HB 1167: Sleep Health Awareness Week; second week in March of each year; designate

Georgia law currently has no official observance dedicated to sleep health. This bill would add a new section to Georgia's holidays and observances law creating 'Sleep Health Awareness Week,' set for the second week of March each year, starting on the second Sunday of the month to coincide with the start of daylight saving time. The bill also adds a new section to the law governing the Department of Public Health, encouraging it to weave sleep hygiene education into existing public health programs. During the designated week, the department may voluntarily share information and best practices on topics such as teen learning and sleep, healthcare worker scheduling, workplace safety, drowsy driving, chronic disease risk, suicide prevention, and safe infant sleep practices. The bill states legislative findings about the health importance of sleep and repeals any conflicting laws.

• Creates a new Georgia Code section (O.C.G.A. § 1-4-28) designating the second week of March as 'Sleep Health Awareness Week.'
• Times the observance to start on the second Sunday of March, matching the historical start of daylight saving time.
• Adds a new Code section (O.C.G.A. § 31-2A-21) encouraging the Department of Public Health to build sleep hygiene education into its existing health programs.
• Allows, but does not require, the department to share sleep-related information and best practices in seven listed topic areas during the observance week.
• States legislative findings that link poor sleep to heart disease, diabetes, and weakened immunity, without creating any new enforceable health standard.

The Department of Public Health, which gets an encouraged (not mandatory) role in sleep education, and the general public, including students, healthcare workers, drivers, employers, parents of infants, and people with mental health concerns, who are named as audiences for the department's optional outreach.

The bill does not create funding, penalties, or mandatory programs; it mainly gives sleep health an official calendar designation and permission for the state health department to share information. Any real-world change depends on whether the department chooses to act on the encouragement.

• Section 1 lists legislative findings on the health importance of sleep, including links to heart disease, diabetes, and weakened immune function.
• Section 2 creates O.C.G.A. § 1-4-28, designating the second week of March, starting the second Sunday, as 'Sleep Health Awareness Week.'
• Section 3 creates O.C.G.A. § 31-2A-21, encouraging (not requiring) the Department of Public Health to integrate sleep hygiene education into existing public health frameworks.
• Section 3(b) lists seven optional topic areas the department may address during the week, including adolescent learning, healthcare scheduling, workplace safety, drowsy driving, chronic disease, suicide prevention, and infant sleep safety.
• Section 4 repeals any conflicting laws, a standard closing provision.

1. 2026-03-04House Postponed (House)
2. 2026-03-03House Postponed (House)
3. 2026-02-25House Committee Favorably Reported (House)
4. 2026-02-05House Second Readers (House)
5. 2026-02-04House First Readers (House)
6. 2026-02-03House Hopper (House)

• Robert Dawson (D, HD-065)Primary sponsor
• Lee Hawkins (R, HD-027)
• Gerald Greene (R, HD-154)
• Trey Kelley (R, HD-016)
• Lydia Glaize (D, HD-067)
• Jan Jones (R, HD-047)

• sleep health
• public health awareness
• Department of Public Health
• daylight saving time
• suicide prevention