On March 11, 2025, the following Georgia House of Representatives committees met to discuss bills to potentially advance:
- Motor Vehicles heard HB 585 and SB 160 and voted on HR 449, SB 84, and SB 291
- Public and Community Health voted on SB 162
- Energy, Utilities, and Telecommunications heard SB 13 and voted on HR 429
- Insurance and Labor voted on HB 182 and HB 410 and heard HB 422 and SB 267
Select the associated links to read each bill in full.
Motor Vehicles
HB 585
This bill requires the Georgia Electronic Information Compliance System (GEICS), which law enforcement officers use to determine whether a motorist is insured, to also include whether or not the driver is covered under the policy. Some policies have named drivers or excluded drivers, but this information is not available to law enforcement.
Currently, the information is limited to whether the car has updated insurance. Only after the claim is filed can the system determine whether the driver is not covered and claim goes to the uninsured motorist payment designation. The purpose of the bill is to allow the officer to ticket the driver as an uninsured motorist and to encourage people to carry appropriate insurance so as to not drive up the cost of uninsured driver insurance.
This bill will be drafted for next year, as the language still needs to be workshopped and the author needs to research what other states are doing. The author will also seek to determine how long modifying GEICS to be able to display this additional information will take.
HR 449
This is a resolution creating the House Study Committee on Modernization of the Traffic Violations Bureau (TBV), which allows drivers to pay their tickets online in certain jurisdictions. Currently, individuals are not always aware of the penalties being levied against them and what those penalties could mean for them moving forward. Consequently, they could be pleading guilt in a manner that can be used against them in a later lawsuit. The TVB is 59 years old and needs to be updated.
The resolution was agreed upon.
SB 84
This bill establishes a specialty license plate honoring the Shepherd Center and a specialty license plate benefiting the Georgia Transplant Foundation.
The bill passed committee.
SB 160
This bill, discussed previously (see HERE), seeks to authorize courts to order the installation of an intelligent speed assistant device (ISA) onto the vehicle of a person convicted a second or third time of reckless stunt driving. This ISA would limit the speed to 20% over the posted speed limit. The installation cost is approximately $100 with a $4/day rental. The offender would be responsible for paying this.
This bill was heard only and requires further discussion.
SB 291
This is a bill that allows for an “America First” license plate that displays an American Flag.
The bill passed committee.
Public and Community Health
SB 162
This bill allows the Georgia Composite Medical Board to implement an automated credentialing system for healthcare providers in Georgia, allowing the board to credential doctors from out of state in a more timely fashion. Currently, this process can take 7 months or more, which is causing doctors to choose to work in different states at times.
Another part of this bill deals with the pop-up clinics that are dispensing ketamine for off-label use.
This bill passed committee.
Energy, Utilities, and Telecommunications
SB 13
This bill relates to natural gas availability in south Georgia. Natural gas is currently very limited, and many communities would like low-cost financing to upgrade the pipeline.
The bill will be heard again at a later date.
HR 429
A resolution to create the House Study Committee on Funding for Next Generation 9-1-1.
This resolution passed committee.
Insurance and Labor
HB 182
This is a Department of Insurance bill that relates to group life insurance for Armed Forces. It establishes that being on “active duty” is not a valid reason to deny a claim. There can be reasons for someone on active duty to be denied a claim, but “active duty” is too broad.
This bill passed committee.
HB 410
This is an Insurance Department clean-up bill. For foreign insurance companies (located outside of the state of Georgia but licensed to do business within Georgia), this bill eliminates a deposit that currently needs to be paid as long as the company’s home insurance department requires a deposit that Georgia deems sufficient. HB 140 would also eliminate written notices in triplicate if the company has a web page containing a registry to which notices are sent.
Additionally, HB 410 eliminates a need for a separate license for each branch insurance agency and will move to 2-year license renewals.
This bill passed committee
HB 422
This bill allows state employees enrolled in the high-deductible health insurance to make pre-tax contributions to their health savings account through salary deductions. It also requires employers offer two high-deductible plans.
This bill was only heard and will return to committee at a later date
SB 267
This bill requires the state’s Employee Benefit Plan Council to establish health savings accounts for state employees. Some employees only have access to post-tax HSA accounts, which does not save them any money. Some of the school systems do not currently offer teachers pre-tax HSA deductions. SB 267 will require this option for teachers.
This bill was only heard and will return to committee at a later date.
