Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp is using his constitutional power to call together state lawmakers in an unusual season to address topics of his choice.
WATCH THE SESSIONS
The Georgia General Assembly will convene Wednesday, June 17, 2026, for a special called legislative session. Each chamber is scheduled to begin at 2 p.m.
Kemp wants lawmakers to redraw the state’s political maps for 2028, address the end of the legal authorization to use of QR codes on ballots, and get the option to set up local November votes on shifting taxes off of homes. Those are the main items outlined in his proclamations, the documents creating the special session and listing the business lawmakers can consider.
Normally, state representatives and senators meet in a regular annual session beginning the second Monday each January for up to 40 working days.
A special session can last a maximum of 40 days, unless three-fifths of lawmakers vote to extend it, according to the state constitution.
But in practice, special sessions haven’t taken that long. Legislators took 15 days in a November 2021 special session to do a round of congressional and legislative redistricting.
A 2020 special session took only one day to formally concur with Kemp’s declaration of a state of emergency for COVID-19.
Lawmakers must stick to the topics in the governor’s proclamation, but they’re not obliged to send any legislation to his desk.
