Federal furlough could affect peanut industry; Senate passes trans athlete ban

Summary

Georgia Today Podcast Summary – February 7, 2025

Hosted by Orlando Montoya on behalf of Georgia Public Broadcasting, the February 7th episode of "Georgia Today" delves into pressing issues impacting the state of Georgia. The episode primarily explores the potential consequences of a federal furlough on the state's peanut industry and the State Senate's passage of a controversial bill banning transgender girls from participating in school sports. Additionally, the episode touches on other significant local news stories, providing listeners with a comprehensive overview of the current events shaping Georgia.

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1. Federal Furlough and Its Impact on Georgia's Peanut Industry

The episode opens with a discussion about the furlough of federal workers at the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). This move, part of the Trump administration's broader initiative to cut the federal budget, raises concerns about its potential effects on Georgia's peanut economy.

• Mark Moore, CEO of Manna Nutrition, is featured prominently as he explains how his company is intertwined with USAID's funding. Manna Nutrition purchases 2 million pounds of peanuts monthly to produce Ready to Use Therapeutic Food (RUTF), a critical nutritional aid for severely malnourished children worldwide.

  “We make a special peanut butter paste that is called Ready to Use Therapeutic Food. It's a treatment for severely malnourished children... it restores them back to hunger, gives them the right micronutrients, the energy, the calories that they need.”
  — Mark Moore (01:21)

• Product Description and Importance: Mark describes the product as "peanut butter on steroids," highlighting its longevity and nutritional value, especially in regions lacking access to fresh water or refrigeration.

  “It tastes like the inside of a Reese's peanut butter cup. It's super dense... it's the perfect thing.”
  — Mark Moore (02:47)

• Impact of USAID Cuts: The potential reduction or elimination of USAID funding poses significant uncertainty for Manna Nutrition. Mark shares the company's recent experience with a stop work order from USAID but notes that multiple contracts have allowed them to continue operations.

  “There are just too many moving parts at USAID for such a drastic cutback to not have some effect.”
  — Mark Moore (04:26)

• Economic Significance: Manna Nutrition is a major employer in Fitzgerald, South Georgia, with 130 employees contributing to the local economy. The company's annual budget stands at approximately $80 million, with 75-80% funded by USAID.

  “We're a pretty substantial economic driver for the town and good friends with the town.”
  — Mark Moore (05:55)

• Future Outlook: Despite uncertainties, Mark remains optimistic, emphasizing the essential nature of their work and the global need for their products.

  “We're going to keep going and find a way forward. It's too important to just sit around and indulge ourselves in feeling sorry for ourselves.”
  — Mark Moore (04:50)

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2. State Senate Passes Transgender Athlete Ban

A significant portion of the episode covers the State Senate's passage of Senate Bill 1, which bans transgender girls from participating in female-designated school sports. Republican Senator Greg Dolezal spearheaded the bill, asserting that it ensures fairness in girls' sports.

• Senate Bill 1 Details:

  • Sponsor: Republican Senator Greg Dolezal

  • Objective: To prevent males from competing in female sports, thereby maintaining fairness.

    “...when you allow males to participate in female sport, it ceases to become female sport.”
    — Senator Greg Dolezal (09:31)

• Amendment Attempt: Democratic Senator Kim Jackson proposed an amendment aimed at ensuring equal funding for female sports facilities and equipment, mirroring similar support in boys' sports. However, her amendment was defeated, and the bill passed with a 35-17 vote, including support from two Democratic senators.

  “The bill passed 35 to 17, with two Democrats voting in favor of it. It now moves to the House.”
  — Sarah Kalis (09:50)

• Host's Commentary: Orlando Montoya expressed disapproval of the bill, emphasizing a lack of commitment to leveling the playing field for girls' sports.

  “More clear than ever today that my colleagues are not invested in truly leveling the playing field for girls sports.”
  — Orlando Montoya (09:56)

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3. Additional Local News Highlights

Beyond the primary topics, the episode also covers several other important stories affecting Georgia:

• Measles Cases Confirmed:

  • Georgia health officials reported two new measles cases, the first for 2025, linked to an unvaccinated family member from a previous metro Atlanta case.
  • Last year saw nearly 300 cases nationwide, including six in Georgia.

• Federal Immigration Detentions:

  • The Trump administration is utilizing a federal prison in Atlanta to detain individuals arrested during its immigration crackdown.
  • The Federal Bureau of Prisons confirmed involvement of prisons in Atlanta, Los Angeles, and Miami, although sources spoke on condition of anonymity.

• Railroad Eminent Domain Decision:

  • A Fulton County Superior Court judge upheld a Georgia Public Service Commission (PSC) decision allowing a Middle Georgia railroad to take private land for a new rail line near Sparta.

  • Landowners allege environmental racism as a concern, with plans to appeal to the Georgia Supreme Court.

    “So a Fulton County Superior Court judge has upheld the PSC decision.”
    — Grant Blankenship (10:27)

• Georgia Power and Data Centers:

  • State senators are considering legislation to prevent Georgia Power from transferring costs associated with expanding data centers to other customers. The surge in data centers is driving significant energy demand and requiring substantial investments.

• New Trauma Center in Gainesville:

  • An 11-story tower is set to open at the Northeast Georgia Medical Center in Gainesville, featuring a Level 1 Trauma Center with a helipad and 96 additional beds.

  • Carol Burrell, CEO of Northeast Georgia Health System, emphasized the facility's role in improving trauma response times and its substantial $7.5 billion economic impact on the community.

    “It can drop in 30 seconds.”
    — Mark Moore (12:10)

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4. Conclusion

The February 7th episode of "Georgia Today" provides listeners with an in-depth look at the intersection of federal policy and local industry, illustrating how nationwide budget cuts can have tangible effects on Georgia's economy and community services. Additionally, the episode highlights ongoing debates around inclusivity in school sports and other critical health and infrastructural developments within the state. Through detailed reporting and expert interviews, the podcast ensures that listeners are well-informed about the issues that matter most to Georgia residents.

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For more information on these stories and additional updates, listeners are encouraged to visit the Georgia Today website or subscribe to the podcast via their preferred platform.

Transcript

[Orlando Montoya]

Hello and welcome to the Georgia Today podcast from GPB News. Today is Friday, February 7th. I'm Orlando Montoya. On today's episode, a furlough of some federal workers going into effect today could affect Georgia's peanut industry. And the state Senate passes a bill banning transgender girls from school sports. I am more clear than ever today that my colleagues are not invested in truly leveling the playing field for girls sports. These stories and more coming up on this edition of Georgia Today. Thousands of workers at the U.S. agency for International Development, or USAID, are being furloughed starting today. It's part of the new Trump administration's plans to dismantle the agency amid unprecedented efforts at cutting the federal budget. Across South Georgia, many are watching the move for its potential impact on Georgia's peanut economy. A company based in Fitzgerald says it buys 2 million pounds of peanuts each month to make a nutrition aid funded largely by usaid. That company is called Manna Nutrition. And this morning I spoke with its CEO, Mark Moore about usaid. I first asked him to describe his company's product.

[Mark Moore]

We make a special peanut butter paste that is called Ready to Use Therapeutic Food. It's a treatment for severely malnourished children. So children, Orlando, who are malnourished oftentimes are not hungry. They've ceased to be hungry because their body face such nutritional deficiencies. So this paste restores them back to hunger, gives them the, the right micronutrients, the energy, the calories that they need, and sort of brings that back to a, to a normal state so they could go on and, and get on with life.

[Orlando Montoya]

I've heard it been described as peanut butter on steroids. Can you explain that?

[Mark Moore]

That's right. Yeah. I guess by food science, people don't like to hear steroids associated with it, but yeah, so it really is. The cool thing about it is there is this milk powder almost like a infant formula that needs to be delivered to children. But you can imagine if you're in South Sud, you're a mom in Ethiopia and you don't have access to fresh water necessarily, or you don't have access to a fridge. Reconstituting something like an infant formula is problematic. But if you can stabilize it in something gooey like peanut butter, then it has a long shelf life. You get the added benefits of the nutritious value of the peanuts, and it's a win, win.

[Orlando Montoya]

And a side question, what does it taste like?

[Mark Moore]

It tastes like the inside of a Reese's peanut butter cup. It's super dense. So you and I as adults might eat a packet and say, wow, that was really good, but you wouldn't want to eat 10 packets because it'll make you gain weight. But for little kids who again are, we're trying to restore the vital nutrients and energy that they need. It's the perfect, it's the perfect thing.

[Orlando Montoya]

And how would USAID cuts or its elimination affect you and this work?

[Mark Moore]

We don't know yet. We do know that we received a stop work order about a week ago from USAID. This is all funded through a mechanism called Title 2. And Title 2 funding is emergency food aid funding. So that was supposed to not be stopped, but it seems there was some confusion in the midst and we were stopped for about a week. We never really stopped because we have multiple contracts. So we just kept going. But it was nervous there for, we were nervous there for a week trying to decide is USAID going to come back? Are they going to honor contracts, things like that. Yesterday at 3:30 we got an email from our contracting officer saying you can start working again on these projects. So they are. We are making it again. And it's being stacked up in a warehouse. We'll see what the supply chain looks like with USAID losing so many people. I'm sure you saw the media this morning. They went from 10,000 employees to 290.

[Orlando Montoya]

So that might affect you regardless of whether or not there is or is not money coming. Future.

[Mark Moore]

Yeah, I would say it has to affect us. There are just too many moving parts at USAID for such a drastic cutback to not have some effect. I can't say specifically what it'll be yet.

[Orlando Montoya]

And does this introduce a significant amount of worry in your team or how are you presenting this to everybody that you're talking to?

[Mark Moore]

So far, we have decided that we will remain optimistic and keep working. And we do this. We're a nonprofit, so we, we're not looking to make money, but we do really love our jobs. And we have 130 of us working at Mana who it is our livelihood. But more than that, it's our passion to do it. So outside of USAID, there is UNICEF, there are many NGOs. This stuff that we make is in such short supply. So will we be solvent? Yeah, that's a question going forward. But will our product be needed? Oh, we know it's going to be needed. So we're not dismayed yet. We're not discouraged yet. We're going to keep going and find a way forward. It's too important to just Sit around and sort of indulge ourselves in feeling sorry for ourselves. We're going to get it done.

[Orlando Montoya]

It's important for the world and important to South Georgia. I dare say Manna Nutrition is one of the biggest companies in Fitzgerald and probably has a huge economic impact around South Georgia. Have you measured that?

[Mark Moore]

You know, I'm sure I would quote inaccurate stats, but we were one of the top employers now in our little town. You know, Fitzgerald is a great town, but not a big town and peanuts all around us. So if you walk out of our factory door, the plot across the street rotates between cotton and peanuts, and it was peanuts this year. So we're literally in the middle of a peanut field. And, yeah, those 130 employees I talked about, 120 of those are in. In Fitzgerald. So, yeah, we're a pretty substantial economic driver for the town and good friends with the town. So we're proud to be in Fitzgerald. You're looking at about our budget this year is set at about $80 million, something like that. So pretty good amount of revenue running through us.

[Orlando Montoya]

There was a news release last year that had a figure about the. The amount of money that USAID was. Was giving you of that 80 million. How much is the USAID?

[Mark Moore]

Oh, wow. The vast majority. The vast majority, yeah. So 75, 80% could be higher even.

[Orlando Montoya]

There's been a lot of discussion around USAID and foreign aid as it relates to budgetary concerns and reining in the budget. What do you make of those concerns?

[Mark Moore]

I would say one last thing is that, you know, if you. If you and I were to kind of come to the realization that we made $50,000 a year in and we spent 80, that would be a problem. I call you over my house as my advisor. When you pull up to my house, you realize that I have a brand new car and I have a big house and maybe servants that meet you, and I just got back from vacation and then you look at my checkbook and you realize I gave $100 to my church. And you say to me, well, you got to cut that out. I use that analogy to say the $50,000 annual salary, our giving to USAID as a government is $100 out of the 50,000, it's 2/10 of 1%. So is it acceptable to waste any of it? No. Should we misspend it? Should we look at it, examine it? Yes. But if you eliminate it, is it the thing that's going to change your financial situation? And what is the impact then of eliminating that $100 spend in your fifty thousand dollar budget and it's massive.

[Orlando Montoya]

Omar Moore, CEO of Mana Nutrition in Fitzgerald, Georgia thank you for joining me today.

[Mark Moore]

Thanks orlando.

[Orlando Montoya]

Georgia health officials are confirming two more cases of measles in the state. The Georgia Department of Public Health said today the two cases are unvaccinated family members of the metro Atlanta case confirmed in January. These are the first Georgia measles cases of 2025. The US declared measles eradicated in 2000, but last year reported nearly 300 cases, including six in Georgia. The Trump administration is using a federal prison in Atlanta to detain some people arrested in its immigration crackdown. The Federal Bureau of Prisons told the Associated Press today that it's housing immigration detainees, and three people familiar with the matter told DAP that Atlanta, Los Angeles and Miami prisons were involved. The sources spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly. The detentions are a return to a strategy that drew allegations of mistreatment during Trump's first term. State Senate yesterday passed a bill that would ban transgender girls from participating in school sports designated for women. GP's Sarah Kalis reports.

[Sarah Kalis]

Republican Senator Greg Dolezal sponsored Senate Bill 1 and says it's about fairness.

[Mark Moore]

This bill recognizes that when you allow males to participate in female sport, it ceases to become female sport.

[Sarah Kalis]

Democratic Senator Kim Jackson proposed an amendment that would make coaches pay facilities and equipment for female sports equal to boys sports. That amendment failed, and so I am.

[Orlando Montoya]

More clear than ever today that my colleagues are not invested in truly leveling the playing field for girls sports.

[Sarah Kalis]

The bill passed 35 to 17, with two Democrats voting in favor of it. It now moves to the House. For GPB News, I'm Sarah Kalis. At the State Capitol.

[Orlando Montoya]

A judge has upheld a decision by state regulators to allow a Middle Georgia railroad to take property from private landowners outside the city of Sparta for a new rail line, GPB's Grant Blankenship explains.

[Grant Blankenship]

Last year, the Georgia Public Service Commission gave the Sandersville Railroad permission to take a nearly five mile strip of land outside of Sparta between Macon and Augusta for the Hands spur project, a short rail line connecting nearby granite quarries to larger rail lines and northern markets. Landowners rejected offers from the Sandersville Railroad to buy the land. When the PSC gave the railroad permission to take it through eminent domain, residents went to court. Some in the majority black community allege environmental racism. Now a Fulton County Superior Court judge has upheld the PSC decision. An attorney for the rail line has invited landowners back to the negotiating table. Landowners, attorneys plan to appeal to the Georgia Supreme Court. A stay on the project remains in place through the appeals for GPB News, I'm Grant Blankenship in Macon.

[Orlando Montoya]

State senators are considering prohibiting Georgia Power from passing on costs associated with new data centers along to other customers. The energy hungry facilities have been growing rapidly in Georgia, requiring the company to make expensive new investments. A Senate committee discussed a bill addressing their impact on other ratepayers today and could vote on the measure at its next meeting. An 11 story tower is opening tomorrow on the campus at Northeast Georgia Medical center in Gainesville. The Level 1 Trauma center now has a helipad and 96 additional beds. GPB's Ellen Eldredge has more.

[Sarah Kalis]

The new facility means trauma patients will be evaluated more quickly. Quickly before helicopters had to land in a parking lot and transfer patients via ambulance, it took 12 minutes at best. Carol Burrell is the president and CEO of Northeast Georgia Health System. She says now when that helipad lands.

[Mark Moore]

On the top of the tower, there is an elevator that goes directly to either the stroke floor, the cardiac floor, or all the way to the emergency room, depending on what the issue is. It can drop in 30 seconds.

[Sarah Kalis]

Burrell says the hospital currently contributes not just care, but over $7.5 billion in economic impact to the community. For GPB News, I'm Ellen Eldredge.

[Orlando Montoya]

And that's it for today's edition of GEORGIA Today. I'm Orlando Montoya. It's been a pleasure filling in for Peter Biello. These past two days he has been in Savannah at the Savannah Book Festival. Festival. That's where I'll be tomorrow and this weekend. And we are your two public radio book nerds. Of course. We will bring you stories from the Savannah Book Festival in upcoming episodes of Narrative Edge, GPB's podcast about books. So check out Narrative Edge. And yeah, have fun at the Savannah Book Festival. If you're going to be in the Hostess City this weekend and I leave you, as I always do, with invitation to check out our website for more information about these [e-mail] news hit subscribe on this podcast so you always stay current with us in your feed and send us feedback to georgia todaypb.org we'll even take your book recommendations or invitations to other book festivals across the state. Have a great weekend everybody.

[Sarah Kalis]

Each morning it's a new opportunity, a chance to start fresh up first. From NPR makes each morning an opportunity to learn and to understand. Choose to join the world every morning with Upfirst, a podcast that hands you everything going on across the globe and down the street, all in 15 minutes or less. Start your day informed and anew with up first by subscribing wherever you get your podcasts.