It’s one of the most crucial days on the calendar for state lawmakers: Crossover Day.
For legislators who get their bills through at least one chamber of the bicameral body before Friday’s final gavel falls, it’s a red letter day. For others, it’s the day their bill heads to the boneyard.
By rule, bills must pass their chamber of origin — House for House bills, Senate for Senate bills — by the end of the 28th day of the 40-day session or be considered dead. And since it’s the final year of a two-year session, the stakes are even higher.
As the day wears on, look for horse trading, threats and some old-fashioned political tricks as lawmakers try to push their bills across before the end of business Friday.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s reporters will be following the action and posting updates as the day progresses. Check back here throughout the day for the latest.
The Georgia House adjourned at 1 a.m. Saturday, officially wrapping up Crossover Day. The Senate had already gone home.
There are just 12 legislative days left in the 2026 session.
Georgia is among about a dozen states where sports betting isn’t legal. It’s unlikely that will change this year.
A proposed constitutional amendment to legalize online sports betting failed late Friday night in a 63-98 vote.
This marks the eighth year lawmakers have unsuccessfully pushed legislation to expand gambling in Georgia to include sports betting since a 2018 U.S. Supreme Court ruling struck down a federal law that prohibited states from authorizing sports gambling.
Senate Republicans failed to pass a measure that would scrap Georgia’s voting touchscreens in favor of a return to paper ballots.
The sweeping measure would have required switching to preprinted, hand-marked paper ballots scanned by machines. It would have also ended county- and municipality-wide in-person early voting.
Senate Bill 568 lost by two votes.
Some Republicans framed the bill as a solution to Georgia’s self-imposed deadline to stop counting votes with QR codes by July.
“If we follow Georgia law, something has to change,” said Greg Dolezal, R-Cumming, who sponsored the measure. “And so this is a proposal of what that change could be."
Other provisions would empower the State Election Board to impose up to $10,000 fines against counties for each ineligible voter not removed from its voter rolls and allow for hand-tallied election recounts for races within a 1% margin of victory.
Critics say it would create widespread confusion.
“Simply put, transitioning to a new election system and implementing major changes to the voting process this close to the 2026 general election is unworkable, Joseph Kirk, president of the Georgia Association of Voter Registration and Election Officials, said.
The House of Representatives passed a revised property tax relief bill that would cap the growth of levies for schools and local government.
House Bill 1116 would limit property tax increases to 3% or the rate of inflation, whichever is higher. It also caps local sales taxes at the current maximum of 5% and allows local governments to swap one penny of sales tax to offset property taxes.
Among other things, the bill also requires written notice of tax increases to be mailed to every parcel owner.
Rep. Shaw Blackmon, R-Bonaire, said the legislation is needed to address skyrocketing property taxes. He said local property tax revenue in Georgia rose 49% from 2019-24.
“I doubt we would be talking about this if property taxes weren’t on an unsustainable path,” Blackmon said.
Critics said they had no time to digest the last-minute version of the bill presented late Friday night.
“This is a bad bill because we don’t know what’s in here and we don’t understand the implications of this legislation,” said Minority Caucus Whip Sam Park, D-Lawrenceville.
HB 1116 passed by a vote of 98 to 68.
The move follows the defeat earlier this week of a more comprehensive property tax measure that would have substantially cut property taxes for primary single-family residences. That measure was a proposed amendment to the Georgia Constitution and failed to get the required two-thirds majority.
The Senate passed a measure that ensures possession of gun silencers remains legal in Georgia. The vote came just hours after a similar measure failed in the House.
The measure, Senate Bill 499, passed 30-20. It now heads to the House.
Under the measure, suppressors would still require federal registration, a background check and federal approval.
The legislation keeps enhanced criminal penalties for using a silencer during serious crimes such as murder, armed robbery or drug trafficking.
The state Senate rejected an effort to create statewide grand juries to handle election and voting crimes.
Senate Resolution 875 stemmed from the chamber’s investigation of Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis. Supporters said the resolution – a proposed amendment to the Georgia Constitution – would give Georgians more confidence that such cases are not politically motivated.
“All we’re doing is letting the people of Georgia vote if they want to take politics out of prosecutions,” said Sen. Bill Cowsert, R-Athens.
Democrats weren’t buying it. Sen. Kim Jackson, D-Stone Mountain, said the resolution assumed that the state attorney general – a partisan office – would conduct investigations in a nonpartisan manner.
SR 875 failed to get the required two-thirds majority needed to advance. The vote was 28-21.
The House rejected a measure ensuring possession of gun silencers would remain legal in the state, despite changes to federal laws.
The 87-76 vote failed to meet the constitutional majority required to pass House Bill 1324.
State Rep. Jason Ridley, R-Chatsworth, the bill's sponsor, said the measure would match what’s already in federal law.
He said that silencers protect the hearing of shooters, but opponents say there are better ways to save your hearing, such as ear protection.
“If you can’t handle the sound of a gun, don’t shoot one,” said state Rep. Esther Panitch, D-Sandy Springs.
Democrats opposed the measure, saying silencers make it harder to identify the location of criminals in an active shooting situation.
“Policies that reduce the ability for law enforcement to quickly locate a shooter put officers at risk and potentially your children at risk,” said state Rep. Yasmin Neal, D-Jonesboro. “And that risk is not a risk I’m willing to take.”
The Georgia House passed a measure Friday to cut the state's income tax rate to 3.99% from 5.19%.
The bill passed 102-69 mostly along party lines.
Rep. Shaw Blackmon, R-Bonaire, said the reduction would give more money to people like seniors, who are struggling with housing and medication costs.
But Democrats said the cuts will disproportionately benefit people making higher incomes at the expense of community needs, like funding public schools.
"We must stop these tax cuts for the rich if we want to lift all Georgians," said Rep. Sam Park, D-Lawrenceville.
Last month the House passed a separate bill that would lower the income tax rate to 4.99%. Both bills are now awaiting consideration by the state Senate.
State Rep. Park Cannon, a member of the House Democratic leadership team, did not file to run for reelection.
Cannon, D-Atlanta, has been in office since 2016. Her Democratic colleagues later elected her as chair of the minority caucus. She got a lot of attention in 2021 when she was arrested after interrupting Gov. Brian Kemp's livestream announcing he had signed an elections bill into law.
Cannon represents House District 58, which includes portions of Fulton and DeKalb counties. Four people filed to run for that seat: Demetria Henderson, Edith M. Ladipo, Kyle Lamont and Matthew Samson.
The Georgia Senate approved the first of several bills related to its two-year investigation of Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis.
Senate Bill 605 establishes new grounds for disciplining or removing district attorneys or solicitors general. The new criteria include making charging decisions based on undisclosed conflicts of interest, failure to comply with the State Bar of Georgia’s code of professional conduct and failure to comply with state open records laws.
Willis was disqualified from prosecuting the election interference case against President Donald Trump because of an “appearance of impropriety” stemming from her romantic relationship with a special prosecutor she hired to oversee the case.
Though the measure stemmed from an investigation of Willis’ behavior, Sen. Bill Cowsert, R-Athens, said it is not aimed at her. He said it provides clarity to district attorneys about the kind of behavior that could result in disciplinary action.
“This is in no way any action against her,” he said. “It applies to all district attorneys.”
The bill passed by a vote of 34 to 18, with some Democratic support. It now heads to the state House for consideration.