Under the Dome | Session Wrap up 2025 | Vol. 89
Volume 89
Session Wrap up 2025
The first week of this session was remarkable and historic for all the wrong reasons. It started with the assault and arrest of one of the nation’s and most certainly Georgia’s most conservative Senator, Colton Moore, for attempting to fulfill his lawful obligation to attend a Joint Session of the House and Senate as a duly elected member of the Senate. Following this crime, which still seems unbelievable no matter how often I watch the video, we were shocked YET AGAIN by the nauseating display of cowardice and disregard for the law by the courts in the ruling on the Senator’s attempt to have an arrest warrant issued for one of the men who put their hands on the Senator and assaulted him.
In the middle of this additional fight for personal liberties, the Georgia Freedom Caucus took up their proven posture and fought for the people. I think we are all still trying to totally come to terms with just how corrupt our state government actually is. Yet, we won on many issues regardless. We can celebrate our wins. We must also stay vigilant for next year, as nothing is truly dead until after the biennium has concluded.
Free Speech is Safe…For Now
We killed SB 9, which was Gavin Newsom’s bill to ban “Materially Deceptive Media,” championed by RINO Rep. Brad Thomas and his Senate counterpart John Albers. Gavin Newsom is leading the way on barring media he deems “deceptive,” and has already stated he would like to use the law to arrest Elon Musk for posting parody. These so-called “Republicans” are leading the way to enact Newsom’s anti-free speech law here in Georgia.
I am glad to report we stopped this bill, which passed the Senate as a different measure and was then fully stripped in the House Committee process in a slick move to bypass the proper legislative process by Rep. Brad Thomas and Rep. Todd Jones. It died in the Senate awaiting a motion to “Agree to the House Substitute,” meaning all it needs is this motion next year, which is why we must stay vigilant and keep the pedal to the metal on keeping this bill in the garbage can where it belongs.
Killing this legislation was a great win this year!
Protecting Our Children from Government Overreach
RINO Speaker Jon Burns, who is oftentimes indistinguishable from a liberal democrat, attempted to create what was effectively a terrorist watchlist for our kids, creating a permanent record to be used against them any time someone subjectively felt they had done something wrong. This would have been full of private information and grossly invaded the privacy of all of our children. See Jon Burns below discussing his bill and proclaiming that “the safety of the whole” is worth “a little intrusion” into one’s privacy:
From early in the session, the Georgia Freedom Caucus designated killing this measure as the #1 priority. I am proud to report we were able to kill this database, which would have essentially been a terrorist watchlist for our kids, entirely. This was a HUGE win.
I will be honest with you. The bill still wasn’t good to enough be a yes, because we don’t think the resources being spent are anything more than a performative measure, and many good school safety measures meanwhile die at the feet of RINOs on coordination with democrats, but killing that database was a huge huge win.
Backdoor Gun Registry?
Under HB 79, Georgians will register a gun safe with the government, or have to pay an additional $300 in taxes. You don’t buy a gun safe for it to remain empty. This is de facto gun registration. The government will have to maintain a database for who received this credit to administer the process. This is extortion and it is UNCONSTITUTIONAL. It is also a DANGEROUS foot in the door for deadly safe storage laws and moves Georgia in the WRONG direction. You should not have to pay $300 more in taxes than someone else because those chose to put their name on a government list of known gun owners.
Everyone who would utilize the tax credit would go on a list in the department of revenue, effectively creating a registry of gun owners. The Georgia Freedom Caucus strongly opposed this bill. This bill originally belonged to wacko-leftist democrat Rep. Michelle Au. She handed it off to her friend, Rep. Mark Newton, who initially claimed the bill prohibited a government database of known gun owners. This prohibition has an exception that essentially renders the prohibition null and void.
In the Senate Finance Committee, when Senator Greg Dolezal confronted Rep. Newton about this database, Newton admitted that is would create a database and this database would be required to administer the policy.
I am pleased to report this bill was KILLED. It was stripped in the Senate entirely and replaced with another piece of legislation. This was a great win!
SB 8 was a bill to give juvenile court judges authority to issue arrest warrants. This was a bill straight from DFCS, literally written by them.
These judges serve under elected Superior Court Judges, which is who appoints them to their position. Generally speaking Magistrate Judges issue arrest warrants. If there was some kind of serious concern, they could go to the Superior Court. Yet there is really no valid reason this could not go through the normal process via a Magistrate Court Judge. The bill would simply be making it easier to arrest people, especially parents, without going through the typical process.
In a rare moment in the House, this bill was considered on the floor and failed. This followed a strong opposition by many, including Georgia Freedom Caucus Chair Charlice Byrd. This was a great win!
The Georgia Freedom Caucus made it clear from the start of session that passing legislation to prevent boys from competing in girls sports, using their changing rooms, overnight accommodation, etc. was a top priority. I am pleased to report that this effort was successful. This is a great win!
Religious Freedom!
Working with the Georgia Freedom Caucus, we decided to do our best to help get RFRA (Religious Freedom Restoration Act) passed to prevent government from partaking in discrimination on the basis of religion. It was at serious risk of bad amendments in the House committee, in fact some passed thanks to RINOs. However, we put together a strong push and the amendments were removed.
The bill passed and was signed into law. This was great for Georgia!
Overtaxed!
It is time to abolish the state income tax. The Georgia Freedom Caucus introduced SB 168, a plan to abolish the state income tax in 6 years. Nearly every Republican ran on abolishing the state income tax. If they don’t like the Georgia Freedom Caucus plan they can introduce their own. But it is time to put up or shut up.
As part of this effort, Senator Colton Moore introduced and passed legislation to create a FairTax Study Committee. This will explore means and collect data for getting rid of the state income tax completely.
Reversing Chris Carr’s Policy Using Taxpayer Dollars to Trans Kids
This bill would prevent the state insurance for state employees from covering transgender procedures. According to the author, Senator Tillery, our state plan is even still covering this care for minors out of state. No state dollars will be spent on these procedures under this bill. This is a direct response to Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr settling a lawsuit and deciding that the state will pay for transgender procedures, including on minors. Now, Carr wants to be Governor. Because this bill corrects the horrific decision of a liberal RINO Attorney General named Chris Carr, we strongly support this bill.
***Unfortunately, this bill died at the feet of Jon Burns.*** How does this guy EVEN get elected by republicans???????
Holding Sanctuary City Official Accountable
SB 21 strips sovereign immunity from officials who facilitate sanctuary policies, allowing them to be held accountable for their actions. This is a great bill, it keeps Georgians safe, and we strongly support this bill.
Unfortunately, this bill died at the feet of Jon Burns.
Lt. Governor Burt Jones ending the session strong!
We are immensely grateful to Lt. Governor Burt Jones for adjourning 3 hours early on Sine Die. Why did this occur?
The Senate sent a comprehensive Election Integrity bill, HB 397, to the House. Jon Burns promptly gutted the bill.
The Senate passed their own DOGE-style bill, known as SB 28 or the “Red Tape Rollback Act of 2025.” This bill was designed to reign in unneeded regulation. Government bureaucrats did not want to be held accountable and lobbied Jon Burns to kill the bill. Burns complied and kowtowed to these taxpayer funded lobbying efforts.
In a Larry Ellison/Orwell 1984 world, computers will write tickets for bad behavior under a mass surveillance state. Unfortunately this is already happening via school zone cameras where computers are writing tickets to people on behalf of a corporation, not even the government. Jon Burns refused to ban these cameras. Is it a coincidence that David Ralston’s son is the lobbyist for the corporation that installs, maintains, and collects the revenue from these cameras?
The Senate did what was long overdue and passed a bill banning puberty blockers for kids. The House Committee on Public and Community Health Chair, RINO Rep. Sharon Cooper, decided she believes children should be allowed to be mutilated by this treatment which caused irreparable harm. Jon Burns refused to fix this issue created by Cooper. This is one of the more shocking and disgusting things which occurred at the capitol this year. Sharon Cooper should be ashamed of herself.
These bad faith actions by Speaker Jon Burns resulted in the Senate adjourning early. As a result, Lt. Governor Burt Jones killed a lot of bad bills. We are very grateful to Lt. Governor Jones for this gutsy action.
Overall Recap
Every session has some wins and some losses. Yet this year was overwhelmingly successful in many ways. I think the Georgia Freedom Caucus said it perfectly in their statement:
This would not be possible with all of you. Thank you for your great work!
Do you support our efforts to DEFEND COLTON MOORE, keep tyranny in check, fight against out of control spending, and cut taxes? If so, please consider donating. This will be directly used to campaign for critical conservative legislation under the dome and elect more Georgia Freedom Caucus members, like Colton Moore. Click here to support our efforts! The Freedom Caucus is how we save Georgia. Check out this video and get on board!
Georgia’s political fault lines are rumbling. With Brian Kemp term-limited and the state’s purple status cemented, the 2026 governor’s race is shaping up to be a brawl. The suburbs are restless, the countryside’s still red as clay, and everyone’s got an angle. But the early chatter—especially from the usual media suspects—is hyping the wrong names and missing the real players.
Here’s the unfiltered rundown on who’s running, who’s thinking about it, and who’s just chasing clout. https://pineandpeach.substack.com/p/the-2026-georgia-governors-race
Thanking you, Mallory for this succinct and well-written article about what just happened!
This is the kind of the schtuff that needs explication and interpretation for those of us that care about the direction our State is taking, today and in the future.
I would appreciate your take on how election Integrity issues got on in this cycle. I follow Garland Favorito and Ricardo Davis so I am aware of their takes on this cycle but your analysis from the Georgia Freedom Caucus standpoint would be interesting.
Again, thanking you.