ATLANTA – The General Assembly passed much of Gov. Brian Kemp’s legislative agenda for 2023 during the 40-day session that ended shortly after midnight Thursday morning.
Republican majorities in the Georgia House and Senate approved the GOP governor’s $1 billion state income tax rebate and $950 million in property tax relief, promises Kemp made on the campaign trail last year ahead of his reelection to a second term. Lawmakers also enacted the governor’s tough-on-crime legislation cracking down on street gangs.
“You have made promises made promises kept,” Kemp told members of the House Wednesday night, hours before the General Assembly adjourned for the year.
But other Kemp-backed legislation fell short, including a second year of mental health reform that enjoyed bipartisan support, a bill offering private-school vouchers that was criticized by Democrats, and legislation banning no-cash bail for criminal suspects.
The mental health bill was a follow-up to reform legislation the General Assembly passed unanimously last year after the late House Speaker David Ralston made it a top priority. This year’s bill aimed to increase the size of the mental-health workforce in Georgia and make it easier for people who cycle between the streets, emergency rooms and jails to get the help they need.
But the only piece of House Bill 520 that made it through the Senate was a provision related to data collection senators attached to a separate piece of legislation.
House Speaker Jon Burns said he was disappointed with the Senate over that outcome.
“HB520 was a bipartisan measure in this House with only three ‘no’ votes,” said Burns, R-Newington. “We’ve always focused on people who need help and their family members. I’m sorry they will be kept waiting another year.”
“HB520 is not dead,” added Jeff Breedlove, chief of…
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