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Senate Rules Committee

Senate Rules Committee, February 17, 2026

2025-2026 Regular Session · 450 CAP · 21 min

This is a machine transcript of the General Assembly's video, made by a speech-recognition model. It is not an official record and can mishear words, names, and numbers. Speakers are not identified. The video is the record: every timestamp links to the moment it plays.

Copy for LLM, View as markdown, and Send to AI use the Markdown version: the summaries Georgia Commons wrote, under headings that name them, then the whole transcript with its times. View raw is the transcript alone.

The video is the General Assembly's, played from its Vimeo channel. Select any time below to play that moment. Watch on the General Assembly's Vimeo channel

Summary

Written by an AI model (gpt-6.1-sol) from the transcript. It is not part of the record, and the video is what was said.

The committee reviewed bills for possible floor consideration and unanimously approved a calendar containing SB 432, SB 446 and SB 462. Those bills concern college-system carryover funds, participation in a federal scholarship tax-credit program and insurance coverage for emergency ambulance transportation. The committee also unanimously referred HB 521 to a standing committee after a member described a proposed change allowing one city to expand its council. Other listed bills received brief presentations but were not selected for the calendar. The chair said the calendar was being kept short to leave more time for committee work and urged committee chairs to move department bills forward.

Bills discussed (14)

Each account covers the stretch of the meeting it names. The bill's number is said in that stretch, unless it was the only bill on a committee's agenda.

HB 521. Local government; deannexation of certain properties; revise procedures

From 0:05:32 · turns 3 to 12

A committee member moved to refer HB 521 from the general calendar to the standing Rules Committee. The member described a proposed amendment allowing one city to expand its council from four members to six, matching surrounding cities. When another member asked whether this would normally be a local bill, the member making the motion said the language had been drafted to affect only one city. The referral passed unanimously.

SB 157. Retirement; certain members or former members of the General Assembly to buy into the Georgia Legislative Retirement System; provide

From 0:07:10 · turns 12 to 18

The sponsor said SB 157 would allow someone who served two full legislative terms without joining the legislative retirement system, and later returned to the legislature, to buy into the system before age 60. No substantive questions or calendar action followed.

SB 171. Quality Basic Education Act; State Board of Education to develop an advanced mathematics pathway; require

From 0:07:57 · turns 18 to 26

The presenter said SB 171 would allow schools to develop advanced mathematics pathways in grades three through five and require a pathway in grades six through eight to prepare students for further advanced mathematics. No questions or calendar action followed.

SB 395. Department of Public Health; eligible for the Low THC Oil Patient Registry; require a physician to submit certain information to the Georgia Composite Medical Board

From 0:09:37 · turns 33 to 35

The sponsor described SB 395 as improving enforcement of the medical cannabis program and noted that the committee had heard about it previously. No further explanation, substantive questions or calendar action followed.

SB 405. Magistrate Court; the maximum amount of civil claims that can be tried in magistrate court; increase

From 0:09:54 · turns 35 to 67

The chair said SB 405 would raise the maximum civil claim in magistrate court from $15,000 to $50,000. The sponsor later confirmed the proposed $50,000 limit and said constituents, rather than a judicial organization, had requested the change. The sponsor said people with claims exceeding the current limit could face $10,000 to $15,000 in attorney costs to resolve a $25,000 or $40,000 dispute. No substantive questions or calendar action followed.

SB 409. "Insurers' Use of Aerial or Satellite Images Act"; enact

From 0:10:20 · turns 37 to 38

The presenter said SB 409 would provide transparency and consumer protections for homeowners when insurers use aerial images to make home-insurance decisions. No further details, substantive questions or calendar action followed.

SB 427. Physicians; limited provisional licenses and a pathway to licensure for certain internationally trained physicians; provide

From 0:10:42 · turns 39 to 54

The sponsor said SB 427 would create a licensing pathway for internationally trained physicians. The sponsor described five years of supervised work in a rural area under a provisional license, followed by two years under an unrestricted provisional license in a rural area or federally qualified health center, before obtaining a regular license. The sponsor said the proposal had been developed over three years and would streamline licensing through the medical board while maintaining quality. No substantive questions or calendar action followed.

SB 440. Department of Public Health; provisions relative to duties or functions; modernize and update

From 0:13:31 · turns 75 to 90

The sponsor described SB 440 as a Department of Public Health proposal to remove requirements involving programs or bodies that were obsolete, inactive, unfunded or never appointed. Another committee member praised the work and suggested the changes could save Georgians money. No specific savings figures, substantive questions or calendar action followed.

SB 446. Student Scholarship Organizations; State of Georgia to participate in the federal tax credit program for contributions of individuals to scholarship granting organizations; provide

From 0:14:59 · turns 97 to 150

The sponsor said SB 446 would put Georgia's participation in a federal scholarship tax-credit program into law so the governor would not need to opt in annually. The sponsor said couples could contribute up to $3,400 and receive a dollar-for-dollar federal tax credit, while scholarship recipients could use the money for tuition, school supplies and transportation. A committee member later selected the bill for floor consideration. The committee unanimously approved a calendar containing this bill and two others.

SB 462. "Surprise Billing Consumer Protection Act"; insurance coverage for certain out-of-network ambulance transportation service; provide

From 0:15:41 · turns 103 to 150

The sponsor said SB 462 would require health plans to treat emergency ambulance transportation as a covered service. The sponsor cited variation in ambulance charges as the reason for the consumer-protection proposal. The sponsor later selected the bill for floor consideration, and the committee unanimously approved a calendar containing this bill and two others.

HB 244. State auditor; local governments to request and receive in certain circumstances due date extensions related to filing annual audits; provide

From 0:16:36 · turns 107 to 108

The chair briefly described HB 244 as allowing smaller cities to avoid certain audits. No further explanation, questions or calendar action followed.

SB 471. Education; requires a student to wear a face mask or face covering while present on school property; eliminate automatic repeal provision

From 0:16:17 · turn 107

Presenting on the sponsor's behalf, the chair said SB 471 would remove the expiration date from provisions concerning face coverings in schools. The chair said those provisions were believed to expire the following year. No questions or calendar action followed.

HB 455. Bingo; properties used for games; limit number of sessions; provisions

From 0:16:53 · turns 108 to 109

The chair said HB 455 would allow bingo hosts to move games between facilities on their property without additional paperwork. The chair also said the bill would increase limits on payouts and compensation for the person running the games. The chair expressed opposition to state regulation of bingo generally. No questions or calendar action followed.

SB 432. Education; nonlapsing revenue of institutions of the University System of Georgia and units of the Technical College System of Georgia; extend automatic repeals

From 0:19:29 · turns 139 to 150

In an earlier presentation, the sponsor said SB 432 would extend until July 1, 2031, the authority of the University System of Georgia and Technical College System of Georgia to carry forward a percentage of their funds rather than have those funds lapse. In response to the chair, the sponsor described these as strategic reserve carry-forward funds. A committee member later selected the bill for floor consideration. The committee unanimously approved a calendar containing this bill and two others.

Transcript

151 turns. Select a time to play that moment of the video.

  1. 0:04:50

    To order February 17th, 2026 in the year of our Lord. Rules Committee. I'm gonna have Senator Albers, if he'll lead us in a word of prayer. Number 33.

  2. 0:05:05

    Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Please bow your heads. Lord, thank you for today. Thank you for the sunshine, for the opportunity to come, uh, here and serve the people of our great state. Please put a hedge of protection around each one of us and give them the wisdom and discernment we need to do your will. For it's in your most holy name we pray, amen.

  3. 0:05:21

    Amen, and Senator Albers, I'm gonna recognize you. I believe you've had a little business you wanna attend to.

  4. 0:05:28

    Uh, yes, Mr. Chairman. I'd, uh, make a motion that we take, uh, House Bill 521 from the calendar committee and refer it to standing rules.

  5. 0:05:39

    Okay, 521. Where's the cap? Re- refer it to the cap. Where's that? It's on the general calendar. Okay. Which is the green sheet. Which is the green sheet. Which you may or may not have a copy of. No, no.

  6. 0:05:57

    It's a simple amendment that the author is allowing to, it'll just impact, uh, one city to add a couple council members. They have four today, and they wanna have six council members to be consistent with all the cities around them. This will allow them to do that.

  7. 0:06:09

    Okay.

  8. 0:06:11

    Hot Springs.

  9. 0:06:12

    And that would normally be a local bill, right?

  10. 0:06:14

    Uh, it would, but this, uh, allows it to work because there's only one city this could possibly affect based on the way that, uh, legislative council has crafted it.

  11. 0:06:23

    Okay. All right. Is there any questions for the author? All right. Well, we got a motion to refer HB 521 to standing committee. Is there a second? Second. Got a second from the majority leader. Any further discussion? All in favor, raise your hand.

  12. 0:06:49

    All right, motion carries unanimous.

  13. 0:06:54

    Senator Ginn. Did you... Okay. All right, it's unanimous. All right, moving on. Let's move on to the consideration calendar. We have about a page and a third of bills, so let's get through them. H- SB 157, Senator Williams.

  14. 0:07:12

    Yes, sir.

  15. 0:07:13

    You've got a couple, I believe. Do you not? Maybe not.

  16. 0:07:18

    No, just that one.

  17. 0:07:19

    Just the one, I'm sorry. Go ahead.

  18. 0:07:21

    Yes, sir. Thank, thank you, Mr. Chairman. This bill allows someone who had served two full terms in the legislature but did not sign up for the legislative retirement system, and they get elected and come back, that they can buy back into the system if they're, if it's before age 60. This allows them to do that.

  19. 0:07:47

    Okay. Questions? All right, I'm gonna jump a little bit here and get the members that are not on the committee. So, uh, Senator Burns, you're up next with SB 171.

  20. 0:07:59

    Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I promise no singing today. This is Senate Bill 171.

  21. 0:08:02

    Thank you.

  22. 0:08:03

    I know you're grateful for that.

  23. 0:08:04

    Yes.

  24. 0:08:04

    Uh, this is an advanced mathematics pathways bill. I appreciate, uh, the leader bringing this bill last year. It would just allow stu- uh, schools to develop an advanced math pathways in grades three through five, but require a mandatory pathway in grades six through eight to prepare them for advanced math in their academic pursuit.

  25. 0:08:25

    Okay.

  26. 0:08:25

    Thank you.

  27. 0:08:26

    No questions. All right, Senator Harbin, 261.

  28. 0:08:35

    Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and members of the committee. This is a magistrate bill, retirement bill. Uh, it does not require any state funds at all. It changes the composition of their board, increases the dues that they pay, and it requires a, an increase in their benefits. Uh, but it's a good bill for our magistrate judges, and, uh, it's all self-contained with them, not part of our state, uh, funds. So it's a good bill in that respect. And the magistrate judges will appreciate you.

  29. 0:09:09

    Any questions? All right, hearing none. All right, I think you're good.

  30. 0:09:14

    Thank you, sir.

  31. 0:09:16

    Senator Hatchett, did you have something? You're just here.

  32. 0:09:23

    Who you, who you eyeing down? You trying to scare us?

  33. 0:09:29

    Absolutely not, Mr. Chairman.

  34. 0:09:32

    All right, now you're getting weird. All right, moving on. SB 395, and keep in mind, Senator Hatchett's watching.

  35. 0:09:43

    Thank you, Mr. Chair. You've already heard about this one. This is improving enforcement for our medical cannabis program.

  36. 0:09:51

    Okay. Questions? All right, we've got Senate Bill 405.

  37. 0:09:56

    Yes.

  38. 0:09:56

    Senator Setzler's not with us. That's taking the maximum amount in magistrate court from, what is it, 15,000 to 50,000. So, any questions? He may have gave up. Think he's abandoned his reports. Well, it's still available. Should anybody want it. All right, SB 409. Mr. Pro Tem.

  39. 0:10:23

    Thank you, Chairman. SB 409 provides some transparency and consumer protection for homeowners if their insurance company is using aerial imagery to underwrite their home.

  40. 0:10:36

    Okay. Shocked you're doing an insurance bill. Uh, Senate Bill 427, Senator Watson, the good doctor. And my vice chairman-

  41. 0:10:49

    Yes

  42. 0:10:49

    ... more importantly.

  43. 0:10:50

    Thank you.

  44. 0:10:51

    It's your, it's your most worthy title, you know?

  45. 0:10:53

    You know, I, vice chair, I am-

  46. 0:10:54

    Yeah

  47. 0:10:54

    ... it's my honor-

  48. 0:10:55

    Yeah

  49. 0:10:56

    ... uh, to be your vice chair. Uh, the... Oh, got me distracted there.

  50. 0:11:02

    It's your foreign doctor.

  51. 0:11:04

    That's right. So we've been working on this for three years, and, uh, I think we've got it ironed out. This, uh, allows the, uh, foreign medical graduate to work in the rural area with a provisional license, with supervision, uh, for five years, and then have a, a provisional license, um, for two more years, uh, work unrestricted provisional license work two more years, either in rural or federally held qualified center, and then w- uh, would have a, um, a regular license.

  52. 0:11:38

    Uh, so that's it. Sort of streamlines it, uh, through Composite Board of Medical Examiners and, uh, but assures quality also.

  53. 0:11:45

    All right.

  54. 0:11:47

    Someone said they

  55. 0:11:49

    Questions?

  56. 0:11:51

    Sure.

  57. 0:11:52

    Senator Setzler, you wanna cover... Well, you already covered it, but you're more than welcome to beat a dead horse. Mr. Brett.

  58. 0:11:59

    Mr. Chairman, Senate Bill 405, uh, raises the threshold for magistrate court, uh, small claims court to $50,000. Glad to take questions.

  59. 0:12:07

    All right. Questions? Senator Cowsert, I know you got one. Give me one. Come on.

  60. 0:12:12

    I-

  61. 0:12:12

    Give me one

  62. 0:12:12

    ... I'm just admiring your humor, Mr. Chairman. That was quite-

  63. 0:12:15

    And, and Mr. Chairman, once again-

  64. 0:12:16

    ... quite

  65. 0:12:17

    ... this, this was not brought by any judicial organization. This was brought on behalf of, um, a number of constituents who've raised the question, they cannot get access to solve small claims because they, they exceed the threshold. They, they have to hire an attorney and go through a 10 or $15,000 process of attorney cost just to hire 25 or $40,000 problem.

  66. 0:12:37

    So this bill is for America?

  67. 0:12:39

    Regular citizens.

  68. 0:12:41

    See, that's how you sell it. All right. No questions. Thank you. Senator Walker, back again.

  69. 0:12:50

    So under the current statute, the university system of Georgia and the technical college system of Georgia are able to, uh, carry over and not, and have their funds not lapse, a percentage of their funds. And this ex- simply extends the sunset on that-

  70. 0:13:08

    That's for here

  71. 0:13:09

    ... to July 1, 2031.

  72. 0:13:13

    That's the carry over funds, as they call it?

  73. 0:13:16

    Strategic reserve carry forward. Carry forward.

  74. 0:13:18

    Carry forward. Carry forward. Question? Hey, you may be right. You may be right. All right. Back to Senator Kirkpatrick.

  75. 0:13:30

    Thank you, Mr. Chair.

  76. 0:13:31

    SB 440.

  77. 0:13:32

    This is an agency bill for the Department of Public Health, and it is a red tape rollback bill. And for every sticky note on this bill, um, this bill gets rid of something that's either obsolete, inactive, unfunded, or never appointed.

  78. 0:13:49

    Mm-hmm. Interesting. Question from the majority leader? Comment?

  79. 0:13:58

    Uh, just-

  80. 0:13:58

    Or Mallow?

  81. 0:13:59

    Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I know Senator Hatchett's watching us right now, so-

  82. 0:14:03

    Oh

  83. 0:14:03

    ... I'll be very mindful of my comments.

  84. 0:14:05

    And he is the governor's floor leader, in case you were wondering.

  85. 0:14:08

    That doesn't scare me, Mr. Chairman.

  86. 0:14:10

    Ooh.

  87. 0:14:10

    Yes, it does.

  88. 0:14:11

    You take that back to your boss.

  89. 0:14:16

    I didn't say it, though.

  90. 0:14:18

    Poor guy. It's on the record. Um, Senator Kirkpatrick, I just wanna say thank you for your hard work on this bill. Um, I assume that every little piece of sticky notes and everything you flagged there, um, is probably gonna save somebody in Georgia money with this bill, and just wanna say thank you therein. As we're, you know, addressing costs, um, to individual Georgians, that this is another, um, example of us doing that hard work for individual citizens, um, across the state.

  91. 0:14:46

    Thank you.

  92. 0:14:47

    And what was the purpose of that statement?

  93. 0:14:51

    We'll, we'll fill you in-

  94. 0:14:51

    You filibustering? I'm hungry

  95. 0:14:52

    ... we'll fill you in later, Mr. Chairman.

  96. 0:14:54

    I'm just messing with you. It was well said. I'm so proud of you.

  97. 0:14:58

    I hope Senator Hatchett-

  98. 0:14:59

    Senate Bill 446, Senator Dixon.

  99. 0:15:01

    Thank you, Mr. Chairman. This bill is a, uh, student scholarship, uh, federal tax program, uh, where couples can contribute up to $3,400 and get a dollar for dollar, uh, federal tax credit. Uh, and then students receiving, uh, the scholarship, they can use it for, um, tuition, school supplies, transportation. Uh, the governor has opted us into this. This bill would codify it so the governor would not have to opt us in every year.

  100. 0:15:27

    I believe Clark Howard was on the radio this morning promoting this bill, just FYI.

  101. 0:15:33

    I'll have to look that up.

  102. 0:15:34

    Too bad he's not on rules committee.

  103. 0:15:36

    True.

  104. 0:15:39

    All right. Senator Still, SB 462, back of your page.

  105. 0:15:44

    Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Surprise Billing Consumer Protection Act, this, uh, this bill simply requires health plans to treat emergency ambulance transport as a covered service. Um, and, uh, if any of us have ever had to take an ambulance ride or if you've had a constituent take an ambulance ride, you know how variable those costs can be, so this helps bring all that in alignment and, uh, make it a good bill and consumer protection for everybody that's gotta have one of those rides one day.

  106. 0:16:12

    Good bill.

  107. 0:16:13

    Thank you.

  108. 0:16:14

    All right. Any questions? None. SB 471, Senator Dolezal, he asked me to cover this. The, uh, sunset on the face mask coverings in our schools, that, it sunsets, I believe, next year, and this eliminates that sunset. No questions. All right. HB 244 is, uh, Representative Cannon's bill, and that's to allow the smaller cities out of, uh, certain audits.

  109. 0:16:48

    So, um- He's been a frequent flyer, just keep that in mind. And then HB 455 is the Bingo Bill, which I've covered in multiple years. Um, just allows anyone hosting bingo to move it to different properties within their, or different facilities within their property without having to go through all the rigmarole or the, the paperwork and whatnot, and then it ups some of the limits on what we pay the people, um, the payouts, and then also, uh, what you can pay the person running the bingo.

  110. 0:17:24

    So again, I don't think the state should be regulatin' bingo, but we do, so here we are. All right. Let's pick a few.

  111. 0:17:38

    Is something wrong there? All right. Just a hint, I've got a couple of ding-dings today. Just a hint. I'm gonna need to borrow your pen. All right, Senator Still, will this be your first pick-

  112. 0:17:55

    It will be

  113. 0:17:56

    ... ever in Rules Committee history?

  114. 0:17:59

    No.

  115. 0:18:00

    So we're gonna start a new tradition today, and if it's your first pick, you're, the committee is welcome to haze you.

  116. 0:18:11

    Anybody? Randy? Or Senator Robertson.

  117. 0:18:17

    Um, I don't know that I've ever seen anybody smile as hard- ... as he just smiled- ... when you called his name. So we do appreciate the joy he's finding in this opportunity.

  118. 0:18:27

    I have a feeling he's gonna pick his own bill, and then the real hazing will begin.

  119. 0:18:30

    I don't think he would do that.

  120. 0:18:32

    So what's your first pick, Senator Still?

  121. 0:18:35

    As much as I love Senate Bill 462, I am gonna pick something else.

  122. 0:18:39

    Okay, what you got?

  123. 0:18:40

    We're gonna go with Senate Bill 446.

  124. 0:18:43

    Ooh, and now you can-

  125. 0:18:46

    Ooh

  126. 0:18:46

    ... now you can.

  127. 0:18:48

    Oh.

  128. 0:18:48

    Wow, all right. Now you get another one. You get to pick again.

  129. 0:18:55

    Or you can save it.

  130. 0:18:56

    Or you can save it.

  131. 0:18:58

    I mean-

  132. 0:18:59

    It would technically be your second pick of you picking your own bill.

  133. 0:19:03

    If, if it is-

  134. 0:19:03

    It's not as bad

  135. 0:19:04

    ... if it is my second pick, I would like to maybe use this opportunity to help the folks that may have an unfortunate ride in an ambulance. Let's go with, uh, 462.

  136. 0:19:13

    462, well done. That's a good guess on the ding-ding.

  137. 0:19:18

    Two for two.

  138. 0:19:20

    All right, back to the top for our pro tem.

  139. 0:19:25

    Yes, sir.

  140. 0:19:26

    Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Um, I think Senate Bill 432 would be a great-

  141. 0:19:32

    Ooh

  142. 0:19:32

    ... on the floor tomorrow.

  143. 0:19:36

    Ding, ding, 432.

  144. 0:19:38

    All right.

  145. 0:19:39

    All right, that's enough. You're gonna have to save yours.

  146. 0:19:45

    All right, we've got Senate Bill 432, Senate Bill 446, and Senate Bill 462.

  147. 0:19:54

    Government.

  148. 0:19:55

    And just so everybody knows, I got a motion from Senator Ginn. Uh, Representative Powell, I covered your, I covered the Bingo Bill, so you're good. Um, I got a second from Senator Jackson. Further discussion, I will take this time to further discuss. Uh, we're keeping the, we're keeping the calendar light right now so that we can get to our committees and get more bills to this committee. So, um, so keep that in mind, and the less we, less time we spend in the well gives us more time to get to committees.

  149. 0:20:32

    Keep that in mind. So, um, and for our committee chairs, which many of you sit on this committee, I do wanna take the time to emphasize department bills. Let's, let's get those out of your committees as quick as you can. So with that, any other discussion? All right. All in favor say aye.

  150. 0:20:53

    Aye.

  151. 0:20:53

    All opposed say nay. Motion carries unanimous. Meeting adjourned. Get to your committees.

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