James May-June 2023 web - Flipbook - Page 7
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B O ATS
W H O ’S R I S I N G & S I N K I N G I N G E O R G I A B U S I N E S S & P O L I T I C S
Cobb County scored another win against the opioid
epidemic when county commissioners approved a $15
million settlement against drug manufacturers Teva
and Allergan. This is the third legal victory Cobb has
secured against pharmaceutical companies since 2021
as it aggressively attempts to push back against a crisis that has resulted in record Georgia opioid overdoses. The money will be held in a special account to be
used specifically for “abatement and remediation” of
the crisis. Rising
Despite an intense lobbying push from Georgia Democrats, the 2024 Democratic National Convention will
be held in Chicago. Southern Dems had banded together
to push for the convention to be held in Atlanta, which
would have brought in tens of thousands of delegates
and guests and put a spotlight on Georgia as a voter
swing state. But thanks to promises from billionaire Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker to help bankroll the event the DNC
will instead go to Chicago, a Democratic stronghold. The
spurn has Democrats’ focus on Georgia Sinking.
Gov. Brian Kemp used his veto pen for the first time in
2023 to nix House Bill 319, which sought to prohibit the
University System’s Board of Regents from raising
student tuition or fees more than 3 percent without the
approval of the state legislature. Kemp called it unconstitutional. In the meantime, there’s pressure on Regents to raise student tuition since lawmakers cut the
University System’s 2024 budget by $66 million. Critics
say cut bureaucratic fat and leave tuition alone. Drifting
Federal Judge Elizabeth “Lisa” Branch of Atlanta is no longer hiring applicants from Stanford Law
School as clerks. She vows that students who practice intolerance don’t belong in the legal profession.
Her boycott comes after— get this!— a Stanford Law
School official and law students disrupted a campus
appearance by federal Judge Stuart Duncan. And all
because he’s a President Donald Trump appointee.
Attendees yelled vicious insults (some even hoped his
daughters would be raped) which forced Duncan to
leave. Other judges have also joined Branch’s boycott
of Stanford Law School graduates, since that California
law school’s reputation has Sunk .
The General Assembly slashed $1.7 million of taxpayer
money from the Georgia Public Broadcasting budget—and critics said reductions should have been far
deeper. Senate Appropriations Chairman Blake Tillery,
R-Vidalia, pushed the cut because of complaints from
other media outlets. “Let’s be honest, what they’re really saying is ‘Why are you funding my competition?’”
he said. “I think that’s actually a very valid point. Why
are we picking winners and losers? I don’t think that’s
the space we want to be in.” Insiders predict another
reduction of taxpayer money to GPB’s budget next
year. Donors should pick up the slack. Sinking
The Georgia Bulldogs may run the state when it comes
to football, but another school now rules the roost on
the hardwood. The Kennesaw State University
men’s basketball team qualified for its first ever NCAA
Tournament this season after winning its conference
tournament. After winning just one game three seasons ago the Owls are soaring despite a narrow loss to
heavyweight Xavier in March Madness. Rising
Two Georgia congresswomen— U.S. Reps. Nikema
Williams, D-Atlanta, and Lucy McBath, D-Marietta,
have been voted into leadership positions in the House
Democratic Women’s Caucus. Williams will serve as
vice chairwoman while McBath is the group’s chief
whip. With 16 new women elected by Democrats in
2022 the caucus continues to grow, and with a pair of
Georgians in leadership its reach is Rising.
U.S. Rep. Andrew Clyde, R-Athens, was the toast of
the town in Washington D.C. after his bill blocked the
District of Columbia from revising its sentencing laws,
which would have let offenders back out on the streets
more easily. After the bill passed the House, President
Joe Biden surprisingly announced he would sign it, and
the Democrat-led U.S. Senate quickly got on board approving it 81-14, (Sen. Jon Ossoff voted in favor, Sen.
Raphael Warnock voted “present”). The bill was a
win for Clyde cracking down on crime, as well as a rare
bipartisan victory in a very partisan town. Rising
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