The Georgia General Assembly will consider hundreds of bills during its 40-day session. Here are some of the bigger issues lawmakers are likely to debate.
BUDGET AND TAXES
Georgia lawmakers will face some big decisions as they develop state spending plans in the upcoming legislative session. One of the biggest: How much of the state’s $16.5 billion in reserve should they spend and what should they spend it on?
Gov. Brian Kemp and the Republicans who control the General Assembly have already proposed spending more than $1 billion in reserve on income tax refunds. With their support, Georgians will likely see those refunds when they file their taxes next year.
Lt. Gov. Burt Jones also wants to use some of the money for child care tax credits, and there’s no shortage of other ideas.
Kemp will get the first shot at shaping the debate in January when he unveils a proposed budget for fiscal 2026 (which begins in July) and a revised spending plan for the remainder of fiscal 2025. He recently told legislators a Hurricane Helene relief package is a top priority.
— David Wickert
ELECTION LAWS
Credit: arvin.temkar@ajc.com
Credit: arvin.temkar@ajc.com
The battle over Georgia’s voting laws didn’t stop with President-elect Donald Trump’s relatively resounding win in November.
Republicans who have pushed for changes since Trump lost the 2020 election say they’ll continue to do so, including efforts to require paper ballots filled out by hand, eliminate no-excuse absentee voting and empower activists who challenge voters’ eligibility.
In addition, the Republican-controlled General Assembly could also consider bills for State Election Board rules the courts rejected, such as proposals for an election night hand count and investigations before certifying results.
It’s unclear how far lawmakers will go.
House Speaker Jon Burns has said he expects “tweaks” but no “major overhauls.” Senate Ethics Chairman Max Burns, whose committee oversees elections bills, said he would review constituents’ requests but wasn’t making any specific proposals.
But as in every legislative session since 2020, it’s likely that some election bills will become law.
The biggest change came in 2021, when legislators passed many regulations for absentee voting.
In 2024, lawmakers approved bills for voter eligibility challenges, more audits and an eventual move to end counting ballots based on computer QR codes.
— Mark Niesse
TRANSGENDER ISSUES
Credit: arvin.temkar@ajc.com
Credit: arvin.temkar@ajc.com
The top Republicans in each chamber have signaled they plan to further regulate girls’ and women’s sports in Georgia, and require transgender girls and women to play sports according to the sex listed on their original birth certificate and not by the gender they identify with.
There are no known instances of transgender girls competing in girls’ sports in Georgia’s public schools and colleges. The Legislature in 2022 gave state school athletic associations — the largest being the Georgia High School Association — the ability to ban transgender girls from competing in girls’ sports, which it did.
A study by the University of California, Los Angeles, estimated that transgender people account for 0.5% of Georgia’s 11 million residents and about 1.2% of Georgians ages 13-17.
Transgender children have been at the center of Republican debates in Georgia for several years, though legislation only began to make it across the finish line in recent years. In 2023, the Legislature banned certain treatments for transgender minors.
Legislation regulating transgender people has been a motivating issue for Republican lawmakers who say it’s a topic that’s important to their constituents.
— Maya T. Prabhu
LITIGATION OVERHAUL
Credit: Natrice Miller/AJC
Credit: Natrice Miller/AJC
Gov. Brian Kemp has signaled that a litigation overhaul is a top priority. He held several roundtable discussions in recent months with stakeholders, including some of Georgia’s largest employers, health care executives and small-business owners.
Kemp has said he wants to strike a balance between the interests of injured parties and those they claim are liable. He heard from many stakeholders that Georgia’s litigation rules are tipped too far in favor of plaintiffs, often forcing businesses to either settle meritless lawsuits or risk multimillion-dollar verdicts at trial.
Insurers are unwilling to provide policies to companies in certain industries and parts of the state because of the litigation climate, many business owners and representatives said. Kemp said he’s also listening to plaintiff attorneys, who oppose rule changes that they say will unnecessarily interfere with injured parties’ rights.
Legislation could include caps on certain types of damages and a framework for business and property owners to more easily defeat claims before trial.
— Rosie Manins
IVF/ABORTION
Credit: TNS
Credit: TNS
Georgia House Speaker Jon Burns has said he plans to enshrine protections for in vitro fertilization, a process used by many people with fertility issues who are seeking to have children.
After the Alabama Supreme Court earlier this year ruled that state’s abortion law required that frozen eggs be treated as children, some Republican lawmakers began to worry that Georgia’s abortion law could have similar unintended consequences. The abortion laws in Alabama are similar to the laws in Georgia.
The House voted on a resolution stating there should be “no question” that IVF will continue to be available in Georgia. But, as the saying goes, the devil is in the details.
Reproductive rights advocates say they are waiting to see the text of any proposals that may be offered this year. Some worry that anti-abortion advocates may try to further restrict the procedure. And some Republicans struggle with the idea of IVF, generally, because of the debate around when life begins and what could happen to any unused embryos.
— Maya T. Prabhu
SPORTS BETTING
Credit: Arvin Temkar/AJC
Credit: Arvin Temkar/AJC
State lawmakers are expected to take up sports betting again and if they do, it would mark the seventh year in a row since it became a possibility for states. In 2018, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down a federal law that prohibited states from authorizing sports gambling.
When it comes to legalizing sports betting in Georgia, lawmakers have considered two possible approaches. Some supporters say gambling can only be expanded in the state through a constitutional amendment. Others say betting should be considered a lottery game and could be legalized without changing the constitution.
Backers say people already illegally gamble and legalization could generate tens of millions of dollars in tax revenue for Georgia. Most opponents say any form of gambling is immoral, and that legalizing it would only lead to higher rates of gambling addiction, mental health issues and crime.
— Caleb Groves
GUNS
Credit: HYOSUB SHIN / AJC
Credit: HYOSUB SHIN / AJC
In the days after the deadly shooting at Apalachee High School, House Speaker Jon Burns said he would consider all “reasonable” gun safety measures to try to stop similar instances of violence in the future — as long as they don’t infringe on the Second Amendment right to bear arms of those legally allowed to possess them. It’s not clear what the Newington Republican would consider “unreasonable.”
Some options on the table include tax incentives for weapons owners who purchase gun safes or take weapons safety courses. Similar Republican-backed bills worked their way through the Legislature last year but ultimately failed.
Georgia has some of the least restrictive gun laws in the country. Guns can be carried — concealed or openly — in most places in the state, including public college campuses and the public areas of airports. In 2022, Republican lawmakers passed a bill that removed the requirement for Georgians to first apply for a license before being allowed to carry concealed weapons.
Democrats have pushed for further restrictions for years, such as “red flag” laws that allow friends or family members to petition the court to bar someone from possessing a firearm if that person poses a threat to themselves or others. Another proposal has been to implement “universal” background checks. Licensed gun retailers are required to run a criminal-background check on any person purchasing a firearm. Democrats say background checks should be required even for personal gun sales.
Georgia’s Republican-controlled Legislature is unlikely to pass — or even consider — anything that could be seen as creating barriers for lawful gun owners.
— Maya T. Prabhu
ENVIRONMENT
Credit: HYOSUB SHIN / AJC
Credit: HYOSUB SHIN / AJC
A late effort by legislators to pause certain types of mining near Georgia’s world-renowned Okefenokee Swamp created drama at the end of the last session but ultimately fizzled. Now, with a controversial mine planned on the swamp’s edge closer than ever before to becoming reality, the debate over how — or whether — to protect the swamp will almost certainly return in 2025.
Conservationists who have fought against Alabama-based Twin Pines Minerals’ proposed mine are gearing up for a new push to block mining near the Okefenokee, but it’s not clear what sorts of restrictions they will rally around and that legislators will support.
The wild card in all of this? The Georgia Environmental Protection Division could grant permits to Twin Pines any day now, clearing the way for the mine to proceed. That decision, if it comes before or during the session, will dictate what the proposals for protecting the Okefenokee look like.
Other environmental issues expected to get attention from legislators next year include water rights, solar power and the proliferation of energy-gobbling data centers in Georgia.
— Drew Kann
MEDICAID
Credit: Hyosub Shin/AJC
Credit: Hyosub Shin/AJC
For more than 10 years, Democrats in Georgia have been pushing Republicans to enact a full-scale expansion of the state’s Medicaid program — meaning adults who earn up to 138% of the federal poverty level would be eligible to receive government-funded health care services.
But with President-elect Donald Trump taking office this month, lawmakers and advocates are waiting to assess what changes may be coming to Medicaid and Medicare during the first 100 days of his administration. In addition, most Georgia legislators acknowledge that Gov. Brian Kemp’s Pathways to Coverage federal Medicaid waiver will remain the state’s plan until his term expires in 2026.
That means it’s unlikely the Legislature will seek to expand Medicaid this year. However, the Comprehensive Health Coverage Commission, which was established through legislation last year, has been studying what Medicaid expansion could look like and produced its first report in December of initial recommendations.
Kemp’s office also said he is open to making changes to Pathways to improve the accessibility of the program, which could include things such as broadening the kinds of approved work activity adults must meet to qualify.
For people who are unable to work because of sudden health challenges, advocates say the approval process for disability eligibility to qualify for Medicare is quite lengthy and could be another area to study.
— Michelle Baruchman
EDUCATION
Credit: arvin.temkar@ajc.com
Credit: arvin.temkar@ajc.com
School security will be a priority for lawmakers this year in the aftermath of the shooting that killed four people at Apalachee High School in Winder on Sept. 4. Shortly after the shooting, state House Speaker Jon Burns said he would back efforts to expand access to mental health care, tighten penalties for terroristic threats and provide incentives for safe gun storage.
But that won’t be the only school-related issue on this year’s legislative agenda. Conservative “culture war” bills are also likely to be reconsidered. That includes legislation about libraries, curriculum and school counselors.
Several Georgia schools and districts have focused on mental health care since the COVID-19 pandemic and have used federal relief money to hire more counselors and school social workers. Mental health advocates are expected to lobby for more help in schools this year. Republicans could reintroduce legislation that would allow schools to hire chaplains to do the work of school counselors. Schools could also ask chaplains to volunteer. A similar law has been enacted in Texas. Critics say the move could worsen students’ mental health if disproved counseling methods are used.
Texas lawmakers recently approved another bill that could appear under Georgia’s Gold Dome this session. Texas school districts can now choose to teach Bible-based school curricula. Texas pays districts $60 per student if they opt in to the program.
Georgia Republicans could also reintroduce a bill that would repeal protections for public school librarians for distributing material considered “harmful to minors.” The material is defined by state law, which currently has an exemption for librarians. The measure introduced last year would have lifted that exemption.
Another bill likely to reappear is one that would require local boards of education to give parents the option to receive email notifications whenever their child checks out books or other items from the school media center.
— Martha Dalton
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