---
title: SB 436. Counties, Municipal Corporations; local governments and political subdivisions from entering into nondisclosure agreements regarding electricity usage or water usage of any entity; prohibit
collection: bills
id: 2025-2026/sb436
cite_as: SB 436, 2025-2026 Regular Session (Ga.)
canonical_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sb436
md_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sb436.md
text_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sb436/text
source_url: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/72578
date: 2026-01-29
status: introduced
corpus_version: bills-2026-09-13
license: Public record of the Georgia General Assembly, via LegiScan; see about.md
publisher: Georgia Commons, an independent project of Georgia Civic Data. Not the State of Georgia. Not legal advice.
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omitted: votes and history
omitted_chars: 95
omitted_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sb436.md?full=1
bill_number: SB 436
session: 2025-2026 Regular Session
session_slug: 2025-2026
chamber: Senate
bill_type: bill
status_date: 2026-01-28
last_action: Senate Read and Referred
sponsors:
- Jaha Howard
- Harold Jones
- Nikki Merritt
- RaShaun Kemp
- Michael Rhett
- Kenya Wicks
- Donzella James
- Nabilah Islam Parkes
text_version: Introduced
has_text: true
legiscan_url: https://legiscan.com/GA/bill/SB436/2025
upstream_id: 2100579
summaries_model: claude-sonnet-5
topic_tags:
- data centers
- open government
- utility transparency
- sales tax exemptions
- local government contracts
---
# SB 436. Counties, Municipal Corporations; local governments and political subdivisions from entering into nondisclosure agreements regarding electricity usage or water usage of any entity; prohibit
## Text
Senate Bill 436
By: Senators Howard of the 35th, Jones II of the 22nd, Merritt of the 9th, Kemp of the 38th,
Rhett of the 33rd and others
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
To amend Chapter 80 of Title 36 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to
general provisions applicable to counties, municipal corporations, and other governmental
entities, so as to prohibit local governments and political subdivisions from entering into
nondisclosure agreements regarding electricity usage or water usage of any entity; to amend
Code Section 48-8-3 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to exemptions from
sales and use tax, so as to suspend the issuance of new certificates of exemption for certain
high-technology data center equipment during a certain period; to provide for an exception;
to provide for related matters; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other purposes.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF GEORGIA:
SECTION 1.
Chapter 80 of Title 36 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to general
provisions applicable to counties, municipal corporations, and other governmental entities,
is amended by adding a new Code section to read as follows:
"36-80-32.
No county, municipal corporation, or other political subdivision of this state shall enter into
any nondisclosure agreement or other similar contract which prohibits such county,
municipal corporation, or other political subdivision from disclosing information related
to the electricity usage or water usage, either consumptive or nonconsumptive, of any
entity."
SECTION 2.
Code Section 48-8-3 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to exemptions from
sales and use tax, is amended by adding a new subparagraph to paragraph (68.1) to read as
follows:
"(A.1) For the period commencing on July 1, 2026, and ending on June 30, 2027, the
commissioner shall suspend the issuance of any new certificates of exemption pursuant
to this paragraph, except for any high-technology data center customer that is subject
to an ongoing contract that was entered into prior to July 1, 2026, with a
high-technology data center that has applied for a certificate of exemption pursuant to
this paragraph prior to July 1, 2026."
SECTION 3.
All laws and parts of laws in conflict with this Act are repealed.
## Summaries written by Georgia Commons
The following was written by claude-sonnet-5 from the text above and is not part of the bill. Quote the text, not the summary.
A Georgia Senate bill would bar counties and municipalities from signing secrecy agreements about entities' electricity or water use, and would pause new sales tax exemption certificates for high-tech data centers for one year starting July 2026.
### Plain-language summary
Local governments in Georgia sometimes negotiate deals with large power or water users, such as data centers, and some of those deals have included nondisclosure agreements that keep usage information secret from the public. This bill would stop that practice by adding a new law barring any county, city, or other political subdivision from entering into a nondisclosure agreement that hides an entity's electricity or water usage, whether that use consumes the resource or not.
The bill also changes Georgia's sales tax law. For one year, from July 1, 2026 through June 30, 2027, the state revenue commissioner could not issue new sales tax exemption certificates for high-technology data center equipment under an existing exemption program. There is an exception: data center customers already under contract before July 1, 2026, who applied for their certificate before that date, could still get one.
### What it does
- Adds a new law (O.C.G.A. § 36-80-32) banning counties, cities, and other local political subdivisions from signing nondisclosure agreements that hide an entity's electricity or water usage.
- Applies the ban to both consumptive and nonconsumptive water usage, meaning any type of water use covered by such a secrecy deal.
- Suspends the Georgia Department of Revenue's issuance of new sales tax exemption certificates for high-technology data center equipment for a one-year window from July 1, 2026 to June 30, 2027.
- Carves out an exception for data center customers with contracts signed before July 1, 2026, if they applied for their exemption certificate before that date.
### Who it affects
County and municipal governments across Georgia that negotiate deals with large utility users, large electricity and water consumers such as data centers, the Georgia Department of Revenue, and high-technology data center operators seeking sales tax exemptions on equipment purchases.
### Why it matters
Residents and watchdogs would gain access to information about how much electricity and water large facilities like data centers use in their communities, since local governments could no longer legally hide that data. Data center operators would also temporarily lose the ability to obtain new sales tax breaks on equipment for a year, unless they already had a qualifying contract.
### Key provisions
- Section 1 creates new Code Section 36-80-32, prohibiting local governments from entering nondisclosure agreements covering electricity or water usage of any entity.
- Section 2 amends O.C.G.A. § 48-8-3 to pause new high-technology data center sales tax exemption certificates from July 1, 2026 through June 30, 2027.
- Section 2 exempts data center customers under contracts signed before July 1, 2026, who also applied for a certificate before that date.
- Section 3 repeals any conflicting laws.
## Status
- Status: Introduced (2026-01-28)
- Last action: Senate Read and Referred (2026-01-29)
- Sponsors: Jaha Howard, Harold Jones, Nikki Merritt, RaShaun Kemp, Michael Rhett, Kenya Wicks, Donzella James, Nabilah Islam Parkes
- Official page: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/72578
> The history, votes, and amendments (95 characters) are at https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sb436.md?full=1