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Political Rewind: Stick Or Carrot? Varied Approaches From Leaders To Boost Public Health Efforts

Caption

A resident of Monarch Villa memory care facility gets vaccinated with the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine Monday, Jan. 11, 2021, in Stockbridge, Ga. Credit: John Bazemore, AP

Friday on Political Rewind: The distressing surge of COVID-19 cases hogged many of the news headlines this week.

Many Georgia schools are back in session, and with the reopening of classrooms, debates rage over whether to require masks for students and staff. Gov. Brian Kemp faces pressure from state legislative leaders to ban mask mandates in school systems across the Peach State. Meanwhile, businesses contemplate what to do about vaccines for employees.

In other news, local Georgia officials are strategizing how they will win funds from the $1 trillion infrastructure bill if it passes the U.S. Senate. 

Meanwhile, Georgia congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene is headed to Iowa where she will hold an event that some analysts expect could be measured as a litmus test for her potential candidacy for president.

Panelists:

Greg Bluestein — Political reporter, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Rep. Stacey Evans — State representative (D-Atlanta)

Eric Tanenblatt — Republican insider

Fred Smith — Professor of constitutional law, Emory University

Copyright 2021 Georgia Public Broadcasting

Bill Nigut has been a program host and producer at Georgia Public Broadcasting since November, 2013. He currently hosts “Two Way Street,” a show that features long-form conversations with authors, artists, chefs, scientists and other creative people who have fascinating stories to tell. He is host and producer of “Political Rewind,” a twice-weekly political roundtable show featuring some of Georgia’s best-informed insiders weighing in on the big state and national political stories.
Emilia Brock is a producer for GPB's program, "On Second Thought."
Sam joined the Political Rewind team in 2019. He graduated American University in 2015 with a degree in journalism and spent time in North Carolina as a reporter at WCHL in Chapel Hill.