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Committee backs Keep Georgia Forested Act to make forestry tax credits transferable
Summary
The Finance Committee unanimously passed HB1085 (LC 44-35-36S), the Keep Georgia Forested Act, which would make existing forestry job and investment tax credits transferable (capped at $250 million) and include a five-year sunset to encourage new investment in mills and wood manufacturing.
The Senate Finance Committee unanimously advanced the Keep Georgia Forested Act (House Bill 1085, LC 44-35-36S), a measure designed to stimulate investment in Georgia’s forestry manufacturing sector by making certain job-creation and investment tax credits transferable.
Representative Petrie, the bill sponsor in the hearing, described the measure as tailored to forestry manufacturing and intended to revive an industry that has lost multiple mills. "We call this bill the Keep Georgia Forested Act," he said, explaining the bill makes existing credits transferable so they can be immediately monetized by industry. The measure limits the program to forestry manufacturing, imposes a five-year sunset to evaluate effectiveness, and includes a statewide cap of $250 million in credits.
Committee members pressed on mechanics and fairness. Senator Albers warned that transferability can create intermediaries who capture part of the subsidy and called transferability "a shell game of money"; he also cited studies he said showed a poor fiscal return for long-running film tax subsidies, saying "our studies show that there's about a 16 cents return on the dollar." Supporters responded that transferability is necessary because many mills are not profitable enough today to use tax credits directly and that monetization would help the capital stack for new, large investments.
Members asked whether projects already underway could benefit; presenters and the Georgia forestry representative said projects that had applied for tax credits or filed appropriate paperwork could be eligible, but precise timing depends on when credits are applied for. Industry witnesses and committee members described multiple causes of mill closures — aging assets, undercapitalization, increased recycled imports, and broader market changes — and characterized the bill as an effort to attract large-scale, often multihundred-million-dollar investments such as sawmills and pulp replacements.
After extended discussion about transferability, administrative costs, and alternatives such as low-interest loan programs, the committee passed the bill unanimously and listed Senator Larry Walker as the Senate sponsor for floor consideration.
