SR 320: National Statuary Hall Collection Replacement Committee; create

Georgia currently has two statues on display in the National Statuary Hall Collection at the U.S. Capitol: Dr. Crawford W. Long and Alexander Hamilton Stephens. This resolution states that the General Assembly approves replacing the Stephens statue with one honoring former President Jimmy Carter, a Georgian who served as state senator, governor, and U.S. president. The resolution creates an eight-member National Statuary Hall Collection Replacement Committee, appointed by the Governor, Lieutenant Governor, and Speaker of the House, to pick a new location for the Stephens statue, select a sculptor, approve statue designs, estimate costs, and raise private funding to cover the replacement. The committee is set to be abolished on December 1, 2025. Once a location is chosen, the Governor must formally request approval from the Architect of the Capitol and the Joint Committee on the Library of Congress under federal law (2 U.S.C. § 2132), and if approved, Georgia would enter an agreement with the Architect of the Capitol to complete the swap.

• Formally approves replacing Georgia's Alexander Hamilton Stephens statue in the U.S. Capitol with a statue of President Jimmy Carter.
• Creates an eight-member committee appointed by the Governor, Lieutenant Governor, and Speaker of the House to manage the replacement process.
• Directs the committee to pick a new in-state location for the Stephens statue, select a sculptor, and approve the new statue's design.
• Requires the committee to estimate all costs of the swap, including sculpting, pedestal fabrication, transport, and the unveiling ceremony, and to raise private funds to cover them.
• Sets the committee to be abolished on December 1, 2025.
• Directs the Governor to request federal approval from the Architect of the Capitol and the Joint Committee on the Library of Congress once a location for the old statue is chosen.

The Governor, Lieutenant Governor, and Speaker of the House, who appoint committee members; the appointed committee members themselves, including legislators, state officials, and private citizens; the sculptor selected for the new statue; and any Georgia locality chosen to receive the relocated Stephens statue.

If carried out, this would change which historic Georgian is represented in the U.S. Capitol, replacing a Confederate-era vice president's statue with one honoring a former U.S. president. It also sets up a state process, funded privately rather than through tax dollars, to relocate the existing statue and commission a new one.

• Paragraph (1) creates the National Statuary Hall Collection Replacement Committee to carry out the statue swap.
• Paragraph (2) sets committee membership at eight, with four gubernatorial appointees (one as chair), two from the Lieutenant Governor, and two from the Speaker of the House.
• Paragraph (3) lists the committee's duties: choosing a new location for the Stephens statue, selecting a sculptor, approving designs, and estimating costs.
• Paragraph (4) grants the committee power to enter contracts and collect and spend private funds for the project.
• Paragraph (6) specifies that most costs must come from private funds, though legislative members get standard allowances under O.C.G.A. § 28-1-8 paid from legislative funds.
• Paragraph (7) abolishes the committee on December 1, 2025.
• The final section directs the Governor to seek approval from the Architect of the Capitol and the Joint Committee on the Library of Congress under 2 U.S.C. § 2132 once a new location is chosen.

1. 2025-03-03Senate Read and Referred (Senado)
2. 2025-02-28Senate Hopper (Senado)

• Jason Esteves (D, SD-035)Patrocinador principal
• Harold Jones (D, SD-022)
• Kenya Wicks (D, SD-034)
• Josh McLaurin (D, SD-014)
• Freddie Sims (D, SD-012)
• Nikki Merritt (D, SD-009)
• Nabilah Islam Parkes (D, SD-007)
• Sheikh Rahman (D, SD-005)
• Tonya Anderson (D, SD-043)
• Ed Harbison (D, SD-015)
• Emanuel Jones (D, SD-010)
• Michael Rhett (D, SD-033)
• Donzella James (D, SD-028)
• Nan Orrock (D, SD-036)
• RaShaun Kemp (D, SD-038)
• Sally Harrell (D, SD-040)
• Gail Davenport (D, SD-017)
• Elena Parent (D, SD-044)
• David Lucas (D, SD-026)
• Derek Mallow (D, SD-002)
• Sonya Halpern (D, SD-039)
• Randal Mangham (D, SD-055)

• National Statuary Hall
• Jimmy Carter statue
• Alexander Hamilton Stephens
• U.S. Capitol
• state commemorations