Comité Public Safety del Senado, 23 de marzo de 2026

Transcripción

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1. 0:05:15

   Safety Committee meeting to order. I'm gonna ask, uh, Senator Bearden to open us up in a word of prayer.

2. 0:05:24

   Lord, we ask that you k- bless us and allow us to do what's right for the state of Georgia. Remember our men and women that's in harm's way in the conflict with Iran and bring them home safely. And always let us remember that you died for our sins on the cross. In the Lord's name we pray, amen.

3. 0:05:38

   Amen. Thank you everyone for being here today. Uh, we have our meeting today. Uh, depending on the legislative, uh, schedule on Wednesday, we may or may not be meeting. Uh, just in case, I wanna take a moment to thank all the staff members that have helped out, uh, throughout the year. Uh, we've got Zach over here at Senate Press. Raise your hand, Zach. Great job. Thank you. He is joined by Ethan, who's also helping out right next to him.

4. 0:06:08

   Whoo. We have our very own legislative counsel, Megan Davidson, right over here.

5. 0:06:15

   With the Office of Policy and Legislative something or other, OPLA. Katie, where you at? I always get the name wrong. All right. Uh, and our very own, uh, intern from Georgia Tech, Miss Kiki. Kiki, all right, very nice. And the man with the best hair in the State Capitol- ... William Spencer, my legislative aide.

6. 0:06:37

   I thought he was about to say Randy.

7. 0:06:40

   The oldest hair in the game.

8. 0:06:41

   Objection. All right, uh, we have, uh, four bills on the calendar today. We have a couple that are gonna go pretty quick that I wanna knock out, and we have, uh, uh, one or two that's gonna take a little longer. We have sign-up sheets in the front here. Please, uh, take a moment if you wanna sign up for or against the bill. Please complete the entire form so you can be heard. Uh, and we have to document that accordingly. Our first bill we're going to hear is House Bill 957. This is something we passed out last year. Uh, and I am looking for our representative.

9. 0:07:12

   Uh, Clifton, is he here?

10. 0:07:13

    He's presenting across the street.

11. 0:07:14

    Okay.

12. 0:07:15

    Uh, and should be over in just a few minutes.

13. 0:07:16

    All right. Well, we're gonna hold on his bill then. So there we go. Moving on. That was pretty quick. We're gonna go to, uh, House Bill 1022. If we could, uh, Representative McDonald, if you wanna come up, uh, and tell us quickly about your bill. Uh, t- we do have a substitute where we combined, uh, some other language. We are all working off of LC 63-0162S. Uh, and if you wanna tell us about, uh, the different parts of your bill, because we did combine two things that we took testimony on the last time.

14. 0:07:49

    Uh, and that was with fleeing and eluding as well as extending the digital driver's license, uh, to be used on the road, uh, until 2032. We'll turn it over to you, sir.

15. 0:07:59

    Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I'm glad I made the, the short list, the, the easy bill list that you had, you mentioned. Um, House Bill 1022 is, it's, it's about officer safety. Uh, it's a, it's a window tinting bill. As technology has changed, you see it change on our phones almost monthly with updates. Uh, you look at what's happening, uh, in, in technology, and now you're able to get electric window tinting where you can, uh, put a film inside your car, and it's, it's electric and, uh, you can make it blacked out, or you can make it, uh, 50%.

16. 0:08:35

    You can make it 0%. And, and so what this does is, is if an officer sees, uh, someone that's got, uh, violating the window tint law and he pulls them over, they can hit a button in their car, and it can change it to clear. And so now you- you've got the, the, you know, the, the argument of, "Well, my, my window's clear," but clearly it was, you know, blacked out, uh, when the, when the officer saw him. So this, this whole bill is really directed at off- officer safety. We did in the beginning, we, we had, um, we, we had the, the digital tags had this on the bill, but we did remove that because that's still in kind of, uh, they're working on that technology, and it's not being used right now.

17. 0:09:20

    And they asked me if I would, didn't mind pulling that off, and I did not mind at all because this wouldn't give 'em a fair shot at, at, at, you know, getting that, um, that technology that, that the state did approve and the working with driver services. So that was removed. And I think we've added a couple of amendment, uh, was, uh, added onto this that's not mine, but I agreed to, to put it on there. But basically, th- this is, it's on line 11. It just explains about the, uh, what window, the electric window tinting is and, and then, um-

18. 0:09:51

    What-

19. 0:09:51

    ... and then the punishment

20. 0:09:52

    ... what LC number are you working off of?

21. 0:09:54

    Um-

22. 0:09:54

    I know some people might have to find.

23. 0:09:55

    Okay. Uh, I've got, I was given LC 630143S.

24. 0:10:01

    Hang on one second.

25. 0:10:02

    Okay.

26. 0:10:02

    Can we get him a copy of the current bill, uh, Kiki?

27. 0:10:05

    Mm-hmm. No, no, I- Sorry. No worries.

28. 0:10:09

    We have the substitute because we added the, uh-

29. 0:10:10

    This is the substitute that I got.

30. 0:10:11

    That's okay. It's just a couple lines down past that where his language begins for electric tinting.

31. 0:10:18

    Thank you. Thank you.

32. 0:10:18

    It begins on line 18.

33. 0:10:19

    Thank you, sir. Appreciate it, sir. Where now?

34. 0:10:22

    Okay, go ahead.

35. 0:10:24

    All right, now we're line 18. Thank you. That's mainly but the part of the bill, the original bill. And, uh...

36. 0:10:36

    All right, and then, uh-

37. 0:10:38

    And then line 115 is that, you know, no license plate shall be covered by electric tinting, uh, which you can do the same with.

38. 0:10:45

    Are there questions on this particular portion of the bill? I know that Senator Bearden worked with Representative McDonald, that will have an amendment, uh, afterwards, but for this specific part of the bill, is there questions from the committee members to the bill's author?

39. 0:11:00

    Senator.

40. 0:11:01

    Senator Robertson.

41. 0:11:02

    Yes. I'm, I'm sorry. I, I'm just looking at this. Is this prohibiting electric tinting in Georgia?

42. 0:11:07

    Yes. Yes.

43. 0:11:08

    Okay, good. Good. Thank you.

44. 0:11:09

    Yes, sir.

45. 0:11:10

    Yes.

46. 0:11:12

    Thank you for that clarification, Mr. Chairman.

47. 0:11:14

    And then again, a reminder that, uh, beginning in section three, that is the same thing we had heard last week on Wednesday, which is to put, uh, the sunset date out to 2032 for the digital licenses in order to be read to give time for that technology and cost to come down and everything to catch up. And then section four is also what we had passed on Representative Abrams bill, which was, uh, fleeing and eluding, which we already took testimony on. So those, uh, those two are combined into this bill.

48. 0:11:44

    Are there questions for the bill's author? We do have one person signed up. We're gonna hear from him. If you'll stay right there, I'm gonna ask, uh, David, would you come to the podium, please?

49. 0:11:59

    Go ahead and tell us who you are and, uh, your thoughts on this piece of legislation, please.

50. 0:12:04

    Hi, my name is, uh, David Boyle. I'm a criminal defense attorney, um, been practicing law, uh, just shy of 30 years now. Spent half that time as a prosecutor, half as a defense attorney. I just wanted to speak about the, uh, felony fleeing portion of that. I understand that that does have some, uh, unique language with regard to the punishment aspect of it, that limits or takes the mileage driven during a police chase and corresponds that to what the potential punishment could be for the crime.

51. 0:12:37

    Now, the current felony fleeing law already allows, it's, uh, unique in Georgia in that it's, you can't get probation for it. You can only get prison time. And so it's a one to 10 felony, and you can only get one year, two year, three year, four years, whatever, of prison. The judge cannot probate any portion of that. So you already have a mandatory one-year prison, uh, sentence with regard to that. In addition, that, um, the way that bill has been interpreted, or that law has been interpreted by the courts, is that the unit of prosecution is each officer.

52. 0:13:11

    So if you have three officers chasing one person, it's three, a three-year sentence because the way the bill's written, the counts cannot merge with each other and they have to run consecutive to each other. So in theory, if you have five officers chasing, you have a five-year mandatory sentence as a minimum, as opposed to you would actually have 50 years, um, a- as a part of that. Um, in addition, it also has, um, because of the way the Georgia recidivist law works, if you have someone with one prior felony conviction and they're caught felony fleeing, which is 20 miles an hour over the speed limit, uh, which doesn't take very, very difficult on the interstate, um, then they get an automatic mandatory 10-year sentence.

53. 0:13:49

    Um, and so that is, um, my concern. You have all of the... I, I don't think there is a, a, um, problem in terms of getting a judge to see someone fleeing the law, knowing that the minimum starts at one year. I think what the, the problem is, is that there's been no effort to make that aspect of the law, uh, public. Uh, Governor's Office of Highway Safety runs campaigns, Click It or Ticket, great stuff that the Georgia State Patrol does with regard to the Move Over law. Lots of money was spent with regard to educating the public, putting up billboards, flashing signs, telling about that.

54. 0:14:22

    And all that money, it's also officer safety. You want the, uh, public to, to move over if you see an officer with blue lights on. That crime, I believe, is punishable by a $500 fine, and that's it. Very dangerous situation for the officer to be on the side of the road, particularly on an interstate. That's the penalty. It's $500. This one, no effort has been made with regard to publicizing that. I represent, uh, many folks who've been charged with the felony fleeing, and their first response is, "What do you mean it's a year in prison?" I said, "That's the minimum. You know, once we get, can look at your case, see how many officers were involved in the, in the pursuit, um, that's the floor in terms of what you're looking at." So I don't think there's, I have yet to have a client who basically knew that coming in.

55. 0:15:01

    They knew running from the police was wrong, didn't realize if you're going 20 miles an hour over, you're starting out at a year in prison. So those are my comments with regard to it. You already have plenty of teeth in the law with regard to felony fleeing. This calculation, the way I read the law, it applies specifically to the state patrol and capital police and some other agencies, and you have to do a calculation based upon the distance traveled. So if, if a county officer starts the chase, there's your one-year felony fleeing. If a state patrol officer gets in, and say he gets in at mile five, and then the suit, the law, the termination ends at seven miles, so now you've got, uh, uh, four miles that you're adding 30 days of jail per mile, so it's like 120 days extra.

56. 0:15:48

    It's kind of moot with regard to when you're already talking about a year as the, uh, the minimum with regard to that. So, um, I don't think that... I think you're just making the idea more complicated with regard to trying to calculate how much mileage somebody drove with regard to it. Obviously, if you're fleeing and eluding in the highway, you accumulate the mileage very quickly. Uh, if you're fleeing in an urban area, which is considerably much more dangerous with pedestrians and other vehicles around, um, and intersections and crossing like that, uh, it's a less mileage.

57. 0:16:19

    And so equating one with the other in terms of trying to fashion a sentence, um, I think is problematic from a practical standpoint as being someone who's litigated these matters in court from both sides. So thank you for your time.

58. 0:16:31

    Questions for Mr. Boyle? Seeing none. Thank you.

59. 0:16:35

    Thanks, sir.

60. 0:16:39

    All right, getting back to the bill's author, uh, Representative McDonald, uh, any, uh, final comments?

61. 0:16:44

    No, I feel good. We only had one lawyer come speak against it with all the lawyers in the state of Georgia, so I feel it's a good bill.

62. 0:16:50

    All right. Uh, I know we have an amendment, uh, but we have to begin with a motion, so what's the will of the committee? Motion. And a motion do pass.

63. 0:16:58

    Second.

64. 0:16:58

    Got a second from Senator Williams. Uh, do I have an amendment to be offered from Senator Bearden?

65. 0:17:03

    You do. I hope in all your folders you should see an amendment. Let's say M63-0025.

66. 0:17:09

    I'm not sure it is in everybody's folders, but why don't you go ahead and just, uh-

67. 0:17:12

    Ooh. Well, it goes to a lot of places. Let's hope it was in folders

68. 0:17:17

    It was a late arriving amendment.

69. 0:17:18

    It was. There was, um- You want me to read the whole thing, or just tell you what it does?

70. 0:17:24

    Uh, why don't you just give us the highlights?

71. 0:17:25

    Okay. Let's go over the highlights, 'cause there's in areas throughout the bill, uh, like replacing line 21 with the following, "Front side and door windows mean the side and door windows of a motor vehicle that are directly to the right and left of the driver." I'm just now seeing LC63-0162 as myself. End of the day, what this bill does, it brings Georgia window tint laws to what they are in Florida. So right now the front glass that's on the driver's side and passenger's side on the front, we can go from 32% to 28%, which keeps us in line also with Florida.

72. 0:18:05

    And only on sedans that we're talking about right now, not trucks, 'cause we can go completely dark on the trucks. We're going from a tint to 15% from its current, which is 32% in Georgia. Again, all this does is bring us in line with the State of Florida. I would ask that, uh, we support this legislation or amendment to the bill. And I talked to the author, he was fine with the, uh, amendment.

73. 0:18:32

    All right. Does everybody understand what Senator Bearden's trying to do and bring us in parity with, uh, Florida for the tinting percentages and outline where it is in the cars? Okay. Is there a second?

74. 0:18:42

    I second.

75. 0:18:43

    I got a second from Senator Wicks. Any further discussion on the amendment? Seeing none, all those in favor of the amendment, please say aye.

76. 0:18:49

    Aye.

77. 0:18:49

    All opposed, please say no. The amendment passes. We now have a new committee substitute as amended by the committee. All those in favor, please say aye.

78. 0:18:57

    Aye.

79. 0:18:57

    All opposed, please say no. Could you pass that amendment back to legislative counsel, Senator?

80. 0:19:03

    There you go, ma'am.

81. 0:19:03

    All right, great. Thank you very much. Uh, and who's carrying this bill for you in the Senate?

82. 0:19:08

    Uh, Randy Robertson.

83. 0:19:11

    Mr. Robertson, were you aware you're carrying this bill?

84. 0:19:14

    I wasn't, but I'll do it.

85. 0:19:15

    All right.

86. 0:19:16

    If my good friend in the House thinks we can do it.

87. 0:19:18

    All right. S- so-

88. 0:19:19

    Thank you

89. 0:19:20

    ... so moved. Okay, great.

90. 0:19:22

    Thank you.

91. 0:19:23

    All right, thank you very much. Uh, appreciate that. All right, we're gonna bring up, uh, the House Majority Leader. Leader Astrachan, if you wanna come on up.

92. 0:19:32

    Mr. Chairman.

93. 0:19:32

    You've got a great group of people with you, I know, today. And, and I wanna say that I got to meet several in my office today and-

94. 0:19:38

    Wonderful

95. 0:19:38

    ... uh, gave a few some pins that I think that they're wearing. Uh, and we've got, uh, House Bill 1023, uh, which we have in our folders LC28... I'm sorry, 49-2814S. Uh, and, uh, we've been talking about this bill back and forth, and I know you had an original version, uh, that we have talked back and forth a couple times.

96. 0:19:59

    Yes, sir.

97. 0:20:00

    I know it might not be exactly what you had originally intended, but this was a little feedback that we have gotten from a lot of the, both the rural, urban, and metro schools. So why don't we talk through it?

98. 0:20:08

    May I see a copy of it?

99. 0:20:09

    Oh, I thought you, you emailed a copy to your office earlier today-

100. 0:20:12

     Okay

101. 0:20:12

     ... but we'll get you a copy right now.

102. 0:20:18

     Thank you.

103. 0:20:19

     All right.

104. 0:20:20

     May I present the bill?

105. 0:20:22

     Yeah, absolutely. Please.

106. 0:20:23

     Thank you, Mr. Chairman, members of the committee. Keeping our students and educators safe in Georgia has been a top priority of the House of Representatives. As Majority Leader, I was proud to, uh, work with Chairman Irwin, Representative Hol- uh, Holt Persinger last year on landmark legislation to, uh, to address school safety in our state. As we all know, budgets that we have passed over the past few years have included around $350 million of school safety funding.

107. 0:20:55

     And as the state representative for a district that includes Apalachee High School, uh, this issue has been, uh, so important to me for many years, but continues to be all the more important now with the immense tragedy suffered in the legislative district that I represent. Here today with us are many students and parents, uh, including students from Apalachee High School, who, uh, were enrolled students last year and continue to attend Apalachee here today. If the committee's willing to hear from them, Daria and Sasha, uh, they, due to the confusion over the, the time change, just with the meeting being delayed, were not here to get on the sign-up sheet.

108. 0:21:36

     But they're happy to add their names, if you'll make that available, Mr. Chairman. Uh, House Bill 1023 was, uh, brought for the purpose of requiring weapons detection systems in all Georgia public schools, uh, to ensure that students, teachers, staff, administrators, uh, remain safe while at school. Every Georgia parent deserves to know when they drop their child off at school in the morning they're gonna be able to pick them up safe at the end of the day. You know, I'm a practicing attorney, so every time I walk into the courthouse, I walk through a weapons detection system.

109. 0:22:07

     We have them in all 159 counties. I'm just u- used to it. It's part of my day. I don't even think about it. And, you know, um, um, public building like that with public access, very similar to our public schools, a weapons detection system, in my opinion, should be there as well in our public schools. Now, many public school systems have already rolled out these, and, uh, they've been done so, I believe, with great success. Just recently, within the last approximately 10 days, it's my understanding that a student attended, attending an Augusta area school attempted to bring a gun into the school.

110. 0:22:42

     The weapons detection system detected it. The student grabbed the bag and ran from the building and was apprehended in the parking lot. Um, also recently, during our legislative session, it was in February, but an eight-year-old n- at an elementary school in Hall County brought a loaded fi- A handgun to school. There was no weapons detection system in place, and it was only d- it was only detected when the student was talking about it with other kids at the school. In my opinion, this is completely unacceptable. When we have technology out there that can detect these kinds of weapons, it is a common sense measure for us, particularly with the funding that we have included in the budget.

111. 0:23:22

     Just recently, the House passed the FY27 budget, which includes $166 million for school safety across our state. Obviously, we're very hopeful that the Senate, uh, will follow through on that c- continued commitment to student safety. But, um, but this is not an unfunded mandate. This is not, um, an unreasonable request. What we're asking for here, I think, is a very necessary measure to keep Georgia's students safe, and it's similar with the classification that we have for other publicly funded facilities, such as courthouses or even the state capital.

112. 0:23:59

     With that in mind, I'd ask the committee's favorable consideration of HB 1023. Let's keep our kids safe. Let's ensure that, um, we are able to prevent tragedies, further tragedies from occurring when, when this technology is out there. There's great discretion, I should mention, Mr. Chairman, as you and I have discussed offline, in the bill for local school systems, school boards, to determine the appropriate weapons detection system for the specific schools. Obviously, suburban schools, rural schools are gonna have very different needs, different layout of the campus, uh, the number of buildings utilized.

113. 0:24:34

     These are all important considerations. But now with the technology, as I know you're familiar with, Mr. Chairman, the AI, uh, detection software can actually detect weapons in a far less intrusive manner than would ordinarily have been needed. So it's not a full TSA-type experience. You have the ability to detect weapons in a, in a much more effective way. Problems that, um, uh, that can... As part of a school safety plan, the uniqueness of a school campus can be taken into consideration so that this, uh, that this can be implemented.

114. 0:25:10

     Mr. Chairman, I'll be happy to answer any questions and certainly review the substitute, if given an opportunity to do that. Thank you.

115. 0:25:17

     Uh, first, uh, Leader Estridge, I wanna thank you. You've been a, a, a tremendous, uh, not just Majority Leader, but a leader in all, uh, important issues, especially when it comes to school safety-

116. 0:25:26

     Well, thank you

117. 0:25:26

     ... and, and safety of all of our fellow Georgians. Uh, and we did shoot that over to your office this morning about 9:00. I don't know if it got lost in, uh, cyberspace.

118. 0:25:33

     We didn't see it.

119. 0:25:34

     Uh, but this is a very important piece of legislation. Uh, and what I'm gonna do is, uh, we're gonna c- f- one person's signed up. I'm gonna put the sign-up sheet back out so we can just get everybody's name so we can capture them in a moment, because we wanna hear from everybody, uh, who's here. And I, I know we've got some young folks, and, uh, if they wanna say a word or two, we'd like to hear from them as well, if that's okay.

120. 0:25:52

     Thank you.

121. 0:25:53

     I do wanna direct the committee members, um, to, uh, the bill real quickly. I think it outlines pretty straightforward what it is. Uh, the one area that, uh, Leader Estridge and I have talked about, uh, and feedback from different school systems, was to give them different means in order to figure out how they're going to best use weapons detections. Um, obviously, there are the electronic means, uh, such as metal detectors, as you mentioned. Uh, there are other ones that use visual. They use different type of camera systems. They use different type of technology.

122. 0:26:23

     Uh, scent. Some people are u- literally using animals and dogs and other things. Um, some people are gone to visual inspection, require backpacks. We're not going to, to lord over the school to tell them exactly how you do it, but we are gonna say you are going to do this, and you're gonna make this a priority. Uh, the money that you put in, the extra, I hope will stay in for the budget, so all of us that sit in Appropriations. Uh, I know we've done a lot of great work, uh, through Governor Kemp for school safety grants over the last many years, and, uh, I believe there's some additional dollars we're gonna try and keep there as well.

123. 0:26:54

     I can't imagine anything more important than keeping our kids safe, uh, literally and figuratively. So with that in mind, um, we are going to, uh... Where's the sign-up sheet? We'll put it back out? Okay. The sign-up sheet's right back out there again, so if you'd like to speak to the bill, if you'll go ahead and, uh, put your name on that, fill out all the, uh, the different parts of that, I'd greatly appreciate it. And I think we've gotta have Gretchen come up while we're waiting, unless there's questions for the bill's author. Oh, we do have a question first.

124. 0:27:20

     Number eight.

125. 0:27:21

     Senator Bearden.

126. 0:27:23

     Thank you for bringing this bill forward. If you looks at lines, believe it is 25 through, let's say, 27. Do you got a copy of this one right here?

127. 0:27:32

     Yes, sir.

128. 0:27:32

     Okay. Um, do we have a date to when this must be implemented?

129. 0:27:38

     Sir-

130. 0:27:38

     'Cause I don't see a date in here.

131. 0:27:39

     Yes, sir. Great question. So my problem with this committee substitute is that it does not require weapons detection systems statewide. The, uh, that was the intent of the original bill, and if you could take a look at the draft that was passed by the House of Representatives, you'll see the distinctions. There's no effective date, because already in law there's a requirement for schools to have safety plans.

132. 0:28:04

     Mm-hmm.

133. 0:28:04

     So my concern with your proposed substitute here is that it's not going to be a marked change from what we already have in existing law.

134. 0:28:13

     Okay. Thank you very much for that.

135. 0:28:17

     All right, other questions for the bill's author? Do you have a question, Senator Wicks?

136. 0:28:21

     I do.

137. 0:28:21

     All right. Go right ahead.

138. 0:28:23

     Yeah. Good afternoon, thank you for this, uh, piece of legislation.

139. 0:28:26

     Mm-hmm.

140. 0:28:26

     So my question is funding. Would this be at the local level, or who would be, uh, required to, uh, help fund, um, the equipment?

141. 0:28:36

     The state has appropriated, um... It breaks down to a- around $50,000 per year for, um, per school-

142. 0:28:44

     Mm-hmm

143. 0:28:44

     ... in the amended budget. But the, obviously, work is still being done on the House, I'm sorry, on the FY27 budget, and the House appropriated $166 million for school safety statewide, which would allow for funding Weapons detection systems, the infrastructure, and even staffing that, in my opinion, depending upon the system selected. But there are certain school systems that have available funding as well locally, like considerable amounts in reserves.

144. 0:29:19

     And obviously, if they wanted maybe a nicer system or wanted additional, um, personnel to monitor it, they could, they could, uh, pay that extra amount if they chose to.

145. 0:29:30

     Okay. Thank you.

146. 0:29:33

     And I think getting back to, to your comment, uh, Leader Efraten, about the safety plans, the, the safety plans do not necessarily say you're gonna have specific means to detect the different types and presence of weapons in the safety plans today. Uh, and I think that the language here on the bill will actually put that in the plan where they'll have to do that, and then, um, do the solution. I agree that we do need an effective date. I think Senator Bearden put that in there. We'll have to, um, before this meeting's over, put some type, some type of an effective date that we think is reasonable for our schools to do that.

147. 0:30:04

     I know as you mentioned, some have it and some do not, and obviously we wanna catch up, so.

148. 0:30:08

     Well, Mr. Chairman, I just respectfully disagree. I do not believe that this substitute is going to require weapons detection systems in Georgia schools statewide. Uh, the bill, and this I- I'm sure is no surprise the chairman feels this way, we, we've, uh, work, been working on this, uh, issue. The bill as passed out of the House would put in place that requirement. It's an important step, uh, for us to do that. Um, my, uh, my vision ultimately is that with these weapons detection systems being required by law, that they will be in place, not simply that safety plan must, uh, must include, um, uh, these measures.

149. 0:30:48

     I think we might be reading it a little bit different, but that's okay. We'll hear some testimony. Gretchen, go ahead.

150. 0:30:53

     Good afternoon, Chairman Albers-

151. 0:30:55

     Mm-hmm

152. 0:30:55

     ... committee members. I'm Gretchen Walton. I'm the Assistant Superintendent for Compliance, Legal, and Legislative Affairs in Cobb County Schools. Thank you for prioritizing school safety. Thanks in particular to Chairman Albers for his work to perfect this bill. I'm here to support the substitute for HB 1032 with one request. While we absolutely think weapons detection is imperative, it can only be made possible with appropriate funding. You heard Leader Efraten talk about the additional funds, um, that have been earmarked.

153. 0:31:28

     I wanted to make sure to dispel a misconception about security grants as they stand. I think people believe they are not already encumbered, but we were given the flexibility last year to put officers and, and the pay for officers into our safety grants. That money, when you hire someone, means it's already encumbered for the next year, right? So a neighboring district, for example, that adjacent to Cobb, hired 15 officers, um, which is partially covered by the safety grants.

154. 0:32:02

     Those officers' jobs still exist, meaning that if there are not additional funds as the House is allotting to us, um, we are not going to be able to have any additional measures in play, um, except for some of the, the districts, and please note Leader Efraten did say some, um, who might be able to delve into reserves. So we wanna make sure that if this sub were to pass, that also the funding would be there, um, to support the, uh, measures in the bill.

155. 0:32:34

     And we appreciate your commitment to no unfunded mon- mandates, and we again thank you for your prioritizing school safety.

156. 0:32:45

     Questions?

157. 0:32:46

     I have.

158. 0:32:47

     I've got one from Senator Goodman.

159. 0:32:51

     So I don't know the answer to this question. This is coming out of true, uh, whatever. I mean, what, how much is it... If you get down to where I live at in, in rural South Georgia, I mean, my school superintendent is a, a dear friend, and, and the healthcare costs are skyrocketing. I mean, it's something like $24,000 per-

160. 0:33:12

     Mm-hmm

161. 0:33:12

     ... whatever they're, they're having to pay now. Is the funding that the House put in the budget, is it enough to do, to, to put metal detectors in every school in Georgia? I mean, we've, somebody's studied that and knows that that's an, enough money to do it.

162. 0:33:26

     Yeah. Yes.

163. 0:33:28

     May I, Mr. Chairman?

164. 0:33:29

     Yeah, one second. Is there any more questions for Gretchen?

165. 0:33:31

     No more from me.

166. 0:33:32

     Okay, I tell you what. We're, we're gonna hold your question for, uh-

167. 0:33:35

     Okay

168. 0:33:35

     ... Senator Efraten. Or, sorry, Senator. You just got a promotion. I'm sorry, Leader. We're gonna hang on to that. We'll get the rest of the-

169. 0:33:42

     I'd rather be a woman

170. 0:33:42

     ... questions. All right. Go ahead, Senator Bearden.

171. 0:33:45

     I'm sorry, I had to get up and leave for just a minute. I hope I didn't miss anything or ask a redundant question. But Cobb County, correct?

172. 0:33:52

     Yes, sir.

173. 0:33:53

     How many main points of entry does Cobb County have at their schools?

174. 0:33:58

     So it depends on the school. Um, I mean, we have one school that has 22 buildings. Uh, so one... That, that are used.

175. 0:34:07

     Yeah.

176. 0:34:07

     22 used buildings by children. Um, so that would have 22 different main points of entry.

177. 0:34:13

     S- and that's on one campus you said?

178. 0:34:15

     That is on one campus. And we, we have 109 schools, um, so it just depends, right? An elementary school isn't gonna have anywhere near as one of our 17 high schools would.

179. 0:34:26

     Okay. Thank you.

180. 0:34:27

     All right. A question from Senator Robertson.

181. 0:34:30

     Yes, ma'am. You were talking about the funding and the grants that you currently use, and used the officers as an example. And all of this, this, this c- money you're talking about, this comes from grants or from the state, is that right?

182. 0:34:43

     I, and I was referring to the security grant. We still use that verbiage, but yes.

183. 0:34:48

     Right. Um, how much is the local district investing in security?

184. 0:34:53

     Million, um, us personally?

185. 0:34:55

     Yes, ma'am.

186. 0:34:55

     Uh, millions.

187. 0:34:56

     C- is, c- can you be more specific? I'm not trying to trap you, but millions up here just means millions. I mean, um-

188. 0:35:05

     I, I don't know off the top of my head.

189. 0:35:06

     Because one of my biggest concerns is when the local districts become dependent- On, on grants. Grants go away, and, um, so I don't, I don't know that that would be the-

190. 0:35:17

     I can tell you-

191. 0:35:17

     ... the safest way to invest in human resources.

192. 0:35:20

     W- we, that is not how we actually fund our police force.

193. 0:35:25

     Yes, ma'am.

194. 0:35:26

     And we have a full POST certified force.

195. 0:35:28

     Yes, you do.

196. 0:35:28

     Um, so the answer for us... But we're also a 47% locally funded district as is, just in general, for our... And 94% of our budget is people. Um, so we're not always the best example when you ask a question like that because we're already almost a 50/50 district. So you could expect us, in almost any endeavor, to be at least 50/50.

197. 0:35:50

     And how large is the Cobb County School District's police department?

198. 0:35:54

     Um, I'm probably low on this. The last time I looked at the number it was 68 officers.

199. 0:36:01

     For how many schools?

200. 0:36:03

     For 109.

201. 0:36:04

     Is that 24 hours?

202. 0:36:06

     Uh, it, it is. It's covered at night a little different. I, I work really closely with public safety.

203. 0:36:10

     Yes, ma'am.

204. 0:36:10

     It's covered at night, um, differently obviously, 'cause schools aren't in session, but-

205. 0:36:15

     Correct

206. 0:36:16

     ... we get the ve- we get our tip line alerts, we get... And, and, like, over the weekend people will take action if there's a threat or something.

207. 0:36:23

     Right. Thank you.

208. 0:36:25

     Mm-hmm.

209. 0:36:26

     Other questions for Gretchen? All right, thank you very much. Uh, let's get back to the question, uh, you had, Senator Goodman, to Leader Estration.

210. 0:36:35

     Thank you. So, uh, there is a variety of options for potential systems to be used. A metal detector, it's my, uh, understanding, is around $4,000 for the equipment. Now, obviously it has to be staffed as well. You can take that all the way up to, say, a m- a system like you see going into sporting stadiums with, which has the two towers on the side, which can be around 100,000 to $130,000 with the software that's included. And then there's options all in between, including camera systems with AI detection capabilities.

211. 0:37:11

     The way the bill was written out of the House, you know, even using a wand, although that's not ideal, but that would satisfy the statute. Just wide discretion given to the locals as to what system is best for their local needs. As I understand it, there are school systems in rural Georgia that already have these weapons detection systems in place. There are systems in Metro Atlanta. Gwinnett County, uh, that I represent, has, out of their reserves, rolled them out in, uh, middle and high schools. The plan also is to roll them out in, um, in elementary schools.

212. 0:37:45

     As I understand it, it was using the Evolv system. It was around $10 million for Gwinnett's, um, high school and middle schools. Um, ultimately, uh, th- they're the bigger systems that have more in reserves. You know, Gwinnett has close to a billion dollars in reserves, it's my understanding, has considerable money in reserves, has the ability to fund systems like this. And with the, um, with the grants that we provide in the state budget, other school systems across the state would also have the ability to implement it.

213. 0:38:15

     I, I believe that when you talk about how are we gonna do this with 20 buildings, there is, there is the ability in school safety plans to say, safety experts say, we know that we're gonna have to secure this area so that we ensure that students getting into that area, uh, it's a, what they call a sterile area. That's done all the time. Um, and we obviously do it with our courthouse jail complexes, things like that. So with, uh, with incorporating this into the plan, I think you can address the geographical outline, outlay of the school, irrespective of where in the state you are.

214. 0:38:52

     That also the, any concern over the bottlenecking issue can also be addressed by these safety experts being able to say, "We're gonna need enough points of entry to satisfy, um, the times when students are coming in." Maybe the kid, you know, high schoolers can't go to their car to smoke between classes anymore like they used to. But, um, but there are ways to do this. We just need, I think, um, I think we need to be ready to step up and say, "It's the, it is this important to us to do it."

215. 0:39:26

     Answer your question? I mean, I think we're getting back to dollars and cents too.

216. 0:39:29

     Yeah.

217. 0:39:29

     Um, I'm, I'm thinking of the scenario that has the multiple buildings and entrances, and I, I, I know that was probably the extreme of 22, but let's say it's 10 or 12, uh, in a, a rural school that's got a lot of buildings and remote classrooms, et cetera. How would those dollars be handled? Are we looking at, you know, somewhere between four and some 10, $20,000 per? I'm just trying to figure out the, how we get the math there.

218. 0:39:57

     So, yeah, so it's my... And granted, maybe it'd be helpful if we had an example of where this concern would be.

219. 0:40:02

     Yeah.

220. 0:40:03

     But I would just say this, um, and I think you all see my point in this. But what I would just say is, um, d- depending on the specifics, if you said, "Okay, we are going to fence between these areas. It's a sterile zone once you get beyond this certain entrance," it can be done. And, and these safety experts that put together these plans-

221. 0:40:23

     Yeah

222. 0:40:23

     ... know that in advance. And, um, and I would just say we don't, not to digress, but we don't say, "We're not gonna secure the courthouse because, um, you know, uh, people may be at risk in other ways, or doors may be left open." We say, "No, we're securing the courthouse." We do it in other government facilities. My mind, why can't we do that for our public schools? It just makes sense that if you, uh, if you, um, limit access and then have these security, uh, have these weapons detection systems at points of entry, it very easily can be done.

223. 0:40:59

     Okay.

224. 0:41:00

     Um, one more question.

225. 0:41:01

     Go ahead.

226. 0:41:02

     I, as far as... Am, am my... What you... I support what you're trying to do. The, the reason I'm asking is, is there's a lot of legislation going on right now, I'm hearing from my folks back home, that are gonna limit these local government's ability to

227. 0:41:15

     I- i- in some ways, it limits their ability to generate revenue, and I'm very cognizant of the fact if we're gonna try to limit, you know, what the taxes are, and then we're gonna put, you know, requirements on them, is it gonna fully... You get what I'm trying to get at, right?

228. 0:41:29

     I do.

229. 0:41:30

     Um, but have you, i- in terms of the organizations across the state that, you know, Superintendent's Association, Paige, all those folks, are, h- have you had any pushback from any of the folks that represent the education system in Georgia on this bill?

230. 0:41:46

     The, the only discussions that I've had with schools have just been individual school systems and, um, and fewer that I could count on one hand.

231. 0:41:56

     Okay. Question from Senator Robertson.

232. 0:41:59

     No bad problems.

233. 0:41:59

     Yeah. Thank you, Leader. Um, you said something interesting in your testimony, talking about the reserve funding, and I, I, I think you and I may agree that a lot of this responsibility rests on the local districts. And, um, and that I do believe there are some of our districts that do have a substantial amount of reserves that are, they're not necessarily forthcoming with, uh, during a lot of the conversations we have up here when it comes to budgeting and funding. And so would you agree that, um, the school districts must buy into this based on what we've done in the past, and that we have to find some way to apply leverage, pressure or whatever we wanna call it to, to have them go into that funds and fund these types of programs?

234. 0:42:47

     And with that being said, um, the sterile areas, my understanding is when we do these threat assessments and we look towards sterile areas, these are areas that can only be accessed through limited points. And once you get inside that area, you're pretty much protected from anything else coming in from the outside. And you can sterilize an area through push bar doors that are locked from the inside. These are not normal doors that students would move in and out of. These would be doors that primarily services would use, maintenance, janitorial-type services, and that the only time these doors would ever be used again would be under an emergency situation for, to get somebody out of the building.

235. 0:43:27

     Correct?

236. 0:43:27

     Yes, sir.

237. 0:43:28

     So you wouldn't put a metal detector by a rear maintenance door-

238. 0:43:32

     Correct

239. 0:43:32

     ... that has a push bar that you would exit out.

240. 0:43:34

     Yes, sir.

241. 0:43:34

     You would only put it at those normal doors where the plan, everyday plan of the school is that's where students would enter the building and exit the building.

242. 0:43:43

     Yes, sir.

243. 0:43:44

     Would that be correct of the-

244. 0:43:45

     That's correct

245. 0:43:45

     ... definition of a sterile area?

246. 0:43:46

     And that's outlined in the bill-

247. 0:43:47

     Yeah. Thank you

248. 0:43:47

     ... as passed in the House.

249. 0:43:48

     Yeah.

250. 0:43:48

     Yes, sir. Thank you, and I agree with, uh, the comments before your questions as well, Mr. Wood.

251. 0:43:52

     Yeah, but there's a lot of money out there that people come to us and ask us for money all the time when we know there's, they're there to protect the reserves.

252. 0:44:00

     Yes, sir.

253. 0:44:00

     And, um, I hate to say it, but sometimes they use the sympathy of children, which we all have, and the love of teachers, which none of us would be here without a great teacher that w- that we love and respect, but there is money within the districts that could be used for this.

254. 0:44:15

     Yes, sir. I agree. I think that, you know, the unfunded mandate argument has been raised. It was raised in the ho- uh, in the House, uh, at certain points. But with the ap- appropriations from the state, you're able to take into consideration, you got different financial situations in different schools across the state, so that funding would be there. Also, what I liked is it doesn't necessarily penalize school systems that decided to dip into reserves and already put these in place. Those would still be able... They would be able to make security enhancements as well, uh, to further protect, uh, the kids in their district, which I thought was, was fair.

255. 0:44:50

     Other questions?

256. 0:44:53

     Uh, boy, I sure agree on the, the reserves effect. Uh, we have a, a spreadsheet floating around, uh, the building right now, uh, showing the amount of reserves, uh, that our school systems have, which in many cases exceed that of the state, uh, which is certainly concerning. Uh, some of the feedback that I had heard was different schools, as you talked about Leader Astration, uh, using, um, cameras, uh, different technology to detect, um, through, um, newer technology, not just through metal detection, but they can do things through certain type of sensors and cameras as well as, uh, uh, I know of at least three school systems that use, um, scent, uh, using dogs that literally can sniff out weapons that they find to be even better based on their, the layout of their campus in order to do that.

257. 0:45:39

     Um, any concern of, of different school systems using that different technology?

258. 0:45:44

     I don't profess to be an expert on... I think that the folks who deal with, uh, school safety and, and propose the technology, um, are, are able to effectively present that to local school boards. I think the bill as drafted in the House provided that broad discretion to locals. I will, I just wanna s- say emphatically, I worked with no vendor whatsoever on this bill. This is just a passion of mine to see that, that this is enacted. Similar to, you know, like 100 years ago, there was discussion about, how are we gonna make sure school fires don't endanger kids, right?

259. 0:46:17

     What are we gonna do? And legislation was considered to, uh, to change how our schools were constructed or what fire escapes would look like. This is my proposal about how to keep Georgia's kids safe, and I hope y'all will consider, uh, the, um, the, the language that, that was passed out of the House that I be- I believe will best ensure this big policy change, this, this, uh, direction that I think we need to take.

260. 0:46:43

     Thank you. Other questions, uh, to the bill's author? All right. We'll grab that sign-up sheet, uh, again, Kiki, and we're gonna hear from a couple more folks.

261. 0:47:07

     All right. Okay, so we got a handful of folks here we're gonna hear from. Uh, Daria, do you wanna come, uh, first? Why don't you come to the podium here? We got a lot of folks, uh, who online will get to see you, uh, and hear from you.

262. 0:47:22

     Okay. Um, good afternoon. My name is-

263. 0:47:24

     Why don't you pull that mic right just a little, or the microphone down-

264. 0:47:26

     Just pull it down?

265. 0:47:27

     ... just a little bit towards you. There you go.

266. 0:47:28

     Okay. Okay. Good afternoon. My name is Daria, and I'm a junior at Apalachee High School in Winder, Georgia. On September 4th, 2024, I witnessed the deadliest school shooting in our state's history. That morning started like any other as I walked through the doors with my backpack, headed to class, and sat down in my world history class, ready to learn. While I was jotting down notes, the classroom's atmosphere was bright and happy. Everyone was conversing with one another and having a good time, but suddenly, shots were fired right outside of my classroom.

267. 0:47:59

     We all rushed to the corner of the room, quietly sobbing as we prayed to be able to say I love you to our parents one last time. On that day... I'm sorry. I'm sorry.

268. 0:48:15

     Take your time, Daria. It's okay.

269. 0:48:21

     Okay.

270. 0:48:25

     On that day, we lost two students and two teachers. Seven others were injured. The fear, the blood, and the chaos, it is burned into my memory.

271. 0:48:41

     Sorry.

272. 0:48:45

     School, the place where we used to feel safe, turned into a place of nightmare. A student walked right through our front doors while concealing a weapon, which should have never made it inside our school. There was nothing to stop him. This is why the bill HB 1023 is so important. If there had been weapons detection systems in every place at every entry of the school on that day, that rifle would have never reached our hallways. Lives would have been saved. Families would not be grieving. Students like me would not be carrying this trauma. Georgia students deserve safe schools.

273. 0:49:16

     We are asking for this protection. This bill is common sense, life-saving legislation. I'm here today speaking in front of you because I don't want any other Georgia student to go through what me and my classmates and I did. We all deserve to feel safe at school. We want to learn without thinking it could ever happen again. Please pass HB 1023. Our future, and the future of every student in Georgia, depends on it. Thank you.

274. 0:49:43

     Thank you very much, Daria. Okay. Next, I've got, I think it's Sasha, if I'm reading that right.

275. 0:49:57

     Okay.

276. 0:50:00

     Okay. Can you guys hear me?

277. 0:50:01

     We got you. Go right ahead.

278. 0:50:02

     Okay. Good afternoon. My name is Sasha Contreras, and I'm a senior at Apalachee High School and co-founder of Change for Chi, a community group of students, teachers, parents, and alumni aimed to advocate for school safety after our community's tragedy. Last year, my school and community lost four precious souls, while others were left injured. Hundreds of my peers and myself were left traumatized. That day, I not only feared for my life, but for my mother's life as well, as she was also inside the building.

279. 0:50:34

     I was in Mrs. Eremia's class just an hour before she was killed. That day, she helped us with our lesson and talked to us more than usual.

280. 0:50:49

     Sorry. I left feeling happy to have seen a new side of her, not knowing it would be the last time.

281. 0:50:59

     I cannot stress enough that this event has left lasting effects. We experienced something a lot of adults haven't, and every day we are brave enough to push through. Thank you. And continue stepping inside our building. The following months we had school after our tragedy on September 4th, 2024. Our, our county did not implement metal detectors or new proactive measures, and we, it wasn't until a second gun was found on campus that weapons detection systems were implemented.

282. 0:51:32

     Fortunately, our school system was able to implement this for our middle and high schools. Before this, the phrase, "What are the odds of h- it happening again?" came up many times. But here we were, met with another weapon on campus just a few months after tragedy s- struck. This is why HB 1023 is so important. No child should step into school anxious about coming out alive. I believe this bill is a great step towards prioritization of safety and education.

283. 0:52:06

     So I stand here before you today to implore you all to think of Christina Eremia, Mason Schermerhorn, Christian Angulo, and Richard Aspinall when you vote on this bill. Thank you.

284. 0:52:18

     Sasha, would you like to answer a question or two? Would you mind?

285. 0:52:21

     Yeah.

286. 0:52:21

     All right. Senator Robertson's gonna ask a question.

287. 0:52:23

     Hey, Sasha. How are you?

288. 0:52:25

     I'm doing okay.

289. 0:52:26

     I, I promise I'm not as mean as I sound. Uh, uh, when, when you go into school today, when you get there and, and you go to school, are, the way you get into the school, is it a lot different than it was back then, as far as security?

290. 0:52:43

     Uh, yes. Um, at first it took a minute, like, to get into the school, but once everyone was... Oh, thank you. Um, once everyone was, like, used to it as part of our everyday routine, it goes by a lot quicker. Um, and-

291. 0:52:58

     C- can you give me an idea of what you have to do to get into the school now?

292. 0:53:02

     Uh, so I get to school kind of early 'cause I drive to school now. But-

293. 0:53:05

     I, I get to the Capitol kinda early, too- ... so I appreciate that.

294. 0:53:09

     Um, so, uh, the bells, uh, the door doesn't open, like, to let cars in or anything until 7:45, so when the doors open they usually have two metal detectors set up. And so we'll walk through, and we'll walk through with our bookbags on. And if you have anything that can, like, set it, like, set it off, um, like our Chromebooks are, like, big enough, so, like, we have to, like, hold it over our heads. I have to reach on my tippy-toes 'cause I'm too short. But I hold it over my head.

295. 0:53:39

     Um, and if it goes off, then one of the administrators or one of the people certified to, like, look through our stuff, um, will either check our bookbags or just make us go through one more time because sometimes we'll stand too close to the, um, little towers-

296. 0:53:53

     Right

297. 0:53:53

     ... 'cause we have the AI weapons detection system. And then, um- Yeah, that's just our day.

298. 0:54:00

     Yeah.

299. 0:54:00

     And then on the other side, uh, is the bus lane, so they have more of those over there 'cause then, you know, there's more students on that side. So we have four set up that way.

300. 0:54:09

     Okay. So you have, you have them set up for the students that drive and walk in, and then you have them set up for the students that come in on the school bus-

301. 0:54:16

     Mm-hmm

302. 0:54:16

     ... and get off and go in. And on the school bus is a l- quite a few more people, so takes a longer... And these are towers that you walk through on either side.

303. 0:54:24

     Yes.

304. 0:54:25

     And how many administrators are normally there when you come through?

305. 0:54:28

     Um-

306. 0:54:29

     And are these uniformed people or just regular-

307. 0:54:31

     No, they're just, uh-

308. 0:54:32

     A-

309. 0:54:32

     I know, uh, some teachers, they have duty in there, so like-

310. 0:54:36

     Okay

311. 0:54:37

     ... um, I know only a handful are, like, actually certified to like look through our stuff.

312. 0:54:42

     Right.

313. 0:54:42

     But we have teachers that are put up there. So I think we have... I'm sorry, I don't have it on top of my head, but-

314. 0:54:48

     Yeah, it's, it's-

315. 0:54:49

     Um-

316. 0:54:49

     You don't, you don't have to be exact. But a couple per-

317. 0:54:52

     I wanna say like eight.

318. 0:54:54

     Okay.

319. 0:54:54

     Like eight people.

320. 0:54:56

     Okay.

321. 0:54:57

     Ish. Um, and then I, I don't real- I don't take the bus, so I don't really know-

322. 0:55:02

     Yeah

323. 0:55:02

     ... how many are on the other side, but I know that there are more, uh, systems over there 'cause we have more doors on that side.

324. 0:55:07

     And, and you, and I know y'all have been through a, a tragic situation, but are you really comfortable with the security there at the school now?

325. 0:55:14

     Yeah. It, it makes me feel a lot better.

326. 0:55:16

     Good.

327. 0:55:16

     Um, I know that the following month when they didn't, when they just kind of sent us back without it, I was anxious all the time and I would kinda like have mini panic attacks in class.

328. 0:55:25

     Yeah.

329. 0:55:25

     So, um, a lot of, a lot of the students and my peers, we would always talk about it, like, um, during class we'd be like, "Oh, we kinda hope that they did something."

330. 0:55:35

     Yeah.

331. 0:55:35

     And, um, me and other students and parents and teachers advocated for that at our, uh, our s- our be- our school system board meetings.

332. 0:55:45

     Right.

333. 0:55:46

     Uh, we would go there and talk and try and convince our board members, but it wasn't until after the wea- uh, second weapon was found, but, um, yeah.

334. 0:55:54

     Okay. Thank you so much.

335. 0:55:55

     Mm-hmm.

336. 0:55:56

     Thank you for your testimony. All right, we're gonna bring up, uh, William.

337. 0:56:04

     Well, great. William it is.

338. 0:56:08

     Oh, hello, gentlemen. Um, I'm another Apalachee parent. Both of my children were there that day. Um, I just wanna give two quick points. I didn't prepare a speech. Uh, one of the first things I did after this happened and found out what metal detection systems were, and they're not metal detectors. They're totally different than a metal detector. Um, weapons detection systems are made specifically to target things that are prone to be a weapon, not every piece of metal or jewelry somebody wears.

339. 0:56:39

     And I had thought in the wake of our disaster, we'd have 1,000 people at our, our board meeting, uh, demanding them, and it's not like that at all. It's a, it's, uh, been a long struggle from what we've went through to actually get them im- implemented. I took it upon myself at the time to call, I think, every school in Henry County and DeKalb County, which at the time I believe it was DeKalb, that actually had them, uh, and were using them, and left hundreds and hundreds of phone calls to try and ask them, all the administrators, basically the same 10 questions.

340. 0:57:15

     "What do you think of them? Uh, what's the logistics of getting the kids into school? What do the kids think of them? Do you think they're effective? And how many weapons are you finding now as opposed to before they were implemented?" And generally speaking, it's a resounding yes. Everybody loved them. I mean, there are bugs with any new system, getting it implemented. Same thing with schools got pods and different entrances, but all that can be worked out, and we have schools that do it all over the state already.

341. 0:57:45

     And we passed all that information along to our, our, uh, committee, and we did eventually get them. Now, while I'm not a big fan of government stepping in and doing huge things, this is one of the times I think it's absolutely essential to do it, because it's too hard for these towns and counties to fight one by one after their own disaster to get anything done. This is the perfect example of when government needs to step in and lead, because th- it will not get done on its own.

342. 0:58:18

     And, um, I, I think right now you're basically ahead of the curve. In five years, every school in this country will have them. It's just a matter of how many more disasters it's gonna take and how many more children get killed before s- states start doing what you're trying to do here. Um, as far as money, I can only speak as an Apalachee parent. I don't wanna hear a word about money from the local level, because every classroom's got upwards of $26,000 in projectors and smart screens and Chromebooks and everything else in there.

343. 0:58:52

     We found the money to absolutely make our schools as technological- technologically advanced as possible. We're, we, we're, we're right up there with any school system in this country as far as being, having all the technology to make things great for kids. But the notion that we cannot prevent a gun from entering a, a hallway or a classroom, I will never believe we can't do. We absolutely can do it, and there are different systems, different companies that do it with different costs. When I had looked at the time, I believe most of them in, in Henry County were renting systems, and it was roughly around $60,000 a school.

344. 0:59:32

     Obviously, it differs depending on the size of schools, and our county decided to actually buy them, so we own them. So there's many different options out there to do things. But I just wanna say I appreciate you finally bringing this up, because it, it's something every state's gonna do. It's just a matter of time, you know? So I thank you.

345. 0:59:51

     Thank you, William. Appreciate your testimony. All right. And I'm going to, uh, mis, uh, pronounce your last name, but we're gonna... We have a family of four here. Is that- Cavadaro. Cavadaro. Cavadaro. Why don't all four of you come up to the podium at one time if that sounds good?

346. 1:00:12

     We've only got five, but this little one's following you.

347. 1:00:14

     Well, you know what? Uh, we, we like to see the little ones, so come on up.

348. 1:00:17

     Oh, okay.

349. 1:00:19

     We might have to hold her up to the micro if she wants to say something, though. All right.

350. 1:00:23

     Can you stay put?

351. 1:00:26

     That one said no.

352. 1:00:27

     Mm-hmm. You don't wanna go first? All right. All right. Um, well, we thought our oldest would speak first, but I, I think we'll let the parents go first here. My name's Jeremy Cavallaro. I am, uh, a husband and a father of three in Gwinnett County. It's been a, a passion of ours to, to see this bill through and implement weapons detectors, not only for our children's school, but for schools all across the state.

353. 1:01:03

     Like the gentleman before us said, I can't accept any longer that we can invest in technology and make other investments across schools and not address the glaring issue of allowing weapons to come into the door. Uh, we do it at concerts, we do it at sporting events, we do it at the airport, we do it at federal buildings. W- we obviously did it right here to come in. And, and I wonder why we can't do it to protect children.

354. 1:01:33

     Is it monetizing protection? I'm sure that's not it. But an awful lot today I've heard about budget and the expense around doing this. And, and I, I would like to interject by saying there's an ROI out there of $15 to $25 per dollar spent investing in preventative measures such as weapons detectors. The aftermath of shootings like Sandy Hook is over a billion dollars. There's an average of $125 million spent in shooting aftermath.

355. 1:02:08

     It's a ripple effect. It's not just the kids and the parents impacted, it's the entire school, it's the entire community, it's those impacted's ability to learn and contribute to, uh, society and, and earn an income. That reduces by 13 to sometimes 18% just being impacted by that shooting. I know personally, now that we've been able to achieve it in Gwinnett County, my oldest will go to junior high with weapons detectors.

356. 1:02:39

     My youngest should be, not publicly announced yet, but part of the elementary school pilot, it should be in our school, and I anticipate it will be, and they will be protected. But that's not fair to the rest of the community and the rest of the state. Everyone should feel protected. Every child should feel protected, and every parent should have a guarantee that their kids will come home alive each and every day from school. We can guarantee that. We all grew up going through fire drills and tornado drills for something we couldn't anticipate and couldn't prevent.

357. 1:03:15

     We can absolutely anticipate and prevent this. It's within our means, and the money's there, the ROI is there. And as a, a father a- and, and a parent, um, a husband, I know that I'm never gonna leave this county, and most likely never gonna leave this state, because of what's being implemented right now. If we look to the future on that same subject matter, I can guarantee you, you enact this in Georgia, you will see school attendance go up, residency go up, and that is an influx of the state's capacity to earn that ROI back.

358. 1:04:04

     So I challenge you to look beyond the questions of the budget and, and see that as we go down this path, that the ROI is there and the budget is there, like I had said. You see in, in counties that have enacted this, too, uh, such as Gwinnett, since February they've stopped 2 guns and 57 knives from entering. While metrics are fine to review and consider, that's not the metric we should be chasing.

359. 1:04:35

     The metric we should be chasing is the fact that there have been zero shootings, not only in Gwinnett, but in any school district that has implemented weapons detectors. Post-implementation, zero shootings. Zero. A- and that's what we're here for today. I'd like to address, um, I'm sorry, the Cobb County 22 building statement.

360. 1:05:08

     Um, th- there's certainly ability to, to funnel in a specific building and, and then go beyond that i- in- in a secure manner, correct? Uh, just like a lot of times we have heard there's multiple entrances to buildings. There's multiple entrances to, uh, this building, but we, we funnel in one specific building or, or one specific door or two specific doors, and that's exactly the way that this would happen as we implement this across the state.

361. 1:05:39

     So I challenge us all here. Our state seal bears three words that were intended to be more than decoration or display. Th- they represent the promise of Georgia with wisdom, justice, and moderation. And today I, I ask you to consider it m- not just as a policy shift, but a moral imperative that aligns perfectly with the pillars that we're all here to uphold. Wisdom dictates that we don't wait for a tragedy to arrive at our doorstep before we lock the door.

362. 1:06:14

     It's the foresight to recognize that the world has changed. Our safety protocols have to evolve with it. To leave our children's hallways vulnerable is not hoping for the best, it's, it's a failure of preparation. Wisdom demands that we act while we have the opportunity to prevent, rather than the obligation to then a- mourn. Justice ensures the safety of each child is not determined by their zip code or by their district's budget.

363. 1:06:45

     Currently, there's a deep disparity where Georgia students walk through a secure entrance and, and some don't. Justice is the quiet confidence every parent deserves when they drop off their kid at school, the knowledge that the state values their child's life enough to provide a basic physical shield against violence. Moderation, it's found in the nature of this solution. We're not asking to turn our schools into fortresses or to compromise the warmth, the warmth of their learning environment.

364. 1:07:19

     Modern weapons detection systems are, are balanced. They're, they're not intrusive. They provide maximum security with minimal disruption. Think about Disney World. For a decade, they've been scanning each and every individual man, woman, child, infant. They have the ability to do that in a vast space and secure everyone. It's a common sense middle ground here that respects the sanctity of the classroom while acknowledging the reality of the risks.

365. 1:07:56

     When you cast your vote for HB 1023, you're, you're doing more than passing a budget item. You're deciding if the words wisdom, justice, and moderation still carry weight here in the halls of the Gold Dome. As you know, Gwinnett County just finished high school and middle school implementation. They are now securing about 10% of this state's children in school. Let's finish it. Let's secure them all, and let's set an example for our state and the rest of the country to ensure that children will never be murdered in school again.

366. 1:08:37

     Thank you.

367. 1:08:45

     Hi, my name is Jasmine Cavaleiro, and I go to Ivy Creek Elementary School. I'm in fifth grade. I really want weapon detectors in all schools. When I ... It was just a couple weeks ago, I went to Jones Middle School for a field trip, and we had to walk through weapon detectors to make sure no one brought in a gun. And why shouldn't that be in elementary school? Why shouldn't that be in every school? Each of our lives are important. They're worth, they're worth each penny, each dime.

368. 1:09:16

     It's worth everything. I wanna come home every day, see my parents, watch TV, have fun, and I wanna live my life out. I have a dream that I can someday be like one of you guys and sit here and pass bills. And when you vote for this bill, keep all the kids in Georgia in mind, that you're letting each of us come home safely every day. And please just let us have it, the bill pass.

369. 1:09:50

     Thank you.

370. 1:09:51

     You, you did a great job. I tell you what, I think you're gonna be here. In fact, I think you might be on the second floor in the governor's office, so. You're doing great. All right.

371. 1:10:04

     Good evening.

372. 1:10:04

     Tell you, tell you what we're gonna do.

373. 1:10:05

     How you doing?

374. 1:10:05

     Why don't you come right up here so we can see you, to this microphone right up here, 'cause-

375. 1:10:09

     Okay

376. 1:10:09

     ... that, uh, that podium got in the way for you. There we go. Why don't you talk right into that one for us, okay?

377. 1:10:14

     There you go, buddy.

378. 1:10:18

     Hi, my name is Jackson Cavaleiro, and I'm a second grader at Ivy Creek Elementary School. I want to live until I'm an adult. I want to live my life out. I want to be a pilot when I grow up, and I want other people in the world to complete their dreams, too. Um, weapon detectors can save me from a gunshot. Um, I want ...

379. 1:10:50

     If we get weapon detectors in my school, nobody would worry about a kid would bring in a gun and shoot somebody. Um, nobody wants to have a wor- worry like that. Nobody wants to hear a gunshot in their kid's school. I wanna feel safe like you guys because there's a weapon detector before anybody could get close to you. And I seen weapon detectors in high schools and middle schools, and at airports, and all concerts, and, uh, in sports.

380. 1:11:28

     I, my life is as important as a professional athlete. I want to live, uh, I want everybody to, uh, have a good life without any gunshot or guns. I want, I want me and everybody to live. And nobody wants a child to b- die at school. B- that's ... School is just a place to learn, and have fun, and have recess, and eat lunch.

381. 1:12:05

     You did a great job, buddy. Well done. We're gonna have mom just a minute to wrap up, and then we're gonna get back, uh, to the committee. Great, good work.

382. 1:12:12

     Thank you. Thank you guys so much for listening to our family. Um, I'll tell you that we have gone to every single school board meeting in Gwinnett County, um- Starting in October of '24, so right after the Apalachee shooting, our entire family has gone to every meeting. And we've not just shown up at the meeting, we've, um, implored, uh, Gwinnett County to install weapons detectors. Um, and I think it's a, a lot of the outreach that we have done in Gwinnett has brought about why Gwinnett has, um, weapons detectors in middle and high school, and why there's a pilot.

383. 1:12:51

     Um, our kids go every month and ask that they, the weapons detectors are put in elementary school, um, and we're hearing that there's a pilot, um, coming very soon, so we're excited about that. Um, at the end of the Colin Grate trial last month, something that the DA, Brad Smith, said, it left a lasting impression on me, and it sums up why my family has been so outspoken about school safety for our kids. He said, I quote, "We talk a lot about our rights in this country.

384. 1:13:24

     We're proud of our rights, and I'm proud of our rights, but you know our rights were given to us by our forefathers. But God gave us the duty to protect our children, and I hope that we remember that as parents, as community members, to protect our children because that is our God-given duty." And that was from Brad Smith after he, um, found Colin Grate guilty on all counts. Um, I'll tell you that I grew up in Queens, New York, in the late '90s.

385. 1:13:55

     I went to high school in Queens, New York. Um, and in the late '80s, um, Queens, most of the schools, if not all, invested in metal detectors, like at the airport. Um, and every day when I went to school, in high school in Queens, New York, my high school was about 2,300 students, um, we walked through a w- a metal detector every day, and we were safe. I remember Columbine happened when I was in high school, and I went home to my parents and I'm like, "Mom, how did the gun at Columbine get through the metal detectors?" And that was the first time I remember my mom saying, "Well, we're lucky here in Queens, New York, but Columbine, they d- they weren't so lucky.

386. 1:14:41

     They didn't have metal detectors to protect those kids." Um, and that was in the '90s, and now here we are in 2026, and we are struggling over protecting our children in schools. When you have Queens, New York, did this in the late '80s, they put weapons detectors. Actually, one of the gentlemen here, one of the dads, he had metal detectors in the '80s. He's a Apalachee parent. He told me today he went through metal detectors in, in New York in the '80s.

387. 1:15:12

     Um, we have to do this, Georgia. We have to do it. The $20 million that Gwinnett, um, invested in the middle and high schools, I'll tell you that if we could get one of those kids back in Barrow County that died in the, in the Apalachee shootings, gladly would spend that $20 million over and over and over. So a lot gets said about us. We pay our taxes in Buford. We pay a lot in taxes where we live, um, and we're glad to pay it.

388. 1:15:42

     We're glad to pay it to protect our kids. So don't, don't use us as parents and say that we're not gonna be happy. We go to a lot of these meetings and they say like, "You know, our, our constituents, they're not gonna wanna pay for this." I will gladly pay. You could raise my taxes however you wanna raise my taxes, and we're gonna pay it because it's to bring these kids home every day, and that's our right, and that's our God-given right, to protect them. So thank you guys so much for hearing us.

389. 1:16:11

     Thank you for your testimony. Okay. Uh, that's everybody who we, uh, are gonna hear from today who had signed up. We're gonna go ahead and, uh, get back to, uh, our bill. Uh, Leader Astrachan, would you like to make any, uh, final comments?

390. 1:16:27

     Yes, sir. I hope the committee will reconsider its position and take up the bill as passed in the House. You'll notice the difference on the bill that was passed in the House. Hopefully you all have copies of it. Line 20, "It shall utilize." That is not included in this Senate substitute. The Senate substitute, it appears to me, although I'm a lawyer, I'm not an expert, but as it appears to me, it only requires that policies, rules, regulations, and procedures be adopted, but it does not require implementation of a weapons detection system.

391. 1:16:59

     In fact, it doesn't even define a weapons detection system. So, I implore this committee, please pass the bill as passed out of the House so that we actually will get some results here and have these weapons detection systems in place. Thank you.

392. 1:17:17

     So Leader Astrachan, let, let's look at lines 16, 17, and 18 specifically. If we were to take some of your original language and, and create, I'm gonna call a hybrid solution here between the two, that still gives a little flexibility of how they use it. Uh, again, I think we had added things such as electronic, analytical, visual, olfactory, and other means. Uh, what you're saying is, if we were to reword, beginning on line 16, that each local board of education or the pool sc- uh, s- public school governing body shall implement a weapons detection system, uh, including the policies, rules, regulations, procedures necessary to provide for, would that help alleviate some of your concerns?

393. 1:18:02

     Yes, sir. It sounds like it shall implement. As long as there's a requirement in the draft, and legislative council can get the wording just right-

394. 1:18:08

     Mm

395. 1:18:08

     ... but a requirement to actually implement a weapons detection system, um, at each Georgia public school, then that accomplishes the policy objective.

396. 1:18:17

     Okay.

397. 1:18:18

     And, and we did have an effective date of July 1st, 2027, our substitute, to allow school systems time to actually put these in place. Obviously, some school systems go and be proactive about it and get them out, but that would give-

398. 1:18:31

     Mm

399. 1:18:31

     ... some time for implementation to comply.

400. 1:18:33

     All right. I'm gonna look over at, uh, Megan, our esteemed legislative counsel. Do you understand what, uh, Leader Strachan and I are talking about, uh, that on line 16 we would say, Shall implement a weapon detection solution in between then adopting, and adopting the policies, rules, regulations, et cetera? Does that make sense to you?

401. 1:18:55

     Yeah. So, um, what's the language that you want and then-

402. 1:18:58

     Implement a weapons detection solution.

403. 1:19:04

     System.

404. 1:19:05

     System. Sorry. System.

405. 1:19:09

     And shall adopt policies, rules-

406. 1:19:11

     Yeah, and then continue on with the rest of that as is.

407. 1:19:16

     All right. Questions? I know we're not getting quite to the amendment process. We're just trying to work through some fine-tune language. Questions on committee members? All right. Uh, and then I think we also talked about, uh, as you mentioned, uh, adding an effective date of July 1st, 2027. What are the committee's thoughts on that?

408. 1:19:34

     Mm-hmm.

409. 1:19:35

     Uh, that was his recommendation, but, um, we're, but we're having a discussion, so...

410. 1:19:41

     All right, we think we're gonna get a little more comfort with the January 1st of 2028 to give just a little more time.

411. 1:19:46

     I'm at the-

412. 1:19:47

     Okay

413. 1:19:47

     ... committee's direction here.

414. 1:19:49

     All right. I think we can... All right.

415. 1:19:51

     Oh, he's asking-

416. 1:19:52

     Okay. Yeah

417. 1:19:52

     ... January.

418. 1:19:53

     All right, we'll split the...

419. 1:19:54

     That's fine.

420. 1:19:54

     All right, so you're talking about January 2028 then? Um, that'd be fine. Okay. All right. Any other questions? If so, we're gonna begin this process, uh, to start out with, uh, a motion, then we'll work on amendments. Do I have a motion? I got a motion do pass-

421. 1:20:08

     I move

422. 1:20:08

     ... from Senator Robertson. I got a second from Senator Williams. Uh, who would like to offer the first amendment as scribe between, uh, Leader Strachan, myself, and, uh, legislative counsel of adding, uh, to implement a weapon detection system, uh, in 16 and then re- uh, aligning as appropriate?

423. 1:20:27

     I'll make that motion.

424. 1:20:28

     Got a motion from Senator Robertson. I got a second from Senator Payne. Any further discussion on motion number one? Seeing none, all those in favor, please say aye.

425. 1:20:35

     Aye.

426. 1:20:36

     All opposed? Passed unanimously. Uh, next, would, uh, Senator Bearden, do you wanna make a motion for an effective date?

427. 1:20:43

     Trying to see where this should go. It, should it go at the very end of this one or-

428. 1:20:46

     Uh, I think if you go at the end-

429. 1:20:47

     ... at the end of 18?

430. 1:20:47

     ... we'll have the legislative counsel probably, uh, tell us exact where it needs to go.

431. 1:20:50

     Yeah, it'll become section two, and then following the four, there'll be a section three with the 11.

432. 1:20:56

     Okay. It'll be January, January 1st, 2028.

433. 1:20:59

     All right. So, uh, Senator Bearden is offering amendment number two, which will become section number two, and legislative counsel then will correct everything below it for January 1st, 2028. Is there a second?

434. 1:21:10

     Second.

435. 1:21:10

     Second from Senator Williams. Any further discussion? Seeing none, all in favor, please say aye.

436. 1:21:14

     Aye.

437. 1:21:15

     All opposed? Passed unanimously. We now have a new committee substitute as amended by the committee.

438. 1:21:20

     Mr. Chairman, may, m- m- may, uh, line 25 also of your substitute just repeats that such policies, rules, regulations, and procedures. I think that also would include, uh, weapons detection. Um, the weapons detection would also be included there, I believe, as p- as part of the, um, one and two.

439. 1:21:42

     Hang one second here. We're gonna read through that.

440. 1:21:45

     Yeah.

441. 1:21:45

     Megan, can you look at that as well, please?

442. 1:21:49

     Be the shall implement the-

443. 1:21:55

     Wouldn't, wouldn't that cover that?

444. 1:22:01

     Mm. Social security measures.

445. 1:22:03

     These are security measures, correct?

446. 1:22:04

     Mm-hmm.

447. 1:22:06

     So you're, you're saying the security measures are not the weapons detection as outlined above?

448. 1:22:12

     On line 36.

449. 1:22:13

     The operative word is implementation. In other words, with your first amendment, Chairman, it doesn't require implementation of the weapons detection systems at all main points of entry to permanent buildings, which is the, which is really the point of the bill.

450. 1:22:38

     And I think in paragraph, um, in subsection B1, you're, y- there you're saying that you would have to implement, and here you're just talking about the policies. I don't know that you have to... You've already required the implementation above. I don't know that you have to say that again, but you certainly can.

451. 1:22:56

     Do you hear, Leader Strachan, what, uh, leg counsel is saying? I think we're getting some nods if we feel that that might be covered here.

452. 1:23:05

     Okay, I'm, I'll... My last comment and then I'll just-

453. 1:23:09

     That's fine. Keep going

454. 1:23:09

     ... listen to the committee. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

455. 1:23:11

     This is, this is important.

456. 1:23:11

     Thank you. I would just say for line 25, you could say, "Such weapons detection systems as implemented. Replace policies, rules, regulations, procedures," and then it would pick up with, "At a minimum, shall at a minimum"

457. 1:23:40

     And then strike required-

458. 1:23:41

     What if we just did... Why wouldn't we just say such systems, policies, rules, regulations, et cetera? 'Cause we're, we're identifying what the systems are above.

459. 1:23:51

     I will leave that to legislative counsel a- as to, uh, whether a definition is necessary for weapons detection system. I guess my idea was such systems, as you've said, Mr. Chairman, at a minimum shall be utilized at all main points of entry to such permanent buildings. Pick up from there, and then I think it covers it.

460. 1:24:11

     Sure.

461. 1:24:12

     Thank you.

462. 1:24:12

     Okay, Megan, uh, I think because we said at the top implement a weapons detection system, and then we have all the other things, if we just had such system policies, rules, regulations, would that not cover that?

463. 1:24:24

     It would.

464. 1:24:24

     Okay. All right. So who would like to offer amendment three, which is on line 25 after such, would be systems, and then policies, rules, regulation. Uh, Senator Robertson-

465. 1:24:36

     Oh, yeah

466. 1:24:36

     ... is that a amendment?

467. 1:24:36

     I'll do that. That's fine.

468. 1:24:38

     All right. We have a second. Senator Williams will second. All those in favor, please say aye.

469. 1:24:41

     Aye.

470. 1:24:41

     All opposed, please say no. Okay. Amendment three is now adopted. All right Further discussion of the committee. Seeing none, all those in favor of the new committee substitute as amended by the committee, please say aye.

471. 1:24:51

     Aye.

472. 1:24:51

     All opposed, please say no. This passes unanimously. Thank you very much for your hard work on this, and back and forth with, uh, with myself as well. I really appreciate it.

473. 1:25:00

     Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and thank you members of the committee.

474. 1:25:02

     Before you leave-

475. 1:25:03

     Thank you

476. 1:25:03

     ... uh, who will be carrying this for you in the Senate?

477. 1:25:06

     May I, uh, let your office know today?

478. 1:25:08

     You certainly can.

479. 1:25:08

     Would that be all right?

480. 1:25:08

     Absolutely.

481. 1:25:08

     Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

482. 1:25:10

     Yes. All right.

483. 1:25:11

     Thank you.

484. 1:25:11

     Don't go anywhere, folks. We still have some work to do. All right. Uh, do we have, uh, Representative Clifton here? There he is. All right. Uh, why don't you come right down here. We have heard this bill in the past, so, uh, brevity is gonna be your friend. Uh, it did pass out of here, uh, last year. Uh, go ahead and, uh, give us a very quick overview, please.

485. 1:25:33

     Yes, sir. I will be short and sweet. We did pass it through the House, uh, and the Senate last year. Um, uh, so this is the mini truck bill. Um, it's gone through multiple times. It just allows, uh, people to drive miniature trucks on, uh, county and city roads. Same as what we did with side-by-sides a couple years ago. Um, that's the short and sweet of it. I'd be happy to answer any questions.

486. 1:25:54

     Questions for the bill's author.

487. 1:25:55

     Motion to be passed.

488. 1:25:57

     Oh, hang on. We're gonna have to have a, uh, an amendment and second.

489. 1:25:59

     Question.

490. 1:26:00

     Yep. Go ahead, Senator Robertson.

491. 1:26:03

     I was talking about clowns in the Senate chamber the other day. Would your bill prohibit clowns from driving mini trucks?

492. 1:26:10

     You know, Mr. Chairman, if I told you the other person in the House that asked that question, you wouldn't feel like you were in great company. But, uh, sure. Clowns and anyone can drive those.

493. 1:26:17

     Sir, when you compare me to any member in the House, I don't feel like I'm in great company.

494. 1:26:22

     In fact, I was asked at one point if we could name this the clown car bill. I said, "You know, if that's, that's what people wanna do."

495. 1:26:26

     Whatever gets it passed.

496. 1:26:27

     Anyone can drive these vehicles-

497. 1:26:29

     Okay

498. 1:26:29

     ... you know, as long as they're on county and city roads, and they have not been marked, uh, at accordingly.

499. 1:26:33

     And have all of the traffic-

500. 1:26:35

     Yes, sir

501. 1:26:36

     ... uh-

502. 1:26:36

     All the safety features

503. 1:26:36

     ... safety measures necessary. Thank you. I appreciate that.

504. 1:26:39

     Yes, sir.

505. 1:26:39

     Other questions to the bill's author? Uh, I'm gonna take your motion and second. We are gonna have to do an amendment on line 115 on page five to put that date out to 2027, but I'm gonna take the initial motion from Senator Williams. Is there a second?

506. 1:26:52

     Second.

507. 1:26:52

     I have a second from Senator Wicks. Uh, who would like to make an amendment to change, uh, uh, on line 15, page five, from 2026 to 2027?

508. 1:27:04

     Sure.

509. 1:27:04

     All right. Uh, that'd be Senator Williams again who's gonna offer that amendment. Senator Payne's gonna second. All those in favor of the amendment, please say aye.

510. 1:27:10

     Aye.

511. 1:27:10

     All right.

512. 1:27:11

     Where are you looking at? I just wanna make sure I'm following you, 'cause there was a-

513. 1:27:13

     Line 115.

514. 1:27:15

     115.

515. 1:27:16

     1-1-5.

516. 1:27:18

     We can't, uh, have that go into effect on January 1 of, uh, what's already passed.

517. 1:27:23

     So mine shows 2026.

518. 1:27:26

     That is already passed.

519. 1:27:27

     Okay. That, so that's good. So there- No, I had the same question. I'm trying to remember, 'cause I... They changed...

520. 1:27:35

     We can't make it retroactive.

521. 1:27:36

     Yeah, so you know

522. 1:27:38

     ... 394862?

523. 1:27:39

     That's correct.

524. 1:27:40

     Yeah.

525. 1:27:41

     They chan- Okay.

526. 1:27:42

     And we're changing that 26.

527. 1:27:44

     To 27.

528. 1:27:45

     To 27.

529. 1:27:45

     Yeah. 'Cause January 1st, 2026 has already passed us.

530. 1:27:53

     Yes, sir. There was another one I asked Sledge Council if they wanted to change, and they said they wanted to leave it, but I do not believe that's it, so.

531. 1:27:58

     Yeah, we, we, we did, uh, check with our Sledge Council.

532. 1:28:00

     Was it the expiration date?

533. 1:28:01

     No, it was, um... Oh, man, I'd have to, I'd have to find it now. Um-

534. 1:28:05

     Unless, I mean, we, don't we send it out and-

535. 1:28:08

     No. They, uh, we, they... So they came back and changed line 218, which is the effective date, from '25 to '26. We had found another one. Um, oh, I'm sorry. It w- no. It was the... We thought we needed to change 2000 to 2001, and they wanted to go ahead and just leave it as 2000, so that's a different section.

536. 1:28:27

     All right.

537. 1:28:28

     Apologies.

538. 1:28:28

     So, uh, we have a motion and a second on the amendment. All those in favor, please say aye.

539. 1:28:32

     Aye.

540. 1:28:32

     All right. The motion, uh, or the amendment carries. Now we're back to the new committee substitute as amended by the committee. All those in favor, please say aye.

541. 1:28:39

     Aye.

542. 1:28:39

     All opposed, please say no. Passed unanimously. And who's carrying this for you on the Senate floor?

543. 1:28:43

     Kay Kirkpatrick.

544. 1:28:44

     Kay Kirkpatrick. I think she owes you one after last year, so.

545. 1:28:48

     She'll be the toy on top of the mini car.

546. 1:28:50

     Ah, easy fellas. Easy, easy. All right. Okay. All right, last, uh, we have House Bill 990.

547. 1:28:57

     Thank you.

548. 1:28:57

     Uh, let's see here. Pull it up on our folders.

549. 1:29:04

     Representative Saines, are you here?

550. 1:29:07

     Do not see him.

551. 1:29:08

     Okay. I'm gonna go ahead and present this on his behalf. Uh, this is something that he, uh, has been working with, uh, First Lady Marty Kemp on. Uh, this will allow for d- uh, donations to be made and a fund to be set up with CJCC to help out our retired K9 dogs. There'll be no state tax dollars. That will be private donations, uh, through individuals or charities that can help out for all those, uh, canines that serve so honorably. Uh, so when they are retired, typically they go with their handlers, uh, that we can help them, uh, so they can maintain, uh, their lives here on earth as best as possible.

552. 1:29:44

     I think it's a good heartwarming bill, and again, without any state tax dollars, it gives the public an opportunity to help out those who protected and served in the front lines, uh, standing, uh, on four legs next to our two-legged officers. Questions? All right. Uh, I have a motion.

553. 1:29:58

     So moved.

554. 1:29:59

     All right. I got a motion from Senator Wicks. I got a second from Senator Robertson. Any further discussion? Seeing none, all those in favor, please say aye.

555. 1:30:05

     Aye.

556. 1:30:05

     All those opposed, please say no. Were you a real no?

557. 1:30:10

     Somebody had to do it.

558. 1:30:10

     We should, we should bark for the-

559. 1:30:11

     Oh, okay. All right. Yes. Uh, all, all in favor barked. All right. Ladies and gentlemen, thank you so much, uh, for your time. I know this was a longer meeting, but a very, very important meeting. This meeting, uh, for the Senate Public Safety Committee is hereby adjourned. All right.