On February 18, 2025, the following Georgia State Senate committees met to discuss bills to potentially advance:
- Insurance and Labor voted on SB 56
- Children and Families voted on SB 98, SB 100, and SB 110
- Higher Education voted on SB 20 and SB 85
- Banking and Financial Institutions voted on SB 119 and HB 15
- Regulated Industries and Utilities SB 86, SB 131, SB 146
- Education and Youth voted on SB 126 and SB 154
Select the associated links to read each bill in full.
Insurance and Labor
SB 56
Georgia has experienced several cases in which a firefighter or police officer died in the line of duty while diagnosed with COVID-19; as their deaths were ruled as a complication from COVID-19, the benefits to their families were denied. This bill states that if a public safety officer’s death was related to COVID-19 and occurred before April 15, 2022, which is when the state of emergency ended, the officer’s family would be eligible for their benefits.
The claims would need to be submitted from July 1 to August 1, 2025.
The bill passed committee.
Children and Families
SB 98
This bill cleans up language surrounding the guardianship code. The list of people who are appropriate to serve includes a position called a “county guardian”. This position is intended to care for the person in need. The bill will clarify that a county guardian is not responsible for the person’s finances; instead those finances are handled by a county conservator. The bill will allow government roles to do their intended purposes and remove burden that falls back to the state.
The bill passed committee.
SB 100
This bill would allow adopted children who are 18 years of age or older to purchase a copy of their birth certificate with the names of their biological parents. Today, adoptees interested in attaining their original birth certificate have to spend a significant amount of time and money by going to court to get the document released to them.
The bill passed committee.
SB 110
This bill would clarify that neglect of a child is the denial of necessary care to a child, creating an environment that is obviously injurious to his or her welfare. The bill sponsor states the definition of neglect would align with the public’s understanding that the state should not intervene in a family life unless the parent’s actions or remissions cause serious risk or harm to the child. The sponsor also claims current law allows authorities to label parents’ actions as neglect based on their own moral judgements without evidence of parents endangering a child’s health or safety.
The bill passed committee.
Higher Education
SB 20
This bill aims to alleviate the shortage of veterinarians practicing in shelter, medicine, and nonprofit pet sterilization clinics around the state and incentivizes vets specializing in this area by providing service-cancelable loans in exchange for three years at a designated practice. This bill would allow $25,000 of loans to be canceled per year for three years of service.
Massive wait times for sterilization has led to more pregnant animals, which has exacerbated the pet overpopulation and has caused shelter intake and euthanasia to double since 2021. Shelter and nonprofit sterilization programs are at a disadvantage recruiting vets due to financial constraints; graduates from veterinary schools have massive student loan debt, which means taking these jobs that offer 30% less than a private practice is not enticing. This bill aims to address some of this issue by canceling debt.
The bill passed committee.
SB 85
This bill concerns the foster care scholarship. It defines eligibility, clarifies the type of nonprofit that can administer the scholarship, and confirms that the Georgia Student Finance Authority (GSFA) will have administrative responsibility for implementing the scholarship to the extent that the General Assembly funds it. The bill requires the GSFA to contract with a nonprofit to administer the scholarship, provide the process for a student to apply, and clearly state the conditions for receiving the scholarship.
The bill passed committee.
Banking and Financial Institutions
SB 119
This bill aims to help expedite the application process for a manufactured home to become a permanent location. Once the location is considered a real property, individuals can apply for a traditional mortgage, which has much lower interest rates.
The bill passed committee.
HB 15
This is the annual housekeeping bill that streamlines processes and cleans up terminology. This touches bank-holding companies, banks, credit unions, merchant-acquirer limited purpose banks, farm bank offices, installment lenders, residential mortgage lenders and brokers, money transmitters and check cashers, and the Georgia Installment Lenders Association.
For foreign banks, the rulemaking process has been cleaned up to align definitions with federal law; they do not need to submit an application to move and can just submit a notice.
For merchant-acquirer limited purpose banks, the bill clarifies that if one of these entities is insolvent, they can be placed in a receivership; this allows these entities to run a commercial background check on employees instead of a Georgia Crime Information Center (GCIC) check. Merchant funds are held in trust.
HB 15 changes felony background check processes; currently, employees of a mortgage broker, mortgage lender, check casher, money transmitter or installment lender, and small dollar lender convicted of a felony can no longer hold their position. The language has been changed to specifically be a financial felony.
The bill also requires brokers for lenders to provide unaudited financial statements.
Additionally, HB 15 modifies corporate governance standards to require a Board of Directors.
The bill passed committee.
Regulated Industries and Utilities
SB 86
The bill, discussed in committee previously (see HERE) concerns alcohol retailers. Currently, these retailers may not provide their customers with incentives such as discounts on beer, wine, and distilled spirits. This bill would allow Georgians to use coupons for wine, beer, and distilled spirits to save money and help retailers build a customer base.
The bill passed committee.
SB 131
This bill would establish the Georgia Healthcare Professionals data system to provide better healthcare information to consumers. The system would have a statewide list of providers and the type of services they provide. The database would include a wide range of professionals, including physicians, acupuncturists, counselors, and social workers.
The bill passed committee.
SB 146
This bill outlines penalties for moving graves without getting the necessary permits. It also standardizes requirements to establish a cemetery on your property. Currently, many counties in Georgia do not have laws or regulations concerning these issues.
The bill was heard and will be voted upon at a later date.
Education and Youth
SB 126
This bill deals with completion schools such as Mountain Ed, Foothills, and Coastal Plain, which provide an alternative path for students who might not be able to participate in a typical school. In every other type of school in Georgia, students may drop out at 16 without permission, but completion schools do not allow this. If a student wants to transfer from a residency school to a completion school and is only 16 or 17 years old, the residency school as the final say; the residency school is still accountable for that student and must calculate that dropout into its numbers. Since superintendents are hired and fired by dropout rates, these schools rarely allow students to transfer like this.
Enrollment rates for completion schools have dropped drastically. This bill allows students to transfer to a completion school at the age of 16 rather than 18.
The bill passed committee.
SB 154
This is a proactive cleanup bill in the event that Trump abolishes the Department of Education. Peace officers, professional counselors, marriage and family therapists, dentists, dental hygienists, dental assistants, teachers, optometrists, speech language pathologists, and many other professions in Georgia must have certification through an institution accredited by the Department of Education.
Foster and adopted individuals are qualified for a tuition waiver program that references the Department of Education.
This bill cleans up this language so that licenses will not be revoked and these individuals can still qualify for tuition waivers.
The bill passed committee.
