On March 25, 2025, the following Georgia House of Representatives committees met to discuss bills to potentially advance:
- Retirement voted on SB 23
- Education voted on SB 212, SB 148, and SB 1
- Judiciary Non-Civil voted on SB 102, SB 204, SB 244, SB 27, and SB 79 and heard SB 74 and SB 163
Select the associated links to read each bill in full.
Retirement
This bill would raise the limit of the total percentage of funds that the Employees’ Retirement System of Georgia can invest in alternative investments (private equity investments) from 5% to 10% and for the Georgia Firefighters Pension Fund from 10% to 20%. The author argued that these investments have had a higher rate of return—typically 4% to 4.5% higher—than public equity investments and that the Firefighters Pension Fund in particular has had a robust track record.
The bill passed committee.
Education
SB 212
The bill proposes prohibiting the disclosure of public student directory information to political candidates or groups acting on their behalf, preventing schools from sharing students’ directory info (such as names, addresses, etc.) with political campaigns or related groups.
Per a Democratic amendment, anyone who, on school property, apprises students of their right to register to vote or of their obligation to register with the Selective Service or assists students with either shall attest that they will not provide directory information of students as prohibited above. Disclosure in violation would be a felony.
The bill as amended passed committee.
SB 148
This bill would provide for an outdoor learning spaces pilot program on elementary and secondary school property; the program will be evaluated after three years. SB 148 also removes the requirement that each elementary and secondary school must find a licensed physician to be involved with the purchase and use of required automated defibrillators, as the manufacturers now make such physicians available to schools. The bill also increases the number of accumulated sick leave days that teachers and other school personnel may take for personal or professional reasons from 3 to 5 .
The bill passed committee.
SB 1
This bill aims to exclude anyone assigned male at birth (AMAB) from participating in women’s sports in K-12 public and private schools as well as colleges. The bill mandates teams to be organized by male, female, and co-ed and requires sex-specific restrooms, changing rooms, and sleeping quarters. No male will be allowed to participate in any interscholastic competition on any team that is designated female; the same rule applies to females unless their school does not have a female team for that sport.
This rule has already been in place for several years, but the bill expands the age ranges. Whether birth certificates will be required when signing up for a sport or only when requested is unclear.
The bill passed committee with an amendment to prohibit physical exams.
Judiciary Non-Civil
SB 102
This bill revises provisions relative to dogfighting, prohibits fighting of dogs and gamecocks, and prohibits possession or sale of fighting-related objects. Dog fighting was prohibited at the state level prior to this bill, but cock fighting was not.
The bill passed committee.
SB 204
This bill aims to amend the state’s criminal procedure by allowing certain offenses—specifically, those that are not classified as serious violent felonies, sexual felonies, or other specified crimes—to be charged directly by a district attorney’s accusation, bypassing the traditional grand jury indictment process.
The bill passed committee.
SB 244
This bill provides for the award of reasonable attorney’s fees and costs in a criminal case if the defendant makes a successful motion to disqualify the prosecuting attorney for misconduct in connection with the case.
The bill passed committee.
SB 27
This bill focuses on enhancing protections against stalking and introduces the offense of doxxing (publicly revealing someone’s personal information with malicious intent). It updates and clarifies stalking laws, defines doxxing as a criminal offense, establishes penalties for individuals found guilty of doxxing, and provides mechanisms for protective orders to help victims. It strengthens legal tools to address online harassment and protect individuals from targeted abuse or threats.
The bill passed committee.
SB 74
This bill, discussed previously (see HERE), seeks to repeal an exemption for libraries and librarians from the Code; this exemption concerns the distribution of harmful materials to minors. The bill includes language about moving this material from the children’s or teen’s section to the adult’s section but requires this of college and university libraries as well despite those libraries having no children’s section, essentially barring anyone under the age of 18 from entering these libraries and severely impacting dual enrollment students who are still in high school. The bill opens librarians to being arrested and charged with a misdemeanor for allowing these students to access the libraries on campuses of universities they attend.
Parents testified about wanting parental rights to decide what is and is not appropriate for their children to read rather than have that mandated by the government.
The bill does not define what constitutes “harmful material,” leaving that to interpretation and presenting potential threats to librarians.
The bill will return to committee at a later date.
SB 79
This bill, discussed previously (see HERE), seeks to address the escalating crisis of fentanyl-related overdoses and fatalities by implementing stricter legal consequences for those involved in trafficking and distributing this potent synthetic opioid. It removes fentanyl from the general category of opiates in Georgia’s legal statutes and establishes distinct offenses specifically for fentanyl-related activities, including possession, sale, distribution, manufacturing, and trafficking.
The bill passed committee.
SB 163
This bill aims to revise the state’s Brady Law regulations concerning firearm policies. The bill seeks to establish clear standards for individuals to bring legal action against government entities that enact unauthorized regulations related to weapons. Specifically, it prohibits local governments from taking measures to protect citizens from gun-related deaths, undermining local governments’ abilities to address specific public safety concerns.
The bill will return to committee at a later date.
