HB466: HB466 State symbols; marsh tacky horse as official Georgia heritage horse breed; designate

26 HB 466/AP House Bill 466 (AS PASSED HOUSE AND SENATE) By: Representatives Cameron of the 1st, Williams of the 168th, Stephens of the 164th, Petrea of the 166th, and Reeves of the 99th A BILL TO BE ENTITLED AN ACT To amend Article 3 of Chapter 3 of Title 50 of the Official Cod e of Georgia Annotated,1 relating to other state symbols, so as to designate the marsh t acky horse as the official2 Georgia heritage horse breed; to designate the pineywoods cattl e as the official Georgia3 heritage cattle breed; to provide legislative findings and declarations; to provide for related4 matters; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other purposes.5 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF GEORGIA:6 SECTION 1.7 The General Assembly finds and declares as follows:8 (1) The presence of the marsh tacky horse in Georgia can be traced back to the 1500s;9 (2) The marsh tacky horse has been used by every culture and c lass of people that10 encountered it, including Indigenous nations, like the Seminoles, the Creek, the Chickasaw,11 the Choctaw, and the Cherokee; European settlers; and the Maroo n and Gullah12 communities;13 (3) General Francis "Swamp Fox" Marion utilized marsh tacky horses to navigate through14 rough, swampy terrain during guerilla campaigns against the British;15 H. B. 466 - 1 - 26 HB 466/AP (4) The marsh tacky horse was the predominant stock horse in t he southeastern United16 States up to the 1930s;17 (5) During the Great Depression and Dust Bowl eras, larger cattle were brought in from18 the West requiring larger horses causing the marsh tacky horse to fall out of use;19 (6) The marsh tacky horse is listed as "critical" under the en dangered categories by the20 Livestock Conservancy;21 (7) There are less than 2,000 marsh tacky horses in existence;22 (8) Despite the number of marsh tacky horses remaining, they are still used in hunting wild23 game and herding cattle; and24 (9) Establishing the marsh tacky horse as the official Georgia heritage horse breed is25 necessary to fully recognize the importance of the breed and its contributions to Georgia26 history.27 SECTION 2.28 Article 3 of Chapter 3 of Title 50 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to other29 state symbols, is amended by adding a new Code section to read as follows:30 "50-3-96.31 The marsh tacky horse is designated as the official Georgia heritage horse breed."32 SECTION 3.33 Said article is further amended by adding a new Code section to read as follows:34 "50-3-97.35 The pineywoods cattle is designated as the official Georgia heritage cattle breed."36 SECTION 4.37 All laws and parts of laws in conflict with this Act are repealed.38 H. B. 466 - 2 -