email : Webview : GAE Legislative Alert - Tuesday, February 4, 2025

Pace quickens at state Capitol

The pace of the legislative session picked up noticeably today with a number of committees hearing legislation and taking votes. Just over 25% of the allocated 40-days of session have been consumed.

The General Assembly meets tomorrow and Thursday.

The House Appropriations Committee will meet at 7:30 a.m. tomorrow to hear reports from its subcommittees, including the Subcommittee on Education, pertaining to adjustments to the current year budget.

On Wednesday, the House Higher Education Committee will hear HB 56, which proposes education grants to spouses of law enforcement officers, firefighters, and prison guards who are killed or permanently disabled in the line of duty.

Today at the Capitol

The Senate Retirement Committee held a meeting today, however, no education-related pension bills were heard. The committee passed SB 23, which allows the state Employee Retirement System (ERS), the the Georgia Firefighters' Pension Fund, and the the Peace Officers' Annuity and Benefit Fund to invest a higher percent of their portfolios in alternative investment. The Teachers Retirement System (TRS) is unaffected by the legislation.

The Senate Education and Youth Committee also met today to consider two bills.

The committee gave a unanimous "do pass" recommendation to SB 22, which states: "Within 15 calendar days of receiving a "guidance document" from a federal agency which the State School Superintendent or Department of Education deems relevant and applicable to the duties, responsibilities, or business of the Department of Education, the State Board of Education, or the State School Superintendent, the Department of Education shall publish such guidance document ..."

The committee also gave its unanimous approval to SB 44 that would lower the minimum required millage rate from 14 mills to 10 mills necessary to qualify for equalization grants.

The Senate Education Committee will meet again on Thursday at 1 p.m. in Room 450 of the Capitol building. No agenda has been published for this meeting.

House Speaker Jon Burns, backed by a number of House Republicans, said legislation will be introduced to "keep boys out of girls sports." He said the issue is one of "fairness and common sense." More details will be provided once the bill is introduced but, according to Speaker Burns, it affects students from kindergarten to college.

Meanwhile, the Senate Insurance and Labor Committee passed SB 39 to eliminate gender-affirming care and coverage from the State Health Benefit Plan.

Newly introduced legislation

HB 217 would make Georgia's Dual Enrollment Program permanent. Current state law refers to it as a "pilot program."

SB 74 proposed to make librarians subject to a crime of a misdemeanor of a high and aggravated nature when knowingly furnishing "harmful" materials to minors. "Harmful to minors" is defined in Georgia law as: "that quality of description or representation, in whatever form, of nudity, sexual conduct, sexual excitement, or sadomasochistic abuse, when it:

(1) Taken as a whole, predominantly appeals to the prurient, shameful, or morbid interest of minors;

(2) Is patently offensive to prevailing standards in the adult community as a whole with respect to what is suitable material for minors; and

(3) Is, when taken as a whole, lacking in serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value for minors."

GAE expects legislation to be filed this week or next repealing certain school district waivers and providing compensation or a stipend for student teachers.

Pace quickens at state Capitol

Newly introduced legislation

Next Legislative Update: Wednesday, February 5