Hand-marked paper ballot bill fails ahead of deadline for changing Georgia’s elections
ATLANTA — Georgia senators shot down a bill Friday that would have switched the state’s voting method to paper ballots filled out by hand before this November’s elections. The bill’s defeat sets up a scramble for Georgia lawmakers to find a way to remove computer QR...
Georgia Senate GOP targets data centers, but Democrats argue bill doesn’t go far enough
ATLANTA — The Georgia Senate adopted legislation Friday that would encourage judges to think of regular people when considering disputes about contracts between electric utilities and big customers like data centers. The legislation is aimed at shielding residential...
Bill would require candidates to raise at least half their money within Georgia
ATLANTA — Republicans in the Georgia Senate passed a bill Friday that bans candidates from raising more than half of their campaign money from outside of the state, a limitation that Democrats said inhibits their fundraising in nationalized elections. Sen. Timothy...
Senators vote to expand Georgia’s ‘stand your ground’ laws
ATLANTA — The Georgia Senate approved a bill Friday that broadens “stand your ground” self-defense protections, a proposal that critics said would help protect defendants such as those who murdered Ahmaud Arbery. The 30-23 vote fell along party lines, with Republicans...
Legless Georgia detainee featured in congressional hearing that preceded Noem’s ouster
ATLANTA — Before she was ousted by President Donald Trump, then-Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem got grilled by a Georgia congresswoman about the way her agency had treated a Loganville man with severe disabilities. Double amputee Rodney Taylor had been in...
Georgia lawmakers cross the aisle to help children see and read
ATLANTA — Bryce Berry could not understand why his student was misbehaving. The youth excelled on his assignments, but he disrupted the classroom. Eventually, the student explained that he could not see the board. Thus enlightened, Berry arranged an eye exam and a...
Georgia House passes bill to let pharmacists dispense birth control without prescriptions
ATLANTA — Women could get birth control drugs directly from pharmacies without needing a doctor’s prescription, according to a bill that cleared the Georgia House on Wednesday. The proposal would expand availability of contraceptives in Georgia, where state law bans...
Georgia House passes bill to ban nondisclosure agreements about child sexual abuse
ATLANTA — The Georgia House of Representatives passed legislation that would void any lawsuit settlements that seek to silence victims of childhood sexual abuse. The bill, called Trey’s Law, is named for Trey Carlock, a child who was sexually abused at a Missouri...