Kentucky Lawmakers Override Governor’s Veto to Pass Safer Kentucky Act, Targeting Crime in Low-Income Areas

by David Bass | Apr 16, 2024

Media statement, in the news, Georgia news, ga news

Kentucky Lawmakers Override Governor’s Veto to Pass Safer Kentucky Act, Targeting Crime in Low-Income Areas

Kentucky state lawmakers voted Friday to override a veto from Gov. Andy Beshear of House Bill 5, the Safer Kentucky Act. The new law will lower crime by addressing gang-related violence, updating carjacking laws, facilitating successful reentry programs, and more.

The Center for Opportunity’s take: “Although all of Kentucky will benefit from this new law, the positives will be concentrated in poor and low-income communities, where the impacts of crime are felt disproportionately,” said Josh Crawford, director of criminal justice initiatives for the Center for Opportunity. “We can’t even begin to discuss the best ways to economically revitalize an area until we address the crime problem. Safe streets lead to thriving communities. The Safer Kentucky Act is a crucial step forward in achieving this end.”

For more on the Safer Kentucky Act, click here.

U.S. House passes a bill that’s a step toward ‘One Door’ social safety-net reforms

by David Bass | Apr 10, 2024

U.S. House passes a bill that’s a step toward ‘One Door’ social safety-net reforms

PEACHTREE CORNERS, GA—Yesterday, a bipartisan majority of the U.S. House passed H.R. 6655, a Stronger Workforce for America Act, which establishes a crucial demonstration waiver for a handful of states to implement safety-net reforms similar to Utah’s “One Door” policy. As a member of the coalition group the Alliance for Opportunity, the Georgia Center for Opportunity has played an important role in educating lawmakers on the perils of the current social safety net that creates barriers to work and upward mobility.

H.R. 6655 revises the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act for the first time since 2014. The bill would give four states leeway to explore a “One Door” safety-net reform strategy similar to Utah’s model enacted in the 1990s. Utah consolidated federal workforce development and social safety-net programs into a single state entity and fully integrated the safety-net system into workforce development programs.

“This is an important first step toward improving the social safety-net in all 50 states and breaking down barriers to work and a flourishing life,” said Randy Hicks, president and CEO of the Georgia Center for Opportunity. “The next step is to broaden the scope to allow every state to explore ways to integrate workforce and safety-net programs. These reforms are badly needed. There are 8.9 million open jobs across the U.S., and the workforce participation rate hasn’t fully recovered from the COVID-19 pandemic. We must create a safety-net system that doesn’t trap people in generational poverty but provides a pathway to a better life.”

Under H.R. 6655, the five-year innovation waiver is only available to states with populations of less than six million and a labor force participation rate below 60%. According to the Alliance for Opportunity, currently only nine states fit the bill: Louisiana, West Virginia, Missouri, South Carolina, Arkansas, Alabama, Maine, Kentucky, and New Mexico.

Under the current version of WIOA, states are barred from implementing such reforms. Utah was grandfathered in and is the only exception.

The bill contains another potential pathway toward a One Door model as well. Three years after enactment of the law, any state’s governor can consolidate workforce programs into one entity, but doing so would require the approval of half of the chairpersons of local workforce boards.

“These reforms would advance the end goal for every work-capable individual in a safety-net program to participate in effective employment and training programs,” added Hicks. “Numerous studies show that the benefits of work extend well beyond finances, encompassing overall wellbeing and a host of other benefits. One Door reforms will help ensure we have a system that encourages people to find work and improve their lives.”

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Georgia Center for Opportunity (GCO) is independent, non-partisan, and solutions-focused. Our team is dedicated to creating opportunities for a quality education, fulfilling work, and a healthy family life for all Georgians. To achieve our mission, we research ways to help remove barriers to opportunity in each of these pathways, promote our solutions to policymakers and the public, and help effective and innovative social enterprises deliver results in their communities.

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It’s time for Georgia lawmakers to lead and pass legislation like the Promise Scholarships

by Kimberly Sawatka | Mar 7, 2024

It’s time for Georgia lawmakers to lead and pass legislation like the Promise Scholarships

The Alabama legislature has passed a bill that phases in universal Education Savings Accounts over time. It now goes to the desk of Gov. Kay Ivey for her signature. The ESA will be worth up to $7,000 for each student to be used for approved educational expenses.

The Georgia Center for Opportunity’s (GCO) take: “Georgia is now on the cusp of being surrounded by states with universal school choice, or near universal school choice,” said Buzz Brockway, GCO’s vice president of public policy. “That means our state is now an outlier in the southeast when it comes to educational options. We shouldn’t be satisfied to maintain a status quo on this issue that leaves thousands of schoolchildren behind each year. It’s time for Georgia lawmakers to lead and pass legislation like the Promise Scholarships bill that expand educational opportunities across the state to students and families trapped in a system that doesn’t work for them.”

For more on the ways ESAs would help kids in Georgia, check out these resources:

Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp Champions Educational Opportunity in State of the State Address, Calls for Unity on Promise Scholarship

by David Bass | Jan 12, 2024

Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp Champions Educational Opportunity in State of the State Address, Calls for Unity on Promise Scholarship

Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp used a significant portion of his State of the State address today to urge lawmakers to expand educational opportunity in the new session. Kemp said:

Many members in both chambers have worked hard on this important issue and I want to thank and applaud them for their efforts.
Some prefer the term school choice or educational freedom, some call them vouchers.

In my opinion, what each of those terms or slogans fail to mention is the child. At the end of the day, our first and foremost consideration should be the future of that student.

Our job is not to decide for each family, but to support them in making the best choice for their child.

This week, as we begin the second year of another biennial of the General Assembly, I believe we have run out of “next years.”

I firmly believe we can take an all-of-the-above approach to education… whether it’s public, private, homeschooling, charter, or otherwise.

It is time for all parties to get around a table and agree on the best path forward to provide our kids the best educational opportunities we can – because that’s what we were elected to do.

To that end, my office and I look forward to working with the members and leadership of both chambers to get a bill passed and signed into law this session.

The Georgia Center for Opportunity’s (GCO) take: “Gov. Kemp is exactly right — the time for educational opportunity is now, and Promise Scholarships are the best step forward to accomplish it,” said Buzz Brockway, vice president of public policy for GCO. “With the governor, we applaud the courageous lawmakers who have championed Promise Scholarships in the House and Senate, and we encourage those who are still holding out on their support to consider what’s best for children, not what’s best for a system. We look forward to working with the governor and legislative leaders to make Promise Scholarships a reality this session.”

New report seeks to ease spike in Atlanta crime, restore community safety

by David Bass | Sep 7, 2023

Georgia Center For Opportunity Press Release, current events, news, top stories

New report seeks to ease spike in Atlanta crime, restore community safety

The Georgia Center for Opportunity is releasing a new report on violent crime in Atlanta, which highlights the city’s recent spike in violent crime and how to mitigate it.

Josh Crawford, Director of Criminal Justice Initiatives at GCO, developed the report, along with recommendations for reducing violent crime in Atlanta.

“The brief and its recommendations are designed to create a base level of what order and public safety should look like across the board,” Crawford says. “It’s imperative that we have an intentional conversation about the state of crime in Atlanta now, and how we can improve that for the future.”

According to Crawford’s report, criminal activity reduces opportunities in both small communities and metropolitan areas, destabilizing them in the process. In addition, crime devalues both businesses and individuals in those areas.

Although there have been positive steps toward improvement in Atlanta during recent years, there’s still work to be done. Some of those measures still need to be implemented, while other solutions need to be developed. In his report, Crawford shares a number of recommendations.

A Dramatic Spike in Violent Crime

Since 2018, the rates of violent crime and homicide have increased dramatically in Atlanta. The largest spike occurred during 2020 and was a reflection of the broader trend nationwide. Between 2009 and 2017, homicides in Atlanta tended to average 90 or fewer, with a few exceptions in 2008 (105) and 2016 (113).

Since the rise in violent crime began in 2018, Atlanta has not experienced a year with fewer than 80 murders, with an additional 217 people murdered over the previous decade’s average.

On top of the rising crime, many convicted violent criminals in Georgia aren’t serving out their full sentences. As a result, they’re being released back onto the streets long before their sentences end. For example:

- - Attempted murder convicts released during 2022 had only served 7.91 years of their sentences on average, or 35.78% of the time they were meant to serve
  - That same year, aggravated assault convicts had only served 4.03 years on average, or 29.57% of their sentences
  - Felons convicted of unlawful possession of a firearm had served only 2.83 years on average, or 27.29% of their full sentences

To make matters worse, a dip in law enforcement personnel has coincided with the rise in crime.

Pinpointing High-Crime Areas in and Around Atlanta

Crawford says that the majority of crime tends to be concentrated in small, dense areas controlled by violent gangs.

“We have to focus our efforts on gang-controlled areas across the city,” he says. “By doing that, we’ll start to see significant gains. It’s a more effective approach than trying to broaden our reach.”

Once law enforcement has pinpointed high-crime areas, Crawford says they can then implement a series of strategies he calls “focused deterrence.” In other words, incidences of violent crime–such as homicides and shootings–would theoretically be reduced. This result is possible through concentrated social service and law enforcement activities in these gang-controlled sectors.

Using the combined, competent approach of law enforcement and social services would enable individual criminals to undergo rehabilitation. These measures would emphasize getting to the root of the problem, and helping each person to make the necessary changes to his or her life.

“We believe it’s not possible to truly help reduce crime without directly addressing the person or problem where it originates,” Crawford says.

More Recommendations for Improving Community Safety

In addition to narrowing the focus to areas of high gang activity and addressing individuals wherever possible, there are also things that can be done to improve community safety in those areas. Here are some of the steps Crawford recommends.

Address disrepair in Atlanta’s communities by expanding cleanup efforts, tearing down or renovating abandoned buildings, and installing adequate street lighting
Build trust between community residents and law enforcement and social services, particularly through protecting the rights of victims

Remove egregious offenders from communities by implementing gang-enhancement provisions such as SB44 (2023) that keep these individuals incarcerated
Improve and require pre-entry cognitive behavioral therapy services for all juvenile offenders, no matter how non-violent their offenses

Reevaluate reentry programs through an external third party, examining the impact on revocation, rearrest, and reconviction

Through this strategic, multi-layered approach, Crawford estimates that it would be possible to reduce Atlanta’s caseload to no more than six homicides each year.

Georgia should lead on how to deliver a forward-thinking education

by Buzz Brockway | Aug 21, 2023

Georgia should lead on how to deliver a forward-thinking education

A new Cygnal poll of likely general election voters in Georgia shows a 68% favorability margin for the concept of “school choice,” with 76% of parents in favor. Support levels for education savings accounts sit at 60%, support for refundable education tax credits at 55%, and support for traditional public schools at 65%.

Georgia Center for Opportunity’s (GCO) take: “Families want Georgia to be the best place to educate their child, and they want to have say in how that’s done,” said Buzz Brockway, vice president of policy for GCO. “Generally speaking, the poll shows that while a majority of people in the state are satisfied with their child’s education, there is glowing support — at or above 70% — for more education options for families. And there is nearly 90% support for every child to have access to good school options, not just failing schools. Support for education is pretty similar whether it is private, public, or even homeschooling. As we invest in educating the public we must open up to a new generation of education. Georgia can and should lead on how to deliver a forward-thinking education that is responsive to family’s and kid’s needs.”