The last day of the legislative session saw many controversial bills get close to the finish line inside the Georgia State Capitol. Some bills passed out of the General Assembly and others did not. Governor Brian Kemp now has forty days to approve the bills, sign them into law, or veto the legislation. Meanwhile, all fifty-six Senate seats and the 180 House seats are up for re-election later this year.
Here’s the rundown on the key bills that hung in the balance.
Notable Bills awaiting Governor Kemp’s signature
House Bill 1105 was created after the death of Laken Riley, a 22-year-old nursing student at Augusta University in Athens. The named suspect, Jose Antonio Ibarra, 26, is not a U.S. citizen.
“As we looked at the situations and circumstances in Georgia around immigration and illegal immigrants, certainly we know that Georgians deserve to be safe in our homes, where we work, where we play, where we run,” explained House Speaker Jon Burns.
House Bill 1015 would reduce Georgia’s state income taxes to 5.39%.
Senate Bill 63 would require cash bail for thirty additional crimes, including misdemeanors. It also restricts who can post that bail. Essentially, no person or organization could post more than three cash bonds in a year. Charitable bail funds or churches would be subjected to the same rules as bail bonds companies.
Senate Bill 351 would require social media companies to get parental permission before letting children younger than sixteen years of age to create accounts. It also bans the use of social media using school computers and the internet. Lastly, it creates new anti-bullying rules.
Senate Bill 189 would create new rules for challenging voter qualifications, allow more candidates of any political party on the ballot that has qualified in 20 states, while banning the use of QR codes to count ballots after 2026. Senate Bill 189 passed by a 101-73 margin in the House. Meanwhile, House Bill 1207 allows a reduced number of voting machines on Election Day. That measure passed 100-75. Republicans say this makes Georgia’s elections more secure.
“Since we’ve been in the majority, we’ve worked on election bills every year, there’s been a tweak to our elections,” said Burns. “We have been looking at different alternatives that will allow our elections to be run very efficiently and effectively. But with security. And we did take some steps with that in the budget today to make sure that the Secretary of State and his team are able to do the job that gives Georgians confidence in our elections.”
The American Civil Liberties Union of Georgia announced if Governor Kemp signs the measure, they will file a lawsuit.
“Access to the ballot is at the heart of our democracy,” said Andrea Young, executive director, ACLU of Georgia, in a statement. “This election ‘Frankenbill’ violates the National Voter Registration Act. We are committed to protecting Georgia voters. If the governor signs this bill, we will see him in court.”
Bills that failed to pass out of both chambers
Proponents of Sports Betting in Georgia will have to wait another year. Senate Resolution 579 and Senate Bill 386 could have passed but Democrats were not willing to agree to how the taxes would be spent. For example, the Democrats wanted to spend the taxes on expanding the HOPE Scholarship and funding school meals for K-12 public school students.
State Senator Sam Cowsert, a Republican from Athens, amended the bill to propose up to $22.5 million to treat gambling addictions. Currently, 38 states permit sports betting, including Florida, Tennessee and North Carolina.
House Bill 1104 was a bill originally authored by State Representative Omari Crawford. The new version would have called for the prohibition of students born as biological males from playing in girls’ high school sports, ban the teaching of sex education before the sixth grade and force schools to notify parents whenever their children get books from the library. It was the proverbial Christmas Tree of Conservative culture war bills tacked onto Crawford’s bill.
The measure was not taken up by the House on the final day.
“We know there’s some social issues, if you will, that are important to Georgians that we embrace,” explained Burns. “But, we’re continuing to work with the Senate to look at those issues, and make some determinations on what’s good for all Georgians, from every walk of life. And we’re conscious of those issues and their priorities. Many of them are but maybe not the same ones the Senate has.”
Next, Senate Bill 235 did not pass out of the House Higher Education Committee. It would have established the Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) Innovation and Economic Prosperity Planning Districts Commission under the University System of Georgia. It would create community impact districts in the neighborhoods around Georgia’s HBCUs. There were concerns raised during the committee hearings regarding whether or not the bill would usurp the authority from the University System of Georgia with regards to what benefits the schools.
Lastly, Senate Bill 429 would have created a commission that recommends that people who are imprisoned and later cleared of wrongdoing be paid at least $60,000 for each year they were imprisoned.