The Georgia Legislature’s special session tally: 5 days, $300,000
Georgia’s special legislative session cost taxpayers more than $300,000, money that paid for the state’s part-time lawmakers to return to Atlanta amid bustling World Cup matches to prevent a crisis that threatened to upend the midterm elections.
The session cost nearly $65,000 per day, according to legislative fiscal officer Amy Bottoms. Part of that is the $247 per diem lawmakers received for meals and other expenses. They also received mileage for round-trips from their home to the Capitol. Other costs included paying for temporary staff brought on to keep the Capitol running while lawmakers were in town.
That estimate does not include costs associated with year-round state workers whose regular duties were diverted to support the session, including legislative staff and law enforcement officers.
The state Legislature meets between January and early April each year to pass an operating budget and hundreds of other laws. But Republican Gov. Brian Kemp called them back to Atlanta this month because, starting July 1, a law passed in 2024 was going to make it illegal for Georgia to use QR codes to count ballots.
During a special session, lawmakers can only pass bills on topics the governor chooses. Kemp, who is leaving office in January because of term limits, also called on lawmakers to redraw the states political maps for the 2028 election cycle in response to a U.S. Supreme Court decision that changed the rules for how lawmakers set those districts. And he urged them to pass laws giving voters the chance to lower their property taxes by raising sales taxes.
The proposed redistricting effort fizzled amid opposition from both parties. And Democrats blocked the property tax measures because they argued raising sales taxes would disproportionately impact low-income Georgians.
Lawmakers agreed to move the July 1 deadline outlawing QR codes on ballots to Jan. 1, 2028. That lets local election officials continue to use the state’s touchscreen voting systems this fall while giving lawmakers another two years to find an alternative method of counting votes.
Democratic leaders say the session was a wasted expense, convened largely to address a QR-code issue created by Republicans.
“This special session was necessary to fix the Republican failure on QR codes,” Senate Minority Leader Harold Jones II said. “Everything else was an unnecessary waste of time by a majority that has no idea how to govern.”
Republican leaders maintain that the session was prudent, but that major items like redistricting and property tax relief were wrongfully stalled by Democrats.
“The only thing wasted in this special session was the opportunity to lower costs for Georgia families,” said Kayla Green, spokesperson for House Speaker Jon Burns. “Republicans brought relief, Democrats blocked it. Every time.”
The outcome left some Republican activists disappointed, as they expected a GOP majority to push through a redistricting effort and replace the state’s voting system — both moves backed by President Donald Trump. Republican leaders said they didn’t want to redraw districts now while legal challenges to the current maps are still pending.
Democratic activists opposed the session from the start. State Democratic Party Chair Charlie Bailey condemned Republican lawmakers for what he said was wasting taxpayer money as people are paying more for gas and healthcare.
“(Republicans) don’t want to come to this building and use the tax dollars of the hard-working people of this state to actually work on something that will affect their lives,” Bailey said before the session convened last week. “They want to come in here and defend their own political corruption.”