House Resolution 51EX
By: Representatives Hugley of the 141st, Park of the 107th, Williams of the 168th, Frye of the
122nd, Reese of the 140th, and others
A RESOLUTION
Urging Governor Brian P. Kemp to immediately release funds withheld through executive
budget disregards issued against House Bill 974, the Fiscal Year 2027 General
Appropriations Act; affirming the exclusive constitutional authority of the General Assembly
over the appropriation of public funds; recognizing the bipartisan effort of House and Senate
leadership in crafting a balanced budget; urging the Governor to honor the will of the
legislature; and for other purposes.
WHEREAS, Article III, Section I, Paragraph I of the Georgia Constitution vests the
legislative power of the state in the General Assembly, including the exclusive authority to
appropriate public funds on behalf of the people of Georgia; and
WHEREAS, Article III, Section IX, Paragraph I of the Georgia Constitution provides that
no money shall be drawn from the state treasury except by appropriation made by law,
establishing the legislature as the sole branch authorized to direct public spending; and
WHEREAS, Article III, Section IX, Paragraph II requires the General Assembly to annually
appropriate funds necessary to operate all departments and agencies of the state, and it is the
legislature, not the executive, that holds final appropriating authority; and
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WHEREAS, Article V, Section I, Paragraph II charges the Governor with the duty to take
care that the laws are faithfully executed, a duty that expressly includes the faithful execution
of duly enacted appropriations acts; and
WHEREAS, Article III, Section IX, Paragraph VI(e) grants the Governor a constitutionally
defined line-item veto power over appropriations bills, which triggers the General
Assembly's right to override that veto by a two-thirds vote of both chambers, preserving the
constitutional balance of power between the branches; and
WHEREAS, the use of executive budget disregards to withhold appropriated spending
bypasses the line-item veto process entirely, strips the General Assembly of its override
authority, and allows one officer of the executive branch to unilaterally nullify decisions
made by 236 duly elected members of the legislature; and
WHEREAS, Article I of the Georgia Constitution requires that the legislative, judicial, and
executive powers remain forever separate and distinct, and that no person discharging the
duties of one branch shall exercise the functions of another; and
WHEREAS, the 2026 Legislative Session was Governor Kemp's eighth and final as
governor, making the integrity of the Fiscal Year 2027 appropriations process a matter of
lasting significance for the state's financial continuity and the orderly transition to the next
administration; and
WHEREAS, House Bill 974, the Fiscal Year 2027 General Appropriations Act, passed the
Georgia House of Representatives by a vote of 159 to 4, reflecting broad, bipartisan
consensus built through months of hearings, negotiations, and deliberation between members
and staff of both chambers; and
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WHEREAS, House Speaker Jon G. Burns and House Appropriations Committee Chairman
Representative Matt Hatchett led the House through a rigorous and transparent budget
process focused on strategic investment and fiscal responsibility; and
WHEREAS, Lieutenant Governor Burt Jones and Senate Appropriations Committee
Chairman Senator Blake Tillery guided the Senate's review of the budget, working through
the conference committee process to reach agreement with the House on a final
appropriations act that reflected the collective judgment of both chambers; and
WHEREAS, House Minority Leader Carolyn Hugley and Senate Minority Leader Harold
Jones II, together with both Democratic caucuses, participated fully in the appropriations
process and placed the passage of a balanced, responsible budget at the top of their legislative
priorities; and
WHEREAS, the bipartisan, bicameral work that produced House Bill 974 represents
hundreds of hours of hearings, testimony from agencies and community stakeholders, fiscal
analysis, and good-faith negotiation, all of which the Governor's unilateral disregards
effectively nullify without legislative recourse; and
WHEREAS, Governor Brian Kemp, upon signing House Bill 974 on May 12, 2026,
simultaneously issued 157 executive budget disregards and line-item vetoes, cutting more
than $344 million from the budget approved by the General Assembly; and
WHEREAS, the Governor's stated justification was a $1.3 billion revenue shortfall created
by House Bill 463, an income tax reduction bill he himself signed into law on the same day,
meaning the budget hole he cited was one of his own making; and
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WHEREAS, the disregards cut more than $88 million from public education, including $30.7
million for school transportation, a $12 million bond veto for school safety equipment, $2.7
million for vision and hearing screening tied to the legislature's literacy initiative, and $2.5
million for out-of-school care; and
WHEREAS, the disregards cut more than $81 million from healthcare, including the full $48
million in new Medicaid reimbursement rate increases for primary care, dental, and
psychiatric providers, as well as $2 million for senior caregiver support services; and
WHEREAS, the disregards withheld approximately $15.8 million from the Department of
Human Services, including $9.4 million for domestic violence shelters, $3.3 million for
sexual assault centers, $2 million for unhoused veterans, and $1.5 million for child welfare
and family reunification services; and
WHEREAS, across the Governor's first four fiscal years, he issued 49 disregards totaling $85
million, then escalated to 134 disregards on $242 million in FY 2024 alone, and has now
issued 157 disregards on more than $344 million in FY 2027, representing a dramatic and
unchecked escalation of executive spending authority; and
WHEREAS, the practice of issuing disregards to impound appropriated funds, rather than
exercising the constitutionally prescribed line-item veto, denies the legislature any
opportunity for override, treats enacted law as advisory, and sets a precedent that threatens
the fundamental constitutional role of the General Assembly; and
WHEREAS, the Georgia House of Representatives formally rejects the use of executive
budget disregards as a substitute for the line-item veto and demands that appropriations
enacted by the legislature be treated as binding law.
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NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES that
the members of this body urge Governor Brian P. Kemp to immediately release all funds
withheld through executive budget disregards issued in connection with House Bill 974 and
direct affected state agencies to proceed with expenditure of appropriated funds in
accordance with the enacted appropriations act.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the members of this body affirm that the appropriation
of public funds is an exclusively legislative power under the Georgia Constitution, that
appropriations lawfully enacted through the general appropriations process carry the full
force of law, and that executive budget disregards do not constitute a valid or constitutional
exercise of executive authority.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the members of this body urge the Governor to exercise
the constitutionally prescribed line-item veto rather than issuing disregards for any specific
appropriation that cannot be funded, thereby allowing the General Assembly to consider
exercising its override authority and preserving the proper separation of powers.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the members of this body recognize the dedicated work
of Speaker Jon G. Burns, Representative Matt Hatchett, Minority Leader Carolyn Hugley,
Lieutenant Governor Burt Jones, Senator Blake Tillery, Minority Leader Harold Jones II, and
the members and staff of both chambers whose collective effort produced a balanced and
responsible appropriations act.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the members of this body urge the Office of the
Attorney General to provide a formal legal opinion on the constitutional authority of the
Governor to issue executive budget disregards that impound appropriated funds and to advise
the General Assembly on available legal remedies to enforce its appropriations authority.
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BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the members of this body urge the House
Appropriations Committee and the House Judiciary Committee to develop legislation
establishing clear statutory limits on the Governor's authority to withhold appropriated funds
outside the constitutionally prescribed line-item veto process, protecting the legislature's
power of the purse for this and all future administrations.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Clerk of the House of Representatives is authorized
and directed to make appropriate copies of this resolution available for distribution to
Governor Brian P. Kemp, the Lieutenant Governor, the President Pro Tempore of the
Georgia Senate, the Attorney General, the Office of Planning and Budget, the Senate
Appropriations Committee, the House Appropriations Committee, and the Georgia Budget
and Policy Institute.
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