HB 297: Ad valorem tax; define multipurpose off-highway vehicle; provisions

Although this bill's title references ad valorem tax and off-highway vehicles, the actual text passed by the House and Senate deals entirely with state transportation governance. It repeals the law creating the Georgia Regional Transportation Authority (GRTA) and reenacts the chapter governing the Atlanta-region Transit Link 'ATL' Authority as a new entity called the Georgia Transportation Efficiency Authority. All of GRTA's and ATL's assets, debts, employees, and contracts transfer to the new authority, which gets a 13-member board appointed by the Governor, Senate President, House Speaker, and the commissioner of transportation. The bill also extends the deadline for MARTA's special sales tax through June 30, 2067, removes many requirements that local transit projects be pulled from a 'regional transit plan' approved by the old ATL Authority, and abolishes the Governor's Development Council. It updates dozens of related Georgia Code sections on solid waste planning, motor carrier definitions, and transportation funding to reflect the new authority's name. The law would take effect once the Governor signs it.

• Repeals the Georgia Regional Transportation Authority (GRTA) entirely and folds its assets, debts, and employees into a renamed and restructured authority.
• Renames the Atlanta-region Transit Link 'ATL' Authority as the Georgia Transportation Efficiency Authority and rewrites its governing chapter, board structure, and powers.
• Creates a 13-member board (8 Governor appointees, 2 Senate, 2 House, plus the transportation commissioner) to run the new authority.
• Extends the MARTA sales and use tax authorized under the MARTA Act so it can be levied through June 30, 2067.
• Removes requirements that local transit sales tax projects be drawn from a 'regional transit plan' approved by the old ATL Authority, simplifying local project selection.
• Abolishes the Governor's Development Council and repeals related solid waste planning language tied to that council.

Local governments and counties that levy transit sales taxes (including Fulton, Gwinnett, and metro Atlanta counties), MARTA riders and taxpayers, employees of GRTA and the ATL Authority who transfer to the new agency, the Department of Transportation, and metropolitan planning organizations involved in state transportation planning.

Georgians in metro Atlanta and other counties that fund transit through local sales taxes would see the entity approving and coordinating those projects change, and the process for choosing which projects get built would no longer route through a state-approved regional transit plan. MARTA's funding stream would continue decades longer than under prior law.

• Section 1-1 repeals Chapter 32 of Title 50, eliminating GRTA and marking that part of the code as reserved.
• Section 1-2 reenacts Chapter 39 of Title 50 as the 'Georgia Transportation Efficiency Authority Act,' defining terms, powers, and a new board structure in O.C.G.A. §§ 50-39-1 through 50-39-51.
• Section 50-39-4 transfers all GRTA and ATL Authority assets, contracts, employees, and retirement rights to the new authority effective on the bill's effective date.
• Section 50-39-32 exempts the new authority from state and local taxes on its property, income, and purchases, except for motor fuel taxes.
• Section 3-5 adds O.C.G.A. § 32-9-13.1, extending MARTA's retail sales and use tax under the MARTA Act through June 30, 2067.
• Sections 2-1 through 2-3 strike references to the 'regional transit plan' and authority pre-approval from the Transit SPLOST law, letting counties and municipalities develop their own project lists.
• Section 3-14 repeals Article 6 of Chapter 12 of Title 45, abolishing the Governor's Development Council.
• Section 4-1 makes the Act effective upon the Governor's signature or upon becoming law without signature.

1. 2026-05-12Effective Date 2026-05-12
2. 2026-05-12Act 708
3. 2026-05-12House Date Signed by Governor (House)
4. 2026-04-10House Sent to Governor (House)
5. 2026-04-02Senate Agreed House Amend or Sub (Senate)
6. 2026-04-02House Agreed Senate Amend or Sub As Amended (House)
7. 2026-03-31Senate Passed/Adopted By Substitute (Senate)
8. 2026-03-31Senate Third Read (Senate)

• Victor Anderson (R, HD-010)Primary sponsor
• Trey Rhodes (R, HD-124)
• Steven Meeks (R, HD-178)
• Noel Williams (R, HD-148)
• David Huddleston (R, HD-072)
• Jutt Howard (R, HD-071)
• Jason Anavitarte (R, SD-031)

1. PassedHouse voteMarch 4, 2025

   168 yea, 0 nay (7 not voting, 5 absent)

   Passage: House Vote #182

2. PassedSenate voteMarch 16, 2026

   32 yea, 17 nay (3 not voting, 2 absent)

   Motion To Withdraw And Commit: Senate Vote #718

3. PassedSenate voteMarch 31, 2026

   30 yea, 19 nay (0 not voting, 5 absent)

   Motion For The Previous Question: Senate Vote #901

4. FailedSenate voteMarch 31, 2026

   18 yea, 30 nay (1 not voting, 5 absent)

   Adoption Of Amendment #3 By The Senator From The 2nd: Senate Vote #902

5. PassedSenate voteMarch 31, 2026

   30 yea, 19 nay (0 not voting, 5 absent)

   Passage By Substitute: Senate Vote #903

6. PassedHouse voteApril 2, 2026

   131 yea, 40 nay (2 not voting, 3 absent)

   Agree To Senate Sub As Am: House Vote #841

7. PassedSenate voteApril 3, 2026

   38 yea, 14 nay (1 not voting, 1 absent)

   Agree To House Amendment To Senate Substitute: Senate Vote #985

• public transit
• MARTA sales tax
• transportation authority reorganization
• local sales taxes
• state government agencies