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THURSDAY. APRIL 1.2021 PICKENS COUNTY PROGRESS PAGE 3A
KPB teams up with local
governments to clean up
(Front L-R) Mayor of Jasper Steve Lawrence and Kris Stancil, Pickens County com
mission chair. (Back L-R) Robert Kenyon, KPB vice president and Adopt-A-Road chair
man; Cole Connel, new county marshall; Kenneth Woodard, county recycle manager;
and Vered Kleinberger, KPB president.
Submitted by KPB
Each year, Keep Pickens
Beautiful sponsors a range
of activities during the
month of April as part of
Keep America Beautiful’s
Great American Cleanup.
This year, in addition to
some of our usual programs,
we’re also working with
Pickens County and their
Team Up to Clean Up initia
tive. If we all work together,
we can accomplish so much.
April is proclaimed as
Cleanup Month in Pickens
County. Commissioner
Chair Kris Stencil, Mayor of
Jasper, Steven Lawrence,
and Recycle Center Man
ager, Kenneth Woodard
signed a proclamation desig
nating April as cleanup
month. KPB would like to
encourage the residents of
Pickens County to be a part
of the county-wide cleanup.
Cleanup events are
planned throughout April
and will be announced in the
Pickens Progress, on the
KPB website, and on the
KPB Facebook page.
Here’s a sneak-peek:
April 10 - county-wide
Team Up to Clean Up
April 20-22 - Earth Day
Entire month - tire
amnesty - each Pickens
County family can recycle
up to 4 tires (off the rim) at
the central recycling center
If your group or family is
planning a special clean up
or an event for Earth Day,
please let KPB know so we
can recognize your efforts.
Keep Pickens Beautiful’s
Adopt-A-Road Volunteers
will be picking up their
roadways during April; col
lection amounts will be
posted so you can see what
a difference they make to
keep our roadsides clean! If
you would like to Adopt-A-
Road, contact the KPB of
fice for more details.
KPB would like to thank
all those who took part in
last year’s Great American
Cleanup and encourage you
to continue this work in
2021. Help us to keep Pick
ens beautiful!
The KPB website is in
the midst of a re-design, so
in the coming weeks, you’ll
see lots of additional infor
mation; please keep check
ing back! Also, forms will
be available for you to let us
know what you’ve done to
help our community, as well
as to request information on
how you can be a part of the
effort.
If you have questions or
for more information on
how you can be a part of
Keep Pickens Beautiful, call
our office at 706-253-3600.
You can also go to our web
site for more details,
www.keeppickensbeauti-
ful.org.
rr
Report from the Capitol
By State Representative Rick Jasperse
As you can imagine, it’s
busy at the General Assem
bly with just a few days left
in the 2021 session. House
members are presenting their
bills in Senate committees
and Senators to our House
committees.
Voting on bills that will
change how Georgians are
educated, get healthcare, and
vote were on tap to name a
few. I have talked a lot this
session about how quiet the
building has been with so
many fewer people visiting
us and letting us know how
they feel about bills, due to
Covid. Well, it was a lot bet
ter this week; when I walked
in the building at some point
Tuesday it was loud, and it
was good to hear everyone.
Some of the bills
we passed
Senate Bill 6, or the “Tax
Credit Return on Investment
Act of 2021,” passed the
House this week to examine
our state’s tax revenue struc
ture, ensuring taxpayer dol
lars are spent wisely and
efficiently. Additionally, this
bill would create the “2021
Special Council on Tax Re
form and Fairness for Geor
gians,” and this bipartisan
group of state leaders and
area experts would conduct a
study of the state’s current
revenue structure ahead of
the 2022 legislative session.
This legislation also in
cludes the “Georgia Eco
nomic Renewal Act of2021,”
which would establish and
change several tax credits to
support renewal and recovery
efforts for Georgia’s econ
omy, such as creating an ad
ditional tax credit for jobs
created by a medical equip
ment and supplies manufac
turer or a pharmaceutical and
medicine manufacturer. It
would also improve a tax
credit to incentivize high-im-
pact aerospace defense proj
ects throughout the state
(think Lockheed) and add
$100 million in funding for
the Georgia Agribusiness and
Rural Jobs Act.
The House also gave
unanimous passage to Senate
Bill 33 to allow victims of
human trafficking to seek
justice from those who have
exploited them. SB 33 would
establish a civil cause of ac
tion for victims of human
trafficking against a perpetra
tor, such as a person and/or
entity that knowingly bene
fited financially or gained
anything of value from ex
ploiting these individuals.
Before this week ended,
we passed Senate Bill 195 to
increase the responsibilities
of the Georgia Access to
Medical Cannabis Commis
sion. This legislation would
allow the commission to re
view new treatment and de
livery methods of low THC
oil and products that result
from medical research. In ad
dition, SB 195 would allow
local jurisdictions to use their
zoning powers to allow addi
tional dispensary locations
and allow licenses to be is
sued.
The longest debate of the
week was on Senate Bill 202,
the “Election Integrity Act of
2021.” This bill would make
changes to areas of election
process and administration,
such as requiring two manda
tory Saturday early voting
dates and allowing communi
ties the option of voting on
up to two Sundays during
early voting; requiring a dri
ver’s license or state ID card
number to request and submit
an absentee ballot; regulating
the use of absentee ballot
drop boxes; banning mobile
polling locations and private
funding for elections; secur
ing precinct areas against
non-voting activities; requir
ing shorter timelines for pro
cessing absentee ballots and
certifying election results; re
quiring security paper to
allow for authentication of
ballots; authorizing the State
Election Board to make nec
essary changes and ensuring
legislative review of emer
gency rales.
The debate on SB 202 was
two hours, and I will have a
link to it on my Facebook
page, or I can send it to you
so you can watch it for your
self. If you would like a sum
mary of the bill and what it
does, please contact me and I
will send it to you.
I greatly appreciate any
feedback I receive from my
constituents, and I welcome
you to contact my office for
questions or concerns about
the legislative session. My
Capitol office number is 404-
656-7153, my home 770-
893-2039, and my email
address is
rick.jasperse@house.ga.gov.
Please contact me anytime.
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