It’s the final day of the 2026 General Assembly session.
We’re watching what lawmakers do with big-ticket items such as tax cuts, elections and paper ballots, and a major effort to boost childhood literacy. There may be some debates, election posturing and shenanigans along the way.
Come back here throughout the day to track the latest action from the state House and Senate.
State Sen. Blake Tillery and Rep. Matt Hatchett — the chairs of the appropriations committees in their respective chambers — huddled at the back of the Senate Thursday afternoon. They're key negotiators as the House and Senate hammer out the details of the state's 2027 budget in the final hours of the legislative session.
Tillery said the discussions are going well and he expects to convene a joint appropriations meeting this evening to announce the details.
The Senate isn’t done trying to complicate Republican Rick Jackson’s bid to become Georgia’s next governor.
The chamber voted 49-0 to amend Senate Bill 586 to prohibit anyone who does substantial business with state agencies from becoming governor, lieutenant governor, secretary of state or any other state constitutional officer.
Sen. Ben Watson, R-Savannah, made the intended target explicit, noting Jackson Healthcare — the health care staffing company that Jackson owns — has made hundreds of millions of dollars from state contracts. An Atlanta Journal-Constitution analysis put the total at more than $1 billion since 2020.
“The fox was in the henhouse,” Watson said. “This vendor had a green light to the state bank account, and nobody was watching.”
It’s no accident the Senate is taking the lead on the measure. Lt. Gov. Burt Jones, who presides over the Senate, is also running governor as a Republican. Jackson has said he would not bid on any new contracts and would work to “unwind any existing contracts” if he is elected.
The House has not embraced such language attached to other bills.
Georgia lawmakers have agreed to dissolve the city of Quitman in south Georgia.
House Bill 1567 is now on its way to Gov. Brian Kemp, who will decide whether to sign it into law. The bill transfers the city’s duties and assets to the Brooks County government.
In a letter to the community, state Rep. John LaHood, R-Valdosta, said that the city had failed to "remain compliant with state-required financial audits for more than eight years."
"I wish this legislation were not necessary. However, my responsibility as a state representative is to uphold the law," he wrote.
The legislation impacts about 4,000 residents who in the city.
The Senate passed a bill that would allow property owners to sue local governments if they fail to enforce anti-panhandling, immigration or other laws.
House Bill 295 would allow residents to sue if they believe the government’s failure to enforce such laws has decreased the value of their property. The bill targets so-called “sanctuary city” policies in communities that don't cooperate with federal immigration efforts, as well as those that choose not to enforce anti-camping, panhandling, loitering and other laws targeting the homeless.
The bill’s Republican supporters said it merely requires local officials to follow local, state and federal laws they have sworn to uphold.
“All we want is for local governments to enforce the law,” said Sen. Clint Dixon, R-Buford.
Democratic critics said it would open local officials to frequent frivolous lawsuits and burden police who don’t necessarily want to become arms of federal immigration enforcement.
“It is the meanest, most senseless, least practical legislation on immigration we will see in this building, maybe ever,” said Sen. Josh McLaurin, D-Sandy Springs.
The bill passed by a vote of 30 to 22. It now returns to the House.
The House has rejected a bill that would let the state withhold driver's licenses from chronically absent students. But lawmakers quickly agreed to reconsider, meaning they could vote on the bill again later today.
Georgia's rate of chronically absent students soared to 20% during the pandemic and has not fully recovered. Senate Bill 513 would require students who miss 10% or more of the school year to meet with school officials.
If they don't, the state could withhold their driver's license. State officials could not suspend licenses that have already been issued.
“Right now, that conversation is not being had at all,” said Rep. Scott Hilton, R-Peachtree Corners. “Kids are not showing up, and there's no conversation or dialog going on with the parent and the school."
Democrats argued students are missing school not by choice, but because of barriers like poverty, health or transportation challenges.
“Attendance is a signal, it tells us something is wrong,” state Rep. Karla Drenner, D-Avondale Estates, said. “This bill treats this signal like something to punish rather than something to understand.”
We've got our first lengthy debates of the day.
In the House, lawmakers are debating Senate Bill 513, which would allow the state to withhold driver's licenses from chronically absent students.
In the Senate, lawmakers are debating amendments to House Bill 295 that would waive legal protections for cities that flout a state law banning local sanctuary city immigration policies.
The House and Senate are back in session after taking breaks for lunch.
Lawmakers and lobbyists alike lined up in the heat outside the Capitol to cool off with Bruster’s ice cream.
The Senate is in recess until "about" 2 p.m., per Lt. Gov. Burt Jones.
The Senate added the “Epstein amendment” to House Bill 1409, an unrelated bill on child abuse reporting. The amendment would make sexual harassment settlements involving state lawmakers disclosable under the Georgia Open Records Act. Legislative records are generally exempt from disclosure.
State Sen. Blake Tillery, a Republican from Vidalia who is running for lieutenant governor, noted the provision would take effect immediately upon the governor signing it into law. That means it would be in place before the upcoming primary elections.
The Senate has added the amendment to numerous other bills, but so far they have failed to pass the House.
The amendment is named after notorious sexual predator Jeffrey Epstein, whose exploits have prompted a yearslong scandal. Epstein died in 2019.
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