On March 25, 2025, the following Georgia State Senate committees met to discuss bills to potentially advance:
- Retirement approved actuary studies for SB 339 and SB 342
- Education and Youth voted on HB 451, HB 37, and HB 200
- Insurance and Labor heard HB 87, HB 124, HB 323, and HB 373
- Higher Education voted on HB 56, and HB 150
- Regulated Industries and Utilities voted on HB 630, HB 577, and heard HB 571
- Economic Development and Tourism voted on HB 14
- Ethics voted on SB 214
Select the associated links to read each bill in full.
Education and Youth
HB 451
This bill amends the Quality Basic Education Act, allowing local school boards to offer instruction in hunting safety for students in grades six through twelve. The bill gives schools the authority to include hunting safety education as part of their curriculum for these grade levels.
The bill passed committee.
HB 37
This bill requires local school systems to notify employees about their Social Security withholdings and their eligibility for certain benefits. The goal is to ensure school employees know how their Social Security contributions are handled and what benefits they may be eligible for based on those contributions.
The bill passed committee.
HB 200
This bill directs the State Board of Education to establish a three-year pilot immersive writing program for eligible public elementary schools. The program is designed to enhance writing skills by providing focused, hands-on writing instruction in selected schools. The goal is to improve writing proficiency among elementary students through immersive, engaging learning experiences.
The bill passed committee.
Insurance and Labor
HB 87
This bill, discussed previously (see HERE), aims to change the definition of medical necessity deemed by law for Orthotics and Prosthetics.
The bill will return to committee at a later date.
HB 124
This bill, discussed previously (see HERE), relates to general provisions regarding insurance and state employees’ health benefit plans; it aims to require insurance providers to cover pediatric autoimmune neuropsychiatric disorder (PANDAS) and pediatric acute neuropsychiatric syndrome (PANS).
The bill will return to committee at a later date.
HB 323
This bill, discussed previously (see HERE), is a Medicare supplement insurance for patients under the age of 65 who may have ALS or end-stage renal failure. It provides an insurance plan so these patients can afford a kidney transplant.
The bill will return to committee at a later date.
HB 373
This bill, discussed previously (see HERE), seeks to require insurance companies to allow men between the ages of 40 and 49 who have a history of family prostate cancer or whose doctor has said they need more comprehensive screening to receive tests for prostate cancer.
The bill will return to committee at a later date.
Higher Education
HB 56
This bill, discussed previously (see HERE), would provide for tuition grants to spouses of law enforcement officers, firefighters, and prison guards who were killed or permanently disabled in the line of duty. The bill also provides grants to the children and spouses of public school employees and public school teachers who were killed or permanently disabled by an act of violence in the line of duty.
The bill passed committee.
HB 150
This bill, previously discussed (see HERE), creates transparency regarding funding to Georgia’s higher education institutions, particularly from any country whose government is deemed a foreign adversary by the United States Secretary of Commerce. Payments less than $50,000 do not need to be reported under the bill.
The bill passed committee.
Regulated Industries and Utilities
HB 630
This bill, previously discussed (see HERE), makes multiple changes to the State Board of Registration of Used Motor Vehicle Dealers and Used Motor Vehicle Parts Dealers. The changes focus on the number of board members and the role of the board members.
The bill passed committee.
HB 577
This bill, previously discussed (see HERE), establishes a directory for businesses involved in the sale of vaping products and creates measures to prevent the sale of vaping material to minors.
The committee voted against this bill.
HB 571
This bill, previously discussed (see HERE), would allow for the licensing of radiology assistants. Persons qualifying for this license would be radiology assistants who complete an additional two years of schooling to fulfill the role of a radiology extender.
The bill will return to committee at a later date.
Regulated Industries and Utilities
HB 630
This bill, previously discussed (see HERE), makes multiple changes to the State Board of Registration of Used Motor Vehicle Dealers and Used Motor Vehicle Parts Dealers. The changes focus on the number of board members and the role of the board members.
The bill passed committee.
HB 577
This bill, previously discussed (see HERE), establishes a directory for businesses involved in the sale of vaping products and creates measures to prevent the sale of vaping material to minors.
The committee voted against this bill.
HB 571
This bill, previously discussed (see HERE), would allow for the licensing of radiology assistants. Persons qualifying for this license would be radiology assistants who complete an additional two years of schooling to fulfill the role of a radiology extender.
The bill will return to committee at a later date.
Economic Development and Tourism
HB 14
This bill was previously written to designate cornbread as the official state bread but is now a zombie bill that has been repurposed to revive HB 353. That bill, previously discussed (see HERE), would create the Georgia Office of Music without the Department of Community Affairs as well as a Music Ready Community Initiative to empower cities and local towns across the state to invest in music as an economic driver.
The bill passed committee.
Ethics
SB 214
This bill allows people to request absentee ballots throughout early voting and on election day to cast immediately. This is designed to circumvent issues with the mail system. Language was added to require elections be conducted with an “optical scanning voting system utilizing non-electronic ballot markers and ballot on demand printing, and shall be tabulated by using ballot scanners that also create scanned images of tabulated ballots”. This addition to the original bill will require paper ballots and no longer allow electronic voting machines (i.e., Dominion machines). The new language would be a dramatic change to our voting process.
The bill passed committee.
