Gov. Brian Kemp launched the first wave of bill signings last week ahead of today’s deadline to ratify or veto hundreds of measures passed in the 2026 General Assembly session.
It’s difficult to look into the crystal ball to see what the governor will do in light of lawmakers’ approval of over $3 billion in new tax breaks for every one they cut. Will any of these breaks be vetoed? Kemp vetoed seven bills last year around this time.
Senate Appropriations Chair Blake Tillery, running for lieutenant governor in the Republican primary, sought to eliminate various tax credits in order to curb what he calls “corporate welfare” and to generate millions of dollars in new revenue. Thirteen major breaks were axed. For an example, one single tax break— ending the sales tax exemption for boats sold by license dealers to out-of-state residents— is estimated to raise $51 million over five years. However, the economy must continue to grow in order to garner far more revenue
The highly-publicized income tax cut of billions of dollars for ordinary Georgians, contained in House Bill 463, championed by Lt. Gov. Burt Jones, received the governor’s signature yesterday. However, the General Assembly elected to leave the state’s data center tax breaks intact, even after a state report recently estimated Georgia would miss out on $2.5 billion in tax revenue. And breaks for insurance companies were left intact.
Jones, running for governor in the GOP primary, fought hard to eliminate the data center tax break, as well as the one for insurance firms, to generate far more revenue. But although he was unsuccessful, Jones supporters say he won points with the Republican voter base for fighting the good fight to achieve his goal of eliminating the state income tax by 2032.
