There will be no redistricting, no property tax relief and QR codes will continue to be used for voting after a special called session of the Georgia General Assembly ended last week.
Republican Speaker of the House Jon Burns (R-Newington) and Republican Senator Larry Walker III (RPerry) announced shortly before the session was gaveled in there would be no redistricting during the special session.
“We knew it was not the right time for our state,” Burns said.
Redistricting is generally done immediately after the U.S. Census every 10 years, but a U.S. Supreme Court ruling in April changed the 1965 Voting Rights Act’s protections against maps that dilute minority voting strength.
Republicans in some other states quickly redrew district lines after the Supreme Court ruling, prompting protests. Georgia Democrats protested the proposed redistricting claiming Republicans intended to eliminate Democratic districts by redrawing the maps. While the issue won’t come up this session, leaders in the legislature indicated it could be up for consideration again before the 2028 elections.
Democrats in the Georgia House rejected a Republican plan to reduce homeowner property tax bills that would have allowed local governments to levy a Local Homestead Option Sales Tax (LHOST). Proceeds from the sales tax would be applied to property tax bills to give relief to land and home owners. (See related story.)
Had the bill passed, plans called for local governments to vote on the LHOST as soon as the general election in November.
Pierce County and the cities of Blackshear and Patterson had given public notice they intended to put the LHOST on the ballot as soon as possible.
The LHOST bill passed the House 9567, but constitutional amendments require a two-thirds majority which is 120 votes in the 180-seat Georgia House of Representatives.
The Democrats’ argument was unchanged from their refusal to support a similar GOP tax plan during the regular session earlier this year. Democratic leadership’s position was a sales tax to subsidize homeowner property tax bills would raise prices on all Georgia citizens for everything they buy.
Republicans contended that fast-rising property tax bills have become unaffordable and that their approach would have helped.
Republicans had pointed out that tourists pay sales taxes too. They did not point out, however, that the revenue would have subsidized only the local government portion of the tax bill and not the school portion, which is typically the largest share.
The Legislature also failed to come up with a solution for Georgia’s voting process.
Georgia Governor Brian Kemp originally called lawmakers back to the Capitol to address their July 1 ban on using QR codes to tally votes.
Use of QR codes in Georgia’s voting process had been set to become illegal today, July 1.
When lawmakers met for their regular session earlier this year, they failed to adopt or fund an alternate method of voting.
The Assembly approved a measure that would delay changes to Georgia’s voting process including banning the use of QR codes to tally votes until the 2028 voting cycle.
The issue came up in the aftermath of the 2020 election, after President Donald Trump raised questions about Georgia’s election intergrity.
Critics of the state’s voting machines have zeroed in on the QR codes, which is scanned and readable by computer, but not the human eye. Election officials have made adjustments, including a requirement where each voter receives a physical printout of their choices and uses that to scan and cast their ballots.
While the issue was not resolved, the Assembly called for the appoinment of a special committee to address issues with Georgia’s election processes. The committee would be appointed by state leadership, all of which are Republicans. Democrats criticized the committee idea as unfair, claiming they would not get any seats on the committee.
While the QR code issue was the main reason for the special session, Kemp revised the agenda to include the addition of redistricting, LHOST property tax relief and a measure ratifying his suspension of the gas tax after the regular session ended. Kemp suspended the gas tax in response to rising fuel prices during the Iran War. The fuel tax suspension measure was the only major item that passed during the special session.
Story courtesy Ty Tagami of the Capitol Beat News Service.
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