Georgia's Maps Survive Another Round. The Water Might Not.

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Special Session: Why Republicans Ruled No New Maps

Protesters gathered at the Georgia Capitol this past Wednesday. Signs were made, chants were rehearsed, the mood was somber. Georgians were prepared for the worst.

And then, nothing. Republican legislative leaders rejected Governor Kemp's redistricting plan, leaving many jubilant yet confused.

Kemp had asked lawmakers to redraw the state's congressional districts ahead of 2028, as other Southern states have done, and to alter state legislative districts as well. This would have made Georgia the first state to do so. House Speaker Jon Burns wasn't ready to chart those uncertain waters, saying lawmakers wanted to wait and see how courts ruled in other redistricting cases and didn't want to wade into culture-war issues.

Job well done, right? Well, for the moment.

While Republicans declined to redraw Georgia's congressional maps this special session, it's clear the issue has only been delayed. Burns emphasized the need for a more transparent process with more public input. Senate Majority Leader Larry Walker said lawmakers wanted more time to understand the legal implications of recent Supreme Court decisions before acting on lines that wouldn't take effect until 2028 anyway.

There's also the timing to consider. Redistricting in one of the nation's most competitive swing states would have become a defining issue ahead of major statewide elections. These lines, delayed and not defeated, will determine how communities are represented, how competitive elections are, and who holds political power in Georgia for the next decade.

This week's outcome is a reminder that democracy requires constant vigilance. Thousands of Georgians paid attention, organized, and made their voices heard. That work can't stop now. The conversation on redistricting is far from over, and neither is the importance of staying informed, holding elected officials accountable, and fighting for fair representation.

The GOP's decision to postpone redistricting wasn't out of benevolence. It was political, and it will stay political.

Georgia, do not get comfortable. The conversation didn't end. It was delayed. Be ready to make your voice heard.

Special Session: Property Taxes

One of the most significant fights of Georgia's June 2026 special session was over a Local Homestead Option Sales Tax, or LHOST, pushed by Republicans to lower property taxes for homeowners. The debate exposed a real partisan divide, not just over tax policy, but over the politics of the ballot itself.

Under the GOP proposal, local governments would have placed referendums on the November ballot asking voters whether to adopt the new system. Local sales taxes would rise to fund property tax cuts through homestead exemptions. The result? More strain on working families.

Republicans argued the measure would help residents struggling with rising property tax bills. But Democrats, including state Rep. David Wilkerson, pushed back hard. "You don't create relief by creating a tax," Wilkerson said. Democrats also called out the timing: Republicans pushed to schedule these referendums for the same November ballot as the general election, a move political observers said was designed to drive conservative turnout in a critical election year.

Despite extensive debate, Republicans couldn't secure the two-thirds majority needed to put the referendums on the ballot. Democrats held the line and protected the people in the process.

Special Session: The QR Code Fight 

Georgia's special session lasted just one week, but two of its decisions will shape the state for years. Republicans abandoned their redistricting push on day one. The bigger fight was over how Georgia counts votes.

SB 189, the 2024 law Fair Fight Action called a "voter suppression bill," banned QR codes for tabulating ballots starting July 1, 2026. The catch: the Republican-led Legislature never passed a replacement system or the money to pay for one. Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger had estimated the equipment overhaul would cost roughly $66 million, but lawmakers never appropriated it. That funding gap is what forced Kemp to call this special session in the first place.

Lawmakers were left with two options. Rush to fund and install new equipment statewide in under 180 days, an unrealistic timeline even before accounting for the $66 million price tag. Or they could push the deadline to 2028 and buy time to get it right.

They chose the delay. Some Democrats objected to an added hand-recount provision tacked onto the bill, but ultimately voted for it anyway to avoid a worse outcome, hand-counting the entire 2026 midterm by hand. It passed largely along party lines, 94-79 in the House and 36-16 in the Senate, with a handful of Democrats joining Republicans to avoid that alternative.

The bottom line: the QR codes stay through this November. After that? Anyone’s guess.

Governor Brian Kemp's Voting Rights Legacy

Over the past decade, Georgia has become the epicenter of the national fight over voting rights and election security. Striking a balance between protecting elections and guaranteeing every voter equal access to the ballot is hard. It's also necessary to protect democracy. In charge of finding that balance has been Governor Brian Kemp.

Nearing the end of his term and fresh off Georgia's special legislative session, there's no better time to look at Kemp's voting rights record. In office since 2019, he has overseen nearly eight years of Georgia elections, most notably the 2020 presidential election.

So how did Governor Kemp do? It's complicated, to say the least.

Just months into his first term, Kemp signed HB 392 and HB 316 into law. These bills strengthened protections against foreign cyberattacks and ensured valid provisional ballots get counted. The Brennan Center for Justice, a nonpartisan policy organization focused on protecting democracy, praised the moves, saying they helped safeguard Georgia voters.

In the months after the 2020 election, as President Trump claimed widespread voter fraud in Georgia, Kemp pushed back and defended the security of the state's elections. Yet that same spring, with Georgia still at the center of those false claims, Kemp signed SB 202, the Election Integrity Act, into law the same night it passed. The law replaced signature matching with voter ID requirements for absentee ballots, capped drop boxes at one per 100,000 registered voters and moved them indoors, banned handing out food or water to voters waiting in line within 150 feet of a polling place, and shortened the runoff period from nine weeks to four. President Biden called it "Jim Crow in the 21st Century." Kemp defended it as a way to "restore confidence in Georgia's elections," even as he rejected the premise that fraud had been a problem in the first place.

As the 2024 election approached, Kemp pivoted again toward measures aimed at combating voter fraud, the same fraud he had consistently said didn't exist in Georgia.

Chief among them was SB 189, which phased out QR codes for counting ballots (a deadline that became one of the reasons Kemp called this month's special session, after the Republican-led Legislature failed to pass a replacement system in time), expanded the criteria for removing voters from the rolls, and allowed those removals up until 45 days before an election, a window that conflicts with the federal 90-day rule against systematic voter roll changes. The law also changed registration requirements for voters without a permanent address. Fair Fight Action, the voting rights group founded by Stacey Abrams, called SB 189 a "voter suppression bill that emboldens right-wing activists in their efforts to kick Black and brown voters off the rolls."

Kemp never wavered in denying claims of widespread fraud in Georgia, a position that put him at odds with President Trump. But across SB 202 and SB 189, he also signed off on a stream of restrictions that made it harder for some Georgians to vote. Kemp's voting rights legacy is complicated at best, and undemocratic at worst.

Homelessness in Atlanta and the International Stage

As the FIFA World Cup brings global attention to Atlanta, the city is once again forced to confront how it handles homelessness—especially when the world is watching. City leaders have emphasized a different approach this time, promoting a “housing-first” strategy through initiatives like Atlanta Rising, which has helped move hundreds of people into temporary or permanent housing. Officials frame this effort as a clear break from the past, an attempt to house people rather than arrest them.

These concerns are rooted in Atlanta’s response to the 1996 Olympics, widely criticized as a moral failure. In the months leading up to the games, more than 9,000 unhoused individuals were arrested under minor or newly expanded offenses designed to clear the streets. Others were given one-way bus tickets out of the city, effectively removing them from public view rather than addressing their needs. The result was not a solution, but rather a temporary façade.

Today, Atlanta’s strategy looks different in its intent, with greater investment in housing, outreach, services, and a public commitment not to criminalize homelessness. Still, the reality on the ground is more complicated. Encampments and long lines outside shelters show that the crisis has not disappeared, and advocates warn that limited resources could push the city towards quieter forms of displacement. The true difference between 1996 and now will not be measured during the tournament but in whether those pushed to the margins are still supported once the crowds leave.

Lesson from to be Learned from Puerto Rico

For nearly two months, residents of Puerto Rico have had no running water. They’ve had to ration out water and derail their daily routines, all while continuing to be a vacation destination for many Americans and others. 

From the very little that has been reported, the shortage began due to ruptures in aqueduct systems and aging infrastructure. Since then, residents have been required to pay for delivered potable water to bathe and wash dishes, among other things. The National Guard has been deployed in Puerto Rico to help distribute water, aid, and other resources. No relief legislation is moving. Puerto Rico has already been allocated $43 billion in federal disaster funds, billions of it earmarked for water infrastructure, but bureaucratic delays have kept much of it from reaching actual repairs. Meanwhile, the one active bill in Puerto Rico's legislature, backed by the House Speaker, would weaken protections on the island's water-rich karst region rather than shore it up.

But how have we as Georgians and fellow Americans turned a blind eye to it? How does Puerto Rico spell danger for our own state as well?

Georgia has 14 major river systems and multiple various groundwater aquifer systems, which is enough to supply its 11.2 million residents. However, with the current data center dilemma that Georgia residents are fighting against, our own residents are struggling with adequate water usage. In no way, shape, or form are we engaging in a “struggle contest”. We are simply stating the obvious: there is a war on water.

Between data centers robbing the Georgia citizens of usable water and the underfunded infrastructure and aquatic systems in Puerto Rico, people are experiencing unprecedented strife. People are being deprived of their right to an essential resource of water. This is an issue that has recurred in Puerto Rico for years, and as humans, it is our duty to advocate for ourselves and each other. We believe that everyone has the right to usable water. The best way to support Puerto Rico is to contact your representatives, U.S. and state, to raise awareness and advocate for Puerto Rico’s sustainability and resources. 

To find your U.S. & State Representatives, please use these links:

U.S. House of Representatives:  https://www.house.gov/representatives

U.S. Senators: https://www.senate.gov/senators/

Georgia House of Representatives: https://www.legis.ga.gov/members/house

Georgia Senators: https://www.legis.ga.gov/members/senate

Georgia's Data Center Crisis

In May, Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez walked into a congressional subcommittee hearing carrying two mason jars of brown water. She carried the reality of Morgan County, Georgia, where residents say their well water turned murky and undrinkable after Meta began construction on its massive Stanton Springs data center complex nearby.

Meta disputes responsibility, commissioning a third-party study claiming no connection between its operations and the contaminated wells. But for families who watched their tap water change color as bulldozers moved in next door, that explanation doesn't quite add up.

Morgan County isn't the only case. In Newton County, where Meta's data center accounts for roughly 10% of daily water use, officials raised serious concerns about long-term sustainability. The county's water authority warned that Newton is on track to face a water deficit by 2030, and water rates are set to increase by 33% (Newton County Water and Sewerage Authority). These costs are borne by ordinary residents, not the corporations draining the supply.

In Fayetteville, residents reported drops in water pressure after a data center began drawing from local systems without proper authorization. All of this is unfolding amid a statewide drought, with southern Georgia already experiencing severe to exceptional conditions and destructive wildfires burning through dry land.

The water crisis doesn't exist in isolation from Georgia's energy crisis. To power the hundreds of data centers now operating across the state, Georgia Power is extending the life of fossil fuel plants slated for retirement and building new gas infrastructure. This locks Georgia into decades of additional carbon emissions at exactly the moment climate action is most urgent.

Seven bills were introduced in Georgia targeting data center accountability, requiring water and energy consumption reporting, sunsetting tax exemptions, and temporarily pausing new construction. Each one failed to reach a final vote. Lawmakers adjourned without passing a single regulation on an industry reshaping the state's land, water, and power grid.

Communities don't have time to wait, though. Residents can attend Public Service Commission hearings to oppose new fossil fuel infrastructure, pressure local water authorities to require disclosure agreements before approving data center permits, and support organizations like Chattahoochee Riverkeeper and the Sierra Club's Georgia chapter, both of which are tracking these issues on the ground.

Georgia's water doesn't belong to Meta. It belongs to the people of Morgan County, and every Georgian who turns on their tap expecting clean water to come out.

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