The Banks County news. (Homer, Banks County, Ga.) 1968-current, June 28, 2023, Image 1

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Newspaper Page Texto O $1.00 WEDNESDAY, JUNE 28,2023 Homer, Banks County, GA 30547 • A Publication of MainStreet Newspapers, Inc. • 12 Pages, 1 Section 47 Plus Supplements Vol.57 No. 29 Fireworks display planned in Homer, Maysville The annual 4th of July Fireworks show in Homer will be held a dusk on Tues day, July 4. The location is at the Banks County Recreation Department multi-purpose field by the middle school. The fireworks are pre sented by the Homer Fire Department. For more information, call 706-677-3510. MAYSVILLE The City of Maysville will present fireworks at dusk on Saturday, July 1, at the new city park. Banks BOC accepting applications for boards The Banks County Board of Commissioners is ac cepting applications for the several public service opportunities. The board openings are: •Department of Family and Children Services •Planning and Zoning Appeals Board. Anyone who feels they may be qualified and are willing to serve in this position are asked to call 706-677-6800 to request an application, found at www.bankscountyga.org/bc where you can complete the webform and submit online by the deadline. You may also download the appli cation and return the com pleted form to the Commis sioners’ office located at 150 Hudson Ridge, Suite 1, Homer. Completed applica tions may also be emailed to jgailey@co.banks.ga.us. The deadline is noon on Thursday, July 6. MAILING LABEL Scenes from Daddy-Daughter Dance A Daddy-Daughter Dance was held as a fundraiser for the Banks County Recreation Department. It included dancing, photos with fun props and a magic show. Erwin looks back at highlights of 2023 legislative session BY CHRIS ERWIN Although the legislative session concluded March 31, our work has not slowed. We are now awaiting as signments to our respective study committees, meeting with constituents, and have already begun preparation for the next session. While we work towards 2024, we also celebrate our conservative victories in 2023. Several important measures such as educa tion, healthcare, and public safety took steps in the right direction over the course of our legislative session.Be- low you will find a highlight of major bills passed dining our time under the Gold Dome! TAX CREDITS/ REFUNDS We have worked tireless ly to ensure hard working Georgians are able to keep their earned income. This year, we took advan tage of our state’s healthy economic standing and were able to act upon this long-term goal thorough numerous bills which have been signed into law by Governor Kemp. All tax paying Georgians received Tax refund through House Bill 18, the 2023 Amended FY Budget. The bill allows for $1 billion in property tax relief grants which means $500 of relief for every tax paying homeowner. House Bill 162 also puts money back into the pock ets of hardworking Geor gians by providing a one time income tax refund equal to the lesser of either the taxpayer’s 2021 income tax liability or $250 for a taxpayer filing as single; $375 for a taxpayer filing as head of household; or $500 for a married couple jointly filing a return. EDUCATED GEORGIA Education is the bedrock of our Georgia workforce and economic health. Tak ing care of Georgia students and our educators is a prior ity. We continued our efforts towards quality education through several bills suc cessfully passing the Gener al Assembly. House Bill 19, the 2024 Fiscal Year budget allocates the following: $13 billion in state K — 12 funding — fully funding the state’s commitments. $2,000 pay raise for teachers, bringing average teacher salaries to $61,000 — the highest in the south east. A $1,000 salary supple ment for all custodians. To ensure our students are on par with grade lev el course work, we also passed House Bill 538, The Georgia Literacy Act. Un der this bill school systems will be required to teach high-quality instructional materials approved by the State Board of Education in grades kindergarten through third grade. AGRICULTURE Did you know that Agri culture is our state’s num ber one economic engine? To further protect our farm industry, we passed Senate Bill 220 which will cre ate a conservation fund for agricultural land in Geor gia. Under the bill farmers would have the option to sell all or some of their proper ty’s development rights to a land trust or similar enti ty that holds conservation easements in perpetuity. We also passed House Bill 545 in support of Geor gia’s growing Citrus indus try. To ensure citrus farmers have ample support, we passed legislation to create the Georgia Commission for Citrus Fruits. Georgia’s Department of Agriculture will help the state’s citrus crop through education, research, and marketing which will help to ensure success of citrus production within our great state. SAFE GEORGIA Our commitment to the safety of our citizens was made clear through sever al bills working to ensure Georgians are protected and our law enforcement community supported. We continue the fight against violent street gangs through Senate Bill 44 which estab lishes mandatory minimum sentencing for recruiting activities if the recruit is a minor or disabled. To meet the growing de mands on our public safety needs we also implemented The Public Safety Working Group. This group will ex plore ways to recruit and retain law enforcement of ficers and make recommen dations ahead of the 2024 legislative session. To further assist our re cruitment in the public safe ty sector, while showing our commitment to current LEO’s, we also allocated $6,000 pay raises for front line law enforcement offi cers and $4,000 raises for all state law enforcement officers through our budget work. We also passed legisla tion to protect our schools through House Bill 147 and hospitals through House Bill 383. Both acts ensure that our schools and hospi tals are prepared to protect our most vulnerable citi zens. HEAT,THY GEORGIA This was a great year where healthcare was con cerned for our state. In the wake of some states man dating that parents adhere to the wishes of children wish ing for gender reassignment, we successfully passed SB 140 to protect children from permanent gender transition surgeries and treatments be fore they are 18. Continued on Page 2A 14 14 3

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The Banks County news. (Homer, Banks County, Ga.) 1968-current, June 28, 2023, Image 1