State Rep. Eddie Lumsden (R-Armuchee), who represents all of Chattooga County and part of Floyd County, says the Georgia House has passed the halfway point of the 2026 legislative session after completing Legislative Day 22. Lawmakers returned to the Capitol following the President’s Day holiday and moved several bills forward during a busy week.

Lumsden highlighted passage of House Bill 1063, which would prevent electric utilities from shifting certain costs tied to large data centers onto residential and small business customers, while codifying Public Service Commission cost-allocation rules into state law. He noted Georgia’s rapid data center growth is driving increased energy demand statewide.

The House also approved legislation to increase access to naloxone on college and technical campuses, expand protections for foster placement caregivers, support autism screenings for children in foster care, strengthen student-athlete health requirements, and improve roadside safety during traffic stops as work continues toward Crossover Day.

See Rep. Lumsden’s complete report below:

The Georgia House of Representatives reconvened at the State Capitol on Tuesday, February 17, 2026, to begin the sixth week of the legislative session following the President’s Day holiday. This week marked an important milestone in our work under the Gold Dome. By the end of the week, we completed Legislative Day 22—meaning we are officially more than halfway through the 2026 legislative session. With a full schedule of committee hearings and floor votes this week, we continued working diligently to advance meaningful billsthrough the legislative process. The weeks ahead will bring long days in the House Chamber as we remain steadfast in our work to pass legislation that benefits our communities and strengthens our state.

At the start of the week, we passed legislation that would ensure Georgia families and small businesses are not left paying for the construction and operation costs of large data centers as these facilities expand throughout our state. House Bill 1063would prohibit electric utilities from passing along costs tied to building and maintaining data centers with annual electricity demand of 100 megawatts or more to residential or retail customers. Georgia has experienced unprecedented growth in energy demand from data centers across our entire state, prompting members of the House Special Committee on Resource Management Water Subcommittee and Energy Subcommittee to study the industry firsthand and the demands these facilities place on local municipalities. Over the summer, these subcommittees traveled across the state to tour facilities, meet with community leaders and examine data centers to better understand their impact on local communities and the state’s energy infrastructure. The Georgia Public Service Commission (PSC) has already adopted cost allocation rules to address this growth, and HB 1063 would codify those rules into state law to ensure they cannot be weakened, reinterpreted or bypassed in the future. To further ensure that residents and businesses are protected from costs associated with data centers, the bill would establish four contract requirements for electric service to these facilities: minimum billing requirements to ensure data centers cover their own costs of service; flexible contract terms that reflect the scale of these projects; performance and credit protections to safeguard ratepayers if a data center defaults; and termination provisions to protect ratepayers if a contract ends early. Additionally, HB 1063 would intentionally leave determination of incremental costs to the PSC, recognizing that the data center industry is still evolving and regulators need flexibility to adapt while maintaining their framework. The provisions under HB 1063 would apply only to new data center contracts, leaving existing agreements unchanged. It is estimated that we have more than 100 data centers in Georgia, with growth and demand only expected to increase in the future, and this legislation establishes the groundwork for responsible economic growth as this industry continues to evolve.

My House colleagues and I also passed House Bill 419 this week, which would require institutions within the University System of Georgia and Technical College System of Georgia to make opioid antagonists, such as naloxone, readily available to students and university personnel. Under the bill, students, visitors and university employees would be permitted to possess opioid antagonists on campus or at a university system sponsored activity, and institutions would be required to maintain a supply of these medications for use in the event of an opioid overdose. Additionally, campuses that maintain one or more Automated External Defibrillators (AEDs) would be required to store opioid antagonists in a designated compartment within three feet of the AED, ensuring that they are easily accessible in an emergency. HB 419 would also authorize university personnel to administer an opioid antagonist to any individual they believe in good faith to be experiencing an overdose while on campus or at a campus sponsored activity. Importantly, university personnel would be granted immunity from civil liability or professional discipline for administeringthe medication. By expanding access to life-saving medications like naloxone on our college campuses, students and staff would be able to respond more quickly and, ultimately, prevent opioid overdose deaths and save lives.

On Tuesday, the Georgia House passed House Bill 256, legislation that would rename the “Foster Parents Bill of Rights”to the “Foster Placements Bill of Rights,” meaningfully expanding protection of foster care providers under state law. The bill would extend the same statutory rights afforded to traditional foster parents to relative caregivers and fictive kin—individuals who share close, family-like bonds with a child—recognizing the vital role they play in Georgia’s child welfare system. Furthermore, the bill would add new protections for foster placement caregivers, including the right to apply a reasonable and prudent parent standard so that caregivers can determine the foster child’s ability to engage in extracurricularactivities. The bill would also allow foster placement caregivers to request the presence of a trained, certified volunteer advocate during meetings with the Georgia Department of Human Services (DHS) when the foster child is present, ensuring both the caregiver and child are supported during these meetings. Additionally, the bill would protect caregivers from retaliation for filing complaints with the Division of Family and Children Services (DFCS) and affirm their right to seek and obtain independent legal counsel or advice regarding the foster placement’s status. Collectively, these provisions seek to support foster placement caregivers as they navigate the complex fostering process while caring for some of Georgia’s most vulnerable children.

We continued to focus on policies impacting children in foster care with the passage of House Bill 943, which would further support Georgia’s foster children, particularly those who may identify as having autism spectrum disorder. Under this measure, DFCS would be charged with creating a five-year pilot program to provide autism spectrum disorder screenings and clinical evaluations for children in foster care. The legislation is based on five years of research conducted by pediatric healthcare professionals who specialize in autism in partnership with Georgia Southern University. Their findings showed that with a proper autism diagnosis, the average number of placements for a foster child with autism can decrease from 5.5 to 2.4, helping provide greater stability and continuity of care for this vulnerable population. The bill would also require DFCS to provide necessary training and resources for providers, including regional and county directors, division supervisors and case managers, additional staff, healthcare providers and caregivers, so children with autism in foster care can be identified as early as possible. The pilot program would launch in three regional service areas in its first year and expand annually until all regions in the state are included, with a focus on prioritizingchildren who have been diagnosed with ADHD or reactive attachment disorder or who have been prescribed psychotropic medications. In addition, DFCS would be required to develop plans for incremental expansion of the program, adopt strategies for effective communication with caregivers, ensure adequate medical consultants are available in each region and provide technical assistance and support for staffing. After the first year of operation—and annually thereafter through July 1, 2031—DFCS would submit a detailed report on the pilot program’s progress and outcomes. We know that early autism intervention can improve a child’s long-term outlook, and through this pilot program, we hope to reach some of these children much soonerto provide the support and services they need while in our state’s foster care system.

My House colleagues and I also advanced legislation to strengthen student-athlete safety by modernizing Georgia’s preparticipation physical examination requirements. On Wednesday, we unanimously passed House Bill 970 to expand the list of qualified healthcare professionals who can conduct sports physicals to include licensed medical physicians, doctorsof osteopathic medicine, nurse practitioners or physician assistants. By broadening who can perform these examinations, this measure would increase timely access to care for student athletes, particularly those in rural and underserved communities. Beginning in the 2026-2027 school year, these examinations would also include a cardiovascular prescreening that follows nationally recognized, evidence-based guidelines from organizations such as the American College of Cardiology and the American Heart Association. Physicals would be required to use the State Board of Education’s approved form and would remain valid for one year from the date of examination. Additionally, parents would receive educational materials about the warning signs and causes of sudden cardiac arrest in young athletes. As Georgia has seen instances of sudden cardiac arrest among young athletes in recent years, HB 970 seeks to take proactive steps to identify potential health risks and help prevent these types of tragedies in school sports.

Later in the week, we focused on improving safety on our roadways by passing House Bill 1161. This bipartisan legislation would require drivers to move as far as possible to the right-hand side of the roadway when an emergency or law enforcement vehicle approaches in an official capacity to conduct a traffic stop. While most drivers already do this—and many, including members of law enforcement, have long assumed the requirement was already part of state law—Georgia courts have determined that it is not explicitly outlined in state law. To clarify this, HB 1161 would require that when a driver is directed to stop by a law enforcement officer in a marked vehicle using audible and visual signals, the driver must promptly move to a position parallel to and as close as possible to the right-hand edge or curb of the roadway, clear of any intersection and remain stopped until otherwise directed by the officer. If stopping immediately would create an unsafe situation, the driver may activate hazard lights or a turn signal, maintain the posted speed limit and proceed to a reasonably safe location before stopping. This bill seeks to improve safety for both drivers, emergency vehicles and law enforcement by requiring motorists to pull over on the right shoulder as the left-hand of the roadway often poses greater risks due to faster-moving traffic and narrower shoulders. Georgia law already requires drivers to move over when emergency vehicles are approaching to pass, and HB 1161 would extend that requirement to traffic stops, which would help to eliminate any ambiguity and ensure safer interactions between motorists and law enforcement across the state.

On Friday, the Georgia House unanimously passed House Bill 1061, known as the Mandi Ballinger Act, in honor of our late colleague and former chair of the House Judiciary Juvenile Committee, recognizing her years of commitment advocating for juvenile justice reform. This legislation would create a 12-member organizational committee composed of the chairpersons of the House Committee on Judiciary Juvenile and the Senate Judiciary Committee—who would serve as co-chairs—along with other designated state and criminal justice officials. The committee would begin work by September 15, 2026, and would be tasked with preparing Georgia for the potential inclusion of certain 17-year-olds within the juvenile court system by examining best practices from other states, national juvenile justice standards and the operational, security, technological and infrastructure needs associated with such a change. The committee would consult with law enforcement, juvenile court attorneys, youth advocates and other experts to evaluate what it would take to raise the juvenile court age in Georgia. By December 1, 2027, the committee would submit a detailed report to the governor, lieutenant governor and members of the General Assembly outlining necessary statutory changes, operational expenses, capital and staffing needs, an implementation timeline and supporting data and analysis. Currently, Georgia treats most 17-year-olds as adults in the criminal justice system—one of only a few states that still does this—and this legislation would initiate a formal planning process to determine how the state could align with other statesthat have raised the juvenile court age to 18. Juvenile courts often focus on accountability and rehabilitation, helping young people redirect their lives before adulthood and reducing recidivism and improving long-term outcomes. HB 1061 seeks to ensure that any potential transition would be carefully studied, fiscally responsible and implemented in a way that protects public safety while better addressing the needs of Georgia’s youth.

The following House bills were also passed during the sixthweek of session:

• House Bill 541, which would expandtuition equalization grant eligibility to include higher education institutions that offer baccalaureate programs in nursing, have a current physical presence in Georgia for at least 10 years, have received accreditation from the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education and have accreditation from either the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools or a regional accrediting agency recognized by the U.S. Department of Education. These institutions would also be required to have a four-year average passage rate of at least 80 percent for the National Council Licensure Examination and admit students who have a high school diploma or equivalency or a degree from an accredited postsecondary institution. Such institutions would only be considered as approved institutions for the tuition equalization grant program, not the Dual Enrollment program or HOPE scholarships/grants. This bill seeks to address a nursing shortage in our state;

• House Bill 662, which would amend the definition of “rural hospital organization”to include “rural freestanding emergency department.” The organization would be required to have its primary campus in a rural county and be licensed to provide maternal and newborn services or have at least five percent of its annual net revenue categorized as indigent care, charity care or bad debt;

• House Bill 818, which would authorize individuals employed full-time by the Georgia Tax Court to become members of the Judicial Retirement System (JRS). Any individual hired at the Georgia Tax Court in a full-time capacity after July 1, 2026, would be a member of JRS. Members would be able to take any creditable service earned in the Employees’ Retirement System (ERS) to JRS. ERS would be required to transfer all employer and employee contributions, with interest, to JRS. The transferring member would be required to pay an additional cost to cover the full actuarial cost of the creditable service. The bill is certified by the Georgia Department of Audits and Accounts as a fiscal retirement bill;

• House Bill 956, which would amend the Solid Waste Trust Fund to add a sixth provision in which money appropriated to the fund may be used. The added provision would allow the fund to be used to implement a solid waste management program in Georgia, particularly as it relates to permitting, monitoring, regulation or guidance development, inspections and enforcement;

• House Bill 964, which would amend state lawrelating to alternative ad valorem taxation of motor vehicles to exempt motor vehicles owned or leased by a 501(c)(3) entity and used for fire protection services for local governments from state and local title ad valorem tax. The bill would further amend state law related to exemptions from sales and use taxes to exempt the sale of tangible personal property owned by a 501(c)(3) entity and used for fire protection services for local governments from sales tax;

• House Bill 987, orthe “Voluntary Portable Benefit Plan Act,” which would allow any person or entity to voluntarily contribute funds to a portable benefit account of an independent contractor. The bill would define relevant terms, including that a “portable benefit plan” is a plan held by an independent contractor that provides various benefits, such as health and unemployment insurance. Voluntary contributions may be made using funds withheld from compensation owed to the independent contractor as long as the withholding is expressly and clearly provided in a written agreement, the withholding is voluntary and requires the independent contractor to opt in and the independent contractor can opt out at any time. Voluntary contributions from a person or entity to an independent contractor would not create an employer-employee relationship;

• House Bill 1020, which would amend the Judicial Retirement System to effectively require district attorneys hired after June 30, 2026, to reach age 65, rather than 60, to receive full retirement benefits. The bill would establishdifferent benefit rules based on when a member first joined the system. The bill is certified by the Georgia Department of Audits and Accounts as a non-fiscal retirement bill;

• House Bill 1022, which would prohibit any person from operating a motor vehicle with electric tinting applied or affixed to its windshields or windows. Violators would besubject to a fine up to $500 for a first violation and a fine up to $1,000 for subsequent violations. The bill would also repeal the portions of state lawrelated to digital license plates and prohibit the display of digital license plates;

• House Bill 1027, which wouldauthorize counties and municipalities to enter into contracts for solar utility services, wind utility services and the sale of electric power for terms of no more than 20 years;

• House Bill 1086, orthe “Preston Fant and Brant Chesney Firefighter Safety Act,” which would require the owner of any commercial or industrial building or structure or any multiunit residential building or structure with three units or more to post a notice that the building was constructed using light-frame truss-type construction. The commissioner of insurance would create rules and regulations regarding the type, placement and time of placement of the notice sign or symbol;

• House Bill 1096, which would allow eligible county board of health employees to retain accrued annual and sick leave when they become employed by the Georgia Department of Public Health;

• House Bill 1121, which would revise the terms of court for the Cordele Judicial Circuit to January 1 and July 1;

• House Bill 1181, which would require the application for a certificate of title to a vehicle toinclude the last certificate of title for that vehicle by the other state to the decedent owner in cases where the vehicle was previously registered in another state in the name of a decedent owner and the applicant is receiving the vehicle upon inheritance, devise or bequest;

• House Bill 1182, which would pertainto soil amendments derived from industrial byproducts, prohibiting them from being stored within 100 feet of any property line and from being loaded or unloaded within 100 feet of a public road;

• House Bill 1199, which would providethe annual Internal Revenue Code update to state law. The updates would beapplicable to tax years on or after January 1, 2026, for relevant federal laws passed on or before January 1, 2026;

• House Bill 1202, which would correct a scrivener’s error in state law.

On Monday, February 23, we will return to the Capitol for our seventh week of session beginning with our first committee workday. A full slate of committee meetings are scheduled to focus on reviewing legislation ahead of Crossover Day. These meetings are critical to ensuring priority legislation is thoroughly considered, vetted and passed out of committee, giving these bills the opportunity to be placed on a Rules Calendar and brought before the full House for a vote. I encourage you to reach out with any questions or concerns regarding measures under consideration this session. Your feedback is important, and I welcome the opportunity to hear from you. Please don’t hesitate to schedule a call or plan a visit to the Capitol to discuss issues that matter to you and your family. You can reach my Capitol office at 404-656-7850 and via email at Eddie.Lumsden @house.ga.gov.

As always, thank you for the privilege of serving as your state representative.

Eddie Lumsden