Demand Better from Lawmakers

While the first half of the session this year was one of the most contentious in recent memory, with controversial proposals around tort reform and transgender Georgians dominating much of the discourse, I believe that will end up being just the appetizer for 2026’s main course, one which will be steeped in gubernatorial grandstanding and the fallout of historic cuts from the Trump administration and Republicans in Congress.

The impact of President Donald Trump’s signature legislation, which slashed hundreds of billions of dollars in healthcare and food support, cannot be overstated. We are already seeing rural hospitals cut critical services like maternity care while hundreds of thousands of families who rely on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Plan (SNAP) are finding it harder to put food on the table, a problem which is exacerbated by Trump’s tariffs driving up prices at the grocery store.

Already, Gov. Brian Kemp has ordered state agencies to keep their budgets flat in anticipation of an economic slowdown. Some departments have asked for more money in their budgets because of the federal government shutdown. State legislators will have a choice to make – do they allow our already frayed safety net to break, or do they do what’s right and support vulnerable Georgia families? We have over $10 billion tucked away for a rainy day, and there is no question that the storm clouds are gathering and getting darker.

What would be a difficult situation in any year will be even more fraught with uncertainty next year, with so many of our state legislators running for higher office. Democrats have been advocating for critical resources for those in need for decades – pleas that have fallen on deaf ears of Republicans in power. Look no further than our failure to protect and expand Medicaid and the fact that nearly one in five Georgia children live in poverty to see the consequences of their choices.

Republicans are loath to allow Democrats to be perceived to notch a policy win in an election year. Is there a chance that we will see any meaningful legislation passed to ease the burden of higher prices and stagnant salaries? If not, what does that leave us with?

Perhaps the most noteworthy proposal comes from a GOP gubernatorial frontrunner and multiple Republican candidates for lieutenant governor. Each has made eliminating Georgia’s income tax part of their campaigns, and all are part of a legislative study committee evaluating the idea over the last five months. There are a lot of questions about these proposals, and the devil is in the details. Eliminating the state income tax would cut state revenue in half, blowing a hole in the budget of every agency, program and state facility.

It is worth digging into just how devastating such a decision would be. Our strained education system would be pushed to the breaking point, with countless children left out in the cold. More rural hospitals would be forced to close, leaving many residents without nearby care, assuming they could even still afford it. Georgia’s prisons, already facing some serious challenges, would become dens of violence and cruelty.

And that’s the damage that just that one proposal could do. In a heightened political climate now dominated by things like “crushing woke ideology” and “ending diversity, equity and inclusion,” there is no telling what bills Republicans might push to try and outflank each other to the right.

This legislative session, it falls on us, the people of Georgia, to be vigilant and demand better. We will never balance our budget on the backs of sick veterans and hungry children. We will never revitalize rural Georgia by creating restrictive laws focused on hot-button culture issues. We will never make our communities safer by throwing journalists, immigrants and small-business owners into crumbling, understaffed ICE facilities.

There is nothing I can say to stop the partisan rancor that will dominate the 2026 legislative session, much less next year’s elections. It falls on all of us to demand that our leaders focus on making life a little easier for the Georgians who need a leg up, not another boot on their neck. 

Tharon Johnson can be seen Sunday mornings on The Georgia Gang on Fox 5 Atlanta.