Recent editorials from Georgia newspapers:
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Jan. 13
Savannah Morning News on Gov. Kemp’s heath care proposal:
Gov. Brian Kemp is currently seeking approval for a proposed health care coverage overhaul from officials in Washington, D.C.
Georgia lawmakers should resist the temptation to take a wait-and-see approach.
Sometime during the 2020 legislative session, which opened Jan. 13 at the Georgia Capitol, the Trump administration will rule on Georgia’s two waiver applications. The Georgia Pathways and Georgia Access plans are the pillars of the state’s efforts to provide health care for poor and low-income Georgians.
Regardless of the fed’s decision, the Legislature should be proactive and explore additional options to shore up or supplement the waivers, both for the good of Georgia’s uninsured and the state’s hospitals and medical care facilities.
Analysis of Georgia Pathways and Georgia Access - by both Kemp’s team and outside policy groups - reveals significant flaws.
Last year, in advocating for legislation that allowed the governor’s team to craft the waiver proposals, our own Sen. Ben Watson deemed health care a right, not a privilege. He called the 400,000-plus uninsured Georgians “unacceptable.”
These waiver proposals will reduce the number of uninsured but would fall short of most definitions of acceptable. The Georgia Pathways waiver, which would expand Medicaid for all those below the poverty line who work or provide community service for 80 hours per month, is projected to draw just 50,000 enrollees initially out of a pool of 408,000 Georgians.
Georgia Access, meanwhile, would alter the way low-income residents above the poverty line who qualify for Obamacare subsidies have access to insurance. The oft-cited shortcoming of this waiver is that it allows insurers to offer plans with substandard coverage, leaving purchasers underinsured and putting the financial onus on medical providers.
Many advocates will take exception to such simple synopsis. But those are the takeaways, and these challenges will renew debate this session over Medicaid expansion.
The Democratic leadership in both the House and the Senate have already pledged to file legislation calling for expansion. Adopting this approach would extend coverage to all Georgians at or below 138% of the poverty line.
Kemp campaigned against Medicaid expansion during his gubernatorial run. Georgia’s conservative base is steadfast against it, citing concerns about quality of care and taxpayer cost.
The fiscal reality for Georgia is stark: While expanding Medicaid comes with a price tag in the same ballpark as the waivers, the fear is the federal government will eventually slash matching funds, leaving a gaping funding hole.
Hence Georgia’s decision to seek alternatives. Georgia Pathways and Georgia Access come with good intentions: The work requirement that many anticipate will limit Georgia Pathways’ effectiveness, at least initially, is meant to help lift recipients out of poverty and off the Medicaid rolls; and Georgia Access is designed to stabilize premium costs for the working poor.
Yet these programs, on their own, are not solutions to Georgia’s health care crisis. We still need legislative action to protect rural hospitals. And to improve mental health services. And to expand assistance for would-be and new mothers to curb the maternal mortality rate, as a legislative task force recently recommended.
The Legislature must take the lead. Curing a health issue often calls for employing a variety of treatments. The same is required here.
Online: https://www.savannahnow.com/
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Jan. 11
The Augusta Chronicle on expected discussion of Georgia’s film tax credit during the 2020 legislative session:
If the saga of Augusta’s old jail were made into a movie - and if the title weren’t already taken - it could be called The Long Goodbye.
And the movie would make you feel like you’ve seen it before - because you have.
The leaky, moldy, mildewy Joint Law Enforcement Center at 401 Walton Way has been sitting empty since 2013. It’s just empty offices and empty jail cells.
So in 2017, the Augusta Commission planned to tear it down.
But in 2018, that plan was set aside to repurpose the jail into a badly needed Juvenile Justice Center for the Augusta Judicial Circuit.
But last April, commissioners voted again to tear the jail down,
But last month, commissioners voted again to spare the jail for a year to examine the possibility of repurposing it into a film set. Apparently, the building’s realism as a jail is attracting movie crews to Augusta who want to make movies set in jails. Supporters also floated the idea of making the jail campus partly a movie set and partly working Juvenile Court space.
But later last month, commissioners voted again to tear the jail down.
But then last week, commissioners voted again to spare the jail for a year to re-examine the possibility of repurposing it into a film set. This time, though, commissioners expressed that they don’t want juveniles in the facility because of environmental concerns.
Columbia County Commissioner Trey Allen spoke to Augusta commissioners during their last meeting and built a persuasive case to set aside the jail for use by Hollywood. The facility has been a backdrop for three films so far and contract negotiations are brewing right now for a fourth film to be shot there.
“You have the potential to turn a former symbol of incarceration into a symbol of opportunity and hope,” Allen said.
The Augusta area already has attracted a lot of filmmakers - perhaps most notably Clint Eastwood, who spent time here in 2018 shooting scenes for his most recent movie, The Mule. The film-entertainment business has been so brisk around here that Augusta now has its own Film Office to handle the demand.
But the story of Augusta’s movie future has a statewide subplot that just started unfolding. There’s a conflict over exactly how successful Georgia’s film industry is. Some people’s numbers don’t match other people’s numbers.
The Georgia Screen Entertainment Coalition claimed that the state annually helps support an almost $3 billion film industry that keeps thousands of Georgians employed, thanks largely to a popular film tax credit that has enticed the entertainment industry out of Hollywood.
That was countered almost immediately by a report from the Georgia Department of Audits and Accounts, which accused the state departments of Revenue and Economic Development of (a) inflating the economic impact, and (b) exerting poor control over the tax credit program, thereby wasting millions of dollars. The accused departments defended themselves by saying its employees are overworked and lack proper resources to perform a better job.
That dispute brings the Georgia General Assembly into the picture. State legislators are convening its 2020 session in Atlanta this week amid a climate of budget cuts. Gov. Brian Kemp instructed state agencies to prepare budgets allowing for 4% cuts. Skeptics who think the film tax credit isn’t pulling its weight are expected to target it as a waste of money.
Georgia House Speaker David Ralston sounds like he’ll bend a bit but not break. “If we need to make some changes, I’m happy to have some discussion about that, but I think it’s important that we come into this process being very clear that we’re going to continue that,” he said concerning the tax credit.
That’s a sound decision. On the state level, agencies definitely need to settle on the same set of numbers to gauge the film tax credit’s success. But we don’t think the disparity will be so great that the credit will be scrapped altogether. It’s already seen too much success and it has too much potential. Lack of demand certainly isn’t killing the program.
If anything, for its own health it appears the program needs to grow and to acquire the improvements its administrators say are missing. That means at the very least keeping it funded, not paring it back.
Meanwhile, back at the ranch (as narrators used to say in the movies): Postponing the old Augusta jail’s demolition was the right decision.
Jennifer Bowen is film liaison for Film Augusta, a division of the Augusta Convention and Visitors Bureau. She has said that film crews using the jail have already made an estimated economic impact on the Augusta area of more than $1 million through food, lodging and hiring local staff.
And there are, so far, about 20 location managers for movies and television slated to tour the old jail this year. If they like it, that promises an even bigger economic impact.
As we’ve said before, if the old jail can actually turn a profit, let it. But local film-industry supporters have to help prove it.
The story of Augusta’s position in Georgia’s film industry doesn’t have an ending yet. The script is still being written - but with the right amount of prudent work, it could have a happy ending.
Online: https://www.augustachronicle.com/
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Jan. 10
Valdosta Daily Times on observing National Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month:
January is National Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month.
The month is dedicated to raising awareness about human trafficking, otherwise known as modern slavery.
The Georgia Department of Juvenile Justice found at least 100,000 to 300,000 youth are at risk for commercial sexual exploitation annually in the U.S.
There is a misconception that human trafficking does not happen here, Ashley Lindsay of the Children’s Advocacy Center of Lowndes County said in a past article in The Valdosta Daily Times.
Human Trafficking Awareness Month “brings to light a situation that most people may not think is in our community, but with I-75 running right through Lowndes County, Atlanta is a major hub for sex trafficking, and that’s easy access between Miami and here,” Lindsay said. “We just want to make people aware that sex trafficking is real.”
The FBI has identified Atlanta as among 14 cities with the highest incidence of sex trafficking activity in the U.S., according to state officials.
Many people think a victim must cross the border for the crime to be considered trafficking, but that is not the case, officials say.
Another misconception is victims are always physically restrained, but many times the victim is detained through mental coercion. Victims fear being without food, shelter and other resources if they leave those who are trafficking them.
The Children’s Advocacy Center can put victims in touch with Georgia Cares and victims advocates at the district attorney’s office. They can help victims get resources they need. Victims can reach the center by calling (229) 245-5362.
January became National Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month following a Dec. 28, 2016 proclamation signed by President Barack Obama.
The proclamation read: “Our nation wrestled with the issue of slavery in a way that nearly tore us apart - its fundamental notion in direct contradiction with our founding premise that we are all created equal … But today, in too many places around the world - including right here in the United States - the injustice of modern slavery and human trafficking still tears at our social fabric.”
We urge anyone who is a victim of human trafficking or anyone who believes they may be witnessing a case of human trafficking to contact authorities for help.
To report human trafficking, call 911 or the Georgia Division of Family and Child Services at 1-855-422-4453.
The Lowndes County 911 Center is available at (229) 245-5270.
A simple phone call could save a life, could free a life.
Online: https://www.valdostadailytimes.com/
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