Georgia

Hurricane aid and transgender girls in sports top Georgia Legislature's agenda

Published

9 months ago

January 13, 2025

Hurricane aid and transgender girls in sports top Georgia Legislature's agenda

ATLANTA (AP) — Georgia’s General Assembly is being sworn in for a new two-year term on Monday, with 180 state representatives and 56 state senators taking office after winning election in November.

Republicans will continue to control both chambers, returning to the Senate with the same 33-23 majority they had in the previous term. Republicans’ majority in the state House narrowed by two seats to a 100-80 edge after court-ordered redistricting.

There are only 18 new House members and four new senators taking their oaths.

Top issues will include Gov. Brian Kemp’s push to limit lawsuit verdicts and proposed responses to September’s deadly shooting at Apalachee High School in Winder. Revenue growth is slowing, but Georgia has an $11 billion surplus lawmakers can spend if Kemp, a Republican, lets them.

Here’s a look at some other key issues:

Doing more to ease Hurricane Helene damage

Georgia leaders are generally applauding a relief package that Congress passed in December. But they say more needs to be done after Hurricane Helene cut a swath from Valdosta to Augusta in September, causing billions in damage.

After Hurricane Michael in 2018, Georgia allocated $470 million on top of federal spending. That included $200 million in income tax credits for timber and pecan farmers to replant trees and $69 million to help state and local agencies cover emergency response costs, $55 million to assist farmers suffering crop losses and $20 million for timberland cleanup.

State officials have already approved a plan for $100 million in loans to affected farmers and timber owners.

House Speaker Jon Burns in particular wants more money to clean up downed timber, saying fallen trees will become a wildfire risk if not removed.

Republicans push to ban transgender women in school sports

Georgia Republicans in both chambers, including Republican Lt. Gov. Burt Jones and Burns, have promised to prioritize banning transgender women and girls from competing in women’s school sports.

The General Assembly in 2022 left it up to the Georgia High School Association to make decisions about transgender women and girls in sports. The association, mostly made up of public high schools, then banned transgender women and girls from participating in its sports events.

Top Republicans now say that’s enough, after Donald Trump and others have made opposition a political issue.

“I have four granddaughters, and they’re engaged in athletics, and they work hard spending hours a week preparing themselves to participate,” Burns said at a recent press conference. “We want them to have the opportunity to excel and to win and to be first.”

Jones has said Senate Republicans will seek a ban at the college level as well as in high school athletics, but it is unclear if the House will go that far.

Jeff Graham, executive director of Georgia Equality, an organization that advocates for LGBTQ+ rights, noted there are no known instances of transgender athletes in Georgia participating in school sports.“They are really putting a lot of time and effort into solving a problem that does not exist,” Graham said.

Spending could improve conditions in Georgia’s prisons

Lawmakers in both chambers have said they will pursue legislation to address violence and deaths in Georgia’s prisons.

The U.S. Department of Justice said in November that conditions in state prisons are “inhumane” and prison officials are violating prisoners’ Eighth Amendment protections against cruel punishment.

In a meeting earlier this month with lawmakers, Corrections Commissioner Tyrone Oliver said Kemp is proposing to spend more than $600 million to renovate prisons and hire more staff, among other investments. Oliver also said the state would build another new prison.

Lawmakers want to cut off access to cell phones and drones, which officials say bring contraband inside. Others have suggested increases in mental health staff.

Fighting over election rules may persist

Georgia’s 16 presidential electors met in December and cast their votes for Trump with nary a peep of opposition, much less the avalanche of activity that followed Joe Biden’s 2022 win in Georgia.

But that doesn’t mean fighting over election laws is over. The state Republican Party wants to cut off automatic voter registration when Georgians get a driver’s license and end no-excuse absentee voting.

Lawmakers could also consider some of the State Election Board rules that a court blocked. Those include include counting the total number of ballots by hand on election night and making it easier for county election board members to refuse to certify an election.

Other possibilities include requiring voters to fill out ballots by hand and having election officials count those ballots by hand, reflecting distrust of Georgia’s electronic voting system. Some lawmakers may want to make it easier to challenge a voter’s eligibility.

Can sports betting come up a winner?

Despite support from Jones, the Metro Atlanta Chamber and Atlanta’s pro sports teams, legalizing sports betting in Georgia has gone nowhere in recent years. Proponents will certainly try again to legalize it.

There are multiple issues that need to be resolved before legislation can move forward. Some argue that legalization requires an amendment to the Georgia Constitution, which would require a two-thirds vote in each chamber, followed by approval from a majority of those voting in a statewide referendum. Others say only a simple majority vote would be required if sports betting is regulated by the Georgia Lottery.

There are also disagreements about how the proceeds should be spent, and how heavily the state should tax the activity. ___

Kramon is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues. Follow Kramon on X: @charlottekramon.

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Georgia

Georgia football future SEC opponents, schedule announced

Published

5 days ago

September 23, 2025

Press Room

Georgia football future SEC opponents, schedule announced

The SEC has announced the future Georgia football conference opponents for the 2026 through 2029 seasons.

Georgia will face Florida, South Carolina and Auburn every season. The SEC announced on Friday that the annual opponents will be revisited every four seasons.

Georgia football future SEC opponents, schedule

2026: Florida (Atlanta), at South Carolina, Auburn, at Alabama, at Ole Miss, at Arkansas, Oklahoma, Missouri, Vanderbilt
2027: Florida (Tampa), South Carolina, at Auburn, at Kentucky, at Texas, at Texas A&M, LSU, Mississippi State, Tennessee
2028: Florida (Jacksonville), at South Carolina, Auburn, Alabama, Ole Miss, Arkansas, at Oklahoma, at Missouri, at Vanderbilt
2029: Florida (Jacksonville), South Carolina, at Auburn, Kentucky, Texas, Texas A&M, at LSU, at Mississippi State, at Tennessee

“it’s hard. I mean, it’s brutal. And everybody’s the same,” Georgia coach Kirby Smart said on Tuesday night. “I mean, we all gotta play each other. It’s really tough, highly ranked teams, physical teams. It’s just going to continue to be a grind. I mean, looking forward with the nines coming, it’s going to be scary because you just don’t have enough. Nobody has enough depth.”

Dates for the 2026 schedule will be announced in December, according to the conference. The schedules will be flipped in 2028 and 2029 from the home-road splits in 2026 and 2027.

In its scheduling outline, the SEC made it clear it wants competitively balanced schedules, which will be determined using the entire schedule and not just the annual opponents. Tennessee reportedly will face Alabama, Vanderbilt and Kentucky in each of the next four years. The latter two are not exactly football powerhouses.

According to the SEC, the highest opponent average winning percentage for any school in the 2026-29 schedules is 55.67% while the lowest is 46.65%, a difference of only 9.02%. From 2020 through 2023 — when the league still used the divisional format — the highest winning percentage was 61.32% and the lowest was 39.76%.

In addition to nine conference games, the SEC stipulates that schools face one Power Four in its nonconference scheduling.

Georgia’s game against Georgia Tech satisfies that requirement. Georgia has future nonconference games against Louisville, Florida State, Clemson and Ohio State on its schedule for the time being.

As it stands, Georgia has 13 games scheduled for the 2025 season. The Bulldogs have nonconfernce games against Tennessee State, Western Kentucky, Louisville and Georgia Tech.

“We’re working through that right now, and a lot of that’s going to be determined as we learn when and where our schedule is going to be in the next few weeks,” Georgia athletic director Josh Brooks said. “But that’s something we’re attacking right now to see what our options are going to be in 2026. So we’re going to take it one year at a time right now. The first focus is going to be on 2026 and then 2027 and moving on. So still a lot of work to be done, and I work closely with Coach Smart and Mark Robinson and the league to kind of figure out what is that going to mean for our schedule moving forward.”

Georgia takes on Alabama this week, with the game scheduled for 7:30 p.m. ET on ABC.

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Georgia

‘Tinder Swindler’ Leviev arrested upon Georgia arrival | The Jerusalem Post

Published

2 weeks ago

September 14, 2025

Press Room

‘Tinder Swindler’ Leviev arrested upon Georgia arrival | The Jerusalem Post

The grounds for his arrest are still unknown, even to his attorneys.

Screenshot of Simon Leviev, the Tinder Swindler, in his documentary series on Free TV.

(photo credit: COURTESY OF FREE TV VIA MAARIV)

ByYOAV ETIEL, JERUSALEM POST STAFF

SEPTEMBER 15, 2025 01:43

Updated: SEPTEMBER 15, 2025 02:03

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Georgia

Clemson vs. Georgia Tech: College football live scores, games, highlights and more

Published

2 weeks ago

September 13, 2025

Press Room

Clemson vs. Georgia Tech: College football live scores, games, highlights and more

We’re back for another week of college football action and the slate is loaded, including three games between ranked opponents.

Here’s how to watch in Week 3. Scroll down for live scores, highlights and more.

Here are the best games this Saturday:

Clemson at Georgia Tech (+3), Noon ET, ESPN: The Tigers are just 3-point favorites ahead of their first road game. It’s a sign that expectations for Clemson have been way off. With Haynes King back, the Yellow Jackets will want to keep it on the ground.

Georgia at Tennessee (+4), 3:30 p.m., ABC: Has Georgia’s offense been good enough ahead of this pivotal SEC game? Saturday is the day to air it out as Tennessee will be without its top two corners again.

South Florida at Miami (-17.5), 4:30 p.m., The CW: The Bulls are the surprise team so far this season. Can they pull off a third straight upset, or will the ‘Canes handle business?

Florida at LSU (-7), 7:30 p.m., ABC: This game was going to be the day’s marquee matchup before Florida’s loss to USF. A Florida victory would certainly quiet the idea that Billy Napier is on the hot seat.

Texas A&M at Notre Dame (-6.5), 7:30 p.m., NBC: Aggies QB Marcel Reed has thrown for seven TDs so far and A&M’s offense has racked up 953 total yards. The Irish will surely try to get the ball to their star running backs after a subpar opener.

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