Part III: Low Wages Hurt Hiring
- Georgia’s preschools workforce dropped by roughly 20% from 2017 to 2020.
- Preschool directors and advocates say many teachers have left for higher-paying jobs at Target and Walmart.
- The state has more than $1 billion in Lottery reserves that could be used to boost funding for local preschools but hasn’t been touched.
Legislative push to regulate food delivery apps growing; food delivery devotees push back
Legislative interest in regulating third-party food delivery apps in Georgia appears to be growing. A House bill calling for, among other things, third-party food delivery services to itemize the cost of online food orders and regularly display and update those orders has been introduced by Reps. Kasey Carpenter, Lauren Daniel, Steve Sainz, Rey Martinez and …
DeKalb CEO Michael Thurmond on Georgia’s labor department, its work-for-Medicaid plan and a possible gubernatorial bid
Michael Thurmond’s work in welfare reform and workforce development has arguably made him the go-to turnaround expert when it comes to fixing government agencies and social programs here and abroad. In 1994, he was tapped by then-Gov. Zell Miller to transform the culture and operations of Georgia’s Division of Family and Children Services (DFCS). He …
State’s ‘Pathways’ Medicaid program set to begin July 1 amid continued controversy
The Gist Gov. Brian Kemp is holding firm to his pledge not to expand Medicaid to hundreds of thousands of low-income Georgians. Instead, the second-term governor is touting a work-for-Medicaid plan that will require low-income individuals to complete 80 hours a month of work, school or volunteering to qualify for the benefit. The plan is …
Can legislation to reduce risks posed by dangerous sexual offenders succeed this time?
ATLANTA — Two state legislators are planning to introduce bills that would affect how people convicted of sexual offenses in Georgia are sentenced and monitored. One bill focuses on the highest-risk class of “sexually dangerous predators” who are repeat offenders, and the other attempts to address the staggering backlog of cases at the Sexual Offender …