(The Center Square) – The Income Tax Reduction Act of 2026 would not help middle-income Georgians, according to Democrats who voted against the bill on Thursday.
The debate over Senate Bill 476 grew partisan, with Republicans saying Democrats were voting against tax reductions. Democrats accused Republicans of rushing the bill and said it would eventually raise taxes on Georgians.
The colorful debate included Republican Marty Harbin of Tyrone cutting up a dollar bill to illustrate how much taxes take out of every dollar. Sandy Springs Democrat Josh McLaurin compared Republicans to stingy banker Henry Potter in the movie “It’s a Wonderful Life.”
Still, much of the debate centered on whether the state could afford to eliminate an estimated $9 billion in income tax revenue.
Senate Bill 476 increases the standard deduction for married couples from $24,000 to $100,000 and from $12,000 to $50,000 for single filers, which would completely eliminate the state income tax for some, according to sponsor Blake Tillery, R-Vidalia. The bill also includes Gov. Brian Kemp’s plan to reduce the state income tax rate to 4.99% beginning with the 2026 tax year.
The bill was introduced last Friday, heard in committee on Wednesday and debated on the Senate floor on Thursday.
“This is not a debate about whether we want affordability or not,” said Atlanta Democrat Sonya Halpern. “We all do. The affordability framing ignores a basic truth of state budgeting. Good public policy requires math, not messaging, not momentum and certainly not magical thinking. This bill ignores the math.”
Republicans said the billions in lost revenue could be made up by slashing corporate tax breaks. The list included in the bill ranges from a little-known sales tax break on boat parts to tax concessions for data centers.
Some of the credits have shaped Georgia’s economic competitiveness for decades, Halpern said.
“And eliminating every major tax credit without a replacement is not reform,” Halpern said. “These are structural changes that make Georgia weaker and they are being labeled as an affordability plan.”
Accusations that the bill would increase taxes on the middle class are an “incredible insult,” Tillery said.
“The mental gymnastics you have to jump through to vote against this bill are astounding,” Tillery said. “How you wiggle and twist and bend to say that cutting taxes for the middle class hurts them, that eliminating the income tax on families making less than $100,000 makes Georgia less competitive, to talk about these increased costs and they say, ‘but giving you your money back to pay from them hurts you,’ wow at the gymnastics involved to accept that conclusion.”
The bill passed 32-18 and now goes to the House of Representatives.