April 27, 2024
ATLANTA (AP) — The end of Georgia's two-year legislative session arrives Thursday, the last day for bills to pass both the House and Senate or die as this term ends. Lawmakers will decide questions including whether to legalize sports betting and tighten rules on law enforcement cooperation with immigration officials.
Some key proposals have already passed, including a plan to cut income taxes and a bill that would loosen Georgia's rules for permitting new health care facilities.
Some other measures appear unlikely to pass, including a proposal to expand Medicaid health insurance to more lower income adults and an effort to overhaul Georgia's tax incentives for movie and television production.
Gov. Brian Kemp will have 40 days to sign, veto, or allow legislation to become law without his signature after the session ends. In the meantime, many lawmakers will turn their focus to reelection, with all 56 Senate seats and 180 House seats on the ballot this year.
Here's a look at some key measures:
PENDING THURDAY
SPORTS BETTING Senate Bill 386 and Senate Resolution 579 could legalize online sports betting, but only if voters approve a state constitutional amendment in November.
IMMIGRATION: House Bill 1105 would require local law enforcement to help federal agents enforce immigration law, while House Bill 301 would cut off funding and remove elected officials of governments that harbor people who entered the country illegally.
PROPERTY TAXES: Future increases in a home’s taxable value could be limited under House Bill 581 or Senate Bill 349, while House Resolution 1022 is an accompanying constitutional amendment. House Bill 1019 could increase the state homestead exemption by as much as $10,000.
SOCIAL MEDIA: Senate Bill 351 seeks to require social media companies to get parental permission before letting children younger than 16 create accounts. It also bans the use of social media using school computers and internet and creates new anti-bullying rules.
JUDGE PAY: Senate Bill 479 would create guidelines to raise and standardize pay for judges, and might be accompanied by a constitutional amendment, House Resolution 1042.
SCHOOL POLICIES House Bill 1104 would ban transgender girls from playing high school sports with other girls, ban sex education in fifth grade and below and require a system for notifying parents of every item a child obtained in a school library.
ELECTIONS: House Bill 976 would create new rules for challenging voter qualifications, while House Bill 974 would require audits of more than one statewide election and make ballot images public. Senate Bill 189 would require ballot scanners count votes from ballot text or a computer-printed mark and not barcode. House Bill 1207 allows a reduced number of voting machines
OKEFENOKEE MINING: Georgia would paused future permits allowing an expansion of a mine near the Okefenokee Swamp for three years under Senate Bill 132.
LIBRARIES: Senate Bill 390 would ban using public money for dues or programs associated with the American Library Association.
RELIGIOUS LIBERTY: Senate Bill 180 provides that the RFRA protections from federal law will also apply to religious-liberty questions arising under Georgia law.
FILM TAX CREDIT: House Bill 1180 would require more use of Georgia-based employees and contractors to get the top 30% income tax credit on film production.
WRONGFUL CONVICTIONS: Senate Bill 429 would create a commission that could recommend that people who are imprisoned and later cleared of wrongdoing be paid at least $60,000 for each year they were imprisoned.
