Tracking Our Priorities in Georgia Legislature

Steps for a Georgia Bill to Become Georgia Law

Where Are We In the Legislative Session?

As of March 16, 2023 (this page’s last update), we have entered a new, two-year Legislative Session and are currently on the lookout for bills that align with or go against our policy priorities on Sine Die. 

Bills We Are Watching

We are watching several bills that would either improve the ability for all Georgians to thrive, hinder equity or prosperity or change the revenues that make investments in our people possible. You can learn more about how we define our priorities here.
 
You can make change by encouraging your lawmakers to approve or disapprove of any measures by writing them. Find your lawmakers here. You can find the contact information for your Senator here and your Representative here.
 
This tracker was last updated March 16, 2023 at 5:20pm.

Promote State Government Transparency

Without data and state adherence to established statutes and rules for sharing information related to government activities, Georgians cannot hold elected officials accountable for their actions and decisions, and the ability of our state’s people to meaningfully participate in the legislative process is compromised.  

Fund State Government Equitably and Responsibly

Analyze state budget proposals to ensure the result is fair and sufficiently appropriates funding for critical services and programs like health and education. 

Advance fiscally responsible tax reform proposals that strengthen state revenue, protect existing revenue streams and support working families.

House Bill 79/Senate Bill 118

Create a state-level Earned Income Tax Credit that is fully refundable and matches the federal version at a 20 percent value (also support refundable tax credits as a whole, including creating a state Child Tax Credit and increasing the current Child and Dependent Tax Credit from 30% to 100% of the federal level and making it fully refundable).
Learn More >

House Bill 170

Modernizes Georgia's sales tax to treat electronic sales in the same manner as those made in brick and mortar establishments, helping to bridge rural and urban divides in consumption. In its first year of implementation (FY 2025), state estimators project the legislation would raise approximately $127 million in new revenues. 

House Bill 191

Raise the tobacco tax.
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House Bill 192

Raise the tax on vaping products to 15 percent.
Learn More >
Oppose

House Bill 413

Authorizes $100 million in new tax credits to finance an expensive tax credit program that operates through state-sponsored quasi-venture capital funds, seeking to replicate a failed multi-level lending scheme that has been discontinued in multiple states after failing to produce promised jobs or revenues and serving as a magnet for waste, fraud and abuse.

Learn More >

House Bill 454

In an improvement from last session's HB 1437, HB 454 reverses a regressive policy change that would have eliminated the state’s standard deduction. However, the legislation weakens the triggers required to authorize future reductions to the state’s income tax rate by shortening the look-back period for state revenue collections from five to three years. Lawmakers can improve this legislation by substituting a proposed credit for taxpayers who itemize with an Earned Income Tax Credit, or Georgia Work Credit, to prioritize families with lower incomes, rather than adding to the multitude of tax benefits already available to those with higher incomes.
Learn More >

House Bill 489

Reform film tax credit (caps total annual credits at $190 million and eliminates transferability).
Learn More >
Oppose

House Bill 581

Weakens transparency into the state’s tax code by adding new limits to the discretion of legislators to request economic analyses on existing and proposed tax breaks. HB 581 maintains a cap of 10 economic analyses per year but restricts these evaluations to front-load measures with a pending sunset within two years. Making this policy change, while unnecessarily capping the number of annual evaluations at 10 per year, would limit the effectiveness of this process and likely restrict lawmakers from evaluating measures without a sunset, which include some of the state’s largest tax expenditures.

House Resolution 43

Creates the Costs and Effects of Smoking Joint Study Committee.
Learn More >

Ensure a Foundation for Families’ Economic Security

Enact policies like paid family medical leave and protect Georgia’s safety net programs from budget cuts and legislative proposals that threaten an equitable economic recovery.

House Bill 129

Expand TANF eligibility criteria to pregnant women.

House Bill 565

Increases the TANF time limit from 48 months to 60 months and increases the savings and assets limits.

Build Healthy Communities

Increase access to affordable health care by removing the 5-year waiting period, fully expanding Medicaid, improving transitions to other forms of coverage, addressing behavioral health staffing shortages and establishing accountability and community-led decision-making for opioid settlement funding.

House Bill 37

Avoids funding cuts or policy shifts that would be detrimental to Medicaid unwinding.
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House Bill 38

Full expands Medicaid.

House Bill 62

Full expands Medicaid.

Ensure Equitable Education

Creating and funding an Opportunity Weight to provide additional money to educate students living in poverty, shining a light on efforts to divert state dollars away from public schools and increasing state investment in pupil transportation through formula increases.

House Bill 3

Creates an Opportunity Weight.

Learn More >
Oppose

House Bill 101

Increases the existing tax-credit voucher cap. School vouchers like these take public money from public schools and gives them to private schools.

Learn More >

House Bill 131

Reinstate in-state tuition for DACA and undocumented students.
Learn More >

House Bill 249

Expands the eligibility criteria for a completion grant so that students who finish at least 70% of a four-year degree program or 45% of a two-year degree program can qualify to receive need-based financial aid.
Learn More >

House Bill 335

Allows Public School Employees' Retirement System (PSERS) members to elect to transfer to Teachers Retirement System (TRS) of Georgia.
Learn More >

House Bill 380

Legalizes sports betting through a change in statute that would make sports betting a lottery game, with all revenues dedicated toward higher education and pre-k. This legislation would tax income generated from online sports betting at 25 percent. HB 380 also makes a needed adjustment to the state's lottery reserves, requiring 10 percent of excess reserves (over 50 percent of average program costs) to be allocated for education purposes and programs annually.
Learn More >

Senate Bill 172

Enabling legislation for SR 140, which would legalize sports betting through a constitutional amendment and sets tax at rates of 20 and 25 percent.
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Oppose

Senate Bill 233

Establishes a state school voucher program that would give $6,000 to parents to cover the cost of private school tuition.
Learn More >

Senate Resolution 140

Legalizes sports betting through a constitutional amendment (pending a statewide vote), with 50 percent of all proceeds raised directed to fund need-based scholarships for higher education.
Learn More >

Strengthen Supports for Workers

Lower financial barriers to college success, remove barriers to short-term training opportunities and increase the state minimum wage to meet a livable standard of pay.

Oppose

House Bill 518

Reestablishes administrative assessment funding to the Department of Labor. Reduces employers' contributions toward UI Trust Fund solvency until 2026.
Learn More >

House Bill 556

The "Pregnancy Protection Act" provides a baseline of standards for job applicants and employees for circumstances related to pregnancy, childbirth, etc.
Oppose

Senate Bill 160

Reestablishes administrative assessment funding to the Department of Labor. Reduces employers' contributions toward UI Trust Fund solvency until 2026.
Learn More >
Oppose

Senate Bill 190

Reestablishes administrative assessment funding to the Department of Labor. Reduces employers' contributions toward UI Trust Fund solvency permanently.

Learn More >

Empower Immigrant Communities

Support tuition equity legislation, expand driver’s licenses, expand language access, and ensure state policies are inclusive of the immigrant community.

Create a Fairer Criminal Legal System

Increase safeguards against unpayable fines and fees to protect Georgians experiencing poverty from being punished or criminalized due to lack of economic resources. 

Oppose

House Bill 348

Expands Georgia localities' fines and fees revenue reliance, by giving cities and counties, instead of school jurisdictions, authority to expand their revenue base and apply for speeding cameras in school zones.
Learn More >
Oppose

Senate Bill 100

Mandates cash bail to anyone facing criminal charges who failed to appear for a court date in the past 10 years, including for those related to traffic offenses.
Learn More >

Senate Bill 157

Streamlines and provides consistency across occupational licensing boards, reducing workforce barriers for Georgians with prior criminal legal system entanglement.
Learn More >

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