Sunday Solutions — April 12, 2026
Good morning! We’re a few days away from Tax Day, so we’ll talk a bit about fallout from the state legislature’s work to lower taxes. We’ve also got updates on a Coastal Georgia campaign, and a new challenge to a member of the Public Service Commission. And yes, there’s always a bit more. Buckle up.
NEWS: ELECTIONS
PSC candidate gets residency challenge
While Public Service Commission members are elected by voters across the state, they still must live in the district they run to serve. Fitz Johnson, who’s running to recapture the seat he lost in November, is now facing a challenge to his District 3 residency. The complaint says he lives in Cobb County and not in the Fulton County house he lists for voter registration. Reporter Mary Landers details the complaint, the documents and talks to both sides. A judge will hear the case on Monday.
NEWS: POLITICS
Congressional race pulls in star power
Chair of the U.S. House Judiciary Committee Jim Jordan came to town last week to stump for 1st District Congressional Republican candidate Jim Kingston. The Ohio congressman cofounded the Freedom Caucus, the most conservative bloc in the House, and is also one of President Donald Trump’s most ardent admirers and fiercest attack dogs. That reputation was on display as he built the case for sending Kingston to Congress. Jordan served with the candidate’s father, Jack, during his 22 years there. The Current‘s Craig Nelson was at the event, and you can read his story here.
NEWS: GOVERNING
So where did we end up?
The ink’s had time to dry on the updated language in bills passed in the 2026 General Assembly. That means we’re all getting a clearer picture of what’s on the table for Gov. Brian Kemp to consider signing (or not), and we’re getting a look at the measures that didn’t make it. Capitol Beat‘s Ty Tagami has done a nice job of taking the lawmakers’ work and breaking it down by topics, including insurance, housing, policing, health and education.
And since it’s tax time, we’ve got a wrap from WABE on how the moves this year may affect your own taxes over the next few years.
And Tagami from Capitol Beat has a breakdownat what Senate Bill 33’s property tax cap may mean for schools — and it’s not rosy.
Refreshments with Georgia Power
In 2025, Georgia Power topped the list of state vendors that give gifts to state employees, by supplying almost $26,000 in mostly “meals and beverages” mostly to employees of the Georgia Department of Economic Development. That agency is in charge of attracting new businesses to the state.
Check out Georgia Power’s Georgia Ethics Commission disclosure as well as gift data from all four companies that reported. Or read a report from our partner newsroom Georgia Recorder about environmentalists’ ire with data centers, Georgia Power and this year’s state legislative session.
NEWS: UPDATES
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
• Cherokee of Georgia powwow unites communities, preserves indigenous heritage: Visual journalist Justin Taylor chronicles gathering of Native Americans in St. George.
• Sapelo civil rights case against McIntosh dismissed: Reporter Mary Landers explains the last lawsuit’s demise.
• Georgia’s forestry industry is in crisis. One solution could be in your medicine cabinet. The state legislature passed measures to help, and there are other ideas taking shape. From Grist/WABE.
• Stevens, wife charged with felony child abuse: Reporter Robin Kemp lays out the charges amid an election challenge for the Liberty County commissioner.
• Georgia bill imposes stricter rules on HOA fines, property liens: In Georgia, 2.5 million live in areas governed by boards. From Capitol Beat.
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☕ Your second cup: Watching the world
While almost all of us have a camera in hand constantly –we tend to call it a phone — and we use it to document every thing: traffic, kids, dogs, butterflies. And we know how we use that info. Area governments are using more cameras, too, and how that info is used isn’t always clear. While the makers say the license-plate surveillance lowers crime rates and helps police be proactive, there’s one problem: It’s up to the local users to decide how they share that tracking info and whom they track. There are no state or national guidelines on any of it. We’ve reported at various times about the addition of Flock license plate cameras in Coastal Georgia roadsides to track drivers. St. Marys council got a sales pitch just last week for them. Glynn County and Chatham County have Flock cameras nearly everywhere. In some areas, local authorities help ICE agents use the system to track drivers who may be undocumented. Here’s a story about how the cameras are used from a data scientist on how the spy technology’s integration with AI is raising more questions. Want to see if you’ve been tracked? Go here.
In more fun photography news: The Artemis II astronauts used old-school cameras and iPhones to give us all a view of the backside of the moon and all of Earth. In their pictures, we are reminded how small we really are. Here’s a gallery.
Image Credit: NASA
Enjoy!
Legal challenge targets Fitz Johnson’s PSC residency
By Mary Landers
Fitz Johnson is facing a residency challenge to his effort to reclaim his seat on the Public Service Commission, with a complaint alleging that his legal residence is a 1.3 million home in Cobb County, outside of the District 3 boundaries of the seat he is seeking.
Top Republican stumps for Kingston
By Craig Nelson
When it comes to big guns in the Republican Party, few are bigger than Jim Jordan. The Ohio congressman cofounded the Freedom Caucus, the most conservative bloc in the U.S. House of Representatives. He’s also one of President Donald Trump’s most ardent admirers and fiercest attack dogs. That high-caliber, bared-tooth reputation brought Jordan to Savannah […]
What changes are you seeing to your Georgia state taxes?
By Meimei Xu/WABE and Rahul Bali/WABE
Georgia lawmakers have passed a number of bills to reduce or return taxes to Georgians, including a one-time tax rebate, a lower income tax rate, and a suspension of the state motor fuel tax, while also introducing measures to cap property tax increases and create a local sales tax to fund reductions in local property […]
2026 Legislature: What failed, what awaits Kemp’s signature
By Ty Tagami/Capitol Beat News Service
Georgia lawmakers passed a number of bills in the 40-day legislative session, including measures related to education, health, housing, insurance, policing, taxes, and transportation, while others failed to pass, such as a bill to protect Confederate monuments and a bill to suspend driver’s licenses of chronically absent high school students.
Georgia’s forestry industry is in crisis. One solution could be in your medicine cabinet.
By Emily Jones/WABE, Grist
Georgia lawmakers have passed several bills to help the struggling forestry industry, including allowing forest landowners to participate in carbon markets, providing tax credits to attract forestry manufacturers, and setting aside research funds to replace fossil fuel byproducts with wood pulp.
Proposed GA tax relief measure threatens teacher layoffs in schools
By Ty Tagami/Capitol Beat News Service
Gov. Brian Kemp is considering signing Senate Bill 33 into law, which would limit increases in taxable home values to the rate of inflation, potentially leading to tax cuts for homeowners, but also potentially leading to layoffs of teachers and reduced teaching quality in public schools.
Georgia bill imposes stricter rules on HOA fines, property liens
By Ty Tagami/Capitol Beat News Service
Senate Bill 406, which passed the Georgia General Assembly, would make it more difficult for homeowners’ associations to foreclose on members’ homes over disputes about money by requiring them to register annually with the Georgia Secretary of State, limiting the types of debt they can use to place a lien on a property, and establishing […]
Data center, PFAS bills didn’t pass but Georgia environmentalists saw some boosts
By Alander Rocha/Georgia Recorder
The 2026 legislative session in Georgia saw a few proposals passed, including an extension of the Georgia Outdoor Stewardship Program, while many other proposals related to data centers and PFAS were not addressed.
Cherokee of Georgia powwow unites communities, preserves indigenous heritage
By Justin Taylor and Caitlin Philippo
The Cherokee of Georgia held its annual Spring powwow, a celebration of Southeastern indigenous culture, with veterans being the focal point of the festivities, and traditional dances, music, art, and community vendors present.
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