WABE's Week In Review: Georgia's redistricting maps will stand for 2022

March 5th, 2022

A poll worker talks to a voter before they vote on a paper ballot on Election Day in Atlanta, Nov. 3, 2020. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson, File)

A federal judge ruled Tuesday that Georgia’s new redistricting maps will be allowed for the 2022 elections. Civil rights groups had sued over the statehouse and Congressional maps, saying new voting districts dilute the power of Black voters.

Tax money collected is outpacing the state’s need?

Republican House leaders are proposing income tax cuts that would take effect in two years.

“The growth that we are seeing in revenue because with inflation, with higher wages, your starting to see, and you’ll see in probably another week, income tax returns that have come in already and what we were continuing to see in sales tax is outpacing what the needs are,” said Terry England, state House budget chairman.

The proposal would set a tax rate at 5.25% for everyone. The standard deduction and exemptions would be combined and raised to $12,000 for single filers and $24,000 for married couples.

It would cost the state about a billion dollars a year, but that can be absorbed, according to England.

The tax cut would mostly benefit high earners and put more of the tax burden on low- and middle-income residents, according to the progressive-leaning Georgia Budget and Policy Institute.

Bill would stop some access to abortions in Georgia…

abortion pills georgia senate — People gather for the March for Reproductive Justice on Saturday, Oct. 2, 2021 in downtown Atlanta. (AP Photo/Ben Gray)

The Georgia state Senate passed a bill Tuesday that outlaws the mailing of abortion pills. Women would now be required to see a doctor in person and sign a consent form before getting the medication.

“We are seeking to make sure that a woman who is seeking to terminate a pregnancy through a drug-induced abortion… that what she is seeking to do, she is a good candidate for that,” said Republican Senator Bruce Thompson, who sponsored the bill.

“You gonna come up here and you gonna tell me that the only reason you want to pass this law is [because] you want to protect vulnerable women?” said Democratic Sen. Jen Jordan. “You going to do everything you can to protect women? Highest standard of care that women deserve? And yet you won’t even want to expand Medicaid.”

The bill now goes to the state House.

Also in this episode…

🔵🟡Lisa Rayam spoke with Ukrainian immigration lawyer Tetiana Lendiel, who now lives in Atlanta about the war in her home country.

🍎Martha Dalton reported on a survey that shows 20% of new Georgia educators are thinking of leaving the profession.

🚚Emil Moffatt told us about a new truck driving school that is hoping to attract younger, more diverse drivers in an effort to help the supply chain backlog.

🔬Molly Samuel reported on a program than links up Emory scientists with school-aged kids to get them thinking about science.