Legislative Update – Week 12

2025 Week 12 Legislative Update 

The legislature adjourned Sine Die on Friday, April 4, several hours before the typical midnight deadline.  While the lieutenant governor and speaker traditionally adjourn their respective chambers at the same time— usually around midnight—on the final legislative day of the session, the Senate adjourned around 9:15 PM, and the House wrapped up around 10:30 PM.   The House and Senate approved the $38 billion Fiscal Year 2026 budget in the morning hours of Legislative Day 40, completing the legislature’s only constitutionally required action item for the session.   

Governor Kemp successfully got many of his legislative agenda items across the finish line, including his top priority, tort reform.  In his State of the State address during the first week of the session, the governor warned the legislature he would call a special session if they did not pass meaningful, comprehensive tort reform by the end of the 2025 Legislative Session.   The two bills that made up the governor’s tort reform package, Senate Bill 68 and Senate Bill 69, were passed by both chambers this year and are currently sitting on Governor Kemp’s desk for his signature.   

Speaker Jon Burns and Lieutenant Governor Burt Jones were also both successful in passing many of their legislative priorities this session, including addressing: 

• School safety (House Bill 268);  

• Transgender athletes (Senate Bill 1); 

• The right to IVF (House Bill 428); and  

• Fentanyl traffickers (Senate Bill 79).  

By the time the legislature adjourned on Friday night, House and Senate members had sent hundreds of bills to Governor Kemp’s desk for his consideration.  Governor Kemp and his policy team are now undertaking the arduous task of carefully reviewing each bill to determine which bills the governor will sign and which bills he will veto.  If the governor takes no action on a bill, the bill becomes law.   This year’s bill review period deadline is May 14.   Governor Kemp has already signed several pieces of legislation, including: 

• The Amended Fiscal Year 2025 budget (House Bill 67);  

• The ‘Georgia Religious Freedom Restoration Act,’ or ‘RFRA’ (Senate Bill 36); and 

• A measure to extend the date by which local governments can opt out of the base year homestead exemption (House Bill 92).  

All legislation from the 2025 session signed by Governor Kemp can be found here.     

Governor Kemp vetoed 12 bills after the 2024 session, 14 bills in 2023, three bills in 2022, one bill in 2021, four in 2020, and 14 bills after the 2019 session.   The governor also has the ability to line-item veto the budget passed by the legislature. 

Budget 

In the first few hours of Legislative Day 40, the legislature completed its only constitutionally required action item for the session by passing a balanced budget.  The House voted 170 to 5 to pass the conference committee report for House Bill 68, and the Senate approved the compromise version of the Fiscal Year 2026 budget 54 to 1.  That morning, Governor Kemp announced an additional $50 million for the revenue estimate, which House Appropriations Chairman Matt Hatchett (R-Dublin) and Senate Appropriations Chairman Blake Tillery (R-Vidalia) were able to include in their budget calculations.  Highlights from the FY 2026 budget include: 

• $141 million to fully fund the Promise Scholarship, which would allow 21,000 students to participate;  

• $22.7 million for recommendations by the Georgia Council on Literacy, including $10 million in newly appropriated funds;  

• $108.9 million for school security grants at $47,124 per school, allowing school systems to allocate the grants as they deem necessary;  

• $6.9 million to provide reimbursable grants to school systems for “qualified student advocacy specialists” to identify and facilitate appropriate intervention for students at risk for mental health concerns; 

• Fully funds the Quality Basic Education (QBE) program, totaling $14.7 billion in state funds. The QBE funding formula has been fully funded seven out of the last eight years;  

• Funding for a new program under the Department of Education called Student Support Services, which provides academic and mental health support for students in and outside school, including $19.6 million for mental health support grants to school systems and $15.3 million to systems for targeted support to economically disadvantaged students; 

• An additional one-time appropriation of $10 million for the Employees’ Retirement System, for a total appropriation of $36.75 million;  

• Funding for an additional 150 NOW/COMP waiver slots;  

• $7.4 million in new funding for graduate medical education, including $3 million for 150 new residency slots and $4 million to establish a grant program to support new and existing residency programs; 

• A $200 million increase over the Department of Corrections budget last year, including $45 million to add more than 700 correctional officers and $31.1 million to the department for physical, mental, dental, and pharmaceutical services for inmates; and 

• $300.4 million to provide for enrollment growth and training for an additional 1,291 students and 3,413 teachers.  

The full Fiscal Year 2026 budget that has been sent to Governor Kemp can be found here.  

Tort Reform 

Governor Kemp was very clear that his number one legislative priority for this session was the successful passage of comprehensive tort reform.  Last session the legislature passed House Bill 1114, the ‘Data Analysis for Tort Reform Act,’ to allow the Insurance Commissioner to collect data to determine the impact of tort lawsuits and tort related risk on insurance premiums.  Governor Kemp also spent time between the 2024 and 2025 sessions on a statewide roundtable listening tour to hear from business leaders about the impact of Georgia’s legal environment.  

Flanked by dozens of small business leaders from across the state, legislators, and other state leaders, Governor Kemp announced details of his tort reform package in a press conference at the end of January. He said the legislation, which would be carried by President Pro Tempore John Kennedy (R-Macon), would level the playing field in Georgia’s courtrooms, ban hostile foreign powers from taking advantage of consumers and legal proceedings, stabilize insurance costs for businesses and consumers, and increase transparency and fairness. 

The two measures were the subject of countless hours of debate and testimony in the Senate Judiciary Committee and the newly created House Rules Subcommittee on Lawsuit Reform.  

Senate Bill 68 addresses a number of areas of tort law including premises liability, phantom damages, anchoring, bifurcated trials, admissible seatbelt evidence, double recovery of attorney’s fees, plaintiff dismissal during trial, and motion to dismiss timing.  

Although Governor Kemp warned legislators against amendments that would water down the bill’s intent, interested parties agreed to several minor changes to the bill as a compromise.   

Several of the compromises included allowing the court to determine whether someone was wearing his or her seatbelt in a car accident is relevant to a case; clarifying an exception for sex trafficking victims under the premises liability section; ensuring bifurcated trials are held back to back and with the same judge; and creating an exception for trial bifurcation if the case involves a minor suing for a sexual offense, or if the amount in controversy is less than $150,000.   

The House passed the measure by a razor-thin margin of 91 to 82.  The vote was mostly along party lines, but three Democrats voted for the measure, eight Republicans voted against it, and several members were excused for the vote. The Senate then voted 34 to 21 on the ‘agree’ motion to accept the changes made by the House, sending it to Governor Kemp’s desk.  

Senate Bill 69, the ‘Georgia Courts Access and Consumer Protection Act,’ cleared its final legislative hurdle during the last week of the session when the House voted 120 to 42 to approve a change made to the bill on the Senate floor.  The measure focuses on third-party litigation funding, a contingency arrangement between a non-party financier and a party, or potential party, to a lawsuit in exchange for a property interest in the judgment of the case.  It would require these third-party financiers to register with the Department of Banking and Finance and clearly lays out what they can and cannot do.  The legislation also sets penalties if financiers violate the provisions of the bill.   

The floor amendment by Senator Bo Hatchett (R-Cornelia) adjusts the effective date of the seatbelt admissibility provisions and the third-party litigation funding discovery provisions of Senate Bill 69 to ensure the bill would not impact pending litigation. 

Both bills are now sitting on Governor Kemp’s desk, awaiting his signature.  

Social Issues 

Senate Bill 36, the ‘Religious Freedom Restoration Act,’ or ‘RFRA,’ was one of the handful of social-related measures that made it to Governor Kemp’s desk this session.  The measure by Senator Ed Setzler (R-Acworth) would restrict state and local governments from burdening a person’s exercise of religion, even if the burden results from a rule of general applicability.  The bill includes language from the federal RFRA law that does not currently apply at the state or local levels.  The measure was passed 96 to 70 by the House during the final week of the session.  The legislation went into effect on April 4 when Governor Kemp signed it into law.  

Another bill to make it to Governor Kemp’s desk was Senate Bill 185 by Senator Randy Robertson (R-Cataula), which would prohibit the use of state funds for sex reassignment surgeries, hormone replacement therapies, and other treatments related to gender transition for state inmates.  After a lengthy debate on the House floor, the measure passed 100 to 2, with a majority of Democrats opting to walk off of the floor during the vote.  Three Democrats voted with Republicans for the measure, and two Democrats remained on the floor to vote against it. 

Protecting girls’ sports was a legislative priority for both Speaker Jon Burns and Lieutenant Governor Burt Jones this session.  Both chambers were pushing legislation to address transgender athletes.  Ultimately, provisions from both bills (House Bill 267 by Representative Josh Bonner (R-Fayetteville) and Senate Bill 1 by Senator Greg Dolezal (R-Cumming)) ended up passing in Senate Bill 1. The measure seeks to regulate participation in school and college sports based on biological sex and would prohibit self-identification of sex for sports participation.  The bill would mandate that sports teams are designated as male, female, or co-ed, and would prohibit males from participating on female teams and females from participating on male teams unless female teams are not offered.   It would also require multiple-occupancy restrooms, changing areas, and sleeping quarters to be designated for only males or females.  The legislation establishes a private cause of action, which would allow students to sue school systems if the provisions of the proposed legislation are violated.    The measure is now sitting on Governor Kemp’s desk.  

Senator Blake Tillery’s (R-Vidalia) Senate Bill 39 was among the bills that did not make it to Governor Kemp’s desk.  The proposed legislation would prohibit the coverage of expenses associated with gender-affirming care under the State Health Benefit Plan, or with the use of any state funds.  The measure was passed out of the House Health Committee but was not called up for a floor vote in the final days of the session.   

Another measure that did not make it all the way through the legislative process was Senate Bill 30 by Senator Ben Watson (R-Savannah).  The version of the bill passed by the Senate would prohibit the prescription and administration of puberty-blocking medications for minors related to gender dysphoria.  The substitute version passed by the House Public and Community Health Committee would allow the prescription and administration of puberty blockers for minors if the minor is diagnosed with gender dysphoria by two behavioral health professionals, the minor’s parents or guardians provide written consent, and the minor undergoes quarterly psychological counseling throughout the treatment.   The bill would have allowed minors being treated with puberty blockers before July 1, 2025 to continue treatment without the requirements included in the bill.  The measure would also allow a parent or guardian to bring civil action against a physician if the provisions of the bill are violated.  After passing out of committee, the measure was never placed on a Rules calendar to receive a vote on the House floor.  

Debate on House Bill 127 kept the Senate on the floor until after midnight on Legislative Day 39, though the measure did not make it all the way across the finish line this session.  In the final weeks of the session Representative Brent Cox’s (R-Dawsonville)  House Bill 127 was stripped and replaced with language from Senator Marty Harbin’s (R-Tyrone) Senate Bill 120, which would prohibit public schools, local education agencies, public colleges and universities, and the Technical College System of Georgia from promoting, supporting, or maintaining any programs or activities that advocate for diversity, equity, and inclusion.  The substitute version of the measure ended up passing the Senate 33 to 21, but it was not called back up by the House for an ‘agree’ motion.  

Tax Relief 

House Bill 111, which was a legislative priority for Governor Kemp this session, would accelerate the reduction in the state income tax from 5.39 percent to 5.19 percent for 2025.  As part of previously passed legislation, the state income tax rate will decrease 0.1 percent each year until it reaches 4.99 percent.  The bill, which was carried by Governor’s Floor Leader Soo Hong (R-Lawrenceville), was approved by both the House and Senate this session and has been sent to Governor Kemp.  

House Bill 112, which was also a priority for Governor Kemp this session, would provide for a one-time tax credit for all Georgia taxpayers who filed returns in 2023 and 2024.  Single taxpayers would receive $250, married taxpayers filing jointly would receive $500, and taxpayers filing as heads of household would receive a $375 tax rebate.  The bill, which was carried by Governor’s Floor Leader Lauren McDonald (R-Cumming), received unanimous legislative approval and has been sent to the governor’s desk.  

School Safety and Education  

Addressing school safety was a top legislative priority for both chambers this session following the tragic loss of four Georgians during a school shooting at Apalachee High School last September.  During the final week of session, the legislature approved the House’s comprehensive school safety measure, House Bill 268.  The legislation, sponsored by Representative Holt Persinger (R-Winder) would: 

• Require all relevant student records, including education and disciplinary records, to be shared with the receiving school in a given time frame when a student transfers between school districts; 

• Allow the Georgia Emergency Management and Homeland Security Agency to establish a statewide alert system to report and monitor incidents of safety threats made against schools; 

• Require schools to adopt threat assessment plans to provide a structured, multidisciplinary process to identify, assess and mitigate potential threats to schools while supporting the safety and well-being of students and school personnel; 

• Require all public schools to implement a mobile panic alert system; 

• Create “qualified student advocacy specialist” positions and grants to fund these positions for local school systems; 

• Require that students grades 6-12 receive an hour of suicide awareness and prevention training, as well as one hour of youth violence prevention training annually; 

• Require all high-needs schools to implement positive behavioral interventions and supports (PBIS); and 

• Increase penalties for terroristic acts and require schools to suspend and provide counseling to students who make credible threats. 

Provisions of Senate Bill 17, ‘Ricky and Alyssa’s Law,’ were also added to House Bill 268.  The Senate measure, by Senator Jason Anavitarte (R-Dallas), would require mobile panic alert systems in all Georgia public schools and would require accurate mapping of school facilities that can be shared with law enforcement for improved emergency response.   

House Bill 268 has been sent to Governor Kemp and his team for consideration.  

Senate Bill 123 by President Pro Tempore John Kennedy (R-Macon), which seeks to address chronic absenteeism in schools, also made it to Governor Kemp’s desk.  The measure ensures students cannot be expelled solely for missing school and mandates a more localized and individualized approach to reviewing chronic absenteeism cases, requiring local boards of education to adopt policies that identify and support students who are chronically absent.  It would require School Climate Committees to develop a comprehensive framework to improve student attendance and create local attendance review teams to assess individual student attendance cases.  The School Climate Committees would be required to report their progress to the Georgia General Assembly.   

House Bill 340, the ‘Distraction-Free Education Act,’ has also been sent to Governor Kemp’s desk.  The measure by Representative Scott Hilton (R-Peachtree Corners) would prohibit students from kindergarten through eighth grade from accessing personal electronic devices during the school day. Local school systems would be required to develop and implement policies to address electronic device storage, emergency communication protocols, and consequences for violations. 

Senate Bill 93  by Senator RaShaun Kemp (D-Atlanta) cleared its final legislative hurdle during the last week of the session.  The bipartisan measure, which aims to improve student literacy, would task the Professional Standards Commission with establishing rules requiring evidence-based reading instruction aligned with the science of reading.  The rules adopted by the Professional Standards Commission would provide teachers with better strategies to assist English language learners and students with disabilities.  They would also help teachers identify students with reading deficiencies early in their education and give them new approaches to differentiate instruction based on student needs.  The measure has been sent to Governor Kemp’s desk for his consideration.  

Gun-Related Legislation  

The original version of House Bill 79, the ‘Firearm Safe Handling and Secure Storage Tax Credit Act’ by Representative Mark Newton (R-Augusta) would allow a taxpayer to claim a tax credit of up to $300 for eligible expenses related to firearm safe handling instructional courses and firearm secure storage devices.  The version of the bill that came out of the Senate Finance Committee removed the tax credit for firearm safe storage devices, but retained the proposed tax credit for safe handling instructional courses.  The substitute also included language from Senate Bill 47, by Senator Jason Anavitarte (R-Dallas), which would allow a 4-day tax exemption on the sale of firearms, gun safes, ammo, and other accessories.  Senator Anavitarte’s original bill proposed an 11-day tax exemption period.   

The measure was slated for a vote on the Senate floor in the final days of the session, but it was tabled and never brought back up for consideration.  

Immigration 

This session Senator Blake Tillery (R-Vidalia) introduced Senate Bill 21, which would waive sovereign and governmental immunity for local governments, officials, and employees if they violate the state’s prohibition on sanctuary cities.  It would also require a custodial authority, which includes sheriffs, wardens, chiefs of police, and others, to honor immigration detainer requests issued by the Department of Homeland Security.   The measure was voted out of the House Public Safety and Homeland Security Committee, but did not receive a vote on the House floor.   

During the final week of the session Representative Jesse Petrea (R-Savannah) announced the creation of the Pro-Enforcement Immigration Caucus, a new group dedicated to advancing immigration enforcement efforts, supporting law enforcement agencies, and promoting the rule of law across the state.  Other members of the new caucus include Representatives Houston Gaines (R-Athens); Ron Stephens (R-Savannah); Steven Sainz (R-St. Marys); Gary Richardson (R-Evans),  Kimberly New (R-Villa Rica), Bethany Ballard (R-Warner Robins), Rey Martinez (R-Loganville), Rob Clifton (R-Evans), and Mike Cameron (R-Rossville), and Senator Rick Williams (R-Milledgeville).  The caucus plans to continue to pursue legislative solutions that would improve information sharing, empower law enforcement, and close policy gaps that would allow unlawful activity to go unchecked. 

“Fentanyl Eradication and Removal Act” 

Senate Bill 79, the ‘Fentanyl Eradication and Removal Act,’ was approved by the legislature and has been sent to the governor’s desk.  The measure by Senator Russ Goodman (R-Cogdell), which was a legislative priority for Lieutenant Governor Burt Jones, would establish stiffer criminal penalties for fentanyl-related offenses.  The measure would remove fentanyl from Georgia’s current statutes relating to possessing, selling, distributing, manufacturing, and trafficking opiates and create a separate schedule of offenses specific to fentanyl and its related substances.  The bill would impose harsher penalties for those found guilty of trafficking fentanyl, including higher mandatory minimum prison sentences and larger fines compared to trafficking other illegal drugs.  

Gambling 

Several measures that sought to legalize gambling in Georgia did not make it out of at least one chamber by the Crossover Day deadline and were not revived later in the session.  

Representative Marcus Wiedower (R-Watkinsville) introduced two pieces of legislation that would authorize and regulate sports betting in Georgia.  House Resolution 450 proposed an amendment to Georgia’s constitution to authorize sports betting in the state.  The proposed constitutional amendment would require approval by a majority of Georgia voters.  The measure was approved by the House Higher Education Committee earlier this session, but it was never taken up on the House floor.  

House Bill 686, the ‘Georgia Sports Betting Act,’ would set the powers, duties, and rulemaking authority of the Georgia Lottery Corporation for sports betting in Georgia.  The bill, also by Representative Wiedower, would impose a 24 percent privilege tax on the adjusted gross income from sports betting and would create the Georgia Sports Betting Proceeds Trust Fund for tax revenue.  The legislation was also approved by the House Higher Education Committee this session, but it was not called up for a vote on the House floor.  

A measure by Senator Carden Summers (R-Cordele) that proposed amending Georgia’s constitution to legalize sports betting and casino gaming, Senate Resolution 131, failed in the Regulated Industries and Utilities Committee earlier this session.  

Childcare Tax Credit 

Lieutenant Governor Burt Jones’s childcare tax credit legislation received final approval from the legislature on the last day of the session when the Senate agreed to the final version of House Bill 136.  The provisions of the bill were formerly in Senate Bill 89, sponsored by Senator Brian Strickland (R-McDonough), who chaired the Senate Study Committee on Access to Affordable Childcare over the interim.   

The measure would expand the current tax credit for child and dependent care expenses from a 30 percent match of the federal credit to a 50 percent match.  It would also create a new Georgia Child Tax Credit, which would allow taxpayers to claim an income tax credit of $250 for each child under six years old.  It would create a new incentive for employers to cover childcare expenses by allowing an employer to claim a $1,000 credit in the first year and $500 in subsequent years for any employee for which the employer covers at least $1,000 in childcare costs.  The bill would also preserve the existing tax credit program for employer-sponsored childcare centers.   

The measure has been sent to Governor Kemp’s desk for his consideration.  

Speed Cameras 

Two bills that garnered a great deal of attention under the Gold Dome this session dealing with school zone speed cameras ultimately did not pass.   

House Bill 225 by Representative Dale Washburn (R-Macon) would restrict local governing bodies or law enforcement agencies from entering into or renewing a contract in conjunction with an automated traffic enforcement safety device after July 1, 2027.  The bill would phase out the use of school zone speed cameras entirely by July 1, 2028.  

While Representative Washburn’s bill sought to ban these cameras entirely, House Bill 651 by Representative Alan Powell (R-Hartwell) would have put more restrictions in place when it comes to the operation of school zone speed cameras.  House Bill 651 would set standards for warning signs in school zones where speed cameras are used; mandate that funds collected from violations be used for public safety; and require schools to obtain a permit from the Georgia Department of Transportation before a camera could be installed.