2026 Crossover Report

Georgia First’s 2026 Crossover Report

Friday, March 6, marked Crossover Day in the Georgia General Assembly: a deadline by which bills must “crossover” by clearing the House or Senate to be eligible to continue toward becoming law. This session has included many bills across Georgia First’s key legislative priorities, and we will continue to stay engaged and active on these priorities for the remainder of session. But Crossover Day does provide a narrowing of focus, where it becomes clear to lawmakers and organizations like Georgia First where to direct our energy in the final sprint toward Sine Die. To that end, this report includes bills that crossed over that Georgia First is prioritizing through the end of session.

Strong Support

• HB 1193 – Places a qualified literacy coach in every Georgia public school with students enrolled in kindergarten through 3rd grade, encourages Georgia families to start kindergarten at age five, and establishes the Georgia Literacy Task Force, providing universal reading screener products and helping select the coaches in each school.
• SB 427 – Creates a limited provisional license for certain internationally trained physicians, allowing them to practice medicine under supervision in rural counties, licensed hospitals, or accredited medical schools in Georgia.
• HB 1030 – Updates Georgia’s approach to math education by requiring the State Board of Education to set standards for advanced math courses and mandating that local school districts offer those courses.

Support

• HB 506 – Allows for Medicaid coverage of tobacco cessation treatments.
• HB 1123 – Requires certain schools that offer after-school programs to make such programs available to pre-kindergarten students on the same basis as the school’s other students.
• HB 963 – Prohibits foreign nationals from contributing to or participating in any campaign to bring about the approval or rejection by the voters of any proposed question which appears on the ballot.
• SB 369 – Allows the State Board of Education to provide rules and regulations to provide for charter petitions for a dropout recovery charter school.
• HB 907 – Requires certain local school systems to either be a party to a collaborative operating agreement with a completion special school or provide certain education programs and services to students in grades 9-12.

Oppose

• HB 947 – Tightens Georgia’s administration of SNAP eligibility, verification, and oversight requirements.
  • Georgia First is concerned that HB 947 would impose unnecessary verification requirements that could make it harder for eligible Georgians to access SNAP benefits while increasing administrative burden for the state.
• HB 397 – Restructures the State Election Board, tightens rules on election administration and absentee voting, restricts participation in certain interstate voter-roll programs, revises timelines for special elections, and expands reporting and poll watcher access.
  • HB 397 includes several constructive reforms — particularly around transparency and election administration stability. However, Georgia First remains concerned that some provisions may unnecessarily restrict voter participation or complicate voter list maintenance. We are encouraging lawmakers to ensure that any changes strengthen both election integrity and voter access.

Watching

• HB 54 – Allows advanced practice registered nurses (APRNs) and physician assistants (PAs) to order home health services, create treatment plans, and determine medical necessity for equipment and supplies, roles previously limited to physicians.
• SB 214 – As written, requires the use of optical scan voting with paper ballots and “ballot-on-demand” printing statewide.
  • Note: Georgia First expects the content of this bill to change significantly as it may become a vehicle for other elections-related provisions. Georgia First continues to watch this bill closely for developments. 
• HB 134 – Drops the personal and corporate income tax rates from 5.19% to 4.99% in 2026. The bill also raises the standard deduction for single filers to $50,000. It raises the standard deduction for married filers filing jointly to $100,000. The standard deduction changes go into effect beginning in 2027. To finance these changes, the bill ends dozens of existing tax breaks beginning in 2027.
• HB 463 – Drops the personal income tax rate to 4.49% in 2027 and 3.99% in 2028, dependent upon the meeting of certain revenue goals. This bill is companion legislation to HB 134.
• HB 1276 – Restricts Medicaid eligibility by allowing the Department of Community Health to require further document verification, expanded state and federal data checks, and mandating regular eligibility reviews.
  • While this bill did not cross over, there is still a possibility that this language could reappear through amendment to a bill that could still pass. We will continue to watch this proposal — Georgia First is concerned that the provisions in this bill will leave vulnerable and currently Medicaid-eligible people, such as pregnant women and children, without coverage and pose excessive cost to Georgia taxpayers. 

Economy

Numerous bills have been introduced this year that would affect the future of Georgia’s economy and workforce related to lower education, higher education, housing, and tax policy. While these bills cover a variety of topics and are at different stages of the legislative process, Georgia First stands in strong support of several bills that would improve Georgia’s education system and work to create a vibrant future for our state by enabling students to enter the workforce well-prepared for success.

Healthcare

Healthcare legislation introduced this year spanned a wide range. Some key bills moving forward address the need for expanded care in rural areas, expanded scope of practice, Medicaid coverage for smoking cessation treatment, and assistance for small businesses offering health coverage. It is also worth noting that the year included attempts to expand Medicaid in both the House and Senate — specifically via proposed amendments to HB 1276 and SB 440. Though these attempts were not successful, they speak to the urgency of Medicaid expansion, particularly in the wake of federal policy changes that are expected to drastically worsen the uninsurance rate and pummel our healthcare economy.

Democracy and Elections

We have seen both positive and negative changes proposed to Georgia’s election laws this year, but unfortunately the negative changes have necessitated the bulk of Georgia First’s focus. These negative changes likely to be packaged together in an omnibus bill, whether it passes or not, will continue to harm voter confidence in our state. If passed, they threaten to undermine the integrity of our free, secure, and fair elections. But while much of our effort for the rest of session will need to be spent defending our democratic system, we are proudly actively supporting improvements to that same system. We will be working hard to see HB 502 — a bill that provides preferential treatment to parents of young or special needs children during advance voting and certain hours on election day — become law.