How Georgia Republicans fell in love with the word ‘affordability’
At the early morning cattle call for lawmakers and business types that is the Georgia Chamber’s annual “Eggs & Issues” breakfast, Chamber President Chris Clark joked with the audience about the program ahead.
“You’re going to hear a lot about affordability today — if you have a bingo card, go ahead and check that off.”
He wasn’t kidding. The following program of GOP leaders and bigwigs showed that Republicans in Georgia have gotten the “affordability” memo from voters since last year’s special elections in the state, even if their standard-bearer, President Donald Trump, has not.
Unlike Trump, who last month called affordability “a Democrat hoax” and suggested that Americans “don’t need 37 dolls for your daughter, two or three is nice,” Republican lawmakers at the opening of this year’s legislative session had an entirely different message for Georgia voters.
House Speaker Jon Burns said the word “affordable” seven times in his brief remarks to the Georgia Chamber when he also unveiled his plan to eliminate the homestead property tax statewide. Lt. Gov. Burt Jones also focused on affordability in his pitch to eliminate the state income tax entirely. Gov. Brian Kemp talked about his own record of bring new companies to the state, as well as cutting income taxes, and he’s expected to do more on that front soon.
Back at the Capitol, state Sen. Blake Tillery pushed the details of his own plan to eliminate the income tax. The Vidalia Republican is the chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, but also one of five current or former state senators running for lieutenant governor.
“There’s a lot of work to be done, and hopefully it’s emblematic that we’re really trying to think about families and think about affordability,” he said.
Newly elected Senate President Pro Tem Larry Walker talked up property tax cuts at a news conference after he was sworn in as Senate leader Tuesday. He didn’t use the A-word, but he didn’t need to.
“Georgians are having a hard time with the economy, buying groceries, paying rent or buying a house,” he said, “And that’s going to be our focus.”
The possibility of three different tax-cut proposals from Kemp, Burns and Jones feels like they could be on a collision course during this legislative session, since the state can only eliminate one major source of tax revenue at a time and maybe not even that. But unlike Washington Republicans, the GOP leaders in the state are at least rowing in the same direction for now, thanks to the three surprise losses they suffered in special elections last year.
In the two statewide Public Service Commission seats that Democrats flipped for the first time in decades, and the special election in Athens that flipped to Democratic state Rep. Eric Gisler, the issue of affordability drove the Republican defeats.
Whether it was power bills in Georgians’ mailboxes, which jumped six times in two years, or fast-rising property taxes in Gisler’s Oconee and Clarke County district, economic issues and, specifically, the cost of living were at the heart of voters’ anxieties. Republicans watching from the sidelines knew they needed to change their “MAGA warrior” messaging or risk more defeats in 2026.
The GOP won’t have the “affordability” lane to themselves at the state Capitol this session. Democrats had the same takeaways from the PSC races and Gisler’s win as they did, namely that people are struggling to keep up with their bills.
But just because Democrats and Republicans share the same issue of “affordability” don’t expect them to be on the same page when it comes to finding solutions to it.
House Minority Whip Sam Park listed affordability as the party’s top issue but didn’t commit Democrats to jumping on board Republicans’ A-train this session.
“I think affordability is based on context, right?” he said. “What’s affordable for a millionaire is not necessarily affordable for your average working Georgian.”
House Minority Leader Carolyn Hughley said Democrats had their game plan figured out months ago.
“We held town hall meetings across Georgia over the summer to hear from everyday Georgians, and they told us that they were concerned about affordability,” she said. “And so all the things that we’re going to do in this year’s session will be in response to, how can we help the people of Georgia live in a more affordable environment?”
You won’t need that bingo card at the Capitol this session, since there aren’t enough squares for all the times the word “affordability” will come up.
The party that comes out ahead will be the one that puts forward real proposals, not just message bills for campaign ads, and delivers long-term relief for Georgians in the end.
About the Author
Patricia Murphy is the AJC's senior political columnist. She was previously a nationally syndicated columnist for CQ Roll Call, national political reporter for the Daily Beast and Politics Daily, and wrote for The Washington Post and Garden & Gun. She graduated from Vanderbilt and holds a master’s degree in journalism from Columbia University.
