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COLUMN: Walker: Looking Back with Gratitude & Moving Forward with Purpose

There’s a certain clarity that comes at the end of the year, especially a year like 2025. As families across Georgia sit down to stretch their paychecks and figure out how to make Christmas special despite rising costs, it’s impossible not to feel the weight of the moment we’re living in. Washington may be content with runaway spending and unstable leadership, but here in Georgia, we’re determined to chart a different course.

Representing the people of Middle Georgia comes with a responsibility I don’t take lightly. While debating legislation and casting votes are part of the job, the real work happens in the conversations at kitchen tables, local businesses, farm shops and church pews. This year, you’ve told me what’s working, what’s not and what you expect from your state leaders.

Over the last twelve months, Senate Republicans stayed focused on conservative, commonsense policies that strengthen our workforce, improve school safety and protect consumers from practices that drive up the cost of living. In a year when every dollar matters, we delivered meaningful tax relief and upheld Georgia’s long-standing commitment to responsible budgeting. Our investments in education, public safety and health care, while lowering taxes, aren’t abstract accomplishments. They’re making a difference in real homes and real communities.

Our law enforcement officers and first responders are better equipped to keep our schools secure. Farmers and agribusiness owners have more protection for the tools they rely on to feed our state. Small businesses are getting relief from lawsuit abuse that has driven up insurance premiums. Families are keeping more of their hard-earned money due to our income tax reduction.

As proud as I am of what we’ve done, I’m even more mindful of the challenges ahead. Rural health care remains a challenge. Workforce shortages continue to burden small towns and local economies. Affordable housing is slipping further out of reach for too many young families. Agriculture, the backbone of our economy, continues to need long-term, strategic support to remain competitive in a rapidly changing world.

In the upcoming legislative session, my priorities remain in advancing policies that help Georgians thrive, strengthening the industries that drive our state and pushing back against personal agendas that threaten to make life harder for working families. Before we talk about new programs or new spending, we must first ask whether we are protecting taxpayers and preserving the values that built this state.

As the Christmas season arrives, I hope you’re able to find time for rest, gratitude, and the people who matter most in your life. I remain deeply thankful for your trust and your willingness to stay engaged in the work happening under the Gold Dome. If my office can ever help you, whether you have an idea for legislation or need assistance navigating a state agency, please don’t hesitate to reach out. We work for you year-round.

I wish you and your family a joyful Christmas and a hopeful, prosperous New Year. I look forward to all we will accomplish together in 2026.

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Sen. Larry Walker serves as Chairman of the Senate Committee on Insurance and Labor. He represents the 20th Senate District, which includes Bleckley, Dodge, Dooly, Laurens, Treutlen, Pulaski and Wilcox counties, as well as a portion of Houston County.  He may be reached by phone at (404) 656-0095 or by email at Larry.Walker@senate.ga.gov.

For all media inquiries, please reach out to SenatePressInquiries@senate.ga.gov.

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Sen. Larry Walker III Shares Georgia’s Success at NCOIL Fall Meeting

ATLANTA (November 18, 2025) — Today, Sen. Larry Walker, III (R–Perry) announced the successful conclusion of the National Council of Insurance Legislators’ (NCOIL) Fall Meeting, held in Atlanta. Sen. Walker, who chaired a meeting of NCOIL’s Property & Casualty (P&C) Committee, led key discussions and guided major consumer protection measures through the committee during the Saturday session.

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COLUMN: Walker: Breaking Barriers, Building Careers: Reform That Keeps Georgia Working

By: Sen. Larry Walker, III (R–Perry)

As 2025 draws to a close, Georgia’s economy continues to expand. Still, I keep hearing a familiar concern echoed throughout our state. A lack of work isn’t holding Georgia back; it’s the barriers that prevent willing workers from accessing it.

Across our state, we’ve got men and women who know their trades inside and out. They’ve studied, trained and earned their stripes. However, the process of becoming “official” in the eyes of the state often slows them down. Whether it’s an HVAC technician waiting on a license renewal or a small business that can’t fill a vacancy, the result is the same… good work delayed by red tape.

If someone has the training, experience and work ethic to do a job, the government shouldn’t stand in their way. According to the Georgia Department of Labor’s Workforce Trends to 2028, our state is on track to add more than 550,000 new jobs by the end of the decade, an increase of nearly 12 percent statewide. Health care and social assistance will lead the charge, adding over 122,000 positions. Professional and business services will follow closely with almost 96,000 new opportunities. Our construction industry, which propels much of our rural economic growth, is projected to grow by more than seven percent as new roads, bridges and facilities rise across the state.

Those numbers don’t tell the whole story. Every new project depends on people who are licensed and ready to work. That’s where reform matters most.

This year, I sponsored Senate Bill 125, which helps engineering graduates gain a competitive edge in their careers. Before this law, graduates were required to complete four years of work experience before they could take the Professional Engineering exam. SB 125 decouples the exam from that requirement, allowing graduates to test while the material is still fresh in their minds. They’ll still need real-world experience to become fully licensed, but they won’t lose four productive years waiting for the state’s permission to prove what they already know.

We also passed House Bill 579, which I was proud to carry through the Senate. This new law streamlines the licensing process for skilled trades and high-demand professions by giving the Professional Licensing Boards Division more flexibility to issue temporary or provisional licenses. That means a qualified plumbing apprentice or HVAC technician can begin working under supervision while completing an exam, rather than sitting on the sidelines. In places like Houston County or Laurens County, that difference can determine whether a business grows or has to turn down work.

Together, these reforms move Georgia closer to being a state that rewards hard work and eliminates unnecessary red tape, and they come at the right time. The Department of Labor projects that more than 48,000 new transportation and material-moving jobs and 14,000 new construction-related positions will be available by 2028. Add to that nearly 95,000 new jobs in science, technology, engineering and math fields, and you can see the opportunity that lies ahead.

Rural communities, especially, can’t afford to lose momentum. When a single HVAC technician or lineman retires, it doesn’t just impact a business. It affects every family, church and school that relies on their skills. Georgians aren’t asking for shortcuts. They deserve a system that respects their training, values their time and recognizes that honest work shouldn’t be tangled up in paperwork.

SB 125 and HB 579 are all about clearing the road for our people to continue to build, heal and lead in every corner of the state. As we lay a foundation for the 2026 Legislative Session, I’m committed to being a champion for every Georgian who works hard to provide for their family. When our workforce succeeds, Georgia does too.

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Sen. Larry Walker serves as Chairman of the Senate Committee on Insurance and Labor. He represents the 20th Senate District, which includes Bleckley, Dodge, Dooly, Laurens, Treutlen, Pulaski and Wilcox counties, as well as portions of Houston County.  He may be reached by phone at (404) 656-0095 or by email at Larry.Walker@senate.ga.gov.

For all media inquiries, please reach out to SenatePressInquiries@senate.ga.gov.

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Sen. Larry Walker Urges Swift Action to End Federal Government Shutdown

ATLANTA (October 29, 2025) — Today, Sen. Larry Walker III (R–Perry) released a letter addressed to U.S. Senators Raphael Warnock (D–GA) and Jon Ossoff (D–GA), urging them to take immediate action to end the ongoing federal government shutdown, now entering its 29th day.

In his letter, Sen. Walker highlighted the growing hardship faced by Georgia families, including the potential expiration of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits, which would affect an estimated 1.5 million Georgians, over 300,000 of whom are children. He also noted the severe impact on the 22,000 employees and contractors at Robins Air Force Base, the state’s largest single-site employer, where hundreds of essential workers have already been furloughed.

“The expiration of these benefits is not a distant threat; it is imminent, and it will exacerbate hunger and food insecurity at a scale we have not seen in years,” Sen. Walker wrote. “Georgia’s children, seniors and working poor deserve better than to bear the brunt of Washington’s dysfunction.”

Sen. Walker called on Georgia’s U.S. Senators to “set aside partisan divides and lead the charge in the Senate to pass a clean continuing resolution,” emphasizing the urgent need to restore federal funding and protect both Georgia families and the national defense operations anchored in Middle Georgia.

A full copy of Sen. Walker’s letter to Sens. Warnock and Ossoff is attached.

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Sen. Larry Walker serves as Chairman of the Senate Committee on Insurance and Labor. He represents the 20th Senate District, which includes Bleckley, Dodge, Dooly, Laurens, Treutlen, Pulaski and Wilcox counties, as well as portions of Houston County.  He may be reached by phone at (404) 656-0095 or by email at Larry.Walker@senate.ga.gov.

For all media inquiries, please reach out to SenatePressInquiries@senate.ga.gov.

Shutdown Letter (Warnock Ossoff) – (Final – 10.29)Download