Georgia’s political and business elite gathered by the thousands Tuesday morning to rub elbows, tout the state’s corporate accolades and ring in the new legislative session.
Between tributes to the late Jimmy Carter and copious references to Georgia as “the number one place to do business,” the state’s top political brass laid out their top priorities for 2025’s session, including some that could stir controversy and place the Peach State at the center of various culture wars.
“We’re going to protect the integrity of girls’ sports,” House Speaker Jon Burns told the crowd at the Eggs & Issues breakfast hosted by the Georgia Chamber of Commerce. “As a grandfather of four young women, I want to do everything I can to preserve their opportunity to compete on a fair and level playing field.”
On Monday, the General Assembly’s first day, a bill was filed that would require transgender girls and women competing in sports at public middle schools, high schools and college student-athletes to play on teams, dress, shower and use restrooms according to the gender on their birth certificate.
Bills tackling controversial topics like youth transgender athletes, in vitro fertilization, abortion and religious exemptions are anticipated to stoke new debate the Legislature this year. And while most of those topics do not directly impact business regulation or corporate actions, they have the potential to thrust Georgia into the national spotlight and place companies in a delicate position on how to respond — if at all.
In 2016, then-Gov. Nathan Deal vetoed a so-called “religious liberty” bill after a firestorm of controversy from gay rights and national business groups, saying the measure did not reflect Georgia’s welcoming image as a state full of “warm, friendly and loving people.”
But in recent years, Georgia adopted new restrictions on abortion and touched on other culture war issues, emboldened by conservative victories on the national level.
Some Georgia corporate titans have waded into these highly-charged issues, ranging from voting rights and immigration to guns and gay rights. At other times, including more recent partisan clashing over abortion rights, the state’s most powerful businesses have kept their distance.
President-elect Donald Trump’s return to the White House, a Republican trifecta in Washington and political jockeying in Georgia for statewide posts by conservatives looking for higher office in 2026 are likely to encourage the filing of base-pleasing bills. Lt. Gov. Burt Jones, a Republican and Trump ally who is expected to launch a gubernatorial bid to succeed term-limited Gov. Brian Kemp, has also endorsed the effort to block transgender girls in sports.
Burns, R-Newington, shared the Eggs & Issues stage at the Georgia World Congress Center with leaders from some of the state’s largest employers, such as Amazon, AT&T, Delta and Kia, but the companies’ representatives avoided stepping into partisan politics. But leaders of top Georgia employers will likely have to navigate hot-button issues this legislative session.
Neither the Georgia Chamber nor its Atlanta-focused counterpart, the Metro Atlanta Chamber, would comment on Burns’ priority of barring transgender athletes from girls’ sports. Several other states are expected to consider similar legislation after the topic rose to a national issue last year.
Ed Elkins, a Norfolk Southern executive and the 2025 chair of the Georgia Chamber, focused his remarks from the stage on efforts to bolster the state’s pro-business reputation.
“This may seem like a no-brainer, considering that we are the Chamber of Commerce,” Elkins said. “But we can never take job creation and investment for granted.”
Both chambers urged legislators in the past to reject religious exemption legislation, an effort critics branded as legalized discrimination and led some to raise concerns it would hurt the state’s business standing. Sponsors have vowed to revive it this year, and several prominent Republicans are optimistic it will reach Kemp, who pledged during his 2018 campaign to sign a version of the measure.
The renewed culture war debates come at a time of rapid growth for Georgia’s corporate sector. Kemp said during his speech that 193,000 new jobs were announced for Georgia since 2019 in addition to more than $90 billion in private sector investments.
Credit: arvin.temkar@ajc.com
Credit: arvin.temkar@ajc.com
Chris Clark, president and CEO of the Georgia Chamber, emphasized that the state has to increase its workforce training and recruitment efforts in anticipation of the next generation of high-paying jobs, which he said will likely center around quantum computing, robotics and artificial intelligence.
“We believe Georgia is well positioned to lead in all of those sectors,” he said, urging lawmakers to support businesses by removing red tape and building the “next generation of entrepreneurs.”
Culture war legislation has threatened Georgia’s business ecosystem in the past. The so-called “heartbeat bill” in 2019 that restricted abortion in most instances to before fetal cardiac activity is detected, about six weeks and often before women know they’re pregnant, prompted a wave of criticism, especially from Hollywood and Georgia’s film industry. Six years after that bills’ passage, Georgia remains one of the top states for film industry investment and activity.
A 2016 law passed in North Carolina restricting bathroom use for transgender people caused a firestorm prompting a rollback of the law.
Burns said that House Republicans’ policy plans, including an overhaul of civil litigation, will continue to benefit the state’s business environment.
“Today, we are reaping the benefits of years of conservative common sense leadership that has prioritized lowering taxes, training our workforce, strengthening our infrastructure and championing free market principles that support businesses of every size throughout Georgia,” he said.
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