--- title: HB 944. Motor vehicles; federal regulations regarding safe operation of commercial motor carriers and commercial vehicles; update reference date collection: bills id: 2025-2026/hb944 cite_as: HB 944, 2025-2026 Regular Session (Ga.) canonical_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb944 md_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb944.md text_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb944/text source_url: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/72142 date: 2026-05-06 status: passed 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/hb943.md next: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb945.md index: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/index.md omitted: votes and history omitted_chars: 947 omitted_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb944.md?full=1 bill_number: HB 944 session: 2025-2026 Regular Session session_slug: 2025-2026 chamber: House bill_type: bill status_date: 2026-05-06 last_action: Effective Date 2026-07-01 sponsors: - Lauren McDonald - Clint Crowe - Bill Hitchens - Eddie Lumsden - Timothy Bearden text_version: Enrolled has_text: true legiscan_url: https://legiscan.com/GA/bill/HB944/2025 upstream_id: 2072013 summaries_model: claude-sonnet-5 topic_tags: - commercial trucking - motor carrier safety - hazardous materials transport - Department of Public Safety --- # HB 944. Motor vehicles; federal regulations regarding safe operation of commercial motor carriers and commercial vehicles; update reference date ## Text House Bill 944 (AS PASSED HOUSE AND SENATE) By: Representatives McDonald III of the 26th, Crowe of the 118th, Hitchens of the 161st, and Lumsden of the 12th A BILL TO BE ENTITLED AN ACT To amend Code Section 40-1-8 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to safe operations of motor carriers, commercial motor vehicles, and drivers and safe transportation of hazardous materials, so as to update the reference date to federal regulations regarding the safe operation of motor carriers and commercial motor vehicles; to revise a definition; to provide for related matters; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other purposes. BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF GEORGIA: SECTION 1. Code Section 40-1-8 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to safe operations of motor carriers, commercial motor vehicles, and drivers and safe transportation of hazardous materials, is amended by revising subsection (a) as follows: "(a) As used in this Code section, the term: (1) 'Commissioner' means the commissioner of public safety. (2) 'Department' means the Department of Public Safety. (3) 'Present regulations' means the regulations promulgated under 49 C.F.R. in force and effect on January 1, 20252026." SECTION 2. 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 944 updates a reference date in Georgia's trucking safety law so that the state automatically follows the version of federal commercial vehicle safety rules in effect as of January 1, 2026 instead of 2025. ### Plain-language summary Georgia law incorporates federal regulations on the safe operation of commercial motor carriers and commercial vehicles by referencing a specific date, so the state's rules stay tied to a fixed snapshot of the federal rulebook (49 C.F.R.) rather than shifting automatically with every federal change. This bill amends O.C.G.A. § 40-1-8 to move that reference date forward from January 1, 2025 to January 1, 2026. The change means Georgia's definition of 'present regulations' for trucking and hazardous materials transport safety will now point to the federal rules as they stood at the start of 2026. No other substantive changes are made to the code section, which also defines the Commissioner of Public Safety and the Department of Public Safety for purposes of this law. The bill repeals any conflicting laws. ### What it does - Changes the reference date in Georgia's commercial motor carrier safety law from January 1, 2025 to January 1, 2026, updating which version of federal trucking safety rules Georgia follows. - Leaves unchanged the definitions of 'Commissioner' (the commissioner of public safety) and 'Department' (the Department of Public Safety) in the same code section. - Repeals any existing state laws that conflict with this updated reference date. ### Who it affects Commercial truck and bus companies operating in Georgia, their drivers, and companies that transport hazardous materials, all of whom must comply with the federal safety regulations Georgia adopts by reference. The Georgia Department of Public Safety, which enforces these rules, is also affected. ### Why it matters By updating the reference date, Georgia ensures its trucking and hazardous materials safety standards match the most recent version of federal regulations rather than an outdated one, which affects what safety practices commercial drivers and carriers must follow to remain in compliance with state law. ### Key provisions - Section 1 revises subsection (a) of O.C.G.A. § 40-1-8 to change the date defining 'present regulations' from January 1, 2025 to January 1, 2026. - Section 1 keeps the existing definitions of 'Commissioner' and 'Department' unchanged. - Section 2 repeals any laws in conflict with the updated reference date. ## Status - Status: Passed (2026-05-06) - Last action: Effective Date 2026-07-01 (2026-05-06) - Sponsors: Lauren McDonald, Clint Crowe, Bill Hitchens, Eddie Lumsden, Timothy Bearden - Official page: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/72142 > The history, votes, and amendments (947 characters) are at https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb944.md?full=1