HomePostTopic: Public policy

Public policy

Georgia Governor Brian Kemp signs a bill into law.

Key Points

  • Georgia’s future is on the ballot in 2026 as voters elect a new governor to lead the state for the next four years. In the May 19th primary elections, Georgians picked candidates to represent each political party. They’ll choose the final winner in the general election on November 3.

  • The governor influences major issues that affect Georgians every day, like taxes, education, health care, work opportunities, and public safety.

  • Understanding the governor’s role can help voters cast their ballots for a candidate who can bring even more hope, well-being, and prosperity to people and communities across the state.

When Georgians vote for governor, they’re choosing more than a public figure. They’re electing the leader who sets the direction for everything from schools and public safety to taxes and the economy. 

While the governor can’t create laws like the legislature does, they shape daily life by deciding how the state will spend money, what bills get signed, and how certain public programs for families will operate. 

Quick Facts About Georgia’s Governor

  • Current Governor: Brian Kemp
  • Next Election Date: November 3, 2026, for the general election 
  • Term Length: Four years, with a maximum of two back-to-back terms
  • Minimum Age Requirement: 30 years old by Inauguration Day
  • Counties the Governor Serves: 159
  • State Budget the Governor Oversees: $36.6 billion

How Does the Governor Impact Everyday Lives in Georgia?

1. The governor can sign—or stop—new laws.

After a bill passes in Georgia’s House and Senate, it goes to the governor, who can sign it, veto it, or let it become law without a signature. 

If the governor vetoes a bill, Georgia’s legislators can override that action, but only with a two-thirds majority in both chambers. To avoid a veto, lawmakers usually aim to pass legislation that reflects the governor’s policy priorities.

In 2026, Georgia’s legislature passed bills that created pathways for kids to take advanced math classes in earlier grades and to improve their reading skills. The bills aligned with Governor Kemp’s goal of increasing opportunities for Georgia students, and he signed them into law right after the legislative session ended.

Georgia Governor Brian Kemp signs 2026 bills to support literacy, math education, and K-12 public schools.

On May 5, 2026, Governor Brian Kemp signed nine bills to support reading, math education, and K-12 schools in Georgia.
Photo Credit: Office of the Governor Photo Gallery. 

2. The governor helps decide where the money goes.

Every year, Georgia’s governor proposes a state budget that outlines how taxpayer dollars should be spent. Because the budget reflects the programs and services that will receive funding, it reveals the governor’s top priorities for the state. 

The legislature revises and passes the budget, but the governor still has a final influential role. Before signing the budget into law, the governor can use a line-item veto to remove parts of the budget they don’t agree with while leaving the rest as is. 

In May 2026, Governor Kemp signed House Bill 974, the state budget bill for the fiscal year starting July 1. The $36.6 billion budget directs most funding toward education, health care services, public safety, and economic growth—a clear signal of what the governor cares about. Before signing, Governor Kemp used his line-item veto authority, removing some expenses to keep the budget in balance after approving income tax cuts.

3. The governor chooses the leaders behind key family services.

Government policies aren’t implemented in one big speech or one dramatic vote. Instead, they’re carried out every day by state agencies, boards, and commissions.

The governor appoints many of the heads of those administrative offices. They oversee daily operations in workforce development, child and family services, public safety, licensing, education administration, and programs that help low-income Georgians.

The governor steers welfare (safety net) policies, for example, by appointing the members of the Board of Human Services. The members establish the state’s goals for welfare programs like the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).

4. The governor sets the policy agenda.

The governor has a powerful microphone: the annual “State of the State” address. At the beginning of the legislative session, the governor uses this speech to outline their priorities and encourage lawmakers to act on specific policies. 

And when the governor elevates an issue—whether it’s education, workforce development, public safety, or taxes—it usually moves quickly from a policy idea to serious legislative action. 

In his 2026 State of the State address, Governor Kemp proposed decreasing the state income tax to 4.99% to help Georgians keep more of what they earn. The legislature followed up by passing House Bill 463, which the governor signed into law.

5. The governor leads during emergencies.

The governor uses executive orders and emergency powers to quickly mobilize state resources when storms, wildfires, public safety threats, or other emergencies hit. 

In April 2026, Governor Kemp declared a state of emergency for 91 counties in response to South Georgia wildfires and empowered state agencies to help affected residents and their families.

FAQs: The Georgia Governor’s Race in 2026 and the Election Process

How Is Georgia’s Governor Elected?

Georgians elect their governor through a direct popular vote. Unlike presidential elections, there isn’t an electoral college that casts deciding votes.

During primary elections, voters pick final candidates from each political party. Contenders have to earn at least 50% of the votes in the primary to win, so run-off elections are possible. 

The same requirement applies in the general election. If no candidate earns more than half the votes, the top two competitors head to a run-off.

Who Can Run for Governor?

A candidate must:

  • Be at least 30 years old by the time they take office
  • Have lived in Georgia for at least six years before the election
  • Have been a U.S. citizen for at least 15 years

How Long Can a Governor Serve?

Georgia governors have four-year terms and can serve up to two back-to-back terms. Former governors can run again after sitting out for at least one term.

What Happens if a Governor Leaves Office Early?

The lieutenant governor is next in line for the job and serves until the next general election.

Which Political Parties Have Georgia’s Governors Belonged to Historically?

Georgians have elected Republican governors since 2003. Before then, Democratic governors had held the office continuously since 1872.

Timeline of political party affiliations of past Georgia governors from 1971 to 2026.

Source: Former Governors in Georgia, National Governors Association

What Issues Are Candidates Talking About in 2026?

The rising cost of living is one of the biggest concerns for Georgia families—and it’s become a major focus in the 2026 governor’s race. Key affordability issues include:

  • Income Taxes: Some candidates are proposing plans to further reduce or eliminate the state income tax so Georgians can keep more money in their own pockets. 
  • Property Taxes: As housing costs continue to rise, contenders are thinking about freezing property taxes or increasing exemptions to ease the burden on homeowners. 
  • Housing Shortages: Candidates are debating how much the state should get involved in local land-use regulations to spur construction of more homes, especially those at lower prices.
  • Health Care: Gubernatorial hopefuls are proposing options to address Georgians’ health care concerns, including expanding Medicaid and reducing the cost of health insurance.

Beyond affordability, candidates are focusing on several other issues affecting families and communities across Georgia:

Welfare Reform: Contenders are thinking about how to lead the state in making big changes to welfare programs, including: 

Education: To give Georgia’s children better pathways to academic success, candidates are debating on more school choice vouchers, increased public school funding, and new early childhood education options. 

Public Safety: Competitors are prioritizing safety and security for Georgia communities by looking at ways to tackle gang activity, reform the juvenile justice system, and reduce repeat offenses. 

Why Does Understanding the Governor’s Role Matter?

Candidates know that more needs to be done to break down the economic and social barriers so many people are facing, and they’re making plans to take action if elected. But policymakers aren’t the only ones responsible.

Understanding the governor’s vital role and what they’ll do to meet the daily needs of Georgia families and neighborhoods can help voters guide meaningful change. By casting their ballots, Georgians can bring even more promise and prosperity to the state—making it a place where everyone has the chance to achieve their full potential and thrive.

Additional Resources

2026 Polls: Georgia Governor
270 to Win

Keeping Vulnerable Americans on Track: One Door out of Poverty and into Opportunity
Alliance for Opportunity

What States Can Expect with the New SNAP Match: Options to Reduce State Error Rates
Alliance for Opportunity

Georgia Candidates for Governor Should Make Welfare Reform a Top Priority
Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Georgia Gubernatorial Election, 2026
Ballotpedia

Governor of Georgia
Ballotpedia

Lieutenant Governor of Georgia
Ballotpedia

Georgia 2026 Election: Here’s Who Will Be on the Ballot During May’s Governor, Senate Primaries
CBS News

Understanding Welfare Work Requirements: New Eligibility Rules for SNAP and Medicaid
Georgia Center for Opportunity

Organization of the Executive Branch
Georgia Public Broadcasting

What Does a Governor Do?
Georgia Public Broadcasting

Short Supply: How Many More Homes Does Georgia Need?
Georgia Public Policy Foundation

10 Races for Governor to Watch in 2026
NBC News

Governor’s Office
State of Georgia

Lieutenant Governor’s Office
State of Georgia

The Three Branches of Georgia’s State Government
State of Georgia

Image Credits: Canva; Governor’s Photographer, Georgia Office of the Governor

Media statement, in the news, Georgia news, ga news

PEACHTREE CORNERS, GA—The Georgia Center for Opportunity (GCO) offers its full support to the Stronger Workforce for America Act of 2026 and commends Congressman Tim Walberg, Chair of the House Committee on Education and Workforce, for introducing this significant legislation to reauthorize the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act.

GCO is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that focuses on ensuring access to quality education, fulfilling work, and healthy family lives through research, policy analysis, and community initiatives. We advance solutions that increase opportunity and give Georgia families a durable path out of poverty. We are also a founding member of the Alliance for Opportunity, a multi-state coalition focused on improving state-administered public assistance and workforce programs to help Americans achieve lasting opportunity and stability.

The Stronger Workforce for America Act aligns with our work and includes an invaluable option for state flexibility, the Make America Skilled Again Grants. These grants would allow 10 states to implement the One Door to Work model, which would empower them to integrate their safety net and workforce systems.

Utah has had this authority for nearly 30 years, after being grandfathered into the strategy. This has enabled Utah to provide its citizens with both support to meet their immediate needs and a clearer path into the workforce and toward self-sufficiency.

The results of Utah’s One Door policy are impressive. For example, the state has outpaced the national labor force participation (LFP) rate, or the number of working-age people employed or looking for a job, by an average of 5.3%. As of late 2025, Utah’s LFP rate was approximately 67.6%, one of the highest in the nation.

In contrast, Georgia’s LFP rate is 60.6%. Put another way, nearly 40% of Georgians, many of them prime-age men, who can work are choosing not to.

Eric Cochling, GCO’s Chief Program Officer and General Counsel, emphasized the detrimental impact of these statistics and the critical importance of work for a flourishing life:

“A good job offers more than just a paycheck. It provides purpose and stability and is one of the most durable ways to empower people to break the cycle of poverty.”

He also stressed the need for reform: “If we truly want to expand opportunity in Georgia and across the country, individual workforce and safety net programs must start functioning as a true system—one that’s designed to support human dignity and flourishing. The Stronger Workforce for America Act is a much-needed step in the right direction.”

Georgia policymakers are paying attention to the success of Utah’s integrated welfare and workforce system and are seeking opportunities like the Make America Skilled Again Grants to implement similar reforms that benefit both Georgians and the state economy.

As Buzz Brockway, GCO’s Vice President of Public Policy, said:

“The ability to link workforce and safety net systems is key to boosting Georgia’s current trajectory as a leader in economic opportunity. The Make America Skilled Again Grants included in the Stronger Workforce for America Act would give Georgia’s leaders a powerful way to strengthen families, expand the workforce, and set the state on a path to more rapid growth.”

Randy Hicks, GCO’s President and CEO, added:

“Every state deserves the ability to design an integrated system that enables people to thrive. Right now, every wasted hour navigating disconnected programs is an hour that could have been spent building a better future. This bill ensures that states can rethink the status quo and create pathways to opportunity for every citizen.”

Through the changes it proposes, the Stronger Workforce for America Act of 2026 is poised to make meaningful welfare and workforce reforms possible in Georgia, and GCO strongly urges its enactment.

###

Georgia Center for Opportunity (GCO) is independent, non-partisan, and solutions-focused. Our team is dedicated to creating durable paths out of poverty for families in Georgia and beyond. To achieve our mission, we research ways to help remove barriers to opportunity and promote our solutions to policymakers and the public so that public policy and civil society can effectively and innovatively strengthen family stability, economic mobility, and child opportunity in the communities where lives are lived. 

Send media inquiries to:

Rebecca PrimisGeorgia Center for Opportunity
RebeccaP@foropportunity.org 

Georgia news, in the news, current events, Georgia happenings, GA happenings

Josh Crawford in The Hill

Originally published January 20, 2026

With 2025 behind us, violent crime — especially murder — is likely down nationally once again. Although it will be months before we have official statistics, early indicators suggest a continuation of the trend that began in mid-2022 and has resulted in tens of thousands of fewer crime victims.

Americans are taking notice. For the second year in a row, respondents are reporting crime as a less serious problem. Less than half of Americans think crime is now rising.

All of this should be welcome news. And like most policy successes, where you sit politically likely informs what you believe about why it happened. Also like most policy achievements, there is disagreement at this point exactly what has contributed to the decline.

Yes, the Biden administration did spend hundreds of millions of dollars on “community violence intervention” programs. Police departments spent much more than that recruiting new officers. States passed laws strengthening sentences for violent offenders. Voters in big cities also began to reject progressive prosecutors, and police departments all over began to implement best practices focused on violent groups and repeat offenders.

What no one is claiming, however, is that the recent decline in murder and violence is the result of dramatic improvements in poverty, education, inequality, racial prejudice or any other so-called “root cause” of crime.

For the uninitiated, “root causes” refers to the set of social conditions that many far-left politicians, progressive activists, and sociology and criminology professors argue are the true drivers of criminal behavior. These argue that reducing crime would first require addressing issues such as poverty, inequality, and housing. They consider policing, prosecution, punishment, and incapacitation as stop-gap measures at best. Some will even argue that these actually contribute to crime by worsening social and economic problems.

By focusing on underlying social conditions rather than individual decision-making and free will, progressives try to divert focus away from individual accountability toward society more broadly. But as crime has dropped in recent years, the social conditions said to produce crime have been unchanged or gotten worse.

On the economic front — and contrary to popular belief — inequality has remained largely unchanged in recent years. A broader measure of poverty that accounts for government benefits and taxes shows that poverty has increased in recent years among working-age adults and children. (The rate is down for seniors, but that isn’t a group frequently committing violent or serious crime.)

Read full article here

Joshua Crawford is a public safety fellow with the Georgia Center for Opportunity.

Reforming the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program can help families get short-term help without discouraging long-term goals for work and financial independence.

Key Points

  • SNAP’s benefit cliffs discourage work and career growth by abruptly cutting off assistance when recipients earn even modest income increases, trapping families in financial instability and reducing workforce participation.
  • Proposed reforms aim to eliminate benefit cliffs through gradual benefit reductions, clear exit points, and adjusted benefit levels, encouraging financial independence without penalizing career advancement.
  • Comprehensive SNAP reform benefits all stakeholders, empowering workers, stabilizing families, addressing labor shortages for businesses, and potentially reducing program costs by $30 billion annually.

Benefit cliffs discourage work and trap families in long-term financial struggles. A new policy solution offers a way out.

The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) is one of the largest anti-poverty programs in the U.S., providing over 41 million Americans with critical food assistance in 2024. But for many recipients, a system designed to support often ends up trapping—with significant barriers known as benefit cliffs.

These cliffs occur when small increases in income result in recipients suddenly losing their SNAP assistance, leaving them in a worse financial position for working more hours or earning an income boost. For example, a single parent’s modest hourly raise might lead to a benefit cut that completely offsets their increased take-home pay.

The negative ripple effects extend far beyond individuals and households. Benefit cliffs reduce workforce participation and make it harder for plenty of small businesses and industries to find the workers they need to grow and serve customers.

A new proposal for reform, developed with research by Erik Randolph at the Georgia Center for Opportunity in collaboration with Angela Rachidi of the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), offers a way to dismantle SNAP benefit cliffs and restore the program’s original mission—helping families achieve financial independence and stability.

A new SNAP reform report from American Enterprise Institute and Georgia Center for Opportunity shows how improve access to work and reduce costs to taxpayers.

SNAP’s design discourages career growth among recipients

SNAP is meant to help low-income families put food on the table. But the system unintentionally penalizes those who pursue better wages or career opportunities.

For many recipients, earning extra income—not just large raises but even modest increases as one gains skills or works more hours—means abruptly losing SNAP benefits altogether. Instead of slowly tapering down, benefits “fall off a cliff” as income rises.

This financial disincentive creates a dilemma for households relying on SNAP. While accepting additional shifts or applying for a higher-paying position could signify career growth, it may financially set them back without SNAP assistance offsetting basic expenses.

The economic impact is widespread. With fewer prime-age workers, employers encounter labor shortages, and their ability to operate efficiently is compromised. Workforce productivity also declines when workers are stuck in part-time, lower-skilled jobs rather than advancing to higher economic opportunities. The result is a cycle that makes it harder for families to break free from reliance on public assistance programs.

New SNAP reform proposals offer a way forward

Research by AEI and GCO outlines actionable steps to eliminate benefit cliffs while maintaining SNAP costs close to historical levels. These recommendations include changes to critical factors within the program’s structure to allow for a smoother, gradual reduction in benefits as income rises.

Key reforms involve adjusting the following elements of SNAP’s benefit system:

  • Adjust participants’ cost-sharing responsibilities. The proposed plan would reduce the benefit reduction rate from 30% to 18%, making it easier for families to transition off benefits.
  • Cost-sharing should begin as soon as income increases. Right now, deductions delay cost-sharing, which creates benefits cliffs when income limits run out. The new plan is a middle ground, starting benefit reductions earlier but at a lower rate. While it might lower benefits for many families, benefit cliffs are eliminated or reduced.

These structural adjustments effectively close the gap between earned income and benefit loss, removing financial penalties for participants who work more hours or accept higher-paying opportunities.

A win for workers, families, small businesses, and taxpayers

Simplifying and improving SNAP’s benefit structure solves major labor market challenges. For recipients, reforms encourage workforce participation and career advancement, empowering them to climb the economic ladder without fear of a financial setback.

For employers, these changes help restore a steady supply of available workers, addressing hiring difficulties in industries that rely on hourly, shift-based, or entry-level staff. Additionally, SNAP reform creates fiscal balance while allowing the government to save money long term—potentially reducing program expenses by 27% or $30 billion annually.

GCO continues to investigate ways to improve safety-net programs to help families escape poverty, and these recommendations for SNAP are an important piece of those efforts. Employment is one of the most reliable ways to break cycles of poverty, yet benefit cliffs trap too many families in stagnant economic conditions. Eliminating these barriers will strengthen the workforce, stabilize families, and create economic momentum that benefits us all.

Download the full report from American Enterprise Institute and Georgia Center for Opportunity here.

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