Georgia legislators took a much-needed — and much-appreciated — step that will support businesses across the state, restore fairness and balance to the state’s legal system, and end excessive lawsuit abuse.

Referred to as Gov. Brian Kemp’s tort reform legislation, Georgia lawmakers, including Peachtree City’s Rep. Josh Bonner and Sen. Marty Harbin, backed proposals for what will now become new laws in Georgia that will help stabilize insurance costs. We commend them for making commonsense, meaningful changes to reduce lawsuit abuse, a move sure to have a positive impact on small businesses across the state. With the passage of tort reform, legislators put Georgia families first, the very ones who shoulder the brunt of the cost from an unbalanced legal environment.

At JM Rolloff Containers, a business I co-founded in Peachtree City in 2014 that now serves multiple counties and employs 10 people, we’ve seen the cost of insuring our dump trucks rise from $2,000 a vehicle in 2014 to nearly $20,000 per vehicle in our current policy. In addition to rate increases, we’ve seen fewer available insurance options and lower profits as a consequence of lawsuit abuse impacting our business.

Looking at Florida, those issues are now significantly improving after lawmakers there passed similar tort reform two years ago. There are clear signs of reduced lawsuit abuse and stabilizing insurance costs in Florida following the reforms. In a recent press release, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said these reforms are driving down auto insurance costs across Florida. Major companies such as GEICO, Progressive, and State Farm have filed for rate reductions in Florida, and the entry or expansion of 11 insurance companies in the Florida market reflect renewed confidence in doing business in Florida.  

That’s ahead for us in Georgia, too.

Thousands of Georgia businesses have been among the unintended victims of legal system abuse for years. Tort reform will have a positive impact on our business and other small businesses across the state, and for that, I’m grateful.

Daniel Mundy is the co-owner of JM Rolloff Containers based in Peachtree City.