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PAGE 6A PICKENS COUNTY PROGRESS THURSDAY. FEBRUARY 10. 2022
Report from the Capitol
By State Representatiue Rick Jasperse
• Truth in Prescription
Pricing for Patients
• Prevention of
wrongful convictions
in criminal trials
• Addressing teacher
shortage
I am glad I live where we
do. We were not in session on
Friday, and Marcia and I had
errands and folks to see for
business all around town. I
was blown away by the
friendliness of folks, saying,
“Hi,” and asking how things
were going, filling me in on
what was going on that I may
not know about. When I got
back in my truck to go home,
I just smiled.
This week at the Capitol
was pretty contentious, as we
were voting on the ability of
some citizens to vote on cre
ating new cities and new
maps for school boards or
commissioners. A lot of for
and against speeches were
made. They all passed, but
whew.
Our committees are very
busy right now asking ques
tions of bill sponsors about
their bills and passing some
out of committee. Yes some,
as not all bills make it
through the committee
process.
One bill that made it
through the committee
process and we voted on was
the Truth in Prescription Pric
ing for Patients Act (HB
867): This bill aims to require
pharmacy benefits managers
to provide more transparency
in the cost of drugs. Under
this legislation, the pharmacy
benefits managers would
have to disclose the true net
cost of what the drug cost to
purchase at a pharmacy
minus any eligible rebates. I
have heard from plenty of
constituents about the high
price of pharmaceuticals, and
this bill is an attempt to ad
dress this important issue. I
supported the effort to pro
vide more transparency in
medical costs and expect that
it will ultimately result in de
creased costs to the patient.
We passed bipartisan leg
islation this week to help pre
vent wrongful convictions in
criminal trials. House Bill
478 would change the stan
dard for admissible court ev
idence and testimony in
criminal cases to match the
standard used in civil cases.
Since the early 1990s, Geor
gia’s federal court system has
used this same standard for
expert testimony, but our
state’s criminal courts have
not. This new standard would
provide a list of factors that a
judge may consider to help
determine the admissibility
of scientific evidence or wit
ness testimony. Without this
standard, wrongful convic
tions have occurred in crimi
nal cases due to unreliable
scientific evidence. In the last
30 years, faulty scientific ev
idence admitted under the
current standard has con
tributed to at least 25 out of
nearly 40 documented
wrongful convictions in
Georgia. Fortunately, HB 478
would raise this standard and
act as a gatekeeper to protect
the integrity of the scientific
evidence and expert witness
testimony allowed in our
criminal courts.
We also passed House Bill
385 to help address the
teacher shortage in Georgia.
This legislation would allow
retired certified pre-K and K-
12 teachers who have ob
tained 30 years of creditable
service to return to the class
room full-time while receiv
ing their full retirement
benefits. After one-year of re
tirement, eligible members of
the Teachers Retirement Sys
tem of Georgia would be able
to return to work in an “area
of highest need.” These sub
ject areas would be desig
nated by the Georgia Depart
ment of Education in tandem
with the Georgia Professional
Standards Commission and
would vary based on deter
minations from each school
system’s Regional Education
Service Agency (RESA).
Under this bill, the state
would also conduct a per
formance audit on the value,
necessity, and impact of re
tired teachers returning to our
classrooms full-time to meas
ure the effectiveness of the
legislation.
I have received quite a
few emails and calls at the
Capitol in the past week from
interested folks about certain
bills. Good to hear from you,
and I want to encourage you
to let us know what you’re
thinking, or let us try to an
swer questions you may have
heard about certain legisla
tion. You can contact me at
the Capitol at 404-646-7153,
and you can email me at
rick.jasperse@house.ga.gov,
or stop me in the grocery
store or wherever in town.
As always, thank you for
allowing me to serve as your
State Representative; look
forward to hearing from you.
$65,000 in AG scholarships available
Jasper, Ga. - The Georgia
Foundation for Agriculture
(GFA) is offering $65,000 in
scholarships to Georgia stu
dents pursuing a degree in
agriculture, veterinary medi
cine, family and consumer
To the Editor:
Would like to write about
a very important situation
that is currently happening
in Jasper. Three good Chris
tians are being led by God to
open a homeless shelter in
Jasper (Refuge in Jesus,
Inc.). God tells us in the
Bible over a hundred times
to care for the elderly, the
poor, the homeless. There
has been wide spread sup
port of this effort, continued
support is essential and ap
preciated.
Will refer to these three
as the “Christians” and the
city officials as the “city.”
The Christians leased a
building (centrally located),
applied to the state of Geor
gia and received a certificate
of incorporation, drew up
plans, and went to the city
for permits and licenses.
The Christians were refused
and told by the city that they
would never issue a permit
for the shelter. The city has
repeated this statement to
the Christians on several oc
casions.
In addition to requesting
sciences or a related field,
John Tatum, Pickens County
Farm Bureau president, re
cently announced.
The GFA will award
scholarships in the following
four categories.
a permit to operate this shel
ter, the Christians have ap
plied for other licenses and
have been refused for the
same reason. The reason the
city refuses to issue the
Christians their permit is the
City interpretation of zoning
ordinances where they call
the shelter a rooming house
or boarding house. The
Christians contend that nei
ther describe the shelter
which is a refuge for the
homeless.
The Christians ask the
people of Jasper and Pick
ens County to exam their
hearts and support this ef
fort. Call, text, write to the
city officials and tell them
they are wrong. Please let
God lead you in your deci
sion.
Sincerely,
Stephen Lovell
Letters welcomed -
No letter more than 450 words;
Send to news@pickensprogress.com
or Pickens Progress 94 N. Main,
Jasper, Ga. 30143; All letters must
have a full name that will be pub
lished, and contact info.
(Email Address or Phone Number),
which will not be published.
Scholarship for Agriculture
- This scholarship is for high
school students who plan to
enter a college that is part of
the University System of
Georgia, Berry College, Em
manuel College or any ac
credited college/university in
Georgia with an ag program
during the 2022-23 academic
year to pursue an undergrad
uate degree in agricultural
and environmental sciences,
family and consumer sci
ences or a related agricultural
field. The GFA will award 10
scholarships of $3,000 each.
Technical College Scholar
ship for Agriculture -
This scholarship is for stu
dents who will be enrolled in
a Georgia accredited techni
cal college and major in an
area of agriculture or an ag-
related field of study, such as
welding, mechanics, culinary
arts, or commercial truck
driving. The GFA will award
four scholarships of $1,500
each. Visit
https://gfb.ag/gfatechscholar-
shipmajors for a list of eligi
ble schools and majors.
Rising College Junior/Se
nior Scholarship for Agri
culture - This scholarship is
for college students who
have at least two semesters of
college remaining to receive
an undergraduate degree
from a unit of The University
System of Georgia, Berry
College, Emmanuel College
or any accredited college/uni
versity in Georgia with an ag
program. Applicants must be
majoring in agriculture and
environmental sciences, fam
ily and consumer sciences or
an ag-related field. The GFA
will award eight scholarships
of $2,000 each.
UGA College of Veterinary
Medicine Scholarship - This
scholarship is for students
currently enrolled in the
UGA Veterinary Medicine
program specializing in large
animal/food animal practice.
The GFA will award two
$5,000 scholarships.
“I encourage any student
who qualifies for one of the
Georgia Foundation for Agri
culture scholarships to
apply,” said Tatum. “Agri
culture offers many exciting
career opportunities. Both
farmers and consumers de
pend on the many jobs agri
culture creates such as
mechanics, large animal vet
erinarians and food scien
tists.”
Gafoundationag.org/schol-
arships has a list of eligible
majors/schools for all schol
arships, applications, and in
structions to apply. All
applications must be submit
ted online by March 1, 2022.
Transcripts and letters of rec
ommendation must be sub
mitted online with the
application.
Advertise with The Progress
Call our office at 706-253-2457
Living Estate of
Donald Silvers
February 19, 2022
98 Sanders Street
Jasper GA 30143
10:00 a.m.
Brief listing:
Advertisements, Thermometers,
Antiques, Tractors, Firearms,
Completely Restored 1980 GMC
Step Side Pick Up, Several Vehi
cles, Tools, Tractor Equipment,
Trailers, Churns and Pottery,
Lawnmower, Car Parts, Coca
Cola Machine, Pinball Machine,
| Post Office Safe, Jelly Cupboard,
Old Prints, Local Items,
and much more.
Hundreds of Items.
www.auctionzip.com ID #24293
Concessions Available on Site
Internet Bidding Provided by
www.proxibid.com
Cash, Check, and Credit Cards
1 Accepted
Kyiv WaW,- s
AUCTION COMPANY
Antique, Liquidation & Estate Auctions
770-710-1692
GEORGIA LICENSE # AU003752
This Valentine's Day
~LT
_n_
by donating DIAPERS & WIPES to
The Pregnancy Center
during month of February
Drop off Mon-Wed-Fri-Sat between 12-5pm at
The Pregnancy Center- 7 Caring Way, Jasper
www.babyontheway. org
All Computer Services & Repairs
On-Site Service Home or Oi
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706-301-9148
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