by Mark Niesse | Feb 23, 2026 | Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA — State Rep. Lynn Smith, one of the longest-serving representatives in the Georgia House, plans to retire after 30 years focused on environmental issues.
Smith, R-Newnan, is the chair of the House Natural Resources and Environment Committee, which is responsible for bills dealing with pollution, water safety, and waste.
Smith said she championed legislation that protected water resources, dedicated funding to outdoor areas, and established Chattahoochee Bend State Park in her district.
“I’m incredibly proud of how we’ve worked to improve Georgia’s prosperity and quality of life while also protecting the state’s beauty, history, and environmental legacy,” Smith said in an announcement of her retirement Monday.
Smith was first elected to the Georgia House in 1996, and she plans to complete her term, which ends after November’s elections.
“Chairwoman Smith has established a legislative legacy that will safeguard the environment and natural treasures across our state for future generations to cherish,” said House Speaker Jon Burns, R-Newington.
by Mark Niesse | Feb 23, 2026 | Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA — Lt. Gov. Burt Jones can no longer raise millions of dollars for his gubernatorial campaign through a special fundraising committee, a setback in his race for the Republican nomination.
A federal judge ruled Friday in favor of a Republican rival, Rick Jackson, whose lawsuit alleged that Jones gained an unfair advantage through WBJ Leadership Committee, which state law exempts from the same campaign contribution rules that apply to other candidates.
The decision is a blow against Jones’ use of a Georgia fundraising tool called leadership committees that allow a handful of powerful politicians, including the lieutenant governor, to avoid campaign finance limits under a state law passed in 2021.
Unlike Jones’ leadership committee, which can raise unlimited funds, all other candidates for statewide offices this year are only permitted to raise $8,400 per donor for primary and general elections and $4,800 per donor for runoffs.
Jackson, a billionaire health care executive whose surprise candidacy shook up the race this month, praised U.S. District Judge Thomas Thrash’s order granting a temporary restraining order.
“A federal court today made clear that Burt Jones doesn’t get his own rulebook,” said Dave Abrams, a spokesman for Jackson’s campaign.
The court ruling granted Jackson’s request to stop WBJ Leadership Committee from raising or spending money for Jones’ campaign, and to cancel campaign ads purchased since Feb. 10.
WBJ Leadership Committee, which is led by Jones, had a $15.9 million balance as of Jan. 31, according to a campaign finance filing. Jones’ regular campaign committee had $3.3 million on hand.
Leadership committees have been stopped by courts in the past. Democrat Stacey Abrams and Republican David Perdue won similar lawsuits against Gov. Brian Kemp in 2022.
“We’re not surprised Rick Jackson is taking a page from Stacey Abrams’ playbook, using lawfare to target President Trump’s endorsed candidate for governor. Georgia Republicans have already rejected that strategy — and they’ll reject it again,” said Kayla Lott, a spokeswoman for Jones’ campaign.
Attorney General Chris Carr, another Republican contender for governor, had previously lost a court challenge to Georgia’s leadership committees based on different legal arguments.
“This is a significant shift in the landscape of this race,” said Carr’s campaign. “That leadership committee has been the primary vehicle holding and deploying Burt Jones’ financial resources. With it now shut down, his campaign has lost its primary source of spending power.”
Jackson, Carr, and Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger aren’t allowed to have leadership committees in their campaigns for governor. Under Georgia’s leadership committee law, they’re only permitted for the governor, lieutenant governor, Democratic and Republican nominees for those offices, and legislative leaders of each party.
Raffensperger’s campaign had a nearly $5.4 million balance as of Jan. 31, and Carr’s campaign had almost $3.2 million, according to their campaign finance disclosures. Jackson hasn’t yet reported contributions since he launched his campaign earlier this month.
The judge hasn’t ruled on what will happen to the money held by Jones’ leadership committee. Jackson’s lawsuit said contributions should be refunded to Jones’ donors.
by Mark Niesse | Feb 18, 2026 | Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA — Move over, peaches, peanuts, and pecans.
Lemon pepper wings could soon join the ranks of official Georgia foods, according to a bipartisan bill considered by lawmakers Wednesday.
Lemon pepper wings are a “cultural and culinary phenomenon,” said state Rep. Eric Bell, D-Jonesboro, the bill’s sponsor.
“Lemon pepper is something that’s synonymous with the state of Georgia, and people across our nation have come to know Georgia as famous for its lemon pepper wings,” Bell said. “This is a homegrown identity.”
The renown of Georgia’s lemon pepper wings has grown in recent years through references by hip-hop artists Rick Ross, Quavo and Gucci Mane, Bell told the House Special Rules Committee.
Forget Buffalo wings, invented in Buffalo, New York.
Lemon pepper wings have become a source of Georgia pride and heritage that could attract tourists to local restaurants, Bell said.
Based on the reaction from the committee’s chairman, the bill has a chance of becoming law.
“I’ll have to agree with you that is my favorite wing too is the lemon pepper wing. I do like them better than any other kind,” said Special Rules Chairman Mitchell Scoggins, R-Cartersville.
The committee could soon vote on House Bill 1013. If approved, it would advance to a vote in the full state House of Representatives.
by Mark Niesse | Feb 18, 2026 | Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA — Republican senators are pitching giant income tax cuts to make Georgia more affordable, a plan that Democrats warn could lead to fewer government services or sales tax hikes.
The income tax relief proposal, which passed the state Senate last week, would exempt the first $50,000 of annual earnings by an individual and $100,000 for a married couple while lowering the income tax rate.
To fund such sweeping tax cuts, the Senate’s Republican majority is seeking to end tax breaks for new data centers and other business interests. But eliminating those tax breaks would save less than $3 billion a year, and the income tax overhaul would cost the state government $6 billion.
Another Republican-sponsored bill would slash the state’s income tax rate, from 5.19% to 3.99% by 2028, adding another $3 billion to the loss of government revenue.
If sales tax rates rise or the government scales back public spending, residents will pay the price, said Danny Kanso, a budget analyst for the liberal-leaning Georgia Budget & Policy Institute.
“The working class and middle-class folks might get hit twice — they might see their taxes going up and they might lose services,” Kanso said. “There are a lot of losers, and there might be very few winners.”
Republican supporters of the tax cuts dismiss those concerns, saying the middle class needs relief from rising prices.
The total amount of Georgia’s annual tax breaks for businesses is $30 billion, a ready funding source to reduce income taxes paid by residents, said state Sen. Blake Tillery, R-Vidalia, during a Senate debate last week.
“Are we going to vote to allow corporate welfare and corporate subsidies at the expense of families who are trying to pay for gas, groceries, and child care?” Tillery asked. “Or are we going to comb back those credits … and eliminate that tax burden on those hard-working families?”
State Sen. Elena Parent, D-Decatur, called the income tax cut bills a “scam” and a “fairy tale.”
She said she’s worried that Republicans will try to make up for the revenue loss by raising sales taxes, cutting public services or shutting down public universities.
“It is complete magical thinking,” Parent said of the income tax cut bills during a Senate speech. “It’s about delivering a headline without telling you what happens next when politicians promise you something for nothing. It’s usually you who will end up paying.”
So far, the income tax bills don’t seek those kinds of sales tax increases or government downsizing.
The proposals would be partially funded by eliminating a series of tax breaks for data centers, rent-controlled apartments, insurance companies, business headquarters, banks, crab fishermen, electric vehicle chargers, telecommunications facilities, and boat repairers, among others.
The fate of the income tax plans is in flux now that they’re in the hands of the state House, which could amend Senate Bills 476 and 477, or move forward with its own ideas.
House leaders are promoting a different way of trimming residents’ tax burden: They want to eliminate property taxes on a homeowner’s primary property, replacing them with different kinds of taxes for services such as schools, police and fire departments.
“If you don’t decrease your cost of government, then all you’re doing is shifting around the burden of paying for government,” said Clint Mueller, deputy director of the Association County Commissioners of Georgia, which advocates for county governments. “If you take it off one type of taxpayer, it has to be paid by a different type of taxpayer.”
by Mark Niesse | Feb 17, 2026 | Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA — Republican Steven McNeel won a runoff for a Macon-area Georgia Senate seat Tuesday, holding off Democrat LeMario Brown, who had sought to flip the district.
Democrats had hoped to gain ground in the Republican-dominated Senate after victories in statewide Public Service Commission elections last November and in a special election for an Athens-area state House seat in December.
But most voters in the conservative-leaning district decided to keep it under Republican control, according to unofficial results. McNeel received nearly 60% of the vote.
McNeel, an attorney who manages a timber farm, will join the state Senate midway through this year’s legislative session, replacing former Sen. John F. Kennedy, who resigned to run for lieutenant governor.
McNeel will represent Senate District 18, which includes Crawford, Monroe, Peach and Upson counties along with parts of Bibb and Houston counties.
Brown, a former Fort Valley councilman and small business owner, had emerged as the leader in the initial election last month, but a runoff was required because none of the candidates received a majority. Brown was the only Democrat in the race, and the other five candidates split the Republican vote.
With McNeel’s victory, Republicans will hold a 32-23 majority in the Senate.
One Senate seat is vacant after former state Sen. Colton Moore resigned to run for the congressional seat previously held by U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Green. The special election for Green’s former northwest Georgia seat is scheduled for March 10.
