The Georgia House of Representatives completed a busy fourth week of the 2026 legislative session as lawmakers passed House Bill 973, the House’s version of the Amended Fiscal Year 2026 budget. The budget, which passed with bipartisan support, is built on a revised $42.3 billion revenue estimate and includes $4.5 billion in surplus and new funding to support priorities through June 30, 2026.

Key investments in the amended budget include property tax relief through the Homeowner Tax Relief Grant program, education funding for K–12 schools and higher education, and pay supplements for teachers, school staff, and early learning educators. The House also approved funding for HOPE and the new need-based DREAMS Scholarship, along with investments in school safety, mental health services, and workforce readiness initiatives.

The budget further prioritizes public safety, healthcare, and infrastructure, with funding for prison security upgrades, behavioral health facilities, rural healthcare access, and major transportation projects, including road resurfacing and rural bridge repairs. Lawmakers also heard the annual State of the Judiciary Address from Chief Justice Nels S.D. Peterson during the week.

In addition to the budget, the House passed several bills addressing issues such as newborn safety, feral hog control, rural eye care access, veterans’ burial eligibility, and early literacy initiatives. With the amended budget now moving to the Senate, the House will soon begin work on the Fiscal Year 2027 budget as the session continues.

See the complete legislative report below:

Legislative Update Week Four

The Georgia House of Representatives returned to the Gold Dome on Monday, February 2, 2026, for Legislative Day 10 as the General Assembly began a busy fourth week of legislative work. With Legislative Day 10 now behind us, we are now more than a quarter of the way through the session, and the pace under the Gold Dome is certainly picking up as we begin zeroing in on key policy priorities. This week, the House Appropriations Committee met midweek to pass House Bill 973, the House’s version of the Amended Fiscal Year 2026 (AFY 2026) budget, which provides state funding through the end of the current fiscal year on June 30, 2026. The House Rules Committee then placed HB 973 onto a Rules Calendar for a full House vote on Thursday, where it passed with bipartisan support. In addition to the amended budget, my colleagues and I voted on several bills on the House floor, advancing these measures to our Senate counterparts. During this busy week, we also heard from Georgia Supreme Court Chief Justice Nels S.D. Peterson, who delivered his annual State of the Judiciary Address before a joint session of the House and Senate.

​The House’s version of the Amended Fiscal Year 2026 (AFY 2026) budget is based on a revised revenue estimate of $42.3 billion, including $3.3 billion in surplus funds, for a total infusion of $4.5 billion—an 11.9 percent increase over the original Fiscal Year 2026 (FY 2026) budget. HB 973 reflects a wide range of priorities for the state, from providing relief to taxpayers and investing in critical infrastructure to supporting education, healthcare, higher education and public safety. The House’s recommendations include appropriations to provide property tax relief for homeowners, improve Georgia’s prison system and invest in major transportation initiatives. The amended budget also reflects a strong focus on the health and well-being of Georgians, including plans to begin the design and construction of a new regional psychiatric hospital to better serve both forensic and adult mental health patients. These represent just a few of the House’s budget recommendations, and I will highlight these and several other noteworthy investments included in the House’s version of the AFY 2026 budget below.

​The House’s amended budget prioritizes a strong education system with key investments in both K–12 schools and higher education. HB 973 includes $300 million in state-matching funds for the first-of-its-kind need-based DREAMS Scholarship program, an initiative originally outlined in Gov. Kemp’s budget proposals and supported by the House. The program is designed to help Georgia students and their families access postsecondary education, expanding opportunities for students who might not otherwise be able to pursue higher education. Our amended budget further bolsters our higher education system by directing$11 million to fund Helping Outstanding Pupils Educationally (HOPE) scholarships at public institutions, which would provide awards to more than 100,000 students throughout the state, bringing the total AFY 2026 appropriation for HOPE scholarships to $907 million. The House’s version of the AFY 2026 budget also includes $9 million for the Governor’s Office of Student Achievement (GOSA) to develop a statewide Career Navigator System, a new digital tool that would connect students, jobseekers and employers to strengthen workforce readiness. For K–12 educators and staff, HB 973 would allocate$366 million in pay supplements of $2,000 for teachers, administrative staff, custodians, nutrition workers, school nurses and bus drivers, along with $17.2 million through the Department of Early Care and Learning (DECAL) to provide a $2,000 pay supplement to all early learning teachers and assistant teachers. The amended budget also includes $43.9 million to the Department of Education (DOE) for the Quality Basic Education (QBE) midterm adjustment to reflect current enrollment numbers, $1.4 million for school social workers, $750,000 for a pilot program to maximize reimbursement for mental health services and $550,000 to enhance school security through an emergency response system pilot program. HB 973would also provide $300,250 to GOSA to support America250 literacy initiatives, promoting statewide literacy and civic engagement through schools, libraries and community partnersto host reading events and activities that celebrate Georgia’s role in American history during its 250th anniversary.

​To support a House priority, our amended budget allocates$850 million from the state’s undesignated surplus to fund the Homeowner Tax Relief Grant (HTRG) program, allowing for the maximum exemption on assessed home values for each qualifying homestead in the 2026 tax year. Cutting property taxes is one of House Speaker Jon Burns’ top legislative initiatives this session, and this proposal seeks to provide property tax relief to Georgia homeowners as property taxesacross the state have continued to rise in recent years.

HB 973 also aims to strengthen economic development, enhance public safety and improve transportation infrastructure across Georgia. Recognizing the urgent need to address homelessness in the state, the House supports the governor’s recommendation of $50 million for the State Housing Trust Fund to address homelessness by providing matching funds to local governments and nonprofit organizations. According to the 2024 Annual Homelessness Assessment Report, 12,290 Georgians were experiencing homelessness statewide, with 54 percent of those individuals facing unsheltered conditions, underscoring the importance of this investment. To help strengthen Georgia’s economy, the House supports the governor’s recommendation of $10.9 million for the Georgia Forestry Innovation Initiative, in partnership with the Georgia Institute of Technology, to help expand the timber industry into emerging markets through research, product testing and private-sector partnerships—another area that the House has focused on as communities continue recovering from the significant damage that Hurricane Helene caused to Georgia’s forestry sector.

The House’s amended budget also includes appropriations to support public safety efforts throughout our state. HB 973 would provide a total infusion of $92.9 million for the Georgia Department of Corrections (GDC), including $19.7 million in new funding, for safety, security and technology upgrades. These technology and security upgrades would help protect both correctional staff and inmates, with $15.2 million earmarked for advanced security technology to detect and prevent contraband, as well as $85 million to install six new locking control systems and design two additional systems to further strengthen facility security. The House’s version of the amended budget also provides $32.9 million for physical, mental, dental and residential substance abuse treatment services for inmates. Additionally, the House’s amended budget recommends $220 million in undesignated surplus funds to design and construct a new 480-bed, single-celled private prison facility for low-to medium-security inmates to help alleviate projected capacity pressures as the state prison population is expected to exceed 55,000 by 2029. To address wrongful incarceration, the House directs $4.8 million for the Department of Administrative Services to establish the Wrongful Conviction and Incarceration Compensation Trust Fund—a step toward justice for Georgians who were wrongfully convicted and imprisoned. Created through Senate Bill 244 during the 2025 legislative session, the trust fund would establish a clear and consistent process through the Office of State Administrative Hearings to compensate individuals whose lives were affected by wrongful convictions and were incarcerated in the state.

In HB 973, the House includes key appropriations to enhance our state’s transportation infrastructure. To that end, the House’s AFY 2026 budget includes a one-time payment of $1.7 billion to the State Road and Tollway Authority (SRTA) to fund the extension and bidirectional expansion of Interstate 75 express lanes in Clayton and Henry counties, a critical congestion corridor for both freight and commuters. Our amended budget also directs $250 million for road resurfacing needs within the Local Road Assistance Administration Programto continue preserving and upgrading existing infrastructure. The House’s version of the AFY 2026 budget also provides $85 million for the rehabilitation and replacement of rural bridges across the state. With bridge construction costs rising significantly in recent years, this funding would allow the Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT) to prioritize repairs and replacements for bridges that are especially vital to rural Georgia’s agribusiness and timber operations.

Another vital budget area each year revolves around our state’s healthcare system. The House continues its work to strengthen healthcare by allocating $17.8 million to the Georgia Board of Health Care Workforce for graduate medical education expansion programs in South Georgia, which would create more than 103 new residency slots. Our amended budget also includes $100,000 to promote rural residency programs to providemedical students with opportunities to learn about residency options across rural Georgia. The House’s budget directs $4.8 million to the Department of Community Health to establish a new grant program to support the development of rural medical and dental clinics, with the goal of increasing healthcare access in underserved communities. During the interim, the House convened study committees to examine medical deserts across the state—areas with limited or no access to healthcare professionals. These budget initiatives seek to address those challenges and encourage more medical students to live and practice in rural Georgia. Furthermore, the House’s version of AFY 2026 includes $2.5 million to increase funding for spinal injury services and $155,251 for portable ultrasound equipment to support the training of internal medicine residents. Together, these investments seek to close healthcare gaps in our rural communities, expand access to healthcare services andstrengthen Georgia’s healthcare workforce statewide.

In our amended budget, my colleagues and I make significant investments to address Georgia’s behavioral health needs and child welfare system, while strengthening critical state services. Under HB 973, the House appropriates $20.7 million to the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities to establish a 40-bed forensic restoration facility at East Central Regional Hospital in Augusta, along with a historic $27 million investment to begin the design and construction of a new Georgia Regional Hospital in Atlanta. Currently, more than 750 individuals are waiting for a state hospital bed, with average wait times of 9.8 months for males and 8.8 months for females. The new Atlanta hospital would include 300 psychiatric beds, with 200 dedicated to forensic patients and 100 for adults with acute mental health needs. This $27 million investment would serve as a crucial down payment, enabling the state to immediately begin facility design once the budget is signed by the governor, while positioning the state to fund future phases. In addition, the House’s version of the amended budget provides $82.7 million to fully fund the deficit within the Department of Human Services’ (DHS) Division of Family and Children Services (DFCS), prioritizing reunification services, assessments and specialized services for high-acuity youth. Last year, my colleagues and I received testimony from DHS where we learned of this deficit within DFCS, including cuts to important contracts that support vital DFCS services. HB 973 would respond directly to these concerns, fully funding the DFCS deficit to ensure continued support for foster care and reunification services across the state. Moreover, the House appropriates $1.6 million to DHS to restore four foster care support contracts that were previously cut to reduce the deficit and to release funds to a provider funded in FY 2026.

Additional notable investments outlined in the House’s amended budget recommendations include $1 million to the Department of Veterans Services for the treatment of traumatic brain injuries and mental health conditions for veterans and active-duty military members. Our service members have made the ultimate sacrifice to protect our country, and it’s crucial that we support those Georgians whether they are active-duty or veterans. The House also supports the governor’s AFY 2026 budget proposal to provide $17.5 million to the Georgia Emergency Management and Homeland Security Agency to fund emergency preparedness, security grants to non-profits and NextGen 911 improvements. Following the recent State of Emergency declarations for winter weather, it is important that we ensure that our emergency preparedness agencies are fullyequipped to respond to any future natural disasters or weather emergencies to keep our citizens safe.

After my colleagues and I passed our version of the amended budget, we immediately sent the bill to the Senate for their review. We remain committed to working closely with our Senate counterparts to pass a balanced budget for the people of Georgia, and I look forward to keeping you updated as the process continues. While the Senate reviews our amended budget bill, the House will continue to craft our Fiscal Year 2027 budget.

The amended budget was not the only piece of legislation that we passed this week. The House also passed legislation aimed at strengthening vision and eye care services across Georgia, particularly in rural communities. House Bill 659would expand funding for medical education by including optometrists in the state’s loan repayment and financial assistance programs, placing them alongside other healthcare professionals who take part in service cancelable loan programs to serve the healthcare needs across underserved communities. The bill originated from the House Rural Development Committee, where the committee found a critical need foroptometrists in rural areas of the state. HB 659 would help incentivize students to study optometry in Georgia, increase access to vision and eye care services statewide and encourage graduates to remain and practice in the state—strengthening the healthcare workforce in rural communities where the needs are greatest. Complementing this effort, the House’s version of the AFY 2026 budget includes $29.8 million to design, construct and equip a College of Optometry at Georgia Southern University, which would provide a local pathway for training the next generation of optometrists.

My colleagues and I also passed House Bill 350, bipartisan legislation that would update Georgia’s Safe Place for Newborns Act. HB 350 would allow fire stations, medical facilities, police stations and ambulance services to implement newborn safety devices for use by mothers who need to safely surrender their newborns. Currently, Georgia does not have any operating newborn safety devices; however, this legislation would allow eligible facilities to opt-in to installing, operating and staffing these devices. Newborn safety devices are enclosed, locked and continuously monitored receptacles designed to allow for the safe surrender of a newborn at locations equipped to provide medical care, facilitate transport to a hospital and, ultimately, support placement into foster care or adoption. Under HB 350, these devices must be placed in a conspicuous location that is visible to staff, and the facility or station must be staffed by emergency medical services providers 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Provided that the newborn is no more than 30 days old, a mother would not be prosecuted for safely surrendering her child and could remain anonymous during the surrender. Once a newborn is surrendered, the child would be transported to a hospital for a wellness check. After the child is medically cleared, DHS would be required to take custody within six hours, after which the child would be brought before a juvenile court and placed into foster care or adoption. Funding for these devices would come from donations or grassroots funding, not the state. If passed and signed into law, this bill would prevent the unsafe abandonment of newborns and save infant lives by expanding safe, legal and anonymous options for surrendering a newborn in a crisis situation.

House Bill 946 also passed out of the House this week to support our agriculture industry and rural communities across Georgia by addressing policies related to the hunting of feral hogs. HB 946 would allow hunters to trap feral hogs on private property without a hunting or trapping license, provided that the hogs are killed upon capture. The bill would also update current law to permit the use of unmanned aircraft systems, such as drones, to locate feral hogs on private property for this purpose. HB 946 seeks to remove these barriers to more effectively control feral hog populations, an invasive species that causessignificant damage to agriculture and native wildlife, with estimated losses to Georgia farms totaling approximately $150 million annually. Backed by the Department of Natural Resources (DNR), this bill is intended to help control feral hog populations, while protecting farms and wildlife habitats. In particular, feral hogs can disrupt and destroy sea turtle nests in coastal areas, which are protected under state and federal law, primarily through the Endangered Species Act—making population control efforts even more critical.

My colleagues and I also made it a priority this week toensure proper recognition for a group of veterans who bravely served our country through the unanimous passage of House Bill 985. Most significantly, the legislation would extend burial eligibility to Georgia residents who served honorably in the Hmong Laotian Special Guerrilla Unit between February 28, 1961, and May 7, 1975. These soldiers fought in the CIA-backed “Secret War” in Loas during the Vietnam era, carrying out dangerous covert missions, rescuing American pilots and protecting U.S. interests in Southeast Asia—efforts that are credited with saving roughly 50,000 American lives. My colleagues and I were honored to welcome several Hmong veterans to the House Chamber this week, where they were recognized alongside the Commissioner of the Georgia Department of Veterans Services and representatives of the Veterans of Foreign Wars for their dedicated service. HB 985 expands on House Bill 53, legislation passed during the 2025 legislative session and later signed into law, which updated eligibility for burial in Georgia veterans cemeteries to include certain members of the Reserves and National Guard, including those who died during service. In addition to honoring members of the Hmong Laotian Special Guerrilla Unit, HB 985 would further update state policy with federal standards outlined in HB 53 by redefining a “full term of service” to include individuals who served in the U.S. armed forces or, if conscripted, served at least 24 consecutive months, ensuring these veterans receive dignity in death and reflecting their ultimate sacrifice. I was proud to support legislation that would honor these Georgiansand their service, while the House recognized some of these individuals in person as the bill passed out of our Chamber.

Later in the week, my House colleagues and I joined Speaker Jon Burns for a bipartisan press conference to introduce House Bill 1193, the Georgia Early Literacy Act of 2026. The bill would take a statewide approach to early literacy, providing QBE funding for school-based literacy coaches in every public school serving kindergarten through third grade, supported by regional and leadership coaches. HB 1193 would also provide free, curriculum-based professional learning for K–3 teachers and literacy coaches, ensure high-quality instructional materials aligned with the science of reading and establish the Georgia Literacy Task Force to guide assessments and instruction. Recognizing that learning to read is the foundation for all future learning, this legislation reflects the House’s ongoing commitment to providing every resource necessary to make literacy a top priority.

When we convened with the Senate for the State of the Judiciary address, Chief Justice Nels S.D. Peterson emphasizedthat Georgia’s judiciary is strong, highlighting that the rule of law depends on judges following the law impartially and independently. In his remarks, the chief justice encouraged the General Assembly to adopt House Resolution 251, a constitutional amendment that would end the partisan election of probate judges. He noted that HR 251 builds on similar legislation that the General Assembly passed last session—House Bill 426, which ended the partisan election of magistrate judges—and emphasized that HR 251 would be a decisive step toward ensuring that all elected judges in Georgia are chosen on a nonpartisan basis. Additionally, he highlighted the Supreme Court of Georgia’s Court Improvement Program, which, in partnership with DFCS, is piloting a new model designed to reduce the time between removal and reunification for children in foster care. The chief justice noted that juvenile courts in select counties are also serving as pilot sites for Georgia THRIVE, a multi-year initiative aimed at addressing the needs of children under the age of three who enter the juvenile court system. The chief justice went on to discuss two important study committees that recently concluded their work: the Judicial Council Ad Hoc Committee on Artificial Intelligence (AI) and the Courts, which examined both the risks and opportunities AI presents to the judicial system, including concerns about AI-generated false recordings and images; and the Supreme Court Study Committee on Legal Regulatory Reform, which recommended that the Court consider a pilot project to allow trained nonlawyers to perform certain limited legal tasks. Finally, he addressed the growing national concern over threats against judges, noting that efforts are underway to track threats against Georgia judges to ensure that they can continue to do their jobs safely.

We also passed the following House bills during the fourth week of session:

• House Bill 557, which would increase the number of superior court judges in the Northeastern Judicial Circuit, which consists of Dawson and Hall counties, from five to six. The sixth judge would be appointed for a term beginning January 1, 2027, continuing through December 31, 2028. A successor would be elected at the nonpartisan judicial election in 2028;

 

• House Bill 629, which would codify the usage of bleeding control kits in K-12 schools. The kit could be obtained through the Georgia Trauma Commission Bleeding Control Kit Program, and members of the internal response team would be expected to utilize training programs established by the American College of Surgeons;

 

• House Bill 945, which is the Department of Banking and Finance’s annual housekeeping bill and would revise severalprovisions in Georgia’s banking and financial law. Most notably, the bill would provide definitions and revise statute to give financial institutions the discretion to place holds on individual transactions of elderly or disabled adults for up to 15 days if the financial institution believes the transaction may be tied to financial exploitation of these individuals. Institutions would enable customers or members to designate a trusted contact that the institution may contact in case of suspected exploitation. After placing a transaction hold, a financial institution would initiate an investigation to be completed after 15 days, subject to a 15-day extension. The DHS would be authorized to share otherwise confidential information pertaining to financial exploitation of elderly or disabled persons. Additionally, the bill would require virtual currency kiosk operators to disclose in clear writing that virtual currency is not backed or insured by the government, that losses due to fraudulent or accidental transactions may not be recoverable, that virtual currency volatility and unpredictability may result in significant losses and that transactions are irreversible;

 

• House Bill 960, which would increase the number of superior court judges in the Gwinnett Judicial Circuit from 11 to 12. The 12th judge wouldbe appointed for a term beginning January 1, 2027, continuing through December 31, 2028. A successor would be elected at the nonpartisan judicial election in 2028;

 

• House Bill 980, which would create the Georgia-Ireland Trade Commission. The commission would consist of four members of the House, four members of the Senate, the commissioner of the Department of Economic Development or a designee, the commissioner of the Department of Agriculture or a designee, two representativesof state institutions of higher education, two members representing Irish Americans and one representative of a Georgia business or trade organization;

 

• House Bill 999, which would clarifythat costs collected in court-connected alternative dispute resolution programs are in addition to fees and costs collected by magistrate courts. The bill would also clarify that legislation passed in 2026 for the nonpartisan election of magistrates would go into effect in 2027 regardless of whether a constitutional amendment related to the nonpartisan election of probate judges is ratified prior to 2027.

 

Next week, the House will reconvene on Monday, February 9, 2026, to begin Legislative Day 15. The days and weeks ahead will only get busier as we continue working on key policies and priorities for our state. If you are ever at the Capitol, please contact my office to schedule a meeting. As always, I encourage you to stay engaged and continue voicing any concerns you and your family may have about our community and our state. You may contact me by email at Eddie.Lumsden@house.ga.gov or by phone at 404-656-7850. Thank you for allowing me to serve as your state representative for the 2025–2026 legislative term.

Eddie Lumsden