A middle school student from Fayette County has won the Georgia State Finals of the National Civics Bee and will advance to the national championship competition in Washington, D.C. this fall. Kaden Jawwaad, a student at Bennett’s Mill Middle School, topped nearly two dozen participants in the state finals, earning a $1,000 prize. The competition […]
Tag: government
Posted inColumns
Fulton considering $758 million budget
But there are questions about whether Fulton should spend more, especially on courts.
Posted inUncategorized
What’s Ahead For Autonomous Vehicle Test Driver Regs
Ed. note: This article was originally published in Law360 and may also be found on Dentons’ Driverless Commute blog. Autonomous vehicles are layered with complex, still-emerging technology. As a result, what makes driverless cars tick is a mystery for virtually the entire public. That dynamic itself shouldn’t be all that’s concerning: We routinely interact with technology […]
Posted inMain Slider
Explainer: When Georgia lawmakers do — and don’t — know the cost of their votes
The nice thing about a fiscal note is that all sides consider it at least a good-faith estimate, free of industry or partisan spin. But Georgia legislators often don’t have a nonpartisan official estimate of what their votes will mean for the state’s finances.
Posted inMain Slider
40 days of Georgia legislature begin and Atlanta’s got a wish list
The Georgia Legislature starts its annual session with a new governor and a lot of new members. The city of Atlanta wants a couple of adjustments to state law, but that’s not all of interest to the city and its residents.
Posted inLatest News
Can’t get a Georgia public record? Blame fees, laws, rulings, lack of knowledge.
There are a lot of reasons why critics say there’s a heavy curtain that stands between between Georgians and some public business.
Posted inColumns, David Pendered, Main Slider
DeKalb County’s bond rating unscathed by allegations of government corruption
DeKalb County residents have received some good news from a New York bond rating agency, which looked past allegations of government corruption to see a county that is capable of repaying its debts.
Posted inWABE
Commentary: Underground Atlanta sale is a deal city can’t miss
Developer T. Scott Smith is willing to invest up to $400 million to revitalize Underground Atlanta and its surrounding area.
And he is anxious to take ownership of the property. Right now his company is managing the Underground retail center for the city but receiving no fees for the work. That’s only one reason he wants the deal to close.
Posted inWABE
Atlanta’s new planning commissioner should be allowed to plan
Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed announced May 28 that he has selected Tim Keane of Charleston, South Carolina, as his new commissioner of planning and community development.
Posted inWABE
Atlanta leaders travel to Canada for ideas exchange
More than 100 Atlanta leaders are in Toronto, Canada this week. It’s part of the annual LINK exchange – when municipal heads travel to other cities to meet the people who run them. Maria Saporta of the Saporta Report is in Toronto with the delegation. She told Amy Kiley what Atlanta leaders are learning up North. […]
Posted inDavid Pendered, Latest News, Main Slider
Georgia Legislature provides a few wins for environmentalists: Solar energy, plastic bags
Georgia lawmakers have resolved two bills in favor of environmentalists – by passing one bill that promotes the installation of solar power, and by killing another that aimed to prevent local governments from regulating plastic bags.
Posted inDavid Pendered, Latest News, Main Slider, Topics
Tobacco tax hike could raise half the $1 billion needed for transportation: Health care advocates
Six health care organizations are calling for an increase in the tobacco tax to help pay for statewide transportation improvements.
Raising the tax to the national average would bring in about $500 million a year, one lobbyist said. That represents about half of the $1 billion Georgia lawmakers intend to raise through the current proposal to raise money to improve the state’s transportation infrastructure.
Posted inDavid Pendered, Latest News, Main Slider, Topics
Legislature: Transit funding to be protected despite issues with Georgia Constitution
The author of the proposed $1 billion statewide transportation legislation said Thursday he is committed to ensure that the bill will fund transit, despite issues with the Georgia Constitution.
“In the bill, we talk about dedicating money toward transit,” said House Transportation Committee Chairman Jay Roberts (R-Ocilla). “We realize that you can’t dedicate [funding to transit] without a constitutional amendment…. Unfortunately, within the bill, I can’t put something in for the budget.”
Posted inColumns, David Pendered, Main Slider
Discord over transportation funding proposal has a familiar ring
Georgia’s continuing debate over transportation funding shows that it may be possible to displease a lot of the people most of the time.
The current proposal, House Bill 170, has triggered so much comment that it’s already grown from eight pages to 14 pages. This much revision in a bill is uncommon, especially in a bill that has only been aired at two subcommittee meetings, most recently on Monday.
Posted inDavid Pendered
New intrigue in proposed remake of Fulton County tax commissioner
The perennial proposal to do something, anything, about the Fulton County tax commissioner is bottled up in the Georgia legislature.
The state Senate on Thursday tabled a proposal, filed by ranking House members, that contains two big provisions. At this stage in the legislative session, there’s no telling if the proposal has a chance of being passed this year.
Posted inDavid Pendered
New study of Georgia’s school funding questions state’s ability to provide skilled workforce to business
A new report on state funding for K-12 education raises some challenging questions about Georgia’s ability to provide a skilled workforce to businesses – especially in areas beyond metro Atlanta.
School districts are coping with funding cuts through measures including trimming days from the school year and assigning more students to each teacher, according to the report from the Georgia Budget and Policy Institute. School budgets are squeezed by shrinking state support and by the declining local tax base caused by the recession, the report states.
Even as school districts are strapped, the Georgia Department of Economic Development is touting Georgia’s workforce development policies including its support for charter schools, pre-K programs, HOPE scholarships, and strong public technical schools and universities. Georgia has adopted common core standards in math and language arts, and allocates extra funding to districts that provide gifted programs, according to DEcD’s webpage.
Posted inDavid Pendered
Georgia taxes: New report contends “Fair Tax” would hurt hurt – not help – families, businesses, economy
A report released today on Georgia’s tax structure fuels a debate over proposed tax reform that advocates are increasingly pushing for the 2014 session of the state Legislature.
The Georgia Budget and Policy Institute issued a tax analysis that contends the proposed “Fair Tax” reform would raise taxes on and hurt Georgia’s “families, businesses, communities and the economy.”
The report follows a promise made last month by an advocacy group that said it would help convince Georgia voters to approve a fair tax. The campaign would be similar to the one it waged in favor of 2012 charter school amendment, according to Americans for Prosperity.
Posted inATL Business Chronicle, Maria's Metro
Column: City of Atlanta toots its horn in Fortune special section
By Maria Saporta
Published in the Atlanta Business Chronicle on Friday, March 8, 2013
In the current issue of Fortune magazine, Atlanta has a 22-page spread just in front of the “World’s Most Admired Companies” — perhaps one of the most coveted spots in the publication.
To celebrate the promotional placement, Fortune invited top Atlanta CEOs and civic leaders to the Commerce Club on the 49th floor of the 191 Peachtree building on March 4, where they were able to witness how the city has grown over the years.
Posted inDavid Pendered
Atlanta City Council set to grill stadium advocates on why city should help finance it by extending hotel tax
Advocates of a new football stadium are to get a chance Wednesday to try to convince members of the Atlanta City Council that the city should help build a new facility.
The work session, set for 11:30 a.m., will be the first real opportunity for councilmembers to engage the advocates. Councilmembers already have raised questions about how neighborhoods around the stadium could benefit from its construction and operation.
Without the council’s support, Atlanta’s development authority likely won’t be able to borrow enough money to help build the stadium. No funding source other than the city’s hotel/motel tax has been publicly identified to fill the gap between what the NFL and Falcons are willing to pay, and the actual cost of construction.
Posted inDavid Pendered
Plan for big changes at MARTA receives little push-back, except from union; ready for vote at Capitol
The most significant proposal in decades to reform MARTA is sailing through the legislative process at the state Capitol and could be up for a vote in the House as early as next week.
So far, no serious objections to the proposal have been raised in public by MARTA or the three governments that control MARTA – Atlanta, and Fulton and DeKalb counties, though union has voiced concerns. The sponsor said the bill intends to help MARTA serve its current and future riders.
“I hope that the bill is received in the way it is intended – and that is to improve MARTA’S financial conditions so that we can, hopefully, see some future expansion of the system,” said Rep. Mike Jacobs (R-Brookhaven), who chairs the MARTA oversight committee.
