Key Voter Concerns, Horses & Cows

Sunday Solutions — May 10, 2026

Good morning! First things first: Call your mom. It’s Mother’s Day. Now, take a moment to catch up on topics before you head for that Sunday lunch that we hope you didn’t ask your mom to cook. If she’s not around, find something fun to do in her honor. She’d like that. Let’s go!

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NEWS: VOTING

Voting: It’s the whys that matter

We’re heading into the last week of early voting, and we’re finding candidates working the state and voters keeping their choices low key. What they do want: to talk about what they don’t want. The Current‘s Robin Kemp found property taxes are a hot topic in Liberty County. Voting catalysts across Coastal Georgia include data centers, land use, schools, and high prices. Polls across the state show at least 30% of voters are undecided on almost all the larger state races, so that’s another reason to know that no spot is decided yet. And that is why your vote — your voice — will play a role in what happens. If you’re still confused and need some help working through the candidate who best represents your thoughts, we’re updating our Voter Resource page with lists, profiles, candidate forum recordings, appearances and stories every day.

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NEWS: GOVERNING

Pens up! Two days to go

It’s been 38 days since the Georgia General Assembly ended the session, leaving more than 250 bills for Gov. Brian Kemp’s consideration and signature by Day 40 — May 12. Last week, he started the signing marathon. He’s signed nearly all the education and literacy packages, forestry and natural resources bills, and a variety of insurance and professional business legislation. You can follow his signing odyssey at this link. Last year, he vetoed 7 items.

The approval for the forestry industry bills comes after a couple weeks of destructive and fast-moving wildfires that added more injury to Georgia for timber owners after federal Hurricane Helene cleanup funds took years to arrive, leaving storm debris to fuel the flames. New state measures will help with changes to tax credits plus more flexible moves for investments to encourage manufacturing. You can read more at this link from Capitol Beat.

Also in this signing session, the long-awaited bill that requires restaurants to disclose if they serve imported shrimp. Start watching for menu notes or posted signs in restaurants.

We also have a few new state symbols. Kemp also signed the bill making the marsh tacky the state’s official heritage horse breed and pineywoods cattle the official Georgia heritage cattle breed. That bill was sponsored by Coastal Georgia Reps. Ron Stephens, Al Williams and Jesse Petrea. We’re not sure where in Georgia you can find either of these animals, but there are a few of the horses in South Carolina, where the marsh tacky is also the state’s official heritage horse breed. And, if you are wondering, the Cumberland Island horses are not marsh tackies. Tackies are lauded as the best horses for hunting in the low country marshes and were likely used by South Carolina hero Francis Marion as the Swamp Fox took on the British. In another bill, cotton has officially been named the official state fabric. To borrow from the enduring 1989 marketing campaign: Cotton is the official fabric of our lives — if you live in Georgia.

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Navy vs. data center

The U.S. Navy took an unusual interest in a small-town land use decision earlier this month, via a letter from the commander at Naval Submarine Base Kings Bay asking the mayor of Kingsland to pause a rezoning hearing for a potential industrial park and data center.
Capt. William Dull asked the city to give the base time to understand the potential impacts of a 700-acre development on electricity supply, sediment erosion, noise pollution, thermal exhaust and water use. Read Dull’s letter here or skip to Jabari Gibbs’ coverage of the suspension of the rezoning request.

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NEWS: UPDATES

Top of mind issues

It’s been a week of interesting updates to stories we’ve all been following — data centers, healthcare costs, and student loans. In the spirit of Sunday reads, here are a few to check out from The Current and from our news partners.

• Healthcare costs likely to significantly impact November elections, KFF poll shows: In other things voters care about: KFF Health News finds that some concerns rise above partisan politics.
• Big changes arrive July 1 for student borrowers, including in loan repayments: Do you have a government-backed student loan or know someone who does? You’ll want to see this. From Georgia Recorder.
• How a data center derailed $240,000 for affordable housing in rural Maine: A town’s housing grant from the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) evaporated when the town quietly decided to use it for data center prep. From The Daily Yonder.
• Trump promised cheaper drugs. Some prices dropped. Many others shot up.: In a look at how TrumpRx is working out for customers, KFF Health News finds actual results to be mixed.

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NEWS: ACCOUNTABILITY

☕ Your second cup: Chemicals come home

Georgia officials knew for 20 years about the toxic substances pouring into rivers, but Georgia’s Environmental Protection Division did little to confront the pollution. The citizens — voters — who depend on the rivers for their water sources weren’t even told. You’ve heard about dangerous PFAS chemicals in watersheds for a while, but we want to make sure you’ve seen this look at this investigative journalism collaboration of The Associated Press, Atlanta Journal-Constitution and FRONTLINE/PBS. The state’s actions or inactions are another example of why your vote matters.

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