Georgia Senate approves package to raise standard deduction and cut income tax after heated debate

The Georgia Senate passed a package of income‑tax measures late in the day, voting 32–18 to approve Senate Bill 476 and later approving companion measures that reduce the state income‑tax rate and add revenue triggers. Sponsors said the bills will return meaningful dollars to working families; critics said the measures remove longstanding revenue without sufficient fiscal analysis and risk cutting services or shifting the burden to sales taxes.

Senator Tillery (19th District), sponsor of SB 476 and chair of a special study committee, told colleagues the bill is designed to target relief to the middle class by "exempting the first $50,000 for an individual" and "the first $100,000 for a couple," using reductions in certain tax credits to pay for the change. "If we're going to take and give them a 40 basis point reduction, well that only ends up being ... roughly the cost of a cup of coffee," he said, arguing the committee's approach would put larger, more direct savings into taxpayers' pockets than a modest rate cut alone.

The bill package changes the state's approach to income taxation in two ways: SB 476 would dramatically raise the standard deduction and apply sunsets and review requirements to many income‑tax credits so the legislature can reassess their value by 2032; SB 477 would reduce the flat personal…