2026 Georgia Legislative Session - Week 7-8 - Jaclyn Ford

During weeks seven and eight of the 2026 legislative session, my House colleagues and I continued our work at the Georgia State Capitol. Much of our time was spent in committee meetings reviewing and discussing legislation before it heads to the House floor. These workdays are an important part of the process and allow us to take a closer look at bills and hear from those impacted by the legislation.

During the eighth week of session, members of the Georgia House also joined Governor Brian Kemp as he signed House Bill 973, the Amended Fiscal Year 2026 (AFY 2026) budget, into law. We also reached and passed Crossover Day, a key milestone in the session when most bills must pass out of their chamber of origin to stay alive this year. With Crossover Day behind us, we’re now focused on reviewing legislation from the Senate and continuing to move important bills forward before we adjourn Sine Die on April 2.

Rep Ford Qualifies for Re-election

I’m excited to share that I officially qualified this week to run for re-election to the Georgia House of Representatives! Serving the people of House District 170 has been one of the greatest honors of my life. I’m grateful for the trust you have placed in me, and I remain committed to working hard every day on behalf of our communities, our small businesses, our farmers, and our families. I hope to continue earning your support and serving you to the very best of my ability. Thank you for the encouragement, prayers, and support along the way.

Morning Order in Honor of Darvin Eason

I was honored to recognize the life and legacy of Darvin Eason of Lenox on the House floor. Darvin was a lifelong advocate for Georgia agriculture whose leadership and service touched countless farmers and agribusinesses across our state. From founding Lenox Ag Services to serving in leadership roles with the Georgia Agribusiness Council and the Georgia Peanut Producers Association, his dedication to the agricultural community was remarkable.

Invite Resolution Honoring Don Koehler

It was a privilege to recognize Don Koehler on the House floor during PB&J Day at the Capitol. Don, the senior executive director of the Georgia Peanut Commission, has spent the past 40 years championing Georgia’s peanut farmers and strengthening one of our state’s most important agricultural industries. His leadership, vision, and dedication have made a lasting impact not only on the peanut industry but on rural communities across Georgia.

Morning Order welcoming ABAC to the Capitol

I had the pleasure of welcoming students and faculty from Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College to the Capitol for a morning order. It’s always inspiring to see the next generation of agricultural leaders learning about state government and civic engagement firsthand. Their curiosity, energy, and passion for Georgia agriculture remind us why it’s so important to support education, innovation, and opportunities in our farming communities. I enjoyed visiting with them and sharing a little about the work we’re doing here in the House to support Georgia’s students, farmers and rural communities.

Cotton Bill passed the House – HB 1310

I’m excited to share a quick update on HB 1310, legislation I sponsored this session to recognize cotton as Georgia’s official state fabric. Cotton has played such an important role in our state’s history and continues to be a key part of Georgia agriculture today. I’m proud to report that HB 1310 passed the Georgia House and is now headed to the Senate for consideration. I’m looking forward to continuing to work with my colleagues to move this bill forward and celebrate one of Georgia’s most iconic crops!

HB 1344 Passes the House

As mentioned in a previous newsletter, I was proud to serve on the House Blue-Ribbon Study Committee on Insurance Rates. HB 1344 reflects the hard work of that Committee, which held numerous meetings across the state during the 2025 interim to examine rate and claims issues within this industry. House Bill 1344, or the Georgia Insurance Affordability and Claims Integrity Act, would increase nearly 40 fines within Georgia’s insurance code, strengthen the authority of the Georgia Office of the Insurance and Safety Fire Commissioner to levy penalties, enhance enforcement of the state’s uninsured motorist laws, impose tougher consequences for insurance fraud and clarify claims-processing requirements following storms and other catastrophic events.

Legislation Updates:

HB 1159 – The Georgia House recently approved House Bill 1159 which exempts specific federal agricultural assistance payments from Georgia state income tax. Under this legislation, payments from the Farmer Bridge Assistance (FBA) Program would be fully tax-free at the state level, enabling producers to keep the full benefit of this federal support.

HB 1193 – One of the key measures we took up was Georgia House Bill 1193, a priority for the Georgia House of Representatives this session. The bill passed the House with overwhelming bipartisan support and aims to expand and strengthen early literacy and reading instruction for students in kindergarten through third grade.

HB 1030 – The House also focused on strengthening mathematics education in Georgia with the unanimous passage of House Bill 1030, the Math Matters Act, marking the first step in a bipartisan effort to improve student outcomes in math. The bill would expand advanced learning opportunities, increase core instructional time and improve teacher preparation by guaranteeing access to advanced math for students who are ready.

HB 340 and HB 1009 – We continued our focus on education policy, while also building on our efforts from the 2025 legislative session when the House championed House Bill 340, the Distraction-Free Education Act, banning cell phone use in Georgia’s K–8 schools. Although HB 340 will not take full effect until July 1, 2026, many elementary, middle and even high schools have already adopted similar policies, reporting positive and transformative results in our classrooms. As such, House Bill 1009 passed on Tuesday with bipartisan support and would extend this cell phone ban to high schools.

HB 1023 – Creating safe learning environments for Georgia’s students, teachers and faculty has always been a priority, and my colleagues and I continued these efforts on Tuesday by passing House Bill 1023 with bipartisan support. This legislation would require local boards of education and other public school governing bodies to implement one or more weapon detection systems at all main points of entry for permanent school buildings in Georgia’s public schools to prevent individuals from unlawfully bringing weapons onto school campuses.

HB 1123 – The Georgia House unanimously passed House Bill 1123, legislation that would expand access to after school programs to help working families. Under the bill, public schools that offer after-care programs to students in kindergarten, primary or upper elementary grades—and that also operate one or more pre-K programs—would be required to make those after-school programs available to their pre-K students on the same basis.

HB 689 – The House passed House Bill 689 with bipartisan support to establish a state homelessness prevention program overseen by the State Housing Trust Fund for the Homeless Commission and formally define programs focused on preventing homelessness, eviction and stabilizing low-income households.

HB 1000 – The House unanimously passed House Bill 1000 this week in an effort to return money to hardworking Georgians and put dollars directly back into the pockets of families across the state. As part of Gov. Kemp’s priorities funded in the AFY 2026 budget, this one-time income tax refund would be available to qualified taxpayers who filed individual income tax returns for both the 2024 and 2025 tax years by the applicable filing deadlines, including any granted extensions.

HB 1402 – As the Georgia House continues its commitment to improving literacy outcomes for students across the state, we took additional steps this week to promote early detection of vision and hearing difficulties for students with the passage of House Bill 1402. This legislation passed overwhelmingly with bipartisan support and would require all public-school students in pre-K through third grade to receive annual vision and hearing screenings at school.

HB 1413 – Building on our work to expand financial aid opportunities for students pursuing higher education in Georgia, the House passed House Bill 1413 with bipartisan support. HB 1413 would establish the Dedicating Resources to Educationally Advance More Students (DREAMS) Scholarship, a need-based scholarship program administered by the Georgia Student Finance Authority.

HB 1187 – Recognizing the importance of protecting survivors of childhood sexual abuse, my colleagues and I unanimously passed House Bill 1187, also known as Trey’s Law, which would prohibit the enforcement of any nondisclosure agreements (NDAs) or confidentiality agreements that seek to silence victims of childhood sexual abuse.

HB 1290 – We continued working to protect individuals who have experienced or may be subjected to sexual abuse with House Bill 1290, legislation aimed at strengthening protections for some of Georgia’s most vulnerable citizens—older adults and individuals with disabilities.

HB 1118 – The House continued to lead in our efforts to support new mothers with the unanimous passage of House Bill 1118. HB 1118 would build upon legislation passed during the 2024 legislative session—House Bill 1010—which expanded paid parental leave for state employees. HB 1118 would continue the House’s work to support working families by ensuring new mothers have meaningful time to recuperate following birth and care for their newborn. The bill would provide eligible state employees with 120 hours of paid maternal birth leave to be used within the first three weeks following birth.

HB 1283 – To further support victims of abuse, the Georgia House unanimously passed House Bill 1283, also known as the Family Justice Center Act, on Wednesday. The legislation would

authorize the creation of Family Justice Centers—multiagency facilities that would provide coordinated services to victims of family violence, sexual assault, child abuse, elder abuse, human trafficking and related crimes.

HB 1230 – The House took further action this week to enhance public safety, particularly within our state’s correctional facilities. As unmanned aircraft systems become more accessible and sophisticated, they have increasingly been used to surveil secure facilities and, in some cases, to deliver contraband, such as weapons, drugs and cell phones, into prison and jail yards. With that in mind, we passed House Bill 1230 with bipartisan support in an effort to strengthen security at Georgia’s correctional facilities by addressing unauthorized drone activity. HB 1230 would prohibit the operation of unmanned aircraft systems over these facilities, and it would be illegal to allow another individual to do so from one’s property.

HB 1138 – We also passed House Bill 1138, or the Increasing Access to Contraceptives Act, with bipartisan support this week. HB 1138 would increase access to contraception by making various birth control methods more readily available and financially accessible through a pharmacy.

HB 1045 – To continue the House’s work to support mental health for our young students, we unanimously passed House Bill 1045, also known as the You Are Not Alone Awareness Act. HB 1045 would require any local school system or public school that issues student identification badges to students in grades six through 12 to include the following message on badges: “9-8-8—You are not alone.

HB 1114 – On Crossover Day, the House reaffirmed its commitment to Georgia’s students by advancing legislation to strengthen financial literacy education with the passage of House Bill 1114. The bill would require the State Board of Education to adopt age-appropriate financial literacy standards for students in kindergarten through grade 12.

HB 1112 – Efforts to modernize everyday cash transactions in Georgia advanced this week with the passage of House Bill 1112. This legislation comes in response to the United States Mint officially stopping production of new circulating pennies due to high production costs—nearly four cents per coin. HB 1112 would establish a standardized cash-rounding system for purchases made using legal tender, requiring that the total cost of goods and services—including sales tax and any other applicable taxes—be rounded to the nearest five cents.

HB 1122 – The House passed House Bill 1122 with bipartisan support, which would address peripheral artery disease (PAD) and expand access to preventative vascular care. HB 1122 would expand access to screening PAD, a serious circulatory condition that affects blood flow to the lower extremities and can lead to amputations if left undetected.

HR 1000 – We also adopted House Resolution 1000, setting the stage for Georgia’s voters to consider a constitutional amendment that would support the state’s timber industry. The resolution comes at a necessary time, as the state continues to rebuild in the wake of Hurricane Helene and recent impacts of several pulp and paper mill closures in the Southeast. HR 1000 would allow standing timber to be assessed at a zero percent ad valorem tax, provided the timberland is placed under a qualifying-use covenant.

HB 668 – The House also passed House Bill 668, a measure designed to strengthen protections for service dogs and the Georgians who rely on them. HB 668 would update state law to formally recognize service dogs and establish criminal penalties and fines for individuals who interfere with or cause physical harm to a service dog, while also extending protections to their trainers and owners.