State authorities, such as those overseeing ports or toll roads, are closer to being monitored by the state following a Georgia House vote this week.

House Bill 290 would correct an oversight by adding those authorities that were left off new rules regarding the use of purchasing cards by state agencies.

A 2007 Atlanta Journal-Constitution investigation revealed state employees had been charging well beyond office supplies with the cards, buying everything from pornography to tickets for concert events.

The bill passed 158-0. It now heads to the Senate.

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With the closure of the labor and delivery unit in St. Mary’s Sacred Heart Hospital in Lavonia, expectant mothers will instead be directed to deliver at St. Mary’s Hospital in Athens, about 45 miles away.  (Photo Illustration / Getty Images)

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Julian Conley listens during opening statements in his trial at Fulton County Superior Court in Atlanta on Wednesday, Sept. 17, 2025. The 25-year-old is accused of fatally shooting 8-year-old Secoriea Turner in July 2020. (Abbey Cutrer/AJC)

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