2026 Legislative Session: Week 4 Review from Rep. Bruce Williamson

Dear Friends, 

Legislative Week 4 has concluded. Many groups and organizations choose this week to visit their State Capitol. This week we hosted events such as Hispanic Day, KSU Day, Girl Scout Day, ROTC Day, Firefighter Recognition Day, along with numerous school classes. It is always a pleasure to interact with people and educate them about the legislative process.

House Republicans have introduced several legislative initiatives to support our fellow Georgians. Last week, I shared with you the launch of the Georgia Home Act to eliminate property taxes. This week, we unveiled two additional bills: Georgia Families First and the Georgia Early Literacy Act 2026.

Georgia Families FirstThe Georgia Families First initiative emphasizes “The Georgia House reaffirmed our longstanding commitment to advancing family-focused priorities that expand opportunity and support women and families as they work to provide a safe, healthy, and brighter future for their children,” said Speaker Pro Tem Jan Jones.

Here is a list of the proposed bills and additional funding in this initiative:

• HB 1123: Requires public schools that offer Pre-K and also offer after-school care services to grades K-5 students to make after-school services available to Pre-K students on the same basis.
• HB 1118: Provides state employee birth mothers with an additional three weeks of paid leave, increasing total paid leave for birth mothers from 6 weeks to 9 weeks.
• HB 1138: Increases access to contraceptives by allowing pharmacists to prescribe birth control.
• HB 1142: Creates a time-limited, statewide domestic violence offender registry within the Georgia Bureau of Investigation.
• Invests $8.9 million to expand the Department of Public Health’s Home Visiting Nurse Program to expectant and new birth mothers from 75 counties to 154 counties.
• Appropriates $9.7 million to fully fund before-school, after-school, and holiday-care for low-income and priority eligible Georgia Pre-K students.
• Uses $9.7 million in federal funds to increase the number of children with working parents covered by the childcare subsidy for low-income and priority-eligible children.
• Invests $2 million in lottery funds to expand Georgia’s Summer Transition Program for rising Pre-K students, supporting working families with summer childcare assistance.

House Republicans unveil legislation aimed at support for working familes.

Georgia Early Literacy Act of 2026Speaker of the House Jon Burns praised House Bill 1193, the Georgia Early Literacy Act of 2026, a major education reform. The bill invests in K-3 education and underscores Georgia’s commitment to helping every child succeed and build a brighter future.

Here are a few items this legislation will do or address:

• Include funding for school-based literacy coaches in each public school in this state with students in any of the grades, kindergarten through third grade.
• Require all children to attend kindergarten prior to enrolling in first grade.
• Encourage families to have their children attend school or a home study program beginning at age five.
• Provide first-grade readiness assessments.
• Require annual reports regarding first-grade readiness.
• Require local school systems and other public schools to have unified literacy plans.

This week, my bill HB 945 passed the House. This bill will put guardrails in place to prevent the financial exploitation of the elderly and the disabled by allowing our financial institutions to pause financial transactions when there is reason to suspect fraud. It also provides training to identify financial exploitation.

House Bill 973, the Amended Fiscal Year 2026 budget, passed the House. This budget provides state funding through the end of the current fiscal year on June 30, 2026. 

House Bill 659 passed. This legislation expands funding for medical education by including optometrists in the state’s loan-repayment and financial-assistance programs. The bill aims to encourage Georgia residents to pursue careers in optometry and help address our shortages.

House Bill 350 passed. This bill would update Georgia’s Safe Place for Newborns Act. This bill allows fire stations, medical facilities, police stations, and ambulance services to implement newborn safety devices for use by mothers who need to safely surrender their newborns.

House Bill 946 passed. This legislation supports our agricultural industry and rural communities by addressing the feral hog population problem. This bill would allow hunters to trap feral hogs on private property without a hunting or trapping license. 

Christy Ellerbee from Monroe visited. Her husband, Sean, owns the Ellerbee Allstate Insurance Agency, and Christy is employed by the Electronic Payments Coalition.

It was great to have Darrell McWaters and Ned Butler with Reliant Homes come visit the Capitol.

Happy to have Candace Coker of Monroe visiting on behalf of the Dental Hygienists. Tommy Fountain and the wonderful members and staffe of 1025 Church in Monroe visited for Georgia Baptist Day at the . Jenni Phipps, Lisa Clark and my longtime friend Joyce Chambers with the Walton County Board of Elections updated Rep. Rey Martinez and me on their preparations for uncoming elections in Walton County. We appreciate their hard work and dedication. Monroe’s own, the 2024 National Trooper of the Year, Julian Mapes, brought his delicious homemade cookies to the House of Representatives on Friday morning! That was a surprise. Julian and the entire Georgia State Patrol protection team do a great job at the Capitol. Great seeing Kent Edwards at the Capitol. He served our country for twenty years in the US Navy and 18 as a Navy SEAL! Now he’s with a company that sells bullet resistant glass for law enforcement vehicles.

Speaker Burns introduces House priority legislation: Georgia Early Literacy Act 2026.

Education Chairman Chris Erwin will be carrying this legislation through the House.