Jackson and Bottoms agree Georgia costs too much. Their fixes couldn’t be more different.

Rick Jackson and Keisha Lance Bottoms agree on at least one thing: It shouldn’t cost this much to live in Georgia.

Where the two candidates for governor differ is what state government should do about it.

Jackson, the Republican nominee, is pitching an affordability agenda built largely around allowing Georgians to keep more of their money that has been going to taxes. His proposals include eliminating state taxes on residential electricity and natural gas, ending Georgia income taxes on tips and automatically suspending the state gas tax when an international conflict, natural disaster or similar event sends prices sharply higher.

He has also promised to prevent homeowners’ property tax bills from rising solely because their homes increase in value and, over time, cut Georgia’s state income tax in half.

Bottoms, the Democratic nominee, is putting more emphasis on using state government to reduce some of the underlying expenses squeezing household budgets — particularly health care and housing.

Her campaign points to proposals to expand Medicaid, lower prescription drug costs, protect rural hospitals, invest in affordable housing and restrict large corporate landlords that she says are making it harder for Georgians to buy or rent homes.

It amounts to two distinctly different arguments about affordability: Should the state primarily help families by taking less of their money, or should government intervene more directly in the systems driving some of their largest expenses?

Neither campaign has yet provided PeachPol with enough information to determine which approach would ultimately put more money into the pockets of a typical Georgia family.

Several outside policy groups contacted by PeachPol also said they need additional time to analyze Jackson’s newly released package before assessing its fiscal impact.

Jackson: Put money back in Georgians’ pockets

Jackson unveiled his latest affordability proposals by invoking the household decisions families make when every dollar already has somewhere to go.

“Different lives, same question,” Jackson said. “How much more can a family budget take?”

The most immediate pieces of his plan target the gas pump, utility bills and the paychecks of tipped workers.

Jackson wants to eliminate taxes on residential electricity and natural gas, arguing that heating and cooling a home are necessities rather than luxuries.

He also wants to eliminate Georgia income taxes on tips.

“Tips are rent. Tips are groceries. Tips are school clothes,” Jackson said.

His gas-tax proposal would kick in during a rapid price spike tied to an outside crisis.

If Georgia’s average gasoline price rises at least 35 cents in seven days or 75 cents in 30 days because of an international conflict, natural disaster or comparable event, Jackson proposes automatically suspending the state motor fuel tax for 60 days. The suspension could be extended in 30-day increments, according to his proposal.

Jackson estimated that removing the state tax would save a driver about $5 on a 15-gallon fill-up at the 2026 tax rate.

Bottoms also supports temporarily suspending the gas tax during a crisis, according to her campaign, but she has not proposed Jackson’s automatic trigger.

PeachPol asked Bottoms’ campaign whether she would support Jackson’s proposals to eliminate state taxes on residential utilities and tips and whether she would support putting an automatic gas-tax trigger into law. The campaign did not respond to those questions by publication time.

What would Jackson’s plan cost?

What the actual cost of Jackson’s plan would be remains one of the largest unanswered questions.

Jackson is also promising something considerably bigger than the immediate tax breaks: eventually cutting Georgia’s state income tax in half.

At the announcement, a reporter estimated that, when the income-tax proposal is included, Jackson could be seeking to remove roughly $8 billion to $9 billion from a state budget of about $33 billion.

Jackson did not offer a detailed fiscal analysis in response.

Instead, he argued that Georgia could absorb lower taxes through a combination of faster economic growth, modernized state technology and cuts to government waste.

“There’s not a business in the world that I can’t cut 10 percent out of waste,” Jackson said.

He said updating state departments that rely on outdated software would lower costs and predicted his administration could grow Georgia’s economy by at least 4% to 5%.

Jackson’s campaign had not responded by publication time to PeachPol questions seeking estimates of how much each proposal would cost the state, how much a typical household would save and how much revenue the campaign expects to recover through economic growth or spending reductions.

Those details matter because lower tax collections also mean less revenue available for schools, transportation, health programs, public safety and other state services unless the losses are offset elsewhere.

Bottoms: Target health care and housing

Bottoms’ campaign responded to Jackson’s proposal by arguing that her affordability agenda attacks some of the biggest expenses facing Georgia families.

“Keisha’s the only candidate in this race who is focused on bringing down costs and fighting the cost-raising agenda coming from the White House,” campaign spokesperson TaNisha Cameron said in a statement that also criticized Jackson’s business dealings and support for President Donald Trump.

Jackson’s own affordability platform makes clear that he, too, is campaigning on lowering costs. But the Bottoms response illustrates how differently the candidates define the problem.

Her campaign highlighted her CARE Plan for a Healthier Georgia, which calls for expanding Medicaid, protecting rural hospitals and lowering prescription drug costs.

Bottoms has also pledged free pre-kindergarten for every 4-year-old and called for action against corporate landlords purchasing large numbers of homes.

She has said she wants to take an affordable housing trust fund model used during her tenure as Atlanta mayor and explore taking that approach statewide.

“We’ve got to do something about corporate ownership in this state,” Bottoms has said, according to material provided by her campaign. “Many of the corporate owners are absentee landlords. They are buying up the housing stock, making it more difficult for people to purchase houses.”

What exactly a statewide crackdown on corporate landlords would look like remains less clear.

PeachPol also asked Bottoms’ campaign how she would limit corporate ownership of single-family homes and how a statewide affordable housing trust fund would be financed. The campaign did not respond to those questions by publication time.

Bottoms has also proposed eliminating state income taxes for teachers, meaning her own affordability agenda includes targeted tax relief.

Two definitions of affordability

The difference between Jackson and Bottoms is not as simple as one candidate favoring tax cuts and the other favoring government spending.

Both support some form of gas-tax relief during emergencies. Both have proposed tax breaks for particular groups. And both say government has a role in making life less expensive.

The distinction is one of emphasis.

Jackson’s message is that government itself is part of the household cost equation — and that reducing what Georgians pay in taxes can provide immediate relief.

Bottoms is arguing that the state should more aggressively address expenses such as medical care and housing.

The full price tags — and the potential savings — are not yet clear.

That leaves the central question of the affordability debate unresolved:

How much would either approach actually save you?

Disclosure: PeachPol founder Tharon Johnson is a member of Keisha Lance Bottoms’ gubernatorial campaign team. He has no role in PeachPol’s editorial coverage or decision-making.

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