Crossover Day 2025
Yesterday was Crossover Day in Georgia, the day by which a bill must pass out of its originating legislative chamber to be considered by the other chamber before the end of Legislative Session and become law.
There was an exception this year with the Fiscal Year 2026 budget (HB 72), which has not yet passed the House chamber. This has happened occasionally in the past, and the FY 26 budget will likely pass the House chamber next week. The General Assembly is constitutionally obligated to pass an annual state budget. The Amended Year Budget for Fiscal Year 2025, House Bill (HB) 67, has already crossed over. You can read this year’s budget overview for more detail.
Tracking Our Priorities
GBPI prioritizes and advocates for an equitable budget across the areas of education, health, economic security and criminal legal systems. We aim to ensure a level of funding for state and federal policies that bring us closer to a Georgia where all people can prosper. We track bills that align with this goal or take us further from it.
There are several bills that reflect our priorities that have crossed over:
- Senate Bill (SB) 89, which would create a non-refundable Child Tax Credit and increase the state’s existing non-refundable Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit. While this is a step in the right direction, tax credits that are refundable go further in helping families make ends meet.
- HB 92, which would change the existing deadline of March 1, 2025 to March 31, 2029 to allow localities to opt out of the statewide homestead exemption created under HB 581 (2024). This homestead exemption could undermine school funding, so allowing localities to opt out could help school funding stay intact.
- HB 38, which would expand 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.
- SB 55, which would phase out the payment of subminimum wages to people with disabilities, allowing them to receive a more fair wage for their work.
- HB 127, which would increase, from 3 to 5 days, school personnel’s annual accrued sick time that can be used for personal reasons.
- SB 191, which would provide for digital notice on Unemployment Insurance (UI) benefit claim decisions and appeals, allowing for faster notice to the claimant. It also revises the claimant’s appeal window for digital notices so that the window begins on the date of issuing a digital notice instead of the date that a determination is mailed. These processes are expected to allow quicker and more efficient information flow between the Georgia Department of Labor and UI recipients.
- HB 225, which would eliminate the use of speeding cameras in school zones. While we support less dependence on automated speeding cameras as provided in this bill, HB 225 should offer more proactive measures to ensure safety.
- SB 207, which would provide Georgians with an arrest or conviction record a fair chance at pursuing careers in licensed industries.
Several bills align with our priorities but did not cross over and are thus unlikely to become law this year. Having them announced and discussed this year is still helpful, however. This is the first year of a two-year (2025/2026) legislative cycle, and the discussions had about them this year help keep these policies top of mind for policymakers for the 2026 legislative session.
- House Bills 83, 84 and 96, which would increase excise or sales taxes on cigarettes, vaping products or tobacco.
- HB 98 and HB 99, which would enact a refundable child tax credit and increase and make refundable the state’s existing Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit. While SB 89 did Crossover, HB 98 and 99 offer refundability and do more for working families.
- HB 95 and SB 67, which would create a refundable state EITC.
- House Bills 27, 128 and 245; each of which would provide additional funding to K-12 public schools for children living in poverty.
- HB 686 and House Resolution (HR) 450, which would amend Georgia’s constitution to legalize sports betting. The package was the subject of a late bipartisan amendment to increase the tax rate that would be assessed from 20% to 24%. Funding would go to support Georgia’s pre-k program, with up to 15% of the first $150 million also going toward addiction programs and services.
- House Bills 178, 258, 97, and SB 50, each of which would authorize the Department of Community Health to submit an 1115 demonstration waiver for federal approval that would expand access to health care coverage for certain groups of people.
- Senate Resolution (SR) 201, which would urge Governor Kemp to add family caregiving of a sick, elderly and/or disabled adult as a qualifying activity under the Pathways to Coverage program, which provides Medicaid coverage to low-income adults who are able to meet the qualifying hours and activities requirement.
- HB 689, which would create a flexible local grant program within the Department of Community Affairs’ State Housing Trust Fund for the Homeless to provide short-term emergency rental and utility assistance, legal representation in eviction, mediation, and other homelessness prevention supports.
- HB 500, which would increase benefit levels and expand eligibility for Temporary Assistance for Needy Families’ cash assistance program.
- HB 284 and HR 99, which would create a state Baby Bonds savings and investment account program with universal eligibility for Georgia children and greater support for children enrolled in Medicaid, SNAP, and TANF.
- HB 16, which would enhance labor standards and protections for warehouse distribution center workers, regarding workplace surveillance, paid break time for rest and collection and use of work speed data.
- House Bills 343, 394, 395, 321 and SB 273; each of which would increase the state minimum wage.
- HB 312, which would allow unemployment insurance benefit applicants to obtain their personnel files when their claims are contested by their employers and expand labor protections around a person’s employment separation status.
- HB 140, which would cap use of local court fine and fee revenue to no more than 10 percent of a locality’s budget, transferring any additional revenue to the state’s general fund.
While we have had some wins, several bills that threaten our priorities have also moved forward and have the potential to become law this year. We will continue to watch and defend against these bills:
- HB 111, which would lower the state’s flat income tax rate from 5.39% to 5.19% at an estimated cost of $748 million per year, with about 67% of overall tax savings going to those with incomes in the top 20% of Georgia earners.
- HB 328, which would increase the annual tax credit contribution limit for student scholarship organizations/school vouchers from $120 million to $140 million. These voucher programs siphon money away from public schools.
- HB 651, which would ultimately expand automated traffic enforcement in Georgia.
- SB 21, which would open local governments who adopt or enforce a “sanctuary” policy to lawsuits. It would strip local governments and law enforcement of discretion by forcing compliance with Immigration Detainer Requests.
What’s Next
Sine Die, the last day of Georgia’s Legislative Session, is scheduled for April 4 this year. The decisions lawmakers make between now and Sine Die will affect every Georgian. You can talk to your legislators about any of the bills you see mentioned to help create a more equitable Georgia. You can follow along with GBPI for updates on these bills with our online bill tracker, or our social media channels on BlueSky, TikTok, X, Threads, Instagram or Facebook.
