SB 190: Parks, Historic Areas, Memorials, and Recreation; certain fee waivers for active duty members of the military, veterans, and family members; provide

Current Georgia law (O.C.G.A. § 12-3-9.1) gives a 25 percent discount on state park, historic site, and recreational area fees, but only to veterans who were discharged under honorable conditions and have a service-connected physical disability. This bill rewrites that law. It drops the disability requirement and instead defines 'veteran' as anyone honorably discharged from the armed forces, and it adds a new category, 'Gold Star family member,' meaning a parent, child, spouse, brother, or sister of a service member who died in the line of duty. Both veterans and Gold Star family members would qualify for certification through the commissioner of veterans service, and once certified they would receive a full waiver of park fees rather than the old 25 percent discount. The waiver covers overnight accommodations for the certified person and anyone staying with them, but not group facility rentals. The Department of Natural Resources would have to write rules for verifying eligibility and issuing passes.

• Removes the requirement that a veteran have a service-connected disability to qualify for the fee benefit, opening it to any honorably discharged veteran.
• Creates a new eligible category, 'Gold Star family member,' covering the immediate family of a service member killed in the line of duty.
• Upgrades the benefit from a 25 percent discount to a full waiver of fees at state parks, historic sites, and recreational areas.
• Changes the commissioner of veterans service's documentation requirement from optional ('may') to mandatory ('shall') when certifying applicants.
• Directs the Department of Natural Resources to create rules and regulations for verifying eligibility and issuing passes under the program.

Veterans of any branch of the U.S. armed forces, including the Georgia National Guard and reserve units, who no longer need a service-connected disability to qualify. Gold Star family members (parents, children, spouses, siblings of those killed in the line of duty) also become newly eligible. The commissioner of veterans service and the Department of Natural Resources take on new certification and rulemaking duties.

Georgia veterans without a qualifying disability, and families who lost a service member, would gain free access to state parks, historic sites, and recreational areas, including overnight lodging, instead of a partial discount. The change expands both who qualifies and how much they save.

• Section 1 rewrites O.C.G.A. § 12-3-9.1(a) to remove the 'disabled veteran' definition and add definitions for 'armed forces,' 'Gold Star family member,' 'immediate family member,' and 'veteran.'
• Subsection (b) lets veterans or Gold Star family members apply to the commissioner of veterans service for certification and now requires (rather than permits) the commissioner to set documentation rules.
• Subsection (c) changes the benefit from a 25 percent fee discount to a full fee waiver at any state park, historic site, or recreational area run by the Department of Natural Resources.
• Subsection (d) extends the waiver to overnight accommodations for the certified veteran or Gold Star family member and anyone staying with them, but excludes group facility rentals.
• New subsection (e) requires the Department of Natural Resources to issue rules and regulations for verifying eligibility and issuing passes.
• Section 2 repeals any conflicting laws.

1. 2026-03-10House Second Readers (House)
2. 2026-03-09House First Readers (House)
3. 2026-03-06Senate Passed/Adopted By Substitute (Senate)
4. 2026-03-06Senate Third Read (Senate)
5. 2026-03-06Senate Taken from Table (Senate)
6. 2026-03-06Senate Tabled (Senate)
7. 2026-03-04Senate Read Second Time (Senate)
8. 2026-03-03Senate Committee Favorably Reported By Substitute (Senate)

• Kenya Wicks (D, SD-034)Primary sponsor
• Nikki Merritt (D, SD-009)
• Ed Harbison (D, SD-015)
• Josh McLaurin (D, SD-014)
• Emanuel Jones (D, SD-010)
• RaShaun Kemp (D, SD-038)
• Nan Orrock (D, SD-036)
• David Lucas (D, SD-026)
• Jason Esteves (D, SD-035)
• Donzella James (D, SD-028)
• Sally Harrell (D, SD-040)
• Sonya Halpern (D, SD-039)
• Kim Jackson (D, SD-041)
• Elena Parent (D, SD-044)
• Tonya Anderson (D, SD-043)
• Chuck Payne (R, SD-054)
• Michael Rhett (D, SD-033)
• Sheikh Rahman (D, SD-005)
• Randal Mangham (D, SD-055)

1. PassedSenate voteMarch 6, 2026

   50 yea, 0 nay (0 not voting, 5 absent)

   Passage By Substitute: Senate Vote #687

• veterans benefits
• state parks
• Gold Star families
• military families
• park fees