GMA Headlines
January 15, 2021
U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ)
The Second Chance Act Youth Offender Reentry Program encourages collaboration between state agencies, local government, and community- and faith-based organizations to address the challenges that reentry and recidivism reduction pose for moderate to high-risk juvenile offenders returning to their communities from juvenile residential or correctional facilities.
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January 15, 2021
U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ)
This program will promote and expand services in detention and correctional facilities to incarcerated individuals and their minor children, and provide services to children of incarcerated parents.
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Text of Gov. Brian Kemp's State of the State address delivered on January 14, 2021.
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January 14, 2021
U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ)
This program will support the efforts of states, communities, tribal jurisdictions, nonprofit organizations, for-profit organizations, and institutions of higher education to implement programs and strategies that identify, respond to, treat, and support children, youth, and families impacted by the opioid epidemic to ensure public safety.
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January 14, 2021
CSX Transportation
CSX Community Service Grants assist organizations that make a strong, quantifiable impact on their greater communities.
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January 14, 2021
Firehouse Subs Public Safety Foundation
The mission of the Firehouse Subs Public Safety Foundation is to impact the lifesaving capabilities and the lives of local heroes and their communities. This is accomplished by providing lifesaving equipment and prevention education tools to first responders and public safety organizations.
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Many towns and cities still underspend on information technology in order to save money. Or, at least they think they are saving money. In reality, the lack of IT investment impacts the work of municipal employees every day in small ways.
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January 7, 2021
The Brookings Institution
For the descendants of enslaved Africans in the United States, entrepreneurship represents more than just owning a business and pursuing the proverbial American Dream. Instead, the ability for Black people to participate in local, regional, and global markets represents a dream deferred by systemic racism and discrimination. Consequently, an analysis of Black business ownership can offer insight into the degree to which America is truly the land of opportunity.
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January 6, 2021
National Endowment for the Arts (NEA)
The NEA Big Read aims to inspire conversation and discovery. Annually, the program supports approximately 75 dynamic community reading programs, each designed around a single NEA Big Read book.
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January 6, 2021
National Civic League
The All-America City Award recognizes communities that leverage civic engagement, collaboration, inclusiveness and innovation to successfully address local issues.
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January 4, 2021
Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)
The Fiscal Year (FY) 2020 Assistance to Firefighters Grant (AFG) Program is one of three grant programs that constitute FEMA’s focus on enhancing the safety of the public and firefighters with respect to fire and fire-related hazards.
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January 4, 2021
U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ)
Pay for Success is performance-based and outcomes-based programming that ties payment for services to reaching agreed upon goals. Under this initiative, services that may be purchased include permanent supportive and recovery housing, as well as other types of reentry services which are tailored to individuals leaving incarceration, particularly those with substance use disorders.
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On December 30, Governor Kemp issued an extensive and detailed Executive Order. This is a summary prepared by GMA’s Legal Department explaining those orders and their impact on local governments.
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December 28, 2020
U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)
Community Food Projects are intended to bring together stakeholders from the distinct parts of the food system and to foster understanding of national food security trends and how they might improve local food systems.
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December 28, 2020
National League of Cities (NLC)
The Children & Nature Network (C&NN) and the National League of Cities (NLC), through the Cities Connecting Children to Nature (CCCN) initiative, offers teams from cities and school districts an opportunity to transform asphalt schoolyards into safe, nature-filled outdoor spaces that benefit students, the community and the local environment.
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December 18, 2020
Georgia Council for the Arts (GCA)
The mission of Georgia Council for the Arts is to cultivate the growth of vibrant, thriving Georgia
communities through the arts. Project Grants provide support for arts projects in Georgia. Projects may be one-time events, such as a festival or exhibit, or a series of events, such as a roster of classes or a series of productions.
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December 18, 2020
Sara Baxter
If children are engaged and connected in quality afterschool and summer care, everybody wins.
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Watch this special holiday greeting from Team GMA. We thank you for your continued friendship and support through a turbulent year and wish you a very Happy Holidays!
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December 17, 2020
U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (HHS)
The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), Center for Mental Health Services (CMHS), is accepting applications for fiscal year 2021 Cooperative Agreement for the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline and the Disaster Distress Helpline.
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December 17, 2020
Humboldt Area Foundation
Grants from the Youth Leadership Fund support K-12 youth leadership development. There should be an emphasis on community responsibility, enhancing the environment and sustainability.
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On December 8, Governor Kemp issued an extensive and detailed Executive Order. This is a summary prepared by GMA’s Legal Department explaining those orders and their impact on local governments.
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December 16, 2020
Cybersecurity Dive
- Federal authorities are investigating a cyber breach by a suspected nation-state that targeted government agencies and is linked to a potential vulnerability that emerged during an update of SolarWinds Orion monitoring software during the spring of 2020. Reuters is attributing the attack to Russia, which has denied the allegations.
- The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Agency issued an emergency directive Sunday calling on all federal civilian agencies to review their networks for evidence of compromise and to disconnect or power off SolarWinds Orion products immediately. The directive comes after the Department of Commerce confirmed a breach hit one if its bureaus, and has asked the FBI and CISA to investigate. The Department of Treasury was breached, according to Reuters reports, however a spokesperson for the agency did not immediately respond to a query.
- SolarWinds confirmed it is aware of a potential vulnerability that may be related to updates released between March and June of its Orion monitoring products. The vulnerability is believed to be the result of a "highly sophisticated, targeted and manual supply chain attack by a nation state," the company said.
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December 16, 2020
Georgia Governor's Office of Highway Safety
The Georgia Governor's Office of Highway Safety has made grant funds available to promote the development and implementation of innovative programs to address highway safety problems relating to alcohol/impaired driving, pedestrian and bicycle safety, motorcycle safety, occupant protection and traffic records. Proposed programs must be data-driven and based on proven countermeasures.
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December 16, 2020
U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (HHS)
The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), Center for Mental Health Services (CMHS) is accepting applications for fiscal year 2021 Mental Health Awareness Training grants.
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December 14, 2020
By Andrew M. Ham, Managing Director of Urban Trust Capital (Urban Trust, LLC)
The challenge facing many public and private sector owners and developers in today’s economy is how to successfully finance a project in the most efficient and cost-effective manner possible.
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December 14, 2020
By Joyce White, USDA Rural Development State Director
USDA Rural Development is the sixth largest bank in the nation, investing approximately $1 billion annually into Georgia.
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Because of the pandemic, low-wadge workers and people of color are experiencing more financial stress from job loss and the inability to pay criminal justice and other debts stemming from fines and fees. This places them in harm’s way on many fronts such as wealth extraction, exposure to COVID-19 and the fear of encountering the police.
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After the tumultuous end of the 2020 Census enumeration phase on Sept. 30 Oct. 31 Oct. 5 Oct. 31 Oct. 15, GMA would like to thank all its members who worked tirelessly to make sure that everyone in Georgia counts.
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Since 1991, the GMA Bricks and Mortar Financing Program has provided a cost-effective way for Georgia’s cities to finance real estate projects. The city of Centerville was one of the most recent beneficiaries of this service.
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GMA knows a thing or two about saving and generating money for its valued member cities with years of experience and numerous services. City officials shared with GMA what they enjoy most about their services and how GMA has improved their cities.
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GCS is the new non-profit subsidiary of GMA, which was established for the purpose of providing the association with a vehicle to receive tax- deductible donations that can be used to fund initiatives and innovative programs aimed at building vibrant, economically prosperous and well-managed cities.
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Following years of planning by the GMA Property Committee, which was led by Newnan Mayor Keith Brady, and the support and commitment of recent GMA presidents, officers and the Board of Directors, the dream of a new facility is becoming a reality.
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December 14, 2020
By Alia Hoyt
As Georgia’s residents settle into this bizarre “new normal,” cities have employed some creative and forward-thinking measures to keep them both safe and served. Here, GMA profiles a few of the many Georgia cities that have gone above and beyond during an exceptionally challenging time.
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December 14, 2020
By Amber Schmidtke, PH.D., Medical Educator and Science Communicator
Much like everything else in 2020, the pandemic is going to change the way we gather and celebrate the winter holidays. Remember that the virus is only concerned with the biology and physics of reaching the next human to infect for its own survival. But the virus has a weakness— it cannot move on its own.
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December 14, 2020
By Laura Wheeler, Associate Director of the Center for State and Local Finance
The importance of a well-functioning city has never been more evident than in the past eight months. The impact of the pandemic and the ensuing economic hardship has shown how vital it is for our municipal governments to have the resources necessary to provide the services that their residents rely on and require.
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December 14, 2020
By Vince Williams, GMA President
My hope for a successful future for our cities, however, looks beyond the outcome of partisan, zero-sum politics and is grounded in something we don’t talk enough about… love.
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A local government employer’s decision whether to implement a mandatory COVID-19 vaccination policy primarily requires striking a balance between its goal of protecting its employees, residents, and community at large from the virus’s spread and the statutory and constitutional protections afforded its employees under the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”), Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (“Title VII”), and the due process (liberty) and free exercise (religion) clauses of the U.S. and Georgia constitutions.
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Public Square
December 11, 2020
Robert Steuteville, Congress for the New Urbanism
Market and demographic trends could lead to revival of smaller American communities, according to a NAR report.
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December 10, 2020
PeopleForBikes
The PeopleForBikes Community Grant Program supports bicycle infrastructure projects and targeted advocacy initiatives that make it easier and safer for people of all ages and abilities to ride.
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December 10, 2020
By Larry Hanson, GMA Executive Director
"At GMA, we are united in our passion to serve all cities and all of you, so that you can better serve the citizens who reside in your 537 unique municipalities." - GMA Executive Director Larry Hanson
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Government officials have to walk a tightrope with navigating official social media channels. But what constitutes official channels? What is the line between private opinion and an official endorsement? And can you block combative constituents? Watch this webinar to find out.
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While a few rare situations may not apply, the cloud is generally a great option to help fend off cyberattacks and reduce liability in case a cyberattack occurs.
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December 2, 2020
National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF)
The Five Star and Urban Waters Restoration grant program seeks to develop community capacity to sustain local natural resources for future generations by providing modest financial assistance to diverse local partnerships focused on improving water quality, watersheds and the species and habitats they support.
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December 2, 2020
U.S. Department of Justice
The Justice for Families Program was authorized in the Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act of 2013 (VAWA 2013) to improve the response of the civil and criminal justice system to families with a history of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking, or in cases involving allegations of child sexual abuse.
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On November 30, Governor Kemp issued an extensive and detailed Executive Orders. This is a summary prepared by GMA’s Legal Department explaining those orders and their impact on local governments.
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November 30, 2020
Sara Baxter
Access to quality child care not only helps children and their families; it can also be a strong economic development tool for cities.
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November 24, 2020
National League of Cities (NLC)
This NLC issue brief highlights strategies that can be adopted by city leaders to advance economic opportunity in light of the devastating impact of COVID-19.
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November 20, 2020
National Community Reinvestment Coalition
Lower-income and minority neighborhoods that were intentionally cut off from lending and investment decades ago today suffer not only from reduced wealth and greater poverty, but from lower life expectancy and higher prevalence of chronic diseases that are risk factors for poor outcomes from COVID-19, a new study shows.
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November 20, 2020
iCivics and Generation Citizen
A new white paper outlines the challenges civic education has faced in reaching youth of color and provides suggestions for making civic education more equitable and relevant for today’s increasingly diverse student population.
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On November 13, Governor Kemp issued an extensive and detailed Executive Orders. This is a summary prepared by GMA’s Legal Department explaining those orders and their impact on local governments.
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