It’s Friday!
Condolences
Dudley Rochelle Carter, who served as a board member for the Georgia Public Policy Foundation, passed away on March 4 after a long battle with Alzheimer’s syndrome. We were honored to have her counsel and support and offer our sincere condolences to her family, friends and colleagues.
Joe Rogers Sr., the founder of Waffle House, died March 3 at age 97. The son of a railway crane operator, Rogers was a short-order cook whose concept of a quick-service, limited-menu eatery grew to more than 1,800 locations with sales of $1.03 billion in 2016. In 2000, he published a memoir, “Who’s Looking Out for the Poor Old Cash Customer?” Our condolences to his family, friends and colleagues, and our eternal gratitude for many late-night breakfasts. Waffle House uses 2 percent of the eggs consumed in the U.S., according to its website.
Foundation in the media: Set your alarm or DVR for 7:30 p.m. Saturday on C-SPAN Book TV to watch the Foundation’s February 22 event, “Bottleneckers,” where Dick Carpenter of the Institute for Justice showed how special interest groups advocate for government regulations to benefit their businesses.
Events
March 23: Register now to attend the Foundation’s March Leadership Breakfast, “Capitol Insight,” with keynote speaker Lynn Westmoreland, who retired recently after six terms as a Congressman from Georgia. Cobb County’s Georgian Club, 8 a.m. $30. Information and registration here.
Quotes of note
“I love to see honest and honorable men at the helm, men who will not bend their politics to their purses nor pursue measures by which they may profit and then profit by their measures.” – Thomas Jefferson, to Edward Rutledge, 1796
“[I]f the public are bound to yield obedience to laws to which they cannot give their approbation, they are slaves to those who make such laws and enforce them.” – Candidus, 1772
“In planning, forming, and arranging laws, deliberation is always becoming, and always useful.” – James Wilson, 1791
Legislature
Bills of interest that have passed in the House:
A bill that would expand the ability of dental hygienists to provide dental care in safety net settings
A bill increasing the cap on tuition tax credit scholarships
A bill to lower Georgia’s individual income tax from 6 percent to 5.4 percent
A bill that incorporates some of the charter school reforms recommended by the Governor’s Education Reform Commission
Bills of interest that have passed in the Senate:
A bill reducing some of the onerous requirements on sale of beer from craft breweries
A bill that would make Georgia the 17th state to authorize direct primary care
Three criminal justice reform bills passed in the Senate, primarily focusing on streamlining the parole and probation system in Georgia as recommended by the Criminal Justice Reform Council, as well as improving juvenile justice outcomes. The bills are here, here, and here.
Did not Pass in the Senate:
A bill to create universal Education Savings Accounts
Did not pass in the House
A bill that would encourage the development of broadband in rural Georgia
Regulations
Timing is everything: The Congressional Review Act (CRA) is considered a vehicle for a new president and Congress to expeditiously overturn “midnight regulations.” Susan Dudley, writing in Forbes, reports that the 60-day CRA review clock is triggered by a rule’s final publication in the Federal Register or when a report on the rule is sent to Congress, whichever comes later, so “for all the many rules that agencies failed to submit, the time for Congress to disapprove them has not yet begun to run.”
For-profit colleges: The Trump administration has extended the deadline for at-risk for-profit colleges to appeal the implementation of rules that would cut off federal funds at schools accused of leaving students with high debt but weak job prospects. The Obama administration set the deadline for today; it has been moved to July 1. Source: Wall Street Journal
Technology
Netflix: For the first time, more Americans report subscribing to Netflix (54 percent) than having a DVR (53 percent) in their households, according to a new survey.
Education
Voucher criticism: Now that school choice champion Betsy DeVos is Education Secretary, numerous articles are criticizing outcomes from vouchers and scholarship programs, including an article in The New York Times. It’s important to view results in the appropriate perspective, as Benjamin Scafidi explains in a Foundation commentary.
Friday Flashback
This month in the archives: In March five years ago the Foundation published, “Georgia Wise to Halt Health Exchange.” It noted, “Georgia should not willingly implement bureaucratic and costly state health insurance exchanges that are ultimately controlled by the federal government. Kudos to the governor and Legislature for resisting a rush to action on this critical issue.” And kudos continue!
Media
Have you visited our social media sites lately? The Foundation has 3,189 Facebook “likes!” Our Twitter account has 1,720 followers at twitter.com/gppf. Follow us on Instagram, too!
The Forum: Ross Coker writes on drone policy in Georgia.
YouTube: Foundation events are videotaped for viewing through YouTube. Watch the February 22 event with Dick Carpenter on “Bottleneckers” here. View the January event, “Balancing the Books,” with Dr. Ben. Scafidi, here. View the December event on education funding reform with Mike Dudgeon and Erin Hames here.
Foundation in the news: Kelly McCutchen was quoted on income tax reform proposals under the Gold Dome in an article in The Post-Searchlight, The Moultrie Observer and The Dalton Daily Citizen. The Foundation’s tax stance was cited on the Eric Erickson show on WSB-AM Radio. Ben Scafidi’s commentary on scholarships and vouchers was published in The Savannah Morning News. Harold Brown’s commentary on global warming was published in The Newnan Times-Herald.
Visit www.georgiapolicy.org to read our latest commentary, “Sunshine Week a Reminder Transparency’s Still Clouded,” by Benita M. Dodd.
Have a great weekend and don’t forget to “spring forward!”
Kelly McCutchen and Benita Dodd
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