HR 1504: General Assembly; provide by general law for an income tax system; require - CA

Georgia's Constitution currently caps the state's top income tax rate at the level it was on January 1, 2015, meaning lawmakers cannot raise the maximum marginal rate above that point without a constitutional change. This resolution proposes replacing that cap with a new requirement: the General Assembly would have to set up an income tax system by general law that includes a progressive individual income tax, meaning tax rates would rise as income rises. The system would also have to tax all categories of individual income, such as wages and investment income, in substantially the same way. Because this is a proposed constitutional amendment, it does not change tax law by itself. It would go before Georgia voters on a ballot asking whether to approve the change, described on the ballot as creating an income tax system known as the 'Tax the Rich Act.' If voters ratify it, it becomes part of the state Constitution, and the General Assembly would then need to pass the actual tax laws implementing it.

• Removes the current constitutional cap that bars the state income tax's top rate from rising above its January 1, 2015 level.
• Requires the General Assembly to pass a general law creating an income tax system that includes a progressive individual income tax.
• Requires that system to tax all categories of individual income, such as wages and investment income, in substantially equal fashion.
• Sends the proposed constitutional change to Georgia voters for ratification or rejection, with the ballot referring to it as the 'Tax the Rich Act.'

Georgia taxpayers of all income levels, since the state's income tax structure would eventually change; the General Assembly, which would be constitutionally required to write a new progressive tax law; and Georgia voters, who would decide the amendment's fate at the ballot box.

If ratified, Georgia would no longer be limited to a capped, flat-style income tax rate and would instead be constitutionally required to adopt a progressive tax structure, where rates increase with income. The actual tax brackets and rates would depend on a future law the General Assembly would still need to write.

• Section 1 revises Article VII, Section III, Paragraph IV of the Georgia Constitution, deleting the existing prohibition on raising the top income tax rate above its 2015 level.
• Section 1 replaces that language with a requirement that the General Assembly provide by general law for an income tax system including a progressive individual income tax.
• Section 1 requires the new tax system to provide for substantially equal taxation of all categories of individual income.
• Section 2 sets the ballot question voters will see, referring to the change as creating an income tax system known as the 'Tax the Rich Act.'
• Section 2 specifies that a 'Yes' vote ratifies the amendment and a 'No' vote rejects it, and that ratification makes it part of the state Constitution.

1. 2026-03-03House Second Readers (House)
2. 2026-02-26House First Readers (House)
3. 2026-02-25House Hopper (House)

• Gabriel Sanchez (D, HD-042)Primary sponsor
• Ruwa Romman (D, HD-097)
• Mekyah McQueen (D, HD-061)
• Bryce Berry (D, HD-056)
• Park Cannon (D, HD-058)
• El-Mahdi Holly (D, HD-116)

• income tax
• constitutional amendment
• progressive taxation
• tax policy
• state ballot measures