ATLANTA, Ga. (Atlanta News First) — While state lawmakers are tackling issues like budgeting, tax cuts and school safety, they’re also finding time to ponder some more intriguing issues.

But rest assured, while some metro Atlantans likely aren’t pondering these topics, Georgia’s elected representatives are on the case.

Georgia’s official chicken wing flavor

Even state Rep. Eric Bell, D-Jonesboro, is admitting his HB 1013 “is a lighthearted bill.”

“But it carries real meaning,” Bell said, as it would designate lemon pepper as the official chicken wing flavor of Georgia, “recognizing the cultural, culinary and community significance of lemon pepper wings across the state,” it reads.

“Lemon pepper wings have become a staple of southern cuisine in Atlanta and across Georgia,” Bell said. “Lemon pepper wings are a fan-favorite that bring people together across race, culture, class and community. From ‘Lemon Pepper Lou’ at Magic City to lyrics in billboard hits from Gucci Mane and Rick Ross, lemon pepper wings have been central to many of the moments and individuals who have shaped this city and state.”

The bill has several Democratic and GOP co-sponsors, including state Rep. Kasey Carpenter, R-Dalton, who sought last year to shield his district’s global carpet manufacturers from liability for their disposal of cancer-causing toxins into north Georgia’s underground drinking water supplies.

A Tennessee and North Carolina border war

State Rep. Martin Momtahan, R-Dallas, introduced a bill last year that is still kicking around under the Gold Dome. He wants to introduce a Georgia-North Carolina and Georgia-Tennessee Boundary Line commission through HR 132.

“The northern border of the State of Georgia and the southern border of the States of North Carolina and Tennessee lie at the thirty-fifth parallel, north of the southernmost bank of the Tennessee River,” the bill says, citing “a flawed survey conducted in 1818″ that was never accepted by Georgia.

Momtahan’s bill goes on to cite 1887 and 1889 orders by Georgia’s North Carolina’s and Tennessee’s legislature directing each of the governors to resolve the “disputed boundary question.”

Shooting feral hogs from drones

Feral hogs in Georgia cause an estimated $150 million in agricultural damage each year, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. HB 946 would allow trapping and killing the animals under certain circumstances.

One of the bill’s provisions would allow anyone without a hunting or fishing license to trap feral hogs “provided such hogs shall be killed upon capture,” it said.

The bill would also allow drones to locate the animals.

Kennesaw State University researchers are launching an AI-powered drone system to protect peanut fields from nighttime wildlife intrusion and reduce costly crop losses. The project is supported by a $25,000 Georgia Peanut Commission grant.

The team’s mission is to create a low-cost, AI-driven solution that deters destructive wildlife from farmland without the need for traditional fencing or human patrols.

Buckle up! Lawmaker wants to raise Georgia’s minimum speed limit

Right now, Georgia’s minimum speed limit on state highways is 40 mph. State Rep. John Carson, R-Marietta, wants to jack that up to 50 through House Bill 809.

Last week, Gov. Brian Kemp unveiled several massive transportation infrastructure projects at the annual Eggs & Issues breakfast. Among them are:

• $1.8 billion for I-75 in Henry County, including for express lanes
• $200 million to continue improvements along Georgia 316, a.k.a. University Parkway
• $250 million in funding for local road projects
• $100 million to strengthen and improve bridges across rural parts of the state

No lab-grown meat for us humans...

SB 315 would prohibit the sale of any “lab-grown meat” for human consumption.

The bill defines lab-grown meat as “any food product that is produced, wholly or in part, by artificially growing the cell cultures of animal muscle or organ tissues.”

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