Parent Press Weeks 11 and 12 of the 2026 Legislative Session
Happy Sine Die! We are fast approaching the end of Day 40, but we will probably be debating bills until midnight or later. This is your mid-day update from under the Gold Dome! Republican chicanery continues, but we are seeing some wins.
Bad Bill Targeting Democratic Elected Officials in Metro Atlanta Goes to the Governor
The Senate previously voted down a bill that would require non-partisan elections for District Attorneys in Cobb, Fulton, Gwinnett, DeKalb, Clayton. This bill ONLY changed the partisan status of elections in those heavily Democratic counties. Republicans brought it back in the form of HB 369. I am not sure of all of the forces behind it, but clearly people and/or groups the GOP thinks are important for their primaries were working hard behind the scenes.
HB 369, which began life as a bill dealing with food trucks, was gutted and completely changed with convoluted language to require non-partisan elections in certain races. This bill requires most county officials—and, in some cases, district attorneys—in certain Georgia counties (those that have abolished the coroner’s office) to be elected in nonpartisan elections. It overrides existing local laws to enforce this change, while keeping sheriffs partisan, and takes effect in 2028. The five Georgia counties that have abolished the coroner’s office are Fulton, Cobb, DeKalb, Gwinnett, and Clayton.
HB 369 passed the Senate on a party-line vote with the Democrats voting against the bill. The bill then went over to the House of Representatives and was quickly called up for a vote on the floor. Debates raged with several notable comments made by my Democratic colleagues in the House. Representative Stacey Evans (D-57) asked the Speaker: “Isn’t it also true that this language that we are about to vote on was not vetted in any House committee and isn’t further true that the author of the bill is not here and the stand-in took no questions?” There was no debate, no vetting in committee, no questions.
The current plan of attack is urging Governor Kemp to veto it. It is likely unconstitutional as it sets up changes that only affect some DA’s, who are Constitutional officers. If he signs it into law, get ready for court battles. HB 369 is unconstitutional and not worth the paper it is printed on, but the state sure could waste a lot of money defending it in court.
More Vouchers Pass the State Senate…
The Senate passed yet another bill to send money that should go to public schools off to private schools. HB 328 combined several small bills all dealing with vouchers into one large bill. The bill increases the tax credit that can be claimed with a donation to the Student Scholarship Organization (SSO) and expands those eligible for the SSO’s to military students, students with Individualized Education Plans, Section 504 plans and some other conditions.
The price tag of HB 328 is steep, nearly doubling the total scholarship fund for vouchers to $225 million.
Cell Phones Banned in High Schools
HB 1009 passed the House and now the Senate, with a broad, bipartisan vote. The Senate unanimously adopted the measure. The bill mandates a “bell-to-bell” ban of cell phones in high schools. Last session, we adopted measures to ban cell phones in grades K-8. This session we expanded the bell-to-bell ban to include grades 9-12. Our kids should be learning in school, not constantly checking their phones for social media alerts or playing games.
Research by the National Bureau of Economic Research shows that bell-to-bell cell phone bans produced significant improvements in test scores and reduced unexcused absence rates, with a short-term uptick in the number disciplinary actions taken in response to the new rules being implemented. Long-term, cell phone bans will help our students focus, improve learning outcomes, and improve in-person social interactions among them. This generation was the one most harmed by the negative social effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, and with this new bell-to-bell ban, there are a myriad of opportunities available to schools to assist in allowing students to be more present.
Decatur Board of Education Votes Down a Referendum Proposal
City Schools of Decatur Board of Education voted against a request from me and Reps. Crawford and Oliver to hold a referendum on their very controversial proposal for a new, very expensive Early Childhood Learning Center. I very much support taxpayer-funded early learning, especially for children from disadvantaged backgrounds, but with declining enrollment and questions looming about the need to close a K-2 school, the taxpayers are demanding more answers about the project and debating how best to meet the early childhood education goal. Community rancor is at a high, so a couple weeks ago, I introduced SB 625 and the bill was adopted by the Senate and today by the House. This legislation, if signed by the Governor, will mandate a referendum before going forward with the project in its current form.
Items Left on the Agenda Before Sine Die
There are several important issues still to be addressed before we officially gavel out today.
Tax policy remains one of the biggest fights. Lawmakers are still divided over the right mix of proposals, including income tax cuts under SB 477, property tax caps under HB 1116, and the Senate’s broader push to phase out the state income tax over time. The FY 2027 Budget’s next stop is the Conference Committee, since the House rejected the version previously passed by the Senate. Internal Republican sparing over spending on literacy sparked part of the House’s rebuke. HB 1001, the bill to lower the state income tax from 5.19% to 4.99%, passed both chambers this week and is heading to the governor’s desk.
Election policy is another major unresolved issue. The Senate passed HB 960, another version of the bill that was voted down on Crossover Day. The House still has not passed their version, but probably will today. I assume a deal will be reached. The Senate’s proposal is far-reaching, and has more problematic provisions in addition to mandating a switch to hand-marked paper ballots before the 2026 general election, a timetable that would induce chaos. However, a bill passed 2 years ago requires eliminating the QR code on the ballots by this year’s elections. I support that, but the Republicans have not come up with a way to do it or pay for it. Therefore, the most prudent thing to do is to pass legislation that would push the date by which the codes must be eliminated to 2028. The House has given hints that this is what they may pass and then who knows what the Senate will do.
The one-cent sales tax extension for MARTA (so that they can bond for projects up to 30 years) is in limbo. There is still another year to pass it before the really bad consequences could begin. DeKalb CEO Lorraine Cochran-Johnson is against passing it now because she wants to negotiate with MARTA on certain projects for DeKalb. I believe it’s time to press state lawmakers on dedicated state funding for MARTA and transit. Instead of doing this, the Senators are passing a bill to prevent failed MARTA referenda (Cobb and Gwinnett) from being voted on again for 8 years. The Senate also passed a bill that changes the governing authorities for the ATL and puts appointments by Governor, Lieutenant Governor, and Speaker of the House in charge instead of the current Board. The current arrangement gives counties and the local legislative delegations power to appoint members. The MARTA one-cent extension has now been added to that bill.
This would be a bad change for obvious reasons. The Republicans don’t support transit, and we aren’t even talking about pushing them to that – instead they are trying to take over the transit systems that localities have put in place despite the many hurdles the state has thrown at them, to ensure that there isn't more or more effective transit. This action by Republicans is nothing more than a last-minute attempt at a power grab by anti-transit conservatives who aim to break what is there to make it harder to build, operate, and support public transit in our state.