Parent Press Week 7 of the 2026 Legislative Session
We are quickly approaching Crossover Day, the last day a bill can move between the House and the Senate before it dies. The Capitol was like a beehive this week with advocacy groups visiting to lobby legislators who are under the pressure to get their bills passed their Chamber and onto the next step. As next Friday looms, there is much movement under the Gold Dome as the worker bees swarm to get their bills onto the desk of Queen Bee. With that comes last minute changes, codifying existing statutes with hidden intentions, and even a victory for Clayton County.
Republicans Divided, Utility Costs Up
Republicans are ripping each other apart over SB 34 and data centers. SB 34, authored by the Republican representing Rome Chuck Hufstetler, is one of my largest legislative priorities this session. I have been concerned about the rising utility rates for some time and have spoken out against the power imbalance between GA Power and its customers. SB 34 would protect customers from assuming the burden of large rate hikes as a result of “large load customers” such as data centers.
It is often unbeknownst to the public that bills can and often do undergo significant changes in language through the process from filing to passage. These changes can be made in Committee or within the Chamber. SB 34 was assigned to the Committee on Regulated Industries and Utilities and heard on Wednesday last week in which the Republican majority voted to strip the bill of the vital language that protects consumers. It is not uncommon for a bill to be stripped or changed by the majority throughout the process, but it is uncommon for them to do it to their own, especially considering this bill is Senator Hufstetler’s top legislative priority. This begs the question of why would Republicans kill a bill that was proposed by one of their own members and aims to keep Georgian’s utility bills affordable? Because working in tandem with the data center and GA Power lobby keeps the Republicans powerful and profitable, and they care more about keeping themselves in office by not angering their corporate benefactors than truly putting more money back into your pockets through consumer protection.
In addition to stripping SB 34 of its power over GA Power’s massive data center grid buildout, Republican leadership rushed the new version of it to the Senate Floor. In response, Senator Hufstetler prepared a Floor Amendment to restore the bill to its original language and intent. Once it became clear to Republican Leadership that the Senate did have the votes to pass SB 34 with the Hufstetler amendment, they quickly ran to adjourn the Floor Session to avoid voting on it. Now, they have put the weak, window-dressing bill passed by the House (that simply codifies the rule at the PSC related to data centers and doesn’t do much at all to protect consumers) onto a bill, SB 410, that is another window dressing bill. That bill ends the tax credit to lure data centers to Georgia…BUT allows more to get it through July 1 and allows the projects that already are benefitting from the tax credit to continue, which will run through at least 2032. So now, the two window-dressing bills on data centers are combined. Troublingly, this bill came out of the Finance Committee, which means that the Republicans will “engross,” or not allow changes, to the bill on the Floor to prevent the Hufstetler language from being added. I will be a NO on this bill should it come to the floor. We need real reform.
If you are concerned about the rising costs of utilities, I call upon you to reach out to the Republican Leadership and express your support for SB 34 or any other bill as amended with Senator Hufstetler’s language. Leadership and their corresponding office phone numbers are below:
Lieutenant Governor Burt Jones: (404) 656-5030
President Pro Tempore Larry Walker: (404) 656-0095
Majority Leader Jason Anavitarte: (404) 656-0085
Rules Chair Matt Brass: (404) 656-0057
Republicans Vote to Ban Sharia Law?
On Monday, Republicans in the Senate Judiciary Committee voted to pass SB 486 out of committee. The bill innocuously claims to limit the role that foreign law can play in Georgia courts. It provides that no Georgia court, agency, or arbitration panel may enforce or rely on a foreign country’s law if doing so would violate rights guaranteed under the U.S. Constitution or the Georgia Constitution. However, this is really about banning a supposed incursion of Sharia law into our American court system.
In a Facebook video posted on February 12th praising his bill, Senator Dolezal said the bill’s intent is to ban Sharia Law in the state of Georgia. He also doubled down with a pretty disgusting video that even earned a content warning from X today. This is a gimmick for his primary campaign for Lt. Governor.
I find it odd because back when I was first elected in 2010, bills like this were a thing due partially to the false rumors that President Obama was Muslim, but then it died out. I’m surprised and dismayed to see it back again.
Let’s be clear: Sharia Law has no authority under any court anywhere in the United States. We have a Constitution that separates church and state for a reason. This is not about protecting constitutional rights, or preserving the separation of church and state, or even about upholding the Supremacy Clause — it is about creating false problems, demonizing people of different faiths, and legislating based on rhetoric and scapegoating, not reason.
Committee on Judiciary Approves Sixth Superior Court Judgeship for Clayton County
I am very excited to announce that SB 327, my bill that would provide for a sixth Superior Court Judgeship for Clayton County, has passed the Senate Committee on Judiciary! At the start of my representing Clayton County, officials have asked for my help on key issues like making sure the County has the resources required to accommodate the large caseload and ultimately provide justice to those affected. Its passage out of Committee means that it advances through the process and is one step away from getting a full vote on the Senate Floor. It is now in the hands of the Senate Committee on Rules where a member must pick it to be put on the agenda for a vote. While not always known to the public, getting picked out of the Committee on Rules is arguably one of the most important quiet steps of the legislative process and serves as a bottleneck where many bills go to die after passing committee. That being said, I will keep fighting on behalf of Clayton County to push this through and provide some relief to the growing caseload and justice and to victims and their families.
Making Stand Your Ground Even Worse
We heard a bill in Judiciary that is another primary campaign bill, from Senator Brian Strickland, who is running for Attorney General. There is also a companion bill in the House from Representative David Clark who is running for Lt. Gov. SB 572 would flip the burden of proof from the Defendant on a stand your ground/self defense defense to the State. We had excellent testimony from our DeKalb DA, Sherry Boston, among others, who said that this switch would mean that police would not be able to arrest anyone at a shooting if they all claimed the other guy started it, and that each case would have to be tried twice – once to prove that the Defendant did not have a justifiable use of stand your ground defense, and then on guilt. Obviously this is utterly crazy. Stand your ground has already led to horrible vigilante deaths like Ahmaud Arbery and teenagers being murdered when they drove up the wrong driveway or knocked on the wrong door. The LAST thing we need is to empower more people to “shoot first.”
Amended Budget Passes the House
The House and Senate have now both passed the Amended Budget which finalizes the budget from now until June 30. Next we will take up the FY 2027 budget. This $43 million plus budget includes some highlights – amended budget includes $2,000 one-time bonuses for state employees and our teachers. This is much needed support for our hard working public sector workers. Additionally, there is $409 million set aside for a new forensic mental health hospital which will be in our district next to the GBI headquarters in South DeKalb,, $150 million for the expansion of bedspace in state prisons, and $325 million for the Georgia DREAMS needs-based scholarship program for students from lower-income backgrounds to attend college. The forensic mental health hospital is important. Right now we have individuals with mental health crises, many homeless, who have been picked up for violating certain low-level crime laws. The capacity in our mental health hospitals is so low that many times, people wait in prison for a bed for LONGER than they would have ever served in jail even if fully convicted of the crime. This is one of the reasons that our jails are our biggest mental health facilities…but the treatment there is not what you can receive in a mental health hospital. This is a step to address these issues and more needs to be done, but it’s positive.
Additionally, all homeowners will get a property tax rebate and all who paid income tax will get a certain amount of rebate. Popular politically but I think there are better uses for that money!
Crossover is fast approaching on Friday. Stay tuned!