# Rick Williams (GA Senate D-25) — Legislator Fact Sheet · The GA Files > Key state votes by Georgia Senator Rick Williams (District 25), his constituent access, and campaign finance — a state-level legislator fact sheet. *Source: https://thegafiles.com/RickWilliams.html · The GA Files (thegafiles.com)* --- State Level Legislator Fact Sheet · Georgia State Senate · District 25 # Rick Williams Party Republican In Office Senate 2023 – present Senate Role Chair, Retirement Committee Scope of This Review 2019 – 2026 The scorecard below tracks how Sen. Williams voted on eleven of the most consequential bills before the Georgia General Assembly (2019–2026) — abortion, LGBTQ rights, taxes, tort reform, religious liberty, homelessness, and more. He cast ten of these in the State Senate, which he joined in 2023; the eleventh — the 2019 Heartbeat Bill — he cast as a **State Representative**, the seat he held for Baldwin County from 2017 to 2023. 11 / 11Williams voted **YEA** on all eleven — with the Republican majority every time. (HB 481 was his House vote in 2019.) **Methodology.** Each vote is Sen. Williams's actual position from the official Georgia roll call (legis.ga.gov), transcribed into a verified vote database and cross-checked against the published Yea/Nay totals. The chamber tally and final status (became law / died in House) are noted per bill. 01 ## Riley Gaines Act SB 1 · 2025 Session YEA Floor Vote Senate vote (Agree to House Substitute), 2025 session — 34–20 Status Became law (2025 session) Sen. Williams' Vote Voted **YEA** — with the chamber majority, on a party-line vote. ### Impact on Everyday Georgians Bars transgender women and girls from competing on female school and college sports teams and requires K–12 and college sports, locker rooms, and restrooms to be designated by sex assigned at birth. Supporters framed it as protecting fairness and safety in women's sports; opponents — including LGBTQ advocates and some parents — said it stigmatizes transgender students and invites invasive enforcement. #### Sources - [LegiScan — SB 1 bill text, history & roll calls](https://legiscan.com/GA/bill/SB1/2025) 02 ## Tort Reform SB 68 · 2025 Session YEA Floor Vote Senate vote (Agree to House Substitute), 2025 session — 34–21 Status Became law — Gov. Kemp's signature 2025 priority Sen. Williams' Vote Voted **YEA** — with the chamber majority, on a party-line vote. ### Impact on Everyday Georgians Overhauled Georgia's civil-litigation rules — limiting when businesses and property owners can be sued (notably for negligent-security claims), changing how juries are told about medical damages, and allowing trials to be split into liability and damages phases. Backers said it would lower insurance costs and curb runaway verdicts; trial lawyers and consumer advocates warned it makes it harder for injured Georgians to recover full damages. #### Sources - [LegiScan — SB 68 bill text, history & roll calls](https://legiscan.com/GA/bill/SB68/2025) 03 ## Religious Freedom Restoration Act SB 36 · 2025 Session YEA Floor Vote Senate vote (Passage), 2025 session — 32–23 Status Became law (2025 session) Sen. Williams' Vote Voted **YEA** — with the chamber majority, on a party-line vote. ### Impact on Everyday Georgians Georgia's Religious Freedom Restoration Act bars state and local government from “substantially burdening” a person's exercise of religion without a compelling interest. Supporters called it a long-sought protection mirroring the 1993 federal law; opponents — including civil-rights groups and some businesses — warned it could be used to justify discrimination, particularly against LGBTQ Georgians, since the state has no statewide anti-discrimination law. #### Sources - [LegiScan — SB 36 bill text, history & roll calls](https://legiscan.com/GA/bill/SB36/2025) 04 ## Gender-Affirming Care Ban (Minors) SB 140 · 2023 Session YEA Floor Vote Senate vote (Agree to House Substitute), 2023 session — 31–21 Status Became law (2023 session) Sen. Williams' Vote Voted **YEA** — with the chamber majority, on a party-line vote. ### Impact on Everyday Georgians Prohibits hormone therapy and surgical gender-affirming care for transgender minors in Georgia, with limited exceptions. Supporters said it shields children from irreversible decisions; major medical associations and families of transgender youth opposed it, arguing it overrides parents and doctors and strips away evidence-based care. #### Sources - [LegiScan — SB 140 bill text, history & roll calls](https://legiscan.com/GA/bill/SB140/2023) 05 ## Gender-Affirming Care Funding Ban SB 39 · 2025 Session YEA Floor Vote Senate vote (Motion to Immediately Transmit), 2025 session — 32–18 Status Passed the Senate; died in the House (2025 session) — did not become law Sen. Williams' Vote Voted **YEA** — with the chamber majority, on a party-line vote. ### Impact on Everyday Georgians Would have barred the use of state funds — including the State Health Benefit Plan and Medicaid — to pay for gender-affirming care for state employees and prisoners. It cleared the Senate but died in the House. Supporters said taxpayers should not fund the care; opponents said it singles out transgender state workers and inmates for denial of medically recognized treatment. #### Sources - [LegiScan — SB 39 bill text, history & roll calls](https://legiscan.com/GA/bill/SB39/2025) 06 ## Heartbeat Bill (Abortion Ban) HB 481 · 2019 Session YEA Floor Vote House vote (Agree to Senate Substitute), 2019 session — 92–78 Status Became law (2019); took effect in 2022 after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade Sen. Williams' Vote Voted **YEA** — with the chamber majority, on a party-line vote. his vote as State Representative ### Impact on Everyday Georgians Bans most abortions once embryonic cardiac activity is detected — around six weeks, before many people know they are pregnant — with narrow exceptions. Blocked by courts for years, it took effect in 2022 after _Dobbs_. It sharply curtailed abortion access in Georgia and has reshaped how doctors manage pregnancy complications across the region. #### Sources - [LegiScan — HB 481 bill text, history & roll calls](https://legiscan.com/GA/bill/HB481/2019) 07 ## Right to IVF HB 428 · 2025 Session YEA Floor Vote Senate vote (Passage by Substitute), 2025 session — 53–1 Status Became law (2025 session) Sen. Williams' Vote Voted **YEA** — with the chamber majority, on a bipartisan vote. ### Impact on Everyday Georgians Establishes a state right to access in-vitro fertilization (IVF) and protects providers — one of the rare bipartisan votes in this set. It followed national alarm after an Alabama court ruling threatened IVF, and aimed to reassure Georgia families pursuing fertility treatment that the procedure would remain legal and available. #### Sources - [LegiScan — HB 428 bill text, history & roll calls](https://legiscan.com/GA/bill/HB428/2025) 08 ## State Income Tax Cut HB 111 · 2025 Session YEA Floor Vote Senate vote (Passage), 2025 session — 30–23 Status Became law (2025 session) Sen. Williams' Vote Voted **YEA** — with the chamber majority, on a party-line vote. ### Impact on Everyday Georgians Accelerated Georgia's move to a lower flat income tax, cutting the rate ahead of schedule (to 5.19%). Supporters said it returns surplus money to taxpayers; critics cautioned that flat-rate cuts deliver the largest dollar benefits to higher earners and reduce the revenue available for schools, health care, and public services. #### Sources - [LegiScan — HB 111 bill text, history & roll calls](https://legiscan.com/GA/bill/HB111/2025) 09 ## Property Tax Relief (LHOST) SB 33 · 2026 Session YEA Floor Vote Senate vote (Agree to House Substitute as Amended), 2026 session — 32–21 Status Became law (2026 session) Sen. Williams' Vote Voted **YEA** — with the chamber majority, on a party-line vote. ### Impact on Everyday Georgians Authorizes a local-option homestead sales tax and related homestead relief, letting communities offset rising property-tax bills driven by climbing home values. Supporters framed it as relief for homeowners squeezed by reassessments; critics noted sales taxes are regressive and that any relief depends on each community choosing to adopt it. #### Sources - [LegiScan — SB 33 bill text, history & roll calls](https://legiscan.com/GA/bill/SB33/2026) 10 ## Homelessness Enforcement HB 295 · 2026 Session YEA Floor Vote Senate vote (Agree to House Amendment to Senate Amendment), 2026 session — 34–19 Status Became law (2026 session) Sen. Williams' Vote Voted **YEA** — with the chamber majority, on a party-line vote. ### Impact on Everyday Georgians Restricts unsanctioned public camping and sleeping and presses local governments toward enforcement and state-directed approaches to homelessness. Supporters said it keeps public spaces safe and orderly; homeless-services advocates warned it criminalizes poverty and can push people away from services without adding any housing. #### Sources - [LegiScan — HB 295 bill text, history & roll calls](https://legiscan.com/GA/bill/HB295/2026) 11 ## Medical Cannabis Expansion SB 220 · 2026 Session YEA Floor Vote Senate vote (Agree to House Substitute as Amended), 2026 session — 38–14 Status Became law (2026 session) Sen. Williams' Vote Voted **YEA** — with the chamber majority, on a bipartisan vote. ### Impact on Everyday Georgians Expands Georgia's low-THC medical cannabis program — broadening the qualifying conditions and access for registered patients — and passed with bipartisan support. It widened eligibility for Georgians managing chronic and serious illnesses under the state's tightly regulated program. #### Sources - [LegiScan — SB 220 bill text, history & roll calls](https://legiscan.com/GA/bill/SB220/2026) Constituent Access ## Town Halls Public meetings with constituents · review period 2019–2026 Like most Georgia state legislators, Sen. Williams engages constituents largely through pre-session listening events, local civic and chamber gatherings, and regular legislative columns rather than standalone open town halls. Documented public communication from his Senate tenure includes: ## Documented Record - **Weekly legislative columns — "Under the Gold Dome."** Williams publishes session updates through the Georgia Senate Press Office and Middle Georgia outlets, recapping bills and inviting constituent contact. - **April 2026 — End-of-session reflection.** A post-session recap to District 25 constituents reviewing the 2025–2026 legislative work (reported by Milledgeville Today). Verified against the Georgia Senate Press Office and regional reporting. This is not an exhaustive list. State-level constituent-event records are thinner and more locally reported than federal ones; corrections with documented events are welcome via the contact link below. ## Sources - [Georgia Senate Press Office — Rick Williams](https://senatepress.net/category/senate-press/rick-williams) - [Official Senate member page](https://www.senate.ga.gov/senators/en-us/member.aspx?Member=4905) Campaign Finance ## Campaign Finance Who's funding Rick Williams · 2025–26 cycle Pinned — Money & Votes A party-line record on a modest war chest Williams is a reliable vote for leadership: **YEA on all eleven bills here**, with the Republican majority every time. His money is modest and diffuse — his single largest reported donor gave just $3,300 — and skews toward conservative-movement PACs (Competitive Georgia Action, Eternal Vigilance Action) and business/trade groups. Notably, the **Georgia Lawsuit Reform PAC** is among his donors, and he voted YEA on _SB 68 tort reform_ — a concrete, if small-dollar, money-and-vote overlap worth watching. ## Top Contributors Sen. Williams's largest reported contributors, from the Georgia Ethics Commission (PeachFile). The list is led by conservative-movement PACs and Georgia business and trade groups; there is no single dominant donor. | # | Contributor | Total | | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | Civil Justice PAC, INC (Atlanta, GA) | $3,000.00 | | 2 | GUCA Political Action Committee (Forest Park, GA) | $3,000.00 | | 3 | Civil Justice PAC, INC (Atlanta, GA) | $3,000.00 | | 4 | Williams, Rick A. (Milledgeville, GA) | $3,000.00 | | 5 | PCI Gaming Authority (Almore, AL) | $2,000.00 | | 6 | Sports Betting Alliance (Lubbock, TX) | $2,000.00 | | 7 | Southern States PBA (McDonough, GA) | $1,500.00 | | 8 | Unite America (Denver, CO) | $1,000.00 | | 9 | BevPac (Atlanta, GA) | $1,000.00 | | 10 | Reynolds American (Winston-Salem, NC) | $1,000.00 | **$37,400** raised · **$80,298** cash on hand — as of **May 21, 2026** (GA Ethics latest filing). Source: the Georgia Ethics Commission (Georgia campaign-finance filings). Figures are reported totals for the period shown; this is a top-contributors view, not a full sector breakdown. Georgia does not produce the OpenSecrets-style sector/industry rollups available for federal members. ## Sources - [Georgia Ethics Commission (PeachFile) — campaign finance](https://peachfile.ethics.ga.gov) - [Georgia Ethics Commission — official filings](https://media.ethics.ga.gov/search/Campaign/Campaign_ReportLog.aspx) - [OpenSecrets — Georgia state](https://www.opensecrets.org/states/GA) ## Verification Resources - [Georgia General Assembly — Senate roll-call votes](https://www.legis.ga.gov/votes/senate) - [Rick Williams — official Senate page](https://www.senate.ga.gov/senators/en-us/member.aspx?Member=4905) - [Rick Williams — Ballotpedia](https://ballotpedia.org/Ricky_Williams) - [Open States — Georgia legislators & votes](https://openstates.org/ga/legislators/) - [LegiScan — Georgia legislation](https://legiscan.com/GA) - [Georgia Ethics Commission — campaign finance](https://media.ethics.ga.gov/search/Campaign/Campaign_ReportLog.aspx) Vote positions are Sen. Williams's actual recorded votes from the official Georgia roll calls (legis.ga.gov), transcribed into a verified vote database and cross-checked against the published Yea/Nay totals. Campaign-finance figures are pulled live from the Georgia Government Transparency & Campaign Finance Commission (PeachFile) and are current to the committee's most recent filed disclosure report; Georgia does not produce OpenSecrets-style sector/industry rollups. [← All Legislators](https://thegafiles.com/legislators.html)