Tuesday, April 1, 2025
Good Morning! In the news today: Storm clouds gather over the Hyundai Metaplant in Bryan County, as the White House readies more tariffs on “Liberation Day”; a look at some of the contentious measures still under consideration as the state legislature spirals towards its Friday finale; Buddy Carter thanks Elon Musk; and six things for your radar. Questions, comments, or story ideas? You can reach me at craig.thecurrent@gmail.com
NEWS:BUSINESS
Storm clouds
The White House has proclaimed tomorrow — April 2 — “Liberation Day,” when President Donald Trump is due to announce tariffs on automobile imports. The shock to the global trade system has sparked warnings from economists, who are predicting inflation to rise for American consumers and a steep slowdown in economic growth.
Yet there wasn’t a hint of those growing storm clouds from Hyundai’s top executives, fresh from a meeting with Trump, and some of the state’s top Republicans, who gathered last week for the official grand opening of the Bryan County manufacturing plant last week, The Current’s Margaret Coker reports.
NEWS: POLITICS
Contentious measures
As this year’s gathering of the Georgia legislature spirals towards its frenetic finish on Friday, here are some of the more contentious measures we’re following:
- Is there any hope for measures to limit institutional investor activity in local housing markets?
- Will a sweeping election reform bill pass? HB 397, among other things, limits drop-off time for absentee ballots and bars the state from participating in a 24-state data base that is used to update voter rolls?
- Will the House pass the Religious Freedom Restoration Act? Supporters of SB 36 say it would give religious Georgians the same protections from state and local governments that they get from the First Amendment on the federal level. Opponents say it would allow business owners who have faith-based beef with LGBTQ people to refuse to serve them.
- This week transgender Georgians could lose the rights to play on girls’ school sports teams, obtain puberty blockers or receive gender affirming care from the state health care plan, if SB 1 is approved.
- SB 21, which has the support of Republican state lawmakers, takes aim at so-called sanctuary cities by allowing them to be held civilly liable for crimes committed by undocumented migrants. Senate Democrats argued that the bill is cruel and could result in overcrowded jails and lawsuits against cities. Passage in the House this week would send it to the governor’s desk.
- Under HB 127, postsecondary institutions would be barred from promoting ideas such as “unconscious or implicit bias, cultural appropriation, allyship, gender ideology or theory, microaggressions, group marginalization, anti-racism, systemic oppression, social justice, intersectionality, neopronouns, heteronormativity, disparate impact, racial privilege, sexual privilege or any similar or related formulation of these concepts” as their official opinions.
NEWS: POLITICS
‘Thank you, Elon Musk!’
Tech mogul and White House adviser Elon Musk has donated $6,600 to Buddy Carter’s campaign committee, boosting the Coastal Georgia’s congressman’s political profile ahead of a possible run for the U.S. Senate seat held by Democrat Jon Ossoff.
“Thank you, Elon Musk! Together, we will #MakeAmericaGreatAgain!” gushed Carter in announcing the donation Wednesday on his Facebook page and the social media site X, which Musk owns.
Musk’s donation is peanuts compared with the more than $291 million that Musk, who also owns the electric vehicle company Tesla and SpaceX, donated to Republican candidates, political action committees and other outside spending organizations in the 2024 election cycle.
Carter’s gushing thanks to Musk for the donation is a sign of how much he welcomes the financial support of a man who has the ear of President Trump as he gears up for a possible run next year for Ossoff’s seat, The Current’s Craig Nelson reports.
NEWS: UPDATES
6 things for your radar
- ‘We have to create it’: Savannah City Council amends the city’s zoning code to create what officials are calling an Affordable Housing Overlay District, a move aimed at addressing rising housing costs and increasing residential density.
- ‘No guts’: U.S. Senator Jon Ossoff weighs in on the possibility of Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (Rome) running against him next year: “I don’t think she’s got the guts to do it,” Ossoff said. “But she would be a disaster for the U.S. Senate.”
- Stepping down: U.S. Rep. Nikema Williams of Atlanta steps down as chair of the Georgia Democratic Party.
- AG tosses lawsuit: U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi directs the Justice Department to dismiss a lawsuit challenging a sweeping election overhaul that Georgia Republican lawmakers passed in the wake of President Donald Trump’s 2020 election loss in the state.
- ‘Rewriting nation’s history’: President Trump signs an executive order stating that the Smithsonian Institution is engaging in a “concerted and widespread effort to rewrite our Nation’s history.” Critics say it’s an effort to “downplay how race, racism and Black Americans themselves have shaped the nation’s story.”
- Expelling foreign students: “Every time I find one of these lunatics, I take away their visa,” says U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, as efforts to remove foreign students who “raise a ruckus” step up.
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U.S. Attorney General dismisses Biden-era lawsuit to overturn Georgia’s 2021 election overhaul
U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi has ordered the dismissal of a lawsuit challenging Georgia’s election overhaul, citing false claims of politically motivated voter suppression.
Tariff threat casts shadow over Hyundai’s plant-opening party in Bryan County
Hyundai’s top executives and Georgia’s top Republicans celebrated the opening of the company’s manufacturing plant in Ellabell, but failed to mention the looming threat of tariffs that could postpone plans to produce electronic vehicles there.
Buddy Carter scores campaign donation from Elon Musk
Tech mogul and White House adviser Elon Musk has donated $6,600 to Buddy Carter’s campaign committee, boosting the Coastal Georgia congressman’s political profile ahead of a possible run for the U.S. Senate seat held by Democrat Jon Ossoff.
Chatham sheriff details progress, challenges ahead of first 100 days marker
New Chatham County Sheriff Richard Coleman explains progress in visitation and hiring changes after the native Savannahian won his election last fall.
Savannah City Council passes new affordable housing overlay district
The Savannah City Council approved an ordinance to create an Affordable Housing Overlay District, which allows property owners to more easily develop high-density and multi-family housing in neighborhoods that have traditionally consisted of low-density, single-family homes.
Photo story: Bryan County’s Hyundai Metaplant holds grand opening
Hyundai Motor Group Metaplant America held its grand opening on Wednesday, with 16 million square feet of factory space and currently employing 1,232 people out of its prospective 8,500, and the company announced a further financial commitment by Hyundai totaling $21 billion.
Federal grant cancellations threaten Georgia public health services
The Georgia Department of Public Health is facing cuts to its funding from the federal Department of Health and Human Services, which is reorganizing its divisions to be more unified, and the agency is already taking measures to tighten its belt around its budget.
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