The Georgia General Assembly conducts 40 Legislative Days each year beginning in January. Notable dates include Crossover Day and Sine Die, the last Legislative Day. The General Assembly typically works until close to midnight on each of these days.
To continue down the path of becoming law, a bill must pass either the House or the Senate by Crossover Day. That is, a bill must “cross over” or it cannot be pursued further, and crossing over is a bill’s best bet to getting passed into law. There is a caveat. Sometimes provisions on bills that did not cross over can be included in bills that did—this process creates what frequently is referred to as “zombie bills.”
This year, Crossover Day occurred on Friday, March 6 and brought us some good news:
Senate Bill 568 FAILED. This bill would have upended our election process by switching to paper ballots at great expense, significant limitations on early voting locations, publication of voters’ names, full hand count audits and $10,000 fines if an election worker failed to remove a voter from the voting list, even by inadvertent error. In sum, complete chaos for the voters and election workers. Notably, the author of the bill moved to remove it from consideration, but met with an objection, so the bill went to a full vote. It lost.
House Bill 1324 also FAILED. This bill would have removed the prohibition on gun silencers. However, the Senate passed SB 499 which effectively repealed the prohibition of possession of a silencer, although it kept in place enhanced penalties if a silencer is used in a major violent crime.
HB 1223 is a proposal that would restrict public access to police body and dash camera footage depicting a death. This one seemed to be a reaction to the Minneapolis killings in an effort to protect law enforcement. Glad it FAILED.
Other bills that failed included proposals to create statewide grand juries and make district attorney races non-partisan. These were perceived by some to be an attack on Fulton County prosecutions and Democratic prosecutors. A bill to revise voter registration to require voters to disclose if they are registered in other states also failed over a concern that it would suppress voter registration efforts.
Some bills of interest that crossed over:
SB 116 requires the collection of DNA samples from any individual in a detention facility charged with a misdemeanor or felony who is subject to an immigration detainer notice
o The bill expands mandatory DNA collection to include individuals who:
§ Are charged (not convicted) with misdemeanors or felonies
§ Are subject to immigration detainer notices
§ Are held in detention facilities (including newly-added county jails and municipal facilities)
SB 572 expands the Stand Your Ground defense and would allow people to claim immunity from prosecution soon after they’re charged– cases involving claims of self-defense would only continue if there’s clear and convincing evidence of a crime. This one could make prosecution of hate crimes more difficult.
SB 587 creates a public registry of animal cruelty offenders to help protect animals from being adopted or placed with individuals who have histories of animal abuse.
Bills that crossed over that could relate to public protests:
HB 1076 passed before Crossover Day—it creates the felony offense of obstruction of a law enforcement officer with a motor vehicle. Another reaction to the Minneapolis killings?
SB 443 also passed before Crossover Day–it increases the punishment for the offense of obstructing highways, streets, sidewalks, or other public passages and provides for civil liability for damages. This could potentially chill public protest events.
Important final note on election-related legislation:
We will be watching carefully for attempts to include election related provisions in bills that have crossed over. The Republican representatives that cater to election deniers have painted themselves into a corner. They passed SB 189 in 2024, which called for the elimination of QR codes on voting machines. The deadline for this is July 2026. The General Assembly has done nothing since 2024 to provide a revised voting system that would comply with this law. No other voting laws have passed prior to Crossover Day. Stay tuned on this one.
