HB1070: HB1070 Income tax; increase and extend a credit for expenditures on maintenance of railroad track owned or leased by Class III railroads

Georgia currently gives Class III railroads, the smaller short-line freight railroads regulated separately from major carriers, a state income tax credit for money spent maintaining their track, roadbeds, bridges, and related structures. This bill increases the per-mile cap on that credit and extends how long it can be claimed and assigned. The bill raises the maximum credit from $3,500 to $5,000 per mile of railroad track a Class III railroad owns or leases in Georgia. It extends the window during which the credit can be earned by one year, from tax years ending December 30, 2026 to tax years ending December 31, 2027. It also extends the deadline for railroads to assign unused credits to other taxpayers from January 1, 2027 to January 1, 2028, and pushes back the automatic repeal of the whole credit program from January 1, 2027 to January 1, 2028. The bill was passed by the House and Senate but was vetoed by the Governor as of May 12, 2026.

• Raises the maximum tax credit a Class III railroad can claim from $3,500 to $5,000 per mile of track it owns or leases in Georgia.
• Extends the tax years the credit applies to, moving the cutoff from tax years ending December 30, 2026 to tax years ending December 31, 2027.
• Extends the deadline for railroads to freely assign unused credits to other taxpayers from January 1, 2027 to January 1, 2028.
• Pushes back the automatic repeal date of the entire tax credit program (O.C.G.A. § 48-7-40.34) from January 1, 2027 to January 1, 2028.
• Keeps in place the existing rule that the credit equals 50 percent of qualified track maintenance spending, capped by the per-mile limit.

The bill affects Class III (short-line) railroads operating in Georgia, taxpayers who might receive assigned but unused railroad tax credits, and the state Department of Revenue, which administers and reports on the credit to the General Assembly's tax committees.

Short-line railroads that maintain their own track could claim a larger tax credit and have an extra year to use or transfer it, potentially lowering their state tax bills and affecting how much track maintenance spending gets subsidized through the tax code before the program expires.

• Section 1 amends O.C.G.A. § 48-7-40.34, raising the per-mile credit cap from $3,500 to $5,000 for qualified railroad track maintenance expenditures.
• Subsection (c)(2) extends eligible tax years through those ending on or before December 31, 2027, instead of December 30, 2026.
• Subsection (e)(1) extends the one-time free assignability window for unused credits to January 1, 2028.
• Subsection (h) delays the automatic repeal of the entire credit program to January 1, 2028.
• The bill keeps unchanged the definition of 'Class III railroad' and 'qualified railroad track maintenance expenditures,' and the requirement that credits cannot exceed a taxpayer's state income tax liability, with a three-year carryforward.

1. 2026-05-12Veto V4
2. 2026-05-12House Date Vetoed by Governor (House)
3. 2026-04-07House Sent to Governor (House)
4. 2026-03-31House Agreed Senate Amend or Sub (House)
5. 2026-03-27Senate Passed/Adopted By Substitute (Senate)
6. 2026-03-27Senate Third Read (Senate)
7. 2026-03-27Senate Taken from Table (Senate)
8. 2026-03-27Senate Tabled (Senate)

• Leesa Hagan (R, HD-156)Primary sponsor
• Rick Jasperse (R, HD-011)
• Steve Tarvin (R, HD-002)
• Gerald Greene (R, HD-154)
• Brent Cox (R, HD-028)
• Steve Gooch (R, SD-051)

1. PassedHouse voteFebruary 25, 2026

   167 yea, 2 nay (2 not voting, 6 absent)

   Passage: House Vote #564

2. PassedSenate voteMarch 27, 2026

   31 yea, 18 nay (4 not voting, 1 absent)

   Motion To Engross: Hb 229, Hb 583, Hb 960, Hb 1070: Senate Vote #826

3. PassedSenate voteMarch 27, 2026

   26 yea, 22 nay (3 not voting, 3 absent)

   Motion To Table Remaining Legislation On The Rules Calendar: Senate Vote #835

4. PassedSenate voteMarch 27, 2026

   44 yea, 3 nay (2 not voting, 5 absent)

   Passage By Substitute: Senate Vote #868

5. PassedHouse voteMarch 31, 2026

   139 yea, 26 nay (3 not voting, 8 absent)

   Agree To Senate Substitute: House Vote #810

• income tax credits
• railroads
• transportation infrastructure
• state tax policy