The legislature was in session this week Tuesday through Friday for Legislative Days 19 through 22, with Wednesday serving as the halfway point in the 40-day session.   House and Senate committees saw a great deal of activity this week because legislators now have just two weeks to get their bills passed out of their assigned committee and at least one chamber ahead of the March 6 Crossover Day deadline. 

Qualifying is now just one week away.  During the week of March 2, candidates for the legislature and statewide office must officially file to run at the Capitol.  A surprise retirement announcement came this week from the second-highest ranking member of the House, Speaker Pro Tempore Jan Jones (R-Milton), who announced she would not be running for reelection.  

Amended Fiscal Year 2026 Budget
On Wednesday morning the Senate Appropriations Committee took up House Bill 973, the Amended Fiscal Year 2026 budget.  In his presentation of the bill, Appropriations Committee Chairman Blake Tillery (R-Vidalia) highlighted Senate budget priorities and pointed out specific areas where the Senate’s version of the budget differed from the House’s version and the governor’s version of the AFY26 budget. 

One of the most significant differences between the House and Senate budget is the Senate appropriation of $409 million for a new state mental health hospital, which required the Senate to cut funds from several areas of the House’s budget.    The Senate reduced the $2,000 state employee pay supplements recommended by the governor and House down to $1,250 and reduced the amount for the needs-based DREAMS Scholarship from $300 million to $100 million.  

The Senate also reduced funding that Governor Kemp put in the budget to address homelessness in urban areas from $50 million to $25 million, but reallocated $15 million to eliminate homelessness among veterans.  While the House’s version of the budget included $220 million for private prisons, the Senate proposed $180 million for two modular facilities to address prison overcrowding. 

Chairman Tillery highlighted the Senate’s agreement with the House’s recommendation of an additional $50 million for the Employees’ Retirement System; $2 billion for road investments; and $89 million to address a critical shortage at the Department of Human Services, with an additional $15 million for child endangerment reporting at the Georgia Bureau of Investigation.  

Once the Senate votes to approve its version of House Bill 973, the House is likely to insist on its position, which will trigger the creation of a conference committee so that House and Senate leaders can finalize the Amended Fiscal Year 2026 budget that will be sent to Governor Kemp’s desk. 

Zero-Based Budgeting
In the same Appropriations Committee hearing, the committee considered Senate Bill 392 by Senator John Albers (R-Roswell), the ‘Waste Reduction Act of 2026.’   It would implement zero-based budgeting in the state budget process.  It would require the governor to use zero-based budgeting when preparing budget reports and estimates, beginning with the budget report presented to the General Assembly in January 2027.   It would also require every state agency to use zero-based budgeting at least once every ten years.  The legislation was approved by the Appropriations Committee and now heads to the Rules Committee.  

Insurance Affordability and Claims Integrity Act
Speaker Jon Burns (R-Newington), Insurance Commissioner John King, and Blue-Ribbon Study Committee on Insurance Rates Chairman Matt Reeves (R-Duluth) held a press conference Wednesday afternoon to announce the Affordability and Claims Integrity Act, a measure the Speaker said is aimed at increasing accountability and transparency for ratepayers.  The legislation, House Bill 1344, would increase fines for insurance violations, strengthen enforcement against uninsured motorists, and enhance collaboration between the Office of the Insurance Commissioner and the Department of Economic Development.   

Related bills discussed at the press conference included House Bill 1262, which would increase fines for surprise billing and mental health treatment violations, House Bill 1263, which would shorten the refund period for premium tax errors, and House Bill 1274, which would mandate rate decreases if insurers exceeded profit expectations.  

All four of these measures were passed by the Insurance Committee on Thursday morning and are now eligible for selection by the Rules Committee for a vote on the House floor. 

Data Centers
This week the House took up House Bill 1063 by Representative Brad Thomas (R-Holly Springs).  The measure, which codifies a 2025 Public Service Commission ruling, would require electric utility contracts with data centers to protect residential and retail customers from costs related to data center operation, mandate minimum billing requirements in contracts with large-load consumers to keep costs from being passed down to other customers, codify protections for other customers if a data center were to default on its contract, and mandate termination provisions to protect retail customers if an electric service contract with a data center ends.  

The measure was passed 159 to 5 by the House and now heads to the Senate for consideration, where it has been assigned to the Regulated Industries and Utilities Committee. 

On Wednesday the Senate Finance Committee took up Senate Bill 410 by Senator Matt Brass (R-Newnan).  In the substitute version of the bill presented in committee, entities would be prohibited from claiming both the data center tax credit and the computer equipment simultaneously.  Additionally, new certificates for the data center tax exemption would not be issued after the bill’s effective date, and existing certificates issued before the effective date would remain valid until January 1, 2027.  The committee did not take a vote on the measure.   

‘Georgia River Heritage Act’
This week Senator Shawn Still (R-Suwannee) introduced Senate Bill 511, the ‘Georgia River Heritage Act.’  The introduction of this bill comes several years after the contentious battle regarding the public’s ability to use ‘navigable waterways.’  The new legislation seeks to address ‘non-navigable waterways’ by establishing that citizens have an inherent right to use non-navigable streams solely for the purpose of passage.  The measure was considered by the Senate Transportation Committee this week, but no vote was taken.  

Transportation Legislation 
This week Representative Lauren McDonald (R-Cumming) introduced House Bill 1286, which would abolish the position of the Atlanta-region Transit Link “ATL” Authority Director of Planning.  The responsibilities would be shifted to the Commissioner of Transportation, who would oversee transportation planning and related functions.  It would require the commissioner to prepare and maintain the statewide strategic transportation plan and the statewide freight and logistics implementation plan in conjunction with the Planning Division.   The commissioner would also be required to submit annual reports to the governor and legislative committees on construction projects and transportation plans.  

House Bill 1287, also introduced this week by Representative Lauren McDonald, would change how the Department of Transportation commissioner is selected.  Under the proposed legislation, the GDOT commissioner would be nominated by the governor and selected by a majority vote of the GDOT board members.  

Both measures have been assigned to the House Transportation Committee for consideration. 

Senate District 18 Election 
Republican Steven McNeel won the special runoff election for Georgia’s State Senate District 18 on Tuesday, defeating Democrat LeMario Brown with approximately 59% of the vote.  McNeel, an attorney and timber farmer, will fill the seat of John Kennedy, who resigned in December.  McNeel is expected to be sworn in as early as next week.  


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.