Gov. Nathan Deal reports that the state's overall tax collections are down for the first time in 18 months.

Georgia Democrats say they will propose a bill creating a healthcare exchange if Republican lawmakers don’t. They also say they’ve filed a brief with the U.S. Supreme Court supporting Pres. Obama’s healthcare reform law. Democrats say Republicans need to stop delaying the creation of a healthcare exchange.

Gov. Nathan Deal said Thursday the state is very close to a landing a deal that could bring what he described as Georgia's largest business project since automaker Kia opened a massive plant in West Point. Deal said state officials are in the final stages of negotiating, but he declined to offer more specifics.

Georgia Tea Party groups held a rally at the state Capitol Thursday to push for ethics reform. They’ve helped to draft a bill that would limit lobbyists’ gifts to lawmakers. The Tea Party groups want Georgia to become a model for government ethics. And they want to start with a $100 limit on lobbyists’ gifts to lawmakers.

Georgia voters who live along the South Carolina border are getting an early introduction to this year's presidential race in the form of campaign commercials. However, Augusta- and Savannah-area voters might not yet be ready to pay the candidates any mind. South Carolina's primary is a little more than a week away, giving border-area voters an early raft of political ads on television.