams said.
The byproduct of properly composted bodies is perfectly sanitary and safe, he said. Testimony from one person who’d visited a proper composting facility said it smelled like a feed store.
The graphic detail prompted gallows humor.
“You all know how you get a song stuck in your head some days and it just won’t go out?” Cowsert asked. “I got dem bones, dem bones, dem dry bones in my head.” (It was a reference to an early 20th century song by The Delta Rhythm Boys.)
“Well,” Williams shot back, “how about Randy Travis’ Diggin up Bones?”
The Georgia State House of Representatives passed their version of Governor Brian Kemp’s FY 2026 State Budget, according to the Capitol Beat News Service via the Savannah Morning News.
The Georgia House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed Gov. Brian Kemp’s $37.7 billion fiscal 2026 state budget Tuesday, a spending plan that prioritizes prisons and education.
The budget, which cleared the House 171-4, is smaller than the record $40.5 billion fiscal 2025 mid-year budget lawmakers passed last week, which used $2.7 billion of the state’s $16 billion surplus. The 2026 spending plan, which takes effect July 1, does not count on surplus funding, a recognition that economic headwinds likely lie ahead.
“Things are tight,” House Appropriations Committee Chairman Matt Hatchett, R-Dublin, told his legislative colleagues before Tuesday’s vote. “The needs are great, and many worthy causes are competing for the same limited resources.”
The 2026 budget includes $250 million in new spending on Georgia prisons, the subject of a federal audit last fall that criticized the prison system for failing to protect inmates from violence. To reduce the ratio of inmates to correctional officers, the spending plan authorizes hiring more than 700 guards, while providing pay raises to the current correctional staff.
The House version of the budget added $98 million in education spending above the spending recommendations Kemp presented to the General Assembly in January. Most of that increase would go toward student safety and mental health in the wake of last September’s mass shooting at Apalachee High School in Barrow County.
“School safety and mental health go hand in hand,” Hatchett said.
The budget provides $62 million for a new program called “Student Support Services.” Of that total, $19.6 million would go to hire mental health counselors for middle schools and high schools, and $28 million would go to school districts to help low-income students.
The spending plan also includes $10.8 million to hire 116 literacy coaches. Georgia students’ poor reading scores have prompted the legislature in recent years to emphasize improving literacy.
With such a large budget surplus, Kemp and the General Assembly were able to authorize a series of building projects in the current budget to be financed with cash rather than the usual practice of borrowing the money. The fiscal ’26 budget continues that practice for $545 million in projects, but the House spending plans calls for funding an additional $321 million in building projects through bonds.
The budget now moves to the state Senate.
Georgia could allocate extra money to educate poor public school students for the first time under a House budget approved on an 171-4 vote Tuesday.
However, the $28 million proposed is far less than what advocates argue is necessary.
House Bill 68, which would spend $37.7 billion in state money and $73.1 billion overall in the year beginning July 1, advances to the Senate for more debate. It would further boost spending on prisons, provide another bonus payment for some state retirees and raise judges’ salaries.
Georgia’s 40-year-old K-12 school funding system provides extra money to school districts with low property wealth that can’t collect much in property taxes. But Democrats and others argue that the state needs to spend more on poor students themselves.
“Every low-income student that comes to school is coming from a household that has additional needs,” said Rebecca Sibilia, who has long been active in efforts to realign school funding. Sibilia, the executive director of Ed Fund, was an advisor on former Gov. Nathan Deal’s failed attempt to rewrite Georgia’s funding formula in the 2010s.
About 36% of Georgia’s public school students — 625,000 of the state’s 1.75 million students — come from impoverished households, according to the Governor’s Office of Student Achievement.
House Appropriations Committee Chairman Matt Hatchett said lawmakers aren’t sure yet how they will distribute the money. But $28 million is only about $45 per low-income student.
Sibilia and other experts say schools need to spend at least $1,000 extra per student to begin seeing results or $625 million statewide. And more money may lead to bigger improvements. Democratic Sen. Jason Esteves of Atlanta, who made his own proposal earlier this year, said he’d like to see a funding boost of about $2 billion.
Hatchett suggested more money could follow in later years.
“This is the beginning of a need that has been heard,” Hatchett, a Republican who represents the high-poverty school district of Dublin, said Monday.
While 45 states and the District of Columbia spend more money on poor students, according to Sibilia, Georgia is one of five states that do not. The others are Alaska, Idaho, South Dakota and West Virginia.
Poor children typically come to school behind those who were born to wealthier parents. That means districts need to intervene to improve academic achievement. And districts can spend more on transportation, meals and after-school programs for low-income students, Sibilia said.
Overall, the House plan spends an additional $98 million on public education over what Gov. Brian Kemp recommended, for total spending of $16 billion.
Budget writers earmarked $25 million to create a database on troubled students, the centerpiece of a school safety bill the House passed last week.
There’s also $19.6 million to provide a $20,000 mental health counseling grant for every public middle school and high school. Schools could hire their own employees or contract with others.
The state would spend another $10.8 million to hire literacy coaches to help teachers improve reading instruction in kindergarten through third grade. Georgia would also spend $2 million to research standards for literacy coaches.
There’s $10 million for Georgia to pick up part of the tab for afterschool and summer enrichment programs, replacing some federal pandemic relief money. The House also wants to spend $5 million to expand the number of school social workers, in part to bring frequently absent students back to class.
The House proposal would have Georgia borrow money to pay for some capital projects after borrowing nothing this year. Selling bonds to borrow $321 million, plus cutting another $75 million in capital projects would help give lawmakers room to spend elsewhere. Georgia lawmakers can’t spend above the $33.7 billion in state revenue that Kemp has forecast for the budget. That means that to increase spending somewhere, they have to cut spending elsewhere.
The House would also cut the amount that Georgia would spend on a new voucher program to $46 million from the $141 million Kemp had proposed. House lawmakers said they don’t project more than $46 million in demand in the first year of the program for the $6,500 vouchers, which can be spent on private schools or home-schooling.
The budget, which funds the state government from July 2025 to June 2026, also includes $500 million for public schools to cover increased enrollment this year and next.
Lawmakers also added $25 million to create a new database for Georgia K-12 schools to assess whether certain students “may pose a threat” – though legislation authorizing that database has not yet cleared both chambers of the General Assembly.
The hiring of 700 new prison guards would add to around 9,000 total staff at the Georgia Department of Corrections, which in recent years has struggled with high turnover and short staffing to supervise the state’s roughly 47,000 prisoners.
The new guards figure as part of a $250 million budget increase for new staff and salary hikes at the Georgia Department of Corrections.
Another $28 million in the budget is earmarked for pay raises at private prisons.
The bulk of Georgia’s budget goes to pay for public schools, which this upcoming year are poised to receive $13.7 billion to pay for teachers, meals and support services for the state’s roughly 1.7 million students.
Other big items in the state budget include roughly $5.6 billion in costs to cover older adults and low-income residents receiving Medicaid benefits, marking an increase of about $221 million from the previous year.
Lawmakers in the House passed the budget by a 171-4 vote. It now heads to the Senate for final tweaks and approval in the coming weeks before the legislative session ends April 4.
“It is a thoughtful spending plan that I hope you will support,” said Rep. Matt Hatchett, R-Dublin, who chairs the House Appropriation Committee in charge of drafting the budget.
The budget’s House passage comes after Gov. Brian Kemp signed a record-breaking $40.5 billion midyear budget funding the state through June, which included $850 million in Hurricane Helene cleanup costs and a $1 billion rebate for taxpayers.
From Atlanta News First via WALB:
House Appropriations Chairman Matt Hatchett took to the well to explain how they came up with the 127-page document.
“There are many worthy causes competing for the same limited resources,” said Hatchett.
On Monday, the subcommittee chairm[e]n presented their budget asks.
The budget decision would drastically decrease the number of available $6,500 school vouchers from more than 20,000 to less than 7,000.
The Georgia Student Finance Commission reports they’ve received 4,500 applications since they started taking applications.
The Georgia Promise Scholarship provides a $6,500 voucher for private education to students zoned to attend some of the state’s lowest-performing schools.
Speaker of the Georgia House Jon Burns applauded the passage of the bill. He hopes the Senate will vote soon.
“We’ll continue to make strategic investments in Georgia and that’s what we’ve done today with this budget,” said Burns.
The AJC writes about “nuclear verdicts” that Gov. Kemp’s tort reform legislative package seeks to reduce or eliminate.
Gov. Brian Kemp claims that injury lawsuits are draining family bank accounts, increasing insurance premiums and hurting business owners, but data shows that Georgia juries award so-called nuclear verdicts only a fraction of the time.
Fewer than 1% of the injury lawsuits filed in Georgia result in the well-publicized nuclear verdicts, or awards of $10 million or more, according to state court data and verdict reports.
Part of the governor’s plan to change state laws controlling civil lawsuits is rooted in the massive verdicts sometimes awarded by Georgia juries against those held liable for the harm or injury of another.
In February, a federal jury in Columbus punished Ford Motor Co. with a record $2.5 billion verdict in a case brought by the family of a couple killed in a truck rollover. Ford already had the dubious honor of being hit with Georgia’s prior highest verdict, $1.7 billion awarded by a Gwinnett County jury in 2022 to the family of a separate couple killed in a similar crash.
Among Kemp’s proposed changes is the added ability of defense lawyers to show a jury whether a person injured in a vehicle wreck was properly wearing a seat belt, an issue Ford tackled in the Georgia litigation. Under current Georgia law, the failure of a vehicle occupant to wear a seat belt cannot be considered evidence of negligence or have any bearing on liability.
The rarity of large jury verdicts of $10 million or more shouldn’t be forgotten, say Atlanta plaintiff attorneys opposed to Kemp’s proposal.
Defense attorneys, insurers, business organizations and other proponents of lawsuit rule changes known as “tort reform” define a verdict of $10 million or more as “nuclear.” Each year, the largest verdicts in each state help dictate the American Tort Reform Association list of “judicial hellholes” where defendants are deemed by the association to have a disadvantage in civil cases.
Georgia is currently fourth on the list.
Atlanta defense litigator Wayne Satterfield said Kemp’s plan is a fair and reasonable way to level the playing field in civil cases, which he says is currently tipped in the plaintiff’s favor. He said there’s been a noticeable increase in “excessive nuclear verdicts.”
“I think we have in the past not given juries the full picture when we are at trial, and so some of the things that he’s proposed allows us as defense attorneys to present the whole picture to a jury so that they can make a fair decision on liability and damages,” Satterfield said. “There’s not a large percentage of these cases going to trial, but when they do go to trial, we are seeing an increase across the board in the size of these verdicts.”
The House Rules Subcommittee on Lawsuit Reform held their fourth hearing on Senate Bill 68, part of Gov. Kemp’s tort reform package, according to the AJC.
A House committee wrapped up its fourth and final hearing on Kemp’s litigation overhaul Tuesday without a vote, hours after a group of House Republicans signaled to the chamber’s leaders they could oppose the measure if there aren’t changes.
Kemp has vowed to call a special session if lawmakers fail to pass the bill – a threat he repeated this week. And he promised to back primary challenges against fellow Republicans who opposed the bill.
Outside groups plan a flurry of new activity to ratchet up the pressure. Georgians for Lawsuit Reform urged lawmakers to ignore “political tricks and scare tactics” from opponents, who argue the overhaul amounts to a giveaway to insurance companies.
And prominent business executives plan a Thursday press conference touting the bill at the Capitol — and demanding that House lawmakers pass Kemp’s legislation while “maintaining” key provisions that already passed the Senate.
It sets the stage for a likely legislative showdown next week when House leaders plan to bring the overhaul to a vote.
While most of the 100 House Republicans are expected to back the measure, officials said about two dozen GOP members indicated in an initial internal tally this week they won’t support Kemp’s proposal without changes.
Kemp and House Speaker Jon Burns have little room for error. House Democrats voted in a caucus meeting to oppose the measure, making bipartisan support increasingly unlikely. With Republicans holding a 100-80 edge, just a few GOP defections or well-timed absences could sink the bill.
House leaders now face a tough choice: push forward with the Senate-passed version without any changes or make concessions to win over wavering GOP lawmakers.
House Bill 397 by State Rep. Tim Fleming (R-Covington) passed the House and would give legislative leader the ability to remove State Election Board members, according to Georgia Recorder.
A last-minute House election bill that advanced on Crossover Day last week would give new authority to the House speaker and Senate president to remove State Election Board members during the legislative offseason.
If the Legislature approves the current version of House Bill 397, it would give the two chamber leaders powers to remove members from a board that was at the forefront of controversial election rulemaking in 2024.
However, the architect behind the proposal for removing Georgia election board members, Atlanta Democratic Rep. Saira Draper, said she’s not optimistic that the updated clause will remain in the final election bill expected to be crafted before the session ends April 4.
On Feb. 18, Draper filed House Bill 501, which clarified state law by giving the House and Senate chamber leaders the same post-session authority to remove State Election Board members as they have to fill vacancies on the board.
On Thursday, the House voted 159-13 in favor of a substitute passed out of the House Rules Committee that no longer included a provision that would give municipal election officials the choice to opt-out of advance voting for municipal elections on Saturdays.
Draper said she believes the Republicans passed a HB 397 substitute that removed controversial Saturday voting language because the GOP leaders did not want to delay passing an election bill on the Crossover Day deadline for legislation to advance out of one chamber.
Instead, they presented a measure that only included her proposal clarifying state law by giving House and Senate leaders the same ability to remove election board members as they currently have to appoint members while not in session. The provision would allow the House and Senate leaders to remove Georgia election officials that were selected by their respective chambers to fill a vacancy.
“I don’t want to say I know this is going to happen, but my concern is (HB 397) is going to be used as a vehicle now to move whatever kind of election legislation they want to see,” Draper said.
On Thursday evening as the clock ran out to advance bills on Crossover Day, Governmental Affairs Chairman Victor Anderson informed the House Rules Committee members about the last-minute changes to legislation that was intended to address critical procedural issues prior to the 2026 election.
Anderson, a Cornelia Republican, said stripping down the bill was necessary to reach a consensus working with the Senate Ethics Committee to pass new election procedures this year so as not to “put us in bind next year.”
Natalie Crawford, executive director and founder of Georgia First, a nonprofit think tank and policy advocacy group, said her organization supports the election board removal procedure and the earlier provision giving municipal election officials the choice to opt-out of a Saturday voting day.
The former Republican Habersham County Commissioner said her organization will continue monitoring proposals that the ethics committee could consider, including potentially new rules on the hand delivery on absentee ballots on and poll watcher access.
“We are great with the language as it is now. Obviously, we will be looking to see if there’s any language that would potentially impede voting access,” Crawford said. “Georgia First is pretty bullish that we do very well in Georgia with our elections.
“Now is probably a good time to kind of hold off on more legislative tinkering,” Crawford said. “Let’s get a good feel for what we have in place and allow confidence to be restored with voters without making any additional unnecessary changes
Voting rights groups and lawmakers will also be watching to see if the final version of House Bill 397 expands the Senate president and House speaker’s authority to remove State Election Board appointees while the Legislature is not in session.
Butts County Sheriff Gary Long is asking citizens to oppose speed cameras, according to 13WMAZ.
Butts County Sheriff Gary Long is calling on Georgia residents to contact their state legislators in support of a bill that would ban speed cameras in school zones, saying the devices are “unconstitutional” revenue generators.
“They’re unconstitutional as all get out, but they don’t work in this county and they’ll never be long as I’m sheriff. I don’t care if the public stood up and said, ‘I want these cameras,’” Long said.
Two competing bills addressing school zone speed cameras are currently before the Georgia Senate – one seeking to regulate the devices and another, House Bill 225, aiming to ban them entirely.
Long says camera companies approach law enforcement agencies with promises of revenue generation rather than safety improvements. He criticized the system’s reliability, citing his own experience receiving a citation for a vehicle he sold in 2005.
“The companies will tell you all the police departments or the sheriff’s office, they’re overseeing every ticket written. Well I can assure you they’re not because I got a ticket from a vehicle I sold in ’05,” Long said.
The sheriff says that having deputies physically present in school zones is more effective for child safety than automated camera systems.
Long also raised concerns about political influence, saying camera companies have donated more than $863,500 to state lawmakers.
The bill’s sponsor, Representative Dale Washburn, plans to request a committee hearing for the legislation.
While automated speed enforcement systems have been implemented in numerous school zones across Georgia, Long says they will not appear in Butts County.
He encourages citizens statewide to contact their state senators specifically to support the ban rather than the competing regulatory measure.
The Georgia General Assembly is currently considering both approaches to addressing concerns about the cameras’ implementation and oversight across the state.
Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens announced he is running for reelection, according to Rough Draft Atlanta.
Mayor Andre Dickens launched his re-election campaign on Tuesday, March 12, with a focus on public safety, infrastructure, housing, and education.
With $1.4 million in campaign funds and support from notable figures such as former Mayors Andrew Young and Shirley Franklin and former State Sen. Jason Carter., Dickens said he wanted a second term to complete his vision of Atlanta.
“As I ran for mayor back in 2021, the goal was to serve for eight years — two terms — all the way to 2030 to be able to deliver all the things that we talked about,” Dickens said during the campaign launch.
Over the next eight months, Dickens said he planned to hold rallies and events – from coffee shops to barber shops – in each of the city’s 12 districts in the run-up to the November election.
The Gwinnett County Board of Education is considering placing a billion-dollar Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax for Education (E-SPLOST) referendum on the November 2025 ballot, according to the Gwinnett Daily Post.
Gwinnett County voters are expected to decide this fall whether to continue an education sales tax that would likely raise more $1 billion for renovations and upgrades in Gwinnett and Buford schools.
If the proposed E-SPLOST VII referendum is held this year, it will be on the Nov. 4 ballot along with the statewide Public Service commission elections.
“We do not know what the SPLOST dollars are going to be yet, we’re still doing some forecasting on revenue,” Martin said. “The last one was about $957 million. It’ll be over $1 billion this time. We don’t know if it’ll be $1.3, $1.4, $1.5 (billion) yet.”
E-SPLOST VII would raise sale tax dollars to pay for projects in both Gwinnett County PubLic Schools and Buford City Schools. That means the two districts will have to work together on setting up a referendum.
For Gwinnett County Public Schools, this proposed SPLOST is expected to focus on improving and maintaining what the district already has.
That’s different from the early E-SPLOSTs, where GCPS’ focus was on building new schools, and more recent SPLOSTs where the money was split between buildings and adding new technology.
There’s a reason for that shift toward maintenance and upgrades — both for facilities and technology — this time around, though.
GCPS is not growing like it used to and the schools that were built by the early E-SPLOSTs are aging. The average age of a GCPS school building right now is about 23.5 years old.
As for the timeline from here, GCPS and Buford City Schools are expected to reach an intergovernmental agreement and pass resolutions calling for the E-SPLOST referendum in June.
The resolution would then be sent to the Gwinnett County Board of Registration and Elections to call for the referendum.
“In the next couple of months, we’ll finalize our revenue projections and we’ll determine the projects that we intend to bring to the board,” Martin said. “We’re already working with the city of Buford on the resolution.”
The proposed FY 2026 budget for Gwinnett County schools is expected to rise by 7.9%, according to the Gwinnett Daily Post.
Gwinnett County Public Schools is set to propose a $3.43 billion budget for the 2025-2026 school year later this week.
The proposed budget is up by $251.1 million from the $3.18 billion budget adopted for the current school year.
“That’s a 7.9% increase,” GCPS Chief Financial Officer Masana Mailliard told the school board.
The school board is set to hold its first work session on the fiscal year 2026 budget at 6 p.m. on Thursday, before the board’s monthly business meeting at the J. Alvin Wilbanks Instructional Support Center.
Brunswick is still planning a county homestead exemption after opting out of HB 581, according to The Brunswick News.
The statewide exemption limits property assessment increases to the rate of inflation. As part of the package, the state also introduced a new sales tax cities and counties could levy — subject to voter approval — as an alternative to property tax hikes.
Local governments and school districts had until March 1 to opt out of the property tax exemption. Glynn County, City Hall and the Glynn County School Board elected not to opt out.
City Manager Regina McDuffie said the city doesn’t intend to pursue the sales tax either.
The exemption won’t affect the city’s budget much, she said. While home values have increased substantially across the state, which translated into a bump in revenue for City Hall, owner-occupied residences, which the homestead exemption is exclusively applied, only account for around 20% of residential properties in the city.
She feels growth in residential as a whole and in commercial taxes will even out the ledger for the city when the homestead exemption comes into play.
The city is interested in providing greater tax relief for residents who own their homes, she said. Before the state exemption passed in the legislature, the city was working on its own.
McDuffie said Mayor Cosby Johnson was in talks with state legislators to implement a local exemption based on a tiered structure. The longer someone has lived in Brunswick, the better their exemption will be.
Coweta County Board of Education is considering a county-level homestead exemption after opting out of HB 581, according to the Newnan Times-Herald.
Disagreements from Coweta’s state delegates regarding the school board’s local tax relief proposal have delayed a vote on the resolution.
School Board Chairman Buzz Glover said the delay stems from Rep. Josh Bonner and Rep. David Jenkins’s concerns surrounding the proposal’s 5 percent assessment cap and removal of the 20-mil millage rate cap.
The board’s local resolution seeks to:
Establish a 5 percent annual cap on any increase or decrease in the reassessed value of any primary homestead.
Establish a 100 percent senior education tax exemption on any primary homestead for citizens 75 years of age and older.
Raise current senior homestead tax exemptions for citizens 71 to 74 to $100,000 of assessed value (up from $85,000 currently).
Raise current senior homestead tax exemptions for citizens 65 to 70 to $75,000 of assessed value (up from $60,000 currently).
Remove the current statutory 20-mil millage rate cap for Maintenance and Operations of the school district, and increase the allowed amount that may be maintained in its General Fund reserves from 15 percent of budgeted General Fund expenditures to 20 percent.
According to Glover, the state’s legislative counsel questioned whether the local board can alter the millage rate.
Board attorney Nathan Lee said Article VIII, Section VI of the Georgia Constitution gives local school boards the power to change the millage rate after a public referendum.
The school board is working with state delegates to reach an agreement, but Glover expressed concern regarding a proposed alternative to the board’s resolution.
“They (state delegates) have proposed a 4 percent cap instead of 5, and keeping the millage rate cap,” Glover said.
The board is hopeful the resolution will be put to a public vote before the end of 2025, but the proposal could be tabled for next year if an agreement isn’t reached soon.
“We want to provide the seniors with tax relief and provide everyone with some assurances on their assessments going up drastically, and we want to limit that,” Glover said. “But at the same time, we’ve got to provide the schools with the quality people demand.”
According to Public Information Officer Dean Jackson, local legislation is not subject to Crossover Day, which was March 6. Georgia’s 2025 Legislative Session ends April 4.
Columbus Police Chief Stoney Mathis will likely leave office in 2026, according to WTVM.
Chief Mathis made the announcement on the first episode of The Columbus Police Department’s new podcast, “Beyond the Badge.”
“Now things are slowing down a little bit, we’ve kinda got at least a vision to where we wanna be over the next two or three years so probably over the next year, I’m gonna be making my exit and turning this police department over to somebody that can take it to the next 5 to 7 years,” said Mathis.
Mathis was appointed as Chief of Police in 2023 by Mayor Skip Henderson.
“I want to reduce the crime. I want to reduce the fear of crime and improve the quality of life,” Mathis said back in 2023.
The Glynn County Board of Education will choose an applicant to replace suspended District 5 member Audrey Gibbons, according to The Brunswick News.
“We have had an overwhelming amount of resumes presented to us for the position of District 5 board member,” said Hank Yeargan, board chairman, said at a Tuesday board meeting. “Our plan was initially, it still is, to have a selected by the April board meeting, but we’re going to have to go through these and look at them. We’ll try our best to do that, but it may be an extended amount of time due to the number of resumes.”
Gov. Brian Kemp suspended Gibbons last month by executive order. The suspension came two months after she was indicted by a U.S. District Court in Delaware in a case of wire fraud, money laundering and extortion involving eight other Brunswick residents. Her suspension is effective through the resolution of the court case or the end of her current term of office, whichever comes first.
Gibbons and seven others were alleged in the indictment to have served as “money mules” for Asaad Amir Hasuan, also known as Dante Frederick, of Brunswick, a former inmate at the Glynn County Detention Center and current inmate at Telfair State Prison in McRae- Helena.
Protesters in central Georgia will hold a “Town Hall” meeting outside U.S. Rep. Austin Scott’s (R-Tifton) office, according to 13WMAZ.
Some Central Georgia voters will gather outside Congressman Austin Scott’s office next week to host their own town hall after what they describe as the representative’s decade-long refusal to hold public forums.
The event, organized by Middle Georgians for Democracy and Hope, Joy and Democracy, is scheduled for March 17 at 10:00 a.m. at Scott’s Warner Robins office at 120 Byrd Way.
“He’s been absent. I haven’t seen him,” said Lynn Snyder, an Army veteran and member of Middle Georgians for Democracy. “I know he goes around to District 8, and he goes to friendly places and he hasn’t had a town hall. It’s been a decade.”
Snyder said the last town hall Scott held in 2015 was restricted to veterans only, and she wasn’t invited despite her military service.
The participants plan to bring written questions about issues ranging from voting rights legislation to potential defense cuts that could affect Robins Air Force Base.
Augusta City Commissioners appointed members of a Charter Review Commission, according to WJBF.
At a special called meeting Tuesday afternoon, commissioners approved committee members and gave the committee a year to get a review done.
The committee will work with the University of Georgia to provide recommendations to commissioners about changes that should be made.
“What we have is a charter that’s been outdated. It’s 30 years old. It’s actually antique,” said Augusta Commissioner Wayne Guilfoyle. “There’s new great ideas, new ways of doing things. You could actually have different forms of government. But they way we are held by our charter. It’s held to back in 1986, which is kinda old.”
Columbus City Councilor Judy Thomas resigned her seat due to her health, according to WTVM.
According to a statement read during Tuesday morning’s City Council meeting, Judy Thomas is resigning because of her ongoing health condition.
Thomas has served as the District 9 At-Large councilor since 2010.
Columbus City Council appointed John Anker to fill the vacancy, according to WTVM.
The Columbus City Council moved swiftly to fill a vacant position on Tuesday by appointing John Anker through a 6-3 vote.
The action came shortly after Judy Thomas stepped down from her role, citing health issues.
Anker, a well-known business owner, has previously pursued two city-wide offices, including a mayoral bid in 2022, where he lost to Skip Henderson, and a run for the Columbus City Council District 10 At-Large seat against Travis Chambers. However, he lost the majority vote in a run-off election.
“I know that God has the right person to fill this post and for that, I will pray,” said John Shinkle, who read Thomas’ resignation letter on her behalf.
Fellow council members were emotional speaking about their colleague.
“Her fingerprints are all over Columbus,” said Gary Allen, mayor pro tem and District 6 councilman.
“We’ve lost our parliamentarian. She loved this city. She made sure she kept this council in order.” said Councilwoman Toyia Tucker of District 4.
Thomas said her trust was in the council to pick who would serve the rest of her term.
“I’m shocked and I would like to know what she thinks of all this and irregardless of what she thinks, I want her to know I respect her dearly and love her dearly,” Anker said.
One of the votes against Anker Tuesday was Travis Chambers, who beat him in a runoff the last election.
Just before being voted in, Anker called for council to remove City Manager Isiah Hugley and choose an interim city manager.
We reached out the Columbus city manager and mayor after the lengthy council meeting to get their takes on criticism but did not hear back.
Anker was recently added to the board of trustees for the Columbus Consolidated Government’s Office of the Tax Assessor. So, he’ll need to resign from that before he’s sworn in for the city council.
Mayor Skip Henderson, who votes only to break ties, asserted that it was too early to make such a decision.
“Historically, council has talked about the individual and made sure that they’re making a commitment that they’re not going to use that interim incumbent label to run for an office on council,” Henderson said. “I don’t know if anyone’s had a chance to offer that up to Mr. Anker.”
Henderson recommended waiting, stating that other qualified individuals also might be interested. Hickey, however, continued his motion, and Councilor Charmaine Crabb of District 5 seconded it. Anker is an obvious choice because he has run two citywide races, Crabb said.
Anker lost to Henderson in the 2022 race for mayor. Then he lost to Travis Chambers in a 2024 runoff for the District 10 citywide council seat.
Henderson said he has nothing against Anker, but the mayor emphasized appointing him to this seat so quickly after Thomas resigned — and after Anker lost two citywide races in two years — is circumventing the electoral system.
“You’ve got a majority of people in this community that didn’t vote for an individual,” Henderson said, “and now this council is going to appoint them?”
Thomas wrote in her resignation letter that she expected the council to do its “due diligence” in appointing her replacement, Hickey told Henderson. “And you think an hour later is due diligence?” Henderson asked Hickey.
Councilor Byron Huff of District 3 also brought up the fact that councilors hadn’t had a chance to speak to other candidates who may be interested in the position. He asked for two weeks to make a decision.
Mayor Pro Tem Gary Allen of District 6 and Chambers also asked to wait at least two weeks to vet more candidates.
Muscogee County elections director Nancy Boren told the Ledger-Enquirer that voters will have two elections in May 2026 to decide who fills the District 9 citywide council seat:
One as a special election, with the winner to be immediately sworn in and serve the remainder of the term through the end of 2026.
The other as the regular election, with the winner to be sworn in the following year, in January 2027, and serve a full four-year term.
Crisp County Board of Education Chair Joe Joe Wright allegedly got into an online shouting match with a citizen, according to WALB.
Chairman Joe Joe Wright and Davontae Hunt, a Crisp County business owner, were involved in a recent Facebook discussion involving the power commission, a board that one of Wright’s relatives is a member of.
On Facebook, Hunt commented, “Your grand niece is a representative of the people in this position. You’re making it personal. No one cares that this is your grand-niece. We’re addressing our Chairman of the Power Commission. Beat it!”
Wright responded, “____ you punk best thing you can do boy is never speak to me. (You’re) a wanna be… and a punk”.
Hunt says being called a boy was demeaning and says Crisp County has done little to nothing to address this situation.
“Whenever you say boy to a grown man, you’re intending to strip him of something. There has been no acknowledgement of the issue, there has been no shift in infrastructure, there has been nothing except for Joe Joe can still come to work everyday,” he explained.
Wright stated, “My friends, I would like to take this opportunity to apologize to everyone for the language I used in response to an instigator…I will avoid responding to all these pages of hate created by racial hate groups…”
Hunt says the school board chairman has not apologized to him.
WALB reached out to the Board of Education to see if Joe Joe Wright’s status had changed, and we have not heard back.
“Just because you don’t like when someone says something like that and can’t speak without using those words, you should resign”, said Hunt.
On Tuesday, Crisp County leaders met privately with Hunt. But they wouldn’t publicly divulge what was discussed.
Pearson Mayor Robert “Buster” Johnson was expected to make his first public appearance after being arrested by the GBI, according to WALB.
Johnson was arrested and jailed a month go on multiple fraud charges. Now, he is required to wear an ankle monitor and be escorted by law enforcement when at city hall.
Pearson residents say the real issue started long before the mayor’s arrest. Despite the scene that will be at tonight’s city council meeting, Johnson’s presence isn’t the biggest concern for the people of Pearson.
The residents of Pearson have problems that go beyond the mayor’s legal troubles. Many say life is a daily struggle. Some are dealing with issues like sewage overflow, poor water pressure and sometimes no water service at all.
“To get clean water, I will load up and go to Tifton or Folkston, somewhere like that, to get clean water. That’s kind of tough to keep doing and keep running getting water from county to county like that when they can just fix it here,” said Freddie Linton Jr., a resident of Pearson.
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