On March 20, 2025, the following Georgia House of Representatives committees met to discuss bills to potentially advance:
- State Planning and Community Affairs voted on HB 753
- Education voted on SB 236, SB 63, SB 93, SB 82, and SB 123
- Intragovernmental Coordination voted on SB 151
Select the associated links to read each bill in full.
State Planning and Community Affairs
HB 753
This bill is the “Better Georgia Without Blight Act”. Blight is defined as developed property meeting two or more conditions of the following conditions:
- Uninhabitable
- Unsafe or abandoned
- Inadequate provisions of ventilation, light, and/or sanitation
- Imminent harm to life or other property
Based on this definition, more than 582,000 blighted properties exist in the state of Georgia, representing 15% of all Georgia properties. This creates a loss in community property tax and county property tax and revenue. This bill aims to address this issue by providing more technical assistance and funding assistance to cities and counties to deal with blighted properties. This would provide the resources to turn that property into affordable housing as fast as possible.
This will be done through the Department of Community Affairs, which can apply for any outside grants and issue other financial systems to fund this program. Before taking on a property, the five following steps must be taken:
- Public inspection
- Written notice to the owner
- A stakeholder meeting to determine whether there are any issues with development
- Study to calculate revenue loss to city, county, and state
- A local commitment to the rehabilitation of a property
The bill passed committee.
Education
SB 236
This bill, discussed previously (see HERE), will allow students whose parents or guardians are on active duty to enroll in the public school for the area in which they intend to reside, regardless of whether the family has yet secured housing. Eligibility is provisional: the family must submit evidence of the move or the efforts to secure housing in that attendance zone within 90 days. The bill will also allow any high school junior or senior in a military family to remain enrolled in their current school placement until graduation.
The bill passed committee.
SB 63
This bill will require local school systems to offer certain exams to home-study students residing within their home school system and dictates that the schools cannot charge fees for these students. These include PSAT/NMSQT, SAT, PreACT, ACT, ASVAB, and any AP exams.
The bill was passed committee.
SB 93
This bill, discussed previously (see HERE), would amend the Georgia Early Literacy Act to prohibit the use of the three-cueing system or visual memory for teaching word reading and provide criteria for core curriculum for state-approved education preparation programs; aspiring educators in Georgia will not be taught to use those systems.
The bill passed the committee.
SB 82
This bill—the Local Charter School Authorization and Support Act of 2025—relates to the denial of local charter school petitions. It provides incentives for approval and requires the Office of Charter School Compliance to prepare guidelines for local Boards of Education to use in evaluating charter school petitions.
Currently, most charter schools are approved by the state instead of locally, which costs more. If a local school board fails to approve 2+ petitions in a year that are later approved by the state (or 3+ depending on the size of the school district), the district will face consequences. Funding seems at the core of local opposition, but the data shows that charter schools significantly outperform other local schools.
The bill was passed committee.
SB 123
This bill prevents students from being expelled solely due to absenteeism and requires each school climate committee to meet by November 1, 2025—and twice yearly thereafter—to address chronic absenteeism. The committee must prepare reports for schools with high chronic absenteeism, and those schools would have to establish attendance review teams that meet at least monthly, review individual cases, and develop intervention plans. Participation in a remote learning pod satisfies compulsory attendance requirements.
The bill passed committee.
Intragovernmental Coordination
SB 151
This bill was resubmitted after listening to Bolton County Development Authority recommendations. It now allows the development authority to undertake other projects in North Fulton that might not include a tax incentive abatement. The effective date of the will be January 1, 2026 to give more time for transition.
The bill passed committee.
