Georgia CommonsHouse · Introduced · 2025-2026 Regular Session
HB 919: Conservation and natural resources; outdoor stewardship; eliminate reductions in appropriations
Last action January 12, 2026 · House Second Readers
House Bill 919 would remove the rules that automatically cut state funding to Georgia's Outdoor Stewardship Trust Fund when sporting goods sales tax revenue drops, keeping the fund's 40 percent appropriation steady.
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 the General Assembly's website lists.
In plain language
Georgia currently funds the Outdoor Stewardship Trust Fund, which pays for land conservation, with 40 percent of sales and use tax revenue collected from sporting goods stores each year. Under current law (O.C.G.A. § 12-6A-5), if that tax revenue drops by at least 1 percent from one year to the next, the General Assembly's required contribution to the fund gets cut by 20 percent, and if the decline continues, the cut grows to 50 percent, with those reduced funding levels sticking around until sales tax revenue recovers. House Bill 919 deletes those reduction rules entirely. It rewrites Code Section 12-6A-5 so the General Assembly must appropriate 40 percent of the sporting goods sales tax revenue to the trust fund every year, regardless of whether sporting goods sales tax collections rise or fall. The bill keeps the existing rule that the money cannot lapse into the general fund and must supplement, not replace, department funding.
What the bill does
- Removes the provision that cuts the trust fund's appropriation by 20 percent when sporting goods sales tax revenue falls at least 1 percent year over year.
- Removes the follow-up provision that increases the cut to 50 percent if the revenue decline continues into a second year.
- Eliminates the rule that kept a reduced funding level in place until sales tax revenue recovered to a prior benchmark year.
- Keeps the base rule requiring 40 percent of sporting goods store sales and use tax revenue to go to the Georgia Outdoor Stewardship Trust Fund every year.
- Keeps existing protections that the funds cannot lapse to the general fund and must supplement rather than replace state conservation department resources.
Who it affects
The change affects the Georgia Department of Natural Resources and land conservation programs that rely on the Outdoor Stewardship Trust Fund, as well as land trusts and conservation groups that receive grants from it. It also affects state budget writers in the General Assembly who set the annual appropriation.
Why it matters
Without the automatic reduction rules, the conservation fund would keep receiving its full 40 percent share of sporting goods sales tax revenue even in years when that tax revenue declines, giving conservation funding more year-to-year stability regardless of sporting goods sales trends.
Key provisions
- Section 1 revises O.C.G.A. § 12-6A-5(a) by deleting the cross-reference to reduction subsections, so the 40 percent appropriation to the trust fund applies without exception.
- Section 1 strikes former subsection (c), which had triggered a 20 percent, then 50 percent, cut to the appropriation following declines in sporting goods sales tax revenue.
- Section 1 strikes former subsection (d), which had kept a reduced appropriation level in place until sales tax revenue recovered to a prior baseline year.
- Section 1 retains subsection (b), which bars the fund's money from lapsing to the general fund and requires it to supplement, not supplant, department resources.
- Section 2 repeals any conflicting laws, a standard closing provision.
From the bill
“The General Assembly shall appropriate to the trust fund 40 percent of all moneys received by the state from the sales and use tax collected by establishments classified under the 2007 North American Industry Classification Code 451110, sporting goods stores, in the most recently completed fiscal year.”
“Such funds shall be used to support the protection and conservation of land and shall be used to supplement, not supplant, department resources.”
Discussed in meetings (2)
The House and Senate meetings that took this bill up, from their machine transcripts. Each account was written by Georgia Commons with AI and is not part of the record; the video is what was said.
House Game, Fish & Parks Committee, February 24, 2026
From 0:19:59 · Watch on the General Assembly's Vimeo channel
Summary by Georgia Commons: The sponsor introduced HB 919 for discussion and said the measure would remove provisions that reduce Georgia Outdoor Stewardship Act funding when designated revenues decline. The sponsor said those provisions had cost the program about $7 million the previous year. The sponsor said 40% of proceeds from the covered outdoor sporting-goods sales currently supported the program and expressed interest in increasing that share, saying the constitutional framework allowed up to 80%. Arguing that Georgia needed to balance growth and economic development with land preservation, the sponsor pointed to potential benefits for parks, trails and quality of life. The sponsor planned to send the measure to members and pursue the issue more fully next year. No amendment or vote followed.
Status timeline
- House Second Readers (House)
- House First Readers (House)
- House Hopper (House)
Sponsors
- Jesse Petrea (R, HD-166)
- Chas Cannon (R, HD-172)
Topics
- land conservation
- state budget
- outdoor stewardship fund
- sales tax revenue
- natural resources