---
title: SR 890. Senate Study Committee on Protecting Free and Fair Markets in Georgia; create
collection: bills
id: 2025-2026/sr890
cite_as: SR 890, 2025-2026 Regular Session (Ga.)
canonical_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sr890
md_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sr890.md
text_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sr890/text
source_url: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/73770
date: 2026-03-31
status: passed
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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omitted: votes and history
omitted_chars: 497
omitted_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sr890.md?full=1
bill_number: SR 890
session: 2025-2026 Regular Session
session_slug: 2025-2026
chamber: Senate
bill_type: resolution
status_date: 2026-03-31
last_action: Senate Passed/Adopted By Substitute
sponsors:
  - Sonya Halpern
  - Russ Goodman
  - Nan Orrock
  - Elena Parent
  - Chuck Hufstetler
  - Kim Jackson
  - Sally Harrell
  - RaShaun Kemp
  - Tonya Anderson
  - Gail Davenport
  - Kenya Wicks
  - Josh McLaurin
  - Harold Jones
text_version: Enrolled
has_text: true
legiscan_url: https://legiscan.com/GA/bill/SR890/2025
upstream_id: 2128600
summaries_model: claude-sonnet-5
topic_tags:
  - antitrust enforcement
  - housing affordability
  - small businesses
  - family farms
  - market competition
---

# SR 890. Senate Study Committee on Protecting Free and Fair Markets in Georgia; create

## Text

Senate Resolution 890
By: Senators Halpern of the 39th, Goodman of the 8th, Orrock of the 36th, Parent of the
44th, Hufstetler of the 52nd and others
ADOPTED SENATE
A RESOLUTION
Creating the Senate Study Committee on Protecting Free and Fair Markets in Georgia; and
for other purposes.
WHEREAS, markets operating under fair and free competition without the undue influence
of highly concentrated economic power is necessary for affordability; and
WHEREAS, over the last half-century, economic power has become concentrated in the
hands of the world's wealthiest individuals and corporations; and
WHEREAS, small businesses power Georgia's economy, drive innovation, create jobs, and
help new generations achieve the American Dream; and
WHEREAS, the agriculture industry generates over $100 billion for Georgia; however,
concentration among agricultural companies and corporate farms has slowly eroded the
business of family farms and threatens to make such businesses extinct; and
WHEREAS, increased concentration of economic power among a few individuals and
corporations threatens small businesses and the ability of new generations to achieve
economic opportunity and upward mobility; and
WHEREAS, such concentration of economic power threatens consumers by limiting
competition, reducing choice, stifling innovation, and driving up prices across numerous
sectors of the economy; and
WHEREAS, ownership of single-family homes, the bedrock of middle-class wealth, has
increasingly shifted toward large corporate entities and institutional investors, reducing
housing availability and affordability for Georgia families; and
WHEREAS, technology corporations have rapidly expanded over the last 30 years and
increasingly dominate digital platforms used by Georgians for communication, commerce,
and civic engagement, raising concerns about market dominance and the effects of private
corporate control over spaces that function as modern public squares; and
WHEREAS, states have recently enhanced their own antitrust enforcement mechanisms,
merger review processes, and competition policies to address rising economic concentration
and protect consumers and small businesses; and
WHEREAS, Georgia has an opportunity to evaluate and strengthen its own antitrust
enforcement mechanisms in order to protect competition, consumers, home ownership, free
enterprise, and the fundamental rights of Georgians; and
WHEREAS, a study committee is needed to determine how antitrust enforcement and
competition policy have evolved in other states and any legislative or policy changes Georgia
may adopt to better safeguard its citizens from monopolistic behavior and unfair methods of
competition.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE SENATE:
(1) Creation of Senate study committee. There is created the Senate Study Committee
on Protecting Free and Fair Markets in Georgia.
(2) Members and officers. The committee shall be composed of five members of the
Senate to be appointed by the President of the Senate. The President shall designate a
legislative member of the committee as chairperson of the committee.
(3) Powers and duties. The committee shall undertake a study of the conditions, needs,
issues, and problems mentioned above or related thereto, including but not limited to:
(A) The current scope and effectiveness of Georgia's antitrust statutes and enforcement
authority;
(B) The degree of economic concentration in key sectors affecting Georgians,
including housing, technology platforms, agriculture, healthcare, and retail markets;
(C) The impact of institutional ownership of single-family homes on housing
affordability and availability in this state;
(D) Antitrust enforcement and merger review processes adopted by other states;
(E) Potential legislative, regulatory, or enforcement mechanisms that could enhance
competition and protect consumers, small businesses, and home ownership in Georgia;
and
(F) Any constitutional or statutory considerations implicated by proposed reforms.
(4) Meetings. The chairperson shall call all meetings of the committee. The committee
may conduct such meetings at such places and at such times as it may deem necessary or
convenient to enable it to exercise fully and effectively its powers, perform its duties, and
accomplish the objectives and purposes of this resolution.
(5) Allowances, expenses, and funding.
(A) The legislative members of the committee shall receive the allowances provided
for in Code Section 28-1-8 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated.
(B) The allowances authorized by this resolution shall not be received by any member
of the committee for more than five days unless additional days are authorized. Funds
necessary to carry out the provisions of this resolution shall come from funds
appropriated to the Senate.
(6) Report.
(A) In the event the committee adopts any specific findings or recommendations that
include suggestions for proposed legislation, the chairperson shall file a report of the
same prior to the date of abolishment specified in this resolution, subject to
subparagraph (C) of this paragraph.
(B) In the event the committee adopts a report that does not include suggestions for
proposed legislation, the chairperson shall file the report, subject to subparagraph (C)
of this paragraph.
(C) No report shall be filed unless the same has been approved prior to the date of
abolishment specified in this resolution by majority vote of a quorum of the committee.
A report so approved shall be signed by the chairperson of the committee and filed with
the Secretary of the Senate.
(D) In the absence of an approved report, the chairperson may file with the Secretary
of the Senate a copy of the minutes of the meetings of the committee in lieu thereof.
(7) Abolishment. The committee shall stand abolished on December 1, 2026.

## 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 creates a five-member study committee to examine market concentration in housing, technology, agriculture, healthcare, and retail, and to consider whether Georgia should strengthen its antitrust laws.

### Plain-language summary

This resolution sets up the Senate Study Committee on Protecting Free and Fair Markets in Georgia. It responds to concerns that economic power has become concentrated among a small number of large corporations, affecting small businesses, family farms, home ownership, and consumer prices across the state.
The committee will have five senators appointed by the President of the Senate, one of whom will chair it. Its job is to study Georgia's current antitrust laws and enforcement powers, how concentrated ownership affects sectors like housing and agriculture, how corporate and institutional investors are buying up single-family homes, and how other states have updated their antitrust and merger review rules. The committee can meet as needed, members receive standard legislative allowances funded through Senate appropriations, and it must file any findings or recommended legislation before it is abolished on December 1, 2026.

### What it does

- Creates the Senate Study Committee on Protecting Free and Fair Markets in Georgia, made up of five senators appointed by the President of the Senate.
- Directs the committee to study the strength of Georgia's antitrust laws and how effectively they are enforced.
- Requires the committee to examine economic concentration in housing, technology platforms, agriculture, healthcare, and retail markets in Georgia.
- Directs the committee to study how corporate and institutional investors buying single-family homes affects housing affordability.
- Requires the committee to review antitrust and merger review approaches used by other states as models for possible Georgia reforms.
- Sets the committee to automatically end on December 1, 2026, after filing a report or committee meeting minutes.

### Who it affects

State senators appointed to the committee, small businesses and family farms concerned about market concentration, Georgia homeowners and renters affected by institutional home buying, and any industries such as agriculture, technology, healthcare, and retail that the study examines for competition concerns.

### Why it matters

The committee's findings could shape future Georgia legislation on antitrust enforcement, corporate home buying, and market competition, potentially affecting prices, housing availability, and conditions for small businesses and family farms, though the resolution itself creates no new laws or penalties.

### Key provisions

- Paragraph (1) creates the Senate Study Committee on Protecting Free and Fair Markets in Georgia.
- Paragraph (2) sets committee membership at five senators appointed by the Senate President, who also names the chairperson.
- Paragraph (3) lists study topics including antitrust enforcement, sector concentration, institutional home ownership, other states' merger review processes, and possible legislative reforms.
- Paragraph (5) limits paid allowances to five meeting days unless additional days are authorized, funded through Senate appropriations.
- Paragraph (6) requires any approved findings or proposed legislation to be filed as a report before the committee's abolishment date.
- Paragraph (7) abolishes the committee on December 1, 2026.

## Status

- Status: Passed (2026-03-31)
- Last action: Senate Passed/Adopted By Substitute (2026-03-31)
- Sponsors: Sonya Halpern, Russ Goodman, Nan Orrock, Elena Parent, Chuck Hufstetler, Kim Jackson, Sally Harrell, RaShaun Kemp, Tonya Anderson, Gail Davenport, Kenya Wicks, Josh McLaurin, Harold Jones
- Official page: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/73770

> The history, votes, and amendments (497 characters) are at https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sr890.md?full=1