The final day of the 2026 General Assembly session was Thursday — and into early Friday morning.
We spent the day (and night) watching what lawmakers were going to do with big-ticket items such as tax cuts, elections and paper ballots. We also heard debates, saw election posturing and witnessed some shenanigans were likely along the way.
Here’s the recap of our live updates throughout the day and past midnight when the two chambers adjourned.
The Senate stayed in a few minutes longer than the House to deal with a piece of local legislation and some goodbyes from senators before adjourning sine die in the traditional blizzard of paper thrown in the air.
That's a wrap on the regular session for the General Assembly.
Just before adjourning, the House approved a scaled-back property tax measure proposed by the Senate.
Senate Bill 33 allows local schools and governments to use sales taxes pay for property tax relief. It does not include the 3% cap on levies that was part of an earlier bill that failed. The bill does limit the growth of property tax assessments of individual properties to 3% or the rate of inflation.
The House adjourned Sine Die just ahead of 1 a.m.
The Senate gave final passage to a bill that would abolish the Georgia Regional Transportation Authority and the ATL Board.
As approved by the House earlier, it also would extend the MARTA sales tax another 10 years, through 2067.
After numerous tries, it appears the General Assembly has approved a bill that includes a bill that requires disclosure of sexual harassment settlements by members of the General Assembly.
Supporters have called it the "Epstein amendment" after the notorious sexual predator Jeffrey Epstein.
The House attached the amendment to House Bill 1247, and the Senate approved the bill by a vote of 34-18.
The Senate has approved a revised property tax relief measure – one without the 3% cap on the growth of local property tax levies. The revised Senate Bill 33 would still allow local schools and governments to raise sales taxes to pay for property tax relief for homeowners.
The measure now goes back to the House.
The House and Senate have both approved the $38.5 billion 2027 budget.
The Senate rejected a House proposal to offer significant property tax relief to Georgian homeowners.
House Bill 1116 would cap the growth of school and local government property tax levies at 3% a year or the rate of inflation, whichever is higher. The measure also would allow schools and governments to implement sales taxes to reduce property taxes for homeowners.
The measure passed the House earlier in the day. But the Senate rejected the measure by a vote of 24-28.
Supporters said the measure would grant relief from skyrocketing property tax bills.
“It will be the most significant property tax legislation in Georgia's history," said Senate Finance Chairman Chuck Hufstetler, R-Rome.
Opponents said it would undermine local school and government budgets and raise sales taxes on gas, groceries and other necessities.
"We have a bill that comes not from reasoned financial administration," Sen. Josh McLaurin, D-Sandy Springs said. "It comes from a campaign promise that was made in January."
The Senate approved final passage of an income tax relief bill — a top priority of Lt. Gov. Burt Jones.
House Bill 463 would reduce the state’s income tax rate from 5.19% to 4.99% this year and continue to reduce it to 3.99% over the following eight years if the state meets certain financial benchmarks.
The bill also would raise the standard deduction for married couples filing jointly from $24,000 to $30,000 next year and the deduction for other filers from $12,000 to $15,000. The bill also would exempt up to $1,750 in cash tips and $1,750 in overtime income from taxation.
The House advanced a proposal that would keep Georgia’s voting touchscreens this year, a step closer to determining how voters will cast ballots in the midterms.
But the bill would call for a new voting system for all 159 counties in Georgia by 2028.
“We don’t want to limit the next secretary of state and his advisory committee on one option if there is an option that is the better option for the state of Georgia,” said Victor Anderson, R-Cornelia.
It’s the latest move as the House and Senate aim to comply with their self-mandated deadline to eliminate QR codes from ballots by July.
It’s unclear what reception Senate Bill 214 will receive as it moves back to the Senate. Senate Republicans cleared their own proposal last week that called for a switch to preprinted, hand-marked paper ballots this year — a longtime priority of President Donald Trump and his supporters, who oppose the state’s voting machines.
The Senate engrossed the measure, so they won’t be able to make any changes to the House’s proposal, should it receive a vote on the Senate floor.
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