At the beginning of each year, thousands of taxpayers rush to support Georgia families by submitting a tax credit application for the Qualified Education Expense Tax Credit. Through the Tax Credit and participating scholarship organizations, Georgia is expanding K-12 educational access, increasing diversity in private school communities and saving Georgia taxpayers millions.
Demand for this popular program is so strong that, on the first day taxpayers can apply, the statewide demand for tax credits more than doubles the available $120 million statewide cap on available credits. That level of enthusiasm shows a thirst among participating Georgia taxpayers and families for better K-12 educational opportunities and outcomes.
A new report from the Georgia Department of Audits and Accounts (DOAA) confirms just how meaningful the program has become. While debates about school choice can be loud and political, the data here are refreshingly straightforward.
Learn more about this in this week’s commentary.
– Kyle Wingfield
Friday’s Freshest 🗞️
When it comes to the rising cost of housing in Georgia, there is a hidden driver in the lack of affordability that has nothing to do with workforce or building materials: the cost of time. While Georgia continues growing rapidly – adding over a million residents each decade dating back to 1980 – bureaucratic review has become a costly bottleneck for building homes.
Georgia continues to grapple with a complex, outdated and steadily expanding regulatory environment. Debates over the state’s regulatory burden, including proposals such as the “Red Tape Rollback Act” introduced last year, are not occurring in isolation.
The 2026 legislative session marks both an endpoint and the eventual transition to come. As with the 2018 session before it, the final year of the legislative cycle and a term-limited governor will bring the prevailing political order to a close, ultimately altering the proceedings and priorities of the legislature.
Rising property taxes in Georgia continue to dominate kitchen table conversations around the state. As such, expect proposals to rein in property taxes to be at the forefront of the 2026 legislative session.
For over a decade, the push for educational freedom was spearheaded at the state level by advocates and policy makers. The landscape of the school choice movement will change significantly in January 2027, when the first federal tax credit scholarship goes into effect.
Peach Picks 🍑
Gov. Kemp declared a statewide State of Emergency on Thursday ahead of Winter Storm Fern’s impact on the state this weekend. The Governor also directed the Georgia Emergency Management and Homeland Security Agency (GEMA/HS) to activate the State Operations Center (SOC) and mobilize any needed resources to address any potential needs around the state. The State of Emergency will run through January 29, 2026.
School choice debates continue as more states opt into programs aimed at expanding educational options for families. National School Choice Week, scheduled for Jan. 25-31, is designed to raise awareness about school choice around the country through events with schools and organizations.
Georgians now have another way to give away money and get it all back when they support private school students in Georgia after Gov. Kemp signed onto a federal tax credit program. The credit, established under President Donald Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act last year, gives federal taxpayers up to $1,700 back for each dollar they give to authorized K-12 scholarship-granting organizations.
State Economist Robert Buschman projected slow job growth and persistent inflation in the year ahead as many Georgia families struggle to make ends meet. He told Georgia legislators Tuesday that lower personal debt and improved bank balance sheets are bright spots in his economic outlook—but slow job and income growth, rising prices and record business bankruptcies suggest a mixed economic outlook for 2026.
Ten Republican senators are backing a bill that would end a sales-and-use tax credit for data centers. Data centers are at the center of the debate over a plan that would add nearly 10,000 megawatts of capacity to Georgia Power.
Quotes of Note 🌟
“Always forgive your enemies; nothing annoys them so much.” – Oscar Wilde
“Friendship … is born at the moment when one man says to another “What! You too? I thought that no one but myself . . .” – C.S. Lewis
“For every minute you are angry you lose sixty seconds of happiness.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson
One More Fact 💡
National School Choice Week begins Jan. 25 in Georgia and across the country. In the Peach State, 766 schools and nonprofits are hosting events and activities, spanning 127 of the state’s 159 counties and collectively serving an estimated 360,000 students. To raise additional awareness, Gov. Brian Kemp has issued a proclamation recognizing Jan. 25–31 as Georgia School Choice Week.
The week’s goal is to help families learn more about the K–12 learning options available for their children, including public, charter, magnet, private, online, home, and nontraditional learning environments. More than 28,000 events across the country are being planned.
To raise statewide awareness, GeorgiaCAN will host the Atlanta School Choice Expo on Saturday, Jan. 31, 2026. The event will take place from 11:00 a.m.–2:00 p.m. at the Loudermilk Conference Center in Atlanta, with more than 800 attendees expected.
Other events include a community expo organized by Black Microschools ATL in Atlanta, featuring parent workshops and student activities. Georgia Cyber Academy is hosting educational events at science centers and planetariums across the state. In Decatur, The Ferguson School is planning a student showcase and virtual open house. Rex Mill Middle School in Rex is welcoming families with an open house and school tours. In Augusta, SOAR Academy Augusta is hosting a community school choice fair, while Burdell Hunt Magnet School in Macon is marking the week with a spirit week and open house.*
*The events listed are not affiliated with the Georgia Public Policy Foundation.