Business news for Saturday, March 20th, 2010
Mar 20, 2010 - Atlanta Journal ConstitutionIn the Georgia Legislature, the witching hour cometh
Jim Tharpe reports that the witching hour – it’s actually a whole day – approaches at the state Legislature. Thursday is scheduled to be the magical 30th day of the 40-day session, and it can spell success or doom for major legislation. Bills have to pass one chamber by midnight on “cross-over day” or they generally are dead for the year. This year, there’s a lot hanging in the balance.
Mar 20, 2010 - Atlanta Journal Constitution
House considering penny tax for arts bill
Howard Pousner reports that, because public funding for the arts remains weak in Atlanta and Georgia, a statewide coalition of cultural, business and civic leaders has lobbied hard for legislation that would support the arts and other initiatives. HB 1049 would enable every Georgia county to hold a referendum on dedicating up to one penny of sales tax for arts and cultural groups and other economic development projects. Each county would be able to decide how to split its penny -- or fraction of a penny.
Mar 20, 2010 - Athens Banner-Herald
Changes to HOPE lie ahead
Lee Shearer reports that state legislators will begin looking at ways to overhaul the lottery-funded HOPE Scholarship next year, legislative leaders say. State officials say they will dip into a HOPE reserve fund for the first time in nearly a decade next year as costs rise faster than sales of lottery tickets, which fund the HOPE Scholarship and a statewide pre-K program.
Mar 20, 2010 - Atlanta Journal Constitution
Georgia Supreme Court to rule Monday on key tort reform provision
Bill Rankin reports that the Georgia Supreme Court on Monday will issue its much-anticipated decision as to whether caps on damage awards in medical malpractice cases are constitutional.
Mar 20, 2010 - Chattanooga Times Free Press
Georgia's hospitals support 'bed tax'
Emily Bregel reports that faced with the threat of a 10.25 percent cut to Medicaid payments, the Georgia Hospital Association has reversed its vehement opposition to a plan that would raise funds through a tax on hospitals' revenues. Charles Stewart, president and CEO of Hutcheson Medical Center in Fort Oglethorpe, said late Friday afternoon that he had just learned of the hospital group's reversal and was unsure how to react.
Mar 20, 2010 - Chattanooga Times Free Press
Public-private options eyed for water needs
Ashley Speagle reports that Georgia senators passed a bill this week that would allow private businesses to build reservoirs to provide public water. “We need water, and we need private capital,” said Sen. Chip Pearson, R-Dawsonville. “To build the necessary infrastructure, we’re going to have to ... engage the private sector.”
Mar 20, 2010 - Atlanta Journal Constitution
On health reform, Rep. Bishop a yes, Rep. Barrow a no
Bob Keefe reports that the two undecided Georgia Democrats in Congress will split their votes on health care reform. U.S. Rep. Sanford Bishop of Albany said he will vote yes on Democrats' health care reform legislation when it comes to a final vote in the U.S. House, probably on Sunday afternoon. Another Georgia Democrat who was previously on the fence, U.S. Rep. John Barrow of Savannah, said Friday he will vote against his party.
Mar 20, 2010 - Savannah Morning News
U.S. Rep. John Barrow will vote against Obama's health care bill
Larry Peterson reports that U.S. Rep. John Barrow says he'll vote against a health care bill that is the focal point of President Barack Obama's agenda. "I am strongly in favor of reforming the health care system, but I don't think this bill is going to do it," the Savannah Democrat said in a prepared statement Friday. Until then, Barrow had kept quiet about whether he'd back the measure, due for what is expected to be a close showdown vote Sunday. Jack Kingston, a Savannah Republican and Chatham County's other congressman, has long been on record against it.
Mar 20, 2010 - Augusta Chronicle
Barrow won't back health bill
Sarita Chourey reports that Democratic U.S. Rep. John Barrow said Friday he would not support the federal health care reform legislation scheduled for a vote this weekend. "I am strongly in favor of reforming the health care system, but I don't think this bill is going to do it, and therefore I can't support it," he said. "It puts too much of the burden of paying for it on working folks who are already being overcharged, and that's not fair. It threatens to overwhelm Medicaid in Georgia, and that's not right. And it barely touches the insurance companies, and that's not smart. We can do better, and I'm ready to start."
Mar 20, 2010 - Griffin Daily News
Democrats struggling to get health votes
Matthew W. Quinn reports that the U.S. House of Representatives will vote on the health-care reform package Sunday; if it passes, U.S. President Barack Obama will likely sign it into law. “They’re going to vote on Sunday — that’s the plan anyway,” said Brian Robinson, press secretary for U.S. Rep. Lynn Westmoreland, R-Ga.
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Mar 20, 2010 - Albany Herald
Bishop to vote for health care reform Sunday
Ricki Barker reports that after his office said U.S. Rep. Sanford Bishop was undecided Thursday how he would vote Sunday on health care reform, the Albany Democrat said Friday he will vote in favor of the House bill. Bishop confirmed he will support the $940 billion House legislation Friday afternoon in a phone interview with The Albany Herald.
Mar 20, 2010 - Atlanta Journal Constitution - COLUMN/BLOG
Political Insider: David Shafer endorses Clay Cox in 7th District race
The Political Insider, Jim Galloway, writes, With state Sen. Don Balfour (R-Snellville) pulling out of the 7th District congressional race, many have asked whether state Sen. David Shafer (R-Duluth) will reconsider the contest. Here’s the answer Shafer just issued, in the form of a press release from the Clay Cox campaign: Senator David Shafer (R-Duluth) today endorsed state Rep. Clay Cox to succeed U.S. Congressman John Linder.
Mar 20, 2010 - Atlanta Journal Constitution - COLUMN/BLOG
A candidate for governor you don’t know, but should
Kyle Wingfield writes, I say “Austin,” you say: Texas? Powers? Scott? Wait — Scott? For someone who has served 14 years in the Legislature and who last summer took a 1,068-mile state tour by foot, Austin Scott is not terribly well known north of the gnat line. But he’s running for governor. And even if you end up voting for someone else — as I may well do myself — you ought to know about him. At the very least, he brings a different voice to the Republican primary.
Mar 20, 2010 - Athens Banner-Herald - COLUMN
Yarbrough: Governor's priorities are embarrassing
Dick Yarbrough writes, In the midst of one of the worst economic crises in memory, the members of the Georgia General Assembly have to make some extremely difficult financial decisions. I don't envy them. To make their challenge even harder, up pops Gov. Sonny Perdue with some budget add-ons. This time we aren't talking about concrete fishponds. While teachers are being furloughed, state employees laid off and budgets slashed to the bone, news reports say our chief executive desires to spend $9 million to finish a horse show complex at the fairgrounds in Houston County, his home county.
Mar 20, 2010 - Savannah Morning News - EDITORIAL
Health-Care vote: Real March madness
The editorial board writes, Good for Congressman John Barrow, who announced late Friday that he was voting "no" on Obamacare. Let's hope other House lawmakers - especially those Democrats who are being wooed shamelessly by Speaker Nancy Pelosi - can resist the temptations to support a flawed health-care reform bill, which may be rushed to the floor Sunday.
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Mar 20, 2010 - Brunswick News - EDITORIAL
Tougher ethics rules needed for politicians
The editorial board writes that if it wasn't obvious years ago, then it should have been obvious at the end of 2009 that the state is in dire need of true-blue ethics reform. So far, with few exceptions, there has been more tongue-wagging than action between and among members of the Georgia General Assembly.
Mar 20, 2010 - Athens Banner-Herald - OP-ED
This year marks most expensive census in history
William F. Shughart II, the F.A.P. Barnard Distinguished Professor of Economics at the University of Mississippi, writes, April 1 is officially Census Day - no fooling! There is much at stake. Census figures will be used to shift representation in Congress from states where populations have declined since 2000 to those where they have grown. By 2012, every state also will have redrawn its own legislative district boundaries to reflect recent population trends. Moreover, the 2010 head-count will determine how every state and community fares over the next decade when federal funds are allocated for a host of social programs.
Mar 20, 2010 - Atlanta Journal Constitution - COLUMN/BLOG
Why is state throwing up roadblocks in CRCT investigation?
Maureen Downey writes, Longtime educator Herb Garrett of the Georgia School Superintendents Association sent me this piece. I think it raises good questions, especially in light of the AJC story that the data security firm hired to investigate APS suggests the state isn’t being all that helpful: "As I have watched the CRCT “cheating scandal” unfold, I have been amazed at the number of people willing to jump to conclusions before gathering necessary evidence. At the same time, I find myself dumbfounded at the roadblocks that are being thrown in front of those who wish to do the evidence-gathering so as to do a complete and thorough investigation..."
Mar 20, 2010 - Atlanta Journal Constitution - COLUMN/BLOG
ObamaCare: $2 trillion, or 2.5 ’stimulus’ bills
Kyle Wingfield writes, To show you how far down the rabbit hole we’ve gone, Democrats were pleased when the Congressional Budget Office gave the two ObamaCare bills — the Senate bill plus the “reconciliation” bill the House would use to “fix” it — a combined cost of “only” $940,000,000,000 over 10 years. But as you already know if you’ve been paying attention to this blog, there’s more here than the headline number suggests.
Mar 20, 2010 - Marietta Daily Journal
Cobb lawmakers divided over cigarette tax hike bill
Jon Gillooly reports that Cobb legislators are divided over a bill that would raise the state tax on cigarettes by a dollar per pack, from the current $0.37 to $1.37. House Bill 39 is sponsored by Rep. Ron Stephens (R-Savannah), who says it would raise an estimated $350 million in new state taxes and attract another billion dollars in federal health care funds to Georgia.
