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Twenty-eighth legislative day
CROSSOVER DAY edition
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Crossover Day concluded at 1 am Saturday morning
Crossover Day was Friday, March 6. This is the date on the legislative calendar that bills must have passed out of the chamber of their origination to be eligible for consideration by the other chamber. The following bills did NOT pass:
Unfortunately, legislators did not take up HB 1244, a bill to protect teachers' duty-free lunch and planning time from being waived. While 1244 will not crossover to the Senate in whole, language from the bill could find its way as an amendment to another bill that survived Crossover. It ain't over til its over.
Such language could include references that schools could not deny teachers duty-free lunch or planning time except in the event of "extreme emergencies" or unless the teacher agrees.
"Extreme emergency" in the bill is described as "severe weather conditions, interference caused by electrical or mechanical failure at a school, a disruption caused by an armed attack or threat directed at a school, a disruption of transportation systems resulting in significant changes in the availability of teachers, or the illness or death of one or more teachers. The mere lack of an available substitute teacher shall not constitute an extreme emergency."
Lawmakers also did not vote on SB 209 either, a bill by Sen. Russ Goodman, to allow members of the Public School Employees Retirement System (PSERS) to join the Teachers Retirement System (TRS).
PSERS is the state-funded pension plan for custodians, school bus drivers, cafeteria workers, and maintenance personnel. The monthly pension benefits for those in this system averages about $300 a month.
Goodman represents Atkinson, Clinch, Echols, Lanier, Lowndes, Pierce, and Ware counties in south Georgia.
The bill would have allowed PSERS members "employed not less than half time" to make a one-time "irrevocable" decision to participate in TRS on or after September 2, 2026.
GAE members and friends of public education should reach out to Sen. Goodman at russ.goodman@senate.ga.gov to thank him for his efforts.
The language from this bill also could be added to another bill in the final days of this session.
SB 557 did not make it out of the Senate Education Committee before Crossover Day. The measure would have revised various provisions regarding student discipline and working conditions of teachers and other school personnel and would have required that student discipline and complaint policies for public school employees are not subject to waiver.
The bill also states that "school climate determinations shall not utilize data regarding student discipline." The measure further would allow educators who have been assaulted by a student or students to transfer to another school if they choose without penalty or prejudice. GAE backs this bill.
A bill that would allow betting on sporting events, HR 450, was gunned down on the floor of the House Friday, defeated 63-98. Had the bill been enacted, a portion of proceeds would have benefited pre-K programs and the HOPE Scholarship.
HB 969, a bill that would have permitted retired teachers who are elected to local boards of education to keep their State Health Benefit Plan (SHBP) benefits, did not make it to the House floor.
Another bill that did not cross and was never considered in the Senate State and Local Governmental Operations Committee to which it was referred was SB 417. The bill would have authorized public employees, including teachers and other public school employees, to self-organize or to be represented by a labor organization and bargain collectively with the state.
SB 438 would have reduced the age of compulsory education from six to five years of age and require they attend a full-day kindergarten program for one school year prior to enrolling in first grade for one school year before enrolling in first year. The bill was never heard in the Senate Education and Youth Committee. HB 1146 promoted a pilot program to expand Georgia's Pre-K program to three-year-old children, It also did not pass.
SB 412, a bill to increase the number accumulated sick leave days teachers and other school personnel may take each school year for personal or professional reasons, did not pass.
SB 391, to prohibit activities of the immigration officials in schools, did not survive Crossover Day. A similar bill in the House, HB 1050 also did not cross.
SB 381 would achieve a long-term goal of the Georgia Association of Educators, the addition of a poverty weight to the state's funding formula for local schools and students. The Republican-majority Senate Education Committee never heard the bill.
Another bill that did not make the deadline was HB 1256 - the "Georgia Appreciation for Educators Act" - which proposed student loan repayment by the state for public school teachers who graduated from an eligible post-secondary educational institution in Georgia and who have taught for at least five years in a public school in this state. The bill was offered by Rep. Bryce Berry, D-Atlanta, a public school teacher.
SB 519 did not pass before the Crossover deadline. The bill, by Sen. Tonya Anderson, D-Lithonia, states: "Every teacher who is employed in grades kindergarten through 12 for a period of time of more than one-half of the class periods of the regular school day shall be provided not less than two planned restroom breaks per day, one of which may coincide with such teacher's planning period." Tell Sen. Anderson you appreciate her bill by emailing her at tonya.anderson@senate.ga.gov
A bill, SB 514, to prohibit the use of ballot drop boxes in elections was never heard in committee and is dead for the session.
HB 1038, to repeal the Georgia Promise Scholarship Act (private school voucher subsidies) never moved in the House.
HB 1366 - Georgia Teacher Retention Scholarship Act - failed to pass before Crossover Day. The bill would provide scholarships to children of public school teachers who have been teaching for at least ten years to cover the cost of tuition at eligible post-secondary institutions. The bill was introduced by Rep. Doreen Carter, D-Lithonia.
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Bills eligible for further consideration after Crossover Day
Bills that passed out of one chamber on or before Crossover Day that are still "alive" for the remaining days of the session include:
HB 54, as introduced in the House, was a bill to authorize advanced practice registered nurses and physician assistants to order home healthcare services for patients of licensed home health agencies.
In the Senate, however, the bill was amended to prohibit coverage by the State Health Benefit Plan (SHBP) of gender-affirming care and treatment for such care by any of Georgia’s state-owned hospitals. The bill also prohibits puberty blockers for those under the age of 17.
SB 74, as introduced by Sen. Max Burns, R-Sylvania, originally proposed to make librarians subject to a crime of a misdemeanor of a high and aggravated nature when knowingly furnishing "harmful" materials to minors.
The bill was amended in the House Non-Civil Judiciary Committee to state: "The immunity provided by this Code section shall not apply if the person failed to comply with the appropriate governing authority's decisions pursuant to reconsideration requests or complaints regarding materials harmful to minors." The bill is presently in the House Rules Committee.
HB 310 is a bill proposing a pilot program to pay student teachers. The pilot program is initially limited to 500 Pell-eligible students who would receive $5,000 during student teaching and a $2,500 signing bonus. 310 awaits further action in the Senate Education Committee. This legislation is a high GAE priority.
Two bills to extend and improve a program that allows retired teachers to return to the classroom - after one year in retirement but only in certain hard-to-fill subject areas - crossed over to the opposite chamber before Crossover Day.
HB 372 would continue the program, which is set to expire this year, and shifts the identification of those hard-to-fill areas to local school districts and away from Georgia Regional Education Service Agencies (RESAs).
SB 150, by State Sen. Billy Hickman, R-Statesboro, is now in the House Retirement Committee having passed the Senate on February 9.
Hickman's bill would extend the program that allows certain retired teachers to return to teaching and codifies the high-demand subject areas to include "English language arts, science, social studies, special education, CTAE, and mathematics."
The current program requires that a teacher can only qualify with 30 years of experience. Hickman's bill states that an educator can only qualify with at least 25 years of service. This has no impact on TRS rules about how and when teacher retirement.
Under SB 150, an educator applying to the program must have a "dyslexia or reading endorsement or can demonstrate specific training and skills in the science of reading standards as approved by the Georgia Professional Standards Commission."
HB 1009 essentially bans high school students from access to their cell phones during the school day. There are exemptions for students who depend on their phone for medical purposes. The bill is now in the Senate Children and Families Committee.
HB 1193, the Georgia Early Literacy Act of 2026, passed the House on February 24, and is now in the Senate Education and Youth Committee. A bill with similar language, SB 459, did not clear the Senate. Among other things, the bill:
- Provides for literary coaches in all public elementary schools that offer grades K-3;
- Establishes regional literary coaches;
- Mandates that "high-quality instructional materials" align with the Science of Teaching;
- Encourages parents to start children in school by the age of 5 and enroll their children in a kindergarten program before the first grade;
- Ensures that the Office of Student Achievement (GOSA) and the Georgia Literacy Coordinating Committee be more closely aligned;
- Requires first-grade reading assessments; and
- Requires school boards to adopt a "unified literacy plan" by January 1, 2027, that creates measurable literacy goals for different grade levels based on state assessment and universal reading screener.
In presenting the bill to the committee, House Education chair Chris Erwin, R-Homer, called the bill "the most important legislative act since the creation of the HOPE Scholarship" in 1992.
SB 513 - the "Every Day Counts Act" - addresses chronic student absenteeism by allowing for the suspension of students from extracurricular activities for excessive absenteeism. Excessive absenteeism is defined as absences without excuse for more than five days in the first 50 days of the school year or, after 50 days, for more than 10% of school days.
The bill also contemplates the revocation of a student's drivers license for excessive absences. Much of the bill is inspired by the final report of the Senate Study Committee on Combating Chronic Absenteeism in Schools. The bill is now in the House Education Committee.
SB 445 proposes changes to the state's private school voucher program that states the voucher program will "prioritize" students and families making less than 400% of federal poverty level but would not be limited to just them. The bill is expected to be referred to the House Education Committee. The bill also allows for the rollover of unused funds.
HB 1220 would waive the six-week required enrollment in public school for certain students enrolling in the state's private school voucher program. Eligible students would include students of an active-duty military family, students with IEPs or 504 plans or have been diagnosed with dyslexia, autism spectrum disorder, speech-language delay and disorder, hearing loss, or another intellectual and developmental disability. These students are currently already eligible for the state's Special Needs Voucher. The bill passed the House is now pending in the Senate Education and Youth Committee.
HB 1116, a bill that would limit property tax increases to 3% or the rate of inflation, whichever is higher, passed the House on Crossover Day after a prior version failed to pass in a vote earlier in the week. HB 1116 caps local sales taxes at the current maximum of 5% and allows local governments to swap one penny of sales tax to offset lost property taxes revenue.
Property taxes are a primary source of funding for local school districts. The original goal of the legislation was to eliminate property taxes outright. This version does not eliminate property taxes. Several school districts and local governments have said the loss of property tax revenue - should this bill become law - would result in the loss of many millions in funding.
The House also has passed a bill to trim the state's income tax rate to 3.99% from 5.19%.
SB 515 would extend but lower a tax credit for up to 1,200 "recently hired" teachers in the lowest 25 percent of all public schools and rural schools from $3,000 to $2,500 for up to five years. The bill is sponsored by Sen. Hickman. Priority is given for those teachers in rural schools. Only educators in these schools and those teaching in mathematics, special education, career, technical, and agricultural education or reading, writing, or English language arts are eligible for the tax credit.
HB 1118 would extend paid parental leave for "birth mothers" who are full-time state employees (including educators) from six weeks to nine weeks. Parental leave for fathers would remain at six weeks under current law. The bill passed the House on March 4 and has been assigned to the Senate Children and Families Committee.
HB 1023 requires "weapon detection systems" in schools with multiple entrances. "Weapon detection systems" are defined as "a security technology or integrated set of devices designed to detect, through electronic, visual, or analytical means the presence of weapon." The bill proposes an exemption for "any point of entry to such buildings that remain locked, are equipped with alarms, and are not intended for student use or are intended for student use only on an emergency basis." There is no dedicated state funding for school districts to implement this bill. The bill is now in the Senate Public Safety Committee.
HB 1030 - "The Math Matters Act" - would require that middle and high school students have access to advanced math classes and that students in the 4th and 5th grades for an hour daily or 300 minutes weekly core math instruction. The bill passed the House on February 25 and has been assigned to the Senate Education Committee. The Senate passed SB 171, to require the State Board of Education to develop an advanced mathematics pathway in grades 3-8. SB 171 is now in the House Education Committee awaiting further action.
HB 947 passed the House Friday to tighten rules and regulations regarding the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) by requiring more frequent re-verifications (every four months) among other things. The bill also blocks SNAP benefits from being used to purchase food or drinks in food service establishments among other things including coffee. The bill has not yet been assigned to a Senate committee.
HB 1107 - "The Excellent Teacher Preparation Act" - passed the House of Representatives on February 26. The bill is now in the Senate Education Committee. The bill concerns educator preparation for EPPs. The bill would require the state Board of Education, the state Department of Education, the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia, and the Office of Student Achievement develop performance measures that evaluate the performance of each EPP. Such EPP performance measures are to focus on the preparedness and performance of EPP graduates. Included in the list of measures of EPP programs is information about student performance data for the first three years after EPP completion.
Former public school teacher, Rep. Tangie Herring, saw her bill, HB 1045, pass the House on March 3. The bill requires student IDs for all students grades 6-12 include the suicide prevention hotline number 9-8-8 on it. The bill, known as the "You Are Not Alone Awareness Act," is now in the Senate Education Committee.
HB 1293 makes the Dual Achievement Program permanent. It has been operating as a pilot program. The bill pertains to a program for students who have withdrawn from high school to enroll in a unit of the technical college system to participate in an academic and technical education and training program.
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Election Day is TUESDAY
in the following districts
Special elections will be held in the following districts on March 10:
Senate District 53 (Chattooga, Dade, Walker, and portions of Catoosa and Floyd counties) for the seat previously held by Colton Moore;
House District 94 (DeKalb and Fulton counties) in which race GAE finds both Audrey Lux and Venola Mason as acceptable candidates;
House District 130 (Richmond County) GAE has endorsed Sha'Qunta Calles in this race; and
in the 14th Congressional District in northwest Georgia, in which race NEA - based on the recommendation of the Georgia Association of Education - has endorsed Shawn Harris. Harris is a Brigadier General, cattle farmer, former 7th grade math and science teacher, and NEA member.
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The next Legislative Alert will be Monday, March 9
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