HB 367: Georgia Equity and Fairness Commission Act; enact

Georgia law currently has no state body dedicated to studying the historical impact of chattel slavery on the state's Black residents. House Bill 367 would add a new article to Georgia's laws on commissions and agencies (O.C.G.A. Chapter 12 of Title 50) creating the Georgia Equity and Fairness Commission. The bill includes legislative findings describing slavery's history in Georgia, its constitutional and statutory sanction through 1865, and the discriminatory practices that followed, such as sharecropping, convict leasing, Jim Crow laws, and redlining. The 11-member commission would be appointed by the Governor, the Senate and House leaders, and their minority leaders, with members drawn from people recommended by civil rights and racial justice organizations. It would be housed administratively within the Department of Administrative Services. The commission would study how Georgia law supported slavery and later discrimination, examine lingering effects on descendants, and recommend education efforts and remedies, including addressing the form, amount, and eligibility for restitution. It must submit a public report to state leaders within three months of its last meeting, and the commission and this article would be automatically repealed on June 30, 2027.

• Creates the Georgia Equity and Fairness Commission, an 11-member body appointed by the Governor, Senate leaders, and House leaders, to study slavery's impact.
• Directs the commission to examine how Georgia's constitution and statutes supported chattel slavery and later discriminatory laws through the present.
• Requires the commission to recommend ways to educate the public and to propose remedies, specifically addressing the form, amount, and eligibility for restitution.
• Requires a written public report to the Governor and legislative leaders within three months of the commission's final meeting.
• Gives the commission power to accept grants and donations, hold public hearings, subpoena witnesses and documents, and request information from state agencies.
• Automatically abolishes the commission and repeals the new law on June 30, 2027.

The bill directly affects the 11 appointed commission members, the Department of Administrative Services which would administratively house the commission, and state agencies required to cooperate with information requests. More broadly, it concerns descendants of chattel slavery in Georgia, whose history and potential remedies the commission would study and report on.

If enacted, Georgia would for the first time have a state commission formally tasked with documenting slavery's legacy and studying restitution options for descendants. The commission's findings and recommendations, due in a public report, could shape future legislative debate on remedies, though the bill itself creates no restitution program and expires by mid-2027.

• Section 2 lays out legislative findings on slavery's history in Georgia and the United States and its lasting economic, educational, and health effects on descendants.
• New Code Section 50-12-150 creates the commission and assigns it to the Department of Administrative Services for administrative purposes only.
• New Code Section 50-12-151 sets the commission at 11 members appointed by the Governor, Senate and House leaders, and minority leaders, drawn from civil rights and justice organizations' recommendations.
• New Code Section 50-12-152 sets meeting and quorum rules and compensation, including legislative allowances and daily expense reimbursement for nonlegislative members.
• New Code Section 50-12-153 directs the commission to examine historical and ongoing discrimination and to recommend remedies, including restitution's form, amount, and eligibility, with a public report due three months after its last meeting.
• New Code Section 50-12-154 grants the commission power to accept grants, sign contracts, hold hearings, subpoena witnesses and documents, and request state agency information.
• New Code Section 50-12-155 automatically abolishes the commission and repeals the article on June 30, 2027.

1. 2025-02-12House Second Readers (House)
2. 2025-02-11House First Readers (House)
3. 2025-02-10House Hopper (House)

• El-Mahdi Holly (D, HD-116)Primary sponsor
• Carl Gilliard (D, HD-162)
• Debra Bazemore (D, HD-069)
• Jasmine Clark (D, HD-108)
• Derrick Jackson (D, HD-068)

• reparations
• racial justice commission
• slavery history
• state government commissions
• civil rights