FROM: Citizens for Free Enterprise Action
TO: Interested Parties
RE: Georgia 2025 Legislative Session Analysis
The Georgia General Assembly wrapped up its 2025 legislative session in April after considering more than 1,300 different bills. On July 1, many of the new laws passed by the General Assembly and signed by Governor Kemp took effect. In total, Governor Kemp signed 363 new laws, bringing victories on key issues as state policymakers embraced free enterprise values. Although a handful of bills that would have benefited Georgians did not make it through final passage due to various time and political constraints, the work done this session was extremely positive for Georgians. Importantly, legislators stood in the way of many harmful bills that would have had significant harm for the state.
KEY TAKEWAYS
We applaud Georgia legislators for taking an important step to combat the influence of the Chinese Communist Party by bringing more transparency to CCP funding given to universities. Two other major issues are worth highlighting in detail.
- For the second straight session, Governor Kemp and legislative leaders prioritized tax relief for Georgians. New changes lowered the overall tax burden in the state, allowing Georgians to keep more of their hard-earned money every year. This session’s tax reform further cut the rate for individual tax payers, saving them more than $880 million next year, and will deliver more than $1 billion in additional refunds to taxpayers due to a budget surplus. Almost half of the surplus refunds were delivered by July 1, and the rest are expected to be processed soon.
- The legislative session brought much-needed regulatory relief for Georgians who operate independent, home-based food businesses. The new law authorizes the production and sale of certain homemade foods, creates licensing, inspection and disclosure requirements, and prohibits local regulations. This was a bipartisan effort after a similar bill failed to make it through last session.
HARMFUL LEGISLATION DEFEATED
Nearly as important as the positive bills that passed the legislature were the numerous harmful bills that legislative leaders successfully stopped. Among the many harmful bills this session, some of the worst would have instituted socialist price controls that limit consumer choice and imposed harmful new requirements on thriving businesses in Georgia.
- The most notable bill was a late introduction that would have imposed soviet-style price controls on prescription drugs in the state. Under the bill, a government board of five bureaucrats would have the power to set the price of any prescription drug sold in the state. The bill would impose other restrictions as well that, combined with the price controls, would lead to drug shortages and higher costs for Georgians. Rather than unleashing the innovative spirit of Georgia’s entrepreneurs, this bill would recycle socialist policies that have failed time and time again.
- Another harmful bill imposed costly new red tape for employers in one of Georgia’s fastest growing industries. The so-called Warehouse Worker Protection Act would have added numerous restrictions on how employers interact with their employees. The bill would have been an end run around the state’s right to work protections for employees by imposing union-style restrictions in businesses without union employees.
Bottom Line: Positive legislation passed by the General Assembly and signed by Governor Kemp, including major tax reform and relief for home-based businesses, means Georgians can rest easy knowing that free enterprise has been preserved for another legislative session.