Political Rewind: HOPE Scholarship boost and mental health bill stall; Raising retirement age

Caption

The Georgia House of Representatives in March 2023

Credit: Georgia House of Representatives Live Broadcast

The panel:

Greg Bluestein, @bluestein, political reporter, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Meg Kinnard, @MegKinnardAP, National politics reporter, Associated Press

Rahul Bali, @rahulbali, politics reporter, WABE

Rene Alegria, CEO, Mundo Now

The breakdown:

1. House rejects boost to Hope Scholarship. 

• Gov. Brian Kemp's $32.5B budget proposal seeks to boost funding for the HOPE scholarship.
  • The House voted down a version of the budget last week that would 100% fund the scholarship.
  • Kemp also wants to get rid of the two-tier award system.
• The idea faces opposition from Republicans who don't want to remove the incentive for students with a 3.7 GPA or higher.
• You can learn more about the budget on GPB's Lawmakers. 

2. Mental health bill faces opposition. 

• The House wants to build on last year's mental health omnibus bill by adding more mental health workers. 
• Conservative activists are also once again pushing state senators to reject the bill, raising concerns about the lack of clear definitions.

3. Two years since the Atlanta spa shootings. 

• It has been a year since a white man went on a murderous rampage in Atlanta and its suburbs, killing eight people, six of them Asian women.
• President Biden issued an executive order on guns yesterday, but can't get much done without Congress.

4. Nikki Haley proposes raising the retirement age.

•  Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley is proposing changes to entitlement programs for younger generations.

Thursday on Political Rewind: AJC retired columnist Jim Galloway joins the show.