---
title: SB 386. General Assembly; daily expense allowances for days of session where a call of the roll is not conducted; prohibit the payment
collection: bills
id: 2025-2026/sb386
cite_as: SB 386, 2025-2026 Regular Session (Ga.)
canonical_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sb386
md_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sb386.md
text_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sb386/text
source_url: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/72169
date: 2026-01-13
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.
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omitted: votes and history
omitted_chars: 95
omitted_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sb386.md?full=1
bill_number: SB 386
session: 2025-2026 Regular Session
session_slug: 2025-2026
chamber: Senate
bill_type: bill
status_date: 2026-01-12
last_action: Senate Read and Referred
sponsors:
  - Colton Moore
text_version: Introduced
has_text: true
legiscan_url: https://legiscan.com/GA/bill/SB386/2025
upstream_id: 2071955
summaries_model: claude-sonnet-5
topic_tags:
  - legislative pay
  - General Assembly attendance
  - roll call votes
  - state lawmaker expenses
---

# SB 386. General Assembly; daily expense allowances for days of session where a call of the roll is not conducted; prohibit the payment

## Text

Senate Bill 386
By: Senator Moore of the 53rd
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
To amend Title 28 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to the General
Assembly, so as to prohibit the payment of daily expense allowances for days of session
where a call of the roll is not conducted; to require that members be present for the call of
the roll and for all votes during a day of session in order to receive daily expense allowances;
to remove an obsolete provision; to provide for construction; to provide for related matters;
to repeal conflicting laws; and for other purposes.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF GEORGIA:
SECTION 1.
Title 28 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to the General Assembly, is
amended in Code Section 28-1-8, relating to salary and allowances of members and officers,
by revising paragraph (1) of subsection (b) and subsections (f), (g), and (h) as follows:
"(b)(1) During regular and extraordinary sessions of the General Assembly, each member
shall also receive a daily expense allowance; <ins>provided, however, that, if a house of the
General Assembly suspends or otherwise does not conduct a call of the roll on a day of
session for the purpose of determining which members are present, no member of that
house of the General Assembly shall receive a daily expense allowance for that day of
session.</ins> Each member shall also receive the mileage allowance for the use of a personal
car when devoted to official business as provided for in Code Section 50-19-7, for not
more than one round trip to and from the member's residence and the state capitol by the
most practical route, per calendar week, or portion thereof, during each regular and
extraordinary session. In the event a member travels by public carrier for any part of a
round trip as provided above, such member shall receive a travel allowance of actual
transportation costs for each such part in lieu of the mileage allowance. For each day's
service within the state as a member of a standing committee or of an interim committee
created by or pursuant to a resolution of either or both houses or as a member of a
committee, board, bureau, commission, or other agency created by or pursuant to statute
or the Constitution of Georgia, such member shall receive a daily expense allowance and
the mileage allowance for the use of a personal car when devoted to official business as
provided for in Code Section 50-19-7 or a travel allowance of actual transportation costs
if traveling by public carrier. Any such member shall also be reimbursed for any
conference or meeting registration fee incurred in the performance of his or her official
duties as a member of any committee, board, bureau, commission, or other agency. In
the event it becomes necessary for a committee to rent a meeting room in the
performance of the duties of the committee, the committee chairperson must have prior
written approval of the President of the Senate or the Speaker of the House, or both, as
the case may be, depending on the composition of the committee. The expense of such
rental shall be billed to the committee. For each day's service out of state as a member
of any committee, board, bureau, commission, or other agency, such member shall
receive actual expenses as an expense allowance, plus the mileage allowance for the use
of a personal car when devoted to official business as provided for in Code
Section 50-19-7 or a travel allowance of actual transportation costs if traveling by public
carrier or by rental motor vehicle. The amount of the daily expense allowances provided
for in this paragraph shall be fixed by the Legislative Services Committee; provided,
however, that the amount of the daily expense allowance shall remain at $75.00 until
changed by the Legislative Services Committee. The Legislative Services Committee
shall periodically review, and when appropriate revise, the amount of the daily expense
allowance. The amount of the daily expense allowance shall be fixed by the Legislative
Services Committee in an amount which reasonably corresponds to the housing and meal
expenses typically incurred by members in the performance of their duties; provided,
however, that the amount so fixed shall not exceed the federal per diem rate in effect for
the state capital as specified by the General Services Administration at the time that the
committee acts."
"(f) If sickness prevents any member from attending the house of which he or she is a
member during any session of the General Assembly, he or she shall be entitled to the same
daily expense allowance as an attending member. <del>No</del> <ins>Except as provided in subsection (g)
of this Code section, no</ins> member shall receive a daily expense allowance for absent time
except on account of sickness of himself or herself or his or her family <del>or by express leave
of the house of which he or she is a member.</del> <ins>A member shall be deemed absent from a day
of session and shall not be entitled to receive a daily expense allowance for such day of
session if he or she is not present for the call of the roll and for all votes taken by the house
of which he or she is a member during such day of session.
</ins> (g) <del>Prior to January 10, 1983, if any member of the General Assembly dies during or after
a regular or extraordinary session without having received all or any portion of his or her
daily expense allowance for such session, the amount due for the whole session shall be
paid to the surviving spouse of the deceased; and if there is no surviving spouse, in like
manner to the children; and if there are no children, in like manner to the mother; and if
there is no mother, in like manner to the father; and if there is no father, in like manner to
the estate of the deceased member.
(h) From and after January 10, 1983, if</del> <ins>If</ins> any member of the General Assembly dies
during or after a regular or extraordinary session without having received all or any portion
of the member's daily expense allowance for such session, the amount due for the whole
session, <ins>without regard to whether a call of the roll was taken on any particular day of such
session,</ins> shall be paid to the surviving spouse of the deceased; and if there is no surviving
spouse, in like manner to the children; and if there are no children, in like manner to the
estate of the deceased member. The member's salary for the full calendar month during
which the member dies shall be paid in the same manner."
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.

A Georgia Senate bill would stop paying state lawmakers their daily expense allowance for any day of session when their chamber skips a formal roll call attendance check.

### Plain-language summary

Under current Georgia law (O.C.G.A. § 28-1-8), members of the General Assembly receive a daily expense allowance, currently $75, for each day of a regular or extraordinary session, mainly to cover housing and meal costs while conducting official business. This bill would change the rule so that if the House or Senate does not conduct a call of the roll on a given day to check who is present, no member of that chamber gets the daily allowance for that day.
The bill also adds a rule that a member is considered absent, and loses the allowance, if they are not present for the roll call and for all votes taken that day. It removes an outdated provision about payments to the families of members who died in office before January 10, 1983, since that date has long passed, while keeping the current rule that pays a deceased member's unpaid allowance to their surviving spouse, children, or estate regardless of whether a roll call happened that day.

### What it does

- Blocks payment of the daily expense allowance to all members of a chamber for any day of session where that chamber does not hold a roll call.
- Requires a member to be present for the roll call and for every vote that day to count as attending and to keep the allowance for that day.
- Removes an outdated rule about paying deceased members' unpaid allowances that only applied to deaths occurring before January 10, 1983.
- Clarifies that payments to a deceased member's survivors cover the full session regardless of whether roll calls happened on particular days.

### Who it affects

Members of the Georgia House of Representatives and Senate, who would lose their daily expense allowance on days without a roll call or if they miss a roll call or vote, and the surviving spouses, children, or estates of members who die in office.

### Why it matters

Lawmakers currently collect a daily allowance for session days even if their chamber does not formally track attendance through a roll call. This bill ties that payment directly to a roll call and full voting attendance, which could reduce the number of days members are paid for and encourage them to be present for votes.

### Key provisions

- Section 1 amends O.C.G.A. § 28-1-8(b)(1) to bar the daily expense allowance for any day of session on which a chamber suspends or skips its roll call.
- Section 1 revises subsection (f) so a member is deemed absent, and denied the allowance, if not present for the roll call and all votes that day.
- Section 1 removes the prior exception allowing absent members to be paid 'by express leave of the house,' tightening the attendance standard.
- Section 1 strikes an obsolete subsection (g) that only applied to member deaths occurring before January 10, 1983.
- Section 1 revises subsection (h) to state that death benefit payments to survivors cover the whole session regardless of whether a roll call occurred on any particular day.
- Section 2 repeals conflicting laws.

## Status

- Status: Introduced (2026-01-12)
- Last action: Senate Read and Referred (2026-01-13)
- Sponsors: Colton Moore
- Official page: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/72169

> The history, votes, and amendments (95 characters) are at https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sb386.md?full=1