HAPPENINGS AT THE STATE CAPITOL

General Assembly Passes Halfway Point, Crossover Day in Two Weeks

The Georgia General Assembly completed Day 22 of its 40-day session Friday. Below is a report of the most significant legislative news from the Capitol. The Legislature has reserved Monday as a committee workday and will be in session Tuesday through Thursday next week. Crossover Day is set for Friday, March 6, and Sine Die is scheduled for Thursday, April 2.

House Speaker Pro Tem Jan Jones Will Not Seek Reelection

House Speaker Pro Tem Jan Jones (R-Milton) announced Thursday that she will not seek reelection, bringing to a close more than two decades of service in the Georgia House of Representatives. First elected in 2002, Jones became the first woman to serve as Speaker Pro Tempore in 2010 and later served briefly as Acting Speaker from Nov. 2022 to Jan. 2023, following the death of Speaker David Ralston. Throughout her tenure, Jones has been a leading voice on public education policy, championing expanded access to Pre-K, teacher pay increases and school choice initiatives. She has also emphasized government transparency, local control and policies aimed at strengthening Georgia’s economic competitiveness. Her departure marks the end of a historic chapter in Georgia House leadership.

House Speaker Pro Tem
Jan Jones

Sen. Carden Summers

Rep. Bruce Williamson

Sen. Mike Hodges

Sen. Marty Harbin

Banking Department’s Housekeeping Bill Nearing Full Senate Vote

On Thursday, the Senate Banking Committee, chaired by Sen. Carden Summers (R-Cordele), unanimously and favorably reported the Banking Department’s annual housekeeping bill HB 945, by Rep. Bruce Williamson (R-Monroe). One key message we delivered this week was the need to keep the bill in its current form, especially the provisions allowing banks to place a temporary hold on suspicious transactions to investigate potential fraud. Under the bill, banks may opt in to this authority after implementing employee training to help identify and protect at-risk customers. The bill also includes specific liability protections for banks. It is critical that those protections remain unchanged.

The bill also creates a comprehensive regulatory framework for virtual currency kiosks or “crypto ATMs”. It imposes strict disclosures, fee caps, transaction limits, refund rights for fraud victims, customer identification, monitoring requirements and live agent support obligations on kiosk operators.

Additionally, the bill clarifies bank merger notification requirements and the Department's objection authority, updates corporate governance rules applicable to banks, modernizes merchant acquirer limited-purpose bank rules and expands regulatory oversight of litigation finance.

The bill now moves to the Senate Rules Committee for floor consideration and will be carried in the Senate by Sen. Mike Hodges (R-Brunswick).

The committee also heard:

• Local Government Investments. SB 441 by Sen. Marty Harbin (R-Tyrone) which requires certain local government investment pool arrangements to obtain State Depository Board approval before being established. The bill was favorably reported.
• Transactional Gold and Silver. SB 424 by Sen. Harbin would instruct the state to recognize gold and silver specie as legal tender. The bill received an informational hearing only and was not voted on.

GBA Continues to Lobby Against Harmful Proposals to Bank Taxation and Interchange

This week, we continued educating lawmakers about our concerns with SB 476 by Sen. Blake Tillery (R-Vidalia), which would repeal the bank tax credit. Because tax bills must originate in the House, the Senate has also passed HB 134, by Rep. Beth Camp (R-Concord), stripping out language on manufactured housing and replacing it with identical language to SB 476. GBA has been distributing talking points outlining why the bills, as currently drafted, would unfairly result in double taxation for banks. See the talking points here.

In addition, we have been actively lobbying against SB 512 by Sen. Drew Echols (R-Gainesville), which would prohibit interchange from being applied to the sales tax portion of card transactions. The bill was assigned this week to the Senate Finance Committee, and we are sharing detailed talking points with members and legislators. See the talking points here.

Sen. Blake Tillery

Sen. Drew Echols

Tripp Cofield testifying

GBA Testifies in House Subcommittee on Local Government Investment Options

GBA President and CEO Tripp Cofield testified Tuesday before the House Governmental Affairs Subcommittee on State and Local Government on HB 871 by Rep. Victor Anderson (R-Clarkesville). The bill would expand investment options for local government entities, including counties, cities and school systems, to include money market funds, commercial paper and new local government investment pools formed through interlocal agreements. The bill also establishes a board of management for these trusts, composed of participating members and overseen by private investment advisors.

Rep. Victor Anderson

GBA and other banking groups, along with the Office of the State Treasurer, raised concerns over increased and unfair competition for public deposits, which local banks depend on heavily as part of their deposit mix to recycle into community loans. Banks also currently must collateralize these public deposits above FDIC limits, sometimes up to 110%, while the proposed new pools would not face similar collateralization requirements to protect the funds. The bill received an informational hearing only and was not voted on.

Bills on State-Level Stablecoin Regulation and Penny Rounding Clear House Banks & Banking Committee

The House Banks & Banking Committee met Friday morning and favorably reported two bills GBA has been tracking.

Stablecoin

HB 1272 by Rep. Todd Jones (R-South Forsyth) seeks to establish a state-level regulatory framework for stablecoin issuance that is substantially similar to the Federal GENIUS Act. The bill would allow the Banking Department to license and regulate stablecoin issuers, creating a regulatory structure for businesses considering operations in Georgia. This bill would make Georgia the first state to pass laws substantially similar to the Federal Genius Act.

Rep. Todd Jones

Transaction Rounding

HB 1112 by Rep. Carter Barrett (R-Cumming) allows merchants to round cash transaction totals to the nearest five cents when customers pay with coins or currency. If one cent, two cents, six cents or seven cents is at the end of the resulting total, the total will be rounded down to the nearest five cents. If three cents, four cents, eight cents, or nine cents is at the end of the resulting total, the total will be rounded up to the nearest five cents. The rounding bill was amended to clarify that applicable sales tax must be charged on the full amount of the sales price prior to rounding up or down. 

Rep. Carter Barrett

Updates on Legislation GBA is Tracking

Be sure and set a web browser bookmark for the State Issues page on the GBA website to track details about specific bills during the session. Clicking a bill number link gives you the text of the bill and its current status as it moves through the process. GBA is tracking many bills on the State Issues page that will be reported on during the session if action is taken on them and they are relevant to the banking industry. This week, we want to note the following:

Hurricane Helene

SB 59 By Sen. Sam Watson (R-Moultrie) increases the aggregate cap for Hurricane Helene timber loss tax credits from $200 million to $250 million. It establishes a dual application process with preapproval required through 2025 and direct applications accepted starting in 2026. The bill was favorably reported by the House Ways & Means Committee. The House sponsor is Rep. Angie O’Steen (R-Ambrose).

Residential Property Insurance

SB 409 by Sen. Larry Walker (R-Perry) regulates how insurance companies use aerial and satellite images for residential property coverage, underwriting and pricing decisions. It establishes homeowner protections by requiring insurers to provide date-stamped images and specific corrective steps for adverse underwriting decisions, such as cancellations or premium increases. Homeowners must be given at least 60 days to address issues, with an appeal process and the opportunity to submit proof of corrections. The bill also requires insurers to offer policy renewals or rescind adverse decisions once the conditions are resolved. The bill passed the Senate.

Residential Property Ownership

SB 463 by Sen. Greg Dolezal (R-Cumming) prohibits business enterprises from owning more than 500 single-family residential properties and bans foreign investment vehicles from owning single-family rental properties starting Jan. 1, 2027. It creates private lawsuits with statutory damages of up to $100,000 per violation and eliminates certain tax benefits for violating businesses. The bill was favorably reported by the Senate Economic Development and Tourism Committee.

Magistrate Court Claims

HB 792 by Rep. Martin Momtahan (R-Dallas) increases the monetary jurisdiction limit for magistrate court civil claims from $15,000 to $25,000. It expands the authority of magistrate courts to handle higher-value civil disputes, including garnishment and attachment cases. The bill was favorably reported by the House Judiciary Committee.

State Individual Income Tax

HB 880 by Rep. Shaw Blackmon (R-Bonaire) reduces Georgia's individual income tax rate from 5.19% to 3.99% through gradual annual reductions beginning in 2026. It increases standard and dependent deductions, and retirement income exclusions for taxpayers age 65 and older, while expanding the Revenue Shortfall Reserve cap. The bill was favorably reported by the House Ways and Means Committee last week and then recommitted to its committee of origin this week by the House Rules Committee.

Bankruptcy Exemption

HB 1024 by Rep. Soo Hong (R-Lawrenceville) increases the homestead exemption from $21,500 to $50,000 for individual debtors in bankruptcy and insolvent estate proceedings. It raises the exemption from $43,000 to $100,000 when property is the primary residence of both spouses. The bill was amended this week to establish automatic annual inflation adjustments beginning July 1, 2031, based on cost-of-living changes. The bill was favorably reported by the House Judiciary Committee.

Forestry Manufacturing

HB 1085 by Rep. Jesse Petrea (R-Savannah) creates new tax credits for forestry manufacturing facilities in Georgia, including job-creation and investment-property credits based on county tier designations. It allows forestry manufacturers to transfer or sell unused tax credits to other Georgia taxpayers from 2026 through 2030, with specific reporting requirements. The bill was favorably reported by the House Ways & Means Committee.

Georgia Housing and Finance Authority

HB 1180 by Rep. Clint Crowe (R-Jackson) eliminates outstanding bond limits for the Georgia Housing and Finance Authority's single-family residential housing program and other financing programs. It requires all authority bonds to include a statement clarifying they do not constitute state debt or pledge state backing. The bill was withdrawn from the House Rules Calendar this week and recommitted to the House Rules Committee.

State Agencies

HB 1247 by Rep. Matt Reeves (R-Duluth) prohibits courts and administrative officers from deferring to state agency interpretations of laws and regulations. It requires independent judicial interpretation of constitutional provisions, statutes, regulations and subregulatory documents. The bill was favorably reported by the House Governmental Affairs Committee.

Consumer Reporting

HB 1301 By Rep. Don Parsons (R-Marietta) amends Georgia's consumer reporting requirements to clarify that public record information must accurately reflect the present legal status as of the report date. It requires consumer reporting agencies to ensure arrest, conviction, restriction and pardon records show current status when used for employment purposes. The bill has been assigned to the House Agriculture & Consumer Affairs Committee.

Local Zoning and Permitting

HB 1315 by Rep. Kasey Carpenter (R-Dalton) limits local government zoning and permitting moratoria to a maximum duration of 180 days with a required 30-day public notice. It waives sovereign immunity, allowing property owners to sue for damages when moratoria exceed time limits. The bill has been assigned to the House Governmental Affairs Committee.

Foreclosure

HB 1364 by Rep. Rob Leverett (R-Elberton) repeals nonjudicial foreclosure provisions for time-share estates created during specific time periods between 2023 and 2026. It establishes different foreclosure procedures for owners' associations and mortgagees based on when time-share estates were created. The bill has been assigned to the House Judiciary Committee.

Tax on Overtime and Tips

HB 1370 by Rep. John Carson (R-Marietta) excludes up to $2,500 in overtime compensation and up to $5,000 in cash tips from Georgia state income tax. It requires employers to report overtime and tip compensation data to the state monthly or quarterly. The bill has been assigned to the House Ways & Means Committee.

GBA Represented at the Capitol

The association’s advocacy team is hard at work representing the interests of banking at the State Capitol. Reach out to any of them if you need information about a bill, contact information for your representatives or tips on where to park if you’re coming for a visit. Here’s their contact information:

• Elizabeth Chandler, executive vice president, government relations and advocacy: echandler@gabankers.com, 404.372.7893
• Bo Brannen, senior vice president, member services and advocacy: bbrannen@gabankers.com, 404.731.9886
• Steve Bridges, government relations consultant: sbridges@gabankers.com, 770.789.5605
• Tripp Cofield, president and CEO: tcofield@gabankers.com, 617.909.9530.

We will publish future editions of the Legislative Update after the General Assembly adjourns each week. Please let us know if you have questions or comments on issues of interest to you.