by Mark Niesse | Feb 17, 2026 | Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA — The Georgia House approved a bill Tuesday that aims to protect residential and retail customers from bearing the costs of data centers, but critics said the legislation won’t do enough.
The proposal is the first of several pending data center bills to pass either the House or Senate during this year’s legislative session.
The measure, House Bill 1063, requires electric utilities and new data centers to agree on contract terms that shield other power customers from costs of data center construction and operation.
“This bill is to ensure no family in the state should ever have to choose between keeping their lights on and keeping food on the table because someone else didn’t pay their fair share,” said state Rep. Brad Thomas, R-Holly Springs. “Data centers will pay their own way, period.”
The Public Service Commission, which regulates Georgia Power and other electricity providers, adopted similar rules last year, and Thomas said HB 1063 would make those requirements permanent.
State Rep. Stacey Evans, D-Atlanta, said the bill falls short because it still allows the Public Service Commission to raise electricity rates in response to rising demand from data centers.
“It adds no additional protections for consumers and no cost cutting mechanisms,” said state Rep. Ruwa Romman, D-Duluth. “I want every Georgian to know that this bill will not help with the concerns they brought to us. It simply codifies the status quo.”
The House passed HB 1063 with a 159-5 vote, and it now goes to the state Senate, which is considering its own customer protection proposal. Senate Bill 34 would prohibit costs from data center fuel generation and transmission from being included in residential electricity rates.
by Mark Niesse | Feb 17, 2026 | Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA — Another Democratic state legislator, state Rep. Dexter Sharper, is expected to plead guilty to COVID-19 unemployment fraud charges.
Sharper, D-Valdosta, allegedly obtained $13,825 in unemployment insurance benefits even though he was still earning income in 2020 through his party rental business and his job as a state representative, according to charges filed Jan. 30.
Sharper initially pleaded not guilty, but federal court documents filed last week show he plans to change his plea during a hearing next month.
Sharper didn’t comment Tuesday, and his attorney didn’t respond to an email.
U.S. Attorney Theodore Hertzberg said in a statement last month Sharper violated citizens’ trust in their government.
“While many of his constituents and fellow citizens were losing jobs and desperately needed unemployment assistance during the pandemic, Representative Sharper allegedly pretended to be out of work to collect a share of unemployment benefits for himself,” Hertzberg said.
Sharper was the third Democratic representative charged with defrauding pandemic unemployment programs.
Former state Rep. Karen Bennett, D-Stone Mountain, pleaded guilty to fraudulently obtaining $13,940 in unemployment supplements, and she resigned Jan. 1. She hasn’t yet been sentenced.
State Rep. Sharon Henderson, D-Covington, pleaded not guilty to similar charges related to $17,811 in unemployment benefits. Gov. Brian Kemp suspended her from office last month.
by Mark Niesse | Feb 12, 2026 | Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA — Get out of the way, slow drivers. The minimum speed limit on Georgia highways might increase to 50 mph.
Georgia lawmakers are considering raising the speedy minimum speed limit from 40 mph as a safety measure to reduce crashes caused by disparities in speed. The maximum speed limit on some highways is 70 mph.
“I want to limit the number of rear-end collisions,” said state Rep. John Carson, R-Marietta, the sponsor of House Bill 809. “I’ve received fatality reports … It’s horrific.”
The max speed limit in Georgia has steadily increased over the last few decades from 55 mph to 70 mph, but the minimum speed limit has remained at 40 mph, Carson said.
Col. William Hitchens, commissioner of the Georgia Department of Public Safety, said Georgia State Patrol officers have seen significant damage and injuries involving slow-moving vehicles.
“Driving below the speed limit can, in some cases, be as dangerous as traveling above the posted speed limit,” Hitchens wrote in a letter last month to Carson about his proposal. “Vehicles that are traveling below the minimum speed can cause traffic issues such as long backups and cause motorists to take evasive actions due to approaching the vehicle faster than expected.”
Senior citizens and student drivers might struggle with a higher minimum speed limit, said state Rep. Rhonda Taylor, D-Conyers.
“It would be a better solution … (to) move to the right,” Taylor said. “It almost feel like I’m being penalized because I can’t drive 50 miles an hour.”
Violations of Georgia’s minimum speed law are punishable by fines up to $1,000, but local jurisdictions across the state generally set penalties much lower, in the $100 to $200 range. Fines wouldn’t change under HB 809.
The bill calls for the 50 mph minimum speed limit on any part of a highway in Georgia with a speed limit 65 mph or greater.
The House Motor Vehicles Committee didn’t vote on the bill after a hearing Tuesday while lawmakers gather more information about crashes and research the cost of replacing speed limit signs. The bill could be brought up for a vote afterward.
by Mark Niesse | Feb 11, 2026 | Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA — Breweries are asking Georgia lawmakers to loosen restrictions on selling to retailers and on the amount individuals can buy to drink at home.
Craft brewers said their businesses are suffering because state law prohibits direct sales to bars, restaurants and stores. Georgia also limits to-go orders to individuals at 24 cans of beer per day.
The bill considered by a state Senate committee Tuesday is one of several pro-alcohol proposals pending at the Georgia General Assembly this year, along with measures that would allow more discounts on beer, Sunday sales in museums, and at-home liquor production.
“We need a more flexible system that allows small businesses to build their brand up locally, get their own product that they’ve made and invested in to local retailers,” said Joseph Cortes, executive director for the Georgia Craft Brewers Guild. “Then they can be more viable to one day, if they choose, get into traditional retail channels.”
Similar efforts to ease Georgia’s craft brewery laws have fallen short in recent years, and this year’s proposals also face opposition. Large alcohol companies and their distributors want to preserve the state’s system that separates alcohol makers, distributors and retailers.
“Alcohol is the No. 1 drug problem in America,” said Mike Griffin, a lobbyist for the Georgia Baptist Mission Board. “We don’t want to go back to a pre-Prohibition era where we had a Wild West of alcohol. It seems that the alcohol industry is not going to be satisfied until it is sold 24/7, including at lemonade stands.”
After Tuesday’s public hearing, the Senate Regulated Industries Committee didn’t vote on Senate Bill 456, which would permit breweries to sell up to 1,000 barrels of beer annually to retailers located within the same county and allow individuals to buy any amount for consumption outside the brewery. A vote could be scheduled as soon as next week.
Senate Majority Leader Jason Anavitarte, R-Dallas, said Georgians want more alcohol options. He sponsored Senate Bill 86, which would let retailers offer coupons and discounts on alcoholic beverages as long as the discount isn’t specific to a brand.
“For too long, the distributors have had innovation on lockdown,” Anavitarte said. “It’s big business not really wanting to see some of this growth. That’s why you’re seeing so many craft breweries struggling or closing or consolidating.”
by Mark Niesse | Feb 10, 2026 | Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA — The FBI’s investigation of the 2020 presidential election in Fulton County is focused on allegations of double-counted ballots, “pristine” absentee ballots and missing digital ballot images, according to a search warrant affidavit unsealed Tuesday.
The search warrant affidavit was the basis for an FBI raid of Fulton’s elections office last month, when agents seized 656 boxes of ballots from the 2020 presidential election.
The criminal investigation of Fulton revived allegations of wrongdoing in an election that Republican President Donald Trump lost to Democrat Joe Biden by about 12,000 votes.
State election investigations have never found intentional fraud over the last five years, but Fulton has been cited for poor ballot management, disorganized processes and counting errors.
“There were many allegations of electoral impropriety relating to the voting process and ballot counting in Fulton County, Georgia. Some of those allegations have been disproven while some of those allegations have been substantiated, including through admissions by Fulton County,” wrote FBI Special Agent Hugh Evans. “This warrant application is part of an FBI criminal investigation into whether any of the improprieties were intentional acts that violated federal criminal laws.”
The search warrant relies on several Republican witnesses who believe there was fraud. The investigation originated with Kurt Olsen, an attorney who tried to help Trump overturn his loss. Trump appointed Olsen as special government employee to investigate the 2020 election.
The FBI’s 18-page affidavit includes several claims that have been validated by previous investigations, along with other allegations that have never been confirmed.
The State Election Board reprimanded Fulton in 2024 for double-scanning over 3,000 ballots. A recent report produced by conservative election researchers, some of whom were interviewed by the FBI to justify the search warrant, said closer to 4,000 ballots were double-counted.
The allegation of “pristine,” fake, unfolded absentee ballots lacks evidence beyond Republican witnesses who made the allegation.
Georgia election investigators weren’t able to find any fake ballots in the batches identified by Republican vote-counters during an audit of the 2020 election, according to a court filing in 2021.
Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger said Georgia’s elections are safe and secure.
“Instead of wasting time and tax dollars trying to change the past with baseless and repackaged claims, let’s focus our efforts on building a safer, more affordable future for all hardworking Georgians,” Raffensperger said.
The FBI’s investigation could result in criminal charges if intentional wrongdoing is found.
The search warrant cites federal laws that require counties to maintain election records for at least 22 months and prohibit knowingly tabulating fraudulent ballots.
