The Columbia County Exhibition Center was filled on Thursday with business owners and community leadership eager to get insights into the 2026 Georgia Legislative session.
The Columbia County Chamber of Commerce’s annual Legislative Breakfast brought together state Senator Lee Anderson (R-District 24) and Representatives Dr. Mark Newton (R-District 127) and Gary Richardson (R-District 125) for a panel discussion.
“I think it’s important for the business community to know what’s coming, to know what’s going to be discussed in Atlanta, to be able to talk to members and to be able to say, ‘We agree with you on this. Have you thought about that? Are there unintended consequences that you haven’t considered?’ This gives us the opportunity to hear these things and start thinking about it and be ready to be advocates,” Interim Chamber President and CEO David Jameson explained for ABD.
Topics ranged from tort reform to still-needed help to recover from Hurricane Helene and the elimination of the state income tax.
Governor Brian Kemp (R) has signed legislation lowering the personal income tax incrementally for the past two sessions. He has said he would like to see it eliminated.
Richardson said he expects some movement to continue reducing personal income tax, but he can see a downside to eliminating it entirely.
“I’m not interested in doing away with state income tax, if it’s going to cost you more money with your sales tax,” he said. “I think it’ll hurt the communities that border different states that have lower sales tax if you raise the sales tax in Georgia to do away with the income tax.
One topic Richardson would like to explore is reexamining cameras that have been placed in school zones to detect speeders.
“That was presented as a safety thing. And I don’t think it’s turned out to be a safety thing. It’s turned out to be a revenue generator,” he said. “They’re running them 24 hours a day, on weekends, on holidays. It was supposed to be when school was in session, and so that’s an issue. The House passed two bills last year, one to totally do away with, and the other to restrict them greatly. So, I see that as a hot topic that we have to deal with coming up.”
It has been a year since Hurricane Helene devastated large areas of the C.S.R.A. Anderson, a fourth-generation farmer, said progress has been made, but there is more to be done.
“It hurts big time,” he said. “We still got people hurting from that. And then the economy, every product that we produce, corn, peanuts, you name it, every one of them is not bringing a good price right now.”
Kemp’s signature tort reform package passed in the 2025 session, but by a razor-thin, one-vote margin in the Georgia House. Newton does not believe there will be an effort to reopen the discussion.
“There’s always a certain amount of pushback, but there’s a general rule this year we’re not,” he said. “Because everybody understands if you open it back up, some smart people on the other side will try to introduce a loophole that they realize would work. So, we’re going to be very judicious and careful to make sure it doesn’t get weakened.”
Among the attendees was Dr. Thad Wilkins, just named as the Chief Medical Officer for the new hospital under construction near the exhibition center. He said sessions like the legislative breakfast create the opportunity to anticipate what to expect in the upcoming legislative session.
“Of course, we want the things that support the community. I’ve been a Columbia County resident since 2002, and so Columbia County is very important to me and my family,” he said. “I’m hoping to hear the things that are going to be important for Columbia County and how we build the infrastructure here. And of course, the hospital is one thing of how we build the infrastructure for the community.”
The Opening Day for the 2026 Georgia Legislative session is Jan. 12, 2026.
