Latest Brian P. Kemp News

Georgia joins states seeking parental permission before children join social media

Mar. 29, 2024 01:26 AM EDT

ATLANTA (AP) — Georgia could join other states in requiring children younger than 16 to have their parents’ explicit permission to create social media accounts. Lawmakers on Friday gave final approval to Senate Bill 351, which also would ban social media use on school devices and...

On last day of Georgia legislative session, some bills pass and others die

Mar. 29, 2024 01:07 AM EDT

ATLANTA (AP) — Georgia's two-year legislative session ended early Friday, after lawmakers stayed past midnight on Thursday pass some bills and reject others as the term ended. Lawmakers rejected legalizing sports betting, but agreed to tighten rules on law enforcement cooperation with immigration...

Georgia lawmakers approve new election rules that could impact 2024 presidential contest

Mar. 29, 2024 00:35 AM EDT

ATLANTA (AP) — Georgia lawmakers on Thursday approved new rules for challenging voters and qualifying for the state's presidential ballot that could impact the 2024 presidential race in the battleground state. Senate Bill 189 passed the House by a vote of 101 to 73 and the Senate...

Georgia teachers and state employees will get pay raises as state budget passes

Mar. 28, 2024 23:29 PM EDT

ATLANTA (AP) — Pay raises for Georgia's public school teachers and state employees were never in doubt politically from the moment Gov. Brian Kemp proposed them, but lawmakers finally clinched the deal on Thursday, passing a budget that also boosts spending on education, health care and mental...

Georgia lawmakers approve private water utility bypassing county to serve homes near Hyundai plant

Mar. 28, 2024 15:24 PM EDT

SAVANNAH, Ga. (AP) — Georgia lawmakers gave final passage Thursday to a change in state law that would allow a private utility to provide water service for new homes near Hyundai's upcoming electric vehicle plant without first getting permission from local governments. The state...

Georgia bill would give utility regulators extra years in office without facing voters

Mar. 22, 2024 18:23 PM EDT

ATLANTA (AP) — Georgia's Public Service Commission is an elected body that's gone years without having elections because of a redistricting lawsuit. Anticipating that a court will order elections to resume, Georgia lawmakers now want to add an extra two years to the six-year terms...

Some Georgia workers would find it harder to become union members under a new bill

Mar. 20, 2024 21:58 PM EDT

ATLANTA (AP) — Georgia lawmakers have made it harder for workers at companies getting state economic incentives to unionize, in what could be a violation of federal law. The state House voted 96 to 78 Wednesday for Senate Bill 362, which would bar companies that accept state...

$6,500 school vouchers coming to Georgia as bill gets final passage and heads to governor

Mar. 20, 2024 17:55 PM EDT

ATLANTA (AP) — Georgia senators gave final approval Wednesday to a plan to create a $6,500 voucher funding for private school tuition and home schooling, sending the measure to Gov. Brian Kemp for his signature. Senators voted 33-21 along party lines to approve changes that the...

As Texas border arrests law teeters in court, other GOP states also push tougher immigration policy

Mar. 20, 2024 17:31 PM EDT

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Republican lawmakers across the country were already jockeying to push their states deeper into immigration enforcement when the Supreme Court, if only briefly, let Texas enforce a new law giving police broad powers to arrest migrants suspected of crossing the border...

A Georgia senator was exiled from the GOP caucus. Now Colton Moore is banned from the state House

Mar. 15, 2024 18:46 PM EDT

ATLANTA (AP) — Colton Moore's political career has been about setting legislative norms on fire. The Republican Georgia state senator left another one ablaze on Thursday. Moore, who lives in Trenton in the state's far northwest corner, was banned from the House floor after...