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The Times, Gainesville, Georgia | gainesvilletimes.com Midweek Edition - September 2-3, 2020 5A
EVICTIONS
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State launches online portal for absentee
ballot requests for November elections
necessary to prevent the spread
of communicable diseases.
“President Trump is commit
ted to helping hardworking Amer
icans stay in their homes and
combating the spread of the coro
na virus,” White House spokes
man Brian Morgenstern said in
a statement. “Today’s announce
ment from his Administration
means that people struggling to
pay rent due to coronavirus will
not have to worry about being
evicted, and risk further spread
ing of or exposure to the disease
due to economic hardship.”
Officials said the administra
tion had made available stimulus
funds to help offset the impact of
the order for landlords and prop
erty owners. Roughly one in five
American renters — between 19
million and 23 million people —
are at risk of eviction by the end
of September, according to an
analysis by the Aspen Institute.
“This unprecedented action
is further proof that President
Trump is doing everything in
his power to keep the American
people safe and secure in their
homes,” Housing and Urban
Development Secretary Ben Car-
son said in a statement.
Those seeking eviction relief
will still be required to pay as
much rent as they can afford.
Treasury Secretary Steven
Mnuchin said earlier Tuesday
that the actions taken by the
administration could impact
“close to” 40 million renters.
President Donald Trump’s
effort to suspend evictions under
the CDC order follows executive
orders he signed in early August
after negotiators were unable to
strike a deal on another round of
stimulus funding. Trump’s other
executive orders were designed
to provide a temporary payroll
tax deferral for some workers,
increase state unemployment
benefits, and freeze federal stu
dent loans.
Democrats have noted the
administration has struggled to
implement the unilateral tax
and unemployment benefits, and
called for the White House to
increase its willingness to spend
as part of the next round of fund
ing. The Democratic-controlled
House passed a bill in May that
included $100 billion for rental
assistance, but the White House
and Senate Republicans have
said the package — with a price
tag over $3 trillion — is too high.
Georgia voters can now
request an absentee ballot for
the November elections using a
new online portal.
“We are encouraging Georgia
voters who are particularly vul
nerable to the COVID-19 threat
to use our new online absentee
ballot request portal to request
absentee ballots safely and
securely from their computers
or phones,” Georgia Secretary
of State Brad Raffensperger
said in a statement. “This new
tool will help counties stay on
top of the several million absen
tee ballot requests expected in
November.”
Voters can request their ballot
on the portal using their first and
last name, date of birth, county
where they are registered, and
Georgia State ID or driver’s
license number. Voters will get
a confirmation email that their
request has been received, and
they can monitor their ballot
status on the My Voter Page sec
tion of the Georgia Secretary of
State’s website.
Previously, voters had to
download and print an absentee
ballot request, then scan and
email it, or mail it in.
Absentee ballots requested
for the Nov. 3 presidential
election cannot be sent out
before Sept. 15, according to
the Georgia Secretary of State’s
Office.
The request portal is
online at securevotega.com/
secureabsentee.
Times Staff reports
Photos by SCOTT ROGERS I The Times
Top: Lanier Technical College students attend a motorsport vehicle technology class Monday,
Aug. 31. Above: Drafting students Karla Serrato and Emilio Raya look at a project on a computer.
LANIER
■ Continued from 1A
spaced 6 feet apart when possible, according
to Perren.
He said that students and employees are
required to report to the school any instances
when they have potentially been exposed to
COVID-19. Anyone making such a report has
been asked to quarantine “in accordance with
CDC and Georgia Department of Public Health
guidelines.” Perren added that he is not aware
of any incidents at Lanier Tech during which
a potentially infected individual has come to
campus against the school’s instructions.
Jay Maughon, director of the construction
management and carpentry technology pro
gram at Lanier Tech, said teaching with a
mask on has been an interesting adjustment
for instructors at the school.
“Never thought I’d have to know what doctors
and nurses go through every day,” he said.
Maughon said keeping the entire Lanier
Tech community healthy would be a group
effort among Lanier Tech students and staff,
likening the school to a workplace environ
ment where a business is dependent on all of
its employees working in tandem to find suc
cess. He said instructors at Lanier Tech try to
simulate real-world situations in the classroom
as often as possible, and the pandemic is pro
viding an opportunity to do so.
So far, according to Maughon, Lanier Tech
students have been doing well. He said he’s
gotten “100% compliance” regarding mask
wearing in his classroom and has seen much
of the same from students walking the school’s
campus.
“I have to give credit to our students with
this,” he said. “The students have actually
responded very well. ”
Perren said employers of trade positions are
hiring at high rates right now, “particularly in
manufacturing fields. ”
He said Lanier Tech’s commitment to put
ting its students directly into the workforce is
as important as it’s ever been right now, calling
the school’s work “critical and essential.” And
while he acknowledged Lanier Tech was deal
ing with “the same problems everyone else in
the world is facing right now,” Perren said that
two weeks into the school year, the reopening
has gone as smoothly as he could have hoped.
“Students were ready to come back to
school, and were ready to learn, ready to
engage with us,” he said. “That’s been just such
a positive experience.”
P-EBT
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The $256.50 equates to $5.70 per day for
the 45 days’-worth of school meals missed
during the period that Georgia public
school buildings were closed last semes
ter. The $5.70 per day is what Georgia
DFCS was approved to issue for each child
missed school in Georgia. All children will
receive the same amount.
Eligible parents will receive that
amount for each child they have, up
to $2,052 if they have eight children in
the household, according to the DFCS
website.
P-EBT compensation must be used
within 365 days of it being awarded and
can be used at any store that accepts Sup
plemental Nutrition Assistance Program,
per the DFCS website.
Parents of Hall County and Gaines
ville students who were receiving free
and reduced-price meals are eligible for
the benefit, even though both school dis
tricts delivered school lunches via buses
throughout the spring and early summer,
according to Latisha Flesher, director of
the Hall County DFCS office.
Those who are already enrolled in
SNAP do not need to apply for P-EBT and
will have the P-EBT compensation added
to their EBT card automatically, accord
ing to the DFCS website.
Any SNAP participants with children
attending a Georgia public school who did
not receive P-EBT compensation on their
EBT card are encouraged to contact DFCS
to sort out the situation. Those not receiv
ing SNAP benefits will have to apply for
the P-EBT compensation and will have
an EBT card sent to them as soon as
their application for P-EBT is processed,
according to the DFCS website.
Foster parents are also eligible for the
compensation, but parents of students
in private schools are not eligible unless
the private school participates in the
National School Lunch Program. Home
schooled students are not eligible for
P-EBT.
P-EBT has not yet been renewed for the
2020-2021 school year.
Families with further questions regard
ing the benefit can call the P-EBT direct
line at 855-501-4636.
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