ATLANTA – Gov. Brian Kemp on Tuesday vetoed more than a dozen bills passed by the General Assembly this year, including a bill that would suspend the state's sales tax exemption aimed at attracting data centers to Georgia.
Republican legislative leaders supported House Bill 1192, arguing that the rapid growth of data centers is straining the state's energy grid. But business leaders, particularly the Georgia Chamber of Commerce, urged Kemp to veto the bill.
In his veto message, the governor said the timing of the measure would create difficulties for companies planning to locate data centers in Georgia.
“Just two years ago, Congress extended these tax credits for an additional three years, through 2031,” Kemp wrote.
“The bill's language would prevent the issuance of exemption certificates after the abrupt July 1, 2024 deadline for many customers of projects already in development, and would prevent high-tech data center operators, customers, and other stakeholders from issuing exemption certificates after the sudden July 1, 2024 deadline. The recent extensions have hindered the development of critical infrastructure and jobs. ”
Data center industry representatives also argued that ending the tax break would send the wrong message to prospective companies, making them more likely to move to states with sales tax exemptions.
Other bills Kemp vetoed Tuesday include House Bill 1019, which would have doubled the statewide housing tax exemption from $2,000 to $4,000, subject to a referendum.
The bill was part of a tax cut package introduced by House Republican leaders earlier this year. In vetoing the bill, Kemp pointed to major 11th-hour changes that he argued would make the bill unsustainable.
“After the Senate Finance Committee changed the exemption amount, the Senate adopted a House amendment restoring the bill to its original form late on the last day of the session,” the governor wrote.
“However, this amendment does not change the constitutionally required voter ballot language, which refers to the $10,000 exemption. would approve the exemption, but the legal text would not receive the necessary voter approval to take effect.”
Kemp also vetoed Senate Bill 368, which would ban foreign political contributions. In his veto message, the governor noted that such donations are already prohibited by federal law.
Additionally, the bill would impose additional state-level requirements on “representatives of foreign principals,” some of which were not intended by the bill's sponsors, Kemp wrote. Ta.