James_May-June_2026_web - Flipbook - Page 36
in limited circumstances. There is
time to expand them if leadership
chose to act. But doing so would
require a decision with real consequences. That same pattern
showed up elsewhere.
Senate Bill 34, which would
have prevented utilities from
shifting the cost of large-scale data
center power demand onto residential customers, failed to pass.
At a moment when Georgia is
actively attracting energy-intensive
development, the question of who
ultimately pays for that growth
remains unresolved.
Proposals to expand child tax
credits under House Bills 98 and 99
met a similar fate. While politically
appealing, they would have required a longer-term fiscal commitment. That proved harder to align
around than one-time rebates.
Other measures, including
efforts to restructure charter school
funding under Senate Bill 475,
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JAMES M AY/JU N E 2 02 6
stalled as they moved through the
chambers. These were not always
partisan fights. In many cases,
divisions ran within parties, making consensus difficult even under
unified control.
Budgets and tax cuts are easy.
Structural issues are not. They
force tradeoffs and carry consequences that are harder to manage.
The legislature handles one far
better than the other.
By the time most legislation
reaches the floor, the real decisions have already been shaped
elsewhere. Leadership aligns
interests, counts votes and manages outcomes before anything
is formally debated. Floor votes
confirm those decisions.
That is why the process looks
smooth in some areas and stalled
in others. It is not inconsistency.
Georgia’s system of governance
has clear strengths. It is stable.
It supports economic growth. It
avoids the volatility seen in states
that move more aggressively from
one political direction to another.
But stability has limits. It
favors decisions that are low risk
and broadly acceptable. It delays
decisions that require disruption or
force realignment. Over time, that
creates a gap between what is debated publicly and what is actually
resolved.
The 2026 session did not break
that pattern. It reinforced it.
There is little doubt the session
will be described as successful. In
many respects, it was.
But success here has a narrow
definition. The legislature continues to deliver what is politically
easy and institutionally safe. What
it avoids matters just as much as
what it passes.
Chadwick Hagan is the founder of Hagan
Capital Group, a private fund and corporate
finance advisor in Atlanta.
