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GAE Legislative Update - Tuesday, February 25, 2025 - Committee Work Day
Archive of past GAE Legislative Alerts this year
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Voucher expansion bill passes Senate committee
A vote to expand the yet-to-be implemented massive new voucher law, which was signed into law just months ago, ended in a tied 5-5 vote before the chair of the committee broke the tie and the Senate Education Committee passed SB 152, 6-5. The bill could be on the floor of the Senate late this week or next week.
SB 152 expands the recently enacted taxpayer-funded, private school tuition law to include the biological and adopted children of foster parents ... if the parents have served as foster parents any time in the last ten years. "A reward," one Senator said.
Two parents testifying in support said the quiet part out loud telling members of the Committee they want taxpayers to pay for their children's private school tuition so they can attend a private school with lower student-teacher ratios.
There, of course, is a solution for that: Fund public schools appropriately so that they can lower class sizes.
GAE President Lisa Morgan was on hand to testify against the bill but was denied the opportunity to do so along with dozens of others present who oppose the bill.
Time ran out before another voucher bill could be heard, SB 124. This bill would qualify any student whose parent is an active-duty military service member stationed in Georgia for a $6,500 private school voucher.
SB 74 also was approved by the Senate Education Committee today. This measure would repeal language from Georgia law, §16-12-103, which provided some exemptions for school and public libraries and those employees who work in them from certain violations of this law, "Sale or Distribution of Harmful Materials to Minors."
This section of law, deals with a wide range of offenses of providing to children material that is "harmful to minors," including:
"Any picture, photograph, drawing, sculpture, motion picture film, or similar visual representation or image of a person or portion of the human body which depicts sexually explicit nudity, sexual conduct, or sadomasochistic abuse and which is harmful to minors; or
Any book, pamphlet, magazine, printed matter however reproduced, or sound recording which contains ... explicit and detailed verbal descriptions or narrative accounts of sexual excitement, sexual conduct, or sadomasochistic abuse and which, taken as a whole, is harmful to minors."
An individual librarian or employee who works in a library could be charged with "a misdemeanor of a high and aggravated nature" and a penalty of up to $5,000 or 12 months in jail.
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Third voucher bill gets hearing in House Ways & Means
Meanwhile, in the Income Tax Subcommittee of the House Ways and Means Committee, which handles tax legislation, legislators gave a first hearing to HB 328 that would expand tax breaks insurance companies and individuals get for contributing to private schools.
The original version of the bill proposes to increase the tax breaks from $120 million a year to $200 million a year. The subcommittee accepted a committee substitute that - while still increasing the amount - lowered the amount of the increase to $140 million annually. A second hearing in the Income Tax Subcommittee is required.
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Senate Retirement passes bill to improve law that allows retired educators to return to school in high-demand subject areas
The Senate Retirement Committee gave its "do pass" recommendation to SB 150, to allow retired educators with 25 years of experience to qualify for a state program that allows retired classroom teachers to return to the classroom teaching in subject areas for which there is a high demand and low supply of qualified teachers. Current law requires these retired teachers have 30 years of creditable service.
School systems would be able to determine what subject areas they need to fill by utilizing the program, a responsibility that now rests with the RESAs (Georgia Regional Education Service Agencies).
Under the current program, a retired educator must wait one year before he or she would be eligible to participate. The bill changes that to a 60-day waiting period after retirement.
The bill, by Sen. Billy Hickman, R-Statesboro, would extend the expiration date of the program, which was created with the signing of HB 385, until 2034. The current law is scheduled to sunset in 2026.
The vote to advance the bill was not on passage but to send the legislation out for an actuarial review, required under state law. The bill can then be passed in 2026.
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Busy day tomorrow in House EducationEIGHT BILLS UP BETWEEN TWO SUBCOMMITTEES
The House Education Curriculum Subcommittee has four bills on its agenda for tomorrow morning at 8 a.m. They are:
HB 133 - Would allow public school students to leave campus to attend a course in religious moral instruction, for credit, and as an excused absence (hearing only),
HB 175 - Would require employee comprehensive background checks for early care and education and Head Start programs,
HB 200 - Would establish a three-year pilot immersive writing program for eligible public elementary schools, and
HR 145 - To urge that the Department of Education and Department of Public Health collaborate to prioritize the expansion of vision and hearing screenings at various grade levels.
At 9 a.m., the House Education Policy Subcommittee meets to consider:
HB 127 - Would increase the number of personal days an educator may take from three to five if the individual has sick leave available,
HB 235 - Would give school employees leaves of absence for the donation of bone marrow and organs,
HB 335 - Would provide mental health information for student athletes and their parents, and
HB 371 - Provides for an increase in the state's maximum authorization of capital outlay funding for schools from $300 million to $375 million annually.
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Good news today for those affected by WEP/GPO!
The Social Security Administration announced today:
"Starting the week of February 24, 2025, SSA is beginning to pay retroactive benefits and will increase monthly benefit payments to people whose benefits have been affected by the WEP and GPO.
If a beneficiary is due retroactive benefits as a result of the Act, they will receive a one-time retroactive payment, deposited into the bank account SSA has on file, by the end of March. This retroactive payment will cover the increase in their benefit amount back to January 2024, the month when WEP and GPO no longer apply.
Social Security benefits are paid one month behind. Most affected beneficiaries will begin receiving their new monthly benefit amount in April 2025 (for their March 2025 benefit).
Anyone whose monthly benefit is adjusted, or who will get a retroactive payment, will receive a mailed notice from Social Security explaining the benefit change or retroactive payment."
In addition, the Social Security Administration updated its FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) today, which can be found here.
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| Next Legislative Update: Wednesday, February 26
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