By Jill Nolin | Editor
“We ended up having to backfill the deficit for the department to the tune of about $80 million. What we need to do is figure out what the right number is without affecting services for the kids, because they should not be the victim of budgetary issues.” — state Sen. Kay Kirkpatrick, a Marietta Republican
State Sen. Kay Kirkpatrick, a Marietta Republican, is co-leading a legislative effort to investigate what is driving up the cost of child welfare services in Georgia. Ross Williams/Georgia Recorder
FOSTER CARE
By Ross Williams
Taking care of vulnerable children in Georgia has gotten a lot more expensive, and lawmakers are hoping to figure out why.
“We’re trying to figure out what happened,” said state Sen. Kay Kirkpatrick, a Marietta Republican. “And unfortunately, nobody had a whole lot of notice that we were in a deficit situation with that particular population.”
In late 2025, the Georgia Division of Family and Children Services, which oversees the state’s foster system, cut services for families and terminated contracts for nonprofits as they faced a projected budget deficit of about $85 million.
Republican U.S. Senate candidate Mike Collins speaks at a Georgia Chamber event in Athens, Aug. 5, 2026. Ross Williams/Georgia Recorder
2026 ELECTION
By Ross Williams
A Savannah man who received a pardon for his actions on Jan. 6 and who is a self-described provocateur is at the heart of the latest stir in Georgia’s closely watched U.S. Senate race.
During the question-and-answer portion of a Tuesday breakfast event at a Savannah golf club, Dominic Box introduced himself as a “non-violent Jan. 6-er from here in Savannah” and asked Collins about his thoughts on a controversial plan to compensate victims of the “weaponization” of the justice system.
Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger attends Georgia's risk-limiting audit of the May 19 primary election on May 28, 2026. Maya Homan/Georgia Recorder
VOTING
By Maya Homan
The Georgia Secretary of State’s office is launching a bipartisan task force to shore up voter confidence in election results on both sides of the aisle.
The organization, which is made up of former elected officials from both parties, county election workers and other election experts, officially launched Wednesday. Members include former Democratic Governor Roy Barnes, former GOP U.S. Sen. Saxby Chambliss, former GOP U.S. Rep. Drew Ferguson and former Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin, who is a Democrat.
In an interview, Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, who is a Republican, said he hopes the appointees’ long records of public service will help voters trust the results of the midterm elections.
An executive order President Donald Trump signed earlier this week says the attorney general will take legal action against states that do not provide “religious and medical exemptions from childhood and adolescent immunization requirements.” (Photo by Parker Michels-Boyce for the Virginia Mercury)
PUBLIC HEALTH
By Tim Henderson
A largely overlooked part of the executive order President Donald Trump issued this week scaling back the schedule for childhood vaccines threatens legal action against the four states that don’t allow personal or religious exemptions to school vaccine requirements.
Those states — California, Connecticut, Maine and New York — are among the states with the highest immunization rates, and they are among those that have been most successful in controlling the worst measles outbreak in more than three decades.
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ICYMI FROM THE RECORDER
GOP candidates outraise Democrats so far in most — but not all — of Georgia’s statewide contests | Maya Homan and Alander Rocha
Lawmakers say data loss is keeping hurricane-harmed Georgia farmers from insurance payments | Ross Williams
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