Tuesday, Jan. 30, 2024
Updated, Jan. 30, 8 a.m.: To add comment (below) from Rep. Carl Gilliard regarding his No Vote status on House Bill 30.
A somber good morning to you, as we learned late yesterday that two of the three U.S. soldiers killed in a weekend drone attack in Jordan hailed from Coastal Georgia. The Pentagon identified the two local-area soldiers as Specialist Breonna Moffett, 23, of Savannah and Specialist Kennedy Sanders, 24, of Waycross. Sgt. William Rivers, 46, of Carrollton, Georgia, also died in the attack. Our condolences to their families. Today, we look at a state senator’s move on wayward libraries amid a primary challenge and worries about labor supply. And we note five things for your radar. Questions, comments, or story ideas? You can reach me at craig.thecurrent@gmail.com.
Watson takes aim at library association
Savannah’s five-term state senator, Ben Watson, has joined 18 other Georgia Republicans in the state’s upper house as a sponsor of legislation that takes aim at the oldest and largest library association in the world.
The measure, SB 390, would bar city, county, and regional library trustees and the State University System of Georgia from using “any public or privately donated funds on any materials, services or operations offered by the American Library Association or any of its affiliates.”
Watson’s stance on an issue that has become part of Georgia’s culture wars is a surprise and indicates that even Republican incumbents are under pressure to tweak and burnish their political credentials in advance of Georgia’s primary elections in May.
The library bill was introduced just hours after Chatham County Republican Beth Majeroni took to podium at a clubhouse bar at the Landings that was packed with her supporters and formally announced her candidacy for Watson’s seat.
It’s only the second time in Watson’s 14-year career in the state House and Senate that he has faced a primary challenger. Majeroni represents the insurgent wing of the state party and is running to the right of the Savannah physician.
Majeroni has campaigned for years to remove or restrict sexually explicit books and instructional materials from Chatham County schools.
Watson is trying to play catch-up on an important issue, she told The Current‘s Craig Nelson, adding: “It’s about time.”
Watson did not reply to a request seeking comment about SB390 and his apparent changing views on library oversight.
Workforce, workforce, workforce
Asked at a panel on the electric vehicle industry at World Economic Forum in Davos earlier this month what keeps him up at night, Gov. Brian Kemp said supplying the workforce to companies doing business in Georgia — in particular, the $7.6 billion Hyundai plant in Ellabell and the $5 billion Rivian complex in Stanton Springs.
Add to the list of insomniacs: Eric Johnson, project director of the Savannah Harbor-Interstate 16 Corridor Joint Development Authority, an organization that represents, and is funded by, the development authorities of Bryan, Bulloch, Chatham, and Effingham counties.
“There aren’t enough people for all the jobs out there,” Johnson, a former state representative and senator, told the Savannah chapter of the NAACP at a meeting Sunday at Connor’s Temple Baptist Church.
“There are a lot of people that don’t know what it means to work, to show up on time to do what you’re supposed to do. That has to start with the school system.”
To address the workforce issue, the Savannah Economic Development Authority is setting up what will in 12-18 months be a stand-alone organization to address workforce issues, headed by Anna Chafin.
Among those in attendance at the NAACP-sponsored meeting were Liberty County Commission chair Donald Lovette, and Chatham County Democratic Party chair Aaron “Adot” Whitely, and Chatham County Commission chair Chester Ellis who, among others, angrily noted what they said was the shortchanging of Savannah State University when it came to the distribution of Hyundai-related workforce funds to area universities.
5 things for your radar
1. ‘Grits ain’t grocery’ — Amid debate about a bill setting forth guidelines for a commission to rein in errant district attorneys, Rep. Al Williams (Midway) criticized what he described as the one-sidedness of the commission’s heavily Republican supporters: “I didn’t hear anybody stand up here and ask for oversight when a corrupt DA in Brunswick, Georgia, decided to hide evidence when Ahmaud Arbery died. Nobody said, ‘It’s time now to do something about rogue DAs.’ If that ain’t rogue, then grits ain’t grocery.”
2. School choice — In his latest weekly newsletter, U.S. Rep. Earl “Buddy” Carter of St. Simons highlights his support for school choice: “It’s time that parents are in the driver’s seat of their child’s education.” Views about school choice in Georgia are divided: A poll carried out in early January by the University of Georgia’s School of Public and International Affairs found that 60% of registered voters — including 50% of conservatives — opposed using taxpayer funds to pay for private schooling “in some circumstances.”
3. Who’s to blame? — With the U.S. House of Representatives in a 10-day recess, Carter testified last week in Atlanta before the Senate Health and Human Services Committee, chaired by Sen. Ben Watson. He argued in favor of a bill that would require pharmacy benefit managers to share at least half of their negotiated discounts with consumers. The bill failed. A day later and back in Washington, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, a Democrat, blamed high drug prices not on pharmacy benefit managers but on top pharmaceutical companies which, he said, made more than $110 billion in profit in 2022.
4. The nominee — Within hours of Donald Trump’s victory in the New Hampshire primary last week, state GOP chair Josh McKoon and national committee members Ginger Howard and Jason Thompson endorsed the former president as the party’s 2024 presidential nominee. Their statement came after a vote to endorse Trump fell short at a meeting in St. Simons of the state GOP executive committee the previous weekend.
5. Antisemitism vote — State Rep. Carl Gilliard abstained last week on a vote defining antisemitism in Georgia law, while Rep. Anne Allen Westbrook was marked excused, apparently due to illness. Gilliard said he had to leave quickly for a family medical emergency. “I was to go home once I got the news, and I would’ve voted in favor of the bill had I been there,” Gilliard said Tuesday in an email. Last month, the two Savannah-area Democrats abstained on House bill expressing support for Israel and condemning Hamas.
6. He’s got a mountain now — Gov. Brian Kemp earlier this month appointed Skidaway Island’s Michael Owens to the Stone Mountain Memorial Association, which manages the state-owned, 3,200-acre park. Owens is president and chief executive officer of Savannah’s Tourism Leadership Council.
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With election season, Coastal Georgia lawmakers turn attention to libraries
By Craig Nelson
The measure, SB 390, would bar city, county, and regional library trustees and the State University System of Georgia from using “any public or privately donated funds on any materials, services or operations offered by the American Library Association or any of its affiliates.”
Carter fails to spur Georgia lawmakers to require sharing of prescription discounts
By Jill Nolin/Georgia Recorder
U.S. representative backs Georgia bill to cut benefits to pharmacy benefit managers.
Georgia GOP vote to endorse Trump fails
By Craig Nelson
Georgia state Republican leaders met over the weekend. Surprisingly, a motion to formally endorse Trump failed.
Major changes in federal flood insurance program urged by U.S. Senate panel
By Jennifer Shutt/Georgia Recorder
Lawmakers say fund for national flood insurance will require substantial restructuring, must be renewed without delay.
State Senate eyeing second sports betting bill
By Dave Williams/Capitol Beat
The bill would provide for both online betting on sports and retail betting at sites operated by licensees who would pay $1 million each.
Georgia GOP lawmakers bring bills for election-year tax breaks on income, child care and property
By Stanley Dunlap/Georgia Recorder
Critics say budget surplus should be spent on education, health care and infrastructure.
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