April 7, 2026

Session 2026 Ended

The 2026 General Assembly Session gaveled to an end at approximately 1:00 a.m. on Friday, April 3. All Day 40s are chaotic and high-pressure, but the conclusion of this year’s Session was unusually dysfunctional and problematic. The Senate’s failure to address the election ballot deadline discussed below will very likely result in a Special Session called by Governor Kemp.

SINE DIE!

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2026 SESSION ENDS

In a series of problematic election bills passed about two years ago, July 1, 2026 was set as the deadline to remove QR codes from all ballots cast in Georgia. In response, the House worked seriously and in a bipartisan manner on Senate Bill 214 to remove this deadline and address related technical issues. SB 214 was not perfect, but House Governmental Affairs Chairman Victor Anderson worked closely with our House elections expert, Rep. Saira Draper, to craft an acceptable solution to a deadline we simply cannot meet.

To date, we have not funded any changes to the voting system, taken procurement steps, or made any programmatic or financial preparations to meet the July 1 deadline. The Senate was well aware of this reality and the absolute necessity of extending the deadline. Despite this, the Senate refused to finalize action on SB 214. I see no alternative but for the Governor to call a Special Session. I cannot say whether this failure was strategic or simply incompetence. Either way, taxpayers will likely bear the cost of another Special Session and another difficult fight over election law. Read more about the election bill in the linked Georgia Recorder article (photo by Maya Homan) and the possibility of a Special Session in this AJC article.

In another surprising development, during the final 20 minutes of the agreed-upon Sine Die date of April 2, the State Senate voted down House legislation on property tax reform. This was a major priority for the House and had been worked on extensively and with passage widely anticipated. Its failure was unexpected and caused further disruption. House Bill 1116, the House tax bill, was never supported by Democrats—I did not vote for it—but I did expect House and Senate Republican leadership to reach an agreement on property tax reform, alongside income tax reductions. That assumption proved incorrect, and the resulting frustration from House leadership was entirely predictable.

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FISCAL YEAR '27 BUDGET - HB 974

Around 10:00 p.m., we did manage to pass the state Fiscal Year 2027 budget, House Bill 974, and there is definitely good news in it. Please see the Conference Committee highlights linked HERE. A House priority—statewide literacy initiatives—was funded at $100 million to improve reading outcomes for children in kindergarten through third grade. This has been a significant priority of Speaker Burns, and I was happy to support it. In addition, as I have previously reported, for the first time, Georgia is funding $325 million towards a needs-based college scholarship.

The budget also includes a long-delayed cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) for state retirees. Teachers have long received COLA benefits, but state employees have not. Equalizing this benefit is an important step forward. An initial $100 million was appropriated to the Employees’ Retirement System to begin providing regular, meaningful COLA increases. Behavioral health funding increases are also very positive, including $48 million for reimbursement rate increases. In the Supplemental Budget, $400+ million was previously appropriated for a new forensic psychiatric hospital on the DeKalb County campus of Georgia Regional Hospital.

The state also provided $20.7 million to the Criminal Justice Coordinating Council to offset the loss of federal funding for victim services providers, including child advocacy centers and domestic violence shelters. Trump's federal funding cuts are already having an impact, and the total amount the state will need to replace remains unclear. This is an important first step, and we anticipate additional funding may be required to maintain these critical services.

In addition to above major budget items, Emory University was successful and obtaining new funding for two projects, as told to us by the Budget & Research Office:

Transplant funds: $1.68 million evenly split between 17.7.18 and 17.8.13. The department shall submit a State Plan Amendment (SPA) to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to change any rules, regulations, or policies necessary to allow for reimbursement of adult heart and lung transplants.
Alzheimer's Treatment Expansion: $3.32 million (28.9.4) for Georgia Memory Net for service and treatment expansion.

I followed these items through the budget discussions. Congratulations to Emory's team in the Capitol!

If you have any questions about any budget item—whether included in the attached summary or not—please let me know. The budget is the most important work we do each year, and I was proud to support it. You may also access all House Budget & Research Office resources and highlights HERE.

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EXTENDED STAY HOTELS & HB 61

As you know, other advocates and I have been opposing the passage of Senate substitute to House Bill 61 for weeks. This bill, supported by the hotel industry, was intended to reverse a recent Georgia Supreme Court decision that recognized certain tenant rights for long-term residents of hotels. If passed, this effort would have endangered an important affordable housing option for many mothers and children—a stopgap before facing homelessness or living in their cars.

We estimate that over 10,000 long-term hotel residents are living in extended-stay situations for months or even years. These are working people, many holding more than one hourly job and earning less than $15 an hour, just to cover the daily cost of a hotel room. On the House floor, we honored Brian Goldstone, author of There Is No Place for Us, and expressed appreciation for his ongoing advocacy on behalf of these hardworking Georgians who are unable to rent apartments—even when rent would be cheaper—due to past eviction histories.

When HB 61 was called for a vote on the House floor on a motion to agree to the Senate’s changes, I immediately requested a ruling from Speaker Burns on the germaneness of the Senate amendment. Below are images and a video of my efforts on the House floor on Day 39, including the delay before Speaker Burns allowed me to make a motion to table the bill.

From the time of my successful motion to table the bill on Day 39 (Tuesday, March 31), I spent the entire 15 hours of Day 40 watching closely to see whether Republican leadership would move to take HB 61 off the table and pass it on a partisan vote. Republicans have the numbers, so procedural maneuvers are often essential.

We were successful—HB 61 was never taken off the table, and the hotel industry’s effort to change the law against long-term stay tenants failed. This victory means a great deal to the parents and children affected, and I thank everyone for their support. The hotel industry will be back in 2027, and we will be ready again to oppose their efforts.

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CONGRATULATIONS TO JEFF GRAHAM AND GEORGIA EQUALITY

Georgia Equality, led by my friend Jeff Graham, had a very good year. On Day 40, none of the harmful anti-trans bills were ever called for a vote. The 2026 General Assembly Session ultimately avoided all efforts by Senate Republican leadership to pass anti-trans and anti-LGBTQ legislation.

Jeff and I talked about the usual chaos of Day 40 and agreed that this year’s conflict between House and Senate leaders was unusual and destructive—but it also distracted the Lieutenant Governor from advancing the bad bills he had indicated he wanted to pass. Sometimes dysfunction and chaos result in less damage, even when those bills remain on the final night’s agenda. Thank you,

Jeff Graham, for always being present and for all your good work. From the Georgia Equality post-Sine Die newsletter:

Some of the bills we successfully defeated include:

SB 30: a bill to restrict access to medical care for trans youth

SB 39: a bill to deny coverage of medical care for trans people covered by the State Employee Health Benefit Plan

HB 54: an amendment including both SB 30 and SB 39

SB 74: a bill to criminalize librarians for sharing LGBTQ+ content

SB 497: a forced outing bill for LGBTQ+ students

HB 104 & 267: bills to further restrict trans youth from participating in sports

HB 671: a drag ban, but could've been used to restrict being gay in public

HB 1210: a bill to create an exemption for non-affirming parents and caretakers to abuse trans youth

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CITY SCHOOLS OF DECATUR/ECLC REFERENDUM SB 625

I was contacted by many of you regarding the Decatur conflict over the proposed new City Schools of Decatur Early Childhood Learning Center (ECLC) to be funded with bond money. As you know, my recent newsletter poll showed that 83.4% of respondents supported a voter referendum, as called for in Senate Bill 625. SB 625 passed on the local calendar midway through Day 40. When the Governor signs it, we will then see how the CSD Board responds. As always, this issue is not over. Please see below for the Decatur legislative delegation’s April 3 press release on the matter, as well as recent articles on our actions: read the Decaturish article HEREand the AJC article HERE. Photo by Zoe Seiler.

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ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES

The most visible environmental issue during the 2026 Session related to data centers. Everywhere I have gone for the past three months, people have asked me questions about data centers. There is significant interest in South DeKalb regarding pending permits for these facilities. Once again, Georgia Power was highly effective in influencing the General Assembly to refrain from passing protections against data center development. Please see HERE the attached article from the AJC yesterday. The Georgia Conservancy sends out excellent 2026 legislative updates regarding environmental issues in Georgia. Sign up for their newsletters HERE.

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PREVIOUS POLL RESULTS

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OUT AND ABOUT

I always like to share with you my activities as your Representative for House District 84. Please let me know at mmo@mmolaw.com if you have any suggestions for events that you would like for me to attend in your neighborhood. Thanks!

April 2 - Marty and Brian Kemp make their final visit to the House Chamber—- end of two terms!

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March 31 - Day 39— procedural actions to bring bad bills to the floor where no debate is allowed, continuing negotiations on the budget and taxes, and at the same time, visitors keep coming asking us to help Georgians in need. Thank you Ga. Interfaith Power and Light ! And DeKalb Academy Charter School!

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March 23 - Thank you League of Women Voters for your invitation to talk about the last 2 days of the 2026 Session! And, to everyone who showed up for No Kings Day at the DeKalb VA hospital! NOW GO VOTE!

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UPCOMING DATES

Wednesday, April 8 - meeting with Agnes Scott President Leocadia Zak on the Agnes Scott campus

Sunday, April 12 - Brian Goldstone at St. Luke's

Wednesday, April 15 - co-sponsor of meet & greet for Lieutenant Gubernatorial candidate for Josh McLaurin

Thursday, April 23 - Ribbon cutting for the Julie Childs House for Breakthru House

Friday, April 17 - Emory 12th Night Revel, Fundraiser for Rose Library

Wednesday, April 29 - Fundraiser for Saira Draper 5:30-7pm at home of Sen. Elena Parent

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QUICK LINKS FOR YOU

I am on the following legislative committees. You can watch live every time they meet. Click on the links below for livestreams, agendas, archives and more.

Committees:

Subcommittees:

Appropriations - Human Resources
Governmental Affairs - State and Local Government
Judicial - Leverett (two)

You can search for and track bills, watch the House (or Senate) in Session, watch committee hearings, monitor legislation by committee, and find contact information —- all on the revamped General Assembly website. Here are quick links:

General Assembly website: https://www.legis.ga.gov/
House Session meetings and many committee hearings are available to watch online: https://www.legis.ga.gov/house
Archived videos of meetings and hearings: https://www.legis.ga.gov/house/media-services

Make your views known and tell me what issues interest you the most

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