--- title: HR 207. House Study Committee on the Eradication of Homelessness; create collection: bills id: 2025-2026/hr207 cite_as: HR 207, 2025-2026 Regular Session (Ga.) canonical_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hr207 md_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hr207.md text_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hr207/text source_url: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/70070 date: 2025-02-11 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/hr206.md next: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hr208.md index: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/index.md omitted: votes and history omitted_chars: 129 omitted_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hr207.md?full=1 bill_number: HR 207 session: 2025-2026 Regular Session session_slug: 2025-2026 chamber: House bill_type: resolution status_date: 2025-02-06 last_action: House Second Readers sponsors: - Eric Bell - David Huddleston - Mary Oliver - Inga Willis - Josh Bonner text_version: Introduced has_text: true legiscan_url: https://legiscan.com/GA/bill/HR207/2025 upstream_id: 1961005 summaries_model: claude-sonnet-5 topic_tags: - homelessness - affordable housing - legislative study committee - Georgia House of Representatives - social services --- # HR 207. House Study Committee on the Eradication of Homelessness; create ## Text House Resolution 207 By: Representatives Bell of the 75th, Huddleston of the 72nd, Oliver of the 84th, Willis of the 55th, and Bonner of the 73rd A RESOLUTION Creating the House Study Committee on the Eradication of Homelessness; and for other purposes. WHEREAS, homelessness imposes a tremendous economic and social cost to homeless individuals, their families, businesses, neighborhoods, and government; and WHEREAS, unacceptable levels of homelessness among adults, older adults, and families remain an ongoing challenge facing the State of Georgia; and WHEREAS, the factors that contribute to homelessness are many and complex, including a lack of affordable housing, a shortage of family wage jobs, domestic violence, a shortage of housing with supportive services, high levels of debt, substance abuse, mental illness, access to affordable healthcare, and people exiting institutions and systems of care; and WHEREAS, homelessness is a multifaceted problem requiring coordination of resources, systems, and efforts from the private sector and from all levels of government; and WHEREAS, the State of Georgia must find a long-term solution to homelessness; and WHEREAS, a study is needed to understand the extent of the problem of homelessness so as to eradicate it. NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES: (1) Creation of House study committee. There is created the House Study Committee on the Eradication of Homelessness. (2) Members and officers. The committee shall be composed of nine members of the House of Representatives to be appointed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives as follows: (A) One member from the House Committee on Appropriations; (B) One member from the House Committee on Budget and Fiscal Affairs Oversight; (C) One member from the House Committee on Defense and Veterans Affairs; (D) One member from the House Committee on Higher Education; (E) One member from the House Committee on MARTOC; (F) One member from the House Committee on Public Health; (G) One member from the House Committee on Public Safety and Homeland Security; (H) One member from the House Committee on Urban Affairs; and (I) One additional member from the House of Representatives. The Speaker of the House of Representatives shall designate one such member as chairperson of the committee. (3) Powers and duties. The committee shall undertake a study of the conditions, needs, issues, and problems mentioned above or related thereto and recommend any action or legislation which the committee deems necessary or appropriate. (4) Meetings. The chairperson shall call all meetings of the committee. The committee may conduct such meetings at such places and at such times as it may deem necessary or convenient to enable it to exercise fully and effectively its powers, perform its duties, and accomplish the objectives and purposes of this resolution. (5) Allowances and funding. The legislative members of the committee shall receive the allowances provided for in Code Section 28-1-8 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated. The allowances authorized by this resolution shall not be received by any member of the committee for more than five days unless additional days are authorized. Funds necessary to carry out the provisions of this resolution shall come from funds appropriated to the House of Representatives. (6) Report. (A) In the event the committee adopts any specific findings or recommendations that include suggestions for proposed legislation, the chairperson shall file a report of the same prior to the date of abolishment specified in this resolution, subject to subparagraph (C) of this paragraph. (B) In the event the committee adopts a report that does not include suggestions for proposed legislation, the chairperson shall file the report, subject to subparagraph (C) of this paragraph. (C) No report shall be filed unless the same has been approved prior to the date of abolishment specified in this resolution by majority vote of a quorum of the committee. A report so approved shall be signed by the chairperson of the committee and filed with the Clerk of the House of Representatives. (D) In the absence of an approved report, the chairperson may file with the Clerk of the House of Representatives a copy of the minutes of the meetings of the committee in lieu thereof. (7) Abolishment. The committee shall stand abolished on December 1, 2025. ## Summaries written by Georgia Commons The following was written by claude-sonnet-5 from the text above and is not part of the resolution. Quote the text, not the summary. A Georgia House resolution would create a nine-member House Study Committee on the Eradication of Homelessness to examine the causes of homelessness in Georgia and recommend legislation before it disbands on December 1, 2025. ### Plain-language summary Homelessness in Georgia is described in this resolution as a complex problem tied to a lack of affordable housing, low wages, domestic violence, healthcare access, mental illness, and substance abuse. Rather than changing any law directly, this resolution sets up a temporary House committee to study the issue and propose solutions. The committee would have nine members of the House of Representatives, appointed by the Speaker, drawn from committees including Appropriations, Public Health, Higher Education, and Urban Affairs, among others. The chairperson would call meetings, and members would receive standard legislative allowances under Georgia law (O.C.G.A. § 28-1-8) for up to five days unless more are approved. Funding would come from the House of Representatives' existing budget. If the committee approves findings or recommendations by majority vote, it must file a report with the Clerk of the House before the committee is abolished on December 1, 2025. ### What it does - Creates a nine-member House Study Committee on the Eradication of Homelessness, with members appointed by the Speaker of the House from specific committees. - Directs the committee to study the causes of homelessness in Georgia and recommend any legislation it finds necessary. - Allows the chairperson to call and organize committee meetings as needed to carry out the study. - Sets legislative allowances for committee members under existing state law (O.C.G.A. § 28-1-8), capped at five days unless additional days are approved. - Requires any approved findings or recommendations to be filed as a report with the Clerk of the House before the committee's abolishment. - Abolishes the committee automatically on December 1, 2025. ### Who it affects This resolution mainly affects the nine House members appointed to the study committee and House staff who support its work. It also indirectly concerns homeless individuals, families, service providers, and local governments across Georgia, since the committee's work could shape future legislation addressing homelessness. ### Why it matters The resolution does not change any law or fund any housing program directly. Its practical effect is to set up a formal, time-limited process for lawmakers to gather information and hear testimony on homelessness, which could lead to future legislation but creates no new rights, requirements, or services on its own. ### Key provisions - Paragraph 1 formally creates the House Study Committee on the Eradication of Homelessness. - Paragraph 2 sets the committee's size at nine House members, one from each of eight named House committees plus one additional member, with the Speaker naming the chairperson. - Paragraph 3 charges the committee with studying homelessness-related conditions and recommending action or legislation. - Paragraph 5 ties member pay to existing legislative allowance law (O.C.G.A. § 28-1-8) and limits it to five days absent additional authorization, funded through the House's existing budget. - Paragraph 6 requires any adopted findings or recommendations to be approved by majority vote of a quorum and filed with the Clerk of the House. - Paragraph 7 abolishes the committee on December 1, 2025. ## Status - Status: Introduced (2025-02-06) - Last action: House Second Readers (2025-02-11) - Sponsors: Eric Bell, David Huddleston, Mary Oliver, Inga Willis, Josh Bonner - Official page: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/70070 > The history, votes, and amendments (129 characters) are at https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hr207.md?full=1