Georgia’s Future: Celebrating Achievements of Conservative Leadership in the Georgia General Assembly

Conservative leaders have prioritized economic growth through substantial tax relief and fiscal responsibility, which have contributed to historic economic achievements in Georgia.

• Historic Income Tax Cuts: Passed the largest income tax cut in state history, saving taxpayers over $1 billion annually by cutting the state income tax from 6% to ultimately below 5% - and matched the corporate tax rate for businesses across the state, saving Georgia small businesses millions of dollars each year.
• Increased Tax Deductions: Doubled the standard tax deduction—and increased the child tax deduction to $4,000.
• Property Tax Relief Referendum: Put a referendum on the November ballot for voters to put a cap on increases to property tax assessments.
• Returned Over $5 Billion to Taxpayers: Returned over $5 billion to Georgia taxpayers the last two years alone through tax rebates, gas tax relief, and property tax refunds.

Significant investments in education have been made to support student success, strengthen school security, and enhance teacher pay.

• Georgia Promise Scholarship Act: Passed the Georgia Promise Scholarship Act to empower parents to make decisions for children in failing school districts, by providing
  $6,500 per student to qualified families for education related expenses.
• Historic Teacher Pay Raises: Raised teacher pay $2,500, totaling $9,500 in increases over 5 years - making Georgia the Southeast’s leader in teacher pay.
• Enhanced School Security: Provided $45,000 in school security grants to every school in the state with a total appropriation of $109 million. This will become annual funding that schools can use for security upgrades, school resource officers and other safety investments.
• Social Media Education and Restrictions: Required schools to teach students the risks of social media, prohibited social media use on school equipment, and required parental approval for children under 16 to use social media.
• Expanded Dual Enrollment Opportunities: Expanding opportunities for Georgia students through Dual Enrollment allowing students to fast track their education, save some tuition costs and move into the workforce faster with degrees from technical colleges and our universities.

Public safety has been a key priority, with initiatives aimed at supporting law enforcement, cracking down on violent crime, and safeguarding communities.

• Support for Law Enforcement: Provided $50 million for $3,000 raises for state law enforcement officers – building on the raises the House advanced last year.
• Strengthened Legal Measures: Expanded the list of criminal offenses that require bail to make sure criminals show back up for court.
• Prosecutor Oversight: Passed prosecutor oversight so that citizens have somewhere to turn when prosecutors aren’t enforcing the law.
• Antisemitism Definition and Penalties: Created a definition for antisemitism to enhance criminal penalties for crimes motivated by anti-Jewish bias.
• Increased Penalties for Violent Crimes: Increased penalties for “swatting,” false reporting of criminal activity that leads to SWAT arriving at victims’ homes, and toughened penalties for drive-by shootings and burning of a police vehicle.
• Combating Human Trafficking: Passed measures to combat human trafficking and child abuse through data sharing and protected the confidentiality of victims.
• Property Owner Protections: Provided protections for property owners by putting an end to squatters and penalizing false lease documentation.
• Immigration and Border Security: Ensured sheriffs report illegal aliens in jails to ICE and require compliance with ICE detainer requests and passed a resolution to support Gov. Kemp’s efforts to take state-level action, including sending additional Georgia National Guard to the border.
• Prison Crime Penalties: Significantly increased penalties for individuals enabling crime inside Georgia’s prisons by smuggling prohibited items to inmates. While those incarcerated are being penalized for crimes they committed, they deserve to be safe while there.
• Criminal Justice Reform: Georgia has been a national leader in criminal justice reform. Giving first offenders a second chance through our Alternative Court system. Continuing to imprison those convicted of serious crimes causing harm to others, but giving a second chance to low level offenders keeping families together and individuals in the workforce as contributing taxpayers.
• GBI Rape Kit Processing: Streamlining the process for GBI processing of rape kits eliminating the backlog in a bipartisan effort.
• Funding for Forensic Examiners: Increasing funding for personnel and equipment for GBI Forensic Examiners so families can get timely answers related to deaths of loved ones.

Efforts have been made to increase access to healthcare services and support mental health and addiction treatment across Georgia.

• Streamlined Hospital Regulations to Expand Access to Healthcare: Streamlined hospital regulations to make it easier to open hospitals and healthcare facilities in rural Georgia and allow for a new Morehouse School of Medicine teaching hospital - and funded a new UGA medical school and Georgia Southern dental school to focus on graduating more medical professionals.
• Expanded Drug Recovery and Rehab Services: Made it easier to build drug recovery and rehab centers and expanded access to opioid antagonists.
• Support for IVF Treatment: Introduced a resolution expressing support for Georgia families’ access to IVF treatment.
• Healthcare Professional Support: Expedited certain post-licensure procedures by the medical composite board to address the backlog and created a loan repayment program for certain mental health and substance abuse professionals.
• Investment in Mental Health: Invested over $150 million in Georgia Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities with a focus on mental health and passed legislation to protect mental health providers, allowing them to focus on their job instead of frivolous lawsuits.
• Improved Maternal and Infant Care: Created a new program for remote health services and home visits for high-risk pregnancies, eliminated Medicaid waiting periods, funded home visits in rural areas, extended postpartum coverage, and increased payments to OB/GYNs to better support expecting mothers.

A variety of measures have been implemented to enhance the overall quality of life for Georgians, supporting career development, state employees, and renters.

•  Career Development Initiatives: Established a high demand career list to identify careers most critical to our workforce needs and required the Office of Student Achievement to report the effectiveness of employment, retention, and wage attainment of students in those priority programs - and the House invested millions of dollars through the Technical College System to prioritize these high demand career tracks.
• High School Diploma for Adults: Created a pilot program for private nonprofit entities to provide instruction for students who are over 21 to obtain a HS diploma.
• State Employee Benefits: Provided a 4% raise for state employees and increased paid parental leave for state employees and teachers from 3 to 6 weeks.
• Second Chance Act: Passed the Second Chance Act to reinstate drivers licenses for nonviolent offenders to ensure opportunity for employment.
• Military Spouse Licensing Transfer: Allowed military spouses to use existing licenses in good standing from other states to obtain a Georgia license.
• Safe At Home Act: Passed the Safe At Home Act to protect renters and require that rental property is fit for human habitation, ensure a max two month deposit, and establish a three-day grace period before landlords can begin eviction proceedings if tenants don’t pay rent.