Kemp opposes ban on foreign campaign contributions and expansion of HOPE

They were among a dozen measures Kemp rejected Tuesday, the end of a 40-day period to sign or rescind the legislation. Few vetoes came as a shock, even though many measures were the subject of intense lobbying behind the scenes.

A measure Kemp signed at the deadline was just as closely watched. He signed Senate Bill 189, which sets new rules for challenging voter eligibility and could allow more third-party presidential candidates on Georgia’s ballot.

He approved the measure despite strong pushback from Democrats, voting rights advocates and elections officials, who warned it could force the state to pay tens of millions of dollars to comply with the requirement of the measure to remove QR codes from ballots.

Another fierce lobbying effort involved Kemp’s decision to veto House Bill 1192, which would have suspended sales tax breaks on new data centers that lawmakers say don’t bring in much return financial to the State, even if they swallow up enormous quantities of energy.

While supporters of these incentives acknowledge that sprawling data centers don’t create many jobs, they called on the governor not to undermine an industry that has factored credits into its business model.

Kemp’s veto noted that the tax breaks were extended only two years ago until 2031 and that suspending them would harm “investments made by high-tech data center operators, customers and other stakeholders.” which could hamper the state’s economy.

However, it is one of the few bills approved by lawmakers aimed at scaling back corporate tax breaks after spending last year studying the effectiveness of such state largesse in creating jobs and provide taxpayers with a good return on investment. Most of the efforts were shut down during the session by lobbying efforts funded by the recipients of these tax breaks.

Kemp also rejected Senate Bill 368, which would have banned foreign campaign contributions. The governor noted that the practice is already prohibited under federal law, and he said other foreign national registration requirements included in the measure were “unintentional” by the bill’s sponsor.

Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger defended the legislation in an op-ed Monday, calling it “the backbone of the most critical election security improvements that could take place before this major election.”

Kemp’s veto of the 2019 bill noted that increasing the statewide homestead tax exemption from $2,000 to $4,000 required voters to approve the change in a referendum during the November ballot.

However, in late-session maneuvering, the Senate passed a $4,000 homestead exemption in the bill, but set the exemption in the proposed referendum at $10,000, Kemp said. Because the two did not match, Kemp vetoed the bill.

The HOPE-related measure that Kemp removed would have allowed students seeking both a bachelor’s and first professional degree to use HOPE to help pay for those graduate credits.

Under current law, the lottery-funded, merit-based scholarship expires once students reach 127 semester hours or 190 quarter hours, or complete a four-year degree.

State Rep. Scott Holcomb, the bill’s sponsor, said he hoped a similar version would be passed in 2025.

“I’m disappointed because it would have helped our state’s best students,” said Holcomb, an Atlanta Democrat. “But I’m going to continue the conversation and see if we can make it work next year.”

The vetoed legislation adds to a pile of measures Kemp has rejected since taking office in 2019, including 14 bills that went to waste in 2023. He has also aggressively used its power to “skip” spending last year, putting more than $200 on hold. million in spending in the state budget.