SB264: SB264 Emergency Management; creation of the Georgia Resilience Office under the Georgia Emergency Management and Homeland Security Agency; provide

Georgia currently has no single office dedicated to coordinating disaster recovery and long-term resilience planning across state agencies. This bill, called the Georgia Resilience Act, would create the Georgia Resilience Office as part of the Georgia Emergency Management and Homeland Security Agency. The office would be run by a 14 member board of directors that includes several state commissioners, legislative appointees, and a chief resilience officer nominated by the board's chairperson. The office would write a state-wide resilience plan due by December 31, 2026, covering flood, wildfire, drought, and extreme heat risks, along with vulnerabilities in infrastructure like hospitals, schools, and transportation systems. The plan would be updated every two years. The office could also accept federal and private funding, award grants to universities for resilience research, and would report to the General Assembly at least once a year on its progress.

• Creates the Georgia Resilience Office as a unit within the Georgia Emergency Management and Homeland Security Agency to coordinate disaster recovery and resilience planning.
• Establishes a 14 member board of directors, including state commissioners, legislative appointees, and local government representatives, to govern the office.
• Requires the office to produce a state-wide resilience plan by December 31, 2026 assessing flood, wildfire, drought, and extreme heat risks, updated at least every two years.
• Creates the position of chief resilience officer, nominated by the board chair, who hires staff and leads coordination with federal, state, and local agencies.
• Authorizes the office to accept federal, state, and private funding and to award grants to universities and local governments for resilience research.

State agencies such as the Department of Transportation, Department of Natural Resources, and the Georgia Forestry Commission; county and municipal governments; legislative appointees to the new board; hospitals, schools, and utility companies whose infrastructure would be assessed; and universities eligible for resilience research grants.

If enacted, Georgia would gain a dedicated state office tasked with tracking disaster risks like flooding, wildfire, and extreme heat, coordinating recovery after storms or federally declared disasters, and steering funding toward infrastructure and community resilience projects statewide.

• Code Section 38-3-202 establishes the Georgia Resilience Office within the Georgia Emergency Management and Homeland Security Agency and lists its coordination and planning duties.
• The state-wide resilience plan required by Section 38-3-202(b)(2) must be completed by December 31, 2026 and reviewed and revised by December 31 in even-numbered years.
• Section 38-3-202(c) sets the 14 member board, including agency heads, gubernatorial appointees, and two members each from the House and Senate.
• Section 38-3-202(d) sets initial board terms at two years starting by July 1, 2026, with later terms of four years.
• Code Section 38-3-203 creates the chief resilience officer position, nominated by the board chair and approved by the board, who hires staff and manages daily operations.
• The chief resilience officer must report to the General Assembly at least annually on the plan's progress under Section 38-3-203(d)(4).
• Section 38-3-202(b)(5) and (6) let the office accept federal and private funding and issue grants to universities and local governments for resilience research.

1. 2026-01-12Senate Recommitted (Senate)
2. 2025-03-04Senate Read Second Time (Senate)
3. 2025-03-03Senate Committee Favorably Reported By Substitute (Senate)
4. 2025-02-27Senate Read and Referred (Senate)
5. 2025-02-26Senate Hopper (Senate)

• Russ Goodman (R, SD-008)Primary sponsor
• Chuck Payne (R, SD-054)
• Kim Jackson (D, SD-041)
• Matt Brass (R, SD-006)
• Harold Jones (D, SD-022)
• John Kennedy (R, SD-018)
• Billy Hickman (R, SD-004)
• Freddie Sims (D, SD-012)
• Sam Watson (R, SD-011)
• Max Burns (R, SD-023)
• Derek Mallow (D, SD-002)
• Elena Parent (D, SD-044)

• emergency management
• disaster resilience
• hazard mitigation
• state government agencies
• climate risk planning