On March 5, 2025, the following Georgia House of Representatives committees met to discuss bills to potentially advance:
- Insurance voted on HB 101 and HB 649
- Industry and Labor voted on HB 311 and heard HB 82 and HB 574
- Energy, Utilities, and Telecommunications voted on HB 249 and heard HB 389
- Judiciary Non-Civil voted on HB 344
- Public and Community Health voted on HB 657, HB 668, and HB 717
- Higher Education voted on HB 88, HB 217, HB 419, HB 541, HB 602, and HB 686
- Education voted HB 383, HB 442, and HB 133
- Small Business Development voted on HB 704
- Rural Development heard HB 659
Select the associated links to read each bill in full.
Insurance
HB 101
This bill requires all health insurance companies and their pharmacy benefit managers for the Georgia state health benefit plan, the public school teachers’ healthcare plan, and public school employees’ healthcare plan to create an annual report for transparency. This report will detail the amount of prescription drug rebates and dollars, a percentage of which is applied to the premium reductions for participation in the state health plan. The Department of Community Health website will maintain this report on its website.
The bill passed committee.
HB 649
This bill allows for mental health screenings for pregnant and postpartum women up to one year after birth in an effort to mitigate the maternal mortality rates in Georgia.
The bill passed committee.
Industry and Labor
HB 82
This bill, discussed previously (see HERE), seeks to aid small businesses that have a workforce problem by implementing a pathway for legal, merit-based temporary guest workers in Georgia. The bill is mostly designed to send a message to the federal government that Georgia should be allowed to determine when we have a labor shortage and act on ways to alleviate that issue.
No action was taken on the bill.
HB 311
The Georgia code currently has protections for workers ages 40 to 70. This bill revises the cap to ensure fair treatment of all workers above the age of 70 as well.
The bill passed committee.
HB 574
This bill, discussed previously (see HERE), relates to workers’ comp for longshoremen. It seeks to prevent these workers from using both the state and the federal workers’ comp programs.
The bill was sent to the Advisory Council.
Energy, Utilities, and Telecommunications
HB 249
This bill aims to provide a path for developers to restore the land that houses solar facilities when these facilities become obsolete; it also removes liability for the landowner. This bill will provide financial incentive to decommission these solar facilities.
The bill passed committee.
HB 389
This bill will allow HOAs and POAs to block installation of solar panels if the panels do not fit the aesthetic of the community unless the panel is on a roof or behind a privacy fence. If the HOA prohibits a homeowner from installing a solar panel on the basis of aesthetics, the HOA must provide the homeowner with an acceptable panel at a comparable price.
The bill will return to committee at a later date.
Judiciary Non-Civil
HB 344
This bill was discussed previously (see HERE). The civil fine for violating a stop arm of a school bus was previously raised from $300 to $1,000. This iteration of HB 344 intends to change it; the fine will now be no less than $500 but no more than $1,000. Funds derived from this civic violation will be put toward school safety. The bill will reduce this violation from a high aggravated misdemeanor to a misdemeanor.
The bill was tabled.
Public and Community Health
HB 657
This bill aims to add some cohesion and professionalism among all of the Recovery Community Organizations (RCOs) throughout Georgia by adding language to the Georgia code to define the available peer support services, the certified peer specialists, and the certified training body for those specialists; this training body will be certified by the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities (DBHDD).
The DBHDD shall designate a statewide RCO to coordinate a network of all the RCOs throughout the state.
The bill passed committee.
HB 668
This bill revises the Georgia code relating to service animals in the following ways:
- Updates legal terminology and penalties for harassment
- Clarifies the rights of individuals to use public transit with their service animals without additional fees
- Expands the definition of service dogs to the scope of individuals who may benefit from their services
- Broadens the accessibility of public spaces to individuals training services dogs to ensure equal accommodations
- Strengthens housing rights for individuals with service dogs and prohibits additional fees
- Deters discrimination and misrepresentation related to the use of service dogs by introducing penalties for claiming an animal to be a service animal when it is not
- Clarifies the right of way for blind individuals with services dogs
Emotional support dogs do not qualify.
The bill passed committee.
HB 717
This bill seeks to establish parameters to promote safe and effective methods for physicians to prescribe and monitor psychedelic-assisted treatments and therapies, such as ketamine treatments administered in clinics around the state. Many of these clinics are currently unregulated.
The bill passed committee.
Higher Education
HB 88
This bill would allow veterinary technicians who participate in biomedical experimentation to be eligible for the state student loan forgiveness program. No more than $30,000 would be forgiven per person for life. The Georgia Vet Tech Association will be administering this.
The bill passed committee.
HB 217
This bill, discussed previously (see HERE), extends a dual achievement pilot program from 2021 that allows students who failed out of high school or are no longer in high school to have a path to join technical colleges to get their high school diploma as well as a technical certificate.
Rather than making the program permanent, as the bill originally intended, this amended bill extends the program for 10 years to allow for more data gathering.
In this version of the bill, emancipated minors ages 16 through 18 may participate in the dual achievement program.
The bill passed committee.
HB 419
This bill, discussed previously (see HERE), requires the possession of opioid antagonists by institutions within the University System of Georgia. The universities are not civilly liable for potential misuse or removal of antagonists from dispensers.
The bill passed committee.
HB 541
This bill expands tuition equalization grants to students earning their nursing degree.
The bill passed committee.
HB 602
This bill, discussed previously (see HERE), has been significantly changed from its earlier iterations. Any student convicted of a criminal offense will lose access to HOPE scholarship funds and other state-backed grants for the following semester after the conviction.
The bill passed committee.
HB 686
This bill, discussed previously (see HERE), will put a constitutional amendment on the ballot in 2026 to allow for sports betting in Georgia. The Georgia Lottery Corporation will oversee and regulate entities providing these services; 25% of the first $150 million will be set aside for pre-K funding across the state.
Online promotional activity for sports betting will be prohibited.
Only 16 licenses will be allowed throughout the state.
The bill passed committee.
Education
HB 383
This bill places restrictions on name, image, and likeness (NIL) contracts in high school sports. Contracts with high school students will be null and void and can be re-negotiated when that student reaches the collegiate level. Anything with a school mascot at the high school level cannot be included in NIL.
The bill passed committee.
HB 442
This bill relates to the film industry in Georgia. Students will have up to 25 days to participate on a movie set as long as there is a certified teacher with whom they will be doing the schoolwork they are missing due to being on set. The leading person at the school will need to approve the participation of that student.
The bill passed committee.
HB 133
This bill allows parents to sign their kids up for a religious studies group that will take students off campus for 45 minutes to an hour once per week; the instructor must submit to a background check.
The bill passed committee.
Small Business Development
HB 704
Current Georgia code requires the Department of Audits to post information dealing with architectural firms and engineering firms regarding state funds. This bill removes that requirement to allow these posts to be annual rather than monthly.
The bill passed committee.
Rural Development
HB 659
This bill aims to to increase the number of physicians, dentists, optometrists, physician assistants, and advanced practice registered nurses in underserved rural areas of Georgia by cancelling student loans to these individuals for providing in rural Georgia.
The bill will return to committee at a later date.
