# Georgia HB 136: Income tax; contributions to foster child support organizations; expand tax credit Georgia HB 136, Income tax; contributions to foster child support organizations; expand tax credit, is a 2025-2026 Regular Session House bill sponsored by Shaw Blackmon (Republican), Brent Cox (Republican), Sheila Jones (Democrat) and 3 others; status signed, last action 2025-07-01 (Effective Date); PRIA reads it as touching household money (as of 2026-10-12). - Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/GA-HB136-2025-2026 - As of: 2026-10-12 - Plain-text twin of the page above; the HTML and this file carry the same facts. ## Facts - Bill: Georgia HB 136 - State: Georgia - Session: 2025-2026 Regular Session - Title: Income tax; contributions to foster child support organizations; expand tax credit - Status: signed - Chamber: House - Introduced: 2025-01-27 - Last action: 2025-07-01, Effective Date - Sponsors: Shaw Blackmon (Republican), Brent Cox (Republican), Sheila Jones (Democrat), Mark Newton (Republican), Brian Prince (Democrat), Trey Rhodes (Republican) - Cosponsors: 1 - Subjects: Ways & Means, Finance, General Bill - Touches household money: yes - Roll calls: 5 (468 yes, 27 no in all) - Economic provisions PRIA read: 7 ## Summary No summary available. ## Bill overview: provisions PRIA read - Bigger care tax credit for families: benefit, medium. Beginning with tax years starting January 1, 2025, Georgia's child and dependent care credit equals 50% of your allowed federal credit. You must claim and qualify for the federal credit. Georgia's credit only reduces the Georgia income tax you owe; it does not provide a refund beyond that amount. U… - New tax credit for young children: benefit, medium. For tax years starting January 1, 2026, you can claim $250 per child under six who meets federal qualifying-child rules. Only one taxpayer can claim each child. When parents or guardians file separately, the person with custody for more than half the year generally claims it. A noncustodial parent… - Employers get credits for child care: benefit, low. For tax years starting January 1, 2026, employers get $500 per qualifying child for direct child-care payments. The first-year credit is $1,000 per child when the employer has never paid, reimbursed, or subsidized employee child care. Payments must total at least $1,000 per employee yearly and go d… - Insurance businesses gain foster donation credits: benefit, low. Beginning July 1, 2025, eligible insurance companies and insurance-company headquarters can use foster-support donation credits against their state insurance premium tax. Donations need preapproval, and the recipient must qualify both at approval and when the donation is made. The credit cannot exc… - Foster donors face new credit restrictions: cost, medium. Beginning July 1, 2025, donors cannot claim foster-support credits for donations to organizations with specified contracting ties. The restriction applies when a taxpayer or business operates, owns, or is a subsidiary of an entity contracting directly with the recipient. Donors also cannot direct a… - Foster charities face stricter spending oversight: cost, low. Beginning July 1, 2025, qualified foster-support organizations can retain at most 20% of credit-program funds for overhead or their own use. A specified pass-through category can retain only 2.5% and must send the rest to other eligible organizations. No one can promise donors a direct or special b… - Expanded foster support with donation limits: mixed, low. Georgia expands its foster-support donation credit to cover more organizations, youth, and services. Eligible organizations include specified public college foundation programs, qualifying nonprofits, licensed child-placing agencies and child-caring institutions, and qualifying fund-distributing or… ## Sponsors and cosponsors - Sponsor: Shaw Blackmon (Republican), House - Sponsor: Brent Cox (Republican), House - Sponsor: Sheila Jones (Democrat), House - Sponsor: Mark Newton (Republican), House - Sponsor: Brian Prince (Democrat), House - Sponsor: Trey Rhodes (Republican), House - Cosponsor: Brian Strickland (Republican), Senate ## Roll call votes | Date | Chamber | Motion | Result | Yes | No | Other | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 2025-04-04 | Senate | AGREE TO HOUSE AMENDMENT TO SENATE SUBSTITUTE | pass | 54 | 0 | | | 2025-04-02 | House | Agree to Senate Sub as Am | pass | 163 | 4 | 2 | | 2025-03-28 | Senate | PASSAGE BY SUBSTITUTE | pass | 50 | 0 | 2 | | 2025-03-28 | Senate | MOTION TO ENGROSS | pass | 31 | 21 | 2 | | 2025-02-24 | House | PASSAGE | pass | 170 | 2 | 2 | ## Actions (18) - 2025-07-01: Effective Date - 2025-05-13: House Date Signed by Governor (House) - 2025-05-13: Act 182 - 2025-04-10: House Sent to Governor (House) - 2025-04-04: Senate Agreed House Amend or Sub (Senate) - 2025-04-02: House Agreed Senate Amend or Sub As Amended (House) - 2025-03-28: Senate Engrossed (Senate) - 2025-03-28: Senate Third Read (Senate) - 2025-03-28: Senate Passed/Adopted By Substitute (Senate) - 2025-03-27: Senate Committee Favorably Reported By Substitute (Senate) - 2025-03-27: Senate Read Second Time (Senate) - 2025-02-26: Senate Read and Referred (Senate) - 2025-02-24: House Third Readers (House) - 2025-02-24: House Passed/Adopted By Substitute (House) - 2025-02-19: House Committee Favorably Reported By Substitute (House) - 2025-01-29: House Second Readers (House) - 2025-01-28: House First Readers (House) - 2025-01-27: House Hopper (House) ## Bill text - HB 136/AP* (v11): [PDF](https://www.legis.ga.gov/api/legislation/document/20252026/239327) ## Related bills - SB 160: Reckless Stunt Driving; a motor vehicle involved in a second offense of reckless stunt driving; replace the forfeiture penalty (signed) - SB 384: Motor Vehicle; optional five-year motor vehicle registration and revalidation for certain motor vehicles; provide (signed) - SB 76: License Plates; specialty license plate benefitting the Georgia Veterans Service Foundation; establish (signed) - SB 406: "Georgia Property Owners' Bill of Rights Act"; enact (signed) - HB 1391: Specialty license plates; honor public safety officers; establish (signed) - HB 1344: Georgia Insurance Affordability and Claims Integrity Act; enact (signed) ## Sources - [HB 136/AP* (v11) (PDF)](https://www.legis.ga.gov/api/legislation/document/20252026/239327) ## Related - [SB 160: Reckless Stunt Driving; a motor vehicle involved in a second offense of reckles…](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/GA-SB160-2025-2026) - [SB 384: Motor Vehicle; optional five-year motor vehicle registration and revalidation f…](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/GA-SB384-2025-2026) - [SB 76: License Plates; specialty license plate benefitting the Georgia Veterans Servic…](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/GA-SB76-2025-2026) - [SB 406: "Georgia Property Owners' Bill of Rights Act"; enact](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/GA-SB406-2025-2026) - [HB 1391: Specialty license plates; honor public safety officers; establish](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/GA-HB1391-2025-2026) - [HB 1344: Georgia Insurance Affordability and Claims Integrity Act; enact](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/GA-HB1344-2025-2026) - [Georgia bills](https://policyrisk.com/states/georgia/bills) - [Georgia state hub](https://policyrisk.com/states/georgia) - [All state legislation](https://policyrisk.com/state-bills) Source: PRIA, https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/GA-HB136-2025-2026 (as of 2026-10-12).