Georgia Politics, Campaigns, and Elections for March 25, 2026

On March 26, 1734, the British House of Commons voted for spending £10,000 to subsidize the Georgia colony, down from £26,000 the previous year.

The British Parliament closed the Port of Boston on March 25, 1774, passing the Boston Port Act in retaliation for the destruction of $1 million worth of tea in the Boston Tea Party.

On March 26, 1920, This Side of Paradise, the debut novel by F. Scott Fitzgerald was published. The author was 23 years old.

Flannery O’Connor was born on March 25, 1925 in Savannah, Georgia. She would come to be recognized as one of the greatest American fiction writers. O’Connor graduated from the Georgia State College for Women, now called Georgia College and State University. She returned to Milledgeville in 1951, living at the family farm, called Andalusia, until her death at age 39 in 1964.

At GCSU, the Flannery O’Connor Room is located in the GC Museum, the Flannery O’Connor Collection includes manuscripts, and the College includes a program in Flannery O’Connor Studies.

O’Connor died of Lupus, which also killed her father.

Horton Smith won the first Masters tournament on March 25, 1934.

On March 25, 1937, Governor E.D. Rivers signed legislation creating the Georgia Department of Labor; in 1945, the Commissioner of Labor was upgraded from statutory office to Constitutional.

On March 26, 1982, a groundbreaking ceremony was held in Washington, DC for the Vietnam Veterans Memorial; the design approved a couple weeks earlier was by 21-year old Yale architecture student Maya Lin.

Georgia Politics, Campaigns, and Elections

Under the Gold Dome Today

Wednesday, March 25 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . convene for legislative day 37
Thursday, March 26 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . committee work day
Friday, March 27 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . convene for legislative day 38

Tuesday, March 31 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . convene for legislative day 39
Thursday, April 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (Sine Die) convene for legislative day 40

Wednesday – March 25, 2026

TBD Senate Rules: Upon Adj 450 CAP
7 AM Senate Public Sfty: First Responders Sub MEZZ 1
7:30 AM Senate Appropriations 341 CAP
8 AM Senate Transportation 450 CAP
9 AM HOUSE RULES 341 CAP
10 AM HOUSE FLOOR SESSION (LD37) House Chamber
10 AM Senate Floor Session (LD 37) Senate Chamber
1 PM HOUSE HIGHER EDUCATION 606 CLOB
1 PM HOUSE WAYS & MEANS 406 CLOB
1 PM Cancelled – Senate Public Safety 450 CAP
2 PM HOUSE TECHNOLOGY & INFRA 406 CLOB
2 PM Senate Agriculture & Cons Aff 307 CLOB
3 PM HOUSE GOVERNMENTAL AFF 606 CLOB
3 PM Senate Finance MEZZ 1
4 PM Senate Health & HS 450 CAP

Thursday – March 26, 2026

8:00 AM Senate Public Safety 450 CAP
9:00 AM Senate Rules 450 CAP
9:00 AM Cancelled – Senate Children & Fams 450 CAP
10:00 AM HOUSE JUDICIARY NON-CIVIL 132 CAP
11:00 AM HOUSE GOVTAL AFF 606 CLOB
11:00 AM Senate State & Local Govtal Ops MEZZ 1
12:00 PM Senate Econ Dev & Tourism 310 CLOB
1:00 PM Senate Education & Youth 307 CLOB
2:00 PM Senate Government Oversight 307 CLOB
2:00 PM Cancelled – Senate Judiciary 307 CLOB
3:00 PM Senate Regulated Industries 450 CAP
4:00 PM Senate Higher Education 307 CLOB
4:00 PM Senate Insurance & Labor MEZZ 1

House Bill 1193 by State Rep. Chris Erwin (R-Homer) and Speaker Jon Burns (R-Newington), the “Georgia Early Literacy Act of 2026,” has become a tetherball between the legislative chambers. From the AJC:

Georgia House Speaker Jon Burns is pushing to rescue one of his top priorities from the Capitol’s end-of-session maneuvering, warning that Georgia’s literacy crisis is too urgent to get hobbled by political bargaining.

In an interview with “Politically Georgia,” Burns called his sweeping literacy bill the answer to “a crisis we can solve” and said he was growing impatient to see it pass the Senate, where Lt. Gov. Burt Jones and his allies are pushing their own alternative.

“This effort is just too important to play politics with,” Burns said. “This is about our future. It’s about success of our state in the future. It’s about individual success. It’s about family success. The future of our state depends on us getting literacy right.”

The comments come at a pivotal moment for Burns’ proposal, which would steer new resources toward early reading intervention, literacy coaches and phonics-based instruction for Georgia’s youngest students.

The measure cleared the House with overwhelming support, but it has stalled in the Senate, where leaders are set to unveil their own version Wednesday as lawmakers barrel toward the final days of the session.

Relations between the two chambers are already strained. House leaders were infuriated last year when Jones abruptly ended the session early, a power-play that derailed negotiations and still lingers over this year’s session, which ends April 2.

Burns has cast the literacy overhaul as the biggest education policy shift in a generation, modeled partly on policies other Southern states successfully embraced. He repeatedly noted the “unacceptable” stat that only one in three Georgia students is reading on grade level by the end of third grade.

In a statement, Jones said any “legislation with a significant price tag deserves careful review — and this one is no different.”

“As someone who has grown up around dyslexia and experienced it with family members, I know how critical early literacy is,” he said. “Every dollar should go directly into the classroom — not into growing government. The Senate’s version will reflect that.”

Senate Appropriations Chair Blake Tillery, who outlined the plan at a Wednesday committee meeting, said it pushes more than $70 million in funding “directly to the classroom.”

“The Senate’s plan doesn’t pay for additional bureaucrats and committees,” Tillery told the AJC. “We push funding for instruction directly in classrooms.”

And Burns was notably cautious when asked about the effort by Jones to pass legislation that could complicate his Republican rival Rick Jackson’s bid for governor by blocking candidates with state contracts from running.

“We’re not worried about the statewide politics right now,” he said, adding: “We’re going to focus on the policy initiatives, like literacy and like taxes and what we can do to make Georgians’ lives better.”

Burns acknowledged the election-year dynamics hovering over the session but tried to downplay their influence on policymaking.

“You can never take the politics out of politics,” he said.

From 13WMAZ:

House Bill 1193 — also called the Georgia Early Literacy Act of 2026 — would fund a literacy coach in every school serving kindergarten through third grade. Supporters said the goal is to strengthen early reading skills and improve student outcomes statewide.

The proposal comes as lawmakers push to address reading proficiency, especially by third grade — a critical milestone in education.
In Houston County, literacy coaches already work with teachers across multiple schools. Angela Foster, a K-5 English language arts coach, said the role focuses on supporting teachers rather than working directly with students.

“We roll up our sleeves, we sit side by side with the teachers, we look at the data, and then we figure out how to approach that,” Foster said.

Coaches help teachers analyze student performance, adjust lessons and improve instruction with the goal of building strong reading skills early. House Representative Matt Hatchett said the critical shift is a key reason behind the bill.

“Teachers are teaching you how to read, but after the 3rd grade, all the textbooks, everything changes where you have to be able to read to learn,” Rep. Matt Hatchett said.

The bill would invest about $60 million to place more than 1,300 literacy coaches in elementary schools across the state. It would also require kindergarten attendance and increase accountability for reading proficiency.

Hatchett said similar efforts in other states have led to improved outcomes.

“We don’t want to be behind anybody,” Hatchett said. “They’ve been successful, and they’ve improved their reading outcomes.”

Foster said the impact of literacy coaching can be seen quickly in classrooms.

“Sometimes you can see it immediately just a tweak of a lesson and you can see the engagement change amongst the kids and they start to feel successful and then the teachers realize it and they feel good about it and it becomes contagious and it starts spreading like wildfire,” Foster said.

She said the improvements also show up in student data. The bill has passed the Georgia House and is now under consideration in the Senate. If approved, it would head to the governor’s desk for a signature.

Senate Bill 482 by State Sen. Brian Strickland (R-McDonough) was heard by the House Public Safety and Homeland Security Committee, according to the AJC.

Senate Bill 482 would make it harder for the public to obtain [mugshots and police videos] by requiring people to request it in person. Plus, requesters would have to identify by name everyone in the photos or videos, possibly including bystanders. And they would have to sign notarized statements promising to comply with the laws governing the material.

Press advocates have said the bill would make it practically impossible for the public to access police videos and mug shots. They are especially worried about accessing footage from body cameras worn by police officers. That footage is often important to hold police accountable or to shed light on matters of intense public interest, such as the January FBI raid on the Fulton County election office.

Lawmakers expressed support on Tuesday for an amendment that would exempt members of the Georgia Press Association and the Georgia Association of Broadcasters, which represent mainstream news organizations.

Another proposed amendment would let people request video from a certain day, time and location — not just by the name of the people involved.

The committee is expected to consider a revised bill on Thursday. To have a chance at becoming law, the Legislature must pass it by April 2.

Supporters said the legislation is needed to protect people from nontraditional media outlets whose sole purpose is to post these images online. These outlets make money by either selling advertising or, in violation of state law, demand people pay them to take the images down. In some cases, the people depicted in these mug shots or videos are never convicted of a crime.

The General Assembly has been wrestling with the availability of online mug shots for more than a decade. In 2013, lawmakers passed a law prohibiting anyone from charging to have a mug shot removed from a website if the person is not convicted of a crime.

The legislation also limits access to police videos, such as body camera or dashcam video. Suwanee Police Chief Cass Mooney told the committee the people portrayed in such videos are often victims, witnesses or bystanders.

Steve Tippins, an attorney for the Georgia Gazette, which publishes mug shots, told lawmakers that good things also come from sharing such images. He said police have solved crimes by using the publication’s mug shots, and a Georgia woman with children found out someone she’d been dating had been arrested for child molestation.

A mailer supporting Lieutenant Governor Burt Jones’s campaign for Governor might be confused or confusing, according to the AJC.

A pro-Burt Jones mailer hitting conservative households this week delivers a sharp attack line: “Jackson says no to eliminating Georgia’s income tax.”

There’s just one problem. It never says which Jackson.

The mail piece, from a group called Fighting for Georgia, appears to target billionaire GOP rival Rick Jackson.

But as the sharp-eyed crew at Peach Pundit first noted, the quote actually traces back to state Sen. Kim Jackson, a Stone Mountain Democrat who opposed Jones’ anti-tax push in an AJC opinion essay earlier this month.

That might have been by design. The mailer notably doesn’t mention Rick Jackson by name. And the group behind it didn’t respond to requests for comment, leaving room for interpretation.

That didn’t stop the ridicule. Jackson’s campaign called it “as desperate as it gets.” Kim Jackson said she’s glad her “sensible policy ideas are getting some free airtime.”

The episode also offers a glimpse into Fighting for Georgia, the anti-tax group that has already steered more than $500,000 to Jones’ leadership committee.

That’s one of the larger donations since a 2021 Georgia law unlocked these fundraising vehicles, allowing unlimited contributions to top statewide candidates.

As for the group itself, it’s something of a black box. The group’s listed address traces to a northwest Atlanta home with a sign reading “PhysicalAddress.com.”

Brunswick Judicial Circuit Superior Court Judge Steven Blackerby set bail at $1 dollar for a woman charged with murder relating to abortion pills, according to the Associated Press via WTVM.

A Georgia judge granted a bond of just $1 for a murder charge faced by a woman accused by police of taking pills to induce an illegal abortion.

“I think that charge is extremely problematic,” Superior Court Judge Steven Blackerby said Monday during a bond hearing for Alexia Moore, according to The New York Times. “That is going to be a hard charge to convict upon.”

Blackerby set a total $2,001 bond for Moore, who spent nearly three weeks jailed in coastal Camden County. In addition to $1 for the murder charge, the judge ordered $1,000 bond amounts for each of two drug charges Moore faces.

Local police took the 31-year-old Moore into custody March 4 using an arrest warrant with language that echoes a Georgia law banning abortions after embryonic cardiac activity can be detected. That’s generally at about six weeks’ gestation – before many women know they’re pregnant.

Moore’s case is one of the first in Georgia of a woman being charged for terminating a pregnancy since the law was adopted in 2019.

The judge’s $1 bond raises questions about how a murder case against Moore might proceed.

District Attorney Keith Higgins of the Brunswick Judicial Circuit didn’t oppose the bond amount in court Monday and told the judge that police didn’t consult his office before they charged Moore, according to reports by The New York Times and the Georgia news website The Current.

In order to send Moore to trial for murder, Higgins’ office would first need to obtain an indictment from a grand jury. A person who answered the phone at Higgins’ office Tuesday said he does not comment on pending cases.

Online jail records show that Moore posted bond and was released Monday. She is being represented by attorneys from the Georgia Public Defender Council, which applauded the judge’s decision.

“Today’s decision is a reminder that justice is not served by accusation alone,” the council said in a statement. “Our system works best when courts carefully weigh the facts, uphold constitutional protections, and safeguard the rights of every person who comes before them.”

Court records say Moore arrived at a hospital Dec. 30 complaining of abdominal pain. She told medical workers that she had taken misoprostol, a drug used in medication abortions, and the opioid painkiller oxycodone, according to an arrest warrant obtained by police in Kingsland, about 100 miles (160 kilometers) south of Savannah.

The fetus survived for about an hour after being delivered at the hospital, the warrant says.

The arrest warrant charging Moore says police obtained medical records estimating that Moore had been pregnant for 22 to 24 weeks. The warrant also cited “the medical staff’s knowledge that the baby had a beating heart and was struggling to breathe.”

What do politicians mean when they talk about “affordability”? And what do the voters mean? From the New York Times:

[P]olls show that when voters say that affordability is their biggest concern, for many, they’re talking about health care.

“Health care costs are out of control,” said Shawn Spencer, 48, of Greene County, Va. “I don’t have insurance, so I’m paying a boatload when I need care.”

Such concerns are particularly acute for working-class white voters, such as Ms. Spencer, whom Republicans will need to win in November. The costs of health care and housing ranked nearly even as top affordability concerns for the group, in a recent New York Times/Siena University poll.

Ms. Spencer voted for President Trump and considered herself more of a Republican, she said, but feels as if party leaders have not shown that they care about health care costs.

“At this point I would vote for the party that can help me afford to stay healthy,” she added.

In 2009, the nascent Tea Party movement urged voters to “pack the halls” as members of Congress returned home for summer recesses, and they did. Angry constituents mobbed town-hall meetings shouting, “Kill the bill!” One analysis of the Republicans’ 2010 landslide calculated that “yes” votes on the Affordable Care Act in swing districts like Mr. Perriello’s cost Democrats 25 seats, which would have been enough to hold the House.

But the act cut the uninsured rate nearly in half by 2023, to 7.9 percent of Americans down from 14.4 percent in 2010, largely through an expansion of Medicaid.

As more people began to get health care through the expansion, public attitudes toward the law began to shift. Most Americans now view it favorably, according to polling from KFF. Much of the gain in support has come in the last five years, especially from Republicans.

Around 60 percent — including about one-third of Republicans — also see health care as a right that the government should provide, a reversal from 2010, when most Americans said providing health care was not the government’s responsibility, according to Gallup.

But in July, Republicans passed the president’s tax-cuts-and-spending bill, known as the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which is projected to cost at least 10 million Americans their health insurance, including 7.5 million through cuts to Medicaid and 2.1 million through changes to the insurance marketplace set up under the Affordable Care Act, according to the Congressional Budget Office.

The Medicaid cuts do not kick in until after midterm elections, but the subsidies for health insurance purchased on the Affordable Care Act’s marketplaces expired at the end of last year. Americans who relied on them are seeing premiums more than double, on average.

The cuts have hit rural areas particularly hard, as many farmers purchased insurance on the health law’s marketplaces. Around 15,000 Iowans declined to re-enroll in marketplace health insurance after the tax credits expired in December.

This is part of a broader trend. A KFF poll released this week found that about one in 10 dropped out of the marketplace, nationally. Most pointed to rising costs, with younger adults especially likely to now be uninsured.

Ms. Trone Garriott, a Lutheran minister and former hospital chaplain, held a round table on health care this month in Ottumwa, where a primary care clinic that had treated generations of residents closed in February after a month’s notice.

A doctor, a nurse, a former mayor and a patient told reporters of the effects: 40 people lost their jobs, and many more now had to drive at least 40 minutes to the nearest clinic.

Julie Lawrence, a retired teacher, said she had seen three different primary care doctors in the last five years, and had been pleased with the last one — until the clinic’s closing put that doctor out of business. She is on a waiting list for a doctor at a clinic 40 miles away.

Her mother had been treated for two cancers at the shuttered clinic.

“I knew she had quality care, that she was taken care of,” Ms. Lawrence said. “What’s it going to be, you know, for my friends and for me?”

Dr. Peter Reiter, who worked at the clinic for 40 years, said the clinic’s closing had energized the community to vote on health care.

But the cuts keep coming. In rural Virginia, Augusta Medical Group has closed three health clinics over the last year, citing Medicaid cuts.

Here’s a story for you. In December, I was talking with a friend who owns a small business and purchases healthcare insurance for his family of four on the ACA marketplace. He told me their monthly cost would rise in January from $1700 per month to nearly double that.

The math means that he’ll spend about $40,800 this year for healthcare insurance, and each family member has a $6500 deductible. How much does a $500 tax rebate mean in the context of having to find an additional $20,ooo this year?

More from the New York Times:

Americans are feeling the squeeze from rising health care costs, and they are already doing without. An estimated one-third of American adults are making sacrifices, including skipping meals or driving less, to pay for care, according to a new survey released on Thursday.

In the survey, 15 percent of the poll respondents said they had borrowed money in the last year to pay for medical expenses, while another 11 percent said they had skipped a meal. Those without insurance reported even more trade-offs. The public opinion poll’s estimate that one-third of respondents reporting such difficulty was equivalent to about 82 million people.

The survey of nearly 20,000 adults was conducted from June through August 2025 by the West Health-Gallup Center on Healthcare in America, a partnership between Gallup and West Health, a group of nonprofits focused on health care costs.

“It is impacting people every day in their decisions,” Tim Lash, president of the West Health Policy Center, said. “It is getting worse.”

In the survey, people also said they had delayed making major changes to their lives, like having a child or retiring, in the last four years because of health care costs. About 29 percent said they had postponed a vacation, while 26 percent said they had put off surgery or another medical treatment.

A poll by the same groups in late 2024 found an increasing number of Americans believed they would not be able to afford care if they needed it. At the time, the share of adults reporting that they had recently been unable to pay for a medicine and treatment was about 11 percent, the highest level in four years.

The broader issue of affordability already looms over the midterm elections, with health care costs a major part of it. The bitter debate in Congress over the fate of enhanced Obamacare subsidies helped focus attention on rising costs. When those subsidies ended last year, millions of Americans saw their insurance premiums more than double, and Democrats seized on the issue.

But it’s not just Obamacare; people with coverage from an employer are also facing much higher rates. Health insurance premiums for a family are approaching $27,000 a year, and people are paying more out of pocket when they see a doctor or stay overnight in the hospital.

A recent poll by the health policy organization KFF found that health care costs topped a list of the public’s economic anxieties, above concerns about the prices of food and groceries, gas and utilities. And the issue proved consequential in the 2018 midterm elections, when Democrats made major gains in Congress after Republicans tried to repeal the Affordable Care Act.

In the West Health-Gallup survey, some individuals reported delaying major life events because of health care costs. About 14 percent said they had postponed buying a new home, while 18 percent said they had put off changing jobs. About 6 percent said they had delayed having or adopting a child, and 9 percent said they had postponed retirement.

Even those with family incomes above $240,000 a year were postponing significant events, according to the survey. Individuals who said they were in poor health were more likely to make sacrifices.

Georgia farmers face skyrocketing fertilizer prices, according to WTOC.

Iran’s blockade of the Strait of Hormuz is sending shockwaves through southeast Georgia’s farm country, where corn planting season is underway and farmers say fertilizer prices are already surging nearly 50%.

The Strait of Hormuz is a critical global shipping route for urea, a key ingredient in nitrogen fertilizer. With the waterway now blocked, supplies are tightening fast, and Georgia farmers say they are running out of time.

“The southeast will consume 60% of our yearly needs for nitrogen products in the next 45 days,” said Knapp Boddiford, a Sylvania-area farmer.

That 45-day window is critical. Corn, cotton, and peanut farmers across the region are in the heart of planting season, the period when nitrogen fertilizer demand peaks and farmers have little flexibility to delay or substitute.

For some, the math simply isn’t working. Boddiford says farmers are being forced to rethink their planting plans entirely.

“A lot of people are having to change planting intentions. A lot of folks that were intended to plant corn are backing it up, budgets are not working with their banks to be able to grow this crop,” he said.

“In some cases, some folks are considering laying land out and not farming it,” Boddiford continued.

The financial strain extends beyond fertilizer. Boddiford says fuel costs are also climbing, adding another layer of pressure on already tight margins.

“We’re burning 100 gallons of fuel a day, so that’s already a $100-a-day cost increase just in fuel,” he said.

The back-to-back hits come as farmers are already dealing with storm damage and severe drought conditions across the region this year.

With cotton and peanut season just weeks away, farmers warn the pressure will only grow. And if costs continue to climb, Boddiford says the consequences will reach beyond the farm.

“Something is going to have to change to be able to keep your Georgia farmers afloat,” he said.

Farmers warn those rising costs could eventually make their way to consumers at the grocery store, as producers pass on higher expenses through the supply chain.

The Floyd County Judicial Center remains closed today but will reopen Thursday after the Courthouse fire, according to WRGA News.

The order to close the Floyd County Judicial Center has been extended.

The new courthouse will be closed on Wednesday, but it is expected to reopen on Thursday.

The order to close the judicial center was issued on Monday following a fire at the Historic Floyd County Courthouse next door.

Floyd County Commissioner voted to approve an emergency allocation to relocate some offices after the fire, according to WRGA News.

The Floyd County Commission has approved an emergency allocation of $100,000 to support the temporary relocation of operations formerly housed in the Historic Floyd County Courthouse following the fire that destroyed the building on Monday.

Built in 1892, the building was a longstanding historic landmark and housed the offices and functions of the Tax Commissioner, Tax Assessor, and Tag Office. The emergency funding will be used to assist in relocating personnel and services so that operations can continue with as little disruption as possible for the public. A separate fund and related accounts will be created to track all expenses associated with the relocation and recovery effort.

Commissioners also recognized the Rome-Floyd County Fire Department and their efforts to battle and contain the fire, as well as Facilities Manager Ryan Davis and Facilities Supervisor Blake Oyler for swiftly evacuating the building.

“Their quick response helped to ensure the building was evacuated and protected the lives of employees and visitors during a frightening and fast-moving situation,” Floyd County Commission Chair Rhonda Wallace said. “In a moment of confusion and danger, they showed courage and an extraordinary commitment to others.”

Fire crews have continued to monitor the building, and as part of the ongoing response, security fencing will be installed around the site as soon as possible.

County officials said that very few vital records were lost in the fire.

According to the Tax Commissioner’s Office, almost all records were stored electronically. Older tax digest records are filed through records retention, and records that remained in the office at the time of the fire, including tax sale records and recent tag and title records, are backed up electronically.

Deed records, marriage records, divorce records, veterans’ records, and court documents are housed next door in the Floyd County Superior Court building and were unaffected by the fire.

The Tax Assessor’s Office reported that anyone who filed documents in person within the last few weeks should contact the office to confirm that those materials were received and remain on file. Any documents filed online are safe.

In a related action, the Floyd County Commission also approved designating the former Law Enforcement Center as a judicial annex.

Additional updates regarding the relocation of courthouse operations, records access, and service availability will be provided as more information becomes available.

The Bulloch County Board of Education will host public meetings to discuss their proposed Fy 2027 budget, according to the Statesboro Herald.

According to a release from the school district, the sessions will be held

March 26, April 2, April 23 and May 14 at 6:30 p.m. in the boardroom of the school district’s Central Office on Williams Road.

During the budget meetings, the Board will discuss revenues and expenditures for the school district’s five funds: (1) the General Fund, which is its main operating fund; (2) the Capital Projects Fund, which funds facility improvements; (3) the Special Revenue Fund; (4) the School Nutrition Fund; and (5) the Debt Service Fund.

The Port of Savannah saw lower container throughput in February, according to the Savannah Morning News.

The Port of Savannah logged in February a 7% drop in container traffic compared to the same month last year, which was the busiest February in Georgia Ports Authority history. GPA moved 445,214 twenty-foot equivalent units last month, the authority announced at its board meeting Tuesday.

GPA is entering a stretch where it had record-setting months the previous year in February, March and April. GPA President and CEO Griff Lynch said that pace will be hard to keep up with. Lynch also forecasted challenges through the rest of the authority’s fiscal year due to last year’s record pace and ongoing global challenges.

“At the end of the day our goal is to make sure we continue with service and we limit the amount of damage and decline to the GPA,” Lynch said. “I think if we look at our numbers versus other ports across the board, what we’re going to see is that our declines aren’t that bad considering the markets right now.”

After February’s dip, the Port of Savannah is still only down .2% on the fiscal year compared to the same period as last year. Lynch said the fiscal year decrease is projected to hit around 3% by the end of the year, which he said would not be a huge hit. This February’s numbers are also only a 1% decrease from 2024’s volume, while also being greater than 2023’s February container totals.

But port officials have maintained at least one consistent message amid the volatility over the past year: the authority is continuing with its long-term growth plans. GPA Board Chairman Alec Poitevint echoed a similar message Tuesday, saying the authority continues to focus on the future amid the challenging market.

“We stay true to that process and continue to look at all we need to that when there is competition for freight in the future, that we are the place that is chosen to do that,” Poitevint said.

From the AJC:

Container traffic is flat while wheeled and tracked cargo, such as autos, has experienced a double-digit decline for the fiscal year through February, Ports Authority CEO Griff Lynch told his board of directors Tuesday. He projects continued challenges through June, the end of the fiscal year, given geopolitical uncertainties.

Those include the Iran war, as well as evolving tariff policies. In February, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down many of the tariffs President Donald Trump implemented last year, resulting in the Trump administration imposing new levies.

“These are challenging times and challenging numbers,” Lynch told the board during a meeting at the Jekyll Island Club. “But our market share is doing OK, and we expect improvement in (fiscal year) 2027.”

The pandemic “told us that when we think we’re well-positioned for the future, something can happen that goes beyond what we planned for,” Poitevint said. “If something comes on the market that is contiguous to our property we should look at if. If you can control it or own it, it’s responsible growth.”