Georgia CommonsHouse · Passed · 2025-2026 Regular Session
HB 1570: Cochran/Bleckley Airport Authority; board; revise membership
Last action May 11, 2026 · Effective Date
A House bill would restructure the board of the Cochran/Bleckley Airport Authority, expanding it to seven members and allowing some members to live outside Bleckley County if they have aviation, business, or finance expertise.
The summaries below were written by an AI model (claude-sonnet-5) from the text of the bill and are not part of it. Quote the text, not the summary. The stored text is the Enrolled version, the latest the General Assembly's website lists.
In plain language
The Cochran/Bleckley Airport Authority was created by a 2015 state law that set out how its governing board is appointed. This bill amends that 2015 Act to change the board's membership rules. Under the bill, the authority would have seven members: three appointed by the City of Cochran's governing authority, three appointed by Bleckley County's governing authority, and one more chosen by a majority vote of those six. Normally board members must live in Bleckley County, but the bill allows one appointee from each of the city's and county's three picks, plus the seventh jointly chosen member, to instead live in a county adjacent to Bleckley County if they have specific expertise in aviation, business, or finance. The bill also keeps existing eligibility rules requiring members to be at least 21 years old and to have no felony convictions.
What the bill does
- Sets the authority's board at seven members, with three appointed by the City of Cochran, three by Bleckley County, and one jointly by those six appointees.
- Allows one appointee from each city and county group, plus the seventh jointly appointed member, to live in a county adjacent to Bleckley County instead of within it, if they have aviation, business, or finance expertise.
- Keeps the existing rule that all other board members must be Bleckley County residents.
- Retains the requirement that appointees be at least 21 years old and have no felony convictions.
- Repeals any prior laws that conflict with these new membership rules.
Who it affects
The Cochran/Bleckley Airport Authority board, the governing authorities of the City of Cochran and Bleckley County who make appointments, and residents of Bleckley County or nearby counties who might serve on the board because of aviation, business, or finance expertise.
Why it matters
The change lets the city and county draw on board candidates from neighboring counties when they have relevant expertise, rather than requiring every appointee to live in Bleckley County, potentially widening the pool of people who can help oversee the local airport authority.
Key provisions
- Section 1 amends Section 3(b)(1) of the 2015 Act to set the board at seven members: three from the City of Cochran, three from Bleckley County, and one chosen jointly by those six.
- Section 1 adds a new residency exception letting one appointee from each appointing group, plus the jointly appointed member, live in an adjacent county if they have aviation, business, or finance expertise.
- Section 1 keeps subsection (c)'s eligibility rules requiring appointees to be at least 21 and free of felony convictions.
- Section 2 repeals any conflicting laws.
From the bill
“The authority shall consist of seven members appointed as follows”
“members of the authority shall be residents of Bleckley County”
Discussed in meetings (5)
The House and Senate meetings that took this bill up, from their machine transcripts. Each account was written by Georgia Commons with AI and is not part of the record; the video is what was said.
House floor session, March 25, 2026 (legislative day 37, AM)
From 0:42:43 · Watch on the General Assembly's Vimeo channel · Confirmed by the 2026 House Journal, p. 3029
Summary by Georgia Commons: The clerk reported a committee recommendation to pass HB 1570 and later listed it on the local calendar as a Cochran and Bleckley County measure. There was no substantive presentation or debate. The House passed it with the local calendar, 164 to 0.
- Read aloud: House floor session, March 19, 2026 (legislative day 34), 0:22:04
- Read aloud: House floor session, March 20, 2026 (legislative day 35), 0:43:36
- Read aloud: Senate floor session, March 27, 2026 (legislative day 38), 0:24:27
- Read aloud: Senate floor session, March 31, 2026 (legislative day 39, part 1), 0:32:01
Status timeline
- Effective Date
- Act 602
- House Date Signed by Governor (House)
- House Sent to Governor (House)
- Senate Passed/Adopted (Senate)
- Senate Committee Favorably Reported (Senate)
- Senate Read and Referred (Senate)
- House Passed/Adopted (House)
Show full history (13 actions)
- House Third Readers (House)
- House Committee Favorably Reported (House)
- House Second Readers (House)
- House First Readers (House)
- House Hopper (House)
Sponsors
- Danny Mathis (R, HD-133)
Votes
- House voteMarch 25, 2026
164 yea, 0 nay (8 not voting, 4 excused)
- Senate voteMarch 31, 2026
45 yea, 0 nay (5 not voting, 4 excused)
Topics
- airport authority
- local government appointments
- Bleckley County
- Cochran Georgia