Georgia Today: Protests against DOGE; Fiscal budget deadline approaches; UNICEF recognizes Decatur

Orlando Montoya: Hello and welcome to the Georgia Today podcast from GPB News. On this podcast, we feature the GPB news team's latest reports. Today is Friday, March 21. I'm Orlando Montoya. On today's episode, spending cuts from President Trump's Department of Government Efficiency sparked protests in Georgia. State lawmakers have just two weeks to decide on a budget for the upcoming fiscal year, and the city of Decatur develops a plan to address the needs of youth, including a response to climate change.

Tony Powers: We are vowing to have all of our city fleet electrified by the year 2035. We've got three active solar projects on city buildings.

Orlando Montoya: These stories and more are coming up on this edition of Georgia Today.

Story 1:

Orlando Montoya: President Donald Trump's executive orders and spending cuts under his Department of Government Efficiency are sparking protests and town hall meetings. Southwest Georgia Democratic congressman Sanford Bishop attended one last night organized by a labor union, The American Federation of Government Employees. Bishop gave dire warnings about the effects of cuts under DOGE. Sally Fields-Dwight was among the people who told the congressman they were aware of the risks and wanted to know what action would come next.

Sally Fields-Dwight: Veterans are going to be suffering. Medicare is going to be suffering. Medicare is going to be suffering. Until you get the fox out of the henhouse, we are not going to be able to do anything. No change is coming.

Orlando Montoya: Republican congressman Austin Scott, of a neighboring congressional district in South Georgia also was invited to the meeting, but did not attend. House Speaker Mike Johnson has warned GOP House members against facing protesters.

Caption

Jon Ossoff

Credit: Grant Blankenship / GPB News

Story 2:

Orlando Montoya: U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff is urging the Trump administration to reinstate dozens of Environmental Protection Agency employees based in Georgia and the Southeast. The Region 4 staffers based in Atlanta, Athens and Gulfport, Miss., were reportedly dismissed last week due to their probationary status. Ossoff joined more than a dozen members of Congress in a letter to EPA administrator Lee Zeldin, warning that the firings could undermine work to protect public health. Ossoff called the firings indiscriminate. EPA Region 4 was instrumental in monitoring air quality during the BioLab chemical fire in Conyers last year.

Story 3:

Orlando Montoya: Georgia is preparing for the possible closure of the U.S. Department of Education. Today, the Georgia House approved a bill that changes references to the U.S. Department of Education in the Georgia state code. SB 154 adds, quote "or its successor" to the Cabinet-level agency in case Congress legally abolishes it. President Trump gutted it through executive orders this month. The bill's supporters include the House Majority Leader, Mulberry Republican state Rep. Chuck Efstration.

Chuck Efstration: If Congress does act before we are back in session in January 2026, we will have taken necessary steps to make sure that our code is updated.

Orlando Montoya: The bill needs final approval from the state Senate before Gov. Brian Kemp can sign it into law.

Story 4:

Orlando Montoya: Agriculture is Georgia's leading industry, creating billions of dollars in revenue for the state every year and bringing fresh food to the dinner table. That's something high school and college students from farm worker families wanted to remind lawmakers during a visit to the state Capitol today. GPB's Sofi Gratas has more.

Sofi Gratas: It was Alex Gonzalez's first time at the state Capitol. From South Georgia's Echols County, both her parents are farm workers. Growing fears over their detainment by immigration enforcement mean Gonzalez, a student at Valdosta State University, has taken on extra responsibility.

Alex Gonzalez: They don't want to go out as much. So I'm the one doing grocery runs. My siblings, taking them to their school — on top of being a college student, getting my assignments done.

Sofi Gratas: But on this day, learning about the legislative process was her focus. Program representative Laura Gallegos says these visits help give the first-generation students of migrant families a platform.

Laura Gallegos: We might have our future president here today. Future representatives. It begins with us.

Sofi Gratas: The students got a peek at how a bill becomes law and left messages with their representatives. For GPB News, I'm Sofi Gratas at the state Capitol.

​​​​​​​Story 5:

Orlando Montoya: And state lawmakers now have just two weeks left in this year's General Assembly, with the fate of several closely watched bills still uncertain. Donna Lowry of GPB's Lawmakers says chief among them is a budget for the fiscal year that begins in July.

Donna Lowry: Right now, the Senate has the fiscal 2026 budget and is focusing on more money for Promise Scholarships. They will allow certain low income students to take what some called vouchers, to use them to pay for private schools or homeschooling. And that's vastly different from the House, which reduced the amount of those scholarships. And so we'll see what happens in the end. We expect the budget may be down to the wire.

Orlando Montoya: Several tax relief measures already have gotten final approval in both houses of the General Assembly. House Bill 112 would allow up to a $500 state income tax rebate. Depending on how you file, and House Bill 111 would lower the state flat income tax rate to 5.19%.

Credit: Kindel Media

​​​​​​​Story 6:

Orlando Montoya: Macon-Bibb County is temporarily suspending automatic speeding tickets issued by school zone cameras. Community members and some state lawmakers have raised concerns about the cameras, saying they're more about generating revenue than protecting students. The county sheriff, David Davis, said this week he decided to pause parse citations while lawmakers decide the fate of two related bills now before the state Senate.

David Davis: Let's hope that we will get some guidance from our lawmakers very soon. But in the meantime, please drive carefully and please obey the speed limits in the school zone.

Orlando Montoya: One bill would ban the cameras altogether, while the other would more closely regulate them, in part by providing better warning signs and limiting their hours.

​​​​​​​Story 7:

Orlando Montoya: UNICEF is recognizing the city of Decatur as a Child Friendly City after implementing a local action plan for youth developed by high school students. GPB's Amanda Andrews reports, it's the third city in the U.S. to receive the designation.

Amanda Andrews: The Child Friendly Cities Initiative requires communities to create a plan that addresses the needs of youth and involves them in decision making. Decatur students chose five priorities: equality, climate change, trust with law enforcement, improving public spaces and mental health awareness. Mayor Pro Tem Tony Powers says they listen and added climate resilience to Decatur's strategic plan.

Tony Powers: As a city, we have adopted a plan that we are vowing to have all of our city fleet electrified by the year 2035. You know, we've got three active solar projects on city buildings.

Amanda Andrews: The city of Decatur joins Houston and Minneapolis in achieving Child Friendly City status. For GPB News, I'm Amanda Andrews.

​​​​​​​Story 8:

Orlando Montoya: And turning now to business news, activity related to the Georgia Ports Authority now supports about 1 in 8 jobs in the state. That's according to a University of Georgia Terry College of Business economic impact study released by the authority yesterday. GPA-supported jobs grew to roughly 600,000 in fiscal year 2023, up roughly 9% from fiscal year 2021, the period covered by the previous study.

​​​​​​​Story 9:

Orlando Montoya: And metro Atlanta, grew by about 75,000 residents between 2023 and 2024, but fell from sixth to eighth place among the largest U.S. metro areas. That's according to population estimates released by the U.S. Census Bureau last week. An analysis published by the Atlanta Regional Commission today says the changes stem in part from natural migration trends, but also in part from changes in how the census measures international migration.

​​​​​​​Story 10:

Orlando Montoya: In Georgia sports, All right, I know you watched it yesterday or at least watched the highlights. It was the biggest game in Georgia basketball in a decade. In fact, yesterday was the first time Georgia was in the NCAA tournament in 10 years. And even though they lost to basketball powerhouse Gonzaga, March Madness is still coming to Georgia in a big way. Atlanta's State Farm Arena will host the Sweet 16 and Elite Eight South Regional games later this month. The 16,000-seat venue will feature the Sweet 16 on Friday, March 28, followed by the Elite Eight on Sunday, March 30. The games are hosted by Georgia Tech and are among the biggest in college basketball. Ticket prices? They're not cheap. Some seats are selling for a few hundred dollars, while premium resale tickets are listed in the — whew! — thousands. One Sweet 16 ticket even topped $1,200.

And that's it for today's edition of Georgia Today. We have more about many of these stories at gpb.org/news. That website is constantly updated with stories from our GPB News team. We'd like you to hit subscribe on this podcast so you always stay current with us in your feed. If you have feedback, send that to us as well. The good, the bad, the ugly — we want to hear about it. Email us at GeorgiaToday@gpb.org. I'm Orlando Montoya. I hope you enjoy the weekend and come back and listen to us again next week.

---

For more on these stories and more, go to GPB.org/news