2024 Legislative Session Highlights

The 2024 Legislative Session was very successful. A total of 242 bills passed both chambers out of the thousands that were filed.

Several tax bills passed, resulting in a reduction of the state personal income tax, corporate tax, and a cap on annual property tax increases. In addition to refunds in the last two years, the legislature has been decreasing taxes every year during this robust economy. I passed a bill that allows Cherokee citizens to vote on raising the senior school tax exemption. With a budget surplus due to good conservative leadership by Gov. Brian Kemp and other state leaders, Georgia is in an enviable position.

Public safety gets a lot of emphasis at the Capitol, and there were many bills passed supporting our law enforcement officers, notably a salary increase. There were also bills strengthening our laws on trafficking and gang activity as well as two bills on enforcement of immigration laws by cracking down on sanctuary cities and mandating that our sheriffs work with federal immigration officials. So many of our crime problems and drug problems are related to the massive amount of fentanyl crossing our borders, which especially affects Georgia's young people. We also passed a bill restricting land purchases near military installations by our adversaries.

As usual, education got significant attention. Teachers and other school personnel got another raise. We fully funded the Quality Basic Education formula for our schools again and increased resources for school safety and student mental health. We expanded funding for pre-K, understanding that early childhood literacy is a predictor of future success. We also passed school choice for families in failing school districts. Fortunately, we have excellent schools in Cherokee, so this will not change anything for our school district.

We passed legislation about squatting, giving homeowners more protection against people who move into their homes and refuse to leave.

We passed the Certificate of Need reform to help Georgia's rural hospitals, but we still have work to do to make this bureaucratic process easier and improve choices for patients.

I was fortunate to pass quite a few bills this year on issues such as foster care, licensure, streamlining and adding transparency to state government, and supporting our military and veteran communities.

We passed the budget on the very last day of the 2024 session. Unlike the federal government, we balance our budget — as our state Constitution mandates.

I am proud to serve Cherokee County and look forward to continuing my work. Please contact my office if you have any questions.