On February 28, 2025, the following Georgia House of Representatives committees met to discuss bills to potentially advance:
- Higher Education voted on HB 18 and heard HB 602
- Economic Development and Tourism heard HB 490
- Motor Vehicles voted on HB 369, HB 494, HB 583, and HB 651
Select the associated links to read each bill in full.
Higher Education
HB 18
This bill clarifies which students in Georgia are eligible for the dual enrollment program—a program that allows high school students to take college classes. Specifically, it narrows eligibility to legal residents of Georgia who remain in the state for the duration of their enrollment.
The bill will return to committee at a later date.
HB 602
This bill relates to protests on student campuses. The author claims it is to discourage violent, harassing, and materially disruptive student activity by targeting individuals who use violence, vandalism, force, and harassment as a means to impose their will on others. Any student who uses grants such as HOPE to attend Georgia’s post-secondary educational institutions and is convicted of or found through the institution to have committed certain acts of violence, vandalism, and aggression will lose that financial support for two years.
An ACLU representative testified to oppose his legislation.
The bill will return to committee at a later date.
Economic Development and Tourism
HB 490
This bill is a result of human and sex trafficking in Georgia. Some hotels in Georgia, especially near the airport, are turning a blind eye to this issue and are receiving kickbacks for their cooperation. This bill seeks to penalize these businesses. Every employee of these hotels and motels must take a course on sexual harassment to ensure they are aware of the laws; they will then be held accountable for not reporting information.
Any proprietor, owner, operator, or employee of a hotel who knew or should have reasonably known that such premises is being used for the purpose of or in connection to human trafficking or labor or sexual servitude shall be subject to punishment and imprisonment.
The bill was heard and will return to committee at a later date.
Motor Vehicles
HB 369
This bill, discussed previously (see HERE), aims to make food and ice cream trucks safer for pedestrians in neighborhoods and at festivals by requiring flashing lights.
The bill passed committee.
HB 494
This bill requires mopeds to be covered by insurance.
The bill passed committee.
HB 583
This bill allows veterans, and specifically disabled veterans, to acquire a second car tag to put on a secondary vehicle.
The bill passed committee.
HB 651
This bill seeks to revise the law regarding cameras in school zones rather than ban them as some bills this session have sought to do. These revisions include the following:
- The Department of Transportation will use a master state order to decide what is a school zone
- The zone must have flashing signs and devices that accurately depict the vehicle’s speed
- School zones will allow a 10 mph variance (e.g., if the limit is 25 mph, no ticket will be given as long as the car is moving below 35 mph)
- The cameras may only run one hour before and after school starts in the morning and one hour before and after school ends in the afternoon
- Cities and counties must use half of the funds raised to support local schools in the form of school safety grants
The bill passed committee.
