March 16, 2021 6:00 AM
Morning Reads for Tuesday, March 16
Good morning! Today is the 33rd Legislative Day. Here’s today’s calendar.
- Absolute tragedy: the principal of Dublin High School and his family were killed in a horrific accident on I-16 in Bulloch County on Sunday.
- Low-income children in Georgia are among many who will benefit from the Rescue Act.
- The relief package also dangles a pretty big carrot for Medicaid expansion in Georgia.
- FYI if you want to book an appointment at one of Georgia’s mass vaccination sites.
- There’s a new theme Airbnb in Thunderbolt. Fill ‘er up!
- Street racing is a legitimate problem in metro Atlanta, as evidenced when almost 90 racers were arrested in Clayton County this past weekend.
- Recapping day one of the greatly expanded COVID-19 vaccine eligibility in Georgia.
About Author
Teri
Teri Anulewicz is a Democrat who represents House District 42 in the Georgia General Assembly. She previously spent nearly a decade on the Smyrna City Council. A native New Orleanian and quasi-Texan, Teri graduated from Agnes Scott College in 1998. She's been a front page contributor since 2015, and she compiles each Tuesday's Morning Reads.
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Here’s a #SunshineWeek fact that might surprise you: The Ga General Assembly decides what happens to billions in taxpayer dollars. But oversight is limited because lawmakers exempted themselves from Sunshine Laws that provide public access to records, meetings and proceedings.
https://twitter.com/Ga_FAF/status/1371540128850657285
I love the fact that the Rescue bill forbids the GA legislature from reducing taxes and paying for them by the stimulus funds. They are so frustrated now. They actually have to spend the money. Hopefully they spend it on the Department of Health and the Department of Labor.
Speaker Ralston seemed to be particularly incensed about the requirement to maintain tax levels– which to me clearly indicates the intent that’s exactly what they would have done! Which means the funds would have been most likely directed regressively, and to corporate welfare. This comports with the same behavior that corporations have tended to exhibit in the face of other federal stimulus benefits– find a way to keep the money amongst the corporate owners. Not to hire people or avoid layoffs. Not to raise wages or prime supply. But to hoard — hoard — and give tax advantages to those who need it less, if at all.
If only they can manage- for every stimulus bill hereonafter, regardless of administration- to curtail and direct the manner in which funds are spent so as to ensure that the money gets directed to prime demand, to give proportional tax breaks to those who need it, and bring the cavalry support for workers….
Republicans in GA and across the nation are about to lose that one slice of demographic amidst the working middle class that they ostensibly gained last presidential cycle. It is already reverting to the classic corporate welfare model. There really is no room for change- just keep kicking people out of the tent.
The American Journal of Preventive Medicine (AJPM) earlier this week published a new statistical study which basically found that American states led by Democratic governors have fared better through the worst of the pandemic than those governed by Republicans.
Opined the authors: “Gubernatorial party affiliation may drive policy decisions that impact COVID-19 infections and deaths across the U.S. Future policy decisions should be guided by public health considerations rather than political ideology.”
Gee, you think?
Actually, I’m glad to see this kind of big academic study. As eye-glazing as it can be in places, it reinforces a lot of the observations I’ve made here at Trouble in God’s Country since Covid-19 rolled in a year ago. Early on, I started noticing differences between between Georgia, where Republican Governor Brian Kemp was famously loathe to impose restrictions because of the pandemic, and North Carolina, where Democratic Governor Roy Cooper acted pretty quickly and decisively to begin closing down his state.
The two states have a lot in common, including demographics, economics, educational levels, and population size. Pretty much from the get-go, North Carolina was performing more Covid-19 tests and reporting more confirmed cases but fewer deaths.
Based on the latest data available from the CDC’s COVID Data Tracker, North Carolina has since significantly out-performed Georgia. As of Thursday, March 11, Georgia, with a population of 10.6 million, had more than a million confirmed and probable cases and 18,117 Covid-19 deaths; North Carolina, whose population is only slightly smaller at 10.4 million, has recorded 879,825 such cases and 11,622 deaths.
https://troubleingodscountry.com/
Did y’all know the first Grand Prix Road Race was in 1908 in Savannah?
https://www.savannahnow.com/story/lifestyle/2021/03/15/thunderbolt-pure-oil-filling-station-now-airbnb-motorhead-decor/4636068001/
“Going even further back, Frankie explained the century-old significance of the location. The Grand Prize of the Automobile Club of America race took place in Savannah in November 1908. It was the very first Grand Prix road race in the U.S.
The 400-mile race (about 15 laps around the 26-mile course) attracted automobile manufacturer teams from around the world. Fiat squeaked out an under-a-minute win over Benz with an average speed of 65 mph.”
Something I never knew about Savannah. And I grew up on St. Simons Island.
A mistake, it was not the first Grand Prix but the first in the USA.