ATLANTA — One thing that Georgia’s House and Senate can agree on after finishing the first round of this year’s legislative session is that the state income tax rate should continue falling.
Friday was the deadline for lawmakers to vote out the bills they were most serious about, moving them from the House to the Senate and vice versa.
The Senate had already sent legislation to the House last month that would cut the income tax rate to 3.99%.
On Friday, the House kicked a bill to the Senate with the same tax rate reduction and with an increase to the standard deduction that was similar to what was in the Senate bill.
Rep. Shaw Blackmon, R-Bonaire, the architect of the House measure, said it would cost the state $600 million in the first full year of implementation.
Democrats ridiculed the Republican plan, asserting that two-thirds of the tax cut would go to the wealthiest fifth of the population while leaving less money for services, such as education. Most Georgians might see a few hundred dollars while the rich would get thousands, said Rep. Sam Park, D-Lawrenceville, the House minority whip.
“We must stop these tax cuts for the rich if we want to lift all Georgians up.”
Republicans flipped the logic.
Rep. Chuck Martin, R-Alpharetta, said that if the top 20% would get two-thirds of the benefit, then they are paying that same proportion of the income tax now.
“The math goes both ways,” he said.
House Bill 880 then passed 102-69.
It would reduce the income tax rate a tenth of a percentage point per year, conditioned upon continued growth in state revenue, until the rate reached 3.99%.
The current income tax rate is 5.19%. But, last month, state representatives passed passed House Bill 1001, which would drop it to 4.99% retroactive to the start of this year. If the Senate embraces both, then it would take a decade to reach 3.99%.
HB 880 would simultaneously increase the standard deduction. It is $12,000 for a single filer now and would increase $600 a year until reaching $18,000 in a decade. These numbers would double for married couples filing jointly.
This approach differs only by degrees from Senate Bill 477 passed by senators early last month. Their approach would reduce the rate to 3.99% much sooner, by 2028. It would raise the standard deduction a little less, to $16,000 for individuals and $32,000 for married couples.
That 3.99% rate was the Senate’s second priority, the first being Senate Bill 476 to increase the standard deduction to $50,000 for individuals and $100,000 for couples.
To make both options palatable, the Senate handed the House what Sen. Blake Tillery, R-Vidalia, the designer of the two Senate bills, described as an “olive branch.”
He scooped out the contents of two unrelated measures the House had sent the Senate last year and, like a baker filling a donut with custard, squeezed in the language from the two Senate bills. House Bill 463 mirrors SB 477, and House Bill 134 copies SB 476.
So, now the House has two bills that would reduce the income tax rate to 3.99% — one that just reached the Senate and another that just got lobbed back from there.
Either by chance or design (probably the latter), HB 463 — the bill the Senate gutted before tossing it back to the House filled with a 3.99% income tax rate— was originally authored by Blackmon. He is the same state representative who rallied House Republicans to send HB 880, for a 3.99% tax rate, to the Senate on Friday.
There are bragging rights on the campaign trail for getting bills passed, and all seats are up for election this year.
Tillery, when he was asked about HB 880 versus HB 463 outside the Capitol Monday, echoed a line that is often attributed to Harry S. Truman.
“There’s no limit on what you can accomplish if you don’t care who gets the credit,” said Tillery, who is running for lieutenant governor and has spoken quite a bit about the Senate Republicans’ tax cutting agenda. “I don’t care who gets the credit.”
Meanwhile, many other bills failed to advance this year, including proposals to eliminate all property taxes, legalize sports betting, allow breweries to sell beer in stores, and make lemon pepper wings Georgia’s official wing flavor.
House Speaker Jon Burns, R-Newington, called the income tax cut that his chamber sent to the Senate on Friday a “historic effort by the General Assembly to deliver meaningful relief.”
“Tax dollars belong to the people, not the government. That’s why the Georgia House was proud to pass legislation to put more money back in the pockets of the people who earned it,” Burns said.
House Minority Leader Carolyn Hugley, D-Columbus, said Republicans blocked bills focused on making life more affordable, such as proposals to expand health insurance, build more homes for people with low incomes, and subsidize child care.
“Georgia families are sitting at their kitchen tables tonight doing math that doesn’t add up: working more hours, falling further behind, choosing between prescriptions and groceries, wondering if they’ll ever be able to afford a home in the community where they grew up,” Hugley said.
Here’s a look at some of the key proposals remaining in this year’s legislative session, which ends April 2.
Senators rejected a bill that would have prevented electric utilities from passing on the costs of data centers to other customers, instead opting to abolish tax exemptions for computer equipment and other technology used by data centers. The House passed a separate bill that aims to shield consumers from some costs incurred by new data centers. Critics say neither bill goes far enough to protect residents and businesses from rising power bills.
Lawmakers are considering sending literacy coaches to elementary schools and banning cellphones in high schools, measures that they say will improve students’ academic outcomes.
The way Georgians vote could change from touchscreens to paper ballots filled out by hand. State law already requires the end of computerized QR codes used by touchscreens by July 1. But legislators are still looking for an alternative. The Senate defeated a proposal for hand-marked paper ballots Friday amid warnings that a swift change would cause “chaos.” Legislators plan to continue working on the issue in the closing weeks of this year’s session.
Abuses of artificial intelligence would be reigned in. The Senate passed a bill Friday that aims to protect minors from AI by limiting sexually explicit material and disclosing that online interactions aren’t with a real person. Another Senate bill would make “virtual peeping” a crime by prohibiting the use of AI to virtually undress people.
For any bill to pass, it must be approved by both the House and Senate before the end of this year’s legislative session.
Then Gov. Brian Kemp would decide whether to make those bills law or veto them.
ATLANTA — Georgia House Republicans pushed through a new proposal to address fast-rising property tax bills just ahead of the Friday deadline to move legislation between the House and Senate
House Bill 1116 has been evolving constantly, having started the year as a vehicle to eliminate property taxes.
The new version would merely aim to restrain rather than eliminate property taxes. It would cap annual increases at the greater of 3% or the rate of inflation under the federal Consumer Price Index.
Rep. Shaw Blackmon, R-Bonaire, has been re-writing the bill at a feverish pace, converting it to a measure that he said would not require a constitutional amendment. A companion measure that would have placed a referendum to change the constitution on the ballot failed on the House floor Tuesday.
Republicans characterized the new HB 1116 as a way to address runaway housing prices.
“This is a pragmatic, level-headed solution to the problem,” said Rep. Chas Cannon, R-Moultrie.
Democrats didn’t think so. The bill passed over their objections 98-68.
“All of my cities are telling me it’s going to gut their operations,” said Rep. Shea Roberts, D-Atlanta. “This is insane.”
She said it would rip more than $50 million out of the budget of Sandy Springs, reducing money available for core services like public safety. She called it a “defund the police” bill.
The measure would also allow local governments to use a penny sales tax to offset property taxes.
ATLANTA — The slate of candidates for this year’s Georgia elections is now set, sparking a fierce competition before primaries in two months and general elections in November.
Voters will have many choices up and down the ballot, including elections for governor, Congress and all 236 seats in the General Assembly. Qualifying to run for office ended Friday.
The race for governor drew a crowded field from both Republicans and Democrats to replace Gov. Brian Kemp, who will leave office after serving two terms.
The top candidates on the Republican ballot for governor include Attorney General Chris Carr, health care executive Rick Jackson, Lt. Gov. Burt Jones, and Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger.
Democratic gubernatorial candidates include former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, former Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan, former state Sen. Jason Esteves, state Rep. Derrick Jackson, and former DeKalb County CEO Mike Thurmond.
This year’s elections will also shake up Georgia’s congressional delegation, no matter who wins.
Four out of Georgia’s 14 U.S. House members aren’t seeking reelection, all of them Republicans.
U.S. Reps. Buddy Carter and Mike Collins are instead running for U.S. Senate against Democratic U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff. Former Tennessee football coach Derek Dooley is also in the Republican race for Senate.
In addition, U.S. Rep. Barry Loudermilk is retiring, and former U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene resigned in January.
Among Democrats, longtime U.S. Rep. David Scott faces challenges from former Gwinnett County school board chair Everton Blair, state Rep. Jasmine Clark, and state Sen. Emanuel Jones.
Statewide offices drew plenty of intraparty competition, from lieutenant governor to the Georgia Supreme Court.
The races for lieutenant governor are dominated by rivalries among state senators. Republicans running for Georgia’s No. 2 job include Sens. Gregory Dolezal, Blake Tillery, and Steve Gooch, along with former Sen. John F. Kennedy. Democrats will pick between Sens. Josh McLaurin and Nabilah Parkes.
Two Democrats are mounting challenges against incumbent Georgia Supreme Court justices. Former state Sen. Jen Jordan is seeking to unseat Justice Sarah Warren, and trial attorney Miracle Rankin is running against Justice Charlie Bethel.
Georgia’s primary elections are scheduled for May 19, followed by runoffs June 16 if necessary. The winners of each party’s primaries will face off in the general election Nov. 3.
ATLANTA — Georgia senators shot down a bill Friday that would have switched the state’s voting method to paper ballots filled out by hand before this November’s elections.
The bill’s defeat sets up a scramble for Georgia lawmakers to find a way to remove computer QR codes from ballots this year, as required by a state law passed two years ago.
The Senate voted 27-21 on the bill, two votes short of the majority needed for legislation to pass in the 56-member Senate. Seven senators skipped the vote following warnings of election “chaos” if it passed.
“We’re at an impasse,” said Sen. Max Burns, R-Sylvania. “If we ignore it again, we’re just going to kick the can. Sooner or later, folks, you have to pay the piper, and it’s time to remove the QR codes.”
Sen. Greg Dolezal, R-Cumming, speaks in favor of a Senate Bill 568, which would have required voters to use hand-marked paper ballots in November’s elections on Friday, March 6, 2026. The bill fell short of the majority needed to pass. (Ashtin Barker/Capitol Beat)
All in-person Georgia voters use touchscreens that print out paper ballots, which are then tabulated by scanning machines that read a QR code. Critics of Georgia’s voting technology say the QR codes prevent voters from being able to ensure that their ballot accurately reflects their choices.
Hand-marked ballots are the main election day voting method in two-thirds of the United States, according to the election technology organization Verified Voting.
The effort to replace Georgia’s voting equipment, purchased for over $100 million before the 2020 election, is driven by a combination of election skeptics and election security advocates.
The legislation, Senate Bill 568, also would have limited early voting locations. Currently, Georgians can vote in advance of an election at any location in their county, but the bill would have assigned voters to one site to ensure the correct ballots are pre-printed for each jurisdiction.
“It would be chaos if we were to implement it this fast,” said Sen. Kim Jackson, D-Stone Mountain. “This bill is too hasty, it does not protect Georgians, and it fundamentally destabilizes our electoral system.”
Because SB 568 failed before Friday’s deadline for bills to pass at least one legislative chamber, either the state Senate or House, it’s likely dead this legislative session.
But it could be revived by amending a different elections bill that has advanced. One candidate is Senate Bill 214, a measure that cleared the Senate last year that would also require almost all Georgia voters to bubble in their choices instead of using touchscreen computers.
Sen. Greg Dolezal, R-Cumming, said lawmakers need to prioritize converting to hand-marked ballots now, before this year’s midterm elections.
“All we’ve heard is excuses,” Dolezal said. “Here we sit after having promised that we would do it after the last election, and it’s still not done. … I don’t think it’s ever going to be easy.”
Georgia’s primary election in May will still be held with the touchscreen voting technology, but the state law prohibiting QR-coded ballots goes into effect July 1.
