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PAGE 2A PICKENS COUNTY PROGRESS THURSDAY. FEBRUARY 9. 2023
CfN
Report from the Capitol
By State Representatiue Rick Jasperse
When I look back on this past week, my
thoughts were best defined as .... Busy. Since
legislators are putting bills in for considera
tion by the committees, my email has lit up.
I spent a lot of time over the weekend an
swering email.
Just a quick refresher on how the process
works. Any Representative can have the leg
islative council create a bill for them about
anything. The lawyers in our legisla
tive council group are very talented in getting
not only the work done, but creating the law
that the member wants created. Sometimes
bills are done for political reasons back
home, or because the member really believes
in that issue, or they’re trying to solve a prob
lem in the community or state wide.
House Members will create about 2000
bills a year for the committees to consider.
Only about 200 of them, maybe a few more
will be voted on the House floor. Many will
die in the committee because the chairman
believes they’re a bad idea, or the committee
will vote it down, or the Rules Committee
will stop its progress.
Some members don’t even ask for a vote on
their bill. So, some of the emails I answer are
about bills that may never make it.
I had about six committee meetings this
week, and had the pleasure of honoring KLA,
the Auto Manufacturer, at a number of events
one day. This company has made quite a
large investment in Georgia and is in the
process of building a new plant in Bryan
County in southeast Ga.
This week we saw constituents from the
Probate Judges in Georgia, The University of
Georgia’s College of Agriculture, and the
(CASA) Court Appointed Special Advocates
to name a few. I always try to make time to
spend a bit of time with as many as I can each
day.
The biggest work we did was on the Sup
plemental spending Budget. This is the
budget to adjust the 2022-2023 budget we
passed last, that took effect in July. Things
happen in that half-year, and we go back and
look at that big budget and see where we can
save money or where money needs to be
spent. The Governor can also increase the
amount of money that we get to work with,
in the budget. There are many
meetings about this. The budget is divided
into about seven parts, with seven different
committee chairmen overseeing the spending
year-round. We take testimony from all the
different parts of programs who get money
from our taxes. The committees work to keep
the budget balanced and meet the needs of
Georgia. The best part is when we vote it out
of the appropriations committees, it starts at
7 am in the morning. I will use this space next
week to let you know what we proposed,
sending it on to the Senate.
I personally have been working on an
electric vehicle bill that will make sure when
electricity is sold as a fuel, Georgia will get
the right amount of tax on it to maintain our
roads and bridges.
Thank you for the opportunity to be your
voice in the Capitol. Easiest way to contact
me is by email right now:
rick.jasperse@house.ga.gov. You can also
call the Capitol to reach me at 404-656-7153.
Please leave a message, so I can call you back
if I am not there.
Georgia politicians condemn antisemitic
flyers found in suburban Atlanta
North Ga. Open Air Christian
Music Fest accepting acts now
4 l« lilts Wanted for:
Nlortt* Cecniia Open-.
Christian /V4usic:
April 15-16
HO Samaritan Dr Jasper Ga.
Taking entries now ...all styles considered
Prizes and awards/$5QO 1st place $250 2nd and $125 for
For more information contact Suellen Reitz at
cts30143(H>gmail.com...can't wait to hear from you’.!!
Sponsored by Community Thrift Store
By Suellen Reitz
Public Affairs Officer
Community Thrift Store
Everybody likes to sings
great songs... but not every
singer is great. That’s a
given.. .but the great ones are
out there, and the North Ga.
Open Air Christian Music
Fest is looking for them. The
Pickens Community Thrift
Store will be hosting the fes
tival on their grounds April
15 and 16, the weekend fol
lowing Easter. Easter may
be over, but the message it
delivers is not. He is
Alive!.. .and that’s the theme
of this year’s music festival.
“We chose this weekend
in hopes to attract some of
the great choirs from our
local churches as well as
small groups to perform,”
spoke store president Terry
“Sarge” Bishop. “Music will
have already been prepared
and what better way to share
the Word than perform it
again in a secular setting?”
he continued.
As always, the festival is
all about community. The
event is open to all ages, with
no admission charge and free
food for everyone. What’s
different about this festival is
that music is the main event.
We hope to attract singers
from all genres of Christian
music to take part in the
judged and non-judged per
formances.
Those who choose to be
part of the judged competi
tion will be striving to be the
top 3 finalists who will re
ceive $500, $250 and $125
cash awards. Non competi
tors will also be entertaining
the crowd with their best
tunes praising God. Both es
tablished and new talent
groups are welcome.
The festival is planned for
two days to allow ample time
for all singers to perform a
maximum of 20 minutes.
Gates open at 4:30 p.m. on
Saturday the 15th with the
first act to begin at 5:00 and
ending at 8:00 p.m. On Sun
day, gates will open at 1:30
with the show beginning at
2:00 and ending with award
presentations at 7:00 p.m.
Each group will select one
song to be video tapped dur
ing their first performance.
Judges will review the
recorded songs on Sunday
afternoon to select the top 5
groups who will sing a sec
ond time in front of their
cheering fans and judges.
Sponsors from local
banks and businesses will be
highlighted throughout the
two day festival. All pro
ceeds will be given to the
Pickens County High School
Music Department. This
event is definitely something
you don’t want to miss.
Mark your calendars now to
be there to be entertained or
if you’ve got what it takes...
entertain!
If you are interested in
participating, sponsoring, or
just want to know more,
please contact us at
cts30143@gmail.com or
contact event coordinator
Suellen Reitz at 770 401 -
9248.
By Dave Williams
Bureau Chief
Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA - Georgia po
litical leaders including Gov.
Brian Kemp Monday con
demned a weekend outbreak
of antisemitism in Atlanta’s
northern suburbs.
Residents of neighbor
hoods in Sandy Springs and
Dunwoody awakened Sun
day morning to find antise
mitic flyers in their
driveways.
[Editor s Note: The Pick
ens Sheriff Office investi
gated similar hate mail left at
43 Pickens homes in August,
2022.]
Kemp offered the aid of
the state’s law enforcement
resources to help the Sandy
Springs and Dunwoody po
lice departments investigate
the incident if requested.
“This kind of hate has no
place in our state, and the in
dividuals responsible do not
share Georgia’s values,” the
governor posted on Twitter.
“We will always condemn
acts of antisemitism.”
Georgia House Speaker
Jon Bums informed his leg
islative colleagues from the
chamber’s rostrum on Mon
day that one of the victims
was freshman state Rep. Es
ther Panitch, D-Sandy
Springs.
“Anti-Semites who seek
to harm/intimidate Jews in
Georgia. I’m coming for you
with the weight of the state
behind me,” Panitch warned
in a Twitter post.
Burns, R-Newington, said
the “repulsive incident” flies
in the face of America’s tra
dition of pluralism.
“We are blessed to live in
a country which, through its
very motto, recognizes our
collective strength - E
Pluribus Unum - out of
many, one,” he said.
On the Senate side of the
Capitol, Sen. Sally Harrell,
D-Atlanta, whose district in
cludes Dunwoody, said hate-
filled incidents are on the rise
in Georgia and haven’t been
Spot an error,
let our editor
know.
dpool@
pickensprogress.com
706-253-2457
limited to the Atlanta area.
She mentioned Newnan,
Macon, Carrollton, Rock-
mart, Columbus, and
Cartersville as communities
hit with antisemitic flyers.
“No one - not one Geor
gian should ever wake up to
hate,” added Senate Minority
Leader Gloria Butler, D-
Stone Mountain.
Butler praised the General
Assembly for passing hate
crimes legislation in 2020
after AhmaudArbery, a Black
jogger, was murdered by two
white men near Brunswick. A
third defendant also was con
victed of murder in the case.
State Rep. John Carson,
R-Marietta, has introduced a
bill during the current legisla
tive session establishing a
definition of the term “anti
semitism” for purposes of
monitoring and investigating
antisemitic incidents and de
veloping policies to combat
antisemitism.
This story is available
through a news partnership
with Capitol Beat News Serv
ice, a project of the Georgia
Press Educational Founda
tion
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