By Larry K. Williams, TAG president and CEO
One of TAG’s four pillars and key mission is to INFLUENCE. As such, we support tech-friendly legislation and oppose proposed legislation that can threaten our state’s ability to compete nationally and globally as well as our member’s ability to grow and thrive in Georgia.
The last Georgia State legislative session brought both positive and negative outcomes when it comes to supporting Georgia’s innovation ecosystem. While we commend the passing of HB 1291 to support data center infrastructure, we regret that postproduction film credits will expire on January 1, 2023 as HB 1053 was unable to move forward.
In the upcoming legislative session, several pieces of legislation that didn’t move forward earlier this year, will most likely be (re)introduced, including the Right to Repair Act, the Content Moderation Act, and the Computer Data Privacy Act. These bills would place severe economic hardship on Georgia companies big and small, weakening our overall tech community.
As we continue to promote our state’s competitiveness through advocacy, we are grateful for members of the legislature who understand the impact of these bills on our overall economy.
As such, we’re happy to announce that Georgia State Senator Elena Parent and Georgia State Representative Vance Smith have been awarded with the 2022 Technology Legislator of the Year Award. The award is given annually to lawmakers who demonstrate support and understanding of Georgia’s technology issues and industry. In particular, Senator Parent and Representative Smith were among the lead sponsors to support both data center and high-tech equipment incentives.
To learn more about TAG’s legislative priorities, click here.
