What passed at the Georgia Capitol late at night
Georgia lawmakers kept passing bills late in the night Tuesday, creating a new city, banning high school workers from having sex with students and slapping a sales tax on the internet.
The Georgia General Assembly is rushing to pass bills before this year’s legislative session ends at midnight Thursday.
Here’s a look at a few last-minute measures approved Tuesday, all of which still need final approval Thursday:
- Banning talking on the phone while driving unless you use hands-free technology, like Bluetooth.
- Creating the new city of Eagle's Landing in Henry County by taking land from the existing city of Stockbridge.
- Criminalizing sex and sexual touching between any school employee and students.
- Adding more money from the Georgia Lottery into Georgia's HOPE scholarship and pre-k programs.
- Requiring sales taxes to be collected from most online retailers.
- Making it a misdemeanor to access a computer without permission.
- Subjecting lobbyists to the Georgia Legislature's sexual harassment rules.
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About the Authors
Mark Niesse is an enterprise reporter and covers elections and Georgia government for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution and is considered an expert on elections and voting. Before joining the AJC, he worked for The Associated Press in Atlanta, Honolulu and Montgomery, Alabama. He also reported for The Daily Report and The Santiago Times in Chile.
Maya T. Prabhu covers the Georgia Senate and statewide issues as a government reporter for The AJC. Born in Queens, New York, and raised in northern Virginia, Maya attended Spelman College and then the University of Maryland for a master's degree. She writes about social issues, the criminal justice system and legislative politics.
