Senate committee advances bill to extend data‑center tax exemption through 2032

A legislative committee voted unanimously to advance House Bill 186, a short measure that would extend an existing tax exemption for data centers through 2032.

The committee moved the bill after a brief debate over scope and statutory citations. A committee member urged quick final passage, saying the state and local governments have provided "more than $1 billion in subsidies" to data centers and arguing legislators should finish the measure and invest public resources in health care, education and other priorities.

Chair Lawson told members staff had reviewed the figures for computer equipment and the data‑center exemption and that, "the total amount of just the state share is more than a month's revenue of all the income tax that Georgia collects," a comment committee members used to underscore the fiscal scale of the policy.

Senator Anderson made the motion that the committee give the bill a "do pass" recommendation; Senator Albers seconded. The committee voted by voice/hand and the chair declared the motion carried unanimously. Members discussed, but did not adopt on the spot, whether to broaden the bill to cover additional OCGA citations referenced in the discussion.

The measure includes language previously attached by Senator Brass that relates to data‑center treatment; the version considered in the committee was described as about 23 lines long and would continue the exemption through 2032. Committee members noted the underlying statutory references (spoken in the meeting as OCGA sections) and flagged that one provision would otherwise sunset in 2028 under current text.

The committee did not record a roll‑call tally in the transcript; the chair described the vote as unanimous and then adjourned the meeting.

The committee will next consider whether to amend the bill to add additional statutory citations or language; no further action on that amendment was taken during this meeting.