Shafer Pulls Out of Race

It looks like Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle will have a clear path to the GOP nomination for re-election. Republican state Sen. David Shafer said today he is abandoning his bid for the state's No. 2 spot. Shafer had entered the race when it looked like Cagle was running for governor. But Cagle pulled out last month citing health problems and said he would seek re-election as lieutenant governor instead. Shafer said Monday he entered the race because it was an open seat and said there was "no point" in remaining in if Cagle was well enough to run. The other Republican candidate for lieutenant governor, state Sen. Eric Johnson of Savannah, has already said he will run for governor instead. No Democrats have announced for the 2010 race.

(Associated Press)

GA bids for TN water

Two Georgia legislators want Tennessee to share water from its river with Atlanta. Republican Senator David Shafer of Duluth and Republican Representative Harry Geisinger of Roswell say they will introduce legislation Wednesday that would in effect move Georgia's northwest boundary a mile north. That would mean a section of the Tennessee River would flow into Georgia. The two cite what they call an old survey that placed the marker below Tennessee's Nickajack Reservoir when it should have been situated in the middle of the river.

Senate bill would take control from Grady authority

A state senator is threatening to wrestle control of Grady Hospital from its current authority and give it to a nonprofit corporation, unless the hospital solves its financial crisis on its own.

Sen. David Shafer (R-Duluth) says he'll introduce a bill in the next session of the General Assembly to address Grady's financial woes. If the bill becomes law, it will require the Fulton-DeKalb Hospital Authority to cede day-to-day management of Grady to a nonprofit corporation. A task force also has recommended the change, and Shafer says he's trying to put the Authority's feet to the fire.

"They certainly ought to do it themselves and it's my hope that they would do it themselves," Shafer says. "But we've got to be ready to take action if they continue to drag their feet."

The bill does not provide what all concerned say Grady needs the most: money. Hospital officials say they may have to shut their doors unless they get $120 million this year. Fulton and DeKalb Counties fund the hospital's operations, even though patients come from all over the metropolitan area. Senior state officials say they will consider state funding, but only if Grady restructures its management.