Georgia CommonsHB 1441: Trade Impact Transparency and Accountability Act; enact
Last action February 26, 2026 · House Second Readers
A Georgia House bill would create a new state reporting system tracking how federal tariffs and trade actions affect Georgia's economy, industries, and workers, with quarterly and annual public reports.
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 Introduced version, the latest LegiScan holds.
In plain language
Georgia currently has no dedicated state process for tracking how federal trade decisions, such as tariffs, quotas, or export controls, affect the state's economy. This bill would add a new chapter to state law creating the 'Trade Impact Transparency and Accountability Act.' The Department of Revenue, working with the Governor's Council of Economic Advisers, the Georgia Ports Authority, the Department of Agriculture, and the Department of Labor, would publish quarterly reports on price, employment, and trade volume impacts, and an annual report synthesizing those findings. The bill also requires at least one annual public hearing outside metro Atlanta, creates a nine-member nonpartisan advisory panel appointed by the Governor, House Speaker, and Senate President, and protects confidential taxpayer and business data from disclosure. The reporting framework would automatically end on July 1, 2031 unless renewed, with an evaluation due to the General Assembly a year before that. The law would take effect as soon as the Governor signs it.
What the bill does
- Creates a new state law chapter requiring the Department of Revenue to publish quarterly 'Georgia tariff impact reports' within 45 days of each quarter's end.
- Requires an annual state trade impact report synthesizing the quarterly findings, due to the Governor and General Assembly by December 31 each year.
- Establishes a nine-member nonpartisan advisory panel, three appointees each from the Governor, House Speaker, and Senate President, to advise on report methodology.
- Requires at least one annual public hearing on trade impacts, with at least one held outside the Atlanta metro area.
- Exempts confidential taxpayer information and business data submitted for these reports from Georgia's open records law (O.C.G.A. § 50-18-72) and bars its use for audits or enforcement.
- Sets the entire reporting framework to expire automatically on July 1, 2031 unless the General Assembly acts to continue it.
Who it affects
The Department of Revenue, Department of Agriculture, Department of Labor, the Governor's Council of Economic Advisers, and the Georgia Ports Authority, which must produce the reports; businesses and workers in trade-affected industries; agricultural producers and rural or export-dependent communities; and members appointed to the new advisory panel.
Why it matters
Georgians in industries exposed to tariffs, trade restrictions, or export controls, from farmers to port workers to manufacturers, would gain a regular public source of data on how those federal actions are affecting prices, jobs, and regional economies, along with a formal venue to testify about local impacts.
Key provisions
- Section 50-41-3 defines 'federal trade actions' broadly to include tariffs, quotas, trade agreements, de minimis threshold changes, and export controls.
- Section 50-41-5 requires quarterly reports covering price impacts, employment, export/import volumes including port throughput, industry impacts, and regional variation, but bars policy recommendations unless the General Assembly requests them.
- Section 50-41-6 requires the annual report to include downstream economic effects, stakeholder testimony summaries, and longer-term competitiveness and workforce trends.
- Section 50-41-7 mandates at least one annual public hearing, with at least one held outside metro Atlanta to reach rural and export-dependent communities.
- Section 50-41-8 creates the nine-member trade impact advisory panel, which advises on methodology but cannot direct findings or recommend policies.
- Section 50-41-9 exempts data submitted by private entities for the reports from open records disclosure and bars its use for audit or enforcement purposes.
- Section 50-41-10 clarifies the chapter does not let the state impose tariffs or override federal trade authority.
- Section 50-41-11 sunsets the entire chapter on July 1, 2031, with an evaluation due to the General Assembly one year earlier.
From the bill
“The purpose of this chapter is to promote transparency, economic preparedness, and informed public understanding by requiring regular, nonpartisan reporting on the effects of federal trade actions on this state's economy, industries, workers, and communities.”
“Quarterly reports may include trend analysis but shall not include policy recommendations unless expressly requested by the General Assembly.”
“This chapter shall stand repealed on July 1, 2031.”
Status timeline
- House Second Readers (House)
- House First Readers (House)
- House Hopper (House)
Sponsors
- Samuel Park (D, HD-107)
- Al Williams (D, HD-168)
- Eric Gisler (D, HD-121)
- Teddy Reese (D, HD-140)
- Anne Westbrook (D, HD-163)
- Betsy Holland (D, HD-054)
Topics
- trade policy
- tariffs
- economic reporting
- open records
- state government transparency