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Legislative Watch

Georgia State Senate – 3.3.2025 Committee Meetings

By March 10, 2025No Comments

On March 3, 2025, the following Georgia State Senate committees met to discuss bills to potentially advance:

Select the associated links to read each bill in full.

Higher Education

SB 120

This bill, discussed previously (see HERE), would ensure that taxpayer dollars are not used to promote diversity, equity, and inclusion programs in public colleges as well as private schools that receive any government funding. 

An amendment was added to eliminate private institutions from this bill.

The bill as amended passed committee.

Public Safety

SB 291

This bill aims to create two new specialty license plates: “America First” and “Organ Donors Save Lives”. 

The bill passed committee.

SB 264

This bill would create the Georgia Resilience Office under the Georgia Emergency Management and Homeland Security Agency. This would create an office that would work with the local governments as well as the federal government to help better prepare Georgia for disasters.

The bill passed committee.

SB 75

This bill, discussed previously (see HERE), defines hours of enforcement for speeding in a school zone and warning signage. School zone hours of enforcement will be one hour twice per day at the discretion of the school. A sign must be erected at a half-mile marker or as closely as possible to provide an accurate depiction of the vehicle’s speed.

The bill passed committee.

SB 293

This bill would allow veterans to have up to four free veteran’s license plates.

The bill passed committee.

Retirement

SB 261

This bill relates to retirement for magistrates: it increases membership dues by changing the multiplier from 3.42% of their salary to 4% and gives earlier retirement at 55 rather than 60 with a 3% penalty for every year prior to 60. This will provide them with better retirement benefits.

The bill passed committee.  

SB 285

This bill, discussed previously (see HERE), increases the funds collected for the Peace Officers’ Annuity and Benefit fund. The bill would increase in the percentage of all 9-1-1 charges, provide for a $1.00 increase in the monthly 9-1-1 charge assessed by local governments, provide for a $1.00 increase in the monthly wireless enhanced 9-1-1 charge assessed by local governments, and provide for a $1.00 increase in the prepaid 9-1-1 charge assessed by local governments. 

The goal is to increase officer retention.

The bill passed committee. 

Education and Youth

SB 82

This bill would issue incentives to local school districts to approve more charter schools and hold districts more accountable if they repeatedly deny high-quality charter petitions. The sponsor states the incentives are necessary because there are 21,000 students on the charter school waitlist throughout the state and only one school has been approved in the past five years.

The bill passed committee.

SB 171

This bill requires the State Board of Education to develop an advanced mathematics pathway for grades three through eight that culminates in students taking a high school-level mathematics course in middle school. 

The bill passed committee.

SB 93

This bill would prohibit the three-cueing system from inclusion in high-quality instructional materials or structured literacy and prohibit public schools from employing the three-cueing system or visual memory as a basis for teaching word reading. The bill provides an an exception for nonverbal students on individualized educational programs.

The bill passed committee.

SB 65

This bill will make kindergarten mandatory for all children prior to entering into first grade. The bill also lowers the age of compulsory school attendance from six years old to five years old.

The bill passed committee.

SB 295

This bill will require local school districts to create and maintain a registry of contracts greater than $10,000. The purpose of the bill is to create transparency so the taxpayers know what the school is spending their tax dollars on.

The bill passed committee.

Insurance and Labor

SB 276

This bill relates to the Georgia Department of Community Health (DCH) Medicaid Third-Party Liability Program, specifically addressing federal requirements to ensure Georgia is in compliance with federal law. Medicaid is generally a payer of last resort and will only cover claims and items if there are not other liable third-party payers. This bill aims to put more pressure on the third-party payers to have these insurers cover their obligations in a more timely fashion.

The bill passed committee.

SB 284

This bill addresses securities and security investment advisors and fraudulent activity in that industry. Current Georgia law allows the Secretary of State to deal with fraudulent activity by removing the investment advisor’s license and/or fining the fraudulent investor. This bill will allow the Secretary of State to order an investor convicted of fraud to return the funds to the investors who were defrauded. The Secretary will also be allowed to issue a subpoena to determine whether there are any assets that can be returned to the defrauded investors. 

The bill passed committee. 

SB 243

Since sheriff deputies and jailers do not work for the state, they do not have the same retirement benefits as state law enforcement officers. This bill creates a Back the Blue Fund, which is a voluntary donation from citizens at the time of vehicle registration renewal; the funds collected will go to the Department of Revenue to be divided among the counties to be given to sheriff deputies and jailers.

The funds may also be used for training and retention of officers employed by the county’s sheriff’s office.

The bill passed committee. 

Judiciary

SB 27

This bill defines and provides penalties for the act of doxxing: doxxing will be a misdemeanor, while aggravated doxxing will be a felony. A person commits the offense of doxxing by intentionally posting another person’s personally identifying information without their consent and does so with reckless disregard for what could be done as a result of the leaked information. Aggravated doxxing is when the leaker of the information does so with the intent to cause bodily harm or death.

The bill passed committee.

SB 61

This bill will provide for additional offenses over which superior courts are authorized to exercise exclusive original jurisdiction for the trials of children 13 to 17 years of age; these offenses include certain terroristic threats or acts involving public and private schools and the attempt or criminal conspiracy to commit certain offenses.

The bill passed committee.

SB 179

This bill revises practices regarding the transfer of student academic and disciplinary records. Academic and disciplinary records must be provided to the new school within 10 days of application for transfer to the school. The student’s parents will be notified of the transfer, and a copy of records will be available within 5 days. 

Parents will be required to disclose if their child was charged or convicted of a Class A or Class B felony and if the child is serving an expulsion or suspension from the school they are leaving. Parents can be charged with a misdemeanor if they conceal this information. The bill also requires one hour of evidence-based training for students on suicide awareness and prevention as well as violence-based prevention training.

The bill passed committee.

SB 189

This bill, discussed previously (see HERE), requires a publicly accessible database of legal notices that are otherwise required by law to be published in a newspaper to be created and maintained.

No action taken by the committee during this meeting.

SB 204

This bill allows district attorneys to have the authority to prefer accusations and act on these accusations. Anyone who has been indicted by a grand jury for any felony other than a serious violent felony or sexual felony may have other charges brought against them by the district attorney. The accused must meet the following criteria:

  • Has been bound over to the superior court based on a finding of probable cause
  • Expressly or by operation of law waived a commitment hearing
  • Been released on bond pending a commitment hearing

The bill passed committee.

SB 244

This bill provides for the award of reasonable attorney’s fees and costs in a criminal case if the defendant makes a successful motion to disqualify the prosecuting attorney for misconduct in connection with the case.

The bill passed committee.

SB 268

This bill defines and provides penalties for a crime of interfering with the duties of a first responder. A person is charged with a misdemeanor of a high and aggravated nature when they knowingly and willfully violate a verbal warning and approach or remain within 25 feet of the first responder with the intent to impede their duties, threaten physical harm, or harass the first responder.

The bill passed committee.

SB 279

This bill would require the State Board of Workers’ Compensation to notify the Department of Administrative Services when the board has reasonable cause to believe that an injured worker is an eligible peace officer. The injured officer can apply to receive their full salary while recovering.

The bill passed committee.

SB 298

This bill restores the ability of a city, county, state agency, or public employee to appeal a decision to deny them sovereign immunity before a case is fully adjudicated. 

The bill passed committee.

State and Local Governmental Operations

SB 260

This bill would change the number of board members for the Central State Hospital Redevelopment Authority from nine to four. The state shut down Central State Hospital in Milledgeville, leading to much controversy regarding what to do with the land, which has caused board members to keep resigning. 

One member would be appointed by the Governor, one appointed by the Lieutenant Governor, and one appointed by the Speaker; the State Properties committee will appoint a non-voting member. Each member’s legal counsel will be the Attorney General’s Office. The primary purpose of this authority is to find uses for these buildings and create jobs. The other purpose is to create some affordable housing.

The bill passed committee.