HB 620: State holidays; Blood Plasma Donation Awareness Day; designate

Georgia law currently lists a set of official state holidays and observances in Chapter 4 of Title 1 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated. This bill adds a new one: Blood Plasma Donation Awareness Day, to be marked every year on February 17. The bill opens with a long list of legislative findings about blood plasma donation, including that plasma-derived medicines treat conditions like sickle cell disease, that sickle cell disease disproportionately affects people of African descent, and that Black Georgians make up a large share of the nation's plasma donors while, according to the findings, no plasma collection center in the state is owned by someone from that demographic. The bill does not create any new program, funding, or requirement beyond adding the observance day to Georgia's code. It would take effect on July 1, 2026, and repeals any conflicting laws.

• Adds a new Georgia Code section, O.C.G.A. § 1-4-28, designating February 17 as Blood Plasma Donation Awareness Day.
• Inserts legislative findings into the bill about plasma donation, sickle cell disease, and the lack of Black-owned plasma centers in Georgia, though these findings are not codified as law.
• Sets the new observance day's effective date as July 1, 2026.
• Repeals any existing laws that conflict with the new designation.

The designation mainly affects how Georgia's official calendar of observances reads; it does not impose duties on individuals or businesses. It may be of particular interest to blood plasma donation centers, patients relying on plasma-derived therapies, people with sickle cell disease, and advocates for greater diversity among plasma center ownership.

Because this is a designated day rather than a legal holiday with office closures or funding, its main effect is symbolic: it puts a spotlight each February 17 on blood plasma donation and on the findings the legislature recorded about representation gaps in Georgia's plasma industry.

• Section 1 lists legislative findings on the medical importance of plasma-derived products, sickle cell disease's disproportionate impact on Black Americans, and the absence of Black-owned plasma centers in Georgia.
• Section 2 adds new Code section 1-4-28, stating that February 17 of each year is designated 'Blood Plasma Donation Awareness Day' in Georgia.
• Section 3 sets the effective date of the Act as July 1, 2026.
• Section 4 repeals any conflicting laws.

1. 2026-02-11House Committee Favorably Reported By Substitute (House)
2. 2025-04-04House Withdrawn, Recommitted (House)
3. 2025-03-03House Committee Favorably Reported (House)
4. 2025-02-28House Second Readers (House)
5. 2025-02-27House First Readers (House)
6. 2025-02-26House Hopper (House)

• Noelle Kahaian (R, HD-081)Primary sponsor
• David Clark (R, HD-100)
• Joe Campbell (R, HD-171)
• Reynaldo Martinez (R, HD-111)
• Matt Reeves (R, HD-099)
• Floyd Griffin (D, HD-149)

• blood plasma donation
• state holidays and observances
• sickle cell disease
• public health awareness