HB869: HB869 Bartow County; joint airport authority; legislative delegation to appoint a member; provide

The joint airport authority for the City of Cartersville and Bartow County was created by a 1966 state law and has three members. Two of those members are appointed locally: one by the Cartersville board of aldermen and one by Bartow County's governing official. This bill rewrites the section of the 1966 law that governs the third seat. Under the change, the third authority member would be appointed by Bartow County's local legislative delegation, meaning all members of the Georgia General Assembly whose House or Senate districts include any part of Bartow County. The authority would continue to elect its own chairperson each year from among its three members. The bill also repeals any prior laws that conflict with this change.

• Rewrites Section 2 of the 1966 Act creating the Cartersville-Bartow County joint airport authority to change how the third board member is chosen.
• Assigns the appointment of that third member to the Bartow County legislative delegation, made up of all General Assembly members whose districts touch Bartow County.
• Leaves unchanged the existing appointment powers of the Cartersville board of aldermen and Bartow County's governing official for the other two seats.
• Keeps the requirement that the three-member authority annually elects its own chairperson.
• Repeals any existing laws that conflict with this change.

The Cartersville-Bartow County joint airport authority, the Cartersville board of aldermen, Bartow County's governing officials, and the state legislators who represent Bartow County are all directly affected by this change in appointment power.

The change shifts control over one seat on the local airport authority from a county administrative appointment to Bartow County's state lawmakers, altering who has influence over decisions affecting the joint airport's operations and governance.

• Section 1 amends the 1966 Act (Ga. L. 1966, p. 2270) by revising Section 2 to change the appointing authority for the third airport authority member.
• The revised text specifies the delegation consists of all General Assembly members whose districts are wholly or partially within Bartow County.
• The two existing appointments, by the Cartersville board of aldermen and the Bartow County commissioner of roads and revenues, remain in place.
• Section 2 repeals all laws and parts of laws that conflict with the Act.

1. 2025-05-14Effective Date 2025-05-14
2. 2025-05-14Act 353
3. 2025-05-14House Date Signed by Governor (House)
4. 2025-04-08House Sent to Governor (House)
5. 2025-04-02Senate Passed/Adopted (Senate)
6. 2025-04-02Senate Committee Favorably Reported (Senate)
7. 2025-03-31Senate Read and Referred (Senate)
8. 2025-03-31House Passed/Adopted (House)

• Matthew Gambill (R, HD-015)Primary sponsor
• Mitchell Scoggins (R, HD-014)

1. PassedHouse voteMarch 31, 2025

   165 yea, 0 nay (10 not voting, 5 absent)

   Local Calendar Without Hbs 851 & 852: House Vote #342

2. PassedSenate voteApril 2, 2025

   55 yea, 1 nay

   Supplemental Local Consent Calendar: Senate Vote #400

• local government
• airport authority
• Bartow County
• Cartersville