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Request a DemoEditor’s note: This is the fourth and final installment looking at key election issues through the lens of 10 Georgians heading into next week’s midterm election. This story is Part 1 of this week’s two-parter highlighting what the focus group has to say about crime. Part II will run tomorrow. The opinions expressed in this series are that of the participants and do not reflect the position of this news outlet. Subscribe to State Affairs at stateaffairs.com to read all of our election coverage.
Crime occurs once every 2 minutes and 47 seconds in Georgia, according to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation’s 2021 Crime Statistics Summary Report, the latest data available.
Depending on where you live in the state, that stat may be familiar or foreign to you. In any case, crime is a top concern for Georgians — up there with inflation and abortion.
State Affairs’ Election Team members weighed in this week about crime, how it’s changing communities, how it can be solved, and which candidates have the right message and mettle to deal with rising crime.
Here’s what they had to say.
Yana Batra, 18, Democrat and Georgia Tech freshman; first time voter
How concerned are you about crime in your community?
Naturally, everybody's concerned about crime in their community. I'm a young woman on a college campus in an urban area. So when I'm walking around at night, when I'm going about my day, I'm concerned for my safety from that perspective.
In the context of rising crime as a scare tactic [in political ads and rhetoric] that kind of framing is not very useful because everybody is concerned about crime in their communities. When we’re talking about crime, it's more important to focus on the reality of who is committing crimes, who's being targeted, and what are the actual reasons behind rising crime and what real preventive measures exist to combat it. When we look at crime, it's really poor, historically disadvantaged and disenfranchised communities that have to bear the brunt of that violence. The way to address that is not through highly politicized attack ads but actual reform in our communities.
There's been a recent rise in crime over the past few years which is really traceable to the pandemic, to poverty, etc. Instead, what we're hearing is that it's because of criminal justice reform, or it's happened in democratically-run cities. In fact, murders have risen equally in cities run by Republicans and Democrats.
How does/did the issue of crime factor into your voting decisions in the upcoming midterm election?
It was very important to me, especially when I was looking at the attorney general and the governor's races. It's the way candidates approach the issue.
[Gov. Brian] Kemp and his attorney general talk about the gang task force, even though street gangs actually don't contribute to a large chunk of violence in Georgia. Policies like cash-bail reform, increased funding for officers so they can receive better training and don't have to work multiple jobs — policies [gubernatorial candidate] Stacey Abrams talks about resonate more with me when I look at what actually prevents crime and what is more of a scapegoat tactic.
Steve Brown, 58, Republican lives in Peachtree City with his wife; empty-nester
How concerned are you about crime in your community?
Here in Fayette County, we're pretty much a very conservative, hardline-on-crime kind of community, probably more so than any other county in metropolitan Atlanta. We don't want to see crime migrating in from other counties. We started seeing some of that, too. We have a lot of people who are being arrested for break ins, auto thefts, and they're not Fayette County residents. It's a major cultural shift for us. It's gone from the kind of naive, ‘It'll never happen here,’ to a kind of, ‘Oh, my gosh, what's happening?’
Crime is probably one of the top three issues in elections across the country. One thing we're seeing [is] it's not just that there are people committing crimes which are bad enough on its own, but we're also seeing the establishment, primarily district attorneys, who are not prosecuting the crimes and cashless bail and things like that. That just adds to the anxiety of the public. The district attorney [DA] in Philadelphia is on the verge of possibly being recalled. They did a recall of the DA in San Francisco. We're starting to see that across the country.
You're seeing people who are committing a crime. They're being arrested. They were processed. They were then let out on cashless bail. Now if they were shoplifting, that's one thing. If they physically assaulted somebody on the street, that's another thing entirely. You're seeing people who are going through that cashless bail process and then going and committing another crime the next day. And that's what's causing the anxiety. I don't see anybody saying we don't need to look at the criminal justice system and take a serious look at it and figure out what we need to do. But, allowing people to commit continuous crimes after being arrested and processed is not the way to do it.
California and Texas and some certain cities have said they won't prosecute shoplifting under $950. So what's that doing is encouraging shopping in a major way. Gangs have gotten involved in it now because it's become profitable.
How does/did the issue of crime factor into your voting decisions in the upcoming midterm election?
It really impacted me in the governor's race and in the senatorial race.
[Gubernatorial candidate Stacey] Abrams has had a really hard time with the law enforcement issue. She’s fluctuated, depending on what forum she's talking to. In her last debate, she literally was accusing almost 127 sheriffs of racial profiling and all these other things. She really needed to be careful with her words because if people are anxious about crime, the last thing you want to do, as a candidate, is tell people we're going to make things worse by making it harder for law enforcement to do their job. I think that's been Abrams’ Achilles’ heel this entire time.
[Senator Raphael] Warnock tends to go with the policies whichever way the Biden administration is going and it hasn't been a very crime-fighting, pro-law enforcement position.
Kendall Edwards, 28, farmer and precision agriculture consultant for a local tractor dealership; lives in Ocilla; single
How concerned are you about crime in your community?
Not concerned at all. I live in a very small, tight-knit community with a very low crime rate.
How does/did the issue of crime factor into your voting decisions in the upcoming midterm election?
It’s not necessarily going to dictate whether the crime rate goes up or down in this election.
Keith McCants, 40, Democrat and factory worker married with three children; lives in Richmond Hill
How concerned are you about crime in your community?
Not so much. Where I live now is relatively calm. The kids know they can play without any danger or worry about anything happening like a shooting.
Overall, I am concerned about the rise in crime. We need more police officers on the street. Politicians need to provide more resources to them so they can combat crime. Just about everyone supports law enforcement because without law enforcement, it would be a wild, wild west around here. We need to fully fund our law enforcement officials so they can continue to serve us, to ensure that our kids live in safe communities where they can play without the threat of shootings. So crime is an issue that is one of my concerns.
How does/did the issue of crime factor into your voting decisions in the upcoming midterm election?
It does factor into it somewhat. There’s been this backlash toward law enforcement over the last year. It’s crucial that we have politicians in office who fully back our law enforcement. They’re not perfect by any means but whenever we get in trouble who are we going to call? We’re going to call the police or the sheriff.
Marla Thompson, 65, married college professor who lives in Riverdale; registered Democrat but votes according to issue
How concerned are you about crime in your community?
When you say my community, I look at my community not only as the immediate community I live in, but the community of the state of Georgia. Georgia has the 22nd highest crime rate in the United States., with 400 crimes per 100,000 people. Georgia is slightly above the national average in many statistical crime categories.
So Senate Bill 319 was passed by the Georgia legislature which eliminates permit requirements for carrying firearms. Therefore, every breathing person over the age of 18, whether they are chronically crippled or crazy, can carry a gun. Yet, if you are registering to vote, or voting, obtaining a passport or trying to get a TSA card, there are a series of checks and balances that a person must produce in order to earn these rights. So the Constitutional Carry Act, which is now law in our state, no longer requires you to get a permit or license to be eligible to carry a firearm in Georgia. That is just crazy. And that's the reason why crime seems to be up all over the state. Almost every day, somebody is negatively impacted by the reality that individuals can carry a gun.
How does/did the issue of crime factor into your voting decisions in the upcoming midterm election?
Everyone desires to live in a safe environment. But when you have laws on the books that allow criminals to run the asylum, [and you have] major corporations not considering bringing a national convention to your state because of the crime rate, that really should give us pause. People should think, ‘Wait a minute, what's really going on here?’
So it definitely impacts who I would vote for.
Want to participate in the conversation? Share your thoughts on social media:
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Contact Tammy Joyner at [email protected] or on Twitter @LVJOYNER.
Catch-up with our E-Team:
STATE AFFAIRS SELECTS 10 GEORGIANS FOR ELECTION TEAM FOCUS GROUP
GEORGIA VOTES: INFLATION REMAINS TOP OF MIND FOR GEORGIANS
GEORGIA VOTES: INFLATION REMAINS TOP OF MIND FOR GEORGIANS (PT. 2)
ELECTION FOCUS GROUP: ON HEALTH CARE COSTS, MEDICAID EXPANSION AND ABORTION RIGHTS (PT.1)
ELECTION FOCUS GROUP: ON HEALTH CARE COSTS, MEDICAID EXPANSION AND ABORTION RIGHTS (PT. 2)
ELECTION FOCUS GROUP (PT. 1): DEMOCRACY FACES CHALLENGES, BUT OPTIMISM REMAINS STRONG
ELECTION FOCUS GROUP (PT. 2): DEMOCRACY FACES CHALLENGES, BUT OPTIMISM REMAINS STRONG
CONCERNS OVER CRIME CRITICAL IN MIDTERMS (PT 2): ELECTION FOCUS GROUP
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House speaker Jon Burns hires new communications director
House speaker Jon Burns, R-Newington, announced today that he has hired a new communications director. Kayla Roberson, who has served as press secretary at the Georgia Chamber for the past year or so, will now oversee all external communications, media relations and strategic messaging for Burns.
“I’m excited to welcome Kayla to our team,” Burns said in a statement. “Kayla has an excellent background, deep skill set and strong work ethic, and we’re excited to have her on board to continue getting our message out and sharing the House’s priorities ahead of and into the next session.”
A double major in political science and journalism at the University of Georgia, where she graduated in 2022, Roberson interned for U.S. Rep. Andrew Clyde, a Republican in north Georgia’s 9th Congressional District, and worked as a consultant for GOP political candidates before joining the Georgia Chamber.
“I’m beyond grateful for the opportunity to work under the leadership of speaker Burns,” Roberson told State Affairs. “Whether it’s improving education opportunities, putting money back in the pockets of hardworking Georgians, creating jobs or supporting our rural communities, speaker Burns always prioritizes doing what is best, and what is right, for Georgia.”
Political strategist Stephen Lawson, who has held the top communications role for the speaker since last December, announced he’s joining Dentons, where starting today he’ll lead the global law firm’s public affairs efforts.
Have questions or comments? Contact Jill Jordan Sieder on X @journalistajill or at [email protected].
Global bird flu disrupts Georgia exports, costing chicken producers millions
ATLANTA — A global bird flu that has rapidly spread from birds to dairy cows, milk supplies and humans has cost untold millions of dollars in lost export business in Georgia, the nation’s leading poultry producer, officials with the state Department of Agriculture and poultry industry said.
Georgia has had only three reported cases of H5N1 avian influenza since it reemerged in 2022. The last of those cases was resolved in November 2023 but ramifications of those outbreaks continue to have a big effect on the state’s ability to export chicken and chicken parts, such as chicken feet, to different countries, including China, one of Georgia’s biggest export markets for chicken feet.
In 2022, frozen chicken feet, for example, accounted for more than 85% of all U.S. poultry exported to China, according to Farm Progress, publisher of 22 farming and ranching magazines.
The $30 billion poultry industry is Georgia’s largest segment in its No. 1 industry — agriculture.
China has also placed a ban on the import of chicken products from 41 other American states. The ban on Georgia products went into effect Nov. 21, 2023. Efforts to reach the Chinese Embassy in Washington, D.C. were unsuccessful.
Georgia Poultry Federation President Mike Giles estimates the state’s loss at “well into the millions of dollars.”
“It’s a significant amount in a significant export market for us,” he said. “Poultry paws [feet] immediately lose value because of the loss of demand.”
The ban has forced Georgia poultry producers to find alternative markets for their products that would normally be headed to China.
“Some are sold domestically, some are frozen and stored, hopefully to find markets later on, and some go to other countries,” Giles said.
This isn’t the first time China has banned U.S.-produced poultry products due to a bird flu outbreak. The country instituted a ban in January 2015 which lasted until November 2019 — even though U.S. poultry products were deemed free of the disease by August 2017.
After that ban was lifted, China’s appetite for American-produced chicken products became voracious.
In 2022, U.S. producers shipped nearly $6 billion in poultry meat and related products (excluding eggs) to over 130 countries. China has emerged as the second largest destination for U.S. poultry exports, increasing from $10 million in 2019 to a record $1.1 billion in 2022, according to Southern Ag Today.
Chicken paws, for instance, are eaten in many Asian countries, including the Philippines, Thailand, Indonesia and Korea.They can also be found on Chinese dim sum menus throughout the U.S. and are also popular in Jamaica, Trinidad, Russia and Ukraine in everything from soups and curries to fried snacks.
Three Georgia counties have reported H5N1 outbreaks since 2022. The most recent case was late last year. Henry, Sumter and Toombs counties each reported one case of H5N1 bird flu. Those outbreaks are resolved, poultry and state agriculture officials say.
“When HPAI cases are found in any state, that state is given a designation that could lead to foreign countries halting trade on poultry products from that state,” Georgia Department of Agriculture spokesman Matthew Agvent told State Affairs.
Not since 2016 has the United States experienced such a fast-moving case of the H5N1 avian influenza. In the last two months, the virus has spread in parts of the United States from birds to dairy cows, some milk supplies and humans. Two people — a Texas dairy worker and a prison inmate in Colorado who was killing infected birds at a poultry farm — are reported to have caught the virus, according to news reports. The outbreak is the largest in recent history, impacting both domestic poultry and livestock as well as wild birds and some mammal species.
State officials are continuing to monitor the national outbreak and its impact on Georgia.
Georgia’s poultry & egg industry: At A Glance
Annual economic impact: $30.2 billion
Percentage of the Agriculture industry: 58% *
Jobs: 87,900
Counties involved in poultry & egg production: 3 out of 4
National ranking in chicken broiler production: No. 1
Daily production of table eggs: 7.8 million
Daily production of hatching eggs: 6.5 million
Pounds of chicken produced daily: 30.2 million
Pounds of chicken produced annually: 8 billion
Number of chicken broilers processed each day: 5 million
Counties involved in poultry & egg production: 3 out of 4
Source: Georgia Poultry Federation; The Center for Agribusiness & Economic Development, University of Georgia, Ag Snapshots 2024; Georgia Poultry Federation.
Have questions? Contact Tammy Joyner on X @lvjoyner or at [email protected].
Is it safe to eat chicken and eggs and drink milk? Answers to your most pressing questions about the latest bird flu outbreak
A two-year-old strain of bird flu has heightened concerns in Georgia and the rest of the country after the virus recently spread to dairy cows. Here’s what you need to know about the virus and its impact on Georgia and the rest of the country. What are the symptoms of this flu in humans? Eye …
Kemp signs bills on education, health care, taxes
Gov. Brian Kemp signed a slew of bills over the past week or so, including the private school voucher bill long sought by Republicans and a bill that will ease regulations over the construction and expansion of medical facilities in rural areas.
His bill-signing events were clustered into themes: education, health care, military members, human trafficking and Georgia’s coastal communities.
Education
Among the education-related bills Kemp signed was Senate Bill 233, also known as the Georgia Promise Scholarship Act, which provides the families of Georgia students enrolled in underperforming school districts with $6,500 scholarships that can be used toward private school or homeschooling expenses, including tuition, fees, textbooks and tutoring.
“Georgia is affording greater choice to families as to how and where they receive their education, while also continuing our efforts to strengthen public schools, support teachers, and secure our classrooms,” Kemp said, and thanked leadership in the House and Senate for prioritizing passage of the bill, which had failed in a close vote in 2023.
Democrats and many public education advocates who opposed the bill argued it will drain resources from public schools and primarily benefit students from wealthy families.
Kemp also signed Senate Bill 351, sponsored by nine Republican senators, which will require social media companies, as of July 1, 2025, to verify their users are at least 16 years old unless they receive approval from a parent.
House Bill 409, sponsored by Rep. Lauren Daniel, R-Locust Grove, directs school systems to consider not having bus stops where a student would have to cross a roadway with a speed limit of 40 mph or greater. The bill also increases the penalty for passing a stopped school bus to $1,000 from $250.
Kemp noted that Ashley Pierce, the mother of Addy Pierce, an 8-year-old who was fatally struck by a motorist as she boarded her school bus, “passionately advocated for and was instrumental in the passage of this legislation.”
Senate Bill 395, sponsored by Sen. Clint Dixon, R-Gwinnett, states that no school visitor or personnel can be prohibited from possessing an opioid reversal drug such as Narcan and directs schools to maintain a supply. It also allows opioid antagonists to be sold in vending machines and directs certain government buildings to maintain a supply of at least three doses.
Senate Bill 464, also sponsored by Dixon, creates the School Supplies for Teachers Program to financially and technically support teachers purchasing school supplies online. It also creates an executive committee of five voting members within the Georgia Council on Literacy and limits the number of approved literacy screeners to five, one of whom must be available to schools for free.
Health care
The governor chose his hometown of Athens as the venue to sign several bills aimed at improving health care in rural and underserved communities.
Among them was House Bill 1339, sponsored by Rep. Butch Parrish, R-Swainsboro, which revises the Certificate of Need process by which the state determines if and how new medical facilities can be built or expanded. The bill provides for several new exemptions, including psychiatric or substance abuse inpatient programs, basic perinatal services in rural counties, birthing centers and new general acute hospitals in rural counties. It also raises the total limit on tax credits for donations to rural hospital organizations to $100 million from $75 million.
Senate Bill 480, sponsored by Sen. Mike Hodges, R-Brunswick, establishes student loan repayments for mental health and substance use professionals serving underserved youth in the state or in unserved geographic areas disproportionately impacted by social determinants of health.
House Bill 872, sponsored by Rep. Lee Hawkins, R-Gainesville, chair of the House Health and Human Services Committee, expands cancelable loans for certain health care professionals to dental students who agree to practice in rural areas.
Senate Bill 293, sponsored by Sen. Ben Watson, R-Savannah, chair of the Senate Health and Human Services Committee, reorganizes county boards of public health and opens the qualifications for the CEO of each county board of health to include either licensed physicians or people with a master’s degree in public health or a related field.
Military members and veterans
Kemp on Wednesday focused on bills to improve military recruitment and provide more work opportunities for veterans and military family members.
House Bill 880, sponsored by Rep. Bethany Ballard, R-Warner Robins, allows spouses of military service members to work under a license they hold in good standing in another state while under the supervision of an existing Georgia medical facility or provider.
Senate Bill 449, sponsored by Sen. Larry Walker, allows military medical personnel to practice for 12 months while a license application is pending, including working as a certified nursing aide, certified emergency medical technician, paramedic or licensed practical nurse. The bill also creates a new advanced practice registered nurse license and makes it a misdemeanor to practice advanced nursing without a license.
Human trafficking
The governor on Wednesday was accompanied by first lady Marty Kemp and other members of the GRACE Commission for the signing of an anti-human trafficking package. It includes Senate Bill 370, which adds certain businesses to the list of organizations that must post human trafficking notices, including convenience stores, body art studios, businesses that employ licensed massage therapists and manufacturing facilities.
Sponsored by Sen. Mike Hodges, R-Brunswick, the bill also allows the Georgia Board of Massage Therapy to initiate inspections of massage therapy businesses and educational programs without notice and requires massage therapy board members to complete yearly human trafficking awareness training.
House Bill 993, sponsored by Rep. Alan Powell, R-Hartwell, creates the felony offense of grooming of a minor and creates new penalties for offenses relating to visual mediums depicting minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct.
House Bill 1201, sponsored by Rep. Houston Gaines, R-Athens, allows human trafficking survivors who received first offender or conditional discharge status to vacate that status for certain crimes, as long as the crime was a direct result of being a victim of human trafficking.
Coastal communities
Earlier today in Brunswick, Kemp signed legislation impacting Georgia coastal communities, including House Bill 244, which amends the laws around how wild game can be hunted and how seafood dealers operate, and House Bill 1341, which designates white shrimp as the state’s official crustacean.
Taxes
Earlier this month Kemp signed several bills related to taxation, including House Bill 1015, sponsored by Rep. Lauren McDonald, R-Cumming, which lowers the state income tax for tax year 2024 to 5.39%, accelerating a multiyear drop in state income taxes that started at 5.75% in 2023 and will continue through 2029.
The Governor’s Office of Planning and Budget estimates the tax cut acceleration will save Georgia taxpayers approximately $1.1 billion in calendar year 2024 and about $3 billion over the next 10 years.
Kemp also signed House Bill 1021, sponsored by Rep. Lauren Daniel, R-Locust Grove, which increases the state’s income tax dependent exemption to $4,000 from $3,000.
House Bill 581, sponsored by Reps. Shaw Blackmon, R-Bonaire, and Clint Crowe, R-Jackson, enables a constitutional amendment (House Resolution 1022) to let voters decide whether counties can provide a statewide homestead valuation freeze, which limits the increase in property values to the inflation rate.
The governor has until May 7 to sign or veto bills passed during the legislative session that ended on March 28. Those he takes no action on will automatically become law.
Legislation signed by Kemp is posted on the governor’s website.
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