2026 legislative session ends with concerns of a possible special session

Caption

The Georgia House of Representatives celebrate Sine Die, the final day of Georgia's 40-day legislative session, in 2026.

Credit: Sarah Kallis/GPB News

The 2026 Georgia legislative session has come to a close. Dozens of bills crossed the finish line on Sine Die, the last day of the session. 

Several controversial bills failed to meet the deadline. 

Legislation to delay the removal QR codes from ballots failed to advance in the Senate after passing the House, even as the state hurtles towards a July 1 deadline for removal without a plan or funding. 

Some lawmakers expressed concern that QR code removal ahead of the deadline could cause a special session. Speaker of the House Jon Burns remained noncommittal when talking to reporters after adjournment. 

"We'll sit down with the governor and take his temperature on where we need to be but certainly election reform is something we were committed to," he said. "We think we had a reasonable plan that would allow us to move forward with our elections and have transparency."

A watered-down version of Burns' property tax relief passed through both chambers after some back and forth. Inserted into Senate Bill 33, the tax relief language limits annual property tax assessment increases. 

Burns' original proposal aimed to eventually fully eliminate property taxes on primary residences, and the proposal that passed the House before Crossover Day would have capped annual property tax increases increases. 

"The bill that came back to us was not strong enough: We wanted, there were several different initiatives we had in our property tax bill that would have been more meaningful for our property taxpayers," Burns said, adding that he believes the final version will still help ease the tax burden on property owners. 

An income tax reduction bill also landed on the governor's desk. House Bill 463 would continue annual tax reductions of just over 10% until the flat tax rate reaches 3.99%. An earlier-in-the-session Senate proposal to completely eliminate income tax on the first $50,000 of income did not make it across the finish line. 

Another affordability related bill also received final passage. 

House Bill 506 requires health insurance providers to cover ambulance transfers if they are requested by a paramedic, even if the ambulance company is out of network.

Rep. Scott Hilton sponsored the bill in the House.

“When you're having to take an ambulance somewhere, you've got something seriously wrong going on," he said. "The last thing you wanna worry about or have to think about is the big surprise bill that comes at the end of that incident."

House Bill 1344 passed the Legislature. It would crack down on insurance fraud, increase over 40 fines for insurance companies failing to comply with laws — including parity laws — and restrict home insurance companies' use of aerial surveillance footage. 

Rep. Matt Reeves says the bill is the result of nine months of work, and insurance rates could go down as a result. 

"As customers in Georgia renew their policies or buy new policies, and definitely I encourage all Georgians shop around the next time you need insurance because the rates are better than they were the last time you looked," he said. 

Both chambers also approved HB 1138 , which would allow easier access to contraceptives, with pharmacists being allowed to prescribe it.  

"In our state, we have 82 counties without an OB-GYN," Rep. Beth Camp said. "This is about providing more options to women."

House Bill 1409 would revise the methods of mandatory child abuse reporting and add new groups like firefighters and animal control agents that would be required to report it. 

But, it too was amended, this time with something referred to as the “Epstein Amendment.” 

The amendment would allow open record requests for legislators who have had sexual harrasment lawsuits settled with taxpayer money. 

"The language that the House felt comfortable with still opens up the Legislature to open records concerning sexual harassment settlements of members," state Sen. Blake Tillery said. "It does put a finite date going back."

The amendment was added and HB 1409 passed both chambers with overwhelming support. 

HB 295 cleared both chambers with resistance from Democrats. It would give property owners the ability to sue local governments for loss of property value for the non-enforcement of certain laws like homelessness, panhandling and illegal immigration. 

"A property owner files a claim; the local government has 30 days to act," Sen. Clint Dixon said. "If it refuses, the property owner may seek relief in the courts. All we want is for local governments to enforce the law. This is measured, responsible, and accountable. At the end of the day, this bill says something very simple. Enforce the law, cooperate with immigration enforcement, and protect property rights."

Senate Democrats had one, simple response. 

"It is the meanest, most senseless, least practical legislation on immigration that we will see in this building, maybe ever," Sen. Josh McLaurin said. "This is actually insane public policy."

Nearing the end of the night, both chambers passed the proposed fiscal year 2027 budget. The $38 billion budget took days of negotiation, and included funding for literacy coaches in every public school, another priority of Burns. The funding for HB 1193, which would place the coaches in schools, was tied to the budget. The bill passed Tuesday, and would also implement literacy and dyslexia screenings in school, and hold first grade students back for a year if they are not reading on grade level. 

Bills that did not make it across the finish line included efforts to claw back data center tax breaks, a crackdown on chronic absenteeism in schools, and mandate for weapons detectors in public schools. 

Gov. Brian Kemp has 40 days to sign or veto legislation passed during the session.