Sen. Blake Tillery

Guest columnist

Our work under the Gold Dome may be done for now, but my work for you isn’t. I’m back home in the 19th District, focused on doing right by you and your family.

This year, I had the honor of leading the Senate’s work on the Fiscal Year 2027 budget. It’s a $38.5 billion plan built on the simple principle of living within our means and spending money where it actually makes a difference.

Here’s where that money is going: We increased funding for the Teachers’ Retirement System to keep it strong and solvent.

We’re putting $100 million into the Employees’ Retirement System, so state workers can retire with security.

We funded 900 new waiver slots for Georgians with intellectual and developmental disabilities —something families have been waiting on for years.

We’re investing $5 million to expand healthcare access in rural Georgia.

And we set aside resources to protect our number one industry — agriculture.

We also tackled a problem we can’t ignore… literacy. Right now, only about one in four kids in Georgia reads on grade level. That’s not acceptable, and this year we invested $70 million to put literacy coaches in every K-3 school and passed the Georgia Early Literacy Act. Our goal is to catch problems early and fix them before kids fall behind for good.

We also worked to put money back in your pocket.

We passed legislation to lower the state income tax rate down to 3.99% over time and increase the standard deduction. That means more of your paycheck stays with you, not the government.

On property taxes, we put real guardrails in place. Annual reassessments are now capped at 3% or inflation, whichever is lower. No more surprise spikes.

We also gave local governments new options — like FLOST and LHOST — that, if approved by voters, could cut property taxes in half or even eliminate them in most areas. That’s real relief.

On the policy side, we passed legislation to better support foster children with autism. This will give families the tools they need to provide proper care.

And we passed a bill to stop insurance companies from forcing providers into payment systems that tack on unnecessary credit card fees. It’s just common sense that more money should go to care, not processing fees.

Here’s a summary of some of the other highlights from this year’s session that I am most proud of: HB 1000 – returns $1 billion directly back to Georgia taxpayers through a fourth, one-time tax rebate. Married couples filing jointly will receive $500, and single filers will receive $250.

HB 463 – this was the House version of my income tax bill. We didn’t get everything I wanted, but this bill will provide significant tax relief to Georgians by gradually reducing the state’s individual income tax rate from 4.99% to 3.99% and raising the standard deduction.

SB 33 – provides Georgia property tax relief with protections against unexpected increases in property tax bills by capping assessment increases at 3% or the rate of inflation.

HB 1199 – suspends the state gas tax for 60 days as oil prices spike, saving Georgians $400 million.

HB 1344 – takes a stab at making the insurance claims process fairer for consumers. We learned a lot as we watched insurance companies adjust claims during Hurricane Helene. I pray our neighbors never have to deal with this again.

HB 1085 – helps Georgia’s forestry industry by providing specific, limited-time income tax credits specifically for forestry manufacturing businesses in Georgia. This bill does what tax credits should do — it makes a specific attempt to jumpstart new processes and markets for Georgia timber.

HB 1193 – tackles Georgia’s abhorrent third-grade reading level. Currently, only 29% of Georgia’s third graders read on grade level. This bill places literacy coaches in every K-3 elementary school and stops promotion of children to the next grade when they can’t read.

HB 1009 – makes all classrooms in Georgia cell-phone free. This eliminates a huge distraction we’ve heard from teachers.

SB 452 – supports our state law enforcement heroes in their retirement by increasing the state’s contributions to their 401(k) retirement accounts.

It’s also not lost on me that this will be my last session update as your senator. Thank you for the support you’ve shown me, Ashlee Nicole, and our family over the past 10 years you’ve allowed me to serve you. It has been an honor of a lifetime. I hope my service to you is not done and only changes roles. But nevertheless, though session may be over, I’m still working. If you need help, have a concern or just want to talk, don’t hesitate to reach out. Thank you for the joy of serving you.

Sen. Blake Tillery serves as chairman of the Senate Committee on Appropriations. He represents the 19th Senate District, which includes Appling, Bacon, Jeff Davis, Long, Montgomery, Tattnall, Telfair, Toombs, Wayne and Wheeler counties, and a portion of Coffee County. He may be reached by email at Blake.Tillery@senate.ga.gov.