James_Jan-Feb_2026_web - Flipbook - Page 30
health insurance premiums— in
some cases, costs have doubled or
tripled since 2025.
We tried to stop this. In February 2025, our Caucus introduced
SB 192, which would create an
insurance affordability program
to protect Georgians’ health insurance premiums. We acted because
we knew President Donald Trump
and Washington, D.C. Republicans
would allow Affordable Care Act
subsidies to expire, leaving Georgia families exposed to significant
premium increases.
Senate Republicans refused to
hear this legislation last year— a
decision that increased Georgians’
health insurance premiums by
millions of dollars. Congressional
Republicans shut down the federal
government for a record-breaking
43 days— all so they could ensure
healthcare prices soar for millions
of Americans.
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JAMES JANUA RY /F E B RUA RY 2 02 6
Georgians need affordable
healthcare to survive. They should
not have to make hard choices
between a doctor’s visit and new
clothes for their children. SB 192
would have helped end those
crises for good, and Republicans
didn’t even give the bill a hearing.
Republican refusal to lower
health insurance costs means
SB 192 remains as vital today as
it was last year. We will fight for
that. We’ll fight for other vital economic issues, too. Higher wages,
lower housing costs, and reasonable utility bills.
A Better Georgia
Until Democrats win a majority, Republicans will continue
failing middle and working classes. Georgians are done waiting.
In 2025, Georgians made it clear
to Republicans that they’ve had
enough. The PSC races sent this
message loudest. So did candi-
date Debra Shigley, who made big
inroads in ruby red State Senate
District 21. We also saw it in several local elections where mayoral
candidates, like Marietta’s Sam
Foster, remained laser focused on
the affordability crisis and ignited
major grassroots movements.
A Republican majority is
Georgia’s affordability crisis for
everyone except the ultra-rich. Our
agenda for 2026 focuses on everyone else. We will end the affordability crisis and build an economy that
works for everyone.
The choice is stark. Republicans
have had their chance— and they
failed. Democrats are ready to deliver the future Georgians deserve.
Senate Democratic Minority Leader Harold
Jones II has represented an Augusta-based
district since 2015. A lawyer and community leader, he was elected to be Richmond
County’s solicitor general before being elected
senator. He has also served as an adjunct
professor at various colleges.
