Georgia enacts new law to reduce agencies’ abuses of power
May 13, 2026
Atlanta, Georgia; May 13, 2026: Georgia took a crucial step toward limiting government overreach yesterday as Governor Brian Kemp signed House Bill 1247 into law. The bill requires courts to independently interpret laws and regulations without deferring to government agencies.
“By adopting key reforms like this, Georgia is making it abundantly clear that bureaucrats do not have the power they’ve claimed to interpret the law in their own favor,” said Jaimie Cavanaugh, Senior State Policy Counsel at Pacific Legal Foundation. “This law rejects the notion that courts should act as rubber stamps for agencies’ abuses of power and instead affirms that they operate as neutral, independent arbiters.”
“Georgia’s House Bill 1247 is strong regulatory reform which ensures that Georgia state government serves the people, rather than the other way around,” said State Representative Matt Reeves (R-Duluth), who sponsored the bill.
The new law, titled the “Georgia Bureaucratic Deference Elimination Act,” prevents courts from deferring to agencies’ interpretations of laws when hearing lawsuits by Georgians whose rights have been violated by the government.
Pacific Legal Foundation collaborated with the Georgia Public Policy Foundation and Americans for Prosperity’s Georgia chapter to advance this reform.
PLF continues to challenge state and federal agencies’ abuses of power across the country through both litigation and policy reforms.
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About Pacific Legal Foundation
Pacific Legal Foundation is a national nonprofit law firm that defends Americans threatened by government overreach and abuse. Since our founding in 1973, we challenge the government when it violates individual liberty and constitutional rights. With active cases in 34 states plus Washington, D.C., PLF represents clients in state and federal courts, with 18 wins of 20 cases litigated at the U.S. Supreme Court.