Sally’s Senate Snapshot 2026 #8

Crossover Day Chaos

Crossover Day is the last day a bill can pass its chamber of origin so it can be considered in the other chamber, continuing its progress toward becoming law. 

Deadlines like Crossover and Sine Die create logjams of bills. This year from the start of session to Day 26, there were about 50 bills that made it to the Senate floor. Then this week, on just two days alone, we voted on over 80 bills.

Clearly this process could be managed better, but if you’re trying to slip something through unnoticed by the public, the chaos can be used to conceal. It also results in sloppy law. Many of the Republican bills we considered this week were filed at the last minute, then rushed through Committee with little public input.

Quality Control

Amending the Majority Leader’s Bill: I started my week trying to fix one of those last minute bills, SB 540 — a bill sponsored by the Senate Majority Leader and aimed at addressing harmful AI companion chatbots. These chatbots are designed to simulate personal relationships that keep users emotionally engaged. Because they pull information from across the internet, they can generate deeply inappropriate responses — including sexually explicit conversations with children. 

After the bill was rushed through Committee, I discovered that some clever language actually exempted social media platforms from having to follow the protections outlined in the bill. In other words, the bill allowed social media platforms to roll out erotic and emotionally manipulative chatbots to kids. 

So last week I convinced the Majority Leader that the bill needed to be amended on the floor. Of course, the Meta and TikTok lobbyists were watching closely, so we kept the bi-partisan amendment very quiet until just before the bill was called up for a floor vote. Both the amendment and the bill passed the Senate with bipartisan support.

Protest Parameters: This week, we debated SB 443, a bill that proposed to increase penalties for the unlawful obstruction of roads during protests. It was a robust debate, with the author clarifying that he did not intend for it to include sidewalks. But the author’s amendment unintentionally removed the existing misdemeanor penalty for unlawfully blocking a sidewalk — leaving the sidewalk obstruction with no penalty at all, which was not the author’s intent.

Another legislator spotted the problem and quickly handwrote a floor amendment to restore the original misdemeanor penalty. But the amendment contained two spelling errors, “misdeameanor” and “inconveince” — which meant the amendment itself needed another amendment to fix it. These mistakes are referred to as “scrivener’s errors,” dating back to copying errors made by medieval scribes.

It was a lighthearted moment with a lot of joking and laughing about the Senator who can’t spell, but it also highlighted how easily mistakes can create real policy gaps when bills move at warp speed. I am always grateful for the keen eyes and skills of many of my colleagues.

Data Centers vs. The Rate Payers

I’ve written before about SB 34, a bill originally designed to protect electricity customers from the enormous costs associated with massive data centers.

Thanks to Georgia Power’s outsized lobbying influence, the bill went through the wringer — first getting watered down in committee and then being shut out of a vote last week when the author tried to amend the consumer protections back in.

The weakened version resurfaced on Crossover Day folded into SB 410, a bill that dealt with tax incentives for data centers. And because SB 410 moved through the Finance Committee, the bill was engrossed, meaning it couldn’t be amended on the Senate floor.

During the floor debate, Republicans hailed the bill as a “consumer protection bill,” while our Minority Caucus Chair laid out the hidden costs. Georgia Power has already received approval from the Republican-led Public Service Commission to double its generation capacity to serve data centers. That expansion could cost $50–$60 billion over the coming decades. Much of that financial risk would ultimately fall on Georgia ratepayers through weak contracts and PSC rules. Although Georgia Power promised rate freezes and “downward pressure” on electric rates for the next three years, the financial impacts of these projects will last decades, far longer than these short-term promises.

For years to come, Georgia families will shoulder the burden while Big Tech companies make billions in profits.

Election Denial Just Won’t Die (But Their Bill Did!)

Another last-minute Republican bill, SB 568, proposed to require massive changes to our system of voting, including the use of hand-marked paper ballots for the upcoming elections.

The Senate Ethics Committee did hear testimony on the bill, and election officials raised serious concerns about the timeline. They warned that making such a major change during a major election year would create confusion and chaos. Several Republican senators heard the same concerns directly from election officials in their own counties.

That pressure made all the difference and the bill failed to get enough votes to pass. But we’ll have to watch this one closely to make sure SB 568 doesn’t pop up as an amendment to another bill.

Democratic Negotiations Ignored

Until Crossover Day, the Senate had not passed a single Democratic bill.

Dozens had been filed, but only six Democratic bills made it through the Rules Committee. Democrats hold 41% of the seats in the Senate, yet only a tiny fraction of our legislation moved this year.

Democrats lack enough votes to stop egregious Republican bills, but we do have the power to stop constitutional amendments because they require two-thirds of the chamber to pass.

Republicans wanted our support to pass SR 668, allowing for local flexibility in creating special tax categories for data centers. So we asked for three things in return for our votes: 1) passage of SB 34 in its stronger, original form; 2) passage of SB 94, restoring the Consumer Utility Council that was cut in 2008; and 3) floor votes of our 6 bills.

Republicans passed their weakened version of SB 34. They refused to bring SB 94 to a floor vote. So we stayed firm and voted against their SR 668. All day long they played the game of Lucy and the football with our 6 bills. It was infuriating.

 What it Takes to Pass a Democratic Bill

One of the bills waiting on the table was SB 278, my bill to require folic acid fortification in corn flour to help prevent spina bifida in the Latino community. I spent the week working the Rules process, including taking advantage of an invitation to dinner with another Democratic senator and two Republicans — including the Rules Chair.

Building relationships is essential when you’re in the minority, and the dinner was a great chance to build some rapport. In fact, the Rules Chair joked with me all week that “Sally is going to save the internet” with my online safety bills. I was thrilled when SB 278 made it through Rules on my birthday.

But on Crossover Day, Democratic bills sat on the table until 9:50 pm. In the end, only three of the six were called up. Sadly, SB 278 wasn’t among them.

In the coming weeks I’ll look for opportunities to attach my bill to another. Or I’ll start over next year. Speaking of next year . . .

Back on the Ballot for Another Term

In the middle of the legislative rush, we had Candidate Qualifying at the Capitol this week.

I officially qualified to run for re-election to the Georgia Senate — and once again I’ll have a Republican opponent in November, this time a MAGA one. 

There’s also encouraging news statewide: Democrats are fired up.

This year, Democrats qualified candidates in 204 state legislative races, contesting 88% of Georgia House seats and 82% of Senate seats — the highest number of Democratic candidates and contested seats under the Gold Dome in at least three decades.

What’s Next 

We’ll be returning to regular business on Monday, but the week after Crossover day is often quiet as House bills begin to work their way through Senate Committees and vice versa. We’ll be in session all week, except Wednesday which is a Committee workday. 

Town Hall: Please consider attending our Legislative Town Hall Monday night this week at the new Brookhaven City Centre, 4001 Peachtree Road, at 6:30pm.

Also, tune in to watch GPB’s Lawmakers Tuesday night at 7pm, where I’ll be a guest presenter.

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Sally’s Senate Snapshot 2026 #7

The Agony of Defeat

Just before this year’s legislative session began, a good friend shared with me a Richard Reich blog outlining a state-by-state approach to eliminating the impacts of Citizens United. The post explained how states have the sole authority to define the parameters of corporate powers. Reich says that states can actually pass laws to put an end to the influence of corporate money in politics. He says this wouldn’t actually overturn Citizens United, but it would negate the consequences of it. Montanans have already taken the lead this year with a 2026 constitutional ballot initiative that seeks to stop corporations from engaging in election or ballot-issued activity.

Wouldn’t that be grand to actually stop corporate money from influencing our elections? I’m ready to start the conversation in Georgia. And I know a few Republicans who are so frustrated right now, they might just be ready to sign on.

Invisible Opponents

As Democrats, we tend to focus almost exclusively on Trump and the Republican Party as being our political enemy. But the most powerful force shaping what happens under the Gold Dome today isn’t even elected.

Reich says that the amount of dark money in elections has grown from $144 million in 2008 to $4.21 billion in 2024. And that’s not including the dark money that influences the legislative process through corporate lobbyists, which I have felt this year, as my initiatives have been hijacked by big money.

Also throwing a curve ball in Georgia are Leadership PACs, created by statute in 2021 — political funds controlled by top state leaders who can accept donations with no caps, even while down-ballot candidates have fundraising caps designed to prevent undue influence. Until earlier this week, when a federal judge ordered Burt Jones to stop raising money through his Lt. Governor Leadership PAC, Jones was accepting contributions while deciding which bills moved through the Senate.

Team Online Safety Benched by Big Tech

This year Republicans and Democrats were mostly on the same team when it came to online safety for kids. Several strong bipartisan bills were filed, and for a while it looked like protecting kids online might actually win.

Then on Tuesday a Republican colleague quietly warned me that most of these bills wouldn’t move — and that became clear in the Senate Children and Families Committee.

“Daddy, can you take my iPad away from me? I’m trying to take my eyes off, but I can’t.”

I opened my presentation on SB 495 with this anecdote from the book The Anxious Generation. Even author Jonathan Haidt’s then 6 year old daughter knew that our devices are too addictive to resist.

SB 495, entitled the Age-Appropriate Design Code, addresses that problem by prohibiting addictive design features used to determine algorithmic feeds — as well as features like infinite scroll and push notifications for minors. For adults, the bill requires that these features be turned off by default, requiring users to opt-in — a change that could help all of us spend less time glued to our screens.

Pediatrician Angela Flanagan of the Georgia Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics testified that addictive design features are linked to sleep disruption, anxiety, depression, and other harms for kids, and that safety-by-default should be the standard.

The testimony was strong — but the bill never got a vote.

Leadership Controls the Plays

Imagine training for years for an event, only to be replaced at the last minute by someone who never trained, but was recruited to the team as the key player.

That’s how I felt when SB 540 — a last minute bill from the Senate Majority Leader — became the only online safety bill voted out of the Children and Families Committee.

SB 540 looks good on the surface. It requires disclosures and guardrails for AI companion chatbots for minors. But it’s filled with vague language and exemptions for social media platforms — details you might miss unless you know the issue well. An identical bill was filed in Colorado on the same day, a clear sign it came from the Tech industry.

When the Chair announced it was the final meeting before Crossover Day, it became obvious leadership had decided SB 540 would be the only online safety bill to move forward — making it look like something constructive was done, while leaving the real problems untouched.

Later, when I commiserated with a Republican colleague about how our bills went down, he said, “Someone should look into the money.”

Advancing with a Penalty

SB 278 — my bill to fortify corn-based foods with folic acid to prevent spina bifida in Latino babies — finally got its moment on the field.

All session long I worked to convince the Senate Agriculture Chair to move the bill forward without giving Frito-Lay a special exemption for snack foods. I even flew in experts from Mission Foods — a company that already fortifies its corn products — to show that it works in the real world.

But with Crossover Day approaching, the Chair made the final call: the only way to get a vote was to include a snack-food exemption for Frito-Lay.

It wasn’t the outcome I wanted, but after vigorous questioning the bill passed unanimously.

We’re still in the game, and I’ll work to improve the bill in the House. SB 278 moves on to the Rules Committee next week. The Lt. Governor gets to decide if he’ll call it up for a vote before the end of Crossover Day.

Shut Out at the Starting Line

This week at the ropes I met a group of home health workers who support seniors and people with disabilities in their homes.

A few years ago I passed a law requiring the state to study market wages for Medicaid funded health workers, which led to about $120 million in new funding for wages. The healthcare workers at the ropes told me the money still isn’t reaching them.

They did exactly what citizens should do — worked with legislators to draft a bill requiring transparency about where the funding is going.

But the Senate Health and Human Services Committee never took up the bill and even canceled a meeting before Crossover Day.

It’s another example of leadership deciding which bills move, and shaping the process around their own priorities, instead of allowing the people’s ideas to be vetted through committees. Too often, the people’s voices never make it onto the field.

Iced Before the Final Heat

SB 34, authored by a Rome Republican, aimed to make sure massive data centers pay the full cost of the power infrastructure they need, rather than shifting costs onto Georgia families and businesses.

After sitting in committee for a year, the bill finally got a hearing — but key protections were stripped out. Instead of protecting ratepayers, it focused mainly on service contracts.

The sponsor tried to fight back by lining up a floor amendment to restore the original protections, with about a dozen Republicans joining all Democrats in support. But in a surprise move, Senate leadership adjourned early without ever calling up SB 34.

Even Majority Party lawmakers can lose when monied interests like Georgia Power step onto the field.

What’s Next and Calls to Action

With monied interests shaping decisions at the Capitol, the ultimate power DOES rest with the people.

Protect Public Schools: This week the Senate DeKalb Delegation met with members of the DeKalb School Board to discuss House Republican proposals to eliminate property taxes and replace them with an optional HOST sales tax.

DeKalb Schools estimate that even with a HOST tax, the district would lose $100–$125 million a year, forcing major cuts to jobs, benefits, and school services.

HR 1114 and HB 1116 are expected on the House floor next week. Call Speaker Jon Burns’ office at (404) 656-5020 and tell him these bills would seriously harm DeKalb schools.

Speak Out Against Voter Suppression: Republicans are scrambling to fix a law they previously passed banning the use of QR codes in scanning ballots. Their new bill, SB 568, goes far beyond that fix and would make it harder to vote in larger counties.

Instead of allowing countywide early voting, voters would be assigned a specific location. The bill would also shift voter challenges from counties to the State Elections Board, forcing voters to travel to defend their eligibility.

The bill will be heard on Monday, March 2, 11:00 AM in the Coverdell Legislative Office Bldg., Room 307

We need a strong turnout. Let’s pack the room to speak out against SB 568.

Join Us for Crossover Day: Crossover Day is March 6. The DeKalb Democrats are hosting a Pack the Capitol event to support Democrats’ efforts to make Georgia more affordable. You don’t have to live in DeKalb to attend!

What’s Next: The Final Countdown

Next week is the final stretch before Crossover Day — the do-or-die moment of the session for bills to pass their chamber of origin. We’ll be in committee meetings Monday and Thursday, with floor sessions the rest of the week. Because this is the second year of the two-year session, it’s game over for any bill that doesn’t pass at least one chamber (unless they get attached to another bill as an amendment).

Next week is also candidate qualifying, when anyone running for office this year must come to the Capitol and officially file their paperwork to be on the ballot. I’ll be qualifying once again to serve as the 40th district’s State Senator.

This year has been tough — but I’m still up to the challenge and making real change, even in this difficult environment.

Video of the Week

Thursday was Reproductive Rights Day at the Capitol, so I took a Point of Personal Privilege to educate my Senate colleagues about some serious unintended consequences of Georgia’s abortion ban for women who want their pregnancies. I shared real stories of Georgia women who had life threatening health emergencies because they could not get timely care.

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Sally’s Senate Snapshot 2026 #6

It’s All About the Money

I got sick this week. I love it when the Capitol is packed with people, and I love coming to the ropes outside the chamber to greet people, but I don’t love the germs.

Being home gave me time to think about how the 2026 legislative session is going so far. Can you believe we’re already at the half-way point?!

What keeps coming to my mind is money. Outwardly, there’s been quite a lot of talk about taxes, but behind the scenes, money is driving the legislative process in Georgia more than ever. The same corporate forces that shape national politics are weighing in not only on Georgia’s legislative process, but also our elections.

Money is also impacting my own legislative agenda this year. Frito-Lay asked me for an exemption for snack foods in SB 278, my bill requiring corn products to be fortified with folic acid to prevent spina bfida. When my team determined we shouldn’t do this, the bill stopped in its tracks. And my legislative efforts to keep kids safe online have brought quite a number of high paid corporate lobbyists to Georgia!

Big Tech Under the Gold Dome

On Tuesday — our first day back after the President’s Day break — I made it to the Senate Children and Families Committee for a hearing on SB 467, which requires app stores to verify a user’s age and obtain parental consent before minors download apps. Several states have passed similar laws, though many are tied up in court.

This was one of the recommendations from the Senate Study Committee on Online Safety that I co-chaired last fall. We knew our recommendation would draw heavy pushback from Big Tech. And it did.

So far, most of the lobbying pressure has been targeted to my Republican colleagues — because everyone knows who holds the power under the Gold Dome. This hearing was my first opportunity to hear directly from Big Tech lobbying groups. They raised concerns about privacy, compliance costs, and the First Amendment.

At one point, a colleague asked, “Why would these companies oppose a bill that protects children?” The answer is simple: they’re protecting their profits.

A Reckoning for Big Tech

A landmark civil lawsuit against Meta and other tech giants moved forward this week in California. Families allege these platforms were deliberately designed to be addictive, despite knowing the harms to young users.

For years, Big Tech has operated with little accountability. Now they’re being questioned under oath in a court of law. Whatever the outcome, that alone feels like progress. This case could pave the way for smarter, less harmful design.

Leadership, Money, and the Levers of Power

In 2021, over Democrats’ strong objections, Governor Kemp and Republican lawmakers created “Leadership Committees” — special PACs for state leaders that can raise unlimited money during the legislative session (none of the rest of us can accept donations during session, and the rest of the year, our donations are capped). The AJC recently detailed how these “unlimited money machines” are fueling the next governor’s race and shaping this session.

When leaders collect six-figure checks from powerful interests, it can influence which bills move — and which stall — under the Gold Dome.

Power Play: The Senate Regulated Industries Committee was set to vote this week on SB 34, a bill from a Rome Republican to protect ratepayers from absorbing power costs tied to massive data centers. The bill has been stuck in committee since last year. The vote was canceled so Republican senators could attend a Trump rally — ironically in Rome — where the President declared the affordability crisis “over.”

According to the AJC, Georgia Power gave $500,000 to Governor Kemp’s Leadership Committee. SB 34 directly affects Georgia Power’s financial interests. When that much money is involved, we need to ask why this popular bill has been slow-walked.

Tax Cuts and Tradeoffs: HB 739, the amended 2026 budget, moved out of Senate Appropriations with both property and income tax cuts included. The AJC reported that an anti-tax group formed late last year gave $526,000 to Lt. Governor Jones’ Leadership Committee just weeks ago. The dots aren’t hard to connect.

The amended budget does include positive investments, like increased resources for mental health services and infrastructure. But it was disappointing to see funding for Georgia’s first-ever needs-based college scholarship cut from the Governor’s proposed $325 million down to $100 million to help pay for tax cuts. At that level, the DREAM Scholarship will cover only a fraction of eligible students and tax cuts for those low-income students won’t cover rising college costs.

HB 739 passed the Senate Friday and now heads to a conference committee to work out the differences between the House & Senate versions.

Big Money on the Ballot

If you want to see the power of Big Money and Big Tech in action, look no further than Georgia’s elections.

Did you hear that Elon Musk got his hand slapped by the Georgia State Elections Board for illegally mailing out filled out ballot applications during the 2024 elections? Yes, Elon Musk’s PAC violated the law created by SB 202 — Georgia’s 2021 voter suppression law.

As you can probably tell from the onslaught of political ads, the governor’s race is already awash in money. The two leading billionaire Republican contenders are pouring millions of their own dollars into their campaigns. On top of that, the Georgia GOP waived its neutrality rule, opening the door for the national party to pour money into picking a favorite in an election that used to be decided by Georgia voters alone.

And then there’s Big Tech. The New York Times reported that Meta is preparing to spend unprecedented sums to influence state elections, creating two new PACs to add to the two it already operates. With AI regulation being debated under the Gold Dome, it’s only a matter of time before that money reaches Georgia.

Reminder: Ballots Still Beat Billionaires

The only force stronger than billionaires and corporate PACs is an engaged electorate.

Every statewide office is on the ballot. Every member of Congress is up for re-election. Every state legislator is on the ballot.

Vote in the May primary. Vote in November. Get others to vote. Vote for leaders who will fight for your interests over their billionaire donors.

It’s the single most important thing we can do this year.

What’s Next

Crossover Day is March 6 — the deadline for bills to pass one chamber and stay alive. That leaves only a small handful of legislative days to move bills through committee. March 6th is also the final day for candidates to “qualify,” putting their names on the ballot to run for office in this year’s election.

Monday is a Committee Workday so it doesn’t count as one of our 40 legislative days. Going forward, our days will consist of longer floor sessions as leadership pushes their priority legislation through the process.

So much money. Stay tuned.

What’s It Matter To You

Sales Tax Cuts Help Everyone

There’s been a lot of talk at Georgia’s Gold Dome about various kinds of tax cuts. Too often tax cuts only benefit those who are already doing pretty well, shifting the burden to those who are struggling. What if we designed tax cuts that helped everyone instead?

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Sally’s Senate Snapshot 2026 #5

No Man is an Island

I’ve been thinking about the word “constituent” lately. The word comes from two Latin roots that when combined mean “to establish together.” By the 17th century, the word evolved to mean someone who appoints a representative, leading to its modern usage referring to a voter. Simultaneously, the word also evolved to mean “a part of a whole.” As John Donne wrote, “No man is an island; Entire of itself; Every man is a piece of the continent; A part of the main.”

Taxes Are Part of a Whole

Thinking about constituents as “a part of the main” gave me a framework for this week’s Senate floor fight over taxes. But first, let me tell you what happened in the Senate this week:

Senate Republican Income Tax Cut Bills: Late last Friday, after most legislators had gone home, Republicans filed SB 476, which proposes to cut income taxes by dramatically raising the standard deductions, while also proposing cuts to tax credits. They also filed SB 477, which proposes to accelerate the reduction of the current state income-tax rate, eventually phasing it out entirely.

The bills were pushed through the Senate Finance Committee early this week, leaving very little time for lawmakers, staff, or the media to analyze the bills and get information out to the public. At the conclusion of a 70-minute Committee meeting, both bills passed with no time for public comment.

There were also no fiscal notes for these bills—the basic financial analysis required by Senate rules to show the impact on the state budget. Senators were told to “trust” that cuts to tax credits would offset roughly $6-9 billion in lost revenue (they won’t).

By Thursday, the bills were on the Senate floor, where debate lasted nearly six hours before the bills passed along party lines. Because the state Constitution requires tax bills to originate in the House, we ultimately voted on House bills that had been stripped and replaced with the Senate language—another procedural maneuver to skirt the rules for a quick political win.

Taxes & Affordability: Affordability has definitely become a buzz-word at the State Capitol this year. But the problem with pushing tax cuts as an affordability solution is that this does nothing to make high cost necessities more affordable for people, like healthcare and housing. Tax cuts are more like coupons you use at the grocery store — they help you keep a little more money in your pocket, but they do nothing to address systemic issues like food insecurity and hunger. Republicans are pushing a narrative that every “man is an island”; Democrats view taxes through a narrative that every person has a responsibility to contribute to the whole, because we are “part of the main.”

Constituent Conversations: Where the Real Work Happens

While the debate inside the chamber focused on gaining votes and grabbing headlines, conversations with constituents at the ropes outside the chamber reminded me why this work matters and how important it is that we stay focused on solving real-life problems.

• Surprise Ambulance Bills

A constituent from Dunwoody contacted me after being transported just three miles by ambulance during a medical emergency and later receiving a $2,500 bill his insurance didn’t cover. Ambulance services are run by for-profit companies that stay out of insurance networks so they can set their own prices, leaving patients with little choice but to pay the bill that arrives later. That’s why it mattered that the Senate Health & Human Services Committee took up SB 462, a bipartisan bill aimed at capping excessive out-of-network ambulance charges. It’s not a perfect fix, but it could have cut my constituent’s ambulance bill in half.

• A Medically Fragile Foster Baby

I also spoke with a foster parent caring for a premature infant with serious medical needs. They’ve already spent tens of thousands of their own money, paying for nursing support out-of-pocket because services weren’t approved by the state. I’m using this case to dig deeper into systemic gaps in foster care and to learn more about what could help families like theirs.

• Immigrant Families Plead for Help

The most heart-wrenching conversation of the week was with a group of immigrant constituents at the ropes, including Latino mothers and a young boy named Miguel. They were there as part of a larger Immigrant Advocacy Day at the Capitol. They spoke about fear of family separation, their children missing school, and the daily stress of uncertainty. Miguel told me he was scared his mother would be taken away, and that his family could be sent to the wrong country. I listened to their stories and promised to keep fighting for them. I also told them that we’re working with community partners and volunteers to provide practical day-to-day support where we can.

Filling Holes, But Falling Short

What’s Happening in the House: One bright spot this week: the House passed the amended 2026 budget, the mid-year adjustment to our current budget. It includes funding to help fill the $85 million shortfall in our foster care system and additional resources to expand mental health services. These investments will help avoid severe cuts for foster care services and begin to reduce the waiting list of roughly 800 Georgians who need crisis mental health care.

But at a time when families are struggling with rising premiums and medical bills, the budget stopped short of doing anything to help Georgians afford healthcare. We cannot seriously address the affordability crisis without addressing healthcare costs.

If you want to learn more about the House’s bipartisan bills on housing affordability, please see the DeKalb Dem’s weekly newsletter, “The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly,” written by Dunwoody resident Micahel Greenwald.

Fighting Big Tech

Keeping Kids Safe Online: Last fall, I co-chaired the Senate Study Committee on Protecting Georgia’s Children Online, and this session I’m working with fellow committee members to roll out several bills based on our recommendations.

My signature bill, SB 495, regulates the addictive design features built into many social media and gaming platforms used by minors.

Earlier this session, I worked with a Republican colleague—a father of four—who was interested in this issue. He had a bill to ban social media for kids scheduled for a hearing in the Senate Children and Families Committee but agreed that regulating addictive design was a better approach. He offered to substitute my bill into his so it could receive a hearing.

But just before the meeting, the Lieutenant Governor’s office replaced my 21-page proposal with a three-page substitute full of loopholes that would have made it largely ineffective.

Even so, my bill was discussed in Committee, which helped educate the members about addictive design. I’ve now sponsored SB 495 on my own with 40 co-signers, including 25 Republicans, demonstrating very strong bipartisan support. Moving forward, I’ll work with my Senate colleague and the Lt. Governor’s office to come to a consensus on a version of SB 495 we can all support.

What’s Next

Due to President’s Day, it’s another four-day week at the Capitol. We’re in session Tuesday through Friday. Those extra days off help me recharge and suit up for another week of battle in the State Senate.

 

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Sally’s Senate Snapshot 2026 #4

Despair Breeds Hope, and Hope brings Action

This week I was reminded of the work of Cesar Chavez during the 1966 Delano Grape Strike, when 100 farmworkers marched 300 miles over 25 days, arriving at the State Capitol in Sacramento on Easter Sunday to present their list of demands. By the end of the march, their numbers had grown to 10,000. Four years later, major growers were signing union contracts.

With the announcement of the opening of an ICE office in College Park, and plans released to build a 10,000-person detention center in Social Circle, a small town of 5,000, we have tough times ahead of us. As Chavez said, “We draw our strength from the very despair in which we have been forced to live. We shall endure.”

I witnessed this kind of resolve this week during Latino Day at the Capitol when a young high school student from my district told me his story of coming here on asylum from a South American country. Instead of letting despair overwhelm him, he came to the Capitol to share his ideas about how our K-12 schools can do a better job teaching immigrants English so that students like him can continue their studies without interruption. This young man was acting on hope.

A Visit with Sen. Jon Ossoff

Early Monday morning, Senator Jon Ossoff met with the Senate Democratic Caucus and spoke candidly about the situation our country is in, describing it as “dire” and even “grim” — hard words to hear. Had Sen. Ossoff stopped there, he would have left a trail of despair. But instead, he sat down with us in an unhurried way, offering constructive ideas about how federal and state elected officials can coordinate messaging leading into the November elections. Sen. Ossoff gave me hope that the direness of our situation is helping us to reinvent our strategies.

Georgia Elections in Peril

A New Voting System? It’s easy to drown in the feeling of despair. I felt this way even before the week started, when I was alerted Sunday night that a committee substitute to SB 214 was suddenly scheduled for a House committee hearing the very next day.

The new bill version was a sweeping, confusing, and potentially costly overhaul of Georgia’s election system. Republicans are under pressure to comply with SB 189, a 2024 law requiring Georgia to phase out QR codes on ballots and move to a system that counts votes from human-readable text. But this proposal went far beyond that, reviving old fears of voter confusion, long lines, and administrative chaos.

Hope arrived on Monday afternoon when people filled the room to speak against the bill. The hearing was abruptly canceled. This issue will be back, but it was a powerful reminder that public engagement still works, and that democracy depends on people showing up.

Voter Data Privacy

Last week, I wrote about SR 563, a GOP authored resolution urging Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to turn over private voter data to the Trump administration. This week they brought the resolution to the Senate floor for a vote, sparking a long and difficult debate.

The resolution passed along party lines — leaving a familiar pit in my stomach. When you’re in the minority party, it’s a challenge to find the right balance between speaking truth to power and trying to build relationships with Republicans so you can get something done. Ultimately, you have to do both, but by mid-week, that balance was clearly off, and I was certain the Lt. Governor would punish us by killing our initiatives. Fortunately for us (and unfortunately for Burt Jones), we got a short-term reprieve when billionaire Rick Jackson jumped into the Governor’s race, handing Burt bigger worries.

Property Tax Caps vs. Local Control

Remember the constitutional amendment on your 2024 ballot creating a Statewide Homestead Exemption that freezes property taxes to the rate of inflation? Well, after all the thought you put into your vote on this issue, the Georgia Senate Republicans are trying to change how the exemption works — WITHOUT getting another vote from you.

The only way the legislature could pass the underlying legislation in 2024 was to include an opt-out provision for local governments. It turns out 65% of local governments chose to opt-out, for various reasons. So on Tuesday, the Senate passed SB 382, which forces local governments to opt-in.

It was discouraging to see a bill move forward that rewrites what both lawmakers and voters previously approved. Its impact on local funding, especially school funding, is unknown.

My Legislative Agenda: Progress and Pitfalls

Online Safety for Kids: Last year, a Chamblee mother came to me after her nine-year-old interacted with an AI-generated companion chatbot posing as a fictional character from a children’s book. Within minutes, the chatbot conversation turned sexually explicit.

This year, I noticed that SB 398, a bill making it a crime to use generative AI to create obscene images of a real person without consent, was scheduled for a hearing. I approached the Republican author about accepting an amendment addressing chatbots, and he agreed — inviting me to present it with him in committee. Just hours later, we were in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and the bill with my amendment passed!

The Corn Bill: Last year, I introduced SB 278, a bill to require folic-acid fortification of corn masa products to help prevent spina bifida, a birth defect of the spine. Because federal law requires folic acid in wheat flour but not corn masa, Hispanic families face more than double the rate of spina bifida.

In January, we hit a hurdle when Frito-Lay sought an exemption for snack foods, arguing that fortification would be costly.

This week, we were able to present a different perspective. I invited executives from Mission Foods, the world’s largest tortilla producer, to the Capitol and they flew in from Texas to meet with the Senate Agriculture Committee Chair. Mission Foods already fortifies their corn tortillas with folic acid. Along with experts from the Food Fortification Initiative, they answered technical questions and helped move the conversation forward.

Take Action:

Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman Russ Goodman is supportive but has not called the bill up for a vote. He’s heard from the experts; now he needs to hear from you. Please call or

Government Can Still Work

Compromises take hours and hours to work out, and often legislators (even Republican legislators) take time away from their day jobs between legislative sessions to do this work. The following compromise bills give me hope!

Dry Needling & Acupuncture: For the last couple of years, I’ve spent time talking with groups of very worried acupuncturists lobbying against bills that threaten to take their livelihoods away. Fortunately this week, the Health Committee passed a bill (SB 411) that ironed out all the issues and all parties agreed. There are no longer angry acupuncturists in the hallways!

Foreign-Trained Doctors: The Health Committee also passed a bill this week (SB 427) that creates a pathway for internationally trained doctors to become licensed in Georgia, an issue I’ve also heard about for years. The bill requires service in rural and underserved areas to help alleviate physician shortages.

Foster Care: Our foster care system is broken and legislators want to fix it. Funding was added Friday by the House to address the Division of Family & Children Services $82 million deficit. SB 431 prevents delays in school enrollment for foster kids, and SB 622 creates a Joint House & Senate Study Committee (SR 622) to meet this coming year prior to the 2027 legislative session.

More Action:

Volunteers for ICE-Out: My office is coordinating with local groups that support immigrants and their families — many of which need volunteers to observe ICE, provide legal counsel, and deliver meals. If you’d like to help, please contact my Chief of Staff, Amy Swygert, at amy@sallyharrell.org for more information.

Dunwoody Apartment Fire: Recently, there was a terrible apartment fire in Dunwoody and eight families lost everything. If you would like to donate to their recovery, the Kingswood Church in Dunwoody is organizing efforts: Donate online at https://onrealm.org/KingswoodUnited/-/form/give/now. Choose Mission Appeals from the top menu and then select Fire Victims (under memo). Donations will be used to directly support families impacted by the fire as they begin to rebuild

What’s Ahead: We return to session Monday through Thursday next week, and the pace is already accelerating as we move closer to Crossover Day (March 6), the deadline for bills to pass out of their chamber of origin. The pressure builds quickly this time of year — and in a short session like this one, every day counts.

What’s It Matter To You – Healthcare

 

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Sally’s Senate Snapshot 2026 #3

Outside In and Inside Out

Typically, actions taken inside the Capitol are meant to impact people outside the Capitol. But this week things felt backwards. Events happening outside the Capitol drove the action inside the Senate chamber.

Outside In

Murder in Minnesota: I wish you could have heard all the speeches made on the Senate floor this week by members of the Senate Democratic Caucus. For two days, we hammered our Republican colleagues. We poked at their souls, we begged them to rise and speak up with us, we called out their hypocrisy and their cruel indolence. In this patchwork of voices, I heard the spirits of my colleagues emerge, all shaped by their own unique life experiences and the communities they represent. It was real, it was authentic, and it was raw.

It’s unusual for Republicans to actually sit in their seats listening to speeches delivered by Democrats. But this time they did. Few rose to take the microphone themselves, but those who did were angry.

They called our speeches “chatter.” They told us that we had no right to speak about events in Minnesota because we weren’t there. They accused us of reacting to viral videos and rhetoric. They scolded us, telling us that what happens in Minnesota does not concern us, and that we should stay in our lanes.

Every act of intimidation in Minnesota has only strengthened the resolve of Minnesotans. Hearing the resolve of my colleagues this week gave me hope that the resolve of the American spirit will prevail over tyranny and our democracy will survive.

The FBI in Fulton County: By late Wednesday afternoon we were all pretty exhausted. That’s when we found out the FBI was raiding Fulton County’s elections offices, seizing roughly 700 boxes of ballots and records from the 2020 election. We would need to write more speeches (a task most of us must do ourselves, or with the help of committed volunteers, since we don’t have money to hire professional speech-writing staff).

Voter Rolls Showdown: In the midst of the tragic events in Minnesota, a group of Republican senators busied themselves by pushing through Senate Resolution 563, urging Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to turn over sensitive, private voter data to the Trump administration in response to a DOJ lawsuit. Raffensperger has refused, rightly pointing out that Georgia law protects voters’ private information.

So Thursday morning we got busy writing even more speeches. Arguments were lined up. But before the resolution came to the floor, Senate leadership abruptly adjourned. After a morning spent forcefully condemning the FBI raid, leadership knew we were prepared to fight this next front as well. For now, the resolution is stalled — and we’ll take the win.

Take Action

A new ICE office has opened in College Park, and we may see increased ICE activity in the Atlanta area. In DeKalb, the immigrant communities in Clarkston and the Buford Highway corridor could be at risk. This week, my office began coordinating with local groups that support immigrants and their families — many of which need volunteers to observe ICE, provide legal counsel, and deliver meals. If you’d like to help, please contact my Chief of Staff, Amy Swygert, at amy@sallyharrell.org for more information.

Also, I recommend you sign up for emails from Galvanize Georgia (click here). These emails are written by one of my Brookhaven supporters, Rich Levy, and they are very good on local and state issues. He’s following ICE issues closely, in addition to many other current events that will help you stay informed in our ever changing landscape.

Lastly, because we’re in the second year of the legislative cycle, bills that have gotten stalled along the way are often tacked onto bills that have moved. While that can help in a short session, it also means parts of a bill may skip the usual committee process — limiting vetting, transparency, and public input. So you have to be careful. When advocating, talk about issues rather than bill numbers.

Inside Out

This week I had the pleasure of spending time with some of the younger members of the Georgia House at a reception for the National Caucus of Environmental Legislators. We were sharing how the nuts-and-bolt work we are doing inside the Capitol seems so trivialized by what’s happening outside the Capitol. One of the newer House members responded, “Yes, but it’s important that we keep doing it.” He’s so right. Here are a few of the issues I voted on this week on the floor and in committees.

Bills on the Floor: We voted on several bills this week, including SB 148, a catch-all education bill that allows schools to offer hunting safety courses, launches a pilot program for outdoor learning spaces, requires schools to have an automated external defibrillator (AED) and an emergency response plan, and increases teachers’ personal leave days from three to five (four bills merged into one).

Committee Work That Counts: I’m thrilled to have some good committee assignments back this term, after having been kicked off of several committees when the new Lt. Governor took the gavel in 2023. I’m serving on Children and Families, Health and Human Services, Higher Education, and State Institutions & Properties. The Standing Committee schedule was finally published this week, and several committees have begun their work. Here’s what my committee work looked like this week:

Children and Families

  • Improving Child Fatality Review Boards: SB 383 ensures every child death is reviewed promptly, focuses the work on prevention, and improves transparency for the public.
  • Autism Pilot Program for Foster Kids: SB 402 expands a pilot program to provide autism screenings and evaluations for children in foster care. The program will start in select regions and expand statewide, with training and support for caregivers and professionals and regular reporting to state leaders. Children with autism are disproportionately represented in the foster care system, and early screening and intervention can make a real difference — for children and for the families caring for them.

Health and Human Services

  • Fixing Georgia’s medical cannabis program: SB 395 ensures doctors certifying patients for medical cannabis have a real doctor–patient relationship, simplifies reporting, and allows limited information-sharing — with strong privacy protections — so regulators can stop bad actors.

As always, thank you for staying engaged, even when it isn’t easy. Next week, we’ll be in session Monday through Friday for legislative days 10 – 14. I certainly hope for a return to relative calm, but if not, we will raise our voices again to bring attention once more to the reality that we are not living through normal times.

 

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Sally’s Senate Snapshot 2026 #2

Sally’s Senate Snapshot 2026 #2

Budget Week — Rhetoric vs. Reality

The second week of Georgia’s legislative session is reserved for what we colloquially call “budget hearings.” Officially, these are Joint Committee meetings of the House & Senate Appropriations Committees. The “hearings” give agency heads the opportunity to pitch their budget proposals to legislators.

Most agency heads are appointed by the Governor, so they tend to be Republicans, and many have served as legislators or Governor’s staff prior to their appointment. During my years in the Senate, I’ve noticed a pattern. Many of these legislators – turned agency heads – change their tune as they change roles. As political figures they espouse rhetoric about bloated government and the need for tax cuts; as executive leaders, they plead the reality of underfunded government. It’s like they learn on the job that what their department does actually matters to real people and they become champions for their cause.

Where’s the Beef?

While the Governor wants to further reduce Georgia’s income tax, Lt. Governor Burt Jones and Senate Republicans have been talking about eliminating the income tax — but they haven’t come up with a plan for how to make up for the lost revenue.

Without a plan, they are forced to rely on budget surpluses, and this week the state’s own economist, Dr. Robert Buschman, made clear that’s a risky assumption. He warned lawmakers that Georgia’s economic growth is slowing, job and income growth are weakening, and wages are not keeping up with inflation. While he didn’t predict an immediate recession, he was clear that slow growth and lingering inflation are likely to continue, and that both consumers and businesses are increasingly pessimistic about the outlook.

Georgia’s recent surpluses are a result of the Governor repeatedly underestimating state revenues, allowing excess collections to pile up year after year. That’s not a long-term funding strategy. Governor Kemp is in his final year, future governors will budget differently, and the current $10 billion surplus will be spent down quickly if it’s used to backfill income tax cuts. Even the Wall Street Journal, owned by the same family that owns Fox News, said this week that the Burt Jones’ tax plan would fail the state.

Affordability Talk, Healthcare Silence

Republicans are talking about affordability — but when it comes to healthcare, there’s a deafening silence.

Hundreds of thousands of Georgians are at risk of losing coverage. Hospitals are warning of serious financial strain. Communities across the state are bracing for cuts in care. Leadership seems to believe that if they don’t talk about it, people will forget what’s coming.

But Georgians won’t forget because they’re going to feel it personally — when coverage disappears, when hospitals cut services, and when emergency rooms become the only option left. If affordability doesn’t include healthcare, it’s not good policy. What’s left is just an election year talking point.

Democrats, meanwhile, are actually offering solutions. The Senate Democratic Caucus filed SB 380 to expand Medicaid and SB 379, the Health Insurance Affordability and Consumer Protection Act, to lower costs and strengthen consumer protections in the private insurance market. I also filed SB 360, a public option that would allow any Georgian to buy into the state’s Medicaid program — driving down insurance costs for families and small businesses. But it’s doubtful that Republicans will allow these measures to move forward.

Where the Rubber Hits the Road

If political speeches tell you what leaders want you to hear, Budget Week tells you what’s actually happening.

As agency heads testified before the Joint Appropriations Committee, it became clear Governor Kemp’s incremental income tax cuts have left major parts of state government stretched to the breaking point. The most troubling to me is what I heard about Georgia’s child welfare system — children who are placed in the state’s care because the state has determined they are not safe in their own home:

  • Child welfare on the brink: There’s an old African proverb that says a child who is not embraced by the village will burn it down to feel its warmth. I remember a training exercise I did at the University of Georgia when I was a new legislator. Assigned to bi-partisan working groups, we were asked to solve difficult policy issues using a structured set of values. Our group was tasked with figuring out how to strengthen our child welfare system. Democrat and Republican, we understood the urgency and how kids who are not cared for can become a liability to everyone’s safety.

But now the reality is that the Department of Human Services is facing an $85 million shortfall in out-of-home care funding, which is forcing it to terminate contracts and change authorization rules, drastically cutting services for vulnerable children and foster families. Why are we talking about tax refunds and income tax cuts when we can’t even protect kids in our own state’s care? And why are we not using our reserve funds? I blame this solely on Governor Kemp, who hoards reserve funds while he watches Georgians suffer. It’s pathological.

  • Mental health and public safety strain: Despite recent progress in expanding Georgia’s mental health capacity, we still face a shortage of 232 forensic hospital beds, with more than 800 people waiting for placement, many stuck in emergency rooms, out-of-state hospitals, and local jails unequipped to treat them. I stay in regular contact with a mother whose son, who has complex medical and behavioral challenges, has been sent to Texas because Georgia cannot meet his needs. In an 11-Alive interview, she says, “There’s a level of sadness, and just pressure, and just pain, that you feel from not being close to your loved one.” There’s only so much the Commissioner of the Department of Behavioral Health & Developmental Disabilities can do within the limits of the Governor’s merciless budget restrictions.
  • Unemployment system unprepared: According to Labor Commissioner Barbara Rivera Holmes, Georgia’s unemployment insurance trust fund remains $1.5 billion below federal solvency standards after it was depleted during the pandemic. Georgia’s UI trust fund is currently $1.98 billion. The US Department of Labor’s standard to weather a recession is $3.48 billion. This leaves the state exposed when the next downturn hits. There’s a plan to address it, but it’s going to take some work.
  • Disaster recovery delays: With 98% of GEMA funding coming from the federal government, Washington red tape has slowed reimbursements. Nearly $400 million in Hurricane Helene funds are still owed to local governments, creating serious cash-flow challenges for cities and counties.
  • Workforce crisis across state government: Severe staffing shortages and turnover threaten core functions. Chief Justice Nels Peterson testified that both the Supreme Court and Court of Appeals have experienced roughly 75% staff attorney turnover over the past five to six years — calling it “catastrophic” and “unsustainable.” Similar turnover and staffing shortages exist at the GBI, Public Health, and the Department of Agriculture.

These aren’t abstract concerns. They are immediate threats to public safety, child welfare, economic stability, disaster recovery, and the basic functioning of state government.

What’s Next

Due to the weather and many legislators having to come to Atlanta from all over the state, the legislature will gavel in on Monday with no one in the chambers, burning a day on the legislative calendar. Regular business will resume as soon as the weather allows.

What’s It Matter to You?

Speaking of affordability, I’ve resumed my “What’s It Matter to You?” video series, focused on helping young people understand how state government decisions affect their lives. My latest video encourages young people to pay attention this year to who offers the best solutions for affordability. This November, every statewide officeholder and every legislator will be on the ballot, and voters will get to decide who’s in charge at the Capitol. View the video here.

 

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Sally’s Senate Snapshot 2026 #1

Sally’s Senate Snapshot 2026 #1

 

First of Session Jitters

I get the jitters before the start of every new legislative session. When I reflect on the years I’ve been in the Senate, there’s reason to be anxious! My first year, the abortion ban was slammed through. The next year we shut down early due to the pandemic, only to come back to a heavily guarded Capitol following January 6th. Each year the volume of horrid bills that pass increases. So yes, there’s a reason for the lump in my gut.

Monday, as I walked from the parking garage to the Capitol, those jitters started to fall away, replaced by a sense of stability — a realization that no matter how crazy times get, some things at the Capitol never change. That’s about the time I saw Phil Lunney, standing at the steps as he always does, enthusiastically greeting passersby.

Phil is a North Fulton Democrat. I first met him in 2017 when I launched my congressional campaign for Georgia’s 6th district. Trump had just been elected President for the first time, and Democrats were figuring out how to organize. Phil stood out to me because I liked his progressive outlook.

I decided to ask Phil why he stands there at the steps every morning — no matter how hard it’s raining, or how biting cold the wind is — greeting everyone who passes by. He said it’s because he’s a cheerleader for those of us who are serving as part of the minority party — he knows how hard our work is and he just wants to support us.

Phil helped my jitters go away this first week so I could get to work.

Changing Senate Players

Since the close of the 2025 legislative session, ten senators (including three Democrats) have announced runs for higher office. Another Senator left to be Trump’s U.S. Treasurer (you can look for former Sen. Brandon Beach’s name on freshly minted dollar bills). That means lots of change in leadership and several newly called special elections.

 

On the Democratic side, we welcome newly-elected Sen. Jaha Howard to our Senate Democratic Caucus, who replaced former Sen. Jason Esteves. By the way, if you haven’t personally met Jason Esteves, who is running for Governor, please try to do so. I have endorsed Jason because I believe he is the smartest candidate, as well as the most capable and personable.

 

Flip the Georgia Senate! Senate District 18, centered around Macon, was held by Senator John F. Kennedy (yes, that’s really his name, but he’s a Republican) who resigned to run for Lieutenant Governor, triggering a January 20 jungle primary with five Republicans and one Democrat. That lone Democrat is LeMario Brown, Mayor Pro-Tem of Fort Valley and a respected local leader with deep roots in the district. Saturday, U.S. Senator Mark Kelly joined LaMario to canvas the district!

Sen. Colton Moore, who was kicked out of the Senate Republican Caucus for inciting a civil war, resigned from the Senate this week to run for the congressional seat vacated by Marjorie Taylor Greene. The date of this election is March 10.

Narrowing Republican Senate Majority: Until these seats are filled, Republicans hold just 31 Senate seats — their smallest margin over Democrats in 20 years. In the Senate, it takes 29 votes to pass a bill. Republicans will need to stay in their seats this session to pass their bills!

New Committee Assignment!

Turnover brought a handful of new committee assignments, and I am thrilled to have been appointed to the Family & Children Committee, which oversees the health and wellbeing of children in state custody and support for foster parents. As a social worker — and someone who has spent years fighting for kids and families — this assignment is a natural fit and I am excited to get to work.

Republican Gun Policy — Abolish Local Control

For our only floor vote this week, Sen. Colton Moore was given the chance to move one of his bills forward before resigning to run for Marjorie Taylor Greene’s seat. It was a doozy.

SB 204 expands Georgia’s firearms preemption law by prohibiting local governments from regulating gun storage — directly targeting ordinances like Savannah’s, which made it a crime to leave a firearm in an unlocked vehicle. SB 204 passed along party lines. So much for Republicans being for local control.d

What’s Up with Governor Kemp’s Lame Duck Session?

Wednesday morning I dragged myself out of bed at 4:30am to catch a 6am MARTA bus from the Capitol to the Mercedes Benz Stadium for the Annual Georgia Chamber of Commerce Eggs & Issues breakfast, where we heard previews from the Speaker, the Lt. Governor and the Governor. No one knew what Governor Kemp had planned for his last legislative session as Governor, so I was very curious to find out what he had up his sleeve. Not much, actually. And sadly, no mention of Georgia’s pending healthcare crisis.

The next day Governor Kemp took the spotlight again for his Annual State-of-the-State address. There were a couple of surprises — $2000 raises for state employees and $325 million to establish an endowment for a Need-Based scholarship for higher education — something Sen. Nan Orrock and I have been advocating for the last several years. In Georgia, we take our wins when we turn Democratic ideas into Republican initiatives.

Affordability: Same Finish Line, Different Lanes

Speaking of wins, affordability is now the GOP’s new 2026 catch-phrase! Georgia Senate Democrats have long focused on how to utilize state government to make life more affordable for Georgians.

But the Senate Republicans are marketing tax cuts as affordability. Lt. Governor Burt Jones wants to eliminate the income tax and the Speaker of the House Jon Burns wants to lower property taxes. And it’s no surprise that neither has presented a plan for making up for lost revenue, except perhaps by utilizing Governor Kemp’s $10 billion stash in state reserves.

Tuesday morning, the Senate Democratic Caucus was briefed on the impact of these tax plans by the Georgia Budget and Policy Institute. I will do a deep dive analysis in a future Snapshot when more details are available, but I’ll say for now that income tax cuts for people struggling to make ends meet actually won’t help them much, and they could end up with a higher tax bill.

Drafting Kids’ Online Safety Bills

With a light floor schedule, I was able to begin laying the groundwork for my legislative agenda. This fall, I co-chaired the Senate Study Committee on Online Safety for Kids, and I’m now translating those recommendations into a series of bills. Unfortunately, in December President Trump signed an Executive Order (EO)  threatening to punish states who regulate AI. I’ve spent time this week with attorneys trying to understand how they think the EO exposes Georgia to risks should we regulate AI companion chatbot products. They seem to be missing the bigger picture — that we are putting an entire generation of children at risk. I’ll keep fighting for kids and families.

GPB Lawmakers

Tuesday night I was invited to be a guest on GPB’s  “Lawmakers” with Donna Lowry to address the work of my Study Committee on “Keeping Kids Safe Online.” Link here for the interview. Appearing on Lawmakers on the second day of session is quite an honor. Taking on the monied interests of Big Tech has put me in the spotlight of Georgia politics. Reporters are beginning to ask me daily how those bills are coming!

Starting on a Sad Note (Anne Isenhower)

After I got over my beginning-of-session jitters, I took to the well to deliver a Point of Personal Privilege honoring my dear friend Anne Isenhower. On January 1st, our community suffered the heartbreaking loss of our beloved neighbor, supporter, and friend, following the death of her son, Max, last month. This week, I paid tribute to Anne and Max on the Senate floor and asked my colleagues to join me in honoring her with a moment of silence. We carry them with us.

What Can We Do About ICE?

Heavy news hung over the Capitol this week following the tragic killing of Minnesota mom Renee Good. Against that backdrop, Senate Democrats announced three bills aimed at transparency, due process, and constitutional accountability when ICE operates in Georgia:

  • SB 389 — Unmask ICE: Requires ICE agents to remove masks and clearly display badges during enforcement actions.
  • SB 391 — Protect Safe Spaces: Requires a judicial warrant before ICE agents may enter schools, libraries, hospitals, houses of worship, or domestic violence shelters.
  • SB 397 — Civil Accountability: Gives Georgians a clear cause of action to sue ICE agents who violate constitutional rights.

Mark Your Calendars

The Senate and House must agree on a legislative calendar and pass a calendar resolution. Fortunately, this happened on Monday. I actually first saw the proposed calendar last Sunday the same way the public did — from a reporter on X. Crossover Day is scheduled for March 6 and Sine Die is April 2. Anyone wanting to be on the ballot for the upcoming election cycle must sign-up, or “qualify” the week of March 2 – 6. By the end of session, primary elections will be in full swing.

My 2026 Staff

Once again, Amy Swygert is serving as my Chief-of-Staff. Amy has been with me since I joined the Senate in 2019. Kathlene Dorking is still my administrative assistant, and this is her third legislative session. In addition, we have an intern from Georgia Gwinnett College, Ru Ferguson.

  • Amy Swygert: amysenate40@gmail.com
  • Kathlene Dorking: kathlene.dorking@senate.ga.gov
  • Sally’s Personal Email: sally@sallyharrell.org

On the Horizon

Please feel free to share this Snapshot with friends. Anyone can sign up to receive it at sallyharrell.org.

Next week is Budget Week. While we won’t be in session, Governor Kemp, the State Economist, and every state agency head will present their budgets to the joint House and Senate Appropriations Committees. If you want to see how well our state government is — and isn’t — working, this is where you find out. You can watch all presentations on the Georgia General Assembly website.

Stay tuned until next week when we bring a summary to you of these hearings in my 2nd Snapshot of 2026!

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Sally’s Senate Snapshot 2025 #11

Capitol Chaos: Peak Mayhem Mode

It’s that time — the wild, whiplash-inducing final days of session. Bills are getting gutted, stuffed, and pushed through faster than you can say “committee substitute.” Thank goodness for our hardworking Senate Democratic Caucus staff, including our team of externs, that help us keep track of it all.

Staying Focused in the Frenzy

While everything around us is morphing by the minute, I grounded myself in my legislative agenda. I don’t like it when the legislative process is bypassed, but this year Republicans are only letting a handful of Democratic bills move forward so I’ve concluded that in order to do good, I must play by a different strategy.

Chatbots + Kids = Accountability Now (HB 171): Last week, I worked with the author of HB 171, a bill that criminalizes AI-generated sexualized images of children, to add a key amendment: chatbot websites targeting kids could face criminal penalties for sexually-explicit content. The notoriously tough Senate Judiciary Committee tweaked the base bill (to the author’s dismay), but my amendment survived. The bill passed the Committee. Let’s hope it’s on the Senate floor next week.

Corn + Folic Acid = Health Babies (SB 278): SB 278, my bill to require folic acid in corn masa products to prevent spina bifida, got a rare dedicated hearing in the Senate Agriculture and Consumer Affairs Committee this week. Spina bifida prevention seems like a no-brainer, but we brought in a range of expert witnesses to testify to the costs of spina bifida to patients, their families and the state, the success of food fortification on public health, and the process of how food is fortified. The Ag Chair is very interested in this issue, but cautiously watching for opposition — and potentially for other states to act first.

New Bills: Salvos in the Storm

Amidst the chaos, I filed these bills this week.

Raising the Bar on Voter Challenges (HB 357): It’s time to do away with frivolous voter challenges. My bill requires actual evidence. After bringing the Chair of the DeKalb Election Board to meet with the Senate Ethics Chair to share how much time county elections staff spend on these challenges, the Committee Chair is now a co-sponsor — a huge win! I’m very hopeful he’ll help me push it forward next year.

A Public Health Insurance Option, Georgia-Style (SB 360): If Biden-era enhanced federal Affordable Care Act subsidies expire later this year, insurance costs will skyrocket and over a million Georgians could lose coverage. My bill offers a potential fix: a state-regulated, lower-cost Medicaid public option modeled on Nevada’s successful plan to leverage the state’s purchasing power by requiring insurance companies that bid on the state’s very lucrative Medicaid contracts to offer a public option plan.

Good Faith Grant Study Committee (SR 474): For the last two years, I’ve been working with a small bipartisan group of my colleagues to launch Georgia’s first needs-based college scholarship. We are working diligently to put the funding pieces together. In the meantime, I signed on to a resolution to create a Senate Study Committee — with the Higher Ed Committee Chair’s signature — to keep the momentum going.

Surprise! Bills Popping Up in Committees

The Voting Frankenstein (HB 397): This bill started out in the House as a simple bill about weekend voting in municipal elections and it snowballed into another sweeping elections bill. We heard over the weekend that it contained a provision to limit early voting sites to one per county, but it disappeared before it reached the Senate Ethics Committee. Sadly, bad provisions including limiting absentee ballot drop off on last weekend of early voting, giving more power and independence to the controversial State Elections Board, and nudging Georgia out of the Electronic Registration Information Center (aka ERIC), a data-sharing partnership with other states, despite the Secretary of State’s objections. It passed in a party-line vote and will likely be on the Senate floor next week.

The DEI Disguise (HB 127): SB 120, the ban on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) programs in schools, didn’t make it to the Senate floor by Crossover Day. But surprise! It’s back, reborn as HB 127, a bill that originally sought to increase teacher sick leave. Republicans passed it out of the Senate Education and Youth Committee this week. Until now, we avoided a Senate floor debate on this issue, but it’s likely to happen next week.

On the Senate Floor: The Good, the Bad, and the Backroom Deals

Distraction-Free Education (HB 340): I went to the well to speak to this bill to limit cell phone use in K–8 classrooms. When my kids were in school, having cell phones was new. My husband and I struggled to limit their use but teachers required the use of apps for homework assignments, making it difficult to enforce rules at home. This bill lets local districts decide how to implement it, which gives parents a way to advocate for policies that work best for their kids.

Surprise Pay Raises (HB 86): What started as a bill to change how some judges are paid turned into a fast-tracked Republican amendment proposing to raise the salaries of the Governor and other statewide officials. The media quickly pointed out that paying our Governor $250,000 (up from $175,000) would tie our Governor’s salary with the NY Governor for the highest Gubernatorial salary in the country. However, I recently looked up how much our Chancellor of the University System of Georgia gets paid — $524,000!

The next day, some Democrats tried to amend another judicial salary bill with a pay raise for legislators, a topic that comes up almost every session. Legislators currently make $22,000 plus a daily per diem while in session. As usual, that amendment failed.

We probably need a Study Committee on the salaries of elected officials.

The Budget Battle (HB 68): We had heard for weeks that there were major points of contention between the House and Senate versions of the FY 2026 budget. Those differences were revealed when the Senate version of the $37.7 billion budget hit the floor this week. The Senate jacked up Georgia’s new school voucher program funding (from $45M to $141M) while slashing direct help for low-income schools ($28 million) that the House added. Senate Republicans also want to tap into Georgia’s massive budget reserves instead of using bonds for construction projects. These differences will be worked out in a Conference Committee next week and the final versions will hit both chambers next week.

The Final Countdown: Take Action!

We’re down to three more crazy legislative days: Monday, Wednesday, and Sine Die Friday. In between? Strategizing, regrouping, and bracing for impact.

Several bad bills passed Committees this week.

Call or email the Speaker Jon Burn’s office and ask him to keep the following bills off the House floor. jon.burns@house.ga.gov, 404-656-5052

Religious Freedom Bill (SB 36): offers a license to discriminate based on religious views.

Anti-Transgender Legislation (SB 30 & 39): One bans treatment for trans youth, another bans coverage on state plans.

Call the Lt. Governor Burt Jone’s Office and ask him to keep the following bills off the Senate floor. https://ltgov.georgia.gov/contact-lt-governor, 404-656-5030

Elections Bill (HB 397): Bans the use of the Electronic Registration Information Center (ERIC) for that helps keep voter registration lists up-to-date, and limits absentee ballot drop-off the weekend prior to Election Day.

Bans Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DEI) programs in schools (HB 127): Bans school clubs & resource centers that offer specialized support for various groups.

Call the Chairman of Senate Appropriations, Chairman Blake Tillery, to ask him to fund direct support for low-income schools rather than school vouchers. https://www.legis.ga.gov/members/senate/4908/contact, 404-656-5038

Stay alert, stay loud, and buckle up for the final lap.

Paws, Policy & Protection Day
This week I took a break from voting to get some dog-time and some sunshine at Paws, Policy & Protection Day, sponsored by Humane World for Animals. It was great to get to know Jerry Hansand of Cumming, Georgia, and his dog, Polka!
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Sally’s Senate Snapshot 2025 #10

Bugs in the System

The germs circulating at the Capitol finally found me. I stayed home sick the early part of the week, but got busy as a bee later in the week keeping my legislative agenda moving.

Bitten by the Trump Bug

I was glad to be cocooned at home Tuesday when the Senate spent more than 90 minutes debating a resolution commending President Donald Trump for his first three months in office. While our POTUS spins a web of chaos, creating a roller-coaster in the market and great uncertainty and fear among Americans, Senate Republicans chose to spend time glorifying him.

Democrats pushed back with amendments calling for the President to protect Social Security and Medicaid and safeguarding veterans from unjust firings. These amendments failed. The resolution put on display a political system that refuses to debug itself.

The Tax Buzz

We spent a lot of time this week on various tax bills — some of which I supported and some I didn’t.

Hurricane Helene Tax Relief (HB 223) — 37% of Georgia’s timberland was damaged or destroyed in Hurricane Helene. HB 223 offers tax relief for the timber industry and other agriculture producers that suffered hurricane damage. This bill passed 50-1. It’s nice to know that unlike Congress, the Georgia Senate can still come together to do important things for farmers and people in need.

Income Tax Reduction (HB 111) — Georgia’s income tax had been set at 6% since the 1930s. But since just before Governor Kemp took office, Republicans have chipped away at it every year. HB 111 drops the rate from 5.39% to 5.19%, with plans to hit 4.99% in two years. Meanwhile, every year, state agency heads report severe understaffing, our courts are chronically backlogged, and we regularly hear from constituents who can’t get basic services. With deep federal cuts on the horizon, Democrats raised concerns that we could soon feel the sting of a state budget crisis.

One-time Tax Credit (HB 112) — While Democrats didn’t support an ongoing tax cut, we joined Republicans to approve this one-time tax credit for all taxpayers that filed returns in 2023 and 2024. HB 112 gives single filers a $250 tax credit, head of households a $350 credit, and a $500 credit for married couples that filed jointly.

Motor Fuel Suspension (HR 42) — I was the fly in the ointment—the lone “no” vote in the Senate — on a resolution ratifying Governor Kemp’s suspension of the motor fuel tax after Hurricane Helene. This tax is a user fee, paid by those who drive on Georgia’s roads through a gas tax, including those who drive through the state, including truckers. When it’s suspended, funding for road projects and repairs dries up, and the general fund picks up the tab—shifting the burden to people who may not even drive, like seniors. When I explained my reasoning to some Republican colleagues, they got it.

A Bee in My Bonnet: Protecting Kids Online

Last week, I shared how two moms asked for help keeping sexually explicit AI content away from kids on chatbot websites. This week, my mission was to amend SB 9—a bill about online harms to children already passed by the Senate—to tackle the issue. But some kinks in the system made it tougher than expected.

First, I lined up a fellow Dem on the House Technology and Infrastructure Innovation Committee, where SB 9 was scheduled to be heard, to carry the amendment. But a last-minute scheduling conflict knocked him out. I asked another Democrat to step in at the last minute, but when the bill came up, it had been gutted and rewritten entirely as an election bill. These kinds of backroom moves take the transparency out of the process and make it impossible for citizens to participate. Even the media didn’t catch what happened and continues to report that the original SB 9 passed.

Still, I wasn’t giving up. The next day, I found out the content of SB 9 had been duplicated in HB 171—a similar bill that protects kids from AI harm. I tracked down the sponsor, pitched the amendment, and he was all in. The bill’s up next Wednesday. I’m grateful for a second shot to make a real difference this year on one of my top priorities.

Other bills I filed this week: A Study Committee Resolution to examine the online harms of social media and AI to children, a bill to prevent AI companies from using people’s identities without permission, a bill to allow county Elections Boards to meet virtually, and another Study Committee Resolution to study the benefits of providing higher education programs in Georgia prisons.

Other Bills to Bee Aware of

IVF (HB 428) — This week, the Senate Health and Human Services Committee unanimously passed HB 428 to protect access to in vitro fertilization (IVF) in Georgia. The bill’s sponsor shared his own infertility journey—and the good news: he and his wife are expecting their first child thanks to IVF. The House already passed the bill unanimously. Here’s hoping the Senate follows with a win for families in Georgia who are trying to conceive.

Religious Freedom Restoration Act (SB 36) — Some good news — the Religious Liberty, aka RFRA, bill that passed the Senate faced a major roadblock in the House Judiciary Committee this week. After a 4-hour hearing, a Republican member who represents a Sandy Springs swing district tried to amend the bill to include civil rights protections against discrimination. After that amendment failed, two Republican Committee members joined with the Democrats to vote against the bill. It failed 7-5, but a motion to reconsider the bill passed before the meeting ended. It will likely come up again in Committee next week.

Bee Aggressive! It’s Time to Take Action on SB 36: Georgia Equality is asking Gwinnett county residents to call or email Rep. Matt Reeves, a key player on the House Judiciary Committee, 770-236-9768, matt.reeves@house.ga.gov) with the following message:

“As a Gwinnett County resident, I support the Non-Discrimination Ordinance that passed last year. Now that RFRA has been exposed as a bill intended to create a license to discriminate, please vote no on SB 36.”

You can also contact Representative Deborah Silcox, 404-657-1803, (deborah.silcox@house.ga.gov) and House Judiciary Chairman Stan Gunter, 404-656-5125, (stan.gunter@house.ga.gov) to thank them for their no votes on SB 36 and encourage them to stand strong against the bill.

What’s Buzzing on the Horizon?

We’ll be back in session Tuesday for Day 35 so the end is in sight. Wednesday, I’ll make a beeline for the Senate Judiciary Committee to make sure my bill amendment on HB 171 passes, and the Senate Agriculture Committee to present my Corn Fortification Bill (SB 278) that fortifies corn products with folic acid to help prevent birth defects. I have an entire team of experts ready to present!

It’s that time when anything can happen, so Bee sure keep your antennae up!

Discussing the problem of excessive and unsubstantiated challenges to individual voter registrations with Senate Ethics Chairman Sam Watson
Discussing the problem of excessive and unsubstantiated challenges to individual voter registrations with Senate Ethics Chairman Sam Watson

Interview with Parker Short

Last week I had the pleasure of meeting with Dunwoody resident Parker Short. Parker has earned national fame as a political organizer. He graduated from the University of Michigan and is currently completing a Masters degree at Duke University. Parker and I decided to record a short interview (What I’m for and against), for his Instagram account, where he has 55,000 followers!

Part 1

https://youtube.com/shorts/q9RwO-GbyCo

Part 2

https://youtube.com/shorts/JKwfjw0oPXQ

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