Georgia Today: Severe weather across Georgia; Falcons coach fired; 2024 legislative session begins

Orlando Montoya: Hello and welcome to the Georgia Today podcast from GPB news. Today is Monday, January 8th. I'm Orlando Montoya. On today's episode, severe weather is moving across the state. The Atlanta Falcons have fired their head coach. And today marks the beginning of the 2024 Georgia legislative session. These stories and more are coming up on this edition of Georgia Today.

Story 1:

Orlando Montoya: Forecasters are urging Georgians to watch the weather tonight as a fast-changing system moves into the state, bringing high winds and rain. National Weather Service meteorologist Vaughn Smith says strong systems aren't unusual this time of year, but this one could be severe.

Vaughn Smith: One of the things that we're looking at with this system is that it's a fairly strong system. Now, we do get strong systems in the wintertime, but we typically don't get a lot of severe weather in the wintertime. It will have the ability to create strong thunderstorms, possible tornadoes, hail, lightning and also periods of heavy rain for the Atlanta area. We're looking at about 3 to 4 inches, for areas Columbus to Macon about 2 to 3 inches, and for areas south of that, an inch and-a-half or less. Uh, so basically we're looking at a lot of water falling over the next 24 to 48 hours.

Orlando Montoya: And now that the threats appeared to be different depending on what part of Georgia you live in, what do people need to keep an eye on?

Vaughn Smith: Basically everything, because this system will have pretty much everything associated with it. Now, the best place for tornadoes will be across central and South Georgia. But everywhere we'll see winds gusting, you know, 10 to 20, gusting 30 to 40 and even 50 into the North Georgia mountains. So even though we're not expecting tornadoes in the North Georgia mountains, we'll still have trees down because the winds will still be strong enough.

Orlando Montoya: And with the winds, the potential for power outages.

Vaughn Smith: That's correct. Yeah. If trees fall on power lines, things of that sort. We're also expecting hail with some of the stronger thunderstorms. It really is running the full gamut of everything, and we're expecting a little bit of snow on the backside once it moves through on Tuesday — Tuesday night. Uh, some cooler air will be moving in and there'll still be a little bit of moisture left over. Now, we're not expecting much in the way of accumulation, but we will still see some.

Orlando Montoya: And that's snow in the higher elevations of the North Georgia mountains, correct?

Vaughn Smith: Right. Well, we could see it even all the way down to the Atlanta area, but it won't be any accumulations. But we could see, you know, the snow around the backside of the system.

Orlando Montoya: We could have additional storms later in the week. What will you be keeping an eye on?

Vaughn Smith: Uh, pretty much the same thing. There's another one that's ramping up, uh, for Friday, and it looks very similar to this one. So we'll be paying very close attention to it once the one that we're dealing with right now goes through.

Orlando Montoya: All right. Well, Vaughn Smith, thank you very much for keeping an eye on it and hope you have a good day.

Vaughn Smith: Thank you. Same to you.

Story 2:

Orlando Montoya: The Atlanta Falcons have fired head coach Arthur Smith. His dismissal was expected and came late last night after the team completed its third straight losing season. The 41-year-old son of Fedex founder Fred Smith, went 7 and 10 in each of his three seasons with the Falcons. It was his first NFL head coaching job. In it, he failed to lift the Falcons out of its playoff drought. Smith's fate was announced after the team's ugly 48-17 loss to New Orleans on Sunday.

Story 3:

State lawmakers started day one of this year's General Assembly today on a somber note. GPB's Sarah Kallis reports one member of the state House remembered a personal loss.

Sarah Kallis: Rep. Sandra Scott from Rex in Clayton County honored her cousin, who died in a shooting this year. She said that he passed away on his 11-year-old son's birthday. Scott used the occasion to urge lawmakers to pass gun safety laws this year.

Sandra Scott: As a family member, I'm I'm hurt. Um, and as a lawmaker, I'm frustrated, angry, and just wanted Georgia to do something, come up with some type of commonsense gun legislation, because we must have some.

Sarah Kallis: Democrats introduced several pieces of gun legislation last year, including safe gun storage laws. Those bills can come back this session. For GPB News, I'm Sarah Kallis at the state capitol.

Story 4:

Orlando Montoya: Former President Donald Trump is asking a Fulton County judge to toss out the sweeping election interference criminal case against him. Trump's attorneys today filed a motion claiming he's immune from prosecution for actions he took while he was president. Trump has made similar arguments in federal court.

Story 5:

Orlando Montoya: A state judge has rejected a lawsuit to disqualify Georgia Lt. Gov. Bert Jones from holding office because of his participation as an elector for Donald Trump in 2020. The judge ruled on Friday that the voters who sued aren't entitled to relief. The lawsuit came as a decision on prosecuting Jones on state charges remains in limbo, for lack of a special prosecutor willing to take the case. University of Georgia political science professor Charles Bullock says finding one could be challenging.

Charles Bullock: Might be difficult for the career, say, of an individual who is a Republican, to go after the No. 2 Republican in the state. And it might then also be difficult to put a Democrat in this position, and that then there could be the claim that it was simply a political prosecution.

Orlando Montoya: The Georgia prosecuting attorney's counsel is responsible for finding a special prosecutor. In a statement to GPB on Friday, a council spokesman said the agency has no timeline for naming one.

Story 6:

Orlando Montoya: The Environmental Protection Agency today released the second round of federal funds to help school districts across the country transition to alternative fuel buses. As GPB's Grant Blankenship explains, Georgia is benefiting from the Clean School Bus program in more ways than one.

Grant Blankenship: The new announcement brings total program spending in Georgia to about $192 million in 27 school districts. Some, like Floyd County schools in Northwest Georgia, are spending on propane buses. Others, like the DeKalb County School District, are going exclusively electric. Bluebird, a leading builder of EV buses, is based in the city of Fort Valley. A recent EPA administrator, Michael Regan, says clean buses are a win for Georgia workers.

Michael Regan: We're thinking about it through the lens of economic development, job growth — good paying jobs, by the way, good paying union jobs — and the environmental, health and climate benefits.

Grant Blankenship: So far, Bluebird has worked with districts across the country to win just under $170 million in direct Clean School Bus program awards. For GPB news, I'm Grant Blankenship in Macon.

Story 7:

Orlando Montoya: Qcells' $2.5 billion solar plant under construction in Northwest Georgia's Bartell County will supply Microsoft with renewable energy. The two companies announced a partnership agreement this morning. Qcells calls it the company's largest engineering, procurement and construction services agreement to date. The plant near Cartersville is expected to employ 2,000 people when it begins operations later this year. Microsoft also is building a facility in the area. The company announced $1 billion data center coming to Floyd County in 2027 or 2028.

Caption

State capitol

Credit: Riley Bunch, GPB News

Story 8:

Orlando Montoya: State lawmakers began this year's General Assembly at the state capitol this morning. Last night, many of them met at Feeding Georgia's annual Wild Hogs supper. The event, sponsored by the statewide food bank, raises funds for a program to reduce hunger in Georgia. It also kicks off a series of legislative preview events that offer a glimpse into how lawmakers plan to tackle issues ranging from the economy to health care and more. House Majority Caucus chair, Athens Republican Houston Gaines, said public safety, especially school safety, is a priority for the GOP.

Houston Gaines: When I think of issues of importance, there's nothing more important than keeping our children safe in schools.

Orlando Montoya: He also said Republicans want to push other education issues and income tax reduction. House Minority Caucus chair Stone Mountain Democrat Billy Mitchell said Medicaid expansion and maternal mortality are priorities for Democrats.

Billy Mitchell: But we need to correct those things so that we can make sure that Georgia is not only a good place to do business, but to live, work and have a baby.

Orlando Montoya: He also said Democrats want to address gun law reforms and the cost of living. The legislative session will continue for 40 days. And joining me now to talk more about what to expect in the 2024 legislative session is Donna Lowry. She is the host of GPB's Lawmakers, which begins its 54th season tonight. Donna, good to have you here.

Donna Lowry: Glad to be here.

Orlando Montoya: Let's start with the basics. We have 56 senators, 180 representatives. I think there are two vacancies right now. Who are the players to watch?

Donna Lowry:  Well, I'd say all of the Republican leadership. It's an election year. All the seats in both the House and Senate are up for grabs. So we will see everyone in campaign mode, first of all. And I mentioned Republicans in particular because they are the party in power and will want to push the party’s agendas the same way the Democrats would do if they were in power. And during the special redistricting session in December, we got a kind of preview of things. Republicans brought up some resolutions to try to get Democrats to commit to votes on issues they did not expect. One resolution condemned Hamas and supported Israel. And the other was to support Atlanta's public safety center, better known as "Cop City," which is now under construction. And Democrats accused Republicans of political gamesmanship for forcing votes on issues that have traditionally split Democrats, both locally and nationally. Both resolutions passed, though, and some Democrats abstained or excused themselves from voting on both issues.

Orlando Montoya:  Now, the only thing lawmakers are constitutionally required to do is pass a budget. And although tax collections aren't growing as fast as they were several years ago, there's still room to spend and that $11 billion surplus sitting there. So what proposals are we likely to see on the budget?

Donna Lowry: So as a reminder, in Georgia at the beginning of the budget process, the governor sets the revenue estimate and we expect to learn what the governor is going to do when he gives his State of the State address on Thursday. Last month, the governor announced plans for a couple of areas of the amended fiscal 2024 budget. One is the $1,000 holiday bonus. He called it an employee retention pay supplement. And that's to all state workers. That went to about 112,000 state employees, 196,000 teachers and school support staff statewide. That initiative will cost the state roughly $330 million. So that is part of the amended fiscal 2024 budget, before we look at the fiscal 2025 budget. The budget will also include more than $100 million for K-12 schools to beef up security and safety plans. This will be a line item for the very, very first time. That's roughly $45,000 for every public school in Georgia. Another item dealing with the budget we will see the governor talk about? His — he wants to accelerate a decrease in the income tax rate. A little complicated, but basically a bill last year already passed that will reduce the rate. But given the state surplus that you mentioned, he wants to do it sooner. So he calls it the largest income tax cut in state history.

Orlando Montoya: Now, the way the Legislature works is that if a bill doesn't pass in the first year after an election, it can return the next year. So this is actually the second year in a two-year legislative cycle. Are there any high-profile bills from last year that lawmakers kicked the can on that we might expect to return this year?

Donna Lowry: Yeah, the first one that we expect probably this week or the next few days, one of the first they'll deal with is the antisemitism bill. The anti-Semitism bill passed in the House last year, not the Senate. It has been controversial in the language. The language deals with the IHRA definition — which is the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance definition. And some people who have a problem with it say that it will now not allow for any criticism of Israel. So people are afraid that they may face charges if they criticize Israel at all. So that has been very controversial. But we've heard from Republican leadership that that is something that they want to see happen and fairly soon. The other bill certain to come back is the school voucher bill. The Senate approved the bill by Sen. Greg Dolezal, Senate Bill 233. But the House shot it down. It was really, really close, 89 to 85, with a handful of Republicans actually crossing party lines to seal its fate. That is likely to come back. The school voucher bill has been something that the Republicans have wanted for a while. They have really pushed, but some Republicans in rural areas are afraid of money being taken out of public education and going to these vouchers. So there has been a lot of work, we understand, behind the scenes to try to pull those Republicans in. I will tell you that state groups, such as teacher groups, have been totally against this. And overall, Democrats are against anything dealing with school vouchers, anything coming out of public education.

Orlando Montoya:  So-called "divisive concept" bills were front and center in recent years. Are there any bills this session that are likely to stir up debate and controversy?

Donna Lowry:  I think that we're going to see some issues dealing with abortion. That is likely to be controversial again this year, of course. There has already been talk about that. And bills dealing with voting. We are likely to see some things where the Democrats in particular, are going to push back on some of the legislation that has come through, some of the laws that have come through in the last few years, that — that change the way people vote. Some of the legislation has been pre-filed dealing with voting. It may not go anywhere. We also may see Republicans have some bills that will come out that will deal with voting. As you know, the 2020 election is still front and center in everybody's mind when it comes to anything going on, both at the state level and at the national level.

Orlando Montoya: GPB's Lawmakers airs every night the Legislature is in session on GPB-TV, starting tonight at 7 p.m. Tell me a little bit about the broadcast and what you have new this year.

Donna Lowry:  Yeah, we're very excited that we the broadcast, as you know, is a half-hour, but we do four shows that are an hour long, including this week. We will have an hourlong show for the State of the State. If you missed the State of the State in the morning — and of course that is live streamed, you can get that through gpb.org — but we will have it also on our show that Thursday night, and it will show the entirety of Gov. Kemp's message. We also air the Democratic response. So that is one of our hourlong shows. Of course, we do an hourlong show on the budget, which, as you mentioned, is the only mandated reason that the General Assembly meets. We do Crossover Day and of course, Sine Die. Our first show tonight will deal solely with the priorities. And we're excited because we expect to have leaders on both sides of the aisle come on our show and talk about their priorities.

Orlando Montoya:  Donna Lowry is host of GPB's Lawmakers. Thank you very much.

Donna Lowry:  Thank you.

Orlando Montoya: And you can tune into the State of the State address on Thursday at 11 a.m. live here on GPB radio and at GPB.org.

Story 9:

Orlando Montoya: Super Bowl Sunday will remain the only Sunday that Augusta bars will be allowed to serve alcohol. State law permits local governments to choose just one day per year when bars can serve alcohol. Augusta usually picks Super Bowl Sunday, but after some bar owners missed out from Sunday sales on the recent New Year's Eve, Augusta commissioners started thinking about other possible Sundays this year, specifically Saint Patrick's Day or Cinco de Mayo. Today, after some discussion and receiving input from 15 bars, commissioners stuck with the Super Bowl, coming up soon on Feb. 11.

Orlando Montoya: And that's it for today's edition of Georgia Today. You can find many of the stories that we air on this podcast on our website: GPB.org/news. That website is kept updated 24/7, 365. So always look for Georgia news there. If you haven't yet hit "subscribe" on this podcast, we'd love for you to do that. That just helps yourself to keep up to date with Georgia Today in your podcast feed. And if you have feedback, we'd love to hear that from you as well. Email us at GeorgiaToday@GPB.org. I'm Orlando Montoya. I'll talk to you tomorrow.

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