IN THIS ISSUE
State:
Federal:
Government Relations Sponsors
Platinum
Gold
Silver
Georgia legislature suspending session indefinitely amid coronavirus
Due to concerns about the spread of COVID-19, the Georgia legislature has suspended its session indefinitely. Members are expected to work remotely.
Georgia Legislature Approves 50 Cent Fee on Uber, Lyft
The Georgia House of Representatives has approved a plan to charge a flat 50 cent fee on ride-hailing companies, such as Uber and Lyft. The fee for pooled or shared rides is 25 cents. The proposed law must be approved by the Senate in the upcoming weeks. Uber and Lyft have been proponents of this flat fee as opposed to a 9% sales tax on the ride-hailing companies.
Rural broadband expansion barely survives legislative deadline
Less than 90 minutes before before the Crossover Day deadline, the House passed a bill to incentivize telecom companies to provide broadband access to rural areas. Access to broadband will provide rural communities economic and social advantages.
Agencies are looking for effective ways to deal with mass comments
Agencies are working to tackle mass commenting by bots made to these agencies. Last year, certain agencies saw millions of nearly identical messages coming in from fake numbers and outside the United States. According to the Administrative Procedure Act, agencies are required to respond to all comments they receive. This has become increasing difficult with the advent of technology that allows for mass and spam comments to be posted.
Is U.S. Broadband Up to the Response to the Coronavirus?
With broadband access, the United States is better able to handle coronavirus as telehealth, telework, and distance learning are made possible. The public and private sectors are moving online – can broadband handle this? Read this article submitted to the Benton Institute for Broadband & Society.
Coronavirus adds new stress to antiquated health record-keeping
The US healthcare system lags in its effectiveness of passing information between doctors, patients, and labs. Doctors may have to manually log the results of the coronavirus tests or call/text the results to the patient. With the new and loosened CDC guidelines on being able to be tested, the healthcare system will be flooded by a demand of tests being needed, but the system will lack the infrastructure to maintain it.
