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GAE Legislative Alert - Monday, March 3, 2025 - Day 26
Archive of past GAE Legislative Alerts this year
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| Legislators met today and will meet again Tuesday of this week with a "committee work day" scheduled for Wednesday. Thursday, March 6 is Crossover Day, the day during the session by which bills must have passed the chamber in which the legislation was introduced to be considered by the opposite chamber.
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SENATE BACKS BILL THAT COULD
LAND LIBRARIANS IN JAIL
The state Senate today passed legislation 32-23, SB 74, a bill that could result in the imprisonment of up to a year for librarians and library employees for providing certain books and other media that are objectionable to some and "harmful to minors." A librarian or employee charged with "a misdemeanor of a high and aggravated nature" would face a penalty of up to a $5,000 fine or 12 months in jail.
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Senate passes bill to outlaw the use of puberty blockers
The Senate today also passed SB 30, 34-19 with one Democrat's suppport, which outlaws the use of puberty blockers and hormone therapy by minors. The bill moves to the House of Representatives for further consideration.
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House and Senate Education committees met today
The Senate Education and Youth Committee met this morning and passed five bills, all of which are available for a vote on the floor of the full Senate this week:
SB 82, "The Local Charter School Authorization and Support Act of 2025," seeks to grow the number of locally approved chartered schools by incentivizing local school boards to approve more charter school petitions. Schools systems that approve new charter school are to receive "an incentive grant of $100,000." The bill also requires that local boards provide written notice and explanation when denying charter school petitions,
SB 171 to require the state Board of Education to develop an advanced mathematics pathway, requiring, for example, algebra courses be offered in middle school,
SB 93 to exclude three-cueing method of teaching reading and comprehensive from the definition of high-quality instructional materials or structured literacy. The author defines "three-cueing" as a method that relies on meaning, structure, and syntax, and visual cues to help students identify words. Sen. ReShaun Kemp, D-Atlanta, states that eleven states have banned the method. An amendment weakened the exception for students with an IEP plan to only apply to a "non-verbal" student with an IEP,
SB 65 would make kindergarten mandatory. A motion to table the bill was offered but rejected. The bill then was given a "do pass" recommendation from the committee, and
SB 295 to require local school systems maintain and publish a registry of all contracts worth more than $10,000 involving the use of any state funds.
The House Education Committee passed HB 268, a huge 63-page, "school safety" bill. The bill has the support of the Republican Party leadership in the House and should pass the House on or before Crossover Day Thursday. Among other things, the measure would:
• Provide for reimbursement grants to local school systems that hire qualified "behavioral health coordinators,"
• Provide for youth violence and suicide awareness and prevention training requirements,
• Require updated public school safety plans to include behavioral threat assessment management plans,
• Require positive behavioral interventions and supports (PBIS) and response to intervention programs and initiatives for certain low-performing elementary and secondary and middle schools, and
• Provide for the transfer of student records and other information among schools and law enforcement agencies.
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Senate Higher Education Committee takes up DEI bill
A second hearing on SB 120 was held this morning, a bill that would prevent public schools, local education agencies, and public post-secondary institutions from "promoting, supporting, or maintaining" any programs or activities that advocate for diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). The bill contemplates the withholding of funding from any public school, K-12 or higher ed. The bill passed out of committee 6-2. GAE was on hand for the 7 a.m. meeting but no public comments were allowed.
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Senate Public Safety moves on school zone camera
The Senate Public Safety Committee passed this morning SB 75, which would require road signs to show the location of traffic and red-light cameras. The bill further limits the use of such devices to 90 minutes before and after the regular school day.
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Bill would deny state scholarships for students
convicted of "substantially disruptive" conduct
The House Higher Education Committee approved HB 602, a bill that would deny loans, grants, and scholarships for any student "engaging in materially and substantially disruptive conduct on a postsecondary educational institution's campus." Democratic state Rep. Esther Panitch, the only Jewish member of the Georgia General Assembly, joined Rep. Tim Fleming in presenting the bill.
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Bill to provide meals for students in low-income schools
A bill, HB 696, backed by Republicans and Democrats, has been filed to provide meals at no cost to students who are enrolled in a public school that performed in the lowest 25 percent of all public schools.
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Next Legislative Contact Team meeting is Wednesday
The next meeting of the GAE Legislative Contact Team (LCT) is Wednesday, March 3 at 6:30 p.m. Register for updates on the legislative session.
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News from Washington, D.C.
The U.S. Department of Education has instructed student loan servicer providers to stop accepting and processing all new student loan forgiveness applications for three months.
The U.S. House of Representatives last week passed, on a 217-215 vote, H. Con. Res. 14, a budget resolution that sets spending and revenue targets for the federal budget. The resolution proposes to create a $100 billion tax credit to fund private school vouchers and reduce financial aid for student loans. It further reduces school nutrition program and free or reduced meals.
The Senate today is expected to confirm Linda McMahon, former CEO of World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) and wife of pro-wrestling mogul Vince McMahon, to become Secretary of the U.S. Department of Education, an agency that President Donald Trump has vowed to shutter.
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| Next Legislative Update: Tuesday, March 4
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