HB204: HB204 Public Safety, Department of; establish reasonable rates, fares, and charges for transportation by motor carriers of household goods; repeal authority

Under current Georgia law, movers of household goods, along with certain passenger carriers, must charge rates approved by the Department of Public Safety, and the department has authority to set those rates. This bill repeals that rate-setting authority entirely by eliminating Code Section 40-1-118, the law that lets the department establish reasonable rates, fares, and charges for household goods movers. The bill also rewrites Code Section 40-1-119, which bars motor carriers from charging different rates than what the department prescribes and prohibits unjust discrimination in pricing. The rewritten version keeps the anti-discrimination rule and lets the commissioner set rules for passes and reduced fares, but removes the household goods rate-setting mechanism the repeal eliminates. The bill repeals any conflicting laws and does not state a delayed effective date, so it would take effect under Georgia's standard rules once signed.

• Repeals Code Section 40-1-118 in its entirety, eliminating the Department of Public Safety's authority to set rates, fares, and charges for household goods movers.
• Designates the repealed section as reserved, meaning the section number stays open for future use but currently contains no rule.
• Rewrites Code Section 40-1-119 so it still bars carriers from charging different rates than department-approved ones and still prohibits unjust discrimination in pricing.
• Keeps the commissioner's power to decide who gets free or reduced-rate passenger transportation and to set passenger rate schedules.
• Repeals any other Georgia laws that conflict with these changes.

Household goods moving companies licensed as motor carriers in Georgia, the Department of Public Safety and its commissioner, and to a lesser extent motor carriers of passengers, since a related rate provision covering passenger service is also revised.

Moving companies would no longer operate under state-approved rate schedules for household goods, which could change how they set prices for Georgia customers. The Department of Public Safety would lose a regulatory tool it has used to require uniform, approved pricing for movers.

• Section 1 repeals Code Section 40-1-118 in its entirety, the law giving the Department of Public Safety authority over household goods moving rates, and marks it as reserved.
• Section 2 revises Code Section 40-1-119 to keep the ban on carriers charging rates other than those approved by the department and the ban on unjust discrimination in pricing.
• Section 2 also preserves the commissioner's authority to prescribe who may receive free passenger transportation, set reduced rates for special occasions, and fix passenger rate schedules.
• Section 3 repeals all laws and parts of laws that conflict with the Act.

1. 2026-02-03House Committee Favorably Reported (House)
2. 2025-04-04House Withdrawn, Recommitted (House)
3. 2025-02-26House Committee Favorably Reported (House)
4. 2025-02-04House Second Readers (House)
5. 2025-02-03House First Readers (House)
6. 2025-01-30House Hopper (House)

• Dale Washburn (R, HD-144)Primary sponsor
• Alan Powell (R, HD-033)
• Jason Ridley (R, HD-006)
• Jordan Ridley (R, HD-022)
• Ginny Ehrhart (R, HD-036)

• moving companies
• trucking regulation
• Department of Public Safety
• motor carrier rates