A key House committee approved draft congressional maps Wednesday. The proposal will keep an air force base near Valdosta in the first congressional district. The draft maps now head to the full House for a vote. Under the map proposed Monday, Moody Air Force Base would have been taken out of the first congressional district.

Lack of jobs and continued weakness in the economy are sending more Georgia families into the food stamp program. The number of Georgians receiving the supplemental food assistance has jumped 42% in two years. The US Agriculture Department says, there are now 1.8 million Georgians using food stamps. That's one in seven Georgia families.

The House has voted to punish members who fail to pay ethics fine by banning them from participating on committees. Lawmakers approved the measure 147-4 on Wednesday. House Majority Leader Larry O'Neal said it is designed to so that lawmakers can "sanction our own folks." The resolution was changed to provide an appeals process for members who dispute that they are delinquent on fines.

Federal officials confirm that two teenagers who entered the country illegally as children and were facing deportation proceedings have been freed. Homeland Security Department officials say 19-year-old Pedro Morales of Dalton and 18-year-old Luis Hernandez of Calhoun have been released from the Stewart Detention Center in south Georgia and their cases were dismissed.

The Senate has unanimously voted to keep in place a freeze on Georgia's gas tax. Senate lawmakers voted 50-0 to support the suspension, which took effect July 1. Gov. Nathan Deal issued an executive order in June halting an automatic increase linked to rising fuel prices, but lawmakers needed to sign off on the action.