Newspaper Page Text
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 18, 2023
BARROW NEWS-JOURNAL
PAGE 5A
State Roundup
Georgia buying Israeli bonds
to support military effort
By Dave Williams
Capitol Beat News Service
Georgia lawmakers to
study promise, threats
of artificial intelligence
Gov. Brian Kemp has in
structed the state treasurer
to buy $10 million in bonds
from Israel to support its mil
itary response to last week
end’s brutal attack launched
by Hamas militants.
The $10 million was the
highest amount available on
the bond market and brings
Georgia’s current invest-
Opening up privately held
stretches of trout streams
in North Georgia to public
fishing would min a cottage
industry vital to the region’s
economy, a parade of water
front property owners warned
state lawmakers Thursday.
Many farmers along the
Soque River and other most
ly narrow, shallow streams in
the mountainous region op
erate fly-fishing guide busi
nesses on the side. They use
the income to help keep their
farms in business rather than
being forced to subdivide
their lands and sell to devel
opers.
“These waters are extreme
ly sensitive to overfishing,”
Emily Owenby, founder and
operations coordinator at
Noontootla Creek Farms in
Blue Ridge, told members of
a Georgia House study com
mittee at a hearing in Clark-
esville. “If we allow the pub-
By Dave Williams
Capitol Beat News Service
A federal judge has
denied motions to tem
porarily block several
provisions of contro
versial election reform
legislation the General
Assembly’s Republican
majorities passed two
years ago.
Several civil rights
groups challenged re
strictions in Senate Bill
202 on absentee voting
and the placement of ab
sentee ballot drop box
es, claiming the new law
will make it harder for
Black voters in Georgia
to cast their ballots next
year.
But U.S. District
Judge J.P. Boulee ruled
against the motions for
ment in Israel via bonds to
$25 million.
“Israel is one of Georgia’s
strongest allies and greatest
friends, and our support for
its people as they endure
horrific attacks from terror
ists is unwavering,” Kemp
said Friday. “Purchasing
these bonds is just the latest
expression of that support.”
Rocket attacks and raids
into Israel from the Gaza
lie to access our streams, we
will see immediate devasta
tion. ... You can’t promote a
fishery that no longer exists.”
The study committee was
formed this year after the
General Assembly passed
a bill on the last day of this
year’s legislative session
guaranteeing Georgians the
right to fish on navigable por
tions of the state’s rivers and
streams. The measure was in
response to a lawsuit filed by
a property owner along the
Upper Flint River seeking to
ban public fishing along his
stretch of the river.
Some of the language
both in Senate Bill 115 and
the House resolution that
created the study commit
tee has waterfront property
owners worried the state will
seek to broaden the defini
tion of “navigable” water
ways to encompass privately
held stretches of rivers and
streams.
Mark Alley, who owns a
a preliminary injunction
Wednesday, declaring
that the plaintiffs failed
to prove the legislation
was intended to dis
criminate against voters
based on their race.
The provisions at is
sue included limits on
the number of absen
tee drop boxes, an ID
requirement for voters
casting absentee ballots,
and a ban on volunteers
providing food and wa
ter to voters waiting in
line at the polls.
“We are disappointed
that the challenged pro
visions of SB202 will
remain in effect during
the 2024 election cy
cle,” said Rahul Garaba-
du, senior voting rights
attorney with the Amer-
Strip since last Saturday
have killed 1,300 and injured
about 3,300, according to the
Israeli government. About
150 kidnapped hostages are
thought to have been taken
to Gaza.
Gaza’s health ministry
said more than 1,500 Pal
estinians have been killed
and more than 6,600 others
wounded in Israeli air strikes
on the blockaded enclave.
farm in Habersham County
that is split by the Soque, said
the river in no way should be
considered navigable.
“We’re talking about a strip
of land a few feet wide cov
ered by a few inches of wa
ter,” he said.
Alley and other speak
ers Thursday said property
owners along the Soque and
other trout streams in North
Georgia spend thousands of
dollars each year stocking
fish and maintaining stream
banks to sustain a trout pop
ulation adequate to support
a fly-fishing industry that
draws tourists from around
the world.
They said a state take
over of those privately held
stretches of waterfront not
only would kill their busi
nesses but represent an
unconstitutional taking of
private property without
compensation.
“Leave the Soque alone,”
Marty Simmons, who owns
ican Civil Liberties
Union’s Georgia chap
ter. “But our legal chal
lenge is far from over.
... We will never stop
advocating on behalf of
our clients and voters
across the state.”
Georgia Secretary of
State Brad Raffensperg-
er, Republican, praised
the decision.
“Today, the court con
firmed what we’ve been
saying all along,” he
said. “SB202 strength
ens election integrity
while increasing the
opportunity for Georgia
voters to cast a ballot.”
The plaintiffs had
brought the lawsuit be
fore last year’s elec
tions. But the judge de
clined to issue a ruling
The governor, Georgia
First Lady Marty Kemp, and
their three daughters led a
delegation of state officials
to Israel in May on an eco
nomic development trip.
Kemp met with Israeli Prime
Minister Benjamin Netanya
hu, President Isaac Herzog,
and other Israeli officials to
discuss security in the Mid
dle East and other issues.
and operates a trout fishing
venue along his Soque River
property, told the committee.
“Let us take care of it.”
Committee members
sought to assure the prop
erty owners who attended
Thursday’s hearing that the
legislature does not intend to
expand public access to fish
ing by confiscating private
property.
“There is not going to be
a change to the definition of
navigable waters,” said Rep.
Will Wade, R-Dawsonville.
“The intention is to find
clarity,” added House Ma
jority Whip James Burchett,
R-Waycross, the study com
mittee’s chairman. “The
property owners and fisher
men all want to know, where
can we fish and where can we
not?”
The committee is sched
uled to hold two more hear
ings this month and make
final recommendations to the
full House by Dec. 1.
at the time, contending
that changing voting
laws close to an election
would confuse voters.
The General Assem
bly passed SB202 after
Democrats had scored
major gains in Geor
gia in the 2020 election
cycle, including Joe
Biden’s victory over
incumbent GOP Presi
dent Donald Trump and
the capture of both of
the state’s U.S. Senate
seats.
Absentee voting
played a major role in
the pandemic-era 2020
elections, with drop
boxes being used for the
first time. Critics said
many drop box locations
lacked adequate security
measures.
By Dave Williams
Capitol Beat News Service
Georgia lawmakers on
both sides of the state
Capitol are taking their
first serious look this fall
at how rapidly evolving
artificial intelligence tech
nology is likely to affect
public policy.
A House subcommittee
formed to study the issue
already has begun hold
ing hearings, while two
Senate committees are set
to launch a parallel effort
Nov. 1.
“The first thing we need
to do is educate our fellow
legislators on what artifi
cial intelligence is,” said
Sen. John Albers, R-Ros-
well, chairman of the Sen
ate Public Safety Com
mittee, which will take up
AI in conjunction with the
Senate Science and Tech
nology Committee.
“Some people believe
AI is a disruptor similar
to when Uber came out,
or the iPhone, or even the
internet. This will literal
ly change everything we
do.”
The development of AI
technology is being wide
ly seen as a double-edged
sword. While it promis
es to increase workplace
productivity and produce
life-saving drugs, it also
threatens to replace large
numbers of jobs now done
by humans and compro
mise cybersecurity.
So-called “deep fakes”
generated by AI already
are being used in criminal
scams and political adver
tising, using false images
and audio to fool people
into thinking a family
member or candidate for
public office said some
thing they didn’t or did
something that never hap
pened.
“Deep fakes can be
really damaging,” said
state Rep. Brad Thomas,
R-Holly Springs, chair
man of the House Sub
committee on Artificial
Intelligence. “We’ve got
to make sure the technol
ogy isn’t being used in
ways that harm people.”
Bills related to artificial
intelligence were intro
duced in at least 25 state
legislatures this year, and
15 states adopted bills or
resolutions, according to
the National Conference
of State Legislatures. Ex
amples include Maryland,
which established a grant
program to help manu
facturers implement new
AI technology, and Texas,
which created an adviso
ry council to monitor AI
systems developed or em
ployed by state agencies.
At the national level, a
U.S. Senate subcommittee
chaired by Sen. Jon Os-
soff, D-Ga., held a hearing
in June during which Os-
soff described the growth
of AI as an “existential
threat” to U.S. labor mar
kets and Americans’ right
to privacy.
At two hearings last
month, Ossoff raised the
specter of AI being used
in political ads to distort
candidates’ views on is
sues and questioned tech
nology experts about AI’s
implications for national
security.
Academia also has be
come heavily involved
with artificial intelligence.
Jonathan Shihao Ji, a com
puter science professor at
Georgia State University,
received a $10 million
federal grant this month
to advance research in AI
with a focus on human-ro
bot interaction.
“It has been claimed re
cently that AI is the new
electricity,” Ji said. “It
can empower and will
transform almost every in
dustry in the next several
years.”
The Georgia Tech Re
search Corporation land
ed a $65 million federal
grant last year to acceler
ate the adoption of artifi
cial intelligence by Geor
gia industries including
semiconductors, batter
ies, food production, and
aerospace.
Albers said he plans
on bringing in AI experts
from Microsoft and large
consulting firms, as well
as technology lawyers, to
testify before the two Sen
ate committees.
“We’re going to go
through a methodical
process on how [AI] will
affect state government,
education, health care,
public safety, [and] how it
will impact ... local cities
and counties and school
systems,” he said.
Typically, legislative
study committees that
meet between General
Assembly sessions come
up with recommendations
for lawmakers to consider
during the next session.
But Thomas said the leg
islature needs to move at
a more deliberate pace on
artificial intelligence to
avoid unintended conse
quences.
“I want to make sure we
do due diligence, not do
something we didn’t in
tend to do,” he said.
Albers said any legisla
tion the General Assem
bly develops to address AI
will evolve over time.
“What we do in 2024
will be different from
what we do in 2025, 2026,
2027, and 2028,” he said.
“I want to be careful not
to stifle innovation but
with a sense of urgency
so we can establish some
parameters.”
North Georgia property owners
warn expanding public fishing
would hurt fly-fishing industry
By Dave Williams
Capitol Beat News Service
Federal judge upholds
controversial Georgia election law
Suniva to restart solar ceU plant in Gwinnett County
By Dave Williams
Capitol Beat News Service
A U.S. solar cell manufacturer that
went bankrupt six years ago amid com
petition from a glut of cheap Asian so
lar panels announced Wednesday it is
restarting its manufacturing plant in
Norcross.
Suniva, which began as a Georgia
Tech spinoff, secured a $110 million
commitment earlier this year from
Orion Infrastructure Capital (OIC)
to finance the upgrading, expansion,
and restarting of the Gwinnett County
plant. The first phase of the expansion
will create up to 240 jobs and increase
the plant’s manufacturing capacity to
1 gigawatt, enough to power 750,000
homes.
Production is expected to begin by
next spring, to be followed by a second
phase of expansion that will further in
crease capacity to 2.5 gigawatts.
“The solar cell is the essential com
ponent in solar energy generation,”
Matt Card, Suniva’s president and chief
operating officer, said Wednesday. “To
day’s announcement is the first step in
rebuilding solar cell manufacturing in
the United States, which will bolster
our country’s energy independence and
security.”
Besides the financial boost from OIC,
Suniva executives cited new federal tax
credits provided through the Inflation
Reduction Act Congress passed last
year for allowing the company to re
start cell manufacturing operations.
“This announcement shows the Infla
tion Reduction Act’s power in writing
a new chapter for the American solar
industry,” said John Podesta, senior ad
visor to the president for clean energy
innovation and implementation.
“After closing during the last admin
istration, Bidenomics is bringing this
plant back to life. It’s part of President
Biden’s Investing in America agenda to
renew manufacturing, create good-pay
ing jobs, and ensure America wins our
competition with countries like China.”