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Gov. Perdue signs SB 31 into law, Sen. Robert Brown repeals

Georgia Power customers will soon see an increase in their monthly bills. SB 31 - known as the Georgia Power tax - will force Georgians to prepay $1.6 billion for the financing of two new nuclear reactors at Plant Vogtle, near Augusta - company shareholders will pocket $1 billion of that prepayment.

We’ll see an increase in monthly power bills as early as 2011 even though the reactors will not produce a sinlge a kilowatt of energy until, at least, 2017… more

Georgia needs mortgage reform

One in eight home loans is past due and on the verge of foreclosure in Georgia. While the subprime market represents just 13 percent of all outstanding loans in Georgia, subprime foreclosures accounted for 40 percent of the total number of Georgia foreclosures in the first quarter of 2009…more

NY Times film on GA foreclosures

This video from NY Times photographer Nicole Bengiveno illustrates the process of foreclosure and the effects it has on residents, business men, and the community as a whole. To view the video click here.

Georgia Watch Deputy Director Angela Speir wins 2009 Democracy Award!

Common Cause is a nationwide, independent, non-partisan organization “for those Americans who want to help in the rebuilding of the nation.” Common Cause works to promote legislation and policy that serves public interest, not special interest. Angela was honored this year for her outstanding dedication to political fairness, transparency and accountability. Read more about Angela here.

Georgia remained the state with the seventh-highest rate of foreclosures, according to RealtyTrac’s May 2009 U.S. Foreclosure Market Report released on Wednesday. more

Health care costs for the nation’s employers are expected to grow by 9 percent next year, according to the first reported projections of medical cost trends for 2010. more

United Way of Metropolitan Atlanta Inc. and Kaiser Permanente of Georgia Inc. will invest $150,000 in metro counties where access to health care is a major concern. more

Southern Co. is among a group of four energy companies that will get billions in federal funding to build new nuclear reactors, according to a story in Wednesday’s Wall Street Journal. more

A proposal that would restrict the amount of no-cost care that some uninsured patients could receive at Grady Memorial Hospital, a financially troubled public hospital in Atlanta, has raised concerns among patient advocates, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports. The “Grady Card” discount program offers subsidized or no-cost care to uninsured area residents. The Journal-Constitution obtained documents about the proposed changes under Georgia’s open records law…more

Almost 1.7 million Georgians have no health insurance. Most of the uninsured are part of working families, and two-thirds have incomes less than half of the federal poverty line. Many were among the 1.3 million working Americans who had lost health insurance the previous year. Others were surprised to find their health insurance depleted or their insurers refusing to approve needed procedures or medicines...more

The Georgia Department of Community Health has awarded a $5.2 million contract to the IBM Corp. to build a Web site for state consumers of health care that will help people make more informed decisions. more

WASHINGTON — As Washington considers overhauling the nation’s health care system, a new poll finds considerable concern about health costs, with nearly half of all Americans worried about paying for future care. more

Nine of the 10 Republicans on the Senate Finance Committee have sent a letter to the Obama administration rejecting a public plan option, much less a single- payer system, in the coming debate over health care reform. more

INDIANAPOLIS — Employers who offer health insurance coverage could see a 9 percent cost increase next year, and their workers may face an even bigger hit, according to a report from consulting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers. more

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