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Georgia’s Kemp seeks tax breaks, rebutting Abrams on economy

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Georgia’s Kemp seeks tax breaks, rebutting Abrams on economy


ATLANTA (AP) — Georgia GOP Gov. Brian Kemp will unfurl his first main coverage proposals of his reelection bid Thursday, pledging one other state earnings tax rebate and revival of a long-dormant state property tax break whereas contending with Democratic challenger Stacey Abrams over who’s greatest for the state’s economic system.

After Abrams argued this week that “miserly” Republicans are denying primary companies and ignoring inequities in pursuit of low spending and tax cuts for the wealthy, Kemp began swinging at Abrams as he celebrated record-high financial growth numbers Wednesday.

“If anybody needs to counsel we aren’t delivering on jobs and alternatives for everybody on this state, they need to get their information straight earlier than commenting on issues that they merely don’t perceive,” Kemp mentioned.

Abrams is looking for traction in opposition to a Republican incumbent she narrowly trails within the polls in an important swing state. The challenger argues that not solely Kemp’s fiscal insurance policies however his assist for abortion restrictions, unfastened gun legal guidelines and even tighter controls on what’s taught in colleges threaten the expansion of a $683 billion state economic system.

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Kemp is sticking to the script Georgia Republicans have adopted in 20 years in energy. He’ll inform voters Thursday that in the event that they reelect him, he’ll search a second spherical of earnings tax rebates just like the $1.1 billion in funds issued this 12 months, in response to a Kemp marketing campaign official with data of plans who spoke on situation of anonymity. This 12 months’s funds gave dual-earner households $500, single adults with dependents $375, and single adults $250.

The governor additionally will search to revive a property tax break that succumbed in 2009 amid the state funds disaster brought on by the Nice Recession, the official mentioned in previewing Kemp’s announcement. The tax break, created by Democrat Roy Barnes in 1999, value the state $428 million in its final 12 months in 2008, saving householders $200 to $300 on tax payments.

Kemp mentioned Wednesday that he needs to “assist Georgians additional combat by a 40-year excessive inflation and intensely excessive prices that our residents are experiencing” specializing in the unpopularity of Democratic President Joe Biden.

Kemp can hand out money as a result of Georgia’s coffers are fats. The state ran a roughly $5 billion surplus within the 12 months ended June 30, with greater than $2 billion in surplus nonetheless banked from the 12 months earlier than.

The governor has additionally repeatedly renewed a fuel tax break over 5 months. His administration plans to attract from the excess to channel cash to roadbuilding instead of what’s already $750 million in foregone gasoline taxes. Kemp additionally signed a state earnings tax minimize that begins in 2024 and will ultimately cut back taxes by greater than $2 billion.

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Abrams already known as for an additional spherical of earnings tax rebates. She’s additionally known as on Kemp to droop the fuel tax by the tip of 2022, and has pledged to not attempt to roll again the earnings tax minimize, regardless that she criticizes advantages to the rich.

“Whereas Brian Kemp is following Stacey Abrams’ lead in calling for tax rebates, he’s nonetheless pushing an excessive and harmful agenda that threatens Georgia households and places our economic system in danger,” mentioned Abrams spokesperson Alex Floyd.

Kemp accuses Abrams of backing his insurance policies solely as a result of they’re in style.

“She criticized all these issues earlier than she got here out and is now supporting them,” he mentioned.

Abrams slammed the property tax break in a speech Tuesday, calling it “paying off the property taxes of mansion homeowners and millionaires.” The Census Bureau says 66% of Georgians personal houses, however Abrams focuses on housing affordability and the Kemp administration’s stuttering payout of federal COVID-19 aid to renters.

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Kemp used the ability of incumbency to stomp Republican challenger David Perdue, delivering advantages and legislative accomplishments earlier than the Might main. However he must wait till after any reelection for legislative approval of his new plans, barring an election-season particular session.

The governor can be constructing off Georgia’s file $21.2 billion in state-incentivized enterprise investments final 12 months, with firms committing to create 51,000 jobs. Georgia additionally has a record-low unemployment price.

Abrams argues many, particularly in rural Georgia, are lacking out. She notes Georgia’s earnings rankings have fallen throughout 20 years of Republican rule.

“Most Georgia households are doing every part proper,” Abrams mentioned Tuesday, arguing for extra state funding in schooling and well being care to spice up everybody. “They work full-time jobs. They’re placing slightly away once they can regardless of rising costs. But center class households are struggling.”

Kemp argues solely Democrats are guilty for financial instability.

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“The one cause Georgians are fearful about going into poverty in rural Georgia proper now could be as a result of Stacey Abrams helped Joe Biden get elected president,” he mentioned Wednesday, “and now we have 40-year-high inflation and every part that they’re shopping for — whether or not it’s butter, eggs, milk, meat, another protein — is astronomical proper now.”

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Observe Jeff Amy at http://twitter.com/jeffamy.





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Georgia

Wynk THC seltzer coming to stores across Georgia. Here’s what we know

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Wynk THC seltzer coming to stores across Georgia. Here’s what we know


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This Thanksgiving, want something a little different to wash down your meal? If so, there’s a new beverage you might like to try.

On Wednesday, Wynk announced the statewide debut of its THC-infused seltzers. According to the company’s news release, Wynk delivers a refreshing social experience with a balanced 1:1 ratio of THC and CBD using high-quality manufacturing standards.

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The drink comes in a variety of flavors including “Black Cherry Fizz,” “Lime Twist,” “Juicy Mango,” and “Tangerine.” They come in 7.5 oz cans with 2.5mg of THC and CBD and 12 oz cans with 5mg of each. The prices are as follows:

  • 6-Pack: 2.5mg $24.99; 5mg $35.99
  • 12-Pack: 2.5mg $44.99; 5mg $67.99
  • 24-Pack: 2.5mg $89.99; 5mg $129.99

Products like these may be legally sold due to Congress legalizing hemp production in the 2018 Farm Bill, according to a press release on Georgia’s Hemp Farming Act. Hemp is a cannabis plant that naturally contains small amounts of the psychoactive cannabinoid delta-9 THC, along with other natural cannabinoids that may be used for medicinal purposes. Under Georgia’s new legislation, products that contain these kinds of ingredients are restricted those 21 and older.

Wynk is being sold in a variety of stores across Georgia like Chevron, Circle K, and BP. To find your nearest store that sells it, go to drinkwynk.com/find-in-stores.



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Jimmy Carter Christmas ornament now available at Georgia stores

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Jimmy Carter Christmas ornament now available at Georgia stores


The White House is honoring former President Jimmy Carter this Christmas with his own ornament, and Georgians can get their own for their tree.

The ornament is in the shape of an anchor, a symbol of hope that also represents Carter’s service in the U.S. Navy.

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It also features historic moments from Carter’s life and presidency and comes with a keepsake box and illustrated booklet on Carter’s presidency.

 “It is a great honor to offer the Official 2024 White House Christmas Ornament at Home Depot stores for the first time in Georgia,” said Stewart McLaurin, president of the White House Historical Association. “This year we pay tribute to President Jimmy Carter’s remarkable life and enduring legacy as he continues to be a fixture in our country’s ongoing history.” 

The White House Historical Association, Jimmy Carter Presidential Library and Museum/NARA)

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Shoppers can find the ornament at around 60 Home Depot stores across Georgia and in the Washington, D.C. area.

You can also buy the ornament on The Home Depot’s website.



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Georgia Senate study panel considers restrictions on trans women’s college sports participation • Georgia Recorder

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Georgia Senate study panel considers restrictions on trans women’s college sports participation • Georgia Recorder


A Georgia Senate study committee that bills itself as tasked with protecting women’s sports met Thursday for the last time before it is set to release recommendations before next year’s legislative session, and transgender Georgians are bracing themselves.

At Thursday’s hearing, transgender women and allies argued that vanishingly few transgender women participate in school sports, and those who do are largely not at the top of the competitive heap. Many said the national focus is making life difficult.

“It’s so hard to face this kind of opposition,” said Aaron Baker, a transgender woman and activist. “It’s so hard to be at a hearing like this and hear the language. It’s so hard for you to hear people describe me as a biological man because it’s not

Aaron Baker. Ross Williams/Georgia Recorder

true. I am hormonally female, I’m phenotypically female, I’m psychologically female, and that is a gross oversimplification of who I am and my identity, and it hurts.”

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Committee Chair Greg Dolezal, a Cumming Republican, told members he would spend the next week or so reviewing testimony from the committee’s three hearings and plans to announce the date for presenting recommendations shortly after. Study committee recommendations could take the form of proposed legislation in time for the 2025 General Assembly, which is set to begin Jan. 13.

Dolezal indicated he is interested in considering regulations for college sports. A previous hearing featured testimony from cisgender women college swimmers who said they were placed at an unfair disadvantage when they had to compete against a transgender woman at a competition at Georgia Tech.

“A few years ago, I believe it was three years ago, the General Assembly passed a bill essentially prescribing the control to make decisions around transgender participation in sports to the Georgia High School Association, they passed a resolution that stated that participation in sports, high school sports, in the state of Georgia was based on the sex prescribed on a birth certificate. The law is currently silent on the collegiate competition level. So right now, we just have a law as it relates to high school associations,” he said.

Other Republicans on the committee suggested they would like to see legislation in K-12 schools, especially surrounding restrooms and locker rooms.

“As a father of two young daughters, we’ve got to protect women,” said Gwinnett Republican Sen. Clint Dixon. “We’ve got to protect their sports, we’ve got to protect them in changing rooms from what we heard from many of those athletes who testified, four or five of them who testified in the first committee hearing, having to change, which took 20, 30 minutes at a time, in front of a transgender female, but still had the genitalia of a male, which was horrific for them to witness that, some of them ended up changing in a storage closet, some of them waited until that athlete left the room, having to miss some of their competition, and that’s just at the college level, we’re not even talking about minors in K-12.”

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Some activists indicated that they would oppose any kind of restriction on transgender participation, while speakers like Lambda Legal attorney Sasha Buchert urged the lawmakers to take a nuanced approach over a blanket ban, which could mean a committee including medical experts to consider safety or competitive concerns on a case-by-case basis. Others said such decisions should be left to athletic associations and leagues rather than politicians or political appointees.

Delfina Booth Ross Williams/Georgia Recorder

“Sports are already managed by expert organizations like the NCAA, the International Olympics Committee, and professional leagues,” said Delfina Booth, a former Georgia Tech student and high school athlete who said she has lost transgender friends to police violence and suicide.

“These governing bodies have developed policies over decades that analyze fairness based on unique needs of each sport,” she added. “Contact sports have different rules than non-contact sports, children’s sports focus more on teamwork and development than adult sports, et cetera. These nuances cannot be addressed through broad government legislation. Additionally, decisions about athletic ability involve multiple complex factors, including the signs of physical development and the specific demands of each sport. These aren’t matters that lend themselves directly or easily to blanket rules.”

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