On February 4, 2025, the following five Georgia State Senate committees met to discuss bills to potentially advance:
- Education and Youth committee voted on SB 22 and SB 44
- Insurance and Labor voted on SB 35 and SB 39
- Regulated Industries and Utilities voted on SB 13
- Retirement voted on SB 11 and SB 23
- Children and Families voted on SB 8
Select the associated links to read each bill in full.
Education and Youth
SB 22
This bill introduces new requirements for adopting federal guidance. When the Georgia Department of Education (DOE) State Superintendent is planning to adopt federal guidance, they must disclose how this guidance will impact the DOE and how the guidance will be implemented. This disclosure must occur within 15 days of the decision to adopt and must be posted publicly within 45 days of the decision. The public disclosure includes sending this information to State government committees involved in education. This bill is intended to promote transparency in how federal guidance is applied to our local schools.
The bill passed committee
SB 44
The bill would revise the definition of a “qualified local school system” relating to equalization grants, annual calculations, and allocation. The minimum required millage rate or effective millage rate for qualifying schools would be changed from 14 mills to 10 mills, with the goal of providing a 25% reduction of equalization grant awards for local school systems with a millage rate or effective millage rate that does not meet the minimum requirement. Millage rates use the assessed property value to determine the tax rate.
Local governments can raise or lower taxes based on their tax digest and millage rate. Since some schools are capped at 14 mills and cannot go below that rate, they are possibly taking in more money than required. This change would act as a tax break.
The bill passed committee
Insurance and Labor
SB 35
In the past several years, insurance companies have been deciding not to renew homeowners’ policies. The current statute requires the company to give the policyholder a 30-day written notice delivered via the USPS of the non-renewal decision; due to issues with the mail service, many customers are receiving notice a week before their policy ends. This bill is a consumer protection measure to increase that notice requirement for residential policies from 30 days to 60 days.
The bill passed committee.
SB 39
This bill adds to SB 140, passed in 2024, which banned gender-affirming surgeries on minors. SB 39 expands upon this to ban state insurance plans and state-run hospitals from providing gender-affirming surgeries to anyone in the state of Georgia. The bill includes bans on hormone treatment as well and does not explicitly exclude hormone treatment for menopause, fertility treatments, etc.
SB 39 aims to deal only with state funds, but counties are allowed to purchase separate insurance plans if they choose. Individuals currently receiving gender-affirming care will not lose their coverage until open enrollment and the new coverage goes into effect on January 1, 2026.
Private hospitals that receive tax breaks will not be affected, but physicians employed by the Public Health Department would be barred from performing gender-affirming care.
A similar bill was deemed unconstitutional in 2023 when three state employees were awarded a court settlement (Rich v. Georgia).
The bill passed committee.
Regulated Industries and Utilities
SB 13
The state’s capacity to transport natural gas is unable to keep up with the need, specifically in Coffee County. This bill clarifies that the Georgia Environmental Finance Authority (GEFA) can offer low-interest loans to municipalities for expanding natural gas distribution similar to what has been offered for water and wastewater systems. These loans would alleviate concerns that rural counties would have to turn down capital investment opportunities due to a lack of available natural gas.
SB13 passed committee last time but was not passed into law.
The bill passed committee.
Retirement
SB 11
This bill allows military members who were honorably discharged to attain credible services towards retirement benefits month-to-month up to 36 months. If the veteran works for the state for 10 years, they would be eligible to buy 1-3 years into the retirement system at full.
The bill passed committee.
SB 23
This bill proposes raising the limit for the total percentage of funds that the Employees’ Retirement System of Georgia may invest in alternative investments, such as real estate and owning companies. This bill will raise the limit of funds from 5% to 10%, potentially improving return on investment for retired employees.
The bill passed committee.
Children and Families
SB 8
This bill is an attempt to clean up the inconsistencies between Title 17 and Title 15 in the Georgia code relating to arrest warrants. It provides juvenile court judges with the full authority to issue arrest warrants based on probable cause; these judges were left out of Title 17. This bill reinstates that authority while retaining the power of district attorneys to make the final decision regarding whether charges are brought.
SB 8 allows the juvenile court to act as a court of inquiry by aligning juvenile code with Title 17. As a court of inquiry, the juvenile court will have the factual investigatory powers and the power to summon and examine witnesses for this purpose. This bill allows the juvenile court to have the same power as the other courts in Georgia.
The bill passed committee.
