Legislature Primer

Sunday Solutions — Jan. 21, 2024

❄️ It’s a little chilly outside, but you can warm by the news fire as we move into the last weeks of January. We’ve got a look at what keeps the Capitol sizzling this time of year, cold data on how baby boomers influence the economy, and the friction between adequate housing and keeping families together. Let’s go light some virtual fires.

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Work under the Gold Dome explained

As budgeting efforts roll on at the General Assembly this week, we’ve gotten a fair amount of questions about the legislative branch. The Current’s data reporter Maggie Lee and visual journalist Justin Taylor spent a day at the Georgia Capitol to assemble an instructional look at how work gets done. Lee, who’s no stranger to the hallways there as a reporter, and Taylor put together a look inside that might, in places, challenge your memories of civics class — if you were lucky enough to have one. What stands out: When measures make it to the 40-day session, it’s hard for average citizens to engage with their elected representatives before a vote and easier for lobbyists and special interests to have access. So, if you’ve got an opinion or request for your rep, be sure to get their attention before they head to the dome and phone numbers and email addresses so you can contact them as they consider legislation.

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Boomers still booming

We found a couple data nuggets this week that show the older generations remain influential in the economy when it comes to jobs and housing. New numbers from the Pew Research Center show that 1 in 5 Americans age 65 or older are working and hourly wages for them are rising. The percentage of those working is twice as large as 35 years ago, and their hourly wages are growing faster than those for younger workers even though older workers are usually paid less. Why? More than ever, older workers have a college degree and are working longer hours. 62% of older workers are doing full-time jobs. Also, older workers are most likely to be female. Here’s a link to the entire piece, which might change your view on hiring and wages.

When it comes to housing, the baby boomer generation (ages 59-77) makes up about 20% of the population but owns 38% of homes nationally, according to a survey by constructioncoverage.com. In Georgia for 2023, 36.3% of homes were owned by boomers, which represents 19.15% of the total population. Here’s the full analysis.

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Jump in! The quiz is warm.

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Health fallout for generations

In an effort to learn more about the long-term toll of toxic chemicals on residents in Coastal Georgia’s 4 Superfund sites, researchers say they have enough preliminary health information to expand their investigations in Brunswick. Last week, the community heard updates that the samples from 100 volunteers who live near 12 state-designated hazardous waste sites show above-average levels of contaminants. Here’s the report from the meeting by The Current’s environment reporter Mary Landers, who’s been following the residents and research.

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Parental media permissions, critical thinking

A new bill in the Georgia Senate would push social media networks to “make commercially reasonable efforts” to determine a user’s age and would require social media companies to get parental consent for users younger than 16. The effort also addresses use of social media on school devices and cyberbullying, but anyone with a preteen or teen knows how hard that’s going to be to enforce. Other states see the same problems but are looking at a different way to address them: require more training on media literacy.

In a story from Stateline, we learn that proactive education on digital citizenship has earned legislative priority in many states. The curriculum is designed to help young people think critically about what they see, ponder why someone posted a message and to weigh the potential consequences of sharing it with others. If that’s something you’re interested in discussing with a person of any age, Georgia Humanities has information and a great series of talking points and videos called Know Your News that might help. We keep it linked on our home page because we think it’s an important topic, too.

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More updates: Budgets, getting to school

Walthourville’s new council and mayor got a budget passed to avoid threats to the city’s charter, and local school districts should get some help getting students to school if the legislature accepts Gov. Brian Kemp’s budget request for public education. State supplements to pay for transportation haven’t risen in 20 years as costs have risen annually.

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Your second cup: Housing and families

This week’s edition cuts close to home for many — whether it’s someone you know or you’re simply a Georgia taxpayer. A long-term investigation by WABE and ProPublica found that inadequate housing was the sole reason 20% of children were kept in foster care in Georgia. The 5-year review of spending for Georgia Division of Family and Children Services spent more than $450 million on programs that can be used to keep families together but less than half of 1% went to housing assistance. It raises questions about values, solutions and where and how money is spent for long- and short-term solutions for some families and children in our state. The topic also may challenge your view about the role of government. Read it here.

Until next week…

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