Tax breaks, data centers, paper ballots — what will pass in Ga. Legislature?

State lawmakers must decide by the end of the day Friday whether to move forward with legislation impacting taxation and elections in order to meet its self-imposed deadline.

In the first two months of the General Assembly’s 2026 session, House members passed an amended budget that funds state government through the fiscal year, a bill aimed at reining in insurance costs, and another to support women and working parents. The Senate has passed a big income tax cut.

Although dozens of bills have passed the House and Senate, more will come up for a vote on Crossover Day — the day when a bill must “cross over” from one chamber to the other. Friday is the 28th business day of the state’s 40-day legislative session, which ends April 2.

While Crossover Day is an important benchmark, bills that fall short always have a chance of being revived since lawmakers can insert language into another bill later on.

Here’s a look at some of the most closely watched measures that could receive votes:

Tax relief

House Speaker Jon Burns suffered a big defeat this week with the failure of a proposed constitutional amendment that would sharply reduce property taxes on primary single-family residences. The next day, the House voted to reconsider that decision, putting the measure back in play.

What’s next is not certain. But property tax relief is one of Burns’ top priorities, so the issue is likely to resurface.

Meanwhile, various income tax proposals are still alive. Gov. Brian Kemp’s plan to reduce the income tax rate from 5.19% to 4.99% this year has already passed the House. And Friday the chamber is expected to consider House Bill 880, which would over time further reduce the rate to 3.99%.

Fani Willis

A Senate panel spent two years investigating the actions of Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, whose disqualification in the election interference case against President Donald Trump eventually led to the dismissal of the charges. The panel has recommended several changes to Georgia law.

Senate Resolution 875 proposes an amendment to the Georgia Constitution authorizing statewide grand juries to investigate crimes related to elections and voting. The measure would require two-thirds approval in the General Assembly and approval by voters in November.

The panel also has proposed Senate Bill 605, which would create additional criteria for disciplining or removing district attorneys and solicitors general. They would 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.

Senate Bill 604 would give the state attorney general jurisdiction for various violent crimes, immigration offenses and drug crimes. That would allow local district attorneys to seek state assistance for prosecuting those crimes.

Elections

The state has imposed a July deadline to stop counting votes with QR codes. But efforts to find a way to do that have stalled. One solution proposed by Republicans on the Senate Ethics Committee is to ditch Georgia’s touchscreen voting and switch back to preprinted, hand-marked paper ballots scanned by machines.

Senate Bill 568 would also end county- and municipality-wide, in-person early voting and change election audits. It’s unclear how much it would cost to implement such dramatic changes, especially so close to the midterm election.

Its House prospects are unclear, as another paper ballot proposal there remains stalled.

Gun silencers

Senate Bill 499 would ensure that the possession of gun silencers would remain legal in Georgia, despite any changes to federal law. Using a silencer during a crime will continue to be illegal under the proposal.

State Sen. Frank Ginn, R-Danielsville, said Georgia law currently defers to the the federal government’s regulation of silencers. He said he sponsored the bill to ensure that Georgians will still be allowed to possess silencers even if federal law changes.

House Bill 1324, sponsored by Chatsworth Republican state Rep. Jason Ridley, mirrors the Senate bill.

The Senate has scheduled SB 499 for debate on Friday.

Police body camera footage

Lawmakers are considering changing the law to prevent public access of law enforcement video and audio recordings if it shows a person’s death.

Supporters of the law say it is needed to honor the privacy of the people who are in the recordings. Opponents say the change could make it more difficult for journalists and others to keep tabs on potential police misconduct.

Data Centers

Lawmakers are continuing to discuss bills that would protect residential customers from data centers’ soaring energy costs. House Bill 1063, sponsored by Rep. Brad Thomas, R-Holly Springs, has already passed.

Senate Bill 34, introduced by Sen. Chuck Hufstetler, R-Rome, has similar contents and still awaits a full Senate vote.

It would require data centers to pay for any substantial costs related to providing their electricity and force them to pay for new power plants, transmission infrastructure, fuel and other costs incurred to serve the facilities.