For $3 billion in a fiscal year, instead of just giving somebody $4 for a pay period, we could actually exempt the first $50,000 of wages for every georgia taxpayer.

That means if they were making, if they were married filing jointly, you could exempt the first $100,000 for every georgia taxpayer.

And some folks who don't deal in tax policy like we do every day go well what does an exemption of my first 50 or $100,000 mean well here's what it means.

If you're making $1 million well you'd only pay taxes on 900,000 if you're a married family filing jointly.

If you're making 500,000, you'd only pay taxes on 400,000 if you're married and filing jointly.

But if you're a firefighter in dekalb county and you're making $70,000 and maybe you're married to a retail clerk who's making $30,000.

Well your income tax would be completely eliminated.

Senate appropriations chairman Blake Tillery explains senate bill 476, which will cut state income taxes by as much as $5,000 for many georgians.

But democrats pushed back saying, at what cost?

Good evening and welcome to lawmakers on the 18th day of the georgia legislative session.

I'm donna lowery in Atlanta tonight.

Beyond the ongoing tax debate, the house paused mark to mark a milestone in American history, the 293rd anniversary of george's founding,, complete with reenactors presenting a ceremonial color guard salute under the gold dome.

That tribute makes this an especially fitting moment to focus on those who have worn the uniform.

What is the legislature doing this year to help them?

We'll hear from two lawmakers who are veterans themselves about legislation aimed at supporting those who've served.

And as we approach the halfway mark of the four day session next week, two journalists who cover the general assembly join us to break down the biggest stories shaping the year's debate.

But first, as always, capital correspondent sarah calls begins with today's news.

Dana day 18 at the capitol brought reenactors and taxes, lots of taxes.

It was a patriotic start to the day in the house.

Lawmakers received a presentation of the colors and a visit from James oglethorpe to mark his arrival with settlers to found the 13th British colony.

Once the business of the day kicked off, representatives unanimously passed a resolution urging people to celebrate both Fourth of July and the 250th anniversary of the united states this year.

As we look toward July 4th, 2026, we approach a moment unlike any other in our lifetime, the 250th anniversary of the signing of the declaration of independence.

The house also gave approval to senate bill 195, which would allow pharmacists to dispense hiv prevention medication.

Communities with provider shortages and in urban communities where appointment demands exceed capacity.

Pharmacies are often the most accessible health care point in both places, open longer hours close to where people live and already trusted.

That bill passed 155 to seven.

Members also passed house bill 948, which deals with foreclosures on homes so an individual will know if there are excess funds after the foreclosure, how to get that money back and the process in which to do it.

The bill passed unanimously after adjournment, House democrats promoted legislation they filed to help address housing affordability in the senate.

Two major bills dealing with the state income tax sb 476 would make the first $50,000 of income tax exempt for individual filers and the first $100,000 for joint filers.

Senate appropriations chairman blake tillery has been championing the bill since the beginning of the session.

Tillery laid out the basics of the plan, saying that it will put around $5,000 in the average taxpayer's pocket.

That's the cost of childcare for three months.

It's the cost of rent for three to six months.

It's the cost of groceries for six months.

It's the cost of their power bill and their gas in their car combined for an entire year.

And if you look at google, you'll also find out that $5,000 is two times the average homestead property tax that is paid in this state.

And I know that's disparate.

It varies across the area, but it's two times that amount.

Senate bill 476 is real relief for middle class families and it's real relief for everyday georgians.

He also broke down which corporate tax credits would end.

The senate's proposal pays for that $3 billion each fiscal year by reducing some of these credits.

If we wanted to do away with the income tax completely, , there's a very easy way to do it.

The state income tax brings in $16.2 billion.

These credits total over 30.

You want to do away with a state income tax.

All you have to do is tear these in half.

But the senate's proposal didn't even go that aggressively at tax credits.

It simply said all we need to do is reduce these by 10%.

And by reducing these by 10%, we can eliminate the income tax on individuals making less than 50,000 and eliminate the income tax on families making less than 100,000.

That's how we balance and it works.

Democrats objected, claiming it would cause a huge budget deficit affecting state services.

This bill wipes out nearly every tax credit that keeps georgia's economy running, Affordable housing credits, gutted, rural hospital credits, gutted childcare credits gone veterans and law, law enforcement credits gone, or activity credits gone research and innovation credits gone, and support for rural hospitals at a time when we're in a health care crisis.

Support for rural hospitals and doctors gone.. They also questioned the math.

It's a scam because the families, the hard working families of georgia, the average georgian, they don't make $50,000 or $100,000 as a family to get this full, full standard deduction.

The only people who we're putting $5,000 back in their pockets are the people who make over six figures.

I'm pretty sure my constituents are not excited about that and where the needed monies would come from.

Experts estimate that replacing income tax revenue will require dramatically raising our sales taxes, potentially pushing combined state and local rates to around 15% or more.

That means higher costs every time a family checks out at the register.

After hours of debate, the bill passed along party lines.

The second bill, sb 477, laid out the timeline for a plan continuing the tax rate reductions, reducing the rate to 3.99 by 2028.

It drops the state's income tax rate from where we stand right now at 5.19% down to 4.99.

And then it uses revenue triggers that if state revenue exceeds the last year's revenue by more than 1%, the income tax rate will then tick down half a percentage point, 50 basis points each year until it arrives at 3.99% in 2028.

It too passed along party lines.

Lawmakers won't be back at the capitol tomorrow or monday, but they'll be back on tuesday for legislative day 19.

That's my capital report donna.

Thank you sarah georgia is home to one of the largest veteran populations in the country.

According to the house budget and research office, nearly 700,000 veterans live in our state, ranking georgia ninth nationwide.

And joining me now in the studio is democratic senator kenya wicks of fayette county, a retired army officer who served 30 years in the military and now serves on the senate veterans military and homeland security committee.

Thank you for coming on lawmakers.

I know it's your first time.

Let's start with one of your bills that would help the children of active duty military when it comes to public schooling.

Sb 236.

Tell us about it.

Good afternoon.

Thank you for having me.

So yes, sb 236 is very important to me as a 30 year army veteran and three dependents, I traveled a lot and as I pcs permanent change of station, my kids, when we moved to different locations, I would have trouble enrolling my kids into school because I would have to get my housing stabilized first.

This bill right here will allow family members once they arrive to their duty station, they would use their orders to enroll their kids in school versus waiting for them to get their lease or their mortgage statement for them to enroll their kids in school.

So that way.

There wouldn't not be any time elapsed in reference to enrolling your kids in school okay and I understand that as a military brat, my dad was in for 23 years yes ma'am.

We'll keep up with that bill.

You have another bill that would waive fees at parks, historic areas memorials and recreation areas.

Tell us about it yes ma'am.

It's very important to me because at a discounted rate going to national parks, historical.

Places, but not only that for mental health reasons,, this bill is very important because it helps us to walk in nature, digress and just be one.

So that's why this bill is important because we served our country and to give back.

This is something that will be instrumental.

And some of veterans have reached out to me and said this bill would be helpful to them and go from there okay we'll keep up with that one too yes thank you well this morning I spoke to your colleague in the house.

He is also from the same area, republican representative josh bonner of fayetteville.

He's chairman of the house defense and veterans affairs committee.

He could not be here today, but we talked about several of his bills and I want to get your reaction.

He has the safeguarding American veteran empowerment or save act hb 108.. Here he is talking about it.

These are the folks that help veterans get their packets together for their benefits claims so that when they go to the va, they'll have a better chance of getting a first time approval on those applications.

And so what we do, there's some bad actors that are operating in georgia now.

We simply put up guardrails to ensure that our veterans don't get taken advantage of.

Now I know the vfw and a vets have talked about not being happy about this bill necessarily.

You're not happy either.

I am not tell us about this bill, house bill 108, is a federal offense.

It's against the law.

This bill is not, it's a claim short bill.

And what this bill does, it allows unaccredited organization to be the middleman for something that is free to veterans because the veterans affairs does this for free, that it allows them to come in and do their claims when they have vso that do it they have vfw that does it, and the dav does it for free.

So why do we need somebody that's unaccredited and by federal law they're not supposed to be able to do this and be able to do their claims and then take it back to the va and get their claims started.

So this is not a good bill.

I know there was a rally at the capitol not too long ago and it was this bill came up, so we'll keep an eye on this.

Chairman bonner also has a bill updating who can go into veteran cemeteries.

This bill simply clarifies some language from last year that expanded eligibility for our veterans cemeteries, , but it also does an incredible thing.

It adds one more group that's eligible and that is a very specific group of this laotian minority called the mung people that fought alongside our soldiers in vietnam, specifically in laos, that were a part of a cia campaign.

Those individuals are recognized federally to be buried in our cemeteries, and we're simply extending that benefit to those that live in georgia.

And we had some of those great, incredible warriors here a few weeks ago as we celebrated that bill getting passed in the house, they were able to be recognized and they received about a minute and a half standing ovation from the folks here.

We also had some members of the vfw that had actually fought alongside those people in vietnam here with us that day.

And it was just truly a special moment.

Your thoughts on this bill.

I support this bill.

This is a very good bill to allow our service members to be buried in the veterans cemetery.

So I do support this bill yes maam right another piece of legislation I discussed with chairman bonner is hb 1087, the disabled veteran home notification act.

This is a great bill that just says that if you're a disabled veteran as defined by our code and you make renovations to your home to accommodate that disability, you don't pay the permit fees that would go along with those renovations okay I'm thinking' like this one.

I do.

I really like this boat yes ma'am.

Talk about that a little bit.

What happens, Excuse me, when they need help sorry that's okay.

That's okay.

When they need to get maybe a ramp in or something else because they're disabled.

That's correct.

And so that it does help this bill right here does help with modifications to your home, especially when we have these type of beds with wheelchairs and modifications to the home.

So I do support this bill.. So I do support house representative bonner on these bills right here yes ma'am okay I have one more that I talked to him about.

As you know, disabled veterans are exempt from occupational taxes if they own a business actually I did not know that.

Here's chairman bonner on hb 632.

We did was to clarify that language and to streamline that process because unfortunately there are some veterans throughout the state that were not getting to take advantage of this benefit based on the ambiguity in the code.

So we simply clarified that and put in a process by which more disabled veterans will be able to take advantage of that benefit that they've already earned okay.

What do you think of this one?

I like this bill too.

All right, tell us why.

Because we want to make sure that our veterans get the tax exemption that they deserve.

So I really like this bill too.

All righty then,, how are you feeling?

This is your second year, you know, as in this position and a little different from the military correct yes.

How are you feeling?

I am continuing to listen and learn in the community, making sure I continue to be a champion for my veterans, my seniors, and even for the up and coming.

Seniors in high school, special education is very important to me and also mental health is important to me.

So I'm just continuing to learn and continue to be the champion that my citizens elected me to be there for them.

So that's what I'm going to be for district 34 well great.

Thank you so much for coming on the show.

Thank you well coming up, a look at the big issues legislators have tackled this session.

Two journalists who cover state government join us.

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It's a georgia thing Welcome back to lawmakers.

I'm donna lowery in Atlanta.

As we near the halfway point in the session, we wanted to get some insight into the session from two journalists.

Here with us in the studios is jeff ami of the associated press.

He covers georgia politics and state government.

Also joining us is michelle Barack.

She's with the Atlanta journal constitution.

She is a politics news and enterprise reporter.

Welcome to lawmakers thanks thank you.

Almost halfway there.

There's still a lot to go and we know the second half is always a lot, isn't it right.

So we learned before the session started that taxes would be a big push this session.

And the senate had that study committee of the summer.

We heard about property taxes, but I want you to talk about what happened today in the senate.

Sarah touched on it, but explain what was going on.

So the senate brought out two bills.

.

The first bill would exempt people from income taxes up to their first $50,000 in income for an individual or $100,000 for a couple filing jointly.

The second bill is more like what we have seen with a gradual reduction in the income tax rate, the senate would propose to go faster than we have been going.

So they have pushed two options forward together to try to get the house to agree to at least one of them.

So we don't expect both of them to pass or go through in the house.

I think it's unlikely that both of these bills would pass The amount of revenue the state would forego would be very large if both of them passed.

Explain that part of it.

So the bill that the senate Republicans are mostly favoring, which is the bill that increases the amount of income that is exempt from taxation, would cost $6 billion over a full year.

So over a full calendar year.

Now of course the state budget runs on a july to June cycles.

So the budget they're writing right now for that would include the first half of 2027.

They've only got to account for $3 billion of that.

But the general assembly that comes back next january after elections would have to account for the other $3 billion for the full $6 billion cost when they write the 2028 budget.

So let's talk a little bit about how they're talking about taking care of that amount.

And a lot of it is the tax breaks that they've been offering.

They're going to pull back on a lot of those yes the bill that was passed today eliminates a series of tax credits.

Some of them are income tax breaks, others are sales tax breaks.

Senator tillery indicated that that would be enough to cover the cost of the first six months of the budget they are writing right now, This bill has gone very fast in the senate.

We haven't really seen a full lobbying push by people who would like to preserve those tax benefits.

I think that if this bill were to get close to final passage that there would be a pretty intensive lobbying push from people who would like to maintain their tax benefits.

And the question is whether the bill could withstand that lobbying push, whether lawmakers would be willing to do this.

You said it moved fast, but they spent at least four hours on it today when they twos.

It moved slowly today, but the text of the bills were released late last friday, so they came out of committee and were on the senate floor in six days later.

So talk about what the democrats had to say today on the other side of this.

I think the main democratic argument is that we cannot afford to reduce the amount of revenue that we are spending on state services.

I think that's really where their arguments go to the they made some good points about that also that there has not been a fiscal note yet, an independent evaluation of what this all would cost and whether the foregone revenue would match up to the tax benefits we're getting rid of.

That fiscal note is still supposed to be on the way.

We'll see when it gets here.

All right then we will be paying attention to this because this is, as you said, an ongoing thing and what the house is going to do once it gets over there.

We'll talk in a minute about what the house is looking at michelle we want to get into something different with you.

We saw a uniting of republican women on a legislative package recently.

So talk about what they're interested in.

So Republicans and specifically GOP women unveiled a package of legislation aimed at families and children and women specifically.

There are several different bills all sponsored by republican women in this package.

One of them would allow pharmacists to give birth control instead of making women go through their physicians or doctors, which is particularly helpful for people in rural counties that struggle to get access to doctors.

It would expand paid leave for state workers up to nine weeks.

It had been six weeks in 2024.

So this would be an expansion of three additional weeks.

It would also create a domestic violence registry of offenders and create stipulations for how you get in and out of that registry.

And then there are some budget proposals as well, such as expansion for after school programs.

As you may remember, in 2019, Republicans passed an abortion bill and there was a lot of criticism about the impact that would have on working women as the buzzword is affordability this year, these are two efforts to try to address those concerns yeah the interesting thing about it, and we had some women on the show earlier this week, is that these are issues that women in particular would understand.

And so they're really pushing them because they relate to what's going on with children and also with the contraception issue and all of that kind of thing.

So it will be interesting to see what happens with all those bills.

We'll keep up with that.

And those measures are supported by democrats by and large yeah so I think they've been talking about them too jeff let's get into the house.

Baker burns, you know, he's been pushing the property taxes and then the amended budget came out.

They're going in a whole different direction when it comes to taxes over what the senate is doing.

The house is clearly prioritizing property tax relief this year.

They have multiple parts to their plan.

They would like to use this year's amended budget to give people a property tax rebate, which is something that we did once a couple of years ago and had previously been done in the barnes administration more than 20 years ago.

But their big plan is a plan to fix it so that your primary residents would not get a property tax bill at all, that, if you had a house that was under a homestead exemption that you would be charged no property tax.

To do that, they are going to need a constitutional amendment.

And because there are only 99 Republicans in the house, that means 21 democrats have to vote for the measure.

They have to have democratic support.

What are you hearing?

The democratic leadership in the house has been very careful and they have not taken a position yet, but I will say that I feel like that it is going to be a heavy lift for Republicans to get 21 democrats.

I think that particularly school interests are not going to be in favor of this plan.

And explain that.

And that has to do with the schools would lose that money that they would get from property taxes right the property taxes that are collected on primary residences in georgia account for something more than $5 billion of revenue.

All that revenue goes to local governments and local school systems.

Most counties, most people, their property tax bill is 60 percentage or two thirds to their schools.

So schools are the primary beneficiaries of property tax.

We're re going to really keep up on that.

And once each chamber sees the other's bills on taxes, it'll be interesting.

That when things will really heat up.

Let's get to you michelle.

Can you tell us a little bit about the focus this year?

We've seen a lot on foster care issues.

So this issue really started last year.

The commissioner of the department of human services unveiled a more than $85 million deficit for the budget and that agency oversees the foster care system in the state.

When that was unveiled, lawmakers on both political sides were furious.

You have to remember these are the most vulnerable children in our state and they are the responsibility of the state.

After that was announced, there were discussions about what led to that number.

The commissioner said that cases had become increasingly complex for children, and she also blamed increasing judicial orders that were beyond the scope of what she said the agency could handle.

Earlier last week, the house proposed filling the gap and also bringing back programs and funding for those programs that had been cut as a result.

But if these issues are indeed as entrenched as they sound, then there will be questions moving forward next year.

There's movement also in the senate.

I know that senator kirkpatrick had a study committee, Kay Kirkpatrick had a study committee over the summer of this.

So a lot to look at.

It's been kind of a slow, I don't know, my perspective, kind of slow in terms of bills moving, but we're getting ready to see it really ramp up before crossover day yeah okay.

Well thanks for coming on and talking about it.

I appreciate that, but that does it for lawmakers today.

The general assembly is off tomorrow and monday, so join us when they return on tuesday for legislative day 19.

Have a good evening Mercy