Newspaper Page Text
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 11, 2023
BARROW NEWS-JOURNAL
PAGE 5A
State Roundup
State Election Board defeats
bid to offer voting with
hand-marked paper ballots
By Dave Williams
Capitol Beat News Service
The State Election Board
late Tuesday unanimously
rejected a proposal to let
Georgians vote with hand-
marked paper ballots in in
stances where using touch
screen voting machines
cannot guarantee privacy.
Both state law and the
Georgia Constitution re
quire that voters be allowed
to cast their ballots in secre
cy. But that doesn’t always
happen in Georgia, Marilyn
Marks, executive director
of the Coalition for Good
Governance, a ballot-secu
rity advocacy group, told
board members before
Tuesday’s vote.
“The screens are so large
and so light it’s hard not to
see how other people are
voting,” she said.
Marks’ organization
brought a proposed amend
ment to state election rules
requiring touch screens
be positioned so that no
one can get behind a vot
er within 30 feet of a ma
chine while voting is taking
place. Adjacent screens
would have to be at least
eight feet apart.
Marks said most pre
cincts are large enough to
accommodate four to six
touch-screen machines and
still leave room for hand-
marked paper ballot sta
tions.
“You can clearly get one
in each comer,” she said.
After Marks’ presen
tation, board members
agreed something needs to
be done to make sure pre
cincts are in compliance
with the state law guaran
teeing ballot privacy. But
they suggested other po
tential solutions could be
worth considering, includ
ing bigger dividers between
machines or protectors that
make screens harder to read
from a distance.
“This is a one-size-fits-all
when there are other ways
to ensure ballot secrecy,”
board member Edward
Lindsey said.
Board member Janice
Johnston said allowing two
types of in-person voting
during elections - touch
screen machines and hand-
marked paper ballots -
might be confusing.
“It doesn’t seem to add
to the potential for orderli
ness we’re striving for,” she
said.
In making the motion to
defeat the proposal, Lind
sey said the board will con
tinue working to come up
with a solution.
“Rejection doesn’t mean
the issue is gone,” he said.
“We need further study.”
Kemp extends
gasoline tax suspension
By Dave Williams
Capitol Beat News Service
Gov. Brian Kemp has extended the
temporary suspension of Georgia’s sales
tax on gasoline and other motor fuels for
another month.
The Republican governor cited ongo
ing inflation and an uncertain economy
caused by what he called irresponsible
policies at the federal level for the need
to keep the suspension he ordered last
month in effect. The suspension will run
through Nov. 11.
“We’re taking action at the state level
to deliver relief to hardworking Geor
gians fighting through Bidenflation,
soaring interest rates, and sky-high pric
es due to Bidenomics,” Kemp said Fri
day.
The average price of regular gasoline
in Georgia is $3.18 per gallon, about 40
cents less than last month.
The current suspension of the motor
fuels tax is the second Kemp has ordered.
He first suspended the tax in March of
last year, shortly after the Russian in
vasion of Ukraine and subsequent sanc
tions on Russia drove gasoline prices in
Georgia to a record high of more than $4
a gallon. The first suspension remained
in effect until last January.
With a budget surplus that had reached
an estimated $4.8 billion at the end of
the last fiscal year in June, the state can
afford to keep the suspension in place.
Republicans have criticized President
Joe Biden for canceling oil and gas leas
es on hundreds of thousands of acres in
Alaska’s environmentally fragile
Arctic National Wildlife Refuge at a
time when pump prices are well above
where they were when he took office in
2021.
Biden authorized large withdrawals
from the national Strategic Oil Reserve
earlier this year in an effort to tamp
down rising gasoline prices.
But with the reserve at its lowest level
in decade, he isn’t expected to reduce the
stockpile further.
Georgia communities land
federal public safety grants
By Dave Williams
Capitol Beat News Service
The Justice Department
is awarding more than
$6.4 million in grants to
local civic groups, gov
ernments, and law en
forcement agencies in
Georgia to support pub
lic safety and community
justice activities.
Fifteen grants will go
to recipients in the cit
ies of Albany, Americus,
Athens, Butler, Colum
bus, Macon, Thomas-
ville, Tifton, and Warner
Robins.
“These grants address
many of the greatest con
cerns our citizens have
today, which boil down
to safer communities for
all,” said Peter Leary,
U.S. attorney for the
Middle District of Geor
gia. “This kind of support
for our community and
law enforcement part
ners’ efforts goes hand
in hand with our focused
efforts to reduce violence
and hold the most violent
offenders accountable.”
Three of the grants are
worth nearly $1 million
each. In Albany, a group
called
This WORKS Inc. will
partner with the Dough
erty County School Sys
tem to provide a behav
ioral health program that
will include antiviolence
education.
The Muscogee County
School District in Co
lumbus will use its grant
funds to support efforts
to prevent group-based
retaliatory violence.
The Taylor County
School District in Butler
will put its grant toward
improving school safety
and increasing access to
mental health care for
students.
Athens-based Area
Committees to Improve
Opportunities Now
Inc. will receive near
ly $785,000 to support
a 36-county program
providing employment
coaching and mentoring
for young people before
and after their release
from the criminal justice
system.
Thomasville will use
a grant of more than
$435,000 to launch a law
enforcement and men
tal health co-responder
program for real-time re
sponses to emergencies.
Macon-Bibb County
will put a $385,000 grant
toward expanding its do
mestic violence unit by
adding an investigator
and prosecutor.
The city of Columbus
will use a grant of nearly
$120,000 to buy protec
tive gear for law enforce
ment and jail personnel,
add two K-9 units and
provide a new smart app
giving residents early
warnings of emergencies.
The grants are being
provided through the Jus
tice Department’s Office
of Justice Programs.
Georgia correctional
officer dies in line of duty
By Dave Williams
Capitol Beat News Service
An inmate at Smith
State Prison in Glenn-
ville has been charged
with killing a correc
tional officer who was
escorting him from the
dining hall.
Correctional Officer
Robert Clark, 42, was
assaulted from behind
with a homemade weap
on Sunday as he was es
corting inmates Layton
Lester and Marko Will
ingham, according to a
news release from the
Georgia Department of
Corrections (GDC).
Willingham, who
stepped in to help Offi
cer Clark, also was as
saulted. Both were trans
ported to local hospitals,
where Clark died of his
wounds and Willingham
remains with non-life
threatening injuries.
“The entire GDC team
is mourning the loss of
one of our own, and we
collectively express our
deepest condolences to
Officer Clark’s family
and friends,” state Com
missioner of Corrections
Tyrone Oliver said Sun
day. “We will support
them as they navigate
this tragedy over the
coming days, weeks and
months.”
“Today, we join the
public safety communi
ty in mourning the loss
of Corrections Officer
Robert Clark,” Gov. Bri
an Kemp added. “Please
join us in praying for his
family, loved ones, and
the Georgia Department
of Corrections at this
time.”
Clark was new to the
corrections agency, hav
ing just joined the de
partment at Smith State
Prison in April.
Lester will be charged
in the assault and re
sulting death of Officer
Clark, as well as the as
sault of inmate Willing
ham.
Lester is serving a life
sentence for a murder
conviction stemming
from a 2007 killing and
armed robbery in Tift
County, the Associated
Press reported.
Georgia sees slight
uptick in unemployment
By Dave Williams
Capitol Beat News Service
Georgia’s unemployment rate rose
slightly last month to 3.3%, up one-
tenth of a point from the revised jobless
rate of 3.2% the state posted in July, the
Georgia Department of Labor reported
Thursday.
Still, the state’s August unemploy
ment rate was five-tenths lower than
the national jobless rate of 3.8%.
The number of jobs, the number of
employed Georgians, and the state’s la
bor force were all at all-time highs.
“Georgia’s labor market continues
to demonstrate remarkable resilience
and strength,” state Commissioner of
Labor Bruce Thompson said Thurs
day. “While we saw a slight increase
in the unemployment rate for August,
our state remains well-positioned for
growth and economic opportunity.”
Job numbers last month in the private
education and health services, leisure
and hospitality, and financial services
sectors reached record highs.
Initial unemployment claims fell by
20% last month to 25,272. First-time
jobless claims over the last year were
down by 6%.
In July, there were more than 112,000
job listings posted online. The top-five
industries for job openings were in
health care; administrative and support
services; retail trade; professional, sci
entific, and technical services; and ac
commodation and food services.
Georgia going proactive
in college admissions
By Dave Williams
Capitol Beat News Service
Since not every Georgia high
school senior will reach out to one
of the state’s universities, colleges
or technical colleges, the schools are
about to come to them.
Gov. Brian Kemp unveiled GEOR
GIA MATCH Thursday, the largest
direct-to-college admission initiative
in the nation.
Starting next week, more than
120,000 high school seniors in Geor
gia will receive a personalized letter
from the governor listing the public
universities, colleges and technical
colleges they are academically eligi
ble to attend.
The letters will explain how stu
dents can claim a spot being held for
them at the institution of their choice.
“This program will engage all
learners and households, including
those who don’t typically consider
higher education an option,” Kemp
said at the start of the inaugural Gov
ernor’s Workforce Summit near the
state Capitol. “All they have to do is
claim their spot.”
Georgia’s workforce development
needs drove the planning for GEOR
GIA MATCH, an effort the Gover
nor’s Office put together in collab
oration with the Georgia Student
Finance Commission, the Universi
ty System of Georgia, the Technical
College System of Georgia, the Gov
ernor’s Office of Student Achieve
ment, and the state Department of
Education.
With 38,406 new jobs created in
Georgia in just the last fiscal year
and just for projects in which the
state played a direct role, GEOR
GIA MATCH is aimed at helping to
keep up with the growing demand for
workers. Only one out-of-work Geor
gian is seeking a job for every three
job postings listed, according to the
Georgia Chamber of Commerce.
“Our workforce needs are the big
gest challenge to our state’s status
as the No.-l state to do business,”
Kemp said.
All of Georgia’s high school seniors
will receive a personalized letter de
claring them eligible for admission
to the state’s 22 technical colleges,
which do not require minimum high
school grade-point averages.
Letters to students with higher
GPAs will also list up to 23 public
colleges and universities those stu
dents are eligible to attend.
Three university system institu
tions - the University of Georgia,
Georgia Tech, and Georgia College &
State University - are not participat
ing in the program because they have
different, more stringent admission
requirements.
All GEORGIA MATCH participat
ing institutions will waive applica
tion fees next month for students who
apply through the program’s portal.
Kemp has declared November Apply
to College Month in Georgia.
The program is expected to cost
$1.3 million during its first year,
funding that is included in the Geor
gia Student Finance Commission’s
fiscal 2024 budget.
“Our aim is to make GEORGIA
MATCH as well known as the HOPE
Scholarship and HOPE Grant in the
years to come,” Kemp said.
Interested high school seniors and
their families can log onto GAfu-
tures.org for more information on
GEORGIA MATCH.