April 4, 2025 – Issue 12: Sine Die Edition, Part 1

As the minutes continue to tick down to midnight, the Georgia General Assembly is on the march to end its whirlwind 2025 session with a flurry of last-minute votes and legislative drama. From heated debates earlier in the week to traditional seersucker suits and floral dresses on lawmakers and lobbyists alike, the final day at the Gold Dome is a spectacle of democracy in action. The House and Senate finalized the 2026 Fiscal Year Budget, the one and only thing legally that must be done, early Friday afternoon. As bills continue to pass and conference committee reports are agreed to, one can start to hear the tearing of paper in the background as lawmakers, staff and session aides, and interns prepare to toss paper into the sky while and the words "Sine Die" echo through the chambers. It's a reminder that even the most intense political marathons must come to an end. 

This report is being published by 5:45 p.m. on Friday, April 4. When we return to the office the week of April 7, a final Sine Die recap will be published. Until then, Amanda and Coleman will be at the State Capitol, keeping track of the actions of the Georgia General Assembly, and our local legislative delegation. Tune into our Cobb Chamber Facebook and Instagram stories for snippets of information from under the Gold Dome.

• What’s Next
• Bills of Interest
• Cobb Legislative Delegation Meeting Recap
• Big Budget Heads to the Governor
  
  

What’s Next?

Once the gavels fall Sine Die on April 4, it is the governor’s turn to review the numerous bills and resolutions passed on to his desk. The governor has his own 40 days to decide whether to sign the bill into law, veto the bill (in which event it is returned to the house where it was introduced for veto override consideration), or do nothing (which allows the bill to become law automatically at the end of the 40-day period).

In addition, the House and Senate passed a number of study committees this session, which will eventually be activated by the appointments made by the Lt. Governor or the Speaker of the House.  We will share a list in our next issue of those we will be tracking during the interim.

Cobb Legislative Delegation Update

On Mon., March 31, the Cobb Legislative Delegation held their final meeting. The Delegation heard from Donald Kirkland with Georgia Institute of Technology (GT), and Casey Tanner and Andrew Allison from Kennesaw State University (KSU).

Kirkland gave a short update on the Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI), which is located inside of Dobbins Air Reserve Base. A 90 year-old institution, GTRI expanded into Cobb County in 2019, and  is the nonprofit applied research arm of the Georgia Institute of Technology.

Tanner and Allison provided information to the delegation regarding KSU including the strides made to keep graduates from the institution within the State of Georgia upon graduation. Tanner reported that currently, 90% of KSU alums stay in state. Additionally, current enrollment at KSU includes around 10,000 students from Cobb County. She also highlighted how KSU continues to invest in research and technology, including adding degrees in artificial intelligence, data-science, and fin-tech, and giving an update on the new Interdisciplinary STEM Building on its Marietta Campus.

Legislation That Has Made the Cut… So Far:

HB 136 by Rep. Mark Newton
Legislation which expands tax credits for contributions to foster child support organizations. Additionally, the Senate Committee on Finance offered an amendment which added language from SB 89, by Sen. Brian Strickland, which increases the amount of a child care tax credit to $250 dollars per dependent under seven years old, revises a tax credit for employers providing child care, decreases the number of children who use the facility that are required to be children of employees to qualify for such credit, and increases the amount of the credit.
Senate Agreed to the House Amendment to the Senate Substitute (54-0) and heads to Governor Kemp’s desk

HB 217 by Rep. Soo Hong
Legislation which modified Georgia’s Dual Achievement Program, which allows students to earn a high school diploma by completing technical college courses. This legislation changes the program from being a pilot program to a permanent state-wide program.
House agreed to the Senate amendment (143-22) and heads to Governor Kemp’s desk.

HB 266 by Rep. Stephen Sainz
Legislation which excludes retirement earned as income from active-duty military service up to $65,000. Prior to a House amendment last week. HB 266 excluded all retirement earned from active military service from taxation, however HB 266 is a compromise between the House and Senate to exclude military retired income tax up to $65,000. While this is not a full exemption, it is a step in the right direction. The Chamber will continue to work towards a 100% exclusion in the future, but we are grateful for this action by our legislature.
House agreed to the Senate amendment to the House amendment to the Senate substitute (167-0) and heads to Governor Kemp’s desk

Final Touches to FY 2026 Budget Head to the Governor

The House and Senate gave final passage Friday to a $37.7 billion 2026 Fiscal Year budget, an increase of $1.6 billion or 4.4 percent over the FY 2025 original budget. Top priorities include increased funding for prison reform and education.

In addition to differences between funding projects either with cash or bonds, a major item the House and Senate disagreed upon was how much money to allocate to start up Georgia’s private school voucher program, which the General Assembly created last year. In the end, the conferees approved Gov. Brian Kemp’s recommendation to fully fund the new program with $141 million.

Other items of interest include:

Economic Development

• The General Assembly includes an additional $1.8 million in new funding provided in the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities (DBHDD) for various programs that address homelessness, including 100 new housing voucher slots, outreach services for those with severe mental illness, and a community action team.

Education

• The Senate agrees with the House to support a statewide literacy initiative to improve reading outcomes for students in grades kindergarten through fifth. Research shows that reading proficiently by the end of third grade contributes to future academic achievement and life success. The FY 2026 budget includes $22.7 million, including $10 million in newly appropriated funds, for recommendations by the Georgia Council on Literacy. The FY 2026 budget includes $18.5 million for 116 Regional Education Service Agencies (RESA)-based literacy coaches to provide individualized teacher support to ensure structured literacy, and the science of reading are implemented with fidelity. Additionally, $2 million is provided for a free universal reading screener for all school systems pursuant to HB 538 (2023 Session). The literacy initiative also contains funds for a state-level coaching coordinator position and competency-based research, training, and measures for literacy coaches and educators.
• The Conference Committee version of FY 2026 budget fully funds the Quality Basic Education (QBE) program, totaling $14.7 billion in state funds; a record amount of state funds provided to K-12 education. The QBE funding formula has been fully funded the last seven out of eight years.
• The budget includes an additional $750,000 for college preparatory exams based on increased utilization. Currently, the state funds PSAT exams for all tenth-grade students and one AP/IB exam for free and reduced-price lunch students, and one AP/IB STEM exam for any student. In FY 2025, the state funded 99,960 PSAT exams and 80,000 AP exams for Georgia students.

Health

• HB 68 includes $16.9 million in reimbursement rate increases for providers treating patients on Medicaid across the state. The services include: $4.9 million for emergency medical services (EMS) transports to provide payment for the first 10 miles of transportation and air ambulance transfers.
• The FY 2026 budget provides $7.4 million in new funding for graduate medical education. This includes $3 million for 150 new residency slots, $469,654 in new fellowships, and $4 million to establish a grant program to support new and expanding residency
• The final version provides $1 million to physician health programs to address career fatigue and wellness.

Higher Education

• HB 68 includes an additional $17 million for the Dual Enrollment program at the Georgia Student Finance Commission. The program served over 63,000 students in FY 2024 and is continuing to grow. These additional funds bring the total appropriation to $108 million.
• The final version of HB 68 includes one-time funding for design, construction, and equipment for the Research Support Building - Kennesaw Campus, Kennesaw State University.
• In addition, it includes one-time funding for design, construction, and equipment for the Skiles Critical Infrastructure Renewal and Upgrade at the Georgia Institute of Technology.

Transportation

• The Capital Construction program budget totals $1.1 billion in state funds; the Capital Maintenance program receives an additional $110 million for resurfacing; the LMIG program increases to $247.6 million; and the Routine Maintenance program increases by $33.7 million to keep up with material and contracting costs.
• Airport Aid receives an additional $3.6 million to bring the base to $30 million.
• The conference committee agreed to add $2 million to the GDOT budget for Cumberland Community Improvement District in one-time funding for pedestrian safety and traffic improvements.

To read the full FY 2026 Highlights from the Conference Committee Report on HB 68, click here for additional information.

If you have any questions about the Cobb Chamber Government Affairs Committee, the Cobb Chamber legislative priorities or legislative advocacy in general, please reach out to Amanda Seals, Executive Vice President of Advocacy and Government Relations.