Tillery: Week 10 Under the Gold Dome

There are only 5 legislative days left in the 2026 session and the work is intense.

This week’s biggest news revolved around tax savings for Georgians. We voted to suspend the gas tax for the next 60 days in light of the price surge from the Iranian Conflict. Governor Kemp also signed the income tax rebate legislation, returning $250 to each single income tax filer and $500 to married couples filing jointly. The total cost of the gas tax holiday is roughly $400 million. The income tax rebate checks total over $1 billion. Each of these measures return money to hardworking families in our state.

Here are a few other measures that passed the Senate this week: HB 1379 requires schools and colleges to report when foreign adversaries like China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea send money for projects or other things to Georgia schools.

HB 535 cracks down on fentanyl dealers.

HB 1374 fixes a loophole where insurance companies were able to shaft healthcare providers from 3-5% of their payments by requiring them to route payments through credit card companies.

Additionally, my Senate Bill 91, which protects independent pharmacists from unfair business practices by pharmacy benefit managers, made it out of a House committee and will hopefully reach the House Floor before the end of session.

As always, thank you for allowing me to serve you in Atlanta and if you have any questions, don’t hesitate to call.

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, as well as a portion of Coffee County. He may be reached by phone at (404) 656-5038 or by email at Blake.Tillery@senate.ga.gov.

By Sen. Blake Tillery (R-Vidalia)