Comité Rules del Senado, 25 de febrero de 2026

Transcripción

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1. 0:04:17

   Call this meeting to order.

2. 0:04:22

   Senate Rules Standing Committee, February 25th, 2026, in the year of our Lord.

3. 0:04:32

   Amen.

4. 0:04:33

   All right. Let's start off with a prayer. Uh, our leader over there looks like he's in the mood to do some talking, so why don't you lead us in a word of prayer?

5. 0:04:42

   Oh. All right, Chairman. Let's talk to God.

6. 0:04:45

   Into the mic, sir.

7. 0:04:47

   Number one-

8. 0:04:48

   God can't hear you.

9. 0:04:50

   Mr. Chairman, we can talk afterwards. He can hear you when you're not-

10. 0:04:53

    He's watching the live stream.

11. 0:04:55

    Yeah. He's watching something with you. Um, dear Lord, thank you for bringing us together today. Um, I pray that you watch safely over our families, every human being that is in this building, as we travel, come and go, and we also are doing your will. I pray that you watch over Chairman Brass as he proceeds, um, to lead this meeting, and his endeavors as a senator, um, that he's quick to listen and slow to speak, um, as you lead him forward . Amen.

12. 0:05:28

    Amen, brother. Amen.

13. 0:05:32

    Wow.

14. 0:05:33

    Fred, we're getting personal.

15. 0:05:35

    Well, I heard that.

16. 0:05:36

    The Book of James.

17. 0:05:37

    I certainly listened to that.

18. 0:05:39

    Jesus said that things.

19. 0:05:40

    Yeah, whoa. That's right. Well-

20. 0:05:44

    Chairman just talked to the Book of James.

21. 0:05:46

    On a lighter note-

22. 0:05:48

    Sorry, y'all

23. 0:05:49

    ... we do have a birthday by one of our committee mener- members today.

24. 0:05:54

    Ooh.

25. 0:05:54

    Senator Gooch, happy 80th birthday.

26. 0:05:57

    Whoa. 80 minus 21.

27. 0:06:04

    You don't look a day over 70.

28. 0:06:05

    So 59.

29. 0:06:06

    59. You're good.

30. 0:06:07

    It's good math.

31. 0:06:08

    Basic math.

32. 0:06:09

    Basic math. I'm very good.

33. 0:06:12

    It comes with time. You'll see. Well, wait a minute, you're older than me already.

34. 0:06:17

    Ooh.

35. 0:06:18

    All right. Anything you wanna say on your birthday?

36. 0:06:22

    I have so much to say, I don't know where to start, but I'm just happy to be alive. The Lord's blessed me for 59 years. I hope I'm still around for 50 more.

37. 0:06:30

    Nothing about your children or anything?

38. 0:06:32

    Well, I love, I love them too, and I hope they live for 50 more, so.

39. 0:06:36

    That's good.

40. 0:06:37

    Okay. Good stuff. All right. You got an agenda in your folders. SB 447, Senator Dixon. You should have a sub. Looks like we're working off of LC474102S, as in Sierra.

41. 0:06:57

    Sierra.

42. 0:06:57

    Is that the correct-

43. 0:06:59

    Yes, sir.

44. 0:07:00

    Okay. Let's go through the bill quickly, and then through the changes.

45. 0:07:03

    Give him the microphone.

46. 0:07:12

    Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Yeah, we just made a, a couple of changes, um, to the bill. Uh, what it does, it's a, it's a permitting bill, um, dealing with land disturbance permits, and it puts a shot clock of 45 days for a municipality to turn around that permit. And then on resubmittals, or if there's comments that need to be made and addressed, they've got 14 days, uh, to turn around, uh, the resubmittal. And it... The, what we had in there as far as, um, a stick was that if there was no response from the municipality, that, um, they would be potentially be liable for damages or attorney's fees if the applicant, um, had been damaged, um, and then also that they would lose their sovereign immunity.

47. 0:08:01

    Uh, what this does, it changes it back to what we originally had where it just, it deemed, the project would be deemed approved, would be the stick. So that's the change on that one. And then also, um, added some language to define a complete application, a completed application. Um, and it just, we just added some language in there, um, just to define, you know, what was completed because that's when the shot clock would start, um, of the 45 days. And those were the two changes, Mr.

48. 0:08:32

    Chairman.

49. 0:08:37

    Got a question from Senator Gooch.

50. 0:08:39

    Chairman Dixon, I, I haven't read it, so I don't know what's in it. So if the applicant, developer, homeowner, whomever, some- submits the application for land disturbance, and the shots clock starts immediately. If the county or the city marks it up, redlines it, and sends it back, does the shot clock start over-

51. 0:09:01

    That's correct

52. 0:09:01

    ... after those submittals-

53. 0:09:02

    Yeah, that would be the resubmittal timeline

54. 0:09:04

    ... or what, to keep them from playing, the, gaming that out, being the local governments? They could just redline it every time they turn it in and-

55. 0:09:11

    Yeah, no, great-

56. 0:09:12

    How many times can they do that?

57. 0:09:13

    Yeah, great question. Um, yeah, and you do see that, um, in some municipalities. Uh, in here, uh, in the bill, we've also got where municipalities have to have a, uh, you know, clear, uh, criteria of what, you know, what is required.

58. 0:09:26

    Gotcha.

59. 0:09:27

    Um, even including, uh, I know of a development last year where the font size kicked it back, just to change the font size, so even have that included in there so you make sure you've got that so you can get rid of some of those, uh, frivolous kickbacks.

60. 0:09:41

    So you feel like you've addressed all that in there?

61. 0:09:43

    Yes. And then it also requires municipalities to have, have a real time, um, where they can see on the website where the permit is, and it has to be updated every 24 hours.

62. 0:09:52

    Gotcha. Okay.

63. 0:09:53

    To hold them accountable. Yes, sir.

64. 0:09:54

    Thank you.

65. 0:09:56

    Okay. Do we have any other questions from the committee for the author?

66. 0:09:59

    No. You're welcome.

67. 0:10:01

    Hearing none, is there anyone from the public that would like to speak for or against this bill?

68. 0:10:10

    Rise and speak. Senator Summers, did you wanna speak? Did you wanna speak?

69. 0:10:20

    Which bill, sir?

70. 0:10:21

    This, sir. This bill Okay, you looked like you wanted to. Okay. All right, no questions. What's the will of the committee?

71. 0:10:31

    Motion to pass.

72. 0:10:32

    I got a motion do pass from Senator Anavitarte. I got a second from Senator Albers. Passed by committee sub, LC 474102S. Is there any further discussion? All in favor, raise your right hand.

73. 0:10:55

    And motion carries unanimous. All right, moving on. We've got SR 668, Senator Dolezal. We are working off of LC590390S.

74. 0:11:16

    Thank you, Mr. Chairman, uh, members of the committee. This bill passed out of finance. Um, for those on the finance committee, uh, if you recall, this bill essentially allows the creation of a separate class of property for ad valorem tax purposes. And, um, Senator Cowsert and Gooch, you guys had some concern over the inclusion of manufacturing, uh, facilities in this, in the bill. And what we're doing in the substitute is removing that. So if you look at the original version, LC501290, which is also in your folder, on line 13 you will see, um, "Real property used primarily for the manufacturing, assembly, processing, or storage of products." That has been struck in the substitute to now read, uh, "Primarily for housing electronic equipment that is primarily used to process, store, or transmit digital information and data." So the original version of the bill would allow, was going to allow a municipality to create a separate class of property for, for manufacturing or data centers, that they could either keep at the same millage rate or lower the millage rate or raise the millage rate.

75. 0:12:21

    But whatever they did with the millage rate, it would, it had to be done with an eye towards lowering the property taxes for everyone else. The current version of the bill only applies to data centers. So we've often heard, "Well, we can eliminate local property taxes, um, if a data center comes in." This is the vehicle to do that, 'cause this allows the municipality to create a separate class of product under the new version of the bill, only applicable for data centers. And then in the bill, in the... It's the constitutional amendment. In the amendment, in the resolution, they have to use that to lower the taxes for other classes of property.

76. 0:12:57

    So currently, with the uniformity clause, you have to have an identical millage rate across classes of property. Um, this would e- eliminate that for data centers and allow you to have a data center that had a millage rate that was separate from the millage rate of other classes' property.

77. 0:13:13

    You gotta look at this. Okay. Again, we're working off of LC590390S. That was mainly for my vice chairman. You good?

78. 0:13:26

    So essentially, Mr. Chairman, we... This passed, uh, pretty overwhelmingly out of Senate Finance. But, uh, the, the members I talked to who did have pause that voted against it, this change alleviates their expressed concern, pulls manufacturing completely out of the bill, and has the only applicable class of property be, uh, data centers.

79. 0:13:45

    And this is a constitutional amendment-

80. 0:13:47

    This-

81. 0:13:47

    ... needing two-thirds vote.

82. 0:13:48

    That's correct.

83. 0:13:50

    Wise decision. Senator Ginn, you're recognized.

84. 0:13:53

    Uh, thank you, Mr. Chairman. I, I, I guess one of the questions I ask on this is when I look at, uh, data centers, and, and I'm, uh, one of those people that believe they're a great investment in communities and pay a lot of taxes. But I know if we tax them at a higher rate or higher than everything else, they, uh, uh, they probably won't come to Georgia. And if you separate them, they, uh, you know, are there local governments that could say, "Hey, we wanna, we wanna incentivize a data center, so we're gonna drop the rate, the, uh, for data centers, the, uh..." Well, more so than we would.

85. 0:14:30

    'Cause a lot of times, you know, in an economic development project, there's incentives that are done to, to bring an industry into a community. And to me, when you separate them out, what's to say from a, uh, any local government that says, "Okay, hey, we, they're a special class. We can drop their millage rate to half of what the other r- millage rate is for the other r- uh, ratepayers in the county."

86. 0:14:52

    Um, I mean, my understanding is it's full local control. Like, they can do-

87. 0:14:55

    Yeah, I didn't fully follow the question. But, um, if you look online-

88. 0:14:58

    He said, I think the question is, if, if they wanna, if the local municipality wanted to have a lower millage rate than the-

89. 0:15:05

    They could abate, they could abate taxes altogether like they're doing now.

90. 0:15:08

    Exactly.

91. 0:15:08

    They can make no change whatsoever like they're doing now. There's nothing prescriptive in this. This just gives them a tool in their toolbox. And let's pretend for a second that your millage rate is 10 mills, but a, a, a data center's coming in. You could actually, this would allow you to move the residential millage rate to zero, move the data center to five mills if that works to fund your budget. It just allows you to detach the data centers. Not, nothing in here is prescribing a, a tax increase for data centers. Um, this just allows the separation of that. And, and, and like you mentioned, Mr.

92. 0:15:40

    Chairman, this is completely optional, uh, for the local municipalities.

93. 0:15:44

    Okay. All right. Senator Jackson, you're recognized.

94. 0:15:48

    Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Um, to the bill's author, I just don't know enough about ad valorem taxes. Are there other classes of ad valorem taxes, um, beyond essentially, I guess, real property taxes? Because a- the reason why I'm asking is, uh, uh, in theory, if there are other classes, someone could adjust the data center, um, correct millage up in order to offset the cost of another class that still doesn't actually help, uh, individuals who are living there. So that's why I just, I'm not aware of, of what, how many classes we already have.

95. 0:16:21

    Sure. So the ones that I'm aware of, and this may not be exhaustive, but, uh, is commercial and residential. Um, and- You would have the ability to have a separate class outside of commercial. Um, I'm not sure if, if tax digests... I know zoning law obviously has, you know, like in my municipality we have M1, for example, as a zoning classification. Um, and so this allows, uh, I, again, didn't hear the end of your question, but, um, it, it, it could allow the lowering of other...

96. 0:16:53

    I think this is what you're asking. It could allow the lowering of other classes of commercial property in addition to residential, yes.

97. 0:16:59

    Is there anything in here, though, that inclu- that makes sure that it absolutely includes residential lowering?

98. 0:17:07

    Uh, it just says other tangible property I think is what you're keyed in, maybe there on line 28. This would not n- the, the vision here is not that it would only have to apply to residential. Um, the vision here is that it could also off s- could also lower the existing property taxes for commercial property in addition to residential property.

99. 0:17:29

    I, I hear you saying, "In addition." I'm just helping. Can you show me on the line where it makes sure that residential property taxes are lowered as a result?

100. 0:17:38

     Well, you, you have to... Essentially, it doesn't carve out the uniformity cl- right now you can't have separate classes of property at all. And so if you're going to lower the millage rate, the millage rate will be the same minus any sort of homestead exemptions or exemptions that exist in current tax law. So for commercial property, it would move with the residential property. And so if it is the process of lowering the tax rate, which is, that is prescribed in the bill. And keep in mind, this is the CA. We still have to do the-

101. 0:18:04

     Mm-hmm

102. 0:18:04

     ... uh, the enabling legislation. But that's, you would be looking to move the entire tax digest of the county.

103. 0:18:09

     Thank you.

104. 0:18:13

     Any other questions? All right. Does anyone from the audience want to speak for or against this bill?

105. 0:18:26

     All right. What is the will of the committee?

106. 0:18:28

     Motion do pass.

107. 0:18:30

     We got a motion do pass of SR 668 by committee sub, LC 590390S from Senator Steele. I got a second from Senator Anderson. Is there any further discussion?

108. 0:18:49

     All right. All in favor, raise your right hand.

109. 0:18:55

     All right.

110. 0:18:56

     You're over the line.

111. 0:19:00

     Hey.

112. 0:19:00

     He's so far left, he-

113. 0:19:03

     I got 16.

114. 0:19:04

     You got your left up too.

115. 0:19:07

     All right. All opposed.

116. 0:19:11

     And I got Jackson and Robertson. The whips. The whip caucus. Way to s-

117. 0:19:17

     The whip

118. 0:19:17

     ... way to stand strong. Okay. Motion carries. On the roll as you go. All right, we're gonna gavel... Well, we're good in standing. We're done. All right. Gaveling out of standing committee, and we are gaveling in to look at the calendar, former calendar. So now we are on our consideration calendar.

119. 0:19:45

     And just as a note, if you have presented and don't want to present, it's o- you don't have to.

120. 0:19:53

     Highly recommend it.

121. 0:19:54

     But highly recommend it.

122. 0:19:58

     So let's just... Nobody's got anywhere to go, so let's just go down the list. SB 34, Senator Hufstetler.

123. 0:20:03

     Um, thank you, Mr. Chairman. Well, the description's a little bit outdated now on the prohibition, but, um, it's a bill to, uh, deal with the cost incurred from electronic, I mean, from the electric services to commercial data centers.

124. 0:20:20

     Okay. Any questions? No questions. Okay. SB 157, Senator Williams.

125. 0:20:28

     Thank you, Mr. Chairman. This is, um, the retirement bill that allow people who did not sign up and join the legislative retirement after they served four years, if they left the legislature and came back later, that they can buy back into the system.

126. 0:20:48

     All right. Any questions? No questions. Senate Bill 198, Senator Albers.

127. 0:20:52

     Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Senate Bill 198, uh, same with the legislative retirement system. Just make sure it's always funded at 120%, no state tax dollars, and then the board of trustees will set the benefit to make sure it's always fiscally responsible and never has any state tax dollars.

128. 0:21:09

     All right. Any questions? No questions. Senate Bill 230, Senator Steele.

129. 0:21:15

     Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Uh, this is a very important bill for condo owners in our state. Uh, we have not updated the, uh, cap on deductibles in, uh, almost two decades, so this just allows, uh, unit owners to be able to buy insurance, uh, where the cap, um, shall not exceed, uh, it changing it from 5,000 to $25,000. And we also added a friendly amendment in committee, uh, 33 through 38 in the bill, uh, about timely notification, um, if there is any change in the master policy deductible.

130. 0:21:49

     All right. Any questions? All right. Senate Bill 240, Senator Williams.

131. 0:21:54

     Yes, sir. This is changing the Georgia flower from the Cherokee rose, which is an import from China, to the sweetbay magnolia, which is a na- natural flower here in Georgia, and it's also a natural butterfly attractor.

132. 0:22:14

     Also a what?

133. 0:22:15

     Natural butterfly attractor.

134. 0:22:17

     Oh, okay. And I have letters on my desk from, uh, both Cherokee groups that they are good with this change.

135. 0:22:26

     Yes, sir.

136. 0:22:28

     Okay. Good bill. All right. Senate Bill 261, Senator Harbin.

137. 0:22:41

     Sir.

138. 0:22:43

     Hope you had insurance.

139. 0:22:44

     Oh, well. Praise the Lord. Come forward. Come forward.

140. 0:22:50

     Oh, my goodness. I was trying to get that for you.

141. 0:22:55

     I'm really uncomfortable.

142. 0:22:56

     That wasn't bad.

143. 0:23:01

     You're raising the bar because Matt Brass has gone over the wall.

144. 0:23:04

     Yeah.

145. 0:23:05

     He's gone over.

146. 0:23:12

     One call, that's all.

147. 0:23:13

     One call. I was just thinking that. One call, that's all.

148. 0:23:22

     One should have been.

149. 0:23:24

     No, just hold still. All right. Everybody good? All right. Everybody, no injuries? No injuries. All right. Let's see if our microphone works.

150. 0:23:33

     Yeah. Does it work, sir?

151. 0:23:34

     It works.

152. 0:23:35

     Thank you, sir.

153. 0:23:36

     You got the floor.

154. 0:23:37

     Thank you, sir. I appreciate it. SB 261 is a magistrate retirement bill. It basically does not use any, uh, state tax dollars. It is allowing them to change their board of directors and to put more money into their own retirement fund.

155. 0:23:51

     All right. Go ahead and do Senate Bill 399.

156. 0:23:53

     399 is our, uh, Ma- Mason Sells AED Coordination Act, and it is coordinating, uh, the AE- location of AEDs with 911 services, uh, around the state to, uh, help when someone calls 911, they will know where the AED is. And also, it is including training for the 911 operators on the operation of the AEDs.

157. 0:24:17

     All right. Any questions on that? None. All right. Go ahead and do Senate Bill 425.

158. 0:24:22

     425 is requiring what's happening, cursive writing to be taught in all of our schools. What's happened in the past, we, when we changed to Common Core, many of our young people do not know even how to sign their own name. This would, um, make it re- um, required-

159. 0:24:37

     Oh, man

160. 0:24:38

     ... that they use cursive writing and teach cursive writing in our schools. Um, it's not across the board. There are some schools that are teaching cursive, but not all, and this would mandate it, that they teach it.

161. 0:24:48

     Was Common Core not math, or was that more multiple subjects?

162. 0:24:54

     Don't know. In one of the comments, that's what was there.

163. 0:24:57

     All right. Well, I'm not going to ask too many questions. Any other questions? Senate Bill 441, go ahead and cover that for us.

164. 0:25:04

     Yes, sir. This is a, the local, uh, or LGIPs, which is the Local Government Investment Pool. What this does, currently is $82 billion that is managed by the board of the tre- with the treasurer of the State of Georgia. And what this does is that if there are municipalities or cities that want to, um, invest outside of the pool that they manage, it would require their approval. And it's a safety net for those to be able to have the resources of our state that already manage most of the money of the state.

165. 0:25:34

     All right. Senator, you've been busy.

166. 0:25:36

     Yes, sir.

167. 0:25:38

     All right. Any questions for the 72 bills he just presented?

168. 0:25:44

     Can I make a comment?

169. 0:25:44

     All right. Yeah, sure. Senator, whatever your name is.

170. 0:25:48

     Yeah.

171. 0:25:48

     Senator-

172. 0:25:49

     From the 16th, um-

173. 0:25:50

     Yes

174. 0:25:51

     ... the Magistrate Retirement Fund.

175. 0:25:53

     Yep.

176. 0:25:53

     Do you know what that fund is currently funded at?

177. 0:25:57

     You mean as far as locationally?

178. 0:25:59

     No, no, no. I meant where, where the amount... Is, is it... I, I... Somebody told me it's, like, at 100 and, 150% right now.

179. 0:26:07

     Is that correct? That, that is correct, 150%.

180. 0:26:10

     Okay. Thank you.

181. 0:26:11

     You bet.

182. 0:26:11

     And changing the board, what, what are you attempting to do there?

183. 0:26:13

     Well, change, change of the board, but also allowing them to put more money in it, and there was a physical note on it. It makes no difference as far as any effect on the investment.

184. 0:26:21

     Okay. I've... Thank you. And I've yet to run across a physical note here in the Capitol, but I do appreciate that. Thank you, sir.

185. 0:26:30

     All right. Any other questions?

186. 0:26:31

     Good answer.

187. 0:26:33

     No more questions.

188. 0:26:34

     Thank you, sir.

189. 0:26:35

     Senator Setzler, SB 405, and I think you got another one.

190. 0:26:45

     1816.

191. 0:26:45

     Yes.

192. 0:26:45

     And- Uh-

193. 0:26:45

     Mr. Chairman, SB 405, uh, simply raises the threshold for small claims court from 15,000 to $50,000, allowing folks to represent themselves without an attorney to res- resolve small claims. Glad to take questions.

194. 0:26:59

     All right. No questions. Uh, HB 377.

195. 0:27:02

     377, uh, has been, uh, changed. What it has now is the, the contents of what was S- Senate Bill 51, which passed 51 to 2 in the Senate, that established the process of qualification-based selection for architects and engineers.

196. 0:27:22

     All right. Any questions? No questions. Thank you.

197. 0:27:29

     That's the shortest time you've ever been to a microphone. I'm so proud of you. This is... We might name this Ed Setzler Day at the Capitol.

198. 0:27:42

     Therapy is work. Therapy is work. All right. Let's see. Senator Summers.

199. 0:27:50

     Yes, sir.

200. 0:27:51

     Come on up, or down, however you wanna call it.

201. 0:27:56

     Once again, Mr. Chairman, thank you so much for having me. 443, that's-

202. 0:28:00

     We're honored to have you.

203. 0:28:01

     443 is a very common sense bill, Mr. Chairman. It simply, uh, says people cannot block roads. They can't lay down in the street. They can't do this, they can't do that, but they can protest all they want to, as long as they do it legally and, uh, according to the law.

204. 0:28:16

     Okay. Any questions? No questions. All right. Senator Williams, SB 454.

205. 0:28:25

     Thank you, Mr. Chairman. This is, uh, talks about the door stop. This is, uh, was vetted in public safety. This is a safety device that you can block the door in a school shooter situation, and it's outlines through the fire code what is allowable and not allowable.

206. 0:28:47

     And it does not violate ADA.

207. 0:28:49

     Okay. Are there any questions? Moving on. Senate Bill 458, Senator Goodman.

208. 0:28:58

     Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I have two bills. You mind if I speak on both of them?

209. 0:29:02

     You go right ahead.

210. 0:29:03

     Okay. 458 is the Home Inspector, uh, Licensure bill. I think committee's familiar with that. Also, uh, requires home inspectors to have liability insurance. And the other bill that you have before you is, uh, Senate Resolution 800, creating a joint House and Senate- House and Senate study committee on the sustainabil- sustain- sustainability of, of family farms in Georgia.

211. 0:29:26

     Any questions? All right. Senate Resolution 800.

212. 0:29:32

     Hmm. Yes, sir.

213. 0:29:35

     Go for it. Are you-

214. 0:29:37

     I, I just did. Yes, sir.

215. 0:29:38

     Oh. What was the other one?

216. 0:29:39

     The first one was-

217. 0:29:40

     You did them both?

218. 0:29:41

     Yes, sir.

219. 0:29:41

     You're good to go.

220. 0:29:42

     I'm getting faster, Mr. Chairman.

221. 0:29:44

     You got one of the words was wrong, though.

222. 0:29:46

     I did.

223. 0:29:47

     You flashed.

224. 0:29:47

     And it's Senate instead of Senate, you know? Excuse me.

225. 0:29:51

     All right. Well, good job.

226. 0:29:53

     Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

227. 0:29:54

     I couldn't even keep up. All right. Senator Cowsert, SB 468.

228. 0:30:01

     It requires homeless sex offenders to report their whereabouts or living conditions and their employment to the sheriff's department or the registry.

229. 0:30:12

     All right. Any questions?

230. 0:30:16

     All right. Senate Bill 470, Senator Albers.

231. 0:30:19

     Thank you, Mr. Chairman. This is the Emergency and Public Safety Signal Protection Act to make all, uh, signal jammers illegal.

232. 0:30:27

     Okay. Any questions? Senate Bill 471, Senator Dolezal.

233. 0:30:35

     For jamming, baby.

234. 0:30:36

     Senate-

235. 0:30:37

     Bill 471 removes the sunset on the UNMASK Georgia Students Act.

236. 0:30:42

     Okay.

237. 0:30:42

     You want me to talk about 486?

238. 0:30:45

     No.

239. 0:30:45

     Okay.

240. 0:30:45

     Let me get through the guys that aren't on the committee. Senate Bill 472, Senator Hickman.

241. 0:30:55

     Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I will talk slower today. Uh, 472 protects students-

242. 0:31:00

     I don't know that'll help.

243. 0:31:02

     Senate Bill 472 protects students and families by holding school districts accountable for financial management and mismanagement, and I think we all are very familiar with what we're talking about.

244. 0:31:12

     Yes, sir. Thank you.

245. 0:31:13

     Any questions?

246. 0:31:15

     All right.

247. 0:31:15

     Thank you.

248. 0:31:15

     That all you got?

249. 0:31:16

     Yep.

250. 0:31:17

     Okay. Moving on. Senator Watson of the SAM, SB 478.

251. 0:31:28

     Thank you, Mr. Chairman, uh, members of the committee. This is, uh, amending our, uh, Georgia Outdoor Stewardship Act, which is a, uh, monumental piece of legislation that we passed back in 2018. Uh, we're just creating a sunset on it of, uh, 2039, and then we're allowing for more, um, monies to be transferred into that fund so that we can preserve more land and, uh, continue to protect our natural resources in our state.

252. 0:31:53

     It's been a great program. It's-

253. 0:31:55

     Yes, sir

254. 0:31:55

     ... certainly been valuable in my area. Okay. Any questions? All right. HB 244, you're carrying that for Representative Cannon. You wanna-

255. 0:32:06

     Uh, yes, sir. That's the, uh, uh, auding, uh, audit, uh, bill. It's allowing some of our smaller local governments to, uh, fall in, uh, not have to submit, uh, uh, the annual reporting, um, just to try to help some of the local governments don't, don't have all the accounting resources, uh, available, uh, to meet all the demands that allow them eligible for all of our state and, and federal monies that come down to local governments. It's, uh, somewhat of a department bill as well.

256. 0:32:35

     Okay. Any questions? All right. Thank you.

257. 0:32:38

     Thank you.

258. 0:32:39

     All right. Senate Bill 482, Senator Strickland. That's his mugshot bill. I don't think he's out there. That's his can't profit off of mugshots, essentially. All right. Senate Bill 485, Senator Payne.

259. 0:32:58

     Thank you, Mr. Chairman. This bill simply allows students in their final semester of a s- Master of Social Work program to sit for their licensure exam before they graduate, in their last semester.

260. 0:33:09

     All right. No questions. Senator Dolezal, about 486.

261. 0:33:15

     Senate Bill 486, uh, is the American Laws for American Courts bill ensures that only American laws are used in American courts, and additionally prevents tribunals being set up that recognize foreign law that may violate the constitutional rights of American citizens.

262. 0:33:30

     Okay. Any questions? No questions. Senate Bill 497, Senator Dixon.

263. 0:33:35

     Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Yeah, this is the Parents' Bill of Rights. Uh, it requires school systems to notify parents, uh, if a student meets with a school counselor. Um, it also has a carve out in there that notification wouldn't be required-

264. 0:33:49

     Mm-hmm

265. 0:33:49

     ... if it was suspected of child abuse or if the notification could cause the child harm.

266. 0:33:54

     Okay. Any questions? No questions. All right. Senator Hodges, are you with us? There you are. Senate Bill 500.

267. 0:34:04

     Thank you, Mr. Chairman. This is an agency bill for the Georgia Board of Healthcare Workforce.

268. 0:34:08

     That's a hint.

269. 0:34:10

     They have established a, um, um-

270. 0:34:17

     An agency

271. 0:34:19

     No, but the, they've got a, um, a listing of healthcare providers across the state, and what this bill does is they've got five licensing, they, they have agreements with five licensing agencies to, um, show those, um, licensed doctors. This adds nine agencies to that, so we'll have a better picture of the number of healthcare providers across the state and where they are, and this bill helps them manage that process.

272. 0:34:48

     Okay. Any questions? Thank you. All right, Senate Bill 501, Senator Robertson.

273. 0:34:57

     Yes, Mr. Chairman. Um, Senate Bill 501 just is a department bill that updates provisions within the title.

274. 0:35:08

     Which department?

275. 0:35:09

     Uh, Department of, uh, Fire and Safety and Insurance, uh, Commissioner, uh, John King's department.

276. 0:35:15

     Okay.

277. 0:35:21

     All right.

278. 0:35:23

     I can do the second one if you want me to, or I can wait.

279. 0:35:25

     No, we'll hold off.

280. 0:35:26

     Okay.

281. 0:35:26

     Uh, Senator Dickerson, your first bill still hadn't got out of here.

282. 0:35:35

     I have not. I think it was the chair.

283. 0:35:36

     What's the problem?

284. 0:35:37

     Uh, this is Senate Bill 513 that addresses chronic absentee in our public school systems.

285. 0:35:46

     What is that?

286. 0:35:48

     Clapping for you. Clapping by the staff.

287. 0:35:50

     Yeah, uh, way, way to be a leader.

288. 0:35:54

     Yeah.

289. 0:35:54

     Uh, we had a question. Who was it? Senator Dolezal, you had a question?

290. 0:35:58

     Yeah. I got two questions, Mr. Chair, if that's okay.

291. 0:36:00

     Yeah, I'll allow.

292. 0:36:01

     This, it looks like the bill came out of the Education and Youth Committee. Senator, is that correct?

293. 0:36:07

     Yes, sir. That is correct.

294. 0:36:08

     Who are the chairman and vice chairman of the Senate Education and Youth Committees?

295. 0:36:13

     Repeat that question one more time, please.

296. 0:36:14

     Who are the chairman and vice chairman-

297. 0:36:16

     He's stalling

298. 0:36:16

     ... of the Senate Education and Youth Committees?

299. 0:36:18

     Uh, Senator Hickman will be the, uh, the chairman, and Senator Payne is the, uh, vice chair.

300. 0:36:23

     I'm impressed.

301. 0:36:24

     Oh.

302. 0:36:24

     I'm impressed. Uh, follow-up question, do you have a physical note for this bill?

303. 0:36:29

     No, sir, I do not.

304. 0:36:30

     Physical note.

305. 0:36:35

     All right.

306. 0:36:36

     We all get the E.

307. 0:36:37

     Any other questions for the gentleman on his first bill?

308. 0:36:43

     Okay. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

309. 0:36:45

     You're getting off easy, man. Easy. I'm gonna have to get a new committee if y'all can't come up with new material. Senate Bill 527, Senator Robertson. And don't say it's an agency bill.

310. 0:37:00

     Yes, Mr. Chair. Uh, Mr. Chairman, this is a department bill, Sheriff's Department. Um- It, um... What this does is just require that individuals who qualify to run for sheriff are post-certified law enforcement officers.

311. 0:37:12

     Good bill.

312. 0:37:13

     All right.

313. 0:37:13

     Question on

314. 0:37:14

     Question from Senator Gooch.

315. 0:37:17

     Have we not passed this bill multiple times?

316. 0:37:18

     I thought we did too.

317. 0:37:19

     Yes, sir, we've passed this bill multiple times, and multiple times our friends across the way have completely jacked it up. So we've brought it back over, taken that bad language back out, and are passing it through again for the safety of the citizens of Georgia.

318. 0:37:31

     Mm. Good answer. Good answer.

319. 0:37:35

     We gotta get it just right so that-

320. 0:37:37

     Perfect

321. 0:37:37

     ... there's, like, one or two people out there we don't want running for sheriff, so.

322. 0:37:42

     Es- especially those that aren't qualified.

323. 0:37:45

     More importantly-

324. 0:37:46

     Yes

325. 0:37:46

     ... those that aren't qualified. All right, moving on. Senate Bill 535, Senator Kirkpatrick.

326. 0:37:52

     Thank you, Mr. Chair. This is also a department bill. This is for the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities. And-

327. 0:38:00

     Hint. Go ahead

328. 0:38:02

     ... and it, um, reorganizes the government structure for the CSBs to make them more consistent across the state.

329. 0:38:11

     Mm, okay. And SR 480 is mine, and it's recognizing the importance of forestry in this state and, and the great threat of the southern pine beetle. Any questions? I'm a huge opponent of southern pine beetles.

330. 0:38:36

     What about crickets?

331. 0:38:38

     Uh, Senator Albers, you're recognized at this time.

332. 0:38:41

     Uh, thank you, Mr. Chairman. I was concerned there were no mention of crickets, uh, based on the, uh, presentation.

333. 0:38:46

     Crickets aren't taking out pine trees-

334. 0:38:48

     Mm

335. 0:38:49

     ... at the level that the southern pine beetle is.

336. 0:38:53

     So I recommend a study committee.

337. 0:38:54

     Maybe. I mean, you can always do a floor amendment should you have that opportunity. All right, moving on. SR 567, Senator Kirkpatrick, you are with us.

338. 0:39:07

     I'd like to say, um, just a resolution raising awareness of Prader-Willi syndrome, which is a rare genetic disorder.

339. 0:39:15

     Yeah, that was interesting. I'd never even heard of it until committee the other day, so I'm glad you're doing this.

340. 0:39:19

     You and me both, Mr. Chair.

341. 0:39:20

     We're now aware of it and need to make sure everybody else is. All right, that covers them all. Um, I would suggest it'd be a good idea to move the two Senate resolutions that is not a joint study committee, which is SR 800. We'll leave that one, but the other two we could move, for sake of time, to a considerate consent calendar. If, uh, the-

342. 0:39:49

     So moved.

343. 0:39:50

     I got a motion already from Senator Jackson.

344. 0:39:53

     Second.

345. 0:39:53

     And I got a second from Senator Williams. Any further discussion? All in favor, say aye.

346. 0:40:01

     Aye.

347. 0:40:01

     All opposed say nay. And motion carries unanimous. So that cleans those out. All right, let's pick a few, pick a few. Where's my list?

348. 0:40:25

     All right, Senator Jackson, you had a ding-ding that I was gonna award you yesterday, and you weren't here, so I want to honor that commitment.

349. 0:40:36

     So what's the rule on double ding-dings?

350. 0:40:38

     You would, you would just get another one- ... immediately.

351. 0:40:43

     Okay. Um, let's just do, uh, SB 500.

352. 0:40:50

     500.

353. 0:40:54

     Wow, let me sc-

354. 0:40:58

     Hey. All right, go ahead. And then- What's your next one? SB 399. 399. All right. Good job.

355. 0:41:17

     All right, Senator Gooch.

356. 0:41:21

     Well, let's start with the inevitable. Senate Bill 34.

357. 0:41:25

     34. Hey. It's a ding-ding.

358. 0:41:31

     Let's go to the bottom of the page. Senate Bill 441.

359. 0:41:37

     Ooh. Double ding-ding. Double ding-ding.

360. 0:41:41

     All right. Getting lucky. Lottery. All right, let's try Senate Bill 535. How lucky can I be?

361. 0:41:50

     Man, this guy's hot. Man. Triple ding-ding.

362. 0:41:55

     What a, what a coincidence.

363. 0:41:58

     Birthday. It's his birthday. That's your birthday present.

364. 0:42:02

     How you doing?

365. 0:42:03

     All right, you get one more.

366. 0:42:04

     Let's go with an easy one. SB 470.

367. 0:42:08

     470. Got Albers in his ear over there.

368. 0:42:14

     Yeah, he's-

369. 0:42:15

     Begging

370. 0:42:15

     ... talking trash.

371. 0:42:17

     470. Okay. What makes that? One, two, three, four, five, six.

372. 0:42:27

     All right.

373. 0:42:35

     Se- Rhett's not with us. Senator Ginn. Yes, sir. The, uh, I think, uh, HB 377. 3- Very end of the last page ... 77. HB 377.

374. 0:42:55

     Okay.

375. 0:43:16

     All right, I'm gonna add a couple myself. Yeah. I haven't had any picks this year. Let's go

376. 0:43:24

     SB 472,

377. 0:43:28

     and let's go, you know, I'm kind of feeling sorry for our little freshman, and I think I'd like to have fun with him on the floor tomorrow, so let's put him on, 513. Mm.

378. 0:43:47

     Mm.

379. 0:43:47

     Chairman. Did chairman, or did chairman- Hold on. You're recognized, Senator Gooch.

380. 0:43:49

     Did Chairman Ginn's pick get put on House Bill 377?

381. 0:43:54

     It did.

382. 0:43:55

     Okay, 'cause I didn't know if... Uh, did we hear about that bill today?

383. 0:43:59

     We did. Senator Setzler.

384. 0:44:00

     Okay. I wasn't paying attention.

385. 0:44:01

     You just weren't used to him being in the whel-

386. 0:44:04

     Still

387. 0:44:04

     ... in the microphone so short

388. 0:44:06

     ... such a short amount of time.

389. 0:44:06

     Yeah.

390. 0:44:07

     He explained it quite, quite well.

391. 0:44:08

     Yes.

392. 0:44:09

     All right.

393. 0:44:10

     Do we have- He about worked every senator to pick his benefits so he doesn't have to bid. Um. No. All right, let's go. We've got Senate Bill 34, Senate Bill 399, Senate Bill 441, Senate Bill 470, Senate Bill 472, Senate Bill 500, Senate Bill 513, Senate Bill 535, and HB 377.

394. 0:44:37

     Government.

395. 0:44:38

     Is that what you got? Nothing. All right, I got a motion from Senator Albers. Second. I've got a second from Senator Ginn. Is there any further discussion? All in favor say aye. Aye.

396. 0:44:50

     Aye.

397. 0:44:50

     All opposed say nay. Motion carries unanimous.

398. 0:44:57

     Four, Jack. See y'all back on the floor here shortly. 2:30. Meeting adjourned.