Rumors are a new voucher bill may be introduced this week.  Senate Republicans held a news conference today to say they are united in their commitment to pass a voucher bill.

Stay tuned, and be ready to act quickly!

GAE bullet points in opposition to the vouchers may be found at: https://gae.org/issues-and-action/legislative-issues/vouchers

The Senate Education Committee has a meeting scheduled for Tuesday at 2:30 p.m. in Room 450 of the state Capitol.  No agenda for the meeting has been shared.  Any number of bad bills assigned to the committee could be called.

The Senate Higher Education Committee will meet Wednesday, January 31, at 2 p.m.  No agenda is yet available.

SB 386, which was introduced late last week, will be the subject of a hearing of the Senate Economic Development and Tourism Committee Tuesday morning at 8 a.m.  The bill legalizes betting on sporting events for the benefit of the State Lottery, and, consequently, for the HOPE Scholarship and pre-K programs.  Atlanta's four professional sports teams support the legislation.  The bill has seven Republican co-sponsors and five Democratic co-sponsors.

The Senate Retirement Committee meets Thursday, February 1, at 1 p.m. in 310 of the Coverdell Legislative Office Building.  Among the bills on the agenda are GAE-backed legislation, SB 206, which codifies in state law requirements that school systems participate in the Social Security System for employees who are members of the Public School Employees Retirement System (PSERS).  The bill will be live-streamed at: https://vimeo.com/showcase/9076396?autoplay=1

Lawmakers will meet through Thursday of this week.

Important Bill of the Day: The House Special Rules Committee will hear a bill Wednesday that would designate cornbread as the "official state bread."

Speaker Pro-Tempore Jan Jones, R-Milton, has filed HB 1010, which states: "The maximum amount of paid parental leave that may be taken by an eligible employee during a rolling 12 month period" is doubled, from 120 hours to 240 hours, "regardless of the number of qualifying life events that occur within such period."  This amends the law enacted on the passage of HB 146 in 2021 that extended, paid parental leave to full-time state employees and educators.  Leave is given for the birth or adoption of a child or when a child enters a foster home.

HB 1036 requires instruction in pregnancy, health, and human development for students in grades 9-12, which would be part of the health and physical education course of study already required.

HB 1045 would require schools to give notice and receive consent prior to providing students with sexual orientation or gender identity instruction.  Notice to parents or guardians is required 30 days before instruction is to have begun.  "No school shall be required to provide sexual orientation or gender identity instruction," the bill reads.  The bill also requires written parental permission to change a student's name in school records as well as a "copy of a court order providing for the change in the student's legal name."

Finally, the legislation states: "No school nurse, counselor, teacher, administrator, or other school personnel shall knowingly:

(1) Encourage or coerce a student under the age of 18 years to withhold from his or her parent or legal guardian that his or her perception of his or her gender is inconsistent with his or her sex; or

(2) Withhold from the parent or legal guardian of a student under the age of 18 years  
information related to his or her perception that his or her gender is inconsistent with his  
or her sex."

SB 405 proposes amendments to state law so as to lower the age of eligibility to enroll in a "completion school" from 18 to 16 years of age.

Detailed 2024 Election Dates
Information on how to register to vote

Click here to download the form.  Directions for submitting are on the form.  It is not fillable, and you must print and sign.  You can email a scan or a picture of the completed form to gaeelections@gae.org.