---
title: HB 204. Public Safety, Department of; establish reasonable rates, fares, and charges for transportation by motor carriers of household goods; repeal authority
collection: bills
id: 2025-2026/hb204
cite_as: HB 204, 2025-2026 Regular Session (Ga.)
canonical_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb204
md_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb204.md
text_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb204/text
source_url: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/69720
date: 2026-02-03
status: introduced
corpus_version: bills-2026-09-13
license: Public record of the Georgia General Assembly, via LegiScan; see about.md
publisher: Georgia Commons, an independent project of Georgia Civic Data. Not the State of Georgia. Not legal advice.
up: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026.md
previous: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb203.md
next: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb205.md
index: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/index.md
omitted: votes and history
omitted_chars: 291
omitted_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb204.md?full=1
bill_number: HB 204
session: 2025-2026 Regular Session
session_slug: 2025-2026
chamber: House
bill_type: bill
status_date: 2025-01-30
last_action: House Committee Favorably Reported
sponsors:
- Dale Washburn
- Alan Powell
- Jason Ridley
- Jordan Ridley
- Ginny Ehrhart
text_version: Introduced
has_text: true
legiscan_url: https://legiscan.com/GA/bill/HB204/2025
upstream_id: 1949613
summaries_model: claude-sonnet-5
topic_tags:
- motor carrier regulation
- moving companies
- household goods transport
- Department of Public Safety
- consumer pricing rules
---
# HB 204. Public Safety, Department of; establish reasonable rates, fares, and charges for transportation by motor carriers of household goods; repeal authority
## Text
House Bill 204
By: Representatives Washburn of the 144th, Powell of the 33rd, Ridley of the 6th, Ridley of
the 22nd, and Ehrhart of the 36th
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
To amend Part 2 of Article 3 of Chapter 1 of Title 40 of the Official Code of Georgia
Annotated, relating to certification of motor carriers, so as to repeal the authority of the
Department of Public Safety to establish reasonable rates, fares, and charges for
transportation by motor carriers of household goods; to provide for related matters; to repeal
conflicting laws; and for other purposes.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF GEORGIA:
SECTION 1.
Part 2 of Article 3 of Chapter 1 of Title 40 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated,
relating to certification of motor carriers, is amended by repealing in its entirety Code
Section 40-1-118, relating to establishment of rates, fares, and charges for transportation of
household goods, and designating said Code section as reserved.
SECTION 2.
Said part is further amended by revising Code Section 40-1-119, relating to charges by motor
carriers and unjust discrimination by carriers prohibited, as follows:
"40-1-119.
No motor carrier of household goods or passengers shall charge, demand, collect, or
receive a greater or lesser or different compensation for the transportation of household
goods or passengers or for any service rendered in connection therewith than the rates,
fares, and charges prescribed or approved by order of the department; nor shall any such
motor carrier unjustly discriminate against any person in its rates, fares, or charges for
service. The commissioner may prescribe, by general order, to what persons motor carriers
of passengers may issue passes or free transportation; may prescribe reduced rates for
special occasions; and may fix and prescribe rates and schedules."
SECTION 3.
All laws and parts of laws in conflict with this Act are repealed.
## Summaries written by Georgia Commons
The following was written by claude-sonnet-5 from the text above and is not part of the bill. Quote the text, not the summary.
House Bill 204 would remove the Georgia Department of Public Safety's authority to set rates, fares, and charges that motor carriers of household goods can charge customers, while leaving that authority in place for passenger carriers.
### Plain-language summary
Currently, Georgia law lets the Department of Public Safety establish reasonable rates, fares, and charges for companies that move household goods, such as moving companies, and for motor carriers of passengers. This bill would eliminate that rate-setting authority for household goods movers entirely.
Section 1 repeals O.C.G.A. § 40-1-118 outright, which is the code section that currently lets the department set those rates, and marks the section as reserved for future use. Section 2 rewrites O.C.G.A. § 40-1-119 to remove references to household goods, so the ban on charging different rates than approved and the department's rate-setting and anti-discrimination powers would apply only to passenger carriers going forward. Section 3 repeals any conflicting laws. The bill does not specify a delayed effective date in the text provided.
### What it does
- Repeals O.C.G.A. § 40-1-118 entirely, eliminating the Department of Public Safety's power to set rates, fares, and charges for household goods movers.
- Rewrites O.C.G.A. § 40-1-119 to strike references to household goods, so the rule against charging rates other than approved ones would apply only to passenger carriers.
- Removes household goods movers from the department's authority to prescribe rates and schedules and to police unjust discrimination in charges.
- Leaves the department's rate-setting and anti-discrimination authority over passenger motor carriers unchanged.
### Who it affects
Moving companies and other motor carriers that transport household goods in Georgia, the Department of Public Safety, which currently regulates these rates, and consumers who hire movers, since state-approved rate caps and discrimination protections for household goods transport would no longer apply.
### Why it matters
Moving companies would gain freedom to set their own prices for transporting household goods without state rate approval or the current protection against unjust price discrimination. Customers hiring movers would lose a regulatory backstop that currently ties charges to state-approved rates and schedules.
### Key provisions
- Section 1 repeals Code Section 40-1-118 in its entirety and designates it as reserved, removing the department's authority to set household goods moving rates.
- Section 2 revises Code Section 40-1-119 by deleting 'household goods or' from two places, limiting the rate and anti-discrimination rules to passenger carriers only.
- Section 2 keeps the commissioner's power to prescribe passes, reduced rates for special occasions, and rate schedules for passenger carriers.
- Section 3 repeals all laws and parts of laws in conflict with the Act.
## Status
- Status: Introduced (2025-01-30)
- Last action: House Committee Favorably Reported (2026-02-03)
- Sponsors: Dale Washburn, Alan Powell, Jason Ridley, Jordan Ridley, Ginny Ehrhart
- Official page: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/69720
> The history, votes, and amendments (291 characters) are at https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb204.md?full=1