This week the legislature was in session Monday, Wednesday, and Friday for Legislative Days 36 through 38.  Tuesday and Thursday served as committee work days.  With the legislative session drawing to a close, both chambers spent long hours on the floor this week debating and voting on bills.  

The Senate is scheduled to vote on 29 bills on the floor on Friday, and the House will select their Rules calendar tomorrow morning ahead of session.  Both chambers are expected to vote on dozens of bills on the floor next week.  The final two days of the session will be Tuesday and Thursday. 

Any measure that successfully makes it through both chambers by the time the legislature gavels out for the session will be sent to Governor Kemp’s desk for his consideration.  The governor and his team then have a 40-day bill review period to determine which bills the governor will sign into law and which bills he will veto.  

The governor has already signed several pieces of legislation into law this session, including House Bill 973, the Amended Fiscal Year 2026 budget, House Bill 1000, which will provide a $250 per person income tax rebate to most taxpayers, and House Bill 1199, which suspends the gas tax for 60 days.  

Fiscal Year 2027 Budget

The legislature is now one step closer to completing its only constitutionally required action item of passing a balanced budget.  The Senate Appropriations Committee met Wednesday morning to discuss and vote on the Senate’s recommendations for the Fiscal Year 2027 budget in House Bill 974.  In his presentation of the $38.5 billion budget to the committee, Appropriations Committee Chairman Blake Tillery noted the FY27 budget reflected a $600 million increase over last year’s budget.  Senator Tillery highlighted:

The Senate is scheduled to vote on the FY27 budget on Friday.  To reconcile the differences between the House and Senate versions of the budget, the Speaker and lieutenant governor will appoint a conference committee made up of leaders from both chambers.  Once an agreement has been reached on the final version of the FY27 budget, it will be sent to Governor Kemp and his team for review.  

Childhood Literacy

On Wednesday morning the Senate Appropriations Committee also took up House Bill 1193, the Georgia Early Literacy Act of 2026.  The measure is a legislative priority for Speaker Jon Burns.  The substitute version of the bill that was passed out of committee would establish funding for school-based literacy coaches in public schools for grades K-3 and require the State Board of Education to approve instructional materials that align with the science of reading.  It would also update the definition of dyslexia, update requirements for universal reading screeners, and repeal the Georgia Council on Literacy.  After passing out of the Appropriations Committee, the measure is now eligible for selection by the Rules Committee to receive a vote on the Senate floor.  Because the Senate made changes to the version of the bill sent over by the House, it will need to go back to the House for a final vote.  

School Choice

This week the Senate voted along a mostly party line vote to pass House Bill 328.  The bill, authored by Representative Kasey Carpenter (R-Dalton) and carried in the Senate by Senator Shawn Still (R-Suwanee), would increase the annual cap of the student scholarship organization tax credit program from $120 million to $225 million to allow more students to receive SSO scholarships to attend private school.  

In 2026, approximately $246 million in credits were requested by donors on the first day of the year.  The substitute version of the bill also included language from Representative Rick Townsend’s (R-Brunswick) House Bill 565, which would increase the public school PEACH tax credit cap from $15 million to $25 million, and Representative Bethany Ballard’s (R-Warner Robbins) House Bill 1220, which makes minor eligibility changes to the SSO program for students with documented disabilities and students from military families.  The measure now heads back to the House.  

Time Change Legislation 

This week the Senate approved House Bill 154.  The substitute version of the bill that came out of the Health and Human Services Committee last week seeks to change Georgia from the Eastern time zone to the Atlantic time zone.  Unless Congress passes a law, states cannot stay on daylight savings time year-round.  The legislation would allow state officials to go to the U.S. Department of Transportation to petition that Georgia move from the Eastern time zone to the Atlantic time zone, which is the same time as Eastern Daylight Time.  

The substitute version of the bill passed the Senate 45 to 5 and must now go back to the House for an ‘agree’ or ‘disagree.’  

Georgia Transportation Efficiency Authority

This week the Senate Transportation Committee stripped House Bill 297, which originally dealt with multipurpose off-highway vehicles, and replaced it with language that would abolish the Georgia Regional Transportation Authority (GRTA) and the Atlanta-region Transit Link (ATL) Authority. Under the legislation, these entities would be consolidated into a single body renamed the Georgia Transportation Efficiency Authority.  Under the bill, regional transit planning responsibilities would shift from the ATL to the Georgia Department of Transportation Commissioner.  It would also allow counties, municipalities, and other political subdivisions outside the metropolitan area to enter into transportation services contracts with the new authority.  The measure is now eligible for selection by the Rules Committee to receive a vote on the Senate floor. 

School Zone Speed Cameras

Last session, the House passed two measures to address school zone speed cameras.  One would have banned the cameras completely, while another bill sought to put more restrictions in place around the operation of the cameras.   While the discussion of these cameras has been much quieter this session compared to the 2025 session, this week the Senate took up one of the measures, House Bill 651.  The version of the bill passed by the Senate this week 49 to 1 would require local governments to get approval from voters to use school zone speed cameras as contracts on the cameras expire.  The measure would also restrict when the cameras could be used: one hour before school starts and one hour after school ends.  Flashing lights would also be required to alert drivers when the cameras are being used.  

The Senate version of the bill now goes back to the House for an ‘agree’ or ‘disagree’ motion.  

Senator Resigns

On Monday Senator Freddie Powell Sims (D-Dawson) announced she would resign, effective immediately, to care for her husband.  Senator Sims is one of the longest serving members of the Senate.  She was sworn in to the Senate in 2009 and served in the House for two terms before that.  


This weekly 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.