We are grateful to Governor Brian Kemp, Lt. Governor Burt Jones, House Speaker Jon Burns, members of the General Assembly, legislative staff, and our many partners at the Capitol for their hard work this session.
Governor Kemp has until May 12, 2026, to sign or veto legislation passed by the General Assembly. If the Governor takes no action on a bill before that date, it will automatically become law. Below are some of the bills MAC’s Public Policy team has worked on or tracked this session.
Business Climate
HB 134 (Rep. Beth Camp) – extends the existing Jobs Tax Credit and Investment Tax Credit programs to forestry and biofuel manufacturers and allows transferability of the credits. FINAL PASSAGE
HB 141 (Rep. Martin Momtahan) – allows businesses to provide affidavits from certified public accountants to satisfy gross receipts requirements in lieu of tax returns to determine their occupation tax. FINAL PASSAGE
HB 376 (Rep. Scott Hilton) – increases the annual cap for the Historic Rehabilitation Tax Credit from $30 to $60 million. FINAL PASSAGE
HB 942 (Rep. Rhonda Burnough) – removes the property tax exemption on Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, requiring the City of Atlanta to pay ad valorem tax to Clayton County. DID NOT PASS
HB 974 (Speaker Jon Burns) – appropriates the budget for the 2027 fiscal year. Includes an additional $3.67 million for the Georgia Research Alliance and one-time funding for two Eminent Scholar endowments. FINAL PASSAGE
HB 1000 (Rep. Matthew Gambill) –provides a one-time state tax rebate ($250 for individual filers, $500 for joint filers) for those who filed returns for both 2024 and 2025. SIGNED BY THE GOVERNOR
HB 1115 (Rep. Derrick McCollum) – prohibits private entities from owning an interest in more than 2,000 single-family residences and creates a private right of action for individuals to sue violators. DID NOT PASS
HB 1185 (Rep. Chuck Efstration) – revises Georgia’s Corporate Code to require certain internal entity claims to be brought before the Georgia Statewide Business Court and refines the rules for shareholder derivative proceedings and record inspections. FINAL PASSAGE
HB 1199 (Rep. John Carson) – incorporates certain provisions of the federal Internal Revenue Code changes into Georgia law, including those in the One Big Beautiful Bill. SIGNED BY THE GOVERNOR
HB 1247 (Rep. Matt Reeves) – includes several provisions: (1) directs that courts and agency officers shall not defer to a state agency’s determinations/interpretations when interpreting Georgia’s Constitution, statutes, regulations, or other administrative policies. (2) allows the General Assembly to override or stay proposed administrative rules with a majority vote, subject to gubernatorial approval. Requires state agencies to perform a periodic review of their rules and submit an impact analysis report every five years; and (3) requires privately funded organizations serving homeless individuals in Fulton County to participate in the Georgia Homeless Management Information System. FINAL PASSAGE
HB 1470 (Rep. Trey Kelley) – creates a new cause of action for abusive litigation to address bad faith suits alleging violations of federal ADA laws relating to website access. FINAL PASSAGE
HB 1476 (Rep. Soo Hong) – increases the tax credit for post-production expenditures from 20 to 30 percent in a tax year. DID NOT PASS
HR 1114 (Rep. Shaw Blackmon) – proposes a constitutional amendment to reduce the assessable value of homestead properties from 40 percent to 10 percent over 10 years. DID NOT PASS
SB 23 (Sen. John Albers) – allows certain public retirement systems to invest in real estate as a portion of their alternative investments portfolio and increases their alternative investments cap from 10 to 15 percent. FINAL PASSAGE
SB 33 (Sen. Kay Kirkpatrick) – creates an optional local homestead option sales tax (LHOST) for counties to leverage to reduce their local homestead property taxes. Mandates participation in the floating homestead exemption (created by HB 581 in 2024) that caps taxable value increases at the inflation rate. Provides school funding formula changes. FINAL PASSAGE
SB 341 (Sen. Blake Tillery) – prohibits financial institutions or utilities from discriminating against certain individuals and allows individuals harmed by violations of this statute to sue the service provider. DID NOT PASS
SB 408 (Sen. Nan Orrock) – accelerates the sunset for the co-location/hyperscale data center incentive from 2032 to 2027. DID NOT PASS
SB 410 (Sen. Matt Brass) – prevents new sales tax exemption certificates for data centers from being issued and requires new contracts between electric utilities and large load customers to include protections to ensure residential customers do not incur costs associated with large load customers. DID NOT PASS
SB 465 (Sen. Steve Gooch) – eliminates a company’s ability to apply the Mega Project Tax credit against payroll withholding and disqualifies a business from receiving the credit if the business hires an illegal alien and uses that employee to qualify for the tax credit. DID NOT PASS
SB 476 (Sen. Blake Tillery) – lowers the individual income tax rate from 5.19% to 4.99%, significantly raises the standard deduction for taxpayers, eliminates specific income tax credits and sales tax exemptions to provide offsetting revenue starting in 2027, and sunsets all other income tax credits on December 31, 2031. DID NOT PASS
HB 463 (Rep. Shaw Blackmon) – reduces the personal income tax rate to 4.99% fpr the 2026 tax year and continues reducing the rate by 0.125% annually until the rate reaches 3.99%, subject to changes in the standard deduction reduction. Increases dependent deductions and the standard deduction annually, subject to state revenue triggers. Removes the tax on overtime and tips. Eliminates some economic development tax incentives. FINAL PASSAGE
SB 576 (Sen. Blake Tillery) – requires certain housing providers to provide income and expense data to the tax assessor upon request and increases property tax assessments from 40 to 100 percent for housing providers who own more than 500 single-family residential properties. DID NOT PASS
Infrastructure
HB 297 (Rep. Victor Anderson) –dissolves the Georgia Regional Transportation Authority and Atlanta-Region Transit Link Authority, establishes the Georgia Transportation Efficiency Authority, and authorizes MARTA’s jurisdictions to agree to extend its penny sales tax from 2057 to 2067. FINAL PASSAGE
HB 328 (Rep. Kasey Carpenter) – establishes an eight-year moratorium on a TSPLOST referendum after the failure of a prior referendum. FINAL PASSAGE
HB 638 (Rep. Deborah Silcox) – prohibits stopping or parking non-transit vehicles in dedicated transit lanes, authorizes officers to issue traffic citations, and allows automatic camera monitoring. DID NOT PASS
HB 973 (Speaker Jon Burns) – amends the budget for the 2026 fiscal year. Includes $1.68 billion for I-75 express lanes in Clayton and Henry counties. SIGNED BY THE GOVERNOR
HB 998 (Rep. Rob Leverett) – allows small telecom providers to opt back into rate of return regulations and imposes a $50 million annual cap. FINAL PASSAGE
HB 1261 (Rep. David Huddleston) – provides a level 1 freeport exemption for goods in inventory for electric utilities. FINAL PASSAGE
HR 1008 (Rep. Lynn Smith) – adopts changes approved by the State Water Council to restructure the appointments for regional water councils. FINAL PASSAGE
HR 1243 (Rep. Chuck Martin) – proposes a constitutional amendment to create a dedicated fund for the next generation of Georgia’s 9-1-1 emergency systems. FINAL PASSAGE
SB 131 (Sen. Mike Hodges ) – requires affirmative consent if the cost of an automatic renewal increases by 50 percent and renews for one year. DID NOT PASS
SB 398 (Sen. Bo Hatchett) –creates new offenses for the misuse of generative AI to create obscene content without consent. DID NOT PASS
SB 540 (Sen. Jason Anavitarte) –regulates conversational AI chatbots’ interactions with minors. FINAL PASSAGE
Talent Development & Education
HB 385 (Rep. Scott Holcomb) – allows students to apply unused HOPE scholarship dollars from their undergraduate education to graduate level classes at the undergraduate tuition rate. DID NOT PASS
HB 973 (Speaker Jon Burns) – amends the budget for the 2026 fiscal year. Includes $325 million for needs-based DREAMS scholarship program and $6 million for Career Navigator system. SIGNED BY THE GOVERNOR
HB 974 (Speaker Jon Burns) – appropriates the budget for the 2027 fiscal year. Includes $70 million for literacy coaches in every public elementary school, an additional $1 million for college completion grants, and an additional $3.9 million for ongoing costs for the Career Navigator system. FINAL PASSAGE
HB 1193 (Rep. Chris Erwin) – places literacy coaches in every school with K-3 classes, makes kindergarten mandatory, and establishes assessments to ensure children are prepared for first grade. FINAL PASSAGE
HB 1302 (Rep. Matthew Gambill) – consolidates some of Georgia’s education and workforce development programs, designates a source office to ensure continued return on investment for all programs, and creates an accessible portal for counselors, parents, and students. FINAL PASSAGE
SB 207 (Sen. Brian Strickland) clarifies the standards for professional license eligibility, creates a predetermination process with an option to appeal for certain occupational licenses, and provides more due process for licensing applicants. FINAL PASSAGE
SB 432 (Sen. Larry Walker) – extends the authorization for strategic reserve funds and the discharge of small uncollectible accounts to July 1, 2031, for institutions of the University System of Georgia and Technical College System of Georgia. FINAL PASSAGE
SB 556 (Sen. Chuck Payne) – combines several education initiatives, including establishing a needs-based scholarship at eligible post-secondary institutions for students who meet certain conditions. FINAL PASSAGE
Thriving Communities
HB 400 (Rep. Spencer Frye) – encourages counties and municipalities to adopt housing-friendly policies through an incentive system that prioritizes access to state grants and loans. DID NOT PASS
HB 686 (Rep. Marcus Wiedower) – legalizes and regulates sports betting as a lottery game within the Georgia Lottery Corporation. DID NOT PASS
HB 812 (Rep. Mike Cheokas) – establishes new guidelines for Georgia’s building permit approval process, including requiring publicly available, real-time status updates and stricter application decision timelines from local governments. DID NOT PASS
HB 973 (Speaker Jon Burns) – amends the budget for the 2026 fiscal year. Includes $45 million for the State Housing Trust Fund, $5 million for infrastructure and security costs related to the 2028 Super Bowl, and $409 million for a new state mental health hospital. SIGNED BY THE GOVERNOR
HB 1077 (Rep. Noel Williams) – extends the sales tax exemption on tickets for fine arts performances and museums to 2032. FINAL PASSAGE
HB 1240 (Rep. Chuck Martin) – establishes that the 10% ad valorem tax digest limit for tax allocation districts also applies to the extension of existing tax allocation districts. DID NOT PASS
HR 450 (Rep. Marcus Wiedower) –proposes a constitutional amendment to legalize sports betting and for its proceeds to fund pre-k, HOPE scholarships, and gambling addiction services. DID NOT PASS
SB 437 (Sen. Clint Dixon) – shortens the timeline for local governments to respond to zoning requests and authorizes certain virtual home inspections. DID NOT PASS
SB 447 (Sen. Clint Dixon) – creates new requirements for building permit processes, including an application decision deadline of 45 days, a real-time status tracker, criteria, and denial explanations. FINAL PASSAGE
SB 522 (Sen. Drew Echols) – establishes a $5.00 daily charge on rental cars with the intent to use 20 percent of the revenue for tourism purposes. DID NOT PASS
SR 942 / HR 1681 (Sen. Drew Echols/Rep. Matt Hatchett) – commends the Atlanta World Cup Host Committee for its efforts to prepare Atlanta and Georgia for the FIFA World Cup 2026. ADOPTED/ADOPTED
