Parent Press Week 1 of the 2026 Legislative Session

My 12th session in the Georgia State Senate has begun! There is a different feel around the Senate this year so far, with so many members of the Republican Caucus, and the Lieutenant Governor, running for higher office.  The Republicans took note of November’s election results, particularly after the huge wins by Peter Hubbard and Alicia Johnson for the Public Service Commission swept two incumbents out of office. The Senate Republican Caucus has released their legislative agenda, and it’s obvious that they got the message that Georgians are worried about affordability.  There is nary a mention of any culture war issues on there, opting instead to talk about lowering income and property taxes and even things that have been Democratic priorities, like limiting Wall Street from buying up whole neighborhoods and renting them out.  However, there are some glaring omissions. Such as, there is no mention – zero – of health care, even though as of right now Georgia has lost 200,000 people from health insurance since the federal enhanced Obamacare subsidies lapsed, and even though H.R. 1 is blowing a huge hole in Georgia’s existing Medicaid program, which is going to put our rural hospitals even more at the brink.

Meanwhile, the Senate Democrats are working to advance our agenda of reducing our yawning wealth gap by making housing, utilities, health care, childcare, and college more affordable. One really exciting note: in his final State of the State address, Governor Kemp announced that his budget would call for $325 million in new spending on scholarships for low-income students to attend college.  This is a long-time priority and this news was a real breakthrough. Kudos in particular to Senator Orrock, who led a study committee on this topic over the interim!

Legislation I Introduced in Week One

I hit the ground running this session and introduced two pieces of legislation. 

A bill to ban mid-cycle redistricting — My bill will ban gerrymandering efforts in Georgia – at least ones that occur outside of the decennial redistricting process. Redistricting should occur after the census, not between elections. Worried about his falling approval ratings and failure to jump start the economy, President Trump is pressuring Republican legislators around the country to redraw Congressional maps so he can maintain control of the U.S. House of Representatives after the elections this November. Fortunately, the Georgia Republicans did not mess around with trying to eke out an additional Congressional seat, but it’s still important to outlaw this absurd, anti-democratic power grab.  Thank you to Fair Districts Georgia for their support on this bill!  You can watch some of my comments about the need for the bill here.

And, I introduced a bill to eliminate the annual registration fee on alternative-fueled vehicles — The annual fee for non-electric vehicle drivers is $20. But it is a different story for owners of EVs. They have to pay a $200 fee each year on top of the $20 fee everyone else has to pay. My bill will eliminate this extra $200 fee and encourage more people to buy EVs. In one bill, we can lower costs and improve the environment.

Colton Moore Diverts Attention to his Gun Bill

The first week of session, the only bill passed by the Georgia Senate was a bill by Senator Colton Moore, who resigned the next day when he qualified (along with 21 other people) to run for Marjorie Taylor Greene’s Congressional seat. Was it a bill about housing affordability, improving our schools, or tax relief? Nope. Colton Moore’s bill, SB 204, which is a hijack of a bill on a different topic originally filed by Senate Minority Leader Harold Jones (which is why my name appears as a sponsor - ugh), strips local governments of their powers to support law enforcement by banning city rules that require citizens to safely store guns in their cars. Savannah recently passed an ordinance that requires gun owners to lock their guns in their cars. This worked. As a result, gun thefts in Savannah dropped 30%.

Colton Moore’s bill says that if Savannah tries to enforce their ordinance, the city will then owe any ticketed citizen $25,000 plus attorney fees! Savannah implemented a common sense solution to prevent gun thefts without stripping anyone of their rights.  Watch here to hear my thoughts. 

Property Tax and Income Tax Proposals

There is plenty of talk around the Capitol about removing property and income taxes altogether. Hoping for a promotion later this year, the Lieutenant Governor and Appropriations Chair Blake Tillery are leading an effort in the Senate to repeal state income taxes. Probably partially to block momentum on that effort, House Speaker Burns says that property taxes are the real problem and that we should eliminate property taxes on homesteaded properties instead. Meanwhile, in his State of the State, the Governor announced he would do some more tax rebates and push to lower the income tax from 5.19% to 4.99%. He also directly scolded the Senate for its pie-in-the-sky proposals that are not paid for and would force really deep cuts.  I’m no fan of Kemp’s tax rebates, although they are certainly smart politics, or the reduction in the state income tax rate. I have been a sponsor of a state-level Earned Income Tax Credit bill for many years now, which directly helps working families. Reductions in the income tax rate disproportionally benefit our wealthiest Georgians. This will be one of the biggest battles to watch this session.  

Government efficiency is simple: using taxpayer dollars well and smartly investing in our people. These ill-thought-out tax cuts will result in higher costs to consumers and less money available to expand healthcare access and improve the quality of K-12 education.

Budget Week

Next week, we will be in Joint House and Senate Budget Hearings Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. The Governor has previewed his budget proposal, and we will hear presentations from a plethora of state officials who run departments so they can make their case to legislators for the budgets they want. All of the presentations will be live-streamed here and you can find the schedule here. I’ll give you an overview in next week’s newsletter. 

Team Parent

I am pleased to welcome Matthew Rakestraw (matthew@elenaparent.com) as my personal aide for the session. Matthew recently graduated from Georgia Tech and he starts law school at the University of Georgia this fall.

Be a Senate Page!

Anyone 12 or older is eligible and invited to participate in the Senate Page Program. Pages have the opportunity to observe and participate in the legislative process. Senate pages serve Senators by delivering important information and messages to them in the Senate Chamber during the legislative session day.  Learn more and download the application at ltgov.georgia.gov/constituent-services.

To keep you up to date, I will continue to send newsletters during the session. Please also follow me on social media!