{"id":241741,"date":"2026-01-13T10:29:12","date_gmt":"2026-01-13T15:29:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thegeorgiasun.com\/?p=241741"},"modified":"2026-01-13T10:29:17","modified_gmt":"2026-01-13T15:29:17","slug":"georgias-gold-dome-is-humming-with-talk-of-affordability","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thegeorgiasun.com\/?p=241741","title":{"rendered":"Georgia\u2019s Gold Dome is Humming With Talk of Affordability"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

<\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a>The hallowed halls of Georgia\u2019s state Capitol were abuzz Monday as lawmakers, lobbyists and everyday citizens flocked to the Gold Dome for the start of the 2026 legislative session.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For lawmakers in the state House and Senate, that means a 40-day countdown to introduce, deliberate and finalize laws for the upcoming year has officially begun. The calendar for this upcoming session, which also includes days off for holidays and committee meetings, will run from mid-January until early April. The 2026 session is also the second in a two-year cycle, meaning bills that didn\u2019t make it across the finish line in 2025 could get a second chance this time around.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the first day of the session, both chambers signed off on this year\u2019s legislative schedule<\/a>, but not without some debate. The House passed the schedule with a 150-to-27 vote after some lawmakers objected to the Legislature being in session on Eid al-Fitr, a major religious holiday in the Islamic faith that marks the end of Ramadan. There are at least four Muslim lawmakers currently serving in Georgia. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the Senate, the resolution passed unanimously, but not without criticism from Sen. Nabilah Parkes, a Duluth Democrat who is Muslim.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI am voting yes today for the good of the order, but moving forward, we should have an inclusive calendar,\u201d she told the chamber. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Under the calendar adopted Monday, a key deadline for bills to clear at least one chamber is set for Friday, March 6, and the last day of the session will be Thursday, April 2. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

New leadership in the Senate<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

The Senate kicked off the start of the 2026 legislative session by electing Sen. Larry Walker III, a Perry Republican to be the new president pro tem. Walker, who has served in the Legislature since 2015, is the son of former House majority leader Larry Walker Jr., who retired from the Legislature in 2005. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMy father taught me that while we sit on different sides of the aisle, or come from different areas of the state, or different perspectives, we are all bound by a common duty to leave Georgia better than we found it,\u201d Walker said in a speech following his election.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The position of president pro tem, which is the second-highest in the chamber, was previously held by state Sen. John Kennedy, a Macon Republican who resigned<\/a> from his seat in December to focus on his bid for lieutenant governor. A special election<\/a> to fill Kennedy\u2019s seat will be held on Jan. 20.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the House, three new lawmakers made their debut: Two Democrats, Rep. Akbar Ali of Gwinnett County and Rep. Eric Gisler of Watkinsville, and one Republican, Rep. Bill Fincher of Canton. All three were elected through recent special elections. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The chamber also held a moment of silence for Fincher\u2019s predecessor, Mandi Ballinger, who died last year<\/a> after a long battle with cancer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Two House seats are currently left vacant after Reps. Karen Bennett and Lynn Heffner announced their resignations last week. Bennett, a Stone Mountain Democrat, was indicted<\/a> for unemployment fraud shortly after she stepped down, while Heffner, an Augusta Democrat cited damage to her home from Hurricane Helene as the reason she could no longer fulfill a state law requiring representatives to live in the districts they represent. Another House Democrat who was charged<\/a> with unemployment fraud, Rep. Sharon Henderson of Covington, was present for the first day of the session Monday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the Senate side, two lawmakers \u2014 Democrat Jaha Howard of Smyrna and Republican Jason Dickerson of Canton \u2014 also made their first appearance as state senators.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In an interview with the Georgia Recorder, Dickerson described the experience of being a newly elected lawmaker as \u201csurreal.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhen you see your name up on the board for the first time, that\u2019s when it really hits home,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But the new elected officials are not the only big change under the Gold Dome: Lawmakers returned Monday to a newly renovated<\/a> state Capitol that has been restored to its original 19th century appearance, with some 21st century amenities \u2013 like a USB-C port \u2013 added to the desks. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou probably noticed, this people\u2019s house is looking a little bit brighter today in every essence of that word,\u201d House Speaker Jon Burns said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Advocates raise their voices<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Lawmakers weren\u2019t the only ones gearing up for the beginning of the session. Several advocacy groups held press conferences to encourage civic engagement and draw lawmakers\u2019 attention to policy issues.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The ACLU of Georgia held a \u201cPack the Capitol\u201d event alongside organizations like Indivisible Georgia Coalition and ProGeorgia to kick off the beginning of the 2026 session.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cEvery law passed under this gold dome impacts 11.2 million Georgians,\u201d said ACLU of Georgia policy and advocacy director Christopher Bruce. \u201cThat\u2019s why the legislators need to listen more to the people than the politics. They need to listen more to the Georgians than the lobbyists.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Poor People\u2019s Campaign and Georgia Interfaith Public Policy Center also held a press conference to advocate for the state\u2019s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program to be fully funded. In the fall, Georgia\u2019s SNAP administrators signaled they would need more than $60 million<\/a> in additional state dollars to maintain their staffing levels amid federal cuts to the program. More than one in 10 Georgians use SNAP to buy groceries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wesley E. Myrick, executive director of the Georgia Interfaith Public Policy Center, said that fully funding SNAP not only helps ensure that every Georgian has access to food, but also sustains the businesses in local communities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMaking sure that seniors, disabled persons, students and families with children have access to fresh fruits, vegetables and proteins is a critical issue for our state,\u201d Myrick said in an interview.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Republican lawmakers in both chambers are floating<\/a> additional tax cuts this session amid growing concerns about affordability, with the House proposing cutting property taxes and the Senate vying to eliminate Georgia\u2019s state income tax by 2032. Myrick argued that those tax cuts would only benefit a segment of the population, while fully funding SNAP would help the state overall.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNot every Georgian is a homeowner, so they\u2019re not going to benefit from tax credits,\u201d he said. \u201cBut every single Georgian can benefit from the economic impact of SNAP on local businesses that employ people in every corner of our state.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Georgia Recorder deputy editor Ross Williams contributed to this report.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The hallowed halls of Georgia\u2019s state Capitol were abuzz Monday as lawmakers, lobbyists and everyday citizens flocked to the Gold Dome for the start of the 2026 legislative session. For lawmakers in the state House and Senate, that means a 40-day countdown to introduce, deliberate and finalize laws for the upcoming year has officially begun. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":948,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"newspack_featured_image_position":"","newspack_post_subtitle":"","newspack_article_summary_title":"Overview:","newspack_article_summary":"","newspack_hide_updated_date":false,"newspack_show_updated_date":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[20377,8978],"class_list":["post-241741","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-government","tag-affordability","tag-legislature","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thegeorgiasun.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/241741","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thegeorgiasun.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thegeorgiasun.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thegeorgiasun.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/948"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thegeorgiasun.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=241741"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thegeorgiasun.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/241741\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thegeorgiasun.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=241741"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thegeorgiasun.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=241741"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thegeorgiasun.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=241741"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}