Georgia’s professionals and business owners are still struggling to obtain professional licenses in a timely manner. As the Secretary of State’s Office rolls out its new Georgia Online Application Licensing System to expedite the process, the efficiency of this new process is being put to the test.
What’s Happening
Thursday morning at the Georgia State Capitol, state legislators held the second meeting of a joint blue-ribbon committee to tackle issues within the Professional Licensing Boards Division of the Secretary of State’s Office.
The meeting had notably high public attendance, including representatives from six professional licensing boards who spoke on the problems they faced and suggested possible solutions.
Rashad Brown has been teaching Advanced Placement African American Studies at Atlanta’s Maynard Jackson High School for three years. He’ll continue to do so — even though the state’s top education official removed it from the list of state-funded course offerings for the upcoming school year.
While Brown prepares to start teaching his class on Aug. 1 with the financial backing of Atlanta Public Schools, Georgia School Superintendent Richard Woods is busy addressing the controversy that erupted from his unilateral decision. Educators and lawmakers are looking for answers from Woods — as is Gov. Brian Kemp, who sent a letter Wednesday night with 10 questions intent on getting to the heart of the matter.
In a decision Wednesday, the Arizona Corporation Commission said it will reconsider charging a fee to APS solar customers but will not include customers on “legacy rates” in its decision. APS was granted a 15% higher fee for its customers that use rooftop solar in a 2022 rate case, but the commission granted a rehearing after several groups argued that the fee was imposed without proper notice to interested parties. Now, groups like the Arizona Solar Energy Industries Association are saying the commission has limited the scope of that rehearing to certain solar customers, meaning 74,000 solar customers under APS would still be subject to a 15% higher utility fee. “APS has proven time and again that they will always take whatever actions they can to try and penalize solar customers,” Autumn Johnson, executive director of AriSEIA said in a statement. Commission staff said intervenors like AriSEIA and the attorney general’s office are attempting to broaden a scope that was already limited by the commission’s decision to grant a rehearing. A motion from staff to “ensure that the rehearing does not become a new rate case for all APS solar customers” was granted Wednesday. In a news release, AriSEIA said APS’ solar fee is discriminatory and the limited scope of the rehearing is unfair to solar customers. An APS spokesperson did not return a call for comment by deadline. The rehearing has not yet been scheduled, but the commission is conducting another hearing in November related to APS solar fees.
TUCSON, Ariz. – Today, the first independent expenditure urging Arizonans to vote for Kamala Harris in 2024 will be up in the Tucson area on billboards and 15-second videos online. The ads by Free and Fair Democracy PAC center on Harris’s record working for voters, defending the constitution and denouncing fascism in direct contrast to Donald Trump’s felonies and attacks on the constitution. The $120,000 buy comes as Harris holds her first official campaign events since stepping to the top of the ballot, and as pundits lift up Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly as a strong contender for her vice presidential pick ahead of next month’s DNC convention.Statement from Free and Fair Democracy PAC:“Free and Fair Democracy PAC condemns MAGA extremists who call themselves patriots while launching insurrections against the United States. Donald Trump attacks democracy, insults veterans, and wants to terminate the Constitution to rule for life.“We will not allow Democrats to concede patriotism. We’re proud to launch six figures in advertising, funded by thousands of hardworking Americans, showing who the true patriot is in this race: Kamala Harris.”View the online ads here, and images of billboards below.
TUCSON, Ariz. – Today, the first independent expenditure urging Arizonans to vote for Kamala Harris in 2024 will be up in the Tucson area on billboards and 15-second videos online. The ads by Free and Fair Democracy PAC center on Harris’s record working for voters, defending the constitution and denouncing fascism in direct contrast to Donald Trump’s felonies and attacks on the constitution. The $120,000 buy comes as Harris holds her first official campaign events since stepping to the top of the ballot, and as pundits lift up Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly as a strong contender for her vice presidential pick ahead of next month’s DNC convention.Statement from Free and Fair Democracy PAC:“Free and Fair Democracy PAC condemns MAGA extremists who call themselves patriots while launching insurrections against the United States. Donald Trump attacks democracy, insults veterans, and wants to terminate the Constitution to rule for life.“We will not allow Democrats to concede patriotism. We’re proud to launch six figures in advertising, funded by thousands of hardworking Americans, showing who the true patriot is in this race: Kamala Harris.”View the online ads here, and images of billboards below.
Arizona Democrats say Harris’ move to the top of the presidential ticket is “energizing” voters in the state and could boost down-ballot races as Dems look to flip the Legislature. At a press conference held by the Arizona Democratic Party on Wednesday, Crews – who serves as a Democratic delegate in addition to running for reelection to her state House seat – said she’s seen more enthusiasm from voters in the wake of Biden stepping down as the presumptive party nominee for president. “Folks that I’ve called a million times that never picked up, they pick up now,” Crews said at the press conference. “Folks are excited and I’m really excited about the attention that [it has] brought down ballot to all local races. We are all experiencing this excitement and this momentum.” The Harris team in Arizona said Wednesday that 1,500 volunteers signed onto the campaign since Biden stepped down on Sunday. ADP Chair Yolanda Bejarano described the change as “energizing” multiple times. After the press conference, the state party endorsed Kelly as Harris’ potential running mate, a pick that could further motivate voters and benefit Democrats in legislative races. Kelly has not commented on his consideration, but the vetting process for the vice president is underway.
WASHINGTON – Today, Rep. Ruben Gallego (AZ-03), sent a letter to Dr. Shereef Elnahal, Under Secretary for Health at the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), demanding answers and accountability in response to the VA Office of Inspector General (OIG) report Care Concerns and Deficiencies in Facility Leaders’ and Staff’s Responses Following a Medical Emergency at the Carl T. Hayden VA Medical Center in Phoenix, Arizona.“As an elected representative of Arizona’s veterans, and as a combat veteran who has received care at the VA myself, I was appalled to learn of the inexcusable failures that led to the death of a veteran, and of the apparent lack of accountability at the Phoenix VA Medical Center in my district,” Rep. Gallego wrote.He continues, “As is so often the case, it was not a single failure, but multiple failures to take simple actions and implement commonsense procedures which led to this tragedy. Additionally, the failure to properly document the incident in the Joint Patient Safety Reporting System may be just as egregious. Because the incident was not properly recorded and investigated as soon as it occurred, the same deadly vulnerabilities remained, and this tragic incident had the potential to repeat itself.”To understand how this incident was allowed to occur and prevent it in the future, Rep. Gallego requested a briefing and demanded answers to the following questions:
How many total veterans received care at the Carl T. Hayden VA Medical Center between the death of this veteran last year and the publishing of today’s OIG report?
Why was an AED not in a highly trafficked area until after this event?
For which VA personnel is CPR training mandatory, and are there requirements or policies to have CPR-trained personnel in patient settings?
Why did the operator not automatically connect callers with the VA Police during a medical or other emergency?
Is it a requirement for all emergency calls to be properly logged, including the identity of the operator?
If a call is improperly logged or is not logged at all, either accidentally or purposefully, what is the VA’s policy? Is there a formal investigation? Would such an investigation include federal, state, or local law enforcement?
Is it VA policy to check vitals before every medical appointment? If not, what is the policy? If so, why did the patient’s care plan not include this seemingly basic protocol?
Is it required procedure to file an incident report in cases like this, and, if so, why does it appear that no incident report was filed?
Has anybody been held accountable for the death of this veteran, and, if so, how?
What is the timeline for implementing the recommendations of the OIG report, and what are you doing to ensure these recommendations are followed?
WASHINGTON – Today, Rep. Ruben Gallego (AZ-03), sent a letter to Dr. Shereef Elnahal, Under Secretary for Health at the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), demanding answers and accountability in response to the VA Office of Inspector General (OIG) report Care Concerns and Deficiencies in Facility Leaders’ and Staff’s Responses Following a Medical Emergency at the Carl T. Hayden VA Medical Center in Phoenix, Arizona.“As an elected representative of Arizona’s veterans, and as a combat veteran who has received care at the VA myself, I was appalled to learn of the inexcusable failures that led to the death of a veteran, and of the apparent lack of accountability at the Phoenix VA Medical Center in my district,” Rep. Gallego wrote.He continues, “As is so often the case, it was not a single failure, but multiple failures to take simple actions and implement commonsense procedures which led to this tragedy. Additionally, the failure to properly document the incident in the Joint Patient Safety Reporting System may be just as egregious. Because the incident was not properly recorded and investigated as soon as it occurred, the same deadly vulnerabilities remained, and this tragic incident had the potential to repeat itself.”To understand how this incident was allowed to occur and prevent it in the future, Rep. Gallego requested a briefing and demanded answers to the following questions:
How many total veterans received care at the Carl T. Hayden VA Medical Center between the death of this veteran last year and the publishing of today’s OIG report?
Why was an AED not in a highly trafficked area until after this event?
For which VA personnel is CPR training mandatory, and are there requirements or policies to have CPR-trained personnel in patient settings?
Why did the operator not automatically connect callers with the VA Police during a medical or other emergency?
Is it a requirement for all emergency calls to be properly logged, including the identity of the operator?
If a call is improperly logged or is not logged at all, either accidentally or purposefully, what is the VA’s policy? Is there a formal investigation? Would such an investigation include federal, state, or local law enforcement?
Is it VA policy to check vitals before every medical appointment? If not, what is the policy? If so, why did the patient’s care plan not include this seemingly basic protocol?
Is it required procedure to file an incident report in cases like this, and, if so, why does it appear that no incident report was filed?
Has anybody been held accountable for the death of this veteran, and, if so, how?
What is the timeline for implementing the recommendations of the OIG report, and what are you doing to ensure these recommendations are followed?
WASHINGTON – Arizona senior Senator Kyrsten Sinema released the following statement on Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s joint address to Congress:“Israel is a beacon of hope for the Jewish community in Arizona and across the world – and I stand firmly with Israel and her right to defend herself against evil and terrorism. America must continue her unwavering support for the safety and security of our democratic ally.”
WASHINGTON – Arizona senior Senator Kyrsten Sinema released the following statement on Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s joint address to Congress:“Israel is a beacon of hope for the Jewish community in Arizona and across the world – and I stand firmly with Israel and her right to defend herself against evil and terrorism. America must continue her unwavering support for the safety and security of our democratic ally.”
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