Legislators were in session this week Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday for Legislative Days 29 through 31, and Wednesday served as a committee work day.  The several legislative days immediately following Crossover Day are typically significantly slower than the days leading up to it.  While committees convened throughout the week to consider the opposite chamber’s measures, the House and Senate each only voted on a handful of measures on the floor this week.  With a few exceptions for things like study committees, the House is now focused on Senate bills, and the Senate has now turned its attention to House bills.  However, the House and Senate have not yet taken up any major bills from the opposite chamber, including property tax reform and income tax reform.  

Legislative action will likely pick up next week since House and Senate members now have just three weeks to get their bills through the committee process in the opposite chamber and on the floor for a vote for them to make it to Governor Kemp’s desk this year.  Legislators will be back in session next week Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday for Legislative Days 32 through 35.  Legislative Day 40, Sine Die, is scheduled for Thursday, April 2. 

Fiscal Year 2027 Budget

The legislature is now one step closer to completing its only constitutionally required action item of passing a balanced budget.  On Tuesday the House passed House Bill 974, the Fiscal Year 2027 budget, by a vote of 159 to 4.  

Highlights from the House’s version of the ‘big budget’ include:

Senate Appropriations Subcommittees met throughout the week as the Senate works to finalize its version of the FY27 budget.  Once the Senate votes on its version of the budget, both chambers are likely to insist on their own versions, which will trigger the creation of a conference committee for the two chambers to work out differences between the two budgets. 

Debanking

On Wednesday the Senate took up House Bill 945 by Representative Bruce Williamson (R-Monroe).  The measure would strengthen protections against financial exploitation of disabled and elderly individuals and put regulations in place for cryptocurrency kiosks. 

During the debate of the bill on the floor, Senator Blake Tillery (R-Vidalia) offered an amendment that that would incorporate language from his ‘debanking’ bill, Senate Bill 341.  Language that Senator Tillery wanted to add to House Bill 945 would prohibit discrimination in the provision of essential services, including financial services, and would create a private right of action that would allow individuals to sue banks and other essential service providers for $50,000 per violation.  After a great deal of debate on the Senate floor, Senator Tillery’s amendment was voted down, and House Bill 945 was passed without any floor amendments.  

Legislative Races

House District 94, House District 130, and Senate District 53 all held elections this week to fill vacant seats in the state legislature.  In all three races, no candidate secured more than 50 percent of the vote, so all three will go to a special election runoff on April 7.  

In House District 94, where Karen Bennett resigned her seat, Democrats Venola Mason and Kelly Kautz will head to a runoff.  The district covers portions of DeKalb and Gwinnett counties.  

In House District 130, the Augusta-based seat that Lynn Heffner resigned, former Democratic Representative Sheila Nelson and Republican Thomas McAdams will go to the runoff. 

Senate District 53 became vacant earlier this session when Colton Moore resigned to run for Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene’s seat.   Republican Lanny Thomas will face Democrat John Zibluk in the April runoff for the northwest Georgia-based Senate seat.