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Governor gives details of jobs plan
State of state address is at 7 tonight
Nathan-Deal
Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal is scheduled to give his State of the State Address at a joint session of the General Assembly at 7 this evening. - photo by File photo

ATLANTA — Gov. Nathan Deal says his goal is to make Georgia the No. 1 state to do business and unveiled a plan focused on infrastructure improvements, tax reform and education.

At the annual Eggs and Issues breakfast, Deal also underscored the need to pass the regional transportation tax this summer, to expand the Savannah harbor and bolster the state's water supply system.

The event, sponsored by the Georgia Chamber of Commerce, will also feature remarks from Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle and House Speaker David Ralston. Deal, marking his second year in office, discussed details of his "competitiveness initiative," which includes overhauling the state's tax code and regulations, investing in infrastructure projects and highlighting Georgia's research institutions.

Deal announced the competitiveness initiative last year, focused on business climate, education and workforce development, innovation, infrastructure, global commerce and government efficiency and effectiveness. A task force of business leaders and elected officials and more than 4,000 Georgians weighed in at regional meetings held over several months.

Among their proposals:

— Eliminating the sales tax on energy used in manufacturing;

— Creating sales and use tax exemptions for construction materials used in projects of regional significance, to help local governments attract projects to their communities;

— Updating the job tax credits to help rural areas of the state and lowering the requirement for businesses seeking credits from 50 to 15 jobs created.

Deal also urged the crowd to support the regional transportation tax referenda that is scheduled for the July ballot. He said the infrastructure projects that would be funded by the taxpayers are "imperative" to the state's economy.

"If the slate of projects in your region provides value, I want to ask you to vote and help get the word out to your friends and family," Deal said.

The Savannah harbor expansion was also touted as a priority. Deal said the proposed budget for fiscal year 2013 includes $46.7 million in bonds to continue deepening the harbor to handle bigger cargo ships that will start coming through an expanded Panama Canal after 2014. He said the state will continue to pursue federal funds to support the project.

Deal also announced the Water Supply Program, a low-interest loan program aimed at studies and projects that expand local water supplies — especially the creation of reservoirs to address the state's long-term needs for a growing population. Deal's 2013 budget proposes $45.7 million for water supply projects as the second installment over a four-year period.

He declined to elaborate on education, saving his plans for his State of the State speech, scheduled for Tuesday at 7 p.m.

 

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Later yall, its been fun
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This is among the last pieces I’ll ever write for the Bryan County News.

Friday is my last day with the paper, and come June 1 I’m headed back to my native Michigan.

I moved here in 2015 from the Great Lake State due to my wife’s job. It’s amicable, but she has since moved on to a different life in a different state, and it’s time for me to do the same.

My son Thomas, an RHHS grad as of Saturday, also is headed back to Michigan to play basketball for a small school near Ann Arbor called Concordia University. My daughter, Erin, is in law school at University of Toledo. She had already begun her college volleyball career at Lourdes University in Ohio when we moved down here and had no desire to leave the Midwest.

With both of them and the rest of my family up north, there’s no reason for me to stay here. I haven’t missed winter one bit, but I’m sure I won’t miss the sand gnats, either.

Shortly after we arrived here in 2015, I got a job in communications with a certain art school in Savannah for a few short months. It was both personally and professionally toxic and I’ll leave it at that.

In March 2016 I signed on with the Bryan County News as assistant editor and I’ve loved every minute of it. My “first” newspaper career, in the late 80s and early 90s, was great. But when I left it to work in politics and later with a free-market think tank, I never pictured myself as an ink-stained wretch again.

Like they say, never say never.

During my time here at the News, I’ve covered everything that came along. That’s one big difference between working for a weekly as opposed to a daily paper. Reporters at a daily paper have a “beat” to cover. At a weekly paper like this, you cover … life. Sports, features, government meetings, crime, fundraisers, parades, festivals, successes, failures and everything in between. Oh, and hurricanes. Two of them. I’ll take a winter blizzard over that any day.

Along the way I’ve met a lot of great people. Volunteers, business owners, pastors, students, athletes, teachers, coaches, co-workers, first responders, veterans, soldiers and yes, even some politicians.

And I learned that the same adrenalin rush from covering “breaking news” that I experienced right out of college is still just as exciting nearly 30 years later.

With as much as I’ve written about the population increase and traffic problems, at least for a few short minutes my departure means there will be one less vehicle clogging up local roads. At least until I pass three or four moving vans headed this way as I get on northbound I-95.

The hub-bub over growth here can be humorous, unintentional and ironic all at once. We often get comments on our Facebook page that go something like this: “I’ve lived here for (usually less than five years) and the growth is out of control! We need a moratorium on new construction.”

It’s like people who move into phase I of “Walden Woods” subdivision after all the trees are cleared out and then complain about trees being cut down for phase II.

Bryan County will always hold a special place in my heart and I definitely plan on visiting again someday. My hope is that my boss, Jeff Whitten (one of the best I’ve ever had), will let me continue to be part of the Pembroke Mafia Football League from afar. If the Corleone family could expand to Vegas, there’s no reason the PMFL can’t expand to Michigan.

But the main reason I want to return someday is about that traffic issue. After all, I’ll need to see it with my own eyes before I’ll believe that Highway 144 actually got widened.

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