Georgia Today: SNAP benefits at risk; Crime drops in Atlanta; Effect of Trump tariffs on retail

Peter Biello: Welcome to the Georgia Today podcast. Here, we bring you the latest reports from the GPB news team. On today's episode, Georgia Democrats say kids may go hungry because of Republican proposed cuts to SNAP benefits. New data show a drop in crime in Atlanta, and President Trump's tariffs change the way one Georgia toy retailer is stocking her shelves.

Florence Allen: In my industry, I should be ordering for Christmas and I'm not. I'm kind of — I'm holding back.

Peter Biello: Today is Wednesday, May 14. I'm Peter Biello, and this is Georgia Today.

Story 1:

Peter Biello: Georgia Pacific is closing its container board mill in Southwest Georgia's Early County. The company's plans announced today will end about 535 jobs at one of the region's largest employers, with most jobs gone by August. The Atlanta-based pulp and paper giant says it doesn't believe the plant can serve its customers competitively in the long term. The mill opened in 1963 as the Great Southern Paper Company and was acquired by Georgia Pacific in 1990.

Caption

Crime scene tape

Story 2:

Peter Biello: Crime in Atlanta is down for the first four months of this year. GPB's Amanda Andrews reports.

Amanda Andrews: Homicide, vehicle theft and shootings are all down compared to this time last year. APD credits programs like Midnight Basketball, diversion services and the "No More" domestic violence Campaign for the decline. Chief Darin Schierbaum says homicide prevention starts with friends and family practicing conflict resolution.

Darin Schierbaum: So I don't expect anyone to step in the middle of a gunfight, but we all have what we can do to prevent that, to ever reaching that level. And so it is a community answer, it's not a police answer, because we don't have those abilities to be there all the time.

Amanda Andrews: There has been a slight rise in some crimes, including robbery and sexual assault. Mayor Andre Dickens recently proposed a 19% increase in police funding. For GPB News, I'm Amanda Andrews.

Story 3:

Peter Biello: Georgia U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff is launching an investigation into corporate ownership of single-family homes. GPB's Chase McGee reports the trend is coming under fire as more Georgians struggle to buy or rent a home.

Chase McGee: Metro Atlanta leads the nation in private equity ownership of single-family homes. That's according to Dr. Taylor Shelton with Georgia State University, who spoke at a press conference with Ossoff.

Dr. Taylor Shelton: In just the last 15 years, large companies have come in and bought up over 70,000 properties across metro Atlanta alone, accounting for over 30% of the region's single-family rental properties, or roughly 10 times the national rate.

Chase McGee: Dr. Shelton's study also breaks down rental properties by state house district, where as much as 99.6% of the housing market is owned by private equity. Three corporations, Blackstone Progress Residential and Amherst Holdings, use hundreds of different names and addresses in what Dr. Shelton calls an effort to obscure their ownership. Sen. Ossoff says the investigation into those owners is ongoing. For GPB News, I'm Chase McGee.

​​​​​​​Story 4:

Peter Biello: Entertainment giant Live Nation plans to build a 5,000-seat live music venue in downtown Atlanta. Officials behind the $5 billion mixed-use megaproject Centennial Yards announced the partnership today. Centennial Yards president Brian McGowan says the Live Nation venue will be a quote "anchor tenant" in the district now under construction.

Brian McGowan: For us, it really gives great lift to the vision that we have created and the vision that we've been executing on. It kind of adds wind to our sails. Uh, we're super excited about having them as part of the project.

Peter Biello: Centennial Yards promises to transform a long underused part of downtown, known mostly for rail tracks and parking lots, into a blend of entertainment, dining, shopping, hotels and apartments. Several projects in the 50-acre master plan are already done. More are scheduled to open before the World Cup arrives in Atlanta next year. The Live Nation venue is expected to be complete in 2027.

​​​​​​​Story 5:

Peter Biello: Republicans in the U.S. House yesterday unveiled their proposal to tighten eligibility for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP. They want to extend the program's work requirements. Two Georgia congressmen serve on the committee that oversees SNAP. Metro Atlanta Democrat David Scott says the plan puts the program 41,000 recipients in his district at risk of food and security.

David Scott: My Republican colleagues are throwing these families under the bus to pay for a tax cut.

Peter Biello: South Georgia Republican Austin Scott applauded the proposal, saying Georgia's cash reserves are, quote, "so full" that they could cover the cuts in assistance. The GOP plan could total about $300 billion in budget savings.

Caption

William's Fun Smart Toys in Macon.

Credit: Courtesy

​​​​​​​Story 6:

Peter Biello: President Donald Trump has delayed or reduced many of his most severe tariffs against America's trading partners, including China, but some import taxes remain in place. What also remains is the uncertainty for small businesses that import many of their products. William's Fun Smart Toys and Macon is one of those businesses. Shop owner Florence Allen is with me now to talk about tariff uncertainty and changes to the way she does business. Welcome to the program.

Florence Allen: Well, thank you for having me on.

Peter Biello: Broadly speaking, how do these tariffs and the back and forth on tariffs make you feel as a small business owner?

Florence Allen: The back and forth is frustrating from my perspective because it seems like that from one day to the next or one week to the next, it's hard to plan. And for me in in my industry and how my business cycle works on a yearly basis, I should be ordering for Christmas and I'm not. I'm kind of — I'm holding back. Even with this recent tariff decrease announcement, there's still a lot of uncertainty within that for the manufacturers that I order from.

Peter Biello: And how much of your inventory — how much of the things you sell — is imported?

Florence Allen: It's like 80% of the world's toys are made in China. They come out of China. But for me personally, in my store, I would say anywhere from 5 to 10% of the toys in my store are U.S.-made. The rest comes from either China or other sources in the world.

Peter Biello: When President Trump took office, he was not shy about saying tariffs were coming. What did you do to prepare for any potential tariffs?

Florence Allen: My gut feeling was something was going to happen that was gonna affect supply or my cost or both. And so I'm looking at my bigger vendors and I'm going on and selectively restocking in things that I sell all throughout the year. Like, babies are born all, you know, 12 months out of the year so I constantly have people that come in and want baby gifts.

Peter Biello: Seems like what you're saying is knowing the tariffs may come, you stocked up on select things that you knew you were going to need year-round.

Florence Allen: Yes, and really, you know, to carry me to the fall.

Peter Biello: Have you had to increase prices yet? Or do you see that happening in the future?

Florence Allen: I only increase prices when my costs go up. So I had some slight increases in January. I can think on one company that their item went from — and it was an impulse item — it went from $2.25 to $2.50. Well, I didn't raise the price in my store on that particular item. I just kind of ate it. Now, that same impulse item now has gone from $2.50 to $3. Well, when I get my new order in, I'm gonna have to raise the price of it, because at that point, it falls outside of what I need to charge. Because I have my overhead, I have the cost of my utilities, I have two employees I pay.

Peter Biello: What do you want consumers to understand about tariffs and how they affect small businesses like yours?

Florence Allen: I think consumers need to really understand that the tariffs really are going to affect their pocketbook. You know, that tariff that's being paid when a product hits our country, you know, the importer is going to pay the tariff and they're going to tack it on [...] if they send it to a distributor. You know I've got my big toy show coming up in June and I just still really don't know what I'm going to do. It may be just be a lot of looking this year and then really going back and seeing where, you know, "Do I really need to order this or not?"

Peter Biello: Florence Allen, thank you so much for speaking with me.

Florence Allen: Well, thank you so much for having me on and I hope — I hope this provides some insight for people out there.

Peter Biello: That's Florence Allen, owner of William's Fun Smart Toys in Macon.

​​​​​​​Story 7:

Peter Biello: The Braves face the Nationals again at Truist Park tonight for the third of a four-game series. Last night, the Braves improved to .500 for the first time this season by beating the Nationals 5-2. Rookie catcher Drake Baldwin hit a two-run homer, going 3-for-4 overall with two RBIs, and starting pitcher Spencer Schwellenbach threw seven strong innings. Bryce Elder gets the start for the Bravers tonight. For fans hoping the Braaves will continue to improve their record, there's this glimmer of hope. Star right fielder Ronald Acuña Jr. homered during a rehab stint with the Braves Florida Complex League team yesterday and is scheduled to begin the next stage of his rehab tomorrow at Triple A Gwinnett. Acuña has been out with an ACL injury since May of last year. If all goes well, he'll be activated by June 1.

Peter Biello: We hope you enjoyed listening to Georgia Today. We've got more stories for you to enjoy at gpb.org/news. You can always send suggestions for stories we should cover and feedback on this podcast to GeorgiaToday@GPB.org. There's more news coming your way tomorrow, so make sure you subscribe to this podcast. That way we will pop up automatically in your feed tomorrow afternoon. I'm Peter Biello. Thanks again for listening. We'll see you tomorrow.

---

For more on these stories and more, go to GPB.org/news