HB86: HB86 Public officers and employees; calculating and setting the salaries of certain state officials; revise provisions

Georgia law previously left blank ('reserved') the slots in the state salary statute (O.C.G.A. § 45-7-4) for the salaries of Supreme Court justices, Court of Appeals judges, and the judge of the Georgia State-wide Business Court, while setting their pay elsewhere. This bill fills in those provisions directly in the statute, listing set annual salary figures for each judge and also adding a formula that caps their pay as a percentage of the salary paid to federal judges in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia. The bill sets the Supreme Court justice salary at up to 100 percent of that federal base salary, Court of Appeals judges at up to 99 percent, and the Business Court judge at up to 95 percent. It also adds the judge of the Georgia Tax Court to this formula at 95 percent, effective July 1, 2026. Most of the bill takes effect June 1 or July 1, 2025, depending on whether funding has already been appropriated.

• Replaces several 'reserved' salary slots in O.C.G.A. § 45-7-4 with actual salary figures for Supreme Court justices ($175,600), Court of Appeals judges ($174,500), and the Business Court judge ($174,500).
• Creates a formula capping judicial salaries as a percentage of the base salary paid to federal judges on the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia, defined as that court's salary on July 1 two fiscal years earlier.
• Sets the salary cap ratios at 100 percent for Supreme Court justices, 99 percent for Court of Appeals judges, and 95 percent for the Business Court judge, with the General Assembly setting actual amounts in the annual budget.
• Adds the judge of the Georgia Tax Court to this same salary formula at a 95 percent cap, effective July 1, 2026.
• Sets the bulk of the bill's changes to take effect either June 1, 2025 or July 1, 2025, depending on whether funds were already appropriated for the current fiscal year.

This bill directly affects Georgia Supreme Court justices, Court of Appeals judges, the judge of the Georgia State-wide Business Court, and the judge of the Georgia Tax Court, whose salaries are set under this statute. It also touches the General Assembly and the Office of Planning and Budget, which calculate and approve these salaries through the state budget process.

By tying top judges' pay to a percentage of federal judicial salaries rather than leaving those provisions blank in the code, the bill creates a clearer, formula-based method for setting compensation for some of Georgia's highest-ranking judicial officials, including the judge of the newly created Tax Court.

• Section 1 rewrites O.C.G.A. § 45-7-4(a) to replace 'Reserved' placeholders with set salaries: $175,600 for Supreme Court justices, $174,500 for Court of Appeals judges, and $174,500 for the Business Court judge.
• Section 1 adds a new subsection (d) capping judicial salaries as a ratio of the 'base salary' (the federal Northern District of Georgia judges' pay two fiscal years prior): 100 percent for Supreme Court justices, 99 percent for Court of Appeals judges, and 95 percent for the Business Court judge.
• Section 2 further revises subsection (d) to add the judge of the Georgia Tax Court to the same base-salary formula at a 95 percent cap.
• Section 3 sets the effective date as June 1, 2025 if funds were already appropriated for the current fiscal year, or July 1, 2025 otherwise, except that Section 2 (adding the Tax Court judge) takes effect July 1, 2026.
• Section 4 repeals all conflicting laws.

1. 2025-05-12Effective Date 2025-07-01
2. 2025-05-12Act 113
3. 2025-05-12House Date Signed by Governor (House)
4. 2025-04-08House Sent to Governor (House)
5. 2025-03-28Senate Receded from Amend or Sub (Senate)
6. 2025-03-28House Immediately Transmitted to Senate (House)
7. 2025-03-28House Disagreed Senate Amend or Sub (House)
8. 2025-03-27Senate Passed/Adopted As Amended (Senate)

• Rob Leverett (R, HD-123)Primary sponsor
• Chuck Efstration (R, HD-104)
• James Burchett (R, HD-176)
• Soo Hong (R, HD-103)
• Stan Gunter (R, HD-008)
• Matt Reeves (R, HD-099)
• Bo Hatchett (R, SD-050)

1. PassedHouse voteFebruary 20, 2025

   167 yea, 6 nay (2 not voting, 5 absent)

   Passage: House Vote #52

2. PassedSenate voteMarch 27, 2025

   30 yea, 23 nay (1 not voting, 2 absent)

   Adoption Of Amendment #1 By The Senator From The 56th: Senate Vote #294

3. FailedSenate voteMarch 27, 2025

   23 yea, 31 nay (1 not voting, 1 absent)

   Motion To Reconsider Amendment #1: Senate Vote #295

4. PassedSenate voteMarch 27, 2025

   45 yea, 10 nay (0 not voting, 1 absent)

   Passage As Amended: Senate Vote #296

5. PassedSenate voteMarch 28, 2025

   46 yea, 2 nay (2 not voting, 6 absent)

   Recede From Senate Amendment: Senate Vote #335

• judicial salaries
• state government pay
• Georgia Supreme Court
• Georgia Tax Court
• state budget