Governor speaks to a packed house at the ‘Eggs and Issues’ breakfast
The Georgia Chamber’s annual Eggs and Issues breakfast on Wednesday, usually held on the second day of the legislative session but this year postponed for a day due to a certain football game, was both a pep rally for Georgia and also a preview of the session to come.
The Chamber unveiled its newest project – Authentic Georgia. It’s an initiative whose goal is to grow the brand awareness of goods, locations and businesses operating in Georgia. Perhaps similar to the Department of Agriculture’s “Georgia Grown” program, Authentic Georgia expands this goal beyond agriculture and into a number of industries and categories.
Their first round of stories about Georgia companies includes a craft beer maker, the Okefenokee Swamp Park, a Southern clothing company, a Savannah cookie maker started in the 1920’s and an Augusta golf cart manufacturer. More coverage of this to come over the next few weeks…
Per the traditional schedules of speeches, Governor Deal opened, followed by Lieutenant Governor Casey Cagle and closed out by Speaker David Ralston (R- 7 Blue Ridge).
Governor Deal’s speech is often a bit of a State of the State preview and this year is likely no different. Deal emphasized the state’s accomplishments over the past 7 years and noted decisively that the state is better off than when he assumed office. “We mended and strengthened a battered state economy. In January of 2011, for instance, our unemployment rate stood at 10.4 percent. Now, it is just 4.3 percent. At that time, just 3.8 million of our citizens had a job. Now, over 4.5 million are employed – the highest number than at any other time in our state history.”
Deal also warned the legislature to not spend time spinning their wheels regarding the Amazon decision regarding their HQ2 location. Deal said that, should Georgia make the list of final contenders, he will call a special session for the legislature to address any Amazon-specific legislation.
Deal also discussed the new cyber security center in Augusta (covered by Insider Advantage here) and the ongoing Savannah harbor expansion project (SHEP). He reminded the audience that Georgia has paid its fair share of the largest infrastructure project in the Southeast. Georgia has already paid in $266 million and in this year’s budget proposal Deal is allocating an additional $35 million.
“Again, Georgia has paid its fair share of the project. As the largest infrastructure project in the Southeast, I call on our congressional delegation, including our U.S. senators, to ensure the federal government lives up to its funding requirements, as set down in the original agreement on this project.”
For their part, Cagle and Ralston both focused on legislative priorities for this year – particularly the adoption bill. That bill fell apart in the final hours of the session last year amid some provisions put in by the Senate related to allowing groups to bar adoptions by same-sex couples if they wish. The adoption process in Georgia hasn’t been updated since 1990 and is woefully behind other states. Both Deal and Ralston have been very vocal about the need for a clean bill without these allowed restrictions but as the Senate stalled it last year and are unclear as to what their bill will look like this year. There are plans to vote on it in committee on Wednesday afternoon though so we may know soon…
