On February 25, 2025, the following Georgia State Senate committees met to discuss bills to potentially advance:
- Veterans, Military, and Homeland Security heard SB 73 and voted on SB 109
- Regulated Industries and Utilities voted on SB 34 and SB 162 and heard SB 142
- Retirement heard SB 143 and SB 150 and voted on SB 198
- Education and Youth voted on SB 152 and SB 74
- Higher Education voted on SB 149, SB 180, and SB 193
- Insurance and Labor voted on SB 191 and SB 205 and heard SB 230
Select the associated links to read each bill in full.
Veterans, Military, and Homeland Security
SB 73
Some companies help disabled Georgia veterans apply for their military benefits. This bill protects Georgia’s veterans from bad actors by:
- Prohibiting predatory marketing practices
- Preserving veteran choice by allowing private companies to continue to operate
- Protecting thousands of veterans’ jobs and personal data
- Instituting financial protections (i.e., prohibits fees not associated with monetary increases in monthly benefits)
- Mandating disclosures for free opinions to veterans
- Ensuring medical protections by utilizing on-site physicians for evaluations
- Prohibiting false, misleading, and aggressive solicitation of veterans
Any entity claiming to be able to assist veterans with their disability paperwork must abide by these regulations. The industry standard for these services is to charge veterans a one-time fee equal to five times the veteran’s monthly monetary increase. Most of these companies are not accredited.
The Veterans of Foreign Wars office stands strongly opposed to this legislation, as these sort of companies take a veteran’s earned benefit as a fee when the veteran can go through the VA’s office and receive these benefits for free.
The bill was tabled for more discussion and will return to the committee at a later date.
SB 109
This bill makes exceptions to life insurance policies regarding active duty members. Under the current law, any active duty member who dies while not in combat can have their life insurance policy denied. This bill aims to change that; if any active duty service member dies while not in combat, their claim cannot be denied.
The bill passed committee.
Regulated Industries and Utilities
SB 34
This bill, discussed previously (see HERE), relates to data centers in Bartow County, Floyd County, and Rome. These centers require considerable resources, and as a result, consumers near these data centers have seen significant increases in their rates, which are some of the highest in the country. As more data centers are built, the higher the rates will continue to increase.
This bill simply requires data centers to pay for the electricity they use rather than forcing those higher rates upon residential and small business customers. It does not set the rates but rather codifies into law that those data centers are responsible for the cost.
The bill passed committee.
SB 162
This bill requires an automated credentialing system for healthcare providers in Georgia to streamline the licensing process. This system should be an easily accessible, searchable database for all Georgians to use.
The bill passed committee.
SB 142
This bill offers a pathway for physicians trained internationally to earn a license to practice in Georgia, specifically in places where there are shortages, such as rural counties. These physicians must pass medical exams and must have been in the field for the previous seven years. This bill allows physicians to work with a provisional license under another credentialed, licensed physician as they work toward the national medical exams. Once they pass these medical exams, they can have a full license.
The bill was only heard and will return to the committee at a later date.
Retirement
SB 143
This bill allows firefighters who are eligible and who are at least 50 years old receive their benefits without needing to actually retire.
The committee sent this bill to have an actuarial study.
SB 150
This bill aims to address personnel shortages in education. The proposed legislation will lower the eligibility for retirement from 30 years of service to 25 years of service and reduce the mandatory waiting period from 12 months to 60 days; this will give teachers a break of service and a chance to potentially return to teaching if they want. A teacher will be able to retire and come back to teach full-time; they will receive a salary and retirement at the same time.
The bill also states that the principal or the HR person of a school can hire teachers but not athletics personnel to take advantage of this new rule.
SB 150 includes a sunset provision on June 30, 2034.
The committee sent this bill to have an actuarial study.
SB 198
This bill relates to the Legislative Retirement Fund. No tax dollars go into this fund, and the bill aims to ensure they never do. Several years ago, the fund was overfunded, and the General Assembly voted to increase the benefit by $50 for everyone in the fund at the time moving forward, meaning anyone who was already retired did not receive that extra money. This bill is designed to change that and allow all retired legislators to receive that additional $50. It also aims to ensure the fund never drops below 120% so that it will never need tax funds.
The bill passed committee.
Education and Youth
SB 152
This bill would provide that the biological or adopted children of individuals who are foster parents and who meet certain conditions shall qualify for the Georgia promise scholarship. The purpose of the bill is to incentivize families to foster children.
The bill passed committee.
SB 74
Under Georgia Code Section 16-12-103, harmful material cannot be sold or distributed to minors. A current exception to this law does not apply to any public library operated by the state or any of its political subdivisions, nor does the law apply to any library operated as a part of any school, college, or university. This bill would remove this exception. The law would apply to any person who “knowingly” violates the existing law.
The bill does provide an affirmative defense to prosecution for those who work in a library operated as a part of any school, college, or university, allowing such an individual to demonstrate that he or she has made a good faith attempt to identify and remove from access to minors all physical or electronic material harmful to minors. The bill is intended to protect children from explicit material and close this loophole; whether this material including LGBTQ+ themes is unclear. The bill sponsor could not provide a reason as to why this exception has existed.
The bill passed committee.
Higher Education
SB 149
This is a workforce development bill regarding the Georgia Tuition Equalization grant program, which encourages Georgia residents to attend eligible private colleges by aiding with students’ educational costs. This bill will not remove institutional requirements to be eligible but will allow the program to serve more students. Newly qualified students at four-year institutions will be eligible for the program; these institutions must be accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges.
The bill passed committee.
SB 180
This bill relates to the High Demand Apprenticeship program, which incentivizes apprenticeship sponsors to establish new or grow existing registered apprenticeship programs in Georgia. SB 180 will allow apprenticeship sponsors to enter into contracts with the State Board of the Technical College System of Georgia to potentially attract more TCSG graduates and open more paths for training.
The bill passed committee.
SB 193
This bill creates a framework for a pay-for-performance for the Adult Workforce Diploma program. This program specifically targets people from the minimum age of 21 to the maximum age of 40 and gives them an opportunity to complete their high school diploma and develop critical employability and career skills through the Technical College System of Georgia. This is similar to the TCSG’s dual achievement program, but that program cuts off at the age of 21. The bill includes a sunset clause for 2031.
The bill passed committee.
Insurance and Labor
SB 191
This bill would allow employees the option to receive their benefits and appeals determination notifications via electronic communication rather than conventional mail.
The bill passed committee.
SB 230
This bill deals with the fire and extended coverage statute for condominium association insurance. It will eliminate the $5,000 deductible cap that can be assessed back to the individual unit owner from the condo association. Policies are no longer available with a $5,000 deductible, as most are now typically from $25,000 to $100,000. This bill will allow the condo association to assess the individual unit owner the full deductible amount because individual unit owners carry HO6 insurance, which covers the condo association’s deductible at a lower rate.
Currently, if the deductible is higher than $5,000, the other unit owners must pay the balance of the deductible. The committee voted to raise the language of the required deductible to $25,000 and not unlimited.
The bill will be voted on at a later date once the amendments have been more clearly defined.
SB 205
This bill would require insurance coverage for pediatric autoimmune neuropsychiatric disorders associated with streptococcal infection (PANDAS) and pediatric acute onset neuropsychiatric syndrome (PANS). Currently, parents often have to take their children out of state for treatment, and insurance does not cover the needed treatment. Only 12 states do cover this treatment; 17 others are working on it.
The bill will return to committee at a later date.
