The General Assembly reconvened for Legislative Day 36 on Monday with lawmakers and lobbyists hoping to keep a little luck of the Irish going into the penultimate week of the legislative session. With only four legislative days remaining before adjournment sine die, bill promoters are trying everything — from foraging for four-leaf clover to kissing the Blarney Stone to hunting for the end of the rainbow — to find the gold that is final passage of their legislation. No matter the planning and preparation, there is no denying that getting a bill passed takes a little luck. 

The House and Senate chambers were active on Monday even as everyone recovered from St. Patrick’s Day. Notably, the House passed SB 401, implementing recommendations of the Senate Foster Care and Adoption Study Committee, and SB 440, establishing the Accelerated Career Diploma Program. The Senate, on the other hand, passed HB 991, extending the sunset on the Hospital Medicaid Financing Program, and HB 827, increasing the criminal penalties for cattle rustling. 

In this Report:

• Floor Notes
• Committee Reports
• New Legislation
• What’s Next

Floor Notes

The House took up the following measures on Legislative Day 36:

• SB 169 - Public Schools; extension of hearing dates for student discipline tribunals; provide for limits — PASSED 167-1
• SB 362 - State Government; employee representation by a labor organization for employers to receive certain economic development incentives from the state; provide requirements — POSTPONED
• SB 366 - "Tax Expenditures Transparency Act of 2024"; enact — PASSED 170-0
• SB 376 - Juvenile Code; improve timely permanent placement of a child removed from their home; clarify requirements — PASSED 166-0
• SB 398 - Georgia National Guard; adjutant general to be the official sponsor of the state sponsored life insurance program; provide — PASSED 169-1
• SB 401 - Senate Foster Care and Adoption Study Committee; implement recommendations — PASSED 170-0
• SB 422 - Public Utilities and Public Transportation; percentage limitation as to the amount of the investments an electric membership corporation may make; modify — PASSED 154-13
• SB 426 - Motor Vehicles and Traffic; requirements for joining of a motor carrier and motor carrier's insurer to a cause of action; revise — PASSED 172-0
• SB 440 - 'Accelerated Career Diploma Program'; ACE Grants pilot program; establish and provide — PASSED 168-0
• SB 454 - Alimony and Child Support; guidelines for child support award calculations; provide — PASSED 166-1
• SB 456 - Central Caregiver Registry; disabled persons to the registry; add — PASSED 168-0
• SB 480 - Georgia Board of Health Care Workforce; student loan repayment for mental health and substance use professionals serving in certain capacities; provide — PASSED 167-2
• SB 508 - Administrative Office of the Courts; accessibility of certain personal information of state and federal judges, justices, and spouses thereof; provide — PASSED 170-1

The Senate took up the following measures on Legislative Day 36:

• HB 441 - Professions; authorize and regulate teledentistry by licensed dentists pursuant to permits issued by Georgia Board of Dentistry — PASSED 52-0
• HB 502 - Georgia Cosmetic Laser Services Act; revise a definition; revise a provision — PASSED 52-2
• HB 827 - Crimes and offenses; livestock theft; increased penalties; provide — PASSED 52-2
• HB 873 - Courts; juvenile treatment court divisions; create — PASSED 52-0
• HB 991 - Hospital Medicaid Financing Program; extend sunset provision — PASSED 50-0
• HB 997 - Motor vehicles; require disqualification to operate a commercial motor vehicle upon receipt of notification from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration of a positive drug test — PASSED 45-6
• HB 1028 - Education; repeal requirement of screening of public school children for scoliosis; provisions - PASSED 50-1
• HB 1033 - Utility Worker Protection Act; enact — PASSED 50-2
• HB 1041 - Savannah-Georgia Convention Center Authority; maximum amount of bonded indebtedness of the authority; increase — PASSED 46-1

Committee Reports

House Education - Curriculum Subcommittee

Chairlady Bethany Ballard (R-Warner Robins) called the Curriculum Subcommittee to order Monday to discuss the following:

• SB 202, authored by Senator Sheikh Rahman (D-Lawrenceville), amends Title 20 to create a school pilot program to facilitate outdoor learning spaces. Representative Scott Hilton (R-Peachtree Corners) asked if there is anything preventing capital outlay funds from being used on these. Senator Rahman explained this would create minimum standards, but currently, it was not prohibited. Representative Hilton asked about the outcomes of indoor versus outdoor learning spaces. Senator Rahman explained that data shows improvements in social skills and obesity. The measure received a DO PASS recommendation.

House Education Committee

The House Education Committee, chaired by Representative Chris Erwin (R-Home), was called to order Monday to discuss the following measures:

• SB 32, authored by Senator Jason Anavitarte (R-Dallas), amends Title 20 to create “Alyssa’s Law.” The measure seeks to require local education agencies to implement a mobile panic alert system capable of connecting disparate emergency services technologies to ensure real-time coordination between multiple state and local first responder agencies in the event of a school security emergency. The measure was amended to change implementation dates and received a DO PASS recommendation.
• SB 351, also authored by Senator Anavitarte, amends Titles 20 and 39 to create the “Protecting Georgia’s School Children on Social Media Act of 2024.” A new substitute was presented (LC 49 1909S). The underlying measure requires local boards of education to adopt, implement, and enforce social media policies and prohibit access to social media websites on school devices. The measure also requires commercial platforms to check ages and prohibits them from allowing minors under 16 to use their platform without parental consent. The measure requires school districts to implement coursework in digital citizenship for students. Representative Brent Cox (R-Dawsonville) discussed the additions from HB 910. HB 910, authored by Representative Rick Jasperse (R-Jasper), requires porn websites to only cater to individuals over the age of 18, explicitly requiring ID verification. The committee discussed age verification, if private schools were included, and how this would work in practicality. Representative Rick Townsend (R-Brunswick) suggested an amendment to programs like Blackboard but withdrew it. Representative David Wilkerson (D-Powder Springs) offered an amendment on line 65, changing grades 6-12 to pre K-12. There was concern that lowering the age would lead to unintended consequences. Since it was not a friendly amendment, Representative Wilkerson withdrew his amendment. The measure received a DO PASS recommendation, with one in opposition. The author asked Representative Scott Hilton (R-Peachtree Corners) to carry the measure forward.

House Health Committee

Chairman Lee Hawkins (R-Gainesville) and members of the House Health Committee took up the following measures this afternoon:

• SB 505, authored by Senator Blake Tillery (R-Vidalia), amends Chapter 7 of Title 31 to revise provisions regarding required publication by hospitals of certain financial documents on their websites. The legislation reverted back to the as-introduced version of the bill but also added language around how county and municipal hospital authorities are to fill vacancies.  Under current law, the governing body of the area of operation submits a list of three eligible persons to the board of the hospital authority, and the board then selects one of the three named on such list or declines to make that selection. This revision eliminates the option for them to reject the names. The bill also eliminates the requirements for reporting by for-profit hospitals and eliminates the community benefit language in the prior version. The committee gave this new substitute a DO PASS recommendation.
• HR 1360, authored by Representative Katie Dempsey (R-Rome), creates the House Study Committee on Alternatives to Opioids for Pain Management. This study will be conducted by 14 members. Amendments were offered to create five non-legislative members rather than four and address the name of the Georgia Council for Recovery (which is named Georgia Council on Recovery) in the bill. The resolution received a DO PASS recommendation as amended.

House Judiciary Non-Civil Committee

The House Judiciary Non-Civil Committee, chaired by Representative Tyler Paul Smith (R-Bremen), met on Monday to consider the following measures:

• HR 1416, authored by Representative Yasmin Neal (D-Jonesboro), creates the House Study Committee on Felony Sentencing and Punishment in Georgia.

Representative Neal presented the resolution to the committee, which recommended the resolution DO PASS and be sent to the Rules Committee.

• SB 157, authored by Senator Brian Strickland (R-McDonough), amends multiple titles to create a preclearance process in the licensing of individuals with criminal records who make an application to or are investigated by certain licensing boards and commissions and provide other procedural protections for these individuals.

Senator Strickland presented the bill with Wade Askew of the Georgia Justice Project, explaining that the bill passed out of the committee last year but failed to make it to the House floor. He has worked with interested parties to make improvements to the bill since last year, and the bill was presented as a substitute. The committee recommended the bill DO PASS by substitute and be sent to the Rules Committee.

• SB 517, authored by Senator Randy Robertson (R-Cataula), amends Title 16 to provide for immunity from certain criminal prosecutions against law enforcement officers whose threat or use of force is justified or otherwise lawful. The bill also provides for immunity from civil liability against law enforcement officers whose threat or use of force is justified or otherwise lawful. The committee recommended the bill DO PASS and be sent to the Rules Committee.

New Legislation

The following new legislation of interest has been introduced in the House:

What’s Next

The General Assembly is in adjournment on Tuesday, March 19 for a committee workday and will reconvene for Legislative Day 37 on Wednesday, March 20 at 10 a.m.

The House Rules Committee has not set a Rules Calendar for Legislative Day 37.

The Senate is expected to take up the following measures on Legislative Day 37:

• HB 285 - Employees' Retirement System of Georgia; total percentage of funds invested in alternative investments; raise limit
• HB 456 - Local government; increase term for municipal court judges from one year to two years; provisions
• HB 808 - Ad valorem tax; increase a statewide exemption for tangible personal property
• HB 935 - Motor vehicles; standards for a conviction through the use of speed devices; provide
• HB 984 - Insurance, Department of; Office of the Safety Fire Commissioner; update practices
• HB 1015 - Income tax; reduce rate of tax
• HB 1023 - Income tax; match tax rate imposed on corporations to that imposed on individual taxpayers
• HB 1083 - Community Health, Department of; adult residential mental health services licensing; extend grace periods
• HB 1114 - Data Analysis for Tort Reform Act; enact
• HB 1122 - Education; provide for funding requirements to apply to local agencies; charter schools; provisions
• HB 1201 - Criminal procedure; vacating of sentences of victims of trafficking; provisions
• HB 1237 - Agriculture; agricultural commodity commissions; revise a definition
• HB 1267 - Georgia Tax Court Act of 2025; enact
• HB 1326 - Crimes and offenses; Schedule I, Schedule III, and Schedule IV controlled substances; provide certain provisions
• HB 1344 - Behavioral Health Coordinating Council; allow for certain officials on to be represented by a delegate or agent
• HR 598 - Georgia Tax Tribunal; vest judicial power; provide for venue and jurisdiction - CA

See our coverage of Day 1, Day 2, Day 3, Day 4, Day 5, Day 6, Day 7, Day 8, Day 9, Day 10, Day 11, Day 12, Day 13, Day 14, Day 15, Day 16, Day 17, Day 18, Day 19, Day 20, Day 21, Day 22, Day 23, Day 24, Day 25, Day 26, Day 27, Day 28, Day 29, Day 30, Day 31, the Committee Work Day, the Crossover Day, Day 32, Day 33, Day 34, and Day 35.