By: Randy Evans
Given Georgia’s direction, it is difficult to imagine too much more to demand of Gov. Nathan Deal and the Republican-controlled Georgia General Assembly as the planning for the 2014 General Assembly begins next month. After all, Area Development Magazine and Site Selection Magazine both list Georgia as one of the top five states in the country to do business.
According to the Tax Foundation, Georgia has decreased … Read more...
By: Randy Evans
In Georgia, there are women, indeed many women, who have systematically made their mark without much fanfare but with quite dramatic results. Each competed in often unfriendly environs, excelled on their merit, and at times overcame undoubted gender bias inherent in the areas in which they competed.
Notwithstanding the challenges, they rose through the ranks and reached important and influential positions of power and leadership while very … Read more...
By: Randy Evans
In just over one year, Georgians will cast their ballots in the Republican and Democratic primaries. Until Sen. Saxby Chambliss announced his retirement, most expected these primaries to be largely uneventful. Gov. Nathan Deal would win the GOP nomination and Democrats would struggle to find a meaningful candidate. Georgia’s decidedly red-state status would render the November 2014 general election anticlimactic. But then, with Chambliss’ announcement, things changed.… Read more...
By: Randy Evans
In 2010, Georgia voters again overwhelmingly voted for a one-party state. Republicans control the governorship, statewide offices, and have a veto-proof legislative majority in the Senate, and an almost veto-proof majority in the Georgia House. Republicans have controlled the governorship and the Georgia General Assembly since 2004.
In contrast, California voters also voted overwhelmingly for a one-party state. Democrats control the governorship, statewide offices, and have a … Read more...
By: Randy Evans
Earlier this year, Gov. Nathan Deal appointed Richard Hyde to the Georgia Judicial Qualifications Commission. He attended his first meeting as a Commissioner on April 18. Judges throughout Georgia took notice. Georgians should too.
… Read more...By: Randy Evans
The ink is barely dry on legislation to help plug a hole in the state’s Medicaid funding formula and state officials are already scrambling to find a way to fill another $390 million pending shortfall in the health-care program for 1.7 million low-income residents.
… Read more...By: Randy Evans
Sen. Saxby Chambliss announced his retirement and the whole political world in Georgia began to swirl. Most Georgia Republicans thought that their next meaningful chance for advancement would be 2018 when Gov. Nathan Deal’s second (and final, under Georgia’s Constitution) term ended.
By: Randy Evans
On Jan. 14, the 152nd Session of the Georgia General Assembly will convene in Atlanta. In many respects, the General Assembly will look the same with Republicans Gov. Nathan Deal, Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle, House Speaker David Ralston and Speaker Pro Tem Jan Jones all serving as constants from the 151st Session. Indeed, Republicans have increased their margins in the Georgia House of Representatives (within one vote … Read more...
By: J. Randolph Evans
ONE BILLION DOLLARS. That is how much the State of Georgia spends every year on corrections. According to the Report of the Special Council on Criminal Justice Reform for Georgians, “[d]uring the past two decades, the prison population in Georgia has more than doubled to nearly 56,000. …If current policies remain in place, analysis indicates that Georgia’s prison population will rise by another 8 percent to … Read more...
By: J. Randolph Evans
The average person does not know who Jim Wooten is. Yet, every insider, pundit, politician, and elected official knows exactly who he is. He was a conservative columnist with the Atlanta Journal Constitution (“AJC”). With little fanfare last year, Jim Wooten retired. He was one of the last credible columnists of Georgia’s most liberal newspaper.
Somehow, it just does not seem right that the Georgia … Read more...