---
title: SR 309. Sales or Income Tax Credit; any bill proposing to receive a two-thirds' vote of the membership of each house of the General Assembly in order to become law; require -CA
collection: bills
id: 2025-2026/sr309
cite_as: SR 309, 2025-2026 Regular Session (Ga.)
canonical_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sr309
md_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sr309.md
text_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sr309/text
source_url: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/71003
date: 2026-01-12
status: introduced
corpus_version: bills-2026-09-13
license: Public record of the Georgia General Assembly, via LegiScan; see about.md
publisher: Georgia Commons, an independent project of Georgia Civic Data. Not the State of Georgia. Not legal advice.
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index: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/index.md
omitted: votes and history
omitted_chars: 254
omitted_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sr309.md?full=1
bill_number: SR 309
session: 2025-2026 Regular Session
session_slug: 2025-2026
chamber: Senate
bill_type: resolution
status_date: 2025-02-27
last_action: Senate Recommitted
sponsors:
  - Blake Tillery
  - John Albers
  - Chuck Hufstetler
  - Bill Cowsert
  - Derek Mallow
  - Greg Dolezal
  - Shawn Still
  - Steve Gooch
text_version: Comm Sub
has_text: true
legiscan_url: https://legiscan.com/GA/bill/SR309/2025
upstream_id: 1987920
summaries_model: claude-sonnet-5
topic_tags:
  - tax credits
  - constitutional amendment
  - state tax policy
  - ballot referendum
  - legislative voting rules
---

# SR 309. Sales or Income Tax Credit; any bill proposing to receive a two-thirds' vote of the membership of each house of the General Assembly in order to become law; require -CA

## Text

The Senate Committee on Rules offered the following
substitute to SR 309:
A RESOLUTION
Proposing an amendment to the Constitution so as to require any bill proposing any sales or
income tax credit or sales or income tax exemption to receive a two-thirds' vote of the
membership of each house of the General Assembly in order to become law; to provide for
an exception; to provide for submission of this amendment for ratification or rejection; and
for other purposes.
BE IT RESOLVED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF GEORGIA:
SECTION 1.
Article VII, Section III of the Constitution is amended by adding a new paragraph at the end
thereof to read as follows:
<ins>"Paragraph V. Sales or income tax credit or exemption. On or after January 1, 2027, no
bill proposing any sales or income tax credit or sales or income tax exemption shall become
law unless it receives a two-thirds' vote of the members elected to each house of the
General Assembly; provided, however, that this shall not apply to the renewal of any sales
or income tax credit in existence on January 1, 2027, so long as the renewal does not
increase the sales or income tax credit."
</ins>
SECTION 2.
The above proposed amendment to the Constitution shall be published and submitted as
provided in Article X, Section I, Paragraph II of the Constitution. The ballot submitting the
above proposed amendment shall have written or printed thereon the following:
"( ) YES Shall the Constitution of Georgia be amended so as to require a two-thirds'
vote of the General Assembly for any special interest sales or income tax
( ) NO credit or special interest sales or income tax exemption to become law?"
All persons desiring to vote in favor of ratifying the proposed amendment shall vote "Yes."
All persons desiring to vote against ratifying the proposed amendment shall vote "No." If
such amendment shall be ratified as provided in said Paragraph of the Constitution, it shall
become a part of the Constitution of this state.

## Summaries written by Georgia Commons

The following was written by claude-sonnet-5 from the text above and is not part of the resolution. Quote the text, not the summary.

A Georgia Senate resolution would ask voters to amend the state Constitution to require a two-thirds vote in both legislative chambers before any new sales or income tax credit or exemption could become law.

### Plain-language summary

Right now, bills creating new sales or income tax credits or exemptions in Georgia can pass with a simple majority vote in the House and Senate, like most other legislation. This resolution proposes a constitutional amendment that would raise that bar starting January 1, 2027, requiring a two-thirds vote of the full membership of each chamber before such a bill could become law.

The change would not apply to renewing an existing tax credit that was already in place on January 1, 2027, as long as the renewal does not increase the size of the credit. Because this is a proposed constitutional amendment, it cannot take effect on its own. It must first pass the General Assembly and then go before Georgia voters in a statewide referendum, with the ballot language specified in the resolution itself.

### What it does

- Proposes a constitutional amendment requiring a two-thirds vote of the elected membership of each house of the General Assembly to pass any bill creating a new sales or income tax credit or exemption.
- Sets the new voting threshold to apply to bills considered on or after January 1, 2027.
- Exempts renewals of sales or income tax credits that already existed on January 1, 2027, as long as the renewal does not increase the credit's value.
- Directs that the proposed amendment be submitted to Georgia voters for ratification or rejection, with specific ballot wording spelled out in the resolution.

### Who it affects

Georgia legislators, who would face a higher voting threshold when proposing new sales or income tax breaks; businesses and industries that seek such tax credits or exemptions; and Georgia voters, who would ultimately decide whether to ratify this constitutional change at the ballot box.

### Why it matters

If approved by voters, this change would make it harder to pass new sales or income tax credits or exemptions in Georgia, since supermajority support would be needed in both chambers instead of a simple majority. This could slow or block future tax break proposals unless they attract broad bipartisan backing.

### Key provisions

- Section 1 adds a new paragraph to Article VII, Section III of the Georgia Constitution requiring a two-thirds vote of each house's elected membership for bills creating sales or income tax credits or exemptions, effective January 1, 2027.
- Section 1 exempts renewals of tax credits already in existence on January 1, 2027, provided the renewal does not increase the credit's amount.
- Section 2 sets the exact ballot question voters would see, asking whether to require a two-thirds vote for 'special interest' sales or income tax credits or exemptions.
- Section 2 specifies that ratification requires voter approval under Article X, Section I, Paragraph II of the Georgia Constitution before the amendment takes effect.

## Status

- Status: Introduced (2025-02-27)
- Last action: Senate Recommitted (2026-01-12)
- Sponsors: Blake Tillery, John Albers, Chuck Hufstetler, Bill Cowsert, Derek Mallow, Greg Dolezal, Shawn Still, Steve Gooch
- Official page: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/71003

> The history, votes, and amendments (254 characters) are at https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sr309.md?full=1