The good, the bad and the truly ugly of the 2026 legislative session

It turns out that the measure to overhaul teaching methods and put a literacy coach in every Georgia elementary school needed the weight of a speaker’s office to get it across the finish line, which it did Tuesday with unanimous votes in the House and Senate.

Any parent can tell you that when a child struggles to read, it can affect everything — their grades, confidence, behavior, energy levels and academic options. The literacy bill means help could be on the way for Georgia’s youngest learners, in all public schools, as soon as July.

Cellphone ban

The state’s ban on cellphones for students in elementary and middle school could soon be extended to Georgia high schools thanks to a bill from state Rep. Scott Hilton, R-Peachtree Corners.

The Hilton bill has carveouts for students in dual enrollment programs or with disabilities or jobs that require a device in class. But for the most part, it’s bell-to-bell, no cell for teenagers, who need all the help they can get to focus on their classes.

AI guardrails

The White House has warned states not to pass their own regulations on artificial intelligence because the budding industry needs nationwide standards and guardrails. Fair enough. But with Congress unable to pass measures as basic as paying Transportation Security Administration agents, don’t hold your breath for Washington to tackle Big Tech anytime soon.

Into the void have come Georgia lawmakers, passing two bills so far to limit AI’s role in approving medical insurance claims and acting as virtual friends, therapists and romantic partners in the form of chatbots.

Other AI bills are waiting for action, including a measure to criminalize the use of AI to create or distribute content that is deemed harmful to minors. Until the White House delivers a better way to protect Georgians from the more dangerous uses of the new technology, state leaders should do it instead.

Tax cuts for Georgians

Republicans’ answer to the affordability crisis this session has been to put more money back in voters’ pockets in the form of a temporary suspension of the gas tax and a one-time tax rebate of up to $500 for most taxpayers. Those limited measures will help people as gas prices spike and other necessities show no signs of getting cheaper.

But lawmakers are still debating big-ticket tax cuts, including a bill to reduce or entirely eliminate the state income tax and another to cap property tax increases at 3%. Gov. Brian Kemp has warned lawmakers to be cautious about cutting revenue too deeply, which could hurt both state and local government budgets. That’s good advice.

The doorkeepers

The men and women manning the entrances to the state House and Senate are a combination of history buffs, clothes hounds, grandparents, veterans and, sometimes, all of those things at once.

If you’re at the Capitol on Thursday, before you leave, thank a doorkeeper for 40 great days and more than a few long nights.

THE BAD

Endorsement drama

They say you can’t take the politics out of politics. But this session has injected an extra dose of political gamesmanship as more than a dozen lawmakers and several statewide officials are leaving their posts to run for higher office.

Lt. Gov. Burt Jones’ office has reportedly used its power to hold or kill bills as payback for Republicans who have endorsed Rick Jackson, Jones’ main rival in the Republican primary for governor. They’ve even gone after lawmakers who have endorsed no one at all.

Jones’ campaign spokesperson said the accusation is a smoke screen for Jackson’s lack of lawmaker endorsements. But passing the bills in question would be the best proof there’s nothing to see here.

Democratic arrests

While election drama seized Republican offices, legal drama found its way into the House Democratic caucus. Earlier this session, three Democrats were separately indicted on charges of pandemic employment fraud.

Former state Reps. Dexter Sharper and Karen Bennett pleaded guilty to the charges against them and resigned from their offices. State Rep. Sharon Henderson pleaded not guilty and has been suspended from office while her case is pending.

Paper ballots, now

Republicans and even some Democrats have been making the case to move voting to hand-marked paper ballots for years. But a Senate-passed bill would require the change in time for the 2026 midterm elections.

That timeline worries election directors, who have warned lawmakers that finding, buying, swapping out and training poll workers on a new voting process would take years, not months. But GOP activists are demanding action this year.

What time is it, eh?

Who doesn’t love the idea of an extra hour of daylight? Practically nobody. But the devil is in the details on the Senate-passed bill to permanently move Georgia to Atlantic Standard Time or, in other words, “sprung forward” year-round.

The biggest problem, other than having to wait until 8 a.m. on some December mornings for the sun to rise, is the fact that the bill would make Georgia the first and possibly only state on the East Coast to make the change. So we’d sync up with parts of Greenland and Nova Scotia, but not New York, for four months per year.

The idea is waiting for approval in the House. But let’s hope the time has not yet come to change the time.

THE UGLY

The really lost cause

An emotional debate broke out on the House floor this week when state Rep. Alan Powell, R-Hartwell, brought up a bill to give new protections to public monuments and significant new legal rights to anyone who supports them. Although Powell said it was not about Confederate monuments, rest assured, it was.

“I don’t understand you,” said state Rep. Solomon Adesanya, D-Marietta. “You’re the only one running around here trying to put up Confederate monuments that nobody cares about but you. Isn’t that true?”

Powell shot back. “That is not true. I do care about Confederate monuments, but there’s a lot of other people in this state that care about them.”

State Rep. Tanya Miller, D-Atlanta, told Powell she was “flabbergasted by the celebrated ignorance of your own history.”

“It is shocking, and we should all be embarrassed for every person in this body that considers himself a statesman or a stateswoman,” she said.

Thankfully, the bill failed to get a majority vote when several Republicans went missing from the chamber when the “yays” and “nays” were cast.

Now at Day 40, lawmakers have not taken final action, or in some cases any action, on some of the biggest challenges facing the state. Did I mention they haven’t yet passed the state budget?

A surprising amount of inspiration can come from a midnight deadline, which is what’s waiting for lawmakers on Thursday. That leaves more than enough time for more good, bad and, as always, ugly.