Georgia CommonsHB 1070: Income tax; increase and extend a credit for expenditures on maintenance of railroad track owned or leased by Class III railroads
Last action May 12, 2026 · Veto V4
House Bill 1070 would raise Georgia's income tax credit for Class III railroads' track maintenance from $3,500 to $5,000 per mile and extend the program through 2027, though the bill has been vetoed.
The summaries below were written by an AI model (claude-sonnet-5) from the text of the bill and are not part of it. Quote the text, not the summary. The stored text is the Enrolled version, the latest LegiScan holds.
In plain language
Georgia currently gives small, short-line railroads known as Class III railroads a tax credit worth 50 percent of what they spend maintaining their track, capped at $3,500 per mile of track they own or lease. That credit was set to expire for tax years ending after December 30, 2026. This bill would raise the per-mile cap to $5,000 and push the expiration date to December 31, 2027, extending the program by one more tax year. The bill also narrows what counts as a qualifying expense: money spent to also claim a federal tax credit, or money that came from a state or federal grant, would no longer count toward the state credit. It extends by one year the deadline for railroads to assign unused credits to another taxpayer, and pushes the program's automatic repeal date from January 1, 2027 to January 1, 2028. The Governor vetoed the bill as of May 12, 2026.
What the bill does
- Raises the maximum tax credit a Class III railroad can claim from $3,500.00 to $5,000.00 per mile of railroad track it owns or leases in Georgia.
- Extends the tax credit program by one year, so it now applies to tax years ending on or before December 31, 2027 instead of December 30, 2026.
- Excludes from the credit any maintenance spending that is used to qualify for a federal tax credit or that was funded by a state or federal grant.
- Pushes back by one year the deadline for railroads to transfer unused credits to another taxpayer, from January 1, 2027 to January 1, 2028.
- Delays the program's automatic repeal date from January 1, 2027 to January 1, 2028.
Who it affects
Class III railroads (small, short-line freight railroads as classified by the federal Surface Transportation Board) operating in Georgia, and any other taxpayers who receive assigned but unused credits from those railroads. The Georgia Department of Revenue also administers and reports on the credit annually.
Why it matters
Short-line railroads that maintain their own track could recoup more of their maintenance costs through state taxes, potentially encouraging track upkeep for another year. The new exclusion for federally funded or grant-funded work means railroads cannot claim both a federal credit and this state credit, or a grant and this credit, for the same spending.
Key provisions
- Section 1 amends O.C.G.A. § 48-7-40.34 to raise the per-mile credit cap from $3,500.00 to $5,000.00 for qualified railroad track maintenance expenditures.
- Section 1 adds language excluding expenditures used to qualify for a federal tax credit or funded by a state or federal grant from counting as qualified expenditures.
- Section 1 extends the tax years eligible for the credit through those ending on or before December 31, 2027, instead of December 30, 2026.
- Section 1 extends the one-time window for assigning unused credits to another taxpayer through January 1, 2028, instead of January 1, 2027.
- Section 1 moves the Code section's automatic repeal date from January 1, 2027 to January 1, 2028.
- Section 1 keeps the existing annual reporting requirement to the Senate Finance Committee and the House Committee on Ways and Means, due each September 1.
- Section 2 repeals any conflicting laws.
From the bill
“Such term shall not include expenditures used to qualify for a federal tax credit or expenditures funded by a state or federal grant.”
“A Class III railroad shall be given a credit against the tax imposed under this article for a taxable year in the amount of 50 percent of the qualified railroad track maintenance expenditures paid or incurred by such Class III railroad during the taxable year”
Status timeline
- Veto V4
- House Date Vetoed by Governor (House)
- House Sent to Governor (House)
- House Agreed Senate Amend or Sub (House)
- Senate Passed/Adopted By Substitute (Senate)
- Senate Third Read (Senate)
- Senate Taken from Table (Senate)
- Senate Tabled (Senate)
Show full history (18 actions)
- Senate Engrossed (Senate)
- Senate Read Second Time (Senate)
- Senate Committee Favorably Reported By Substitute (Senate)
- Senate Read and Referred (Senate)
- House Passed/Adopted (House)
- House Third Readers (House)
- House Committee Favorably Reported (House)
- House Second Readers (House)
- House First Readers (House)
- House Hopper (House)
Sponsors
- Leesa Hagan (R, HD-156)
- Rick Jasperse (R, HD-011)
- Steve Tarvin (R, HD-002)
- Gerald Greene (R, HD-154)
- Brent Cox (R, HD-028)
- Steve Gooch (R, SD-051)
Votes
- House voteFebruary 25, 2026
167 yea, 2 nay (2 not voting, 6 absent)
- Senate voteMarch 27, 2026
31 yea, 18 nay (4 not voting, 1 absent)
- Senate voteMarch 27, 2026
26 yea, 22 nay (3 not voting, 3 absent)
- Senate voteMarch 27, 2026
44 yea, 3 nay (2 not voting, 5 absent)
- House voteMarch 31, 2026
139 yea, 26 nay (3 not voting, 8 absent)
Topics
- income tax credits
- railroads
- transportation infrastructure
- state tax policy