ATLANTA — In her first news conference after Election Day, Georgia’s governor-elect, Democrat Keisha Lance Bottoms, said she will be focus on the cost of living, access to healthcare and funding for public education — the affordability issues she said voters had elected her to address.
Expanding Medicaid will top her agenda, she said, noting that hundreds of thousands of Georgians lack health insurance due to the state’s approach to Medicaid and because of increasingly unaffordable premiums for coverage under the Affordable Care Act.
“The people made it loud and clear what they care about. They want leaders who are going to address those kitchen table issues that are impacting their daily lives,” Bottoms said at the Georgia Capitol Friday, flanked by members of her transition team.
She said Gov. Brian Kemp called her on election night and that they spoke the next day. She said the two-term Republican told her he would help her with her transition to the governor’s office. She added that the two have a “very cordial, friendly, personal relationship” despite their policy differences.
One such difference is Kemp’s approach to Medicaid, a work-based program called Pathways to Coverage. A federal Government Accountability Office report found high overhead and low enrollment. Recipients must work, volunteer or take classes 80 hours a month to qualify.
“I’ve talked about completely getting rid of the Georgia Pathways,” Bottoms said, adding that she wants a system that offers better access to affordable healthcare.
President Donald Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act from last year requires certain non-pregnant adult Medicaid enrollees to work, attend school or do community service.
Finding enough money to expand Medicaid could be difficult. Lawmakers and the governor have spent down much of Georgia’s once ample budget surplus, in part by sending money back to taxpayers through income tax rebates and rate cuts and through temporary suspensions of the motor fuel excise tax.
Kemp has raised the possibility of a special session this year to address the budget. Bottoms said she will scour the budget to find the necessary funding to expand Medicaid. Tax breaks for data centers — indeed, anything to do with data centers — will be on the table, she said.
Reflecting on the historic nature of her election win, she said it will be an honor to serve as the first Black woman elected governor in U.S. history.
“I don’t take that lightly. I believe that it is representative of just the best of who we all are, that in this place, the South, with our very rich history, that Georgia gets to break that barrier,” Bottoms said. “So, I’m grateful for it and as I’ve said repeatedly, I look forward to representing all of Georgia.”