Georgia Today: Sports betting and horse racing; Macon may add cameras; Savannah home prices going up

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Peter Biello: Welcome to the Georgia Today podcast from GPB News. Today is Wednesday, Feb. 15. I'm Peter Biello. On today's episode, sports betting is once again on the docket for Georgia lawmakers this session. Macon is considering surveillance cameras for downtown. And we all know housing can be pretty expensive; we'll give you one reason why the cost of new housing in Savannah may be going up. These stories and more are coming up on this edition of Georgia Today.

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Peter Biello: Georgia lawmakers are pushing bills that would allow sports betting and horse race betting without a state constitutional amendment, arguing that it can be legal under the authority of the state lottery. The House and Senate are taking different approaches, however. In the House, Watkinsville Republican Rep. Marcus Wiedower introduced a bill that would allow sports betting. Meanwhile, a Senate committee held a hearing on a bill that would include horse racing as part of sports gambling. That bill is sponsored by Sen. Billy Hickman, a Statesboro Republican. That bill also would authorize three horse racing tracks with betting statewide. Both bills claim their plans would be legal under the state constitution because they would not violate a ban on casinos or parimutuel betting. But some lawmakers warned that any bill would be vulnerable to legal challenges without a constitutional amendment.

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Peter Biello: Officials in Macon-Bibb County, are considering the rollout of an expansive camera surveillance network in the city's downtown core. Mayor Lester Miller is pushing the almost $700,000 investment. GPB's Grant Blankenship has the details.

Grant Blankenship: If approved, the city would deploy about 60 cloud-connected cameras across downtown, which is in the midst of a real estate boom, but was also the site of a recent late-night shooting. They would also be placed in the downtown margins where the homeless often camp. During a presentation to the county commission, member Al Tilman expressed skepticism about the plan.

Al Tilman: There's nobody standing in front of us to show the data or data of how much these cameras have deterred crime.

Grant Blankenship: In the meeting, the head of Macon's public housing authority vouched for an already deployed but smaller-scale system as a crime deterrent. The Macon surveillance camera program will be put to a vote by the County Commission next Tuesday. For GPB News, I'm Grant Blankenship in Macon.

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Peter Biello: Georgia cities and counties could be compelled to enforce bans on homeless people sleeping or camping in public, under a bill in the Senate. The measure also would allow the state to designate camping areas for homeless people. It also calls for an audit of spending on homeless programs. This is the second year in a row that cordial Republican state Sen. Carden Summers has offered a bill on homelessness. Last year's bill would have made it a misdemeanor to camp on public property and prevent cities that didn't enforce the ban from receiving grants. Opponents of the bill say it doesn't do enough to address underlying problems or promote permanent solutions.

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Peter Biello: Savannah could join 50 other communities across the state in imposing impact fees on new construction. GPB's Benjamin Payne reports the move to accommodate growth could increase the cost of housing.

Benjamin Payne: The fee would charge homebuilders about $5,000 for new residential units, a cost likely to be passed on to homebuyers. Industrial and other construction also would trigger the fees. City Manager Jay Melder says impact fees will allow the city to grow without having to tax existing communities.

Jay Melder: We are going to need to build public infrastructure in our fast-growing western communities. We will have to build public safety facilities and we will have to build recreation amenities. We will have to build roads and sidewalks.

Benjamin Payne: An association of homebuilders opposes the measure. Savannah City Council is expected to hold a final vote approving it next week. For GPB news, I'm Benjamin Payne in Savannah.

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Peter Biello: The mayor of Augusta-Richmond County today asked the state health panel to give the city more time to work out a contract with an EMS provider. The county's current provider notified the state last month that it planned to stop serving the area after it couldn't work out a contract with county commissioners. Now a State Department of Public Health EMS Zoning Council has to pick a provider. Mayor Garnett Johnson told council members that the elected local commission should choose.

Garnett Johnson: This is a problem we need to fix. We need to show our citizens that we can pick a provider and then hold us accountable to it. These are our loved ones, these are our family members. So I'm here to plead and I don't know if it can be done, but give us some time to fix it.

Peter Biello: The issue has divided commissioners and rankled Augusta residents for years. Johnson blamed much of the trouble on decisions by past commissioners.

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Peter Biello: Georgia state senators want to restrict vaping in public spaces. The chamber overwhelmingly approved a bill today that would regulate vaping in the same way the state currently regulates smoking. That means use of electronic cigarettes would be banned in many indoor spaces. The measure now moves to the state House for more debate.

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Peter Biello: A ruling out of Texas that could effectively overturn the FDA's approval of the drug mifepristone has been postponed until later this month. The drug is used to end early stage pregnancies. GPB's Sofi Gratas has more on the possible impact in Georgia.

Sofi Gratas: The anti-abortion group Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine sued the FDA last November, calling on the agency to remove mifepristone from the market after over two decades. The group claims the FDA abused its authority during the drug's approval and that the drug puts pregnant people at risk. But the FDA says the pill is safe and effective. Restricting the drug will likely limit abortion access for millions of people, especially in states like Georgia, that already have strict abortion laws. Medication abortion using mifepristone and another drug, Misoprostol, is the most common method of abortion in the U.S. If federal Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk rules in favor of the anti-abortion group. The FDA would have to reapprove the drug, which could take years. For GPB News, I'm Sofi Gratas.

Credit: Georgia Ports Authority

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Peter Biello: The Georgia Ports Authority and a federal agency are working on a big expansion of the seaport in Brunswick. The Port Authority's chief executive signed an agreement with the Army Corps of Engineers on Monday to widen and deepen portions of the shipping channel to make room for larger cargo ships to reach the Port of Brunswick. The agreement allows the Army Corps to begin design and engineering work on the project. Brunswick's port moved more than 651,000 automobiles and other heavy machines across its docks last year.

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Peter Biello: Georgia tourism officials have unveiled the state's official 2023 state travel guide. 750,000 copies of the guide will be circulated this year, and that is a 50% increase over last year. This year's cover destinations feature Providence Canyon, Amicalola Falls, Jekyll Island and the Savannah waterfront. The guide is aimed at boosting Georgia's $34 billion a year tourism industry.

That's it for this edition of Georgia Today. Thank you so much for tuning in; really appreciate you listening. We hope that you'll listen tomorrow. The best way to remember to do that, of course, is to subscribe to this podcast. So hit that subscribe button and that way we will appear in your podcast feed tomorrow afternoon. And if you've got feedback, let us know how we're doing. We'd love to hear from you. The email address is GeorgiaToday@GPB.org.

I'm Peter Biello, thanks again for listening. We'll see you tomorrow.

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