ATLANTA, Ga. (Atlanta News First) — Georgia lawmakers remain at an impasse over the state’s $42 billion budget with just over a month left in the legislative session.

The House, Senate and governor are pushing competing plans to return billions of dollars to taxpayers.

The Appropriations Conference Committee met on Monday to negotiate differences between the chambers, but leaders acknowledged significant gaps remain over how to provide tax relief to Georgians.

The Senate has proposed returning more than $2 billion to taxpayers through income tax cuts. The House wants to give homeowners an average of $500 through property tax relief, totaling $850 million. Gov. Brian Kemp has called for one-time rebate checks of up to $500 for families, costing $1.2 billion.

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“We do have the best ideas to pass a balanced budget,” House Speaker Jon Burns, a Newington Republican, said. “That’s what we came here for, and that’s what we’re working diligently on.”

Lawmakers have said only one tax relief plan can fit in the final budget. The budget is the only legislation lawmakers are constitutionally required to pass before the session ends on April 2.

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To afford any tax relief package, both chambers have proposed cuts to other priorities in their budget plans.

The Senate would reduce state employee bonuses from $2,000 to $1,250, a nearly 40% cut, and reduce homelessness funding by $100 million. Both chambers have also proposed reductions to college scholarship funding and homeless services.

Senate President Pro Tem Larry Walker, a Perry Republican who is running for lieutenant governor, acknowledged the difficult decisions ahead.

“Because we have to balance the budget, we have to make some tough decisions,” he said.

Walker called the disagreement between chambers “healthy tension” that is “designed in the whole process.”

One area of agreement: Both chambers support allocating hundreds of millions of dollars to build the state’s first new mental health hospital in decades.

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The investment comes after the state and U.S. Justice Department announced an end to federal oversight of the Georgia Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities.

Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Blake Tillery, a Vidalia Republican who is also running for lieutenant governor, said the hospital would help alleviate overcrowding at local jails, where many people with mental health problems are currently housed.

Behind closed doors, the governor’s budget staff and legislative leaders from both chambers are working to bridge the billion-dollar gap between their proposals.

Both Burns and Walker expressed confidence they would reach a compromise before the April 2 deadline, but neither indicated which side might be willing to give ground on their tax relief proposals.

The $42.3 billion amended 2026 fiscal year budget represents a roughly $4 billion increase over last year. Beyond tax relief, it includes approximately $2 billion for roads and transportation infrastructure.

Lawmakers must also pass a 2027 fiscal year budget before adjourning April 2.

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