McBath forms exploratory committee to run for governor
ATLANTA - U.S. Rep. Lucy McBath, D-Marietta, filed paperwork Wednesday creating an exploratory committee for a potential race for governor next year. "Georgians deserve a governor who understands what's at stake because they've lived it," McBath wrote in a prepared...
State House sends two speed camera bills to Senate
ATLANTA - The Georgia House of Representatives passed two bills Tuesday aimed at reining in abuses in the use of speed-detection cameras in school zones. One of the bills would ban the cameras altogether, while a second would put restrictions on the use of the cameras...
Comprehensive school-safety bill clears Georgia House
ATLANTA - A comprehensive school-safety bill prompted by last year's school shooting in Barrow County passed the Georgia House of Representatives overwhelmingly Tuesday. House Bill 268, which cleared the House 159-13, is a top priority for House Speaker Jon Burns....
Georgia Senate seeks enhanced penalties for using computers to generate obscenity
The Georgia Senate adopted legislation Tuesday that would make it a felony to distribute computer-generated obscenity that appears to depict a child, even one that isn't real. Senate Bill 9, which passed 46-9, would also enhance the criminal penalties for offenses...
Georgia Senate passes another exemption to participation requirements of new private education voucher program
Children of active duty military parents would be able to obtain one of Georgia's new private education tuition subsidies without having to first attend an underperforming public school, under a measure adopted by the Georgia Senate Tuesday. The state began taking...
Georgia Senate Republicans pass religious freedom law, raising concerns about discrimination
Georgia courts would have to give more weight to religious custom and preference when applying the law in disputes about individual rights if legislation adopted by the Republican-led state Senate Tuesday becomes law. The Georgia Religious Freedom Restoration Act,...
Georgia House OKs bill easing burden of proof of intellectual disability in death penalty cases
ATLANTA - The state House of Representatives voted unanimously Tuesday to make it easier for defendants in death penalty cases to establish intellectual disability as a defense. Georgia is the only state among the 27 that allow capital punishment to execute convicted...
Georgia House panel mulls PFAS bill
ATLANTA - Representatives of Georgia manufacturers asked state lawmakers Tuesday to pass legislation shielding them from lawsuits brought by victims of contamination from "forever chemicals" - known as PFAS - in their water. But lawyers representing those victims told...