News

Friday Facts

Friday Facts: July 31, 2020

It’s Friday! Looking for the 2020 Georgia Legislative Policy Forum? The Foundation is recording each Zoom session for our YouTube channel! View the July 15 opening keynote, “An Education Conversation” with Betsy DeVos, U.S. Secretary of Education, here. View the July 21 panel session, “Opportunities for Education Adaptation,” here, and the July 28 panel session, “Budget Calisthenics,” here. Register here for “The Changing Views of Land Use and Transportation,” on Tuesday, August 4, at 11 a.m. Moderated by Ashley Jenkins, the panel features Baruch Feigenbaum, Senior Managing Director of Transportation … Continue Reading →

Friday Facts

Friday Facts: July 24, 2020

It’s Friday! Did you miss the first two Zoom events of the 2020 Georgia Legislative Policy Forum? View the opening keynote, “An Education Conversation” with Betsy DeVos, U.S. Secretary of Education, on the Foundation’s YouTube Channel here. View the first panel session, “Opportunities for Education Adaptation,” here. Register now for “Budget Calisthenics,” on Tuesday, July 28. Moderated by Chris Denson, the Foundation’s Director of Policy and Research, the panel features Georgia Congressman Tom Graves, a member of the House Appropriations Committee and ranking member on its Financial Services and General … Continue Reading →

Education

Speaker Pro Tem Jan Jones on Education: ‘One Size Does Not Fit All’

By Jan Jones I participated in a Georgia Public Policy Foundation virtual panel on July 21 to discuss what changes might come about in K-12 education during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. We are in the midst of a stunning and changing time. This includes school systems, teachers and parents preparing for the fall term when Georgia’s children will return to learning, a lot in an online format. My role as Speaker Pro Tempore of the Georgia House of Representatives puts me in different communities across our state. I’ve observed … Continue Reading →

Friday Facts

Friday Facts: July 17, 2020

It’s Friday! Did you miss the opening keynote speaker at the 2020 Georgia Legislative Policy Forum? U.S. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos was the opening keynote speaker Wednesday for the 2020 Georgia Legislative Policy Forum, an eight-week series on Zoom. (Find more information here.) View “An Education Conversation,” with DeVos and Foundation President Kyle Wingfield, on the Foundation’s YouTube Channel here. The Zoom series continues on Tuesday, July 21, with the first panel session: “Opportunities for Education Adaptation.” Moderated by Foundation Senior Fellow Eric Wearne, the panel features Georgia State Rep. … Continue Reading →

Events, Foundation News, Legislative Updates

2020 Georgia Legislative Policy Forum Program

Access the program, speaker bios and registration links for the 2020 Georgia Legislative Policy Forum here.

Friday Facts

Friday Facts: July 10, 2020

It’s Friday! Eight Sessions. Eight Think Tanks. One Venue. No Charge. Have you registered? The 2020 Georgia Legislative Policy Forum begins Wednesday, July 15, on Zoom with the opening keynote, “An Education Conversation,” with Betsy DeVos, U.S. Secretary of Education. Because of COVID-19, the event that has been held since 2010 as an in-person, daylong forum has been changed to an eight-week online series. There is no charge, but participants must have authenticated Zoom accounts. Read more here; register here. The theme is “Wisdom, Justice, Adaptation,” a play on the … Continue Reading →

Friday Facts

Friday Facts: July 3, 2020

It’s Friday! Friday Facts is coming to you a day early to beat the holiday rush! Have you registered yet for the 2020 Georgia Legislative Policy Forum? The Forum, hosted by the Georgia Public Policy Foundation since 2010, takes place as a series of weekly Zoom webinar events beginning July 15. The theme is “Wisdom, Justice, Adaptation,” a play on the state motto: “Wisdom, Justice, Moderation.” This year, the Forum comprises eight sessions, including two keynote sessions. The topics: Education; The Budget; Land Use and Transportation; The Economy; Housing; and … Continue Reading →

Foundation News, Press Releases

Foundation Praises Supreme Court Ruling For Education Choice

NEWS RELEASE | For Immediate Release June 30, 2020 Contact: Benita Dodd benitadodd@georgiapolicy.org (404-256-4050) Foundation Praises Supreme Court Ruling For Education Choice Atlanta – The Georgia Public Policy Foundation celebrated today’s U.S. Supreme Court ruling that Montana violated the U.S. Constitution by excluding religious schools from the state’s tax credit scholarship program that enabled students to attend private schools. Kyle Wingfield, President and CEO of the Georgia Public Policy Foundation, called the ruling “a validation of the right of parents to choose the best education option for their children.” “This landmark … Continue Reading →

Friday Facts

Friday Facts: June 26, 2020

It’s Friday! Registration for the 2020 Georgia Legislative Policy Forum is now open! Amid the COVID-19 uncertainty, the Foundation canceled plans for an in-person event and scheduled the Forum as a series of weekly Zoom webinar events beginning July 15. The theme is “Wisdom, Justice, Adaptation,” a play on the state motto: “Wisdom, Justice, Moderation.” This year, the Forum comprises eight sessions, including two keynote sessions. The topics: Education; The Budget; Land Use and Transportation; The Economy; Housing; and Healthcare. Sign up for the opening keynote session, “An Education Conversation,” … Continue Reading →

Friday Facts

Friday Facts: June 19, 2020

It’s Friday! This is Week 14 of the Friday Facts’ focus on the coronavirus pandemic across the nation and in Georgia. View previous editions here. View the Foundation’s near-term proposals here. Share your ideas: Email us at info@georgiapolicy.org. Quotes of Note “The Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission have both condemned Certificate of Need laws, concluding they “impede the efficient performance of the health care markets … create barriers to entry and expansion to the detriment of health care competition and consumers … undercut consumer choice, stifle innovation, … Continue Reading →

Friday Facts

Friday Facts: June 12, 2020

It’s Friday! This is Week 13 of the Friday Facts’ focus on the coronavirus pandemic across the nation and in Georgia, and the last day of the public health state of emergency declared by Gov. Brian Kemp. View previous editions here. View the Foundation’s near-term proposals here. Share your ideas: Email us at info@georgiapolicy.org. Quotes of Note “The shift to dispersed work …  opens up unique opportunities for parts of the country that have not enjoyed the benefits of tech growth. With two out of three tech workers now willing to leave … Continue Reading →

Friday Facts

Friday Facts: June 5, 2020

It’s Friday! This is Week 12 of the Friday Facts’ focus on the coronavirus pandemic across the nation and in Georgia. View previous editions here. View the Foundation’s near-term proposals here. Share your ideas: Email us at info@georgiapolicy.org. Quotes of Note “There are two ways of exerting one’s strength: one is pushing down, the other is pulling up.” – Booker T. Washington “When one side only of a story is heard and often repeated, the human mind becomes impressed with it insensibly.” – George Washington “The principle means of supporting … Continue Reading →

Friday Facts

Friday Facts: May 29, 2020

It’s Friday! This is Week 11 of the Friday Facts’ focus on the coronavirus pandemic across the nation and in Georgia. View previous editions here. View the Foundation’s near-term proposals here. Share your ideas: Email us at info@georgiapolicy.org. While the roads across the state have been a little less traveled, the Georgia Department of Transportation has put its overhead signs to good use during the pandemic. Quotes of Note “It is rather tiring having to point this out as often as we do, but it remains the case that people … Continue Reading →

Friday Facts

Friday Facts: May 22, 2020

It’s Friday! This is Week 10 of the Friday Facts’ focus on the coronavirus pandemic across the nation and in Georgia. View previous editions here. View the Foundation’s near-term proposals here. Share your ideas: Email us at info@georgiapolicy.org. Quotes of Note “I often wonder whether we do not rest our hopes too much upon constitutions, upon laws, and upon courts. These are false hopes; believe me, these are false hopes. Liberty lies in the hearts of men and women; when it dies there, no constitution, no law, no court can … Continue Reading →

Foundation News

Recent Foundation Publications

The Georgia Public Policy Foundation’s 2020 publications are listed below by date of publication. Click on a link to read. July 24: Education Options are Varied and Available, by Benita M. Dodd. Georgia parents have much to consider in the next few weeks. Educators and policymakers can help by prioritizing and publicizing diverse, accountable opportunities for Georgia’s children, in technology, curriculum and academic achievement. July 17: Gwinnett’s Billion-Dollar Transit Boondoogle, by Dave Emanuel. The plan to extend MARTA into Gwinnett and build a new station at Jimmy Carter Boulevard does … Continue Reading →

Friday Facts

Friday Facts: May 15, 2020

It’s Friday! This is Week 9 of the Friday Facts’ focus on the coronavirus pandemic across the nation and in Georgia. View previous editions here. View the Foundation’s near-term proposals here. Share your ideas: Email us at info@georgiapolicy.org. Quotes of Note “Families vary in why they want to send their children to different schools, and assuming a specific reason, such as getting higher test scores, and then concluding a program has succeeded or failed based on that reason condemns a program even if it is providing what it should: a … Continue Reading →

Foundation News, News

Foundation Joins Plea for Georgia to allow Online Vision Care

Dear Governor Kemp, We the undersigned organizations, representing a variety of constituencies, urge you to suspend your state’s prohibition on ocular telehealth services during this time of crisis. Patients, underserved communities and taxpayers would all benefit from your timely action. Georgia, along with the rest of the country, is facing a pandemic that has dramatically affected the ways Georgians live and work. Leaders such as yourself have been quick to act—and we applaud your executive orders allowing flexibility in the ways that Georgians can receive healthcare services. These measures help … Continue Reading →

Friday Facts

Friday Facts: May 8, 2020

It’s Friday! This is the eighth Friday Facts edition to focus on the coronavirus pandemic across the nation and in Georgia. View previous editions here. View the Foundation’s near-term proposals here. Share your ideas: Email us at info@georgiapolicy.org. Quotes of Note “The kind of city that we in the West like, the sort of jostling city where everybody is packed together and we carouse late at night … like London, Paris, Sydney and San Francisco, are all far more vulnerable. The cities are going to have to reinvent themselves, and … Continue Reading →

Healthcare, In The Press

On COVID-19, Don’t Let the Perfect be the Enemy of the Good

This commentary by Dr. Gary Voccio, Director of Public Health for Northwest Georgia, was published May 3 in Hometown Headlines of Greater Rome and is excerpted with permission. By Dr. Gary Voccio Are we ready to open up? Doesn’t matter. We’re going to; we can’t exist otherwise. The real question is how we reopen in a way that gives us our best chance to stay open. If we do it wrong, the pandemic will speed up again, our hospitals will get overrun again, and we’ll need to go into lockdown … Continue Reading →

Foundation News

Friday Facts: May 1, 2020

It’s Friday! This is the seventh Friday Facts edition to focus on the coronavirus pandemic gripping the nation and Georgia. (View previous editions here.) View the Foundation’s near-term proposals here. Share your ideas: Email us at info@georgiapolicy.org. Quotes of Note “The main barriers to maintaining usual care by telemedicine require changes that are unlikely to come from the federal level. Commercial reimbursement, Medicaid reimbursement and credentialing are the states’ domain. Only 20% of states require payment parity between telemedicine and in-person services. Fortunately, both the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid … Continue Reading →