by Mark Niesse | Mar 17, 2026 | Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA — Something unusual happened to an anti-fentanyl bill in the Georgia Senate on Monday.
Republicans and Democrats listened to each other, amended the bill to target fentanyl traffickers instead of addicts, and then voted unanimously to pass it.
In a highly partisan environment, that kind of democratic process is rare. More often, the Republican majority doesn’t entertain Democrats’ frequent criticisms.
This time was different.
“If you’ll just listen a little bit and be willing to hear the other side’s opinion, whether that other side is in your party or not, it doesn’t matter,” Lt. Gov. Burt Jones, a Republican candidate for governor, said to senators moments before the vote. “But if you’ll just listen and talk through things, some of these things can get worked out without having to posture so much.”
The Senate voted 53-0 to pass the amended House Bill 535, sending it back to the House for consideration in the closing days of this year’s legislative session.
If approved, the legislation would impose minimum sentences of 2 ½ years in prison for possession of more than 4 grams of fentanyl and up to 35 years imprisonment for possession of larger amounts. The proposal would revise a law passed last year that imposed mandatory sentences for fentanyl trafficking.
Before the bill was amended on the Senate floor, it would have required heightened prison sentences for possession of at least 4 grams of any other drugs — such as cocaine, Adderall, Xanax, or marijuana — that were laced with smaller amounts of fentanyl.
Democrats who opposed the original bill said it would target drug possession by users who had no intention of selling fentanyl.
Fentanyl overdoses are the leading cause of death for Americans ages 18-44, usually in combination with other drugs, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The prospects for amending the bill didn’t seem promising when Sen. Josh McLaurin, D-Sandy Springs, a candidate for lieutenant governor and a persistent critic of Republicans, sought to remove the bill’s language punishing possession of over 4 grams of any drug that contains trace amounts of fentanyl.
“Throwing people in prison for decades and putting them on probation for decades isn’t doing anything to make us safer. It’s just giving us political talking points so we can all say we’re tough on crime,” McLaurin said. “That’s a hard realization to swallow for a lot of people in this building.”
Republicans responded that they didn’t want to punish addicts, but were seeking stronger laws against fentanyl distributors.
After over an hour of debate, the Senate reached a compromise when Sen. Bill Cowsert, R-Athens, offered his own amendment. He proposed requiring the mandatory minimum sentences only when the amount of fentanyl is over 4 grams, either alone or in combination with other drugs.
Both the Republican majority and Democratic minority approved that change. The bill distinguishes distributors from users by allowing judges to impose shorter sentences on defendants who aren’t leaders of the criminal conduct, didn’t use a weapon during the crime, or didn’t have a prior felony conviction.
Cowsert, a candidate for attorney general, said elected officials need to be open-minded.
“We get called flip-floppers or whatever if you change your mind,” Cowsert said. “But what we’re pointing out here is that we’re not trying to criminalize somebody that inadvertently buys a Xanax or an Adderall or marijuana that has trace amounts of fentanyl in it that can be deadly.”
by Mark Niesse | Mar 16, 2026 | Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA — Georgia taxpayers are getting some of their money back.
With a unanimous vote Monday, the state Senate gave final approval to a bill that will distribute tax rebates worth $250 to individuals and $500 to married couples.
Gov. Brian Kemp proposed the rebates, guaranteeing that he’ll sign them into law.
Giving money back to Georgians is part of a bipartisan focus on affordability. The General Assembly’s Republican majority emphasized tax savings, including rebates and pending bills that would reduce income tax rates and curb property tax increases.
“It’s the taxpayers’ money. Give it back to them,” said state Sen. Bo Hatchett, R-Cornelia. “Gov. Kemp’s policies have been working, and they work on both sides of the aisle.”
The Senate voted 53-0 to approve House Bill 1000 after it passed the House 172-0 earlier this month.
The rebates will cost nearly $1.1 billion, funded by the state government’s $14 billion surplus.
Democrats have mostly opposed deep, long-term income tax cuts, but they supported this partial refund of income taxes paid in 2024 and 2025.
“It’s good, commonsense legislation,” said Senate Minority Leader Harold Jones, D-Augusta. “We were proud to vote for it.”
This will be the fourth time in the last five years that the state government has distributed tax rebates. Last year, the government began sending rebates in the summer months.
Rebates will be sent either by direct deposit or by check based on how Georgians paid their taxes this year.
Everyone who filed income tax returns for the 2024 and 2025 tax years and paid taxes in those years is eligible to receive a refund.
by Mark Niesse | Mar 12, 2026 | Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA — Forget paper money. Georgia senators want to legalize using gold and silver for everyday purchases.
The Senate passed a bill last week that would set up a system for Georgians to buy gold, store it in a depository, and use a debit card to spend it on items such as fast food or milkshakes.
Senators are selling gold as a hedge against inflation of the U.S. dollar, but skeptics say gold doesn’t necessarily protect hard-earned cash from rising prices.
Sen. Marty Harbin, R-Tyrone, the sponsor of Senate Bill 424, said making gold legal tender will bring “financial freedom” to Georgians.
“It’s really true money, because paper money is currency that we have the faith of the government in it,” Harbin said. “This is hard currency that we can own.”
The bill passed on a bipartisan 29-21 vote Friday and now advances to the House.
Under the legislation, a politically appointed “Bullion Depository Commission” would contract with a private company, such as Brinks, to provide vault and electronic payment systems for gold and silver.
Critics say the idea doesn’t make financial sense.
For Georgians are trying to avoid inflation, investing in gold also comes with risks, said Campbell Harvey, a finance professor at Duke University with expertise in decentralized finance and investment management.
“Gold is as volatile as the stock market. There is no guarantee that it will provide a hedge for inflation in the short term,” Harvey said. “What if inflation surges and the price of gold goes down? This is not, in my opinion, the business that a state should engage in.”
Instead of buying gold directly, Georgians could instead purchase it through an exchange-traded fund, which has lower costs and security issues, Harvey said. Gold is near record-high values today, but he said buying at a high point is often an investing mistake.
The bill calls for the costs of gold storage to be paid in the form of storage fees charged to Georgia residents who choose to use it. Harbin said public money wouldn’t be used to run the depository.
Several other states recognize gold as legal tender, including Arkansas, Florida, Missouri, Texas, and Utah.
Legislators also moved forward with another bill that would change transactions.
The price of products sold in-person in Georgia would be rounded down to the nearest five cents, according to House Bill 1112, which passed the House on Friday. The bill is a response to the Trump administration’s decision to stop making pennies.
by Mark Niesse | Mar 11, 2026 | Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA — Georgia has some of the loosest gun laws in the nation, but a bill to remove the state’s restriction on silencers tested lawmakers’ limits.
The gun silencer bill fell four votes short in the House on Friday, a rare defeat for pro-gun proposals in Georgia.
Other bills that expand protections for gun owners advanced, including legislation strengthening Georgia’s “stand your ground” law and a measure banning cities from passing local gun storage laws.
Meanwhile, a proposal to provide Georgians a tax credit worth up to $300 for the purchase of gun safes stalled in the Senate this year. The latest version of House Bill 79 creates a tax holiday for the purchase of firearms and only allows the tax credit to pay for gun safety classes, not for gun safes.
“They’re very much ignoring the problem” of gun violence, said Heather Hallett, director for Georgia Majority for Gun Safety. “They haven’t adjusted to this reality where we know the majority of people support our principles. They can vote on gun safety.”
Georgia Majority for Gun Safety supports universal background checks for gun purchases, secure storage requirements, red flag laws that take guns from those whom a judge deems to be a threat, and funding for secure storage education.
Gun rights advocates said they’re disappointed the bill lifting Georgia’s limits on silencers fell short in the House. A similar bill passed the Senate.
State law bans possessing silencers unless Georgians pass a federal background check.
James Rankhorn, president of the gun rights group GA2A, said if the courts rule the federal requirement is illegal, silencers would then become prohibited for everyone in Georgia.
Rankhorn said lawmakers shouldn’t try to restrict firearms or silencers to address gun violence, including school shootings such as the killing of two students and two teachers at Apalachee High School in Barrow County in 2024.
“I don’t think there is an answer in state law. Anytime there’s a catastrophe, people bounce these proposals around,” Rankhorn said. “When you look at the situation and look at the law they proposed and compare it to the event that sparked the discussion, they law they proposed would not have stopped the incident.”
A jury found the Colin Gray, the father of the teenager accused of the Apalachee school shooting, guilty last week of second-degree murder and several other crimes.
Gray said he bought his son the rifle used in the shooting for Christmas, and witnesses in the trial said he allowed his son to keep the rifle in his bedroom. Prosecutors said Gray ignored years of warnings from mental health professionals, the kind of concerns that gun safety advocates say could have triggered a “red flag” law if Georgia had one.
Rep. Michelle Au, D-Johns Creek, said in the House on Friday she resented that Georgia legislators were seriously considering a bill to loosen restrictions on gun silencers.
“A gunshot is loud by design, and that sound is not just a fun noise, right? It’s a critical warning sign that alerts people nearby that something is wrong. It prompts witnesses to call 911, it prompts bystanders to run away, it helps police to identify the location of a threat,” Au said of House Bill 1324. “I cannot believe how stupid it is that I need to make these points.”
Sen. Frank Ginn, R-Danielsville, said silencers help hunters without disturbing animals as much, and they stifle noise that leads to hearing loss. He said Senate Bill 499 would safeguard the ability of law-abiding gun owners to continue using silencers.
“It makes sure that the 270,000 folks in Georgia who have a silencer will be able to keep that, regardless of what changes in federal law,” Ginn said.
Although SB 499 passed the Senate, its prospects are uncertain after the House rejected its own silencer legislation, with Democrats opposed and numerous Republicans skipping the vote.
Everytown for Gun Safety, a pro-gun control group, ranked Georgia as having the 44th-weakest gun safety laws in the United States.
In the wake of the Apalachee shooting, the General Assembly approved a bill last year that requires public school districts to identify and mitigate potential threats from students, implement panic alert systems, and create student behavioral health plans.
by Mark Niesse | Mar 11, 2026 | Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA — With legislators running for higher office, longtime lawmakers retiring, and many challenges to incumbents, the Georgia General Assembly is set for high turnover after this year’s elections.
Control of the state House and Senate is at stake as Republicans are defending the majorities they’ve held in both chambers for over 20 years.
Eighteen senators and representatives signed up to run for higher offices before candidate qualifying ended last week, leaving behind districts where they would have been incumbents seeking reelection. In the contest for lieutenant governor alone, five senators are competing against each other.
And many new challengers entered the fray. A total of 537 candidates are running for 236 seats in the General Assembly.
To take control of the House, Democrats need to flip 10 seats. Republicans currently hold a 99-77 advantage, with four Democratic-leaning seats vacant. Democrats have already secured two of those seats because no Republicans are running.
“The wave is building, and Georgia can feel it,” said House Minority Leader Carolyn Hugley, D-Columbus. “We are within striking distance of the majority, and this qualifying period has made one thing absolutely clear: House Democrats are not just competing — we are coming to win.”
Republicans hold firmer control of the Senate, where they have a 32-23 advantage, with one GOP-leaning seat vacant.
Republican Party Chair Josh McKoon said Georgia remains a center-right state, but no election can be taken for granted.
“Republicans have been great stewards of the public trust. When you look at the Republican record, it’s really striking how they’ve made Georgia such an engine of economic growth,” McKoon said. “Voters will continue to reward Republicans for that record.”
Despite the flood of candidates, some incumbents lack any challengers, especially in deeply conservative or liberal districts.
There are 54 seats where only one candidate filed to run for election, effectively winning their races before a vote is cast.
Besides candidates running for higher office, retirements and resignations also created openings.
The nine retiring legislators include House Speaker Pro Tem Jan Jones, R-Milton; House Natural Resources Chair Lynn Smith, R-Newnan; Sen. Ed Harbison, D-Columbus; and Sen. Elena Parent, D-Decatur.
Three Democrats left the House after facing federal charges for COVID-19 unemployment fraud. Reps. Karen Bennett, D-Stone Mountain, and Dexter Sharper, D-Valdosta, resigned from office. Rep. Sharon Henderson, D-Covington, was suspended from the House by Gov. Brian Kemp, and she’s running for state Senate.
