Ahead of convening for the special session last Wednesday, House and Senate Republican leaders announced that they would not be taking up redistricting during this special session, citing the need for more time to develop new maps, see the outcome of pending litigation, and to allow sufficient time for public input.
Property Tax Relief
Passage of these local bills required a two-thirds majority in both chambers, and, with party-line votes on these measures, Republicans did not ultimately have enough votes to reach the 120-vote threshold needed in the House and 38-vote threshold required in the Senate.
Election Legislation
Senate Bill 3EX, which was approved by both the House and the Senate and has been sent to Governor Kemp’s desk, resolves the issue by pushing the QR code deadline out to January 1, 2028. The legislation also creates the Election Equipment Specifications and Standards Committee to provide recommendations for a new voting system that would include hand-marked paper ballots and ballot-on-demand printing.
The nine-member committee would include three voters appointed by the governor, three senators appointed by the Senate Committee on Assignments, and three members of the House appointed by the Speaker. The committee must release its report by January 31, 2027 so that legislators can implement the new voting system for the 2028 election cycle. The legislation also requires manual recounts in certain statewide races where the vote difference is within 0.5 percent.
This 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.
DeKalb Chamber of Commerce
Frankie Atwater President & CEO
The legislature adjourned Sine Die for the 2026 Special Session on Tuesday afternoon. Under Governor Kemp’s official proclamation calling the session, eligible legislative topics were strictly limited to:
The gas tax suspension and governor’s appointments were both approved by the legislature.
Following the passage of Senate Bill 33 during the regular 2026 session, more than 90 local bills were introduced by House and Senate members during the special session that would allow cities and counties to put a question regarding the LHOST (Local Homestead Option Sales Tax) on the ballot this November. If approved by the legislature, voters in these respective cities and counties would then vote on whether they want their locality to implement a one percent sales tax to help offset homestead property taxes.
Senate Bill 189 (2024) imposed a July 1, 2026 deadline to transition away from QR code tabulation, but the legislature did not come to an agreement on how to address the looming deadline before adjourning for the 2026 Regular Session on April 2.