Georgia Today: Kemp signs tax-cutting bills; Georgia stalled in Pre-K enrollment; RIP Dickey Betts

Peter Biello: Welcome to the Georgia Today podcast from GPB News. Today is Thursday, April 18. I'm Peter Biello. On today's episode, Gov. Brian Kemp signs tax cutting bills into law. A new report shows Georgia stalled in its efforts to boost pre-K enrollment. And we remember Dickey Betts of the Allman Brothers, who died today at the age of 80. These stories and more are coming up on this edition of Georgia Today.

Story 1:

Peter Biello: Gov. Brian Kemp signed five tax-cutting bills into law today. GPB's Sarah Kallis explains how they are expected to impact Georgia taxpayers.

Sarah Kallis: One of the bills reduces the personal income tax rate from 5.49% to a flat rate of 5.39%. The move would save the average Georgia taxpayer about $50 a year. Another reduces the corporate tax rate to the same amount. Kemp says deductions for children will also increase by $1,000.

Brian Kemp: We realize Georgians know best how to spend their money a lot better than the government does. Each of the bills I signed today will also help hardworking Georgians fight through high grocery prices, high energy prices and an inflationary environment.

Sarah Kallis: The other two bills Kemp signed would allow counties to freeze the homestead exemption and extend the sunset on a tax credit for historic preservation and rural property. For GPB News, I'm Sarah Kallis in Atlanta.

Caption

Pre-K

Credit: Pexels

Story 2:

Peter Biello: Georgia is, quote, "a little bit stalled" when it comes to access to preschool education in the state. That's according to the 2023 State of Preschool report released today by the National Institute of Early Education. Research spending per child and percent of the population enrolled are little changed in Georgia year over year. Although Georgia met eight of the organization's 10 quality benchmarks, missing the mark on class size and staff-to-child ratio standards, the Institute's Allison Friedman-Krauss says that could improve thanks to the state's lawmakers.

Allison Friedman-Krauss: They just passed a huge investment in preschool to go back to smaller class sizes and better ratios, investing in their teachers. So once those are enacted in a few years, Georgia most likely will be our first, quote unquote, "universal state" meeting all 10 of our benchmarks.

Peter Biello: Using lottery funds, Georgia became the first universal state in 1995 with the nation's first universal preschool program for 4-year-olds.

Story 3:

Peter Biello: A nonprofit consortium of educators and business leaders has announced plans for a $100 million museum in downtown Atlanta. Called FutureVerse, the museum is aimed at boosting tourism and education, with exhibits about advanced technology in health, transportation, environmental science and artificial intelligence. The project includes advisors from top Georgia universities and architecture and legal firms, but it's unclear when or exactly where FutureVerse will materialize. Organizers have raised only a fraction of its projected cost.

Story 4:

Peter Biello: Georgia has lost one of its music legends. Dickey Betts, one of the original members of the Allman Brothers Band, has died at the age of 80. His manager says Betts had been fighting cancer and other health problems and died at his home in Florida. Betts shared lead guitar duties with Duane Allman to help give the Macon-based group its distinctive sound and create a new genre: Southern rock. GPB's Orlando Montoya spoke about his legacy with band member and rock keyboardist Chuck Leavell.

Chuck Leavell: Well, I'm feeling very, very sad. The world has lost a great guitarist, a great songwriter, and certainly I and many others that were close to Dickey have lost a very good friend. But the good news is that he has left us an amazing, enduring, and awesome legacy of music. And that's something we'll be celebrating for a long, long time.

Orlando Montoya: Musically, what do you think his legacy is?

Chuck Leavell: Well, he had such a very unique style. A style of his own. You knew Dickey Betts when you heard him play. It was very recognizable, very powerful. But also as a songwriter, you know, you take a song like "Ramblin Man," which was, you know, a big hit for the Allman Brothers Band when I was in the band. It's a song that everyone can relate to, you know?  It's just a straight ahead little story that is so fun. And it's a joyful song. You know, his guitar work, especially at the end of that song where there's multiple guitars playing, is something that's very special and unique. But also take a song — some of his instrumentals, especially the song "Jessica," that was a great vehicle for a 20-year-old piano player at the time that we recorded that song. And, you know, I still hear that song on the radio, along with "Ramblin Man" and some of the other songs that Dickey wrote. So, his legacy is here to stay.

Orlando Montoya: And personally, you — you knew him as a friend. Tell me a little bit about him as a person.

Chuck Leavell: Well, I can tell you that, when I first joined the band — and this would have been, when we were touring in 1973 — we played Tulsa, Okla., and Dickey had been married to a Native American woman named Sandy Blue Sky, who he wrote the song "Blue Sky" for.  And Dickey called me up and he said, "Chuck, we got a couple of days off. Would you and Rose Lane" — my wife, Rose Lane — "like to go to, a reservation and meet some of these Native Americans, meet some of the chiefs and attend some ceremonies?" And that was one of the greatest experiences I've ever had. It was so sweet of him to reach out to myself and to Rose Lane and to include us in that little trip that we made. And it's it's something that I will never, ever forget.

Orlando Montoya: Well, you and, and the band will be known as, the creators of Southern rock. And I think that would — That's another of his legacy.

Chuck Leavell: Well, absolutely. Dickey Betts helped invent the term Southern rock. It's not a term that we all fell in love with, but, you know, looking back today, I think it is an appropriate term. We were from the South. Very proud to be from the South. We were influenced by Southern culture. We were influenced by Southern music, whether it's country, whether it's rhythm and blues and soul or blues, and so all of those blends worked together to form the style that the Allman Brothers Band had. And, something I think we're all very happy about and very proud of.

Orlando Montoya: Well, again, my thoughts with you in the family as well, and I appreciate you talking with me and helping to remember his legacy.

Chuck Leavell: Thank you so much and rest in peace, my brother Dickey.

Peter Biello: That was GPB's Orlando Montoya, speaking today with rock keyboardist Chuck Leavell about the passing of Lavelle's Allman Brothers Band mate Dickey Betts.

Caption

cannabis

Story 5:

Peter Biello: Organizers of a cannabis-based themed art and music festival this weekend in Macon hope to establish it among the city's regular rotation of spring and summer events. The Puffapalooza Festival will be spread around some 20 restaurants, music venues and galleries over three days, beginning tomorrow through the 4/20 holiday and into Sunday. Colin Penndorf is one of the festival's organizers. He points to Macon's local ordinance around marijuana possession as a reason for why he thinks Puff Palooza will be a hit with tourists.

Colin Penndorf: Decriminalization here in Macon has been for about five years now, so if you have an ounce or less personal use, the officer has the ability to turn that into a $75 fine.

Peter Biello: One of the planned high points of the festival is the Legends of Green contest, where growers will present their non-psychoactive hemp to a panel of taste-testing judges.

Caption

Emergency

Credit: Georgia Health News

Story 6:

Peter Biello: And finally, Grady Health System plans to build a freestanding emergency department in Fulton County, south of Atlanta. The announcement today comes two years after Wellstar closed its Atlanta Medical Center and Atlanta Medical Center South. Union City Mayor Vince Williams says community south of Atlanta were deeply hurt by the hospital closures.

Vince Williams: This will be a huge asset to the significant part of inequity, but also making sure that people have the health care resources available to them.

Peter Biello: Construction on the $38 million project, funded by county and federal funds, could begin this fall, with an opening expected in 2026.

Peter Biello: And that is it for this edition of Georgia Today. If you want to learn more about any of these stories, visit GPB.org/news. And take a moment now to subscribe to this podcast. That way we'll be there for you automatically in your podcast feed tomorrow afternoon. And if you've got feedback or a story idea you'd like us to know about, send it to us by email. The address is GeorgiaToday@GPB.org. I'm Peter Biello. Thanks so much for listening. We'll see you tomorrow.

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