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House · Passed · 2025-2026 Regular Session

HB 1391: Specialty license plates; honor public safety officers; establish

Last action May 12, 2026 · Act 622

House Bill 1391 would create a new Georgia specialty license plate honoring public safety officers, with proceeds going to the Georgia Public Safety Foundation, Inc.

Read the full bill text

These buttons carry the bill's own text, not the summaries below. Copy for LLM, View as markdown, and Send to AI use the Markdown version: the text as filed, then the summaries under a heading that names them as ours. View raw is the text alone.

The summaries below were written by an AI model (claude-sonnet-5) from the text of the bill and are not part of it. Quote the text, not the summary. The stored text is the Enrolled version, the latest the General Assembly's website lists.

In plain language

Georgia law already allows drivers to buy specialty license plates that support various agencies, funds, and nonprofit groups, with the extra fee split between the state general fund and the named organization. This bill adds one more plate to that list: a special license plate honoring public safety officers. Money raised from selling this new plate would go to the Georgia Public Safety Foundation, Inc., a nonprofit organization. Because the Georgia Constitution requires a two-thirds vote in both chambers for laws creating this kind of dedicated fee arrangement, the bill only becomes law if it clears that higher threshold, which the bill notes it did (it is recorded as passed). If enacted, the change would take effect on January 1, 2027.

What the bill does

  • Adds a new specialty license plate to Georgia's list of plates that support specific agencies or nonprofits, honoring public safety officers.
  • Directs that money raised from selling the new plate go to the Georgia Public Safety Foundation, Inc., a nonprofit organization.
  • States that the law only takes effect if it received the two-thirds majority vote required by the Georgia Constitution for this type of funding law.
  • Sets the effective date for the new plate program as January 1, 2027.

Who it affects

Georgia drivers who choose to purchase the new specialty plate, the Georgia Department of Revenue and county tag offices that issue license plates, and the Georgia Public Safety Foundation, Inc., which would receive the plate's proceeds.

Why it matters

Drivers who want to show support for public safety officers would get a new option when registering their vehicles, and the extra fee they pay would provide a funding stream for the Georgia Public Safety Foundation, giving the nonprofit ongoing revenue tied to plate sales rather than a one-time appropriation.

Key provisions

  • Section 1 amends O.C.G.A. § 40-2-86 by adding paragraph (76), creating a special license plate honoring public safety officers with proceeds sent to the Georgia Public Safety Foundation, Inc.
  • Section 2 requires the Act to receive a two-thirds majority vote in both the House and Senate under the Georgia Constitution's rules for this kind of dedicated-fee law.
  • Section 3 sets the effective date as January 1, 2027.
  • Section 4 repeals any conflicting laws.

From the bill

“A special license plate honoring public safety officers. The funds raised by the sale of this special license plate shall be disbursed to the Georgia Public Safety Foundation, Inc.”

This is the bill's core provision creating the plate and directing its proceeds.

Discussed in meetings (13)

The House and Senate meetings that took this bill up, from their machine transcripts. Each account was written by Georgia Commons with AI and is not part of the record; the video is what was said.

  1. House Motor Vehicles Committee, February 24, 2026

    From 0:30:03 · Watch on the General Assembly's Vimeo channel

    Summary by Georgia Commons: The sponsor said HB 1391 would create a public safety specialty license plate whose proceeds would support the Georgia Public Safety Foundation. The sponsor said Department of Revenue approval and required paperwork were included in members' packets. The foundation's chair said the organization supports Department of Public Safety employees and families through emergency assistance, scholarships and an annual awards banquet. The foundation's chair said it had awarded more than $160,000 in scholarships since 2018, had 15 volunteer board members and paid no salaries. A committee member asked whether the proceeds would support public safety officers across local governments. The sponsor clarified that the foundation serves State Patrol, Motor Carrier Division and Capitol Police personnel. The foundation's chair distinguished this plate from the existing Back the Blue plate, whose proceeds support the Peace Officers' Annuity and Benefit Fund. The committee approved the bill by voice vote, with no numerical tally announced.

  2. House Rules Committee, March 2, 2026

    From 0:35:02 · Watch on the General Assembly's Vimeo channel

    Summary by Georgia Commons: The sponsor said HB 1391 would create a specialty license plate benefiting the Georgia Public Safety Foundation. The sponsor said proceeds would support the foundation's work for officers in the State Patrol, Capitol Police and Motor Carrier Compliance Unit. No questions or decision followed.

  3. House floor session, March 4, 2026 (legislative day 27, PM, part 1)

    From 2:10:39 · Watch on the General Assembly's Vimeo channel · Confirmed by the 2026 House Journal, p. 1884

    Summary by Georgia Commons: The sponsor said the bill would create an optional specialty license plate benefiting the Georgia Public Safety Foundation. The sponsor described assistance for families of fallen or seriously injured officers, children's scholarships, wellness programs and crisis support for personnel serving in the Georgia State Patrol, Motor Carrier Compliance Division and Capitol Police. A member asked about historical differences in public safety retirement rules, and the sponsor agreed with the member's explanation. No question about the plate's operation followed. The House passed the bill 168-0.

  4. House Rules Committee, March 4, 2026

    From 0:35:53 · Watch on the General Assembly's Vimeo channel · Confirmed by the 2026 House Journal, p. 1881

    Summary by Georgia Commons: The committee added HB 1391 to the day's supplemental calendar under modified structured rules without stated opposition. No provisions were discussed.

  5. Senate Public Safety Committee, March 11, 2026

    From 0:27:38 · Watch on the General Assembly's Vimeo channel

    Summary by Georgia Commons: The sponsor said the measure would create a specialty license plate, with part of the proceeds going to the Georgia Public Safety Foundation. The sponsor described the foundation as supporting Georgia State Patrol, Capitol Police and Motor Carrier Division compliance officers and their families during times of need, and providing scholarships to their children and grandchildren. The chair encouraged support for the foundation and similar local organizations. A committee member asked whether wording on the sample image meant the proposal involved digital license plates or would require purchasers to use them. The sponsor clarified that the handout was a printed digital image of the design, not a proposal for a digital plate. The committee voted unanimously to recommend passage.

  6. Senate Rules Committee, March 16, 2026

    From 0:37:12 · Watch on the General Assembly's Vimeo channel

    Summary by Georgia Commons: The chair briefly identified HB 1391 as providing license plates for public safety officers. No further explanation, questions or vote followed.

  7. Senate Rules Committee, March 18, 2026

    From 0:23:04 · Watch on the General Assembly's Vimeo channel

    Summary by Georgia Commons: The chair described HB 1391 as a public safety officer license plate proposal. The chair later selected it for the floor calendar, and the committee unanimously approved its inclusion in the ten-measure calendar.

  8. Senate floor session, March 19, 2026 (legislative day 34)

    From 2:22:17 · Watch on the General Assembly's Vimeo channel · Confirmed by the bill's status history (Senate Third Read)

    Summary by Georgia Commons: The clerk described a specialty license plate honoring public safety officers. The sponsor said the plate would support the Department of Public Safety and that proceeds would go to its supporting foundation. No questions or opposition were offered. The Senate passed the bill 52-0.

Status timeline

  1. 2027-01-01Effective Date
  2. 2026-05-12Act 622
  3. 2026-05-12House Date Signed by Governor (House)
  4. 2026-04-06House Sent to Governor (House)
  5. 2026-03-19Senate Passed/Adopted (Senate)
  6. 2026-03-19Senate Third Read (Senate)
  7. 2026-03-16Senate Read Second Time (Senate)
  8. 2026-03-12Senate Committee Favorably Reported (Senate)
Show full history (15 actions)
  1. 2026-03-06Senate Read and Referred (Senate)
  2. 2026-03-04House Passed/Adopted (House)
  3. 2026-03-04House Third Readers (House)
  4. 2026-02-24House Committee Favorably Reported (House)
  5. 2026-02-24House Second Readers (House)
  6. 2026-02-20House First Readers (House)
  7. 2026-02-19House Hopper (House)

Sponsors

  • Tim Fleming (R, HD-114)Primary sponsor
  • Bill Hitchens (R, HD-161)
  • Clint Crowe (R, HD-118)
  • Eddie Lumsden (R, HD-12)
  • Karen Mathiak (R, HD-82)
  • Lauren McDonald III (R, HD-26)
  • John Albers (R, SD-56)

Votes

  1. PassedHouse voteMarch 4, 2026

    168 yea, 0 nay (3 not voting, 6 excused)

    PASSAGE: House Vote #618

  2. PassedSenate voteMarch 19, 2026

    52 yea, 0 nay (1 not voting, 1 excused)

    PASSAGE: Senate Vote #748

Topics

  • license plates
  • public safety officers
  • vehicle registration
  • nonprofit funding

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Answers come from this document. Not legal advice.

Machine-readable https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb1391.md · https://georgiacommons.org/bills/index.md · MCP https://mcp.georgiacommons.org/mcp