discuss bills to potentially advance:
- Judiciary heard HB 211
- Human Relations and Aging voted on HB 645
- Higher Education voted on HB 686
- Ways and Means voted on HB 330, HB 266, HB 341, HB 357, HB 511, HB 577, and HB 586 and heard HB 597
- Governmental Affairs voted on HB 397, HB 502, HB 604, and HB 613
- Transportation voted on HB 638
Select the associated links to read each bill in full.
Judiciary
HB 211
This bill relates to perfluorochemicals, polyfluorochemicals, perfluoroalkyl substances, and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). Entities that used PFAS in agriculture shall not be held liable for damages in an action involving a liability claim arising from or related to their intended or incidental use, receipt, or disposal of PFAS. This immunity does not apply to claims brought by the Georgia Environmental Protection Division enforcing PFAS-specific regulations arising on or after January 1, 2024, or to manufacturers.
The bill will return to committee at a later date.
Human Relations and Aging
HB 645
This bill removes the requirement for senior living homes, assisted living homes, and long-term care facilities to test new residents and new staff members for COVID-19.
The bill passed committee.
Higher Education
HB 686
This bill will allow for a constitutional amendment on the ballot in 2026 to allow for sports betting in Georgia. The Georgia Lottery Corporation will oversee and regulate entities providing these services; 15% of the first $150 million will be set aside for pre-K funding across the state.
The bill passed committee.
Ways and Means
HB 330
This bill changes the Georgia state tax policy regarding donations to nonprofit organizations. Specifically, corporations may receive a tax credit for educational donations, but the credit cannot exceed the amount given or 30% of the corporation’s tax liability, whichever is less. The credits will be a first-come, first-serve basis.
The bill passed committee.
HB 266
This bill aims to expand the military retirement tax credit from a baseline of $17,500 to $35,000 and modifies the qualifying age from 65 to 62. It also includes a graduating yearly increase of $5,000 per tax year after 2027 up to a max amount of $65,000.
The bill passed committee.
HB 341
This bill provides small businesses with a tax credit to encourage giving their employees health insurance; the tax credit is $600 per year as long as the business spends twice that much. It will not go into effect until the 2026 tax year.
The bill passed committee.
HB 357
This bill changes tax credits to benefit Habitat for Humanity by providing a $10 million cap per year and a $2 million per annex.
The bill passed committee.
HB 511
This bill aims to allow individuals to reduce their taxable income by way of a Catastrophic Savings Account (CSA), which can be used when a declared catastrophic event occurs. The savings account may be a regular savings account or a money market account, but it must be designated as a CSA and must have corresponding funds in the account to receive the reduction. This applies only to individual taxpayers who own their own home, which must be a residential property and their primary residence.
The bill passed committee.
HB 577
This bill creates a state-level registry for foreign-manufactured vape products that are currently flooding the marketplace and penalizes products that specifically target Georgia youth.
The bill passed committee.
HB 586
This bill extends the exemption of having to collect intangible recording taxes; the extension is from 3 years to 7 years and is designed to allow households to have more predictable interest rates for 7 years.
The bill passed committee.
HB 597
This bill creates a tax credit for fire and emergency support to Georgia firefighters. The aggregate tax credits will be $75 million per calendar year with a $3 million foundation. It creates guidelines for applications and filing for this credit.
The bill will return to committee at a later date.
Governmental Affairs
HB 397
This bill allows municipalities to opt out of Saturday voting unless there is a concurrent statewide or countywide election.
The bill passed committee.
HB 502
This bill gives preferential treatment to voters who are accompanied by children younger than two years of age as well as voters with disabilities. These voters may move to the front of the line.
The bill passed committee.
HB 604
This bill authorizes hand counting of election ballots and allows local superintendents to conduct a hand counting of ballots after the official computation, canvassing, and tabulation of election returns.
The bill passed committee.
HB 613
This bill creates an environment for apprentices graduating from the Georgia technical colleges to be able to work in Georgia and promotes future apprenticeships. It does not mandate contractors to have a registered apprenticeship or prohibit contractors without registered apprenticeships from bidding on state construction projects. It simply puts preference toward contractors that do.
The bill passed committee.
Transportation
HB 638
This bill allows MARTA to collect information on and ticket parked vehicles that are blocking the bus rapid transit lanes. They must use cameras on buses to collect information about how many cars are potentially violating these lanes but only ticket parked vehicles. The bill includes a sunset for January 1, 2030.
The bill passed committee.
