Georgia is more than just Atlanta. 

Much more. 

We are pleased to see the Georgia General Assembly placing emphasis on rural Georgia. 

The intentional focus on smaller cities, rural counties and also on South Georgia is visible. 

In particular, just recognizing that the economic drivers for rural Georgia are not the same as metro Atlanta is important. 

Several rural-focused bills are now sitting on the desk of Gov. Brian Kemp just waiting for his signature. 

This was at least the third consecutive year that legislators focused on rural job growth.

Lawmakers passed a rural broadband bill that gives Georgia’s electric cooperatives — that already have a long-established presence in rural communities — the authority to sell high-speed internet. 

While it may be too early to know yet just how many of the state’s 41 co-ops will pursue providing rural broadband, the measure will undoubtedly spur expansion in many parts of the state.

On the health-care front, lawmakers strengthened hospital transparency requirements.

We agree with what Rep. Penny Houston said about that: “The best way to cure an infection is sunshine. The transparency is not just for rural Georgia but it’s to help health care all over. Georgia has some of the most expensive health care in the nation, and the cost of health care needs to come down.”

If signed into law, nonprofit hospitals will have to post vastly more financial information on their websites, including the salary and fringe benefits of highest-paid staffers, a list of the properties owned and any stake a hospital may have in other enterprises.

Those public disclosures will clearly benefit consumers. 

Another measure that mostly went unnoticed will make it easier for employers to cash in on a tax credit program — if they set up shop in some of the poorest rural counties in Georgia.

Companies could reap the benefit for bringing as few as 10 new decent-paying jobs in the smallest, most impoverished communities. Right now, the bar is set at 50 jobs.

Rep. Terry England explained it this way, “That’s a realization that 10 jobs in rural Georgia is the equivalent of 100, 150 in the metro region, as far as overall economic impact that it has in a small community.” 

Discussions around the measure make it clear that lawmakers are thinking about rural Georgia and finally seem to realize Georgia is not just Atlanta. 

Not by a long shot. 

We encourage our legislative delegation to follow up on this momentum and keep the focus of the General Assembly squarely on rural Georgia.

—Valdosta Daily Times