Both the House and Senate considered dozens of measures on Crossover Day. The Senate wrapped up their business for the day just before 11PM, and the House adjourned around 1 AM Saturday morning.
A number of pending bills failed to make it across the Crossover Day finish line, including a measure that could have legalized sports betting in Georgia and a proposed amendment to Georgia’s constitution that could have done away with the homestead property tax.
House and Senate members are back in session this week Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday for Legislative Days 29 through 31. Wednesday will serve as a Committee Work Day as committees begin to consider legislation that came out of the other chamber.
Members now have less than four weeks to consider bills that crossed over from the opposite chamber- Sine Die is set for Thursday, April 2.
Amended Fiscal Year 2026 Budget
Highlights from the agreed-upon version of the AFY26 budget signed by the governor include:
House Bill 1001, carried by Governor’s Floor Leader Will Wade (R-Dawsonville), would accelerate the reduction in the state income tax from 5.19 percent to 4.99 percent for 2026. As part of previously passed legislation that also flattened Georgia’s state income tax, the state income tax rate was in the process of decreasing 0.1 percent each year until it reached 4.99 percent. The measure passed the House 106 to 66 and will next be considered by the Senate Finance Committee.
Income Tax Reform
A separate bill, referenced above, that has already passed the House would decrease the state income tax rate from 5.19 percent to 4.99 percent for 2026. That measure has already cleared the House, but must still be approved by the Senate before it can be sent to Governor Kemp’s desk.
A set of bills already passed the Senate this session that seek to reform the state income tax. Senate Bill 476 by Appropriations Committee Chairman Blake Tillery (R-Vidalia), the ‘Income Tax Reduction Act of 2026’ would reduce the personal income tax rate from 5.19 percent to 4.99 percent for 2026 and exempt the first $50,000 from state income tax for individuals, or the first $100,000 for married couples filing jointly. It would also establish a January 1, 2032 sunset for all tax credits taken against Georgia taxable net income. Additionally, it would repeal 29 existing tax credits and exemptions, including, but not limited to, the data center sales and use tax exemption, a tax credit for businesses engaged in manufacturing cigarettes for export, a sales tax exemption on crab bait for commercial fishermen, and a tax credit for personal protective equipment manufacturers. Because revenue bills are required to start in the House, language from House Bill 134 was stripped and replaced with the language from Senate Bill 476.
An alternative plan by the Senate, Senate Bill 477/House Bill 463, would reduce the personal income tax rate from 5.19 percent down to 3.99 percent by 2028 as long as state revenue grows by at least three percent and the Revenue Shortfall Reserve is full. It would also establish a flat tax rate of 4.99 percent for corporations and partnerships. The standard deduction for individuals would increase from $12,000 to $16,000, and from $24,000 to $32,000 for married couples filing jointly.
These Senate measures (Senate Bill 476/House Bill 134 and Senate Bill 477/House Bill 463) have all been approved by the Senate and are awaiting action in the House.
Property Tax Reform
On Crossover Day, the House took up a substitute version of House Bill 1116. The newest version of the bill would limit property tax increases to three percent or the rate of inflation, whichever is greater. It would also freeze local sales taxes at a five percent ceiling and would allow local governments to trade one percent of sales tax revenue to reduce property taxes. The measure would also require property owners to be sent written mail notification of property tax increases. After a lengthy debate on the floor, House Bill 1116 passed 98 to 68 and will next be considered by the Senate.
On Tuesday the House took up a substitute version House Resolution 1114, the proposed constitutional amendment. If approved by voters, the newest version of the proposal would decrease homestead property taxes three percent per year beginning in 2027 until the current rate, 40 percent, reaches 10 percent of the appraised value. Local governments and school systems could accelerate the reduction by using excess proceeds from sales and use taxes. The proposal would also authorize local governments and school systems to establish a local grant program and to appropriate local funds for homeowner's incentive adjustments. Additionally, it would allow the proceeds from the sales tax on data centers to provide grants to local governments and school systems to replace the lost revenue. It would allow any county, city, or school system to enact a local homestead option sales tax, and the tax would be capped at two percent for school systems and one percent for cities and counties.
With a vote on the House floor of 99 to 73, the proposal failed to reach the 120-vote threshold required for constitutional amendments.
A Senate measure, Senate Bill 382 by Senator Chuck Hufstetler (R-Rome), would cap annual increases of the assessed value of homes at the rate of inflation and would not allow local governments or school systems to opt out. A similar bill from 2024 included an opt-out provision for local governments and school systems, which more than 300 entities took advantage of. Senate Bill 382 was passed 31 to 19 last week and will next be considered by the House.
Data Centers
On Crossover Day the Senate also took up Senate Resolution 668 by Senator Greg Dolezal (R-Cumming). The proposed amendment to Georgia’s Constitution would allow local governments to create separate classification for property taxes on data centers to offset the property taxes on other types of property, including residential properties. The proposal, which would have required two-thirds approval in the Senate to move forward, failed by a vote of 29 to 21.
Another measure already approved by the House this session by Representative Brad Thomas (R-Holly Springs) would codify the 2025 Public Service Commission Ruling. House Bill 1063 would require electric utility contracts with data centers to protect residential and retail customers from costs related to data center operation, mandate minimum billing requirements in contracts with large-load consumers to keep costs from being passed down to other customers, codify protections for other customers if a data center were to default on its contract, and mandate termination provisions to protect retail customers if an electric service contract with a data center ends.
Sports Betting
Next Generation 9-1-1
Literacy
It would also overhaul how reading is taught in schools to ensure that instruction aligns with the science of reading and change how future teachers are trained to teach fundamental reading skills. Under the legislation, school districts would be required to create a unified literacy plan. After passing the House with overwhelming support, the measure has been assigned to the Senate Education and Youth Committee for consideration.
Insurance Reform
Gun Legislation
The Senate version of the bill was approved 30 to 20 and now heads to the House for consideration, but the House bill failed with a vote of 87 to 76 on Crossover Day.
Elections
Senate Resolution 838, the ‘State Assurance of Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act,’ was also taken up by the Senate on Crossover Day. The proposal, also by Senator Greg Dolezal, seeks to amend Georgia’s Constitution by adding language to clarify that only citizens of the United States are entitled to vote in Georgia’s elections. It also states that registered voters must present photo identification before casting their ballots, which would move the requirement from statute to the state Constitution. With a Senate floor vote of 32 to 23, the resolution failed to receive the required two-thirds majority to advance to the House.
The Senate also took up Senate Bill 423 by Senator Tim Bearden (R-Carrollton) on Crossover Day. The measure would cap total contributions received by a candidate from non-Georgia residents so that no more than half of contributions could come from outside Georgia. Under the proposal, if a campaign exceeded the 50 percent threshold, it would have 45 days to return the excess funds to the out-of-state donors before the funds would be forfeited to the state. The bill passed the Senate 33 to 21 and now heads to the House for consideration.
Families First Initiative
Certificate of Need
Qualifying
Several members announced they would not be seeking reelection, and, in addition to other members who have already announced for higher office, last week additional legislators announced that they will not qualify for reelection and will instead run for another office.
Senate:
This weekly Legislative Update report is courtesy of the Regional Business Coalition of Metropolitan Atlanta (RBC), an organization of over a dozen of the largest and most active Chambers of Commerce throughout the metro Atlanta region. RBC member chambers represent over 15,000 member companies who employ millions of metro Atlanta residents. The RBC’s primary goal is to represent the interests of RBC Chamber members on regional public policy issues impacting our transportation, water and air quality and to advocate for solutions that improve metro Atlanta’s quality of life and economic vitality.
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Frankie Atwater President & CEO
Legislators were in session Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday for Legislative Days 26 through 28 last week. Friday was Crossover Day, which is the deadline for a bill to successfully move out of its chamber of origin to stay alive this session. Any bill that did not make it out of at least one chamber by the time the legislature adjourned on Friday night is effectively dead this session unless the bill’s language is successfully attached to a related bill later this year.
On Tuesday, Speaker Jon Burns, Lieutenant Governor Burt Jones, and members of House and Senate leadership joined Governor Kemp for his signing ceremony of the Amended Fiscal Year 2026 budget, House Bill 973.
Governor Kemp’s Tax Legislation
The House has approved two bills that are legislative priorities for Governor Kemp this session. Last week the House unanimously approved House Bill 1000 by Governor’s Floor Leader Matthew Gambill (R-Cartersville), which would provide for a one-time tax credit for all Georgia taxpayers who filed returns in 2024 and 2025. Single taxpayers would receive $250, married taxpayers filing jointly would receive $500, and taxpayers filing as heads of household would receive a $375 tax rebate. The proposal will next be considered by the Senate Finance Committee.
On Crossover Day, the House passed House Bill 880 by Ways and Means Committee Chairman Shaw Blackmon (R-Bonaire), which would reduce the state income tax rate from 5.19 percent to 3.99 percent in 0.10 percent increments annually. The measure would also increase the personal exemption for dependents from $4,000 to $6,000, raise the standard deduction for married couples filing jointly from $24,000 to $36,000, increase the standard deduction for single filers from $12,000 to $18,000, and raise the income exclusion for retirees 65 and older from $65,000 to $70,000 per eligible taxpayer. The House approved the measure 102 to 69. Next it heads to the Senate for consideration.
Earlier this session, Speaker Jon Burns (R-Newington) announced the HOME Act, which would eliminate property taxes on homesteads by 2032. The original versions of House Bill 1116 and House Resolution 1114 would pose a ballot referendum question to Georgia’s voters on taking property taxes on an individual’s primary residence down to zero.
The Senate voted to approve Senate Bill 410 by Senator Matt Brass (R-Newnan), which would eliminate tax exemptions for data centers and for high-technology computer equipment. It would keep in place the current sunsets of 2031 and 2028, respectively, for projects already in the pipeline, but would not allow the issuance of any additional certificates of exemption after the signing of the legislation. The substitute version of the measure approved by the Senate also incorporated language that was similar to Senator Chuck Hufstetler’s (R-Rome) Senate Bill 34. The new language in Senate Bill 410 would codify the Public Service Commission’s contract standards, which were issued in a 2025 ruling. Additionally, language was added to the bill to clarify that the General Assembly’s intent is to ensure that the costs of providing electric service to new large-load customers (more than 100 MW) will not be borne by residential or other retail customers. The measure passed 32 to 21 on Crossover Day and now heads to the House for consideration.
Debate over whether to legalize sports betting in Georgia has been relatively quiet this session up until Crossover Day, when House Resolution 450 was approved by the Higher Education Committee and put onto a Rules calendar for a floor vote. The proposal seeks to amend Georgia’s Constitution to authorize sports betting, which requires approval by two-thirds of both the House and the Senate, and then approval by a majority of voters through a ballot question. After a lengthy debate on the floor on Crossover Day, the resolution, which required at least 120 votes to move on to the Senate, failed by a vote of 63 to 98.
Last week the House unanimously approved House Resolution 1243 by Representative Chuck Martin (R-Alpharetta). The proposal is the product of the House Study Committee on Funding for Next Generation 9-1-1, which Representative Martin chaired. It would amend Georgia’s Constitution to establish the Georgia Next Generation 9-1-1 Fund, which would be exclusively allocated for the expansion, maintenance, and operation of 9-1-1 systems across the state, including the transition to Next Generation 9-1-1. It would not increase 9-1-1 fees. Because the resolution seeks to amend Georgia’s Constitution, passage requires two-thirds approval by both the House and Senate, and then approval by a majority of Georgia’s voters via a ballot question. After receiving unanimous approval last week, the resolution now heads to the Senate for consideration.
At the beginning of session, Speaker Jon Burns announced that improving childhood literacy rates in Georgia would be one of his top priorities for the session. The House passed House Bill 1193, the ‘Georgia Early Literacy Act of 2026’, by a vote of 170 to 2. The measure, which is sponsored by Education Committee Chairman Chris Erwin (R-Homer) and championed by Speaker Jon Burns (R-Newington), would require all children to attend kindergarten before entering first grade, establish Quality Based Education (QBE) funding for school-based literacy coaches in public schools, and implement first grade readiness assessments.
The House has overwhelmingly approved a package of legislation that seeks to reform insurance in Georgia. The bills, which are supported by Speaker Jon Burns (R-Newington), include:
The bills will next be considered by the Senate.
On Crossover Day, both the House and Senate took up proposed legislation related to silencers. Senate Bill 499 by Senator Frank Ginn (R-Danielsville) and House Bill 1324 by Representative Jason Ridley (R-Chatsworth) would remove the state prohibition on possessing a silencer. Current state law prohibits silencers without federal approval. By removing the state prohibition, the legislation would decouple the state from any potential changes made by the federal government in the future. The measures would also create a specific felony for using a silencer during the commission of a serious crime and mandate that any sentence for this offense must run consecutively to any other sentence.
The Senate took up several bills on the floor last week related to elections. Senate Bill 568 by Senator Greg Dolezal (R-Cumming) would eliminate electronic voting machines and replace them with paper ballots and an optical scanning voting system after July 1, 2026. It would also designate specific advance voting locations for each precinct and require the Secretary of State to maintain a database of electors who cast ballots. Additionally, the legislation would mandate that the official list of eligible voters be publicly posted at least five days before advance voting begins and would introduce civil fines of up to $10,000 for registrars who do not remove individuals from the voter list after a successful challenge. After a lengthy debate on the floor, the measure failed 27 to 21.
The House approved several measures that make up part of the House’s ‘Georgia Families First’ legislative initiative.
On Crossover Day, the Senate took up Senate Bill 367 by Senator Bill Cowsert (R-Athens). The measure would create a certificate of need exemption for facilities, services, and equipment that are primarily or exclusively dedicated to the treatment of cancer. A floor amendment by Senator Mike Hodges (R-Brunswick) added language so that the exemption would not apply to any facility located within 35 miles of an existing nonprofit hospital designated as a sole community hospital that offers chemotherapy or radiation therapy. The Senate passed the bill by a vote of 32 to 17. It now heads to the House for consideration.
The stage is set for the 2026 election in Georgia now that qualifying week is over. Last week, hundreds descended upon the Capitol to file paperwork to run for office. All statewide offices, one U.S. Senate seat, all 14 congressional seats, all 56 State Senate seats, all 180 House seats, and three Georgia Supreme Court seats are all on the ballot this year.
House:
Sitting legislators who had previously announced they will be running for higher office include: