The GA Files

State Level Legislator Fact Sheet · Georgia State Senate · District 30

Tim Bearden

Party Republican
In Office 2025 – present
Senate Role Member · west Georgia
Scope of This Review 2025 – 2026

Tim Bearden, a Carrollton Republican, represents Senate District 30 across Carroll and the surrounding west-Georgia counties. A former state representative who went on to direct the Georgia Public Safety Training Center, he returned to the Capitol by winning the seat vacated by former Senate Majority Leader Mike Dugan, and was sworn into the Senate in January 2025. He has voted a near-uniform Republican line, breaking only to oppose the medical-cannabis expansion. (Bills predating his 2025 Senate term are not shown.)

8 / 9In his first Senate term Bearden voted YEA on eight of nine key bills, with the Republican majority — breaking only with a NO on the medical-cannabis expansion (SB 220).

Methodology. Each vote is Sen. Bearden'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. Bearden's 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

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. Bearden's 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

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. Bearden's 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

04

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. Bearden's 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

05

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. Bearden's 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

06

State Income Tax Cut

HB 111 · 2025 Session
YEA
Floor Vote
Senate vote (Passage), 2025 session — 30–23
Status
Became law (2025 session)
Sen. Bearden's 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

07

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. Bearden's 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

08

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. Bearden's 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

09

Medical Cannabis Expansion

SB 220 · 2026 Session
NAY
Floor Vote
Senate vote (Agree to House Substitute as Amended), 2026 session — 38–14
Status
Became law (2026 session)
Sen. Bearden's Vote
Voted NAY — against the chamber majority, on a bipartisan vote. Bearden voted NO on expanding medical-cannabis access.

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

Constituent Access

Town Halls

Public meetings with constituents · since 2025

Bearden, a first-term senator with a long public-safety background, engages constituents through his Senate office and west-Georgia civic and law-enforcement networks.

Documented Record

  • Bearden gives regular “Under the Gold Dome” radio updates on Carrollton's Gradick Communications stations through the session, recapping legislation for west-Georgia listeners.
  • No fixed in-person town-hall series surfaced yet for Bearden, who took his Senate seat in January 2025; he engages through the Carroll-area delegation and direct constituent service.

State legislators' constituent-event records are thin and locally reported, and Bearden is a first-term senator; this section will be expanded as events are documented. Corrections are welcome via the contact link below.

Sources

Campaign Finance

Campaign Finance

Who's funding Sen. Bearden · recent cycles

Pinned — Leadership Money

GOP leadership PAC + lobby

Bearden’s reported top donor is the Georgia First Fund Republican leadership PAC — caucus money backing a new member — rounded out by the liquor-retail council, a lobbying firm, and the Metro Atlanta Chamber PAC.

Top Contributors

Bearden's largest reported contributors from the Georgia Ethics Commission (PeachFile).

#ContributorTotal
1Competitive Georgia Action PAC (Griffin, GA)$3,300.00
2Larry Walker for State Senate (Roswell, GA)$3,300.00
3Georgia Republican Senatorial Committee (Roswell, GA)$3,300.00
4Goldin, Delores (Bremen, GA)$3,000.00
5Civil Justice PAC Inc (Atlanta, GA)$3,000.00
6Jones-Wynn Funeral Homes & Crematory Inc (Villa Rica, GA)$2,500.00
7MACPAC Metro Atlanta Chamber Political Action Committee (Atlanta, GA)$2,500.00
8Matthews, Jeff R (Villa Rica, GA)$2,500.00
9Taylor-Made Plumbing Inc (Tallapossa, GA)$2,000.00
10Georgia Association of Realtors Political Action Committee (Atlanta, GA)$2,000.00

$126,842 raised · $186,081 cash on hand — as of May 10, 2026 (GA Ethics latest filing).

Source: the Georgia Ethics Commission (Georgia campaign-finance filings). Reported top donors, not a full sector breakdown; Georgia does not produce OpenSecrets-style sector/industry rollups, and the Georgia Ethics Commission holds the official itemized filings.

Sources

Verification Resources

Vote positions are Sen. Bearden'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.

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