LobbyComply Blog

Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger has called for two special elections in state House District 94 and 130. Rep. Karen Bennett of House District 94 resigned after being found guilty of unemployment fraud. Rep. Lynn Heffner of House District 130 resigned citing constitutional residency requirements after her home in Georgia was destroyed during Hurricane Helene. Both special elections will occur on March 10 with a special runoff election on April 7, if necessary.

Gov. Brian Kemp called a special election for U.S. House District 14 following the resignation of Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene. Her resignation is cited to be due to disagreements with President Trump over healthcare, foreign policies, and domestic scandals. The special general election will be held on March 10, with a special runoff election held on April 7, 2026, if necessary.

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The Georgia Ethics Commission has recently implemented a new lobbying and campaign finance system PeachFile for 2026. Filers can begin registering their new account and all users must register for an account in the PeachFile system. Any filers who have a December 31^st report due will continue filing in the current E-Filing system until the end of 2025. State level and statewide filers will file their first report in the new PeachFile system on January 31, 2026.

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Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger called a special election in state House District 23 following the death of Rep. Mandi Ballinger and in House District 121 after Rep. Marcus Wiedower resigned. The special general election has been set for December 9, with a special runoff election on January 6, 2026, if needed.

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Gov. Brian Kemp called for a special election in state Senate District 35 after Sen. Jason Esteves vacated the seat and announced he would be running for governor. The special general election will be held on November 18.

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The Richmond County Board of Elections has called for a special election to fill District 4’s commissioner seat. The previous commissioner, Alvin Mason, has resigned citing health concerns.  The special general election will be held on November 4.

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Gov. Brian Kemp has called for a special election in Senate District 21 to replace former Sen. Brandon Beach. He resigned from his seat after he was appointed U.S. treasurer by President Trump. The election is set for August 26 with the possibility of a runoff.

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The governor signed Senate Bill 199, which will remove the requirement for legislative lobbyists to submit semi-monthly reports while the General Assembly is in session. Instead, lobbyists will be required to submit a single report due on the fifth of each month. This requirement matches the reporting requirements for lobbyists who seek to influence local governments, state agencies, and the State Transportation Board. This bill will come into effect on January 1, 2026. Until then all lobbyists are still required to submit reports on the current schedule. Additionally, Senate Bill 199 modifies the PAC reporting due dates to January 31, April 30, July 31, and October 20 of each year until the bank account has been zeroed out and the PAC has been terminated.

Lawmakers adjourned abruptly last week on April 4, resulting in many bills being carried over to the second year of the session in 2026. One important passed bill awaiting the governor’s approval is Senate Bill 199. The bill removes the requirement for legislative lobbyists to report semi-monthly during the session. Under this new system only a single monthly report will be required for lobbyists beginning in 2026. The bill also changes campaign finance reporting requirements. Reports for election as well as nonelection years are due January 31, April 30, July 31, and October 20. This does affect lobbying reporting. The final semi-monthly lobbyist report is due April 15.

The Georgia House has just passed a bill removing the requirement to submit semi-monthly lobbyist activity reports when the Legislature is in session. Senate Bill 199 requires all reporting to be filed on the fifth of each month, which would bring reporting of state-level legislative lobbying in line with executive branch lobbying. The bill now goes to Gov. Kemp and if signed, will be effective January 1, 2026

The state Democratic Party filed suit against Gov. Kemp in federal court over a 2021 state law allowing candidates to accept unlimited contributions through leadership committees.

Last Thursday, a federal judge ruled in favor of Gov. Kemp.

U.S. District Judge Mark Cohen found the complaint to be speculative in nature and the Democratic Party lacked standing to sue the governor.

Democrats could not point to a specific contribution that had infringed the right of free speech and equal protection rights.

The court noted the attorney general and the Georgia Ethics Commission would be the appropriate parties to sue.

State Democrats filed suit against Gov. Kemp in federal court over a 2021 state law allowing candidates to accept unlimited contributions through leadership committees.

Legislative candidate committees are limited to accepting $3,300 per election and may not fundraise during the legislative session.

However, leadership committees are allowed to receive unlimited funds on behalf of candidates and may do so while the Legislature is in session.

Democrats argue the fact that losing party nominees must shut down their leadership committee while the winner’s committee may continue collecting funds unconstitutionally favors incumbents.

Democrats seek a preliminary injunction against leadership committee fundraising and spending until the case is concluded.

Q: I need to register as a lobbyist in Georgia and I have heard Georgia has overhauled their system. Were there any changes to how one registers or to what is required on lobbying reports?

A: Georgia has undergone a massive renovation of their lobbyist system. Registration is now a complex process that requires clients to make an account, which was not necessary under the old system.

When creating a client account, the system will request a list of officers and authorized agents. Any officers listed will have a client account created, using the email provided as a Login ID. Only officers are able to file reports, while authorized agents may only input information into the system.

Once the registration is submitted, an email will be sent to each of the listed officers, prompting them to create a password. The Ethics Commission will only discuss issues with the client account with the listed officers.

Following the creation of the client account, the lobbyist account may be created.

Once the lobbyist registration is submitted, a “token” will be created and emailed to the officers of the listed client. The client must then accept the “token” by clicking on the link and authorizing the lobbyist. The system will then send an email to the lobbyist to create their password. Once the password is created, the lobbyist is officially registered. It is important to note the lobbyist’s account will not be created until the client accepts the relationship. The $20 badge fee may be paid from the lobbyist account or the client account.

While the changes to lobbyist reporting are more modest, there are still differences between the old and new systems.

A large change is that there are now only three different reports: Local, Legislative, and Agency. The Agency report has combined Agency, Vendor, and State Board of Transportation into one report. Even if you only registered as an Agency lobbyist, your report will be labeled as an Agency, Vendor, and State Board of Transportation report.

The new system now requires additional information to file a report. Each expenditure disclosure must now contain:

•     Date of the expenditure

•     Amount

•     The client of the lobbyist

•     The “type” of expenditure

•     A description of the expenditure

•     The name of the payee

•     Whether the recipient is a public officer or group and their name.

The system also allows for the disclosure of the purpose of the expenditure and the number of the bill, resolution, or regulation, but this is an optional disclosure.

A special election will be held on April 9 to fill the vacancy in House District 139 due to the death of Rep. Richard Smith in January.

A runoff is scheduled for May 7, if necessary.