Senate Rules Committee, February 17, 2026 Video: https://vimeo.com/1164741850 (a timestamp t plays at https://vimeo.com/1164741850#t=s) Page: https://georgiacommons.org/meetings/2026-02-17/senate-rules 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. [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. [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. [0:05:21] Amen, and Senator Albers, I'm gonna recognize you. I believe you've had a little business you wanna attend to. [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. [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. [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. [0:06:09] Okay. [0:06:11] Hot Springs. [0:06:12] And that would normally be a local bill, right? [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. [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. [0:06:49] All right, motion carries unanimous. [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. [0:07:12] Yes, sir. [0:07:13] You've got a couple, I believe. Do you not? Maybe not. [0:07:18] No, just that one. [0:07:19] Just the one, I'm sorry. Go ahead. [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. [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. [0:07:59] Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I promise no singing today. This is Senate Bill 171. [0:08:02] Thank you. [0:08:03] I know you're grateful for that. [0:08:04] Yes. [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. [0:08:25] Okay. [0:08:25] Thank you. [0:08:26] No questions. All right, Senator Harbin, 261. [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. [0:09:09] Any questions? All right, hearing none. All right, I think you're good. [0:09:14] Thank you, sir. [0:09:16] Senator Hatchett, did you have something? You're just here. [0:09:23] Who you, who you eyeing down? You trying to scare us? [0:09:29] Absolutely not, Mr. Chairman. [0:09:32] All right, now you're getting weird. All right, moving on. SB 395, and keep in mind, Senator Hatchett's watching. [0:09:43] Thank you, Mr. Chair. You've already heard about this one. This is improving enforcement for our medical cannabis program. [0:09:51] Okay. Questions? All right, we've got Senate Bill 405. [0:09:56] Yes. [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. [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. [0:10:36] Okay. Shocked you're doing an insurance bill. Uh, Senate Bill 427, Senator Watson, the good doctor. And my vice chairman- [0:10:49] Yes [0:10:49] ... more importantly. [0:10:50] Thank you. [0:10:51] It's your, it's your most worthy title, you know? [0:10:53] You know, I, vice chair, I am- [0:10:54] Yeah [0:10:54] ... it's my honor- [0:10:55] Yeah [0:10:56] ... uh, to be your vice chair. Uh, the... Oh, got me distracted there. [0:11:02] It's your foreign doctor. [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. [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. [0:11:45] All right. [0:11:47] Someone said they [0:11:49] Questions? [0:11:51] Sure. [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. [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. [0:12:07] All right. Questions? Senator Cowsert, I know you got one. Give me one. Come on. [0:12:12] I- [0:12:12] Give me one [0:12:12] ... I'm just admiring your humor, Mr. Chairman. That was quite- [0:12:15] And, and Mr. Chairman, once again- [0:12:16] ... quite [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. [0:12:37] So this bill is for America? [0:12:39] Regular citizens. [0:12:41] See, that's how you sell it. All right. No questions. Thank you. Senator Walker, back again. [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- [0:13:08] That's for here [0:13:09] ... to July 1, 2031. [0:13:13] That's the carry over funds, as they call it? [0:13:16] Strategic reserve carry forward. Carry forward. [0:13:18] Carry forward. Carry forward. Question? Hey, you may be right. You may be right. All right. Back to Senator Kirkpatrick. [0:13:30] Thank you, Mr. Chair. [0:13:31] SB 440. [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. [0:13:49] Mm-hmm. Interesting. Question from the majority leader? Comment? [0:13:58] Uh, just- [0:13:58] Or Mallow? [0:13:59] Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I know Senator Hatchett's watching us right now, so- [0:14:03] Oh [0:14:03] ... I'll be very mindful of my comments. [0:14:05] And he is the governor's floor leader, in case you were wondering. [0:14:08] That doesn't scare me, Mr. Chairman. [0:14:10] Ooh. [0:14:10] Yes, it does. [0:14:11] You take that back to your boss. [0:14:16] I didn't say it, though. [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. [0:14:46] Thank you. [0:14:47] And what was the purpose of that statement? [0:14:51] We'll, we'll fill you in- [0:14:51] You filibustering? I'm hungry [0:14:52] ... we'll fill you in later, Mr. Chairman. [0:14:54] I'm just messing with you. It was well said. I'm so proud of you. [0:14:58] I hope Senator Hatchett- [0:14:59] Senate Bill 446, Senator Dixon. [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. [0:15:27] I believe Clark Howard was on the radio this morning promoting this bill, just FYI. [0:15:33] I'll have to look that up. [0:15:34] Too bad he's not on rules committee. [0:15:36] True. [0:15:39] All right. Senator Still, SB 462, back of your page. [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. [0:16:12] Good bill. [0:16:13] Thank you. [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. [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. [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. [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- [0:17:55] It will be [0:17:56] ... ever in Rules Committee history? [0:17:59] No. [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. [0:18:11] Anybody? Randy? Or Senator Robertson. [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. [0:18:27] I have a feeling he's gonna pick his own bill, and then the real hazing will begin. [0:18:30] I don't think he would do that. [0:18:32] So what's your first pick, Senator Still? [0:18:35] As much as I love Senate Bill 462, I am gonna pick something else. [0:18:39] Okay, what you got? [0:18:40] We're gonna go with Senate Bill 446. [0:18:43] Ooh, and now you can- [0:18:46] Ooh [0:18:46] ... now you can. [0:18:48] Oh. [0:18:48] Wow, all right. Now you get another one. You get to pick again. [0:18:55] Or you can save it. [0:18:56] Or you can save it. [0:18:58] I mean- [0:18:59] It would technically be your second pick of you picking your own bill. [0:19:03] If, if it is- [0:19:03] It's not as bad [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. [0:19:13] 462, well done. That's a good guess on the ding-ding. [0:19:18] Two for two. [0:19:20] All right, back to the top for our pro tem. [0:19:25] Yes, sir. [0:19:26] Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Um, I think Senate Bill 432 would be a great- [0:19:32] Ooh [0:19:32] ... on the floor tomorrow. [0:19:36] Ding, ding, 432. [0:19:38] All right. [0:19:39] All right, that's enough. You're gonna have to save yours. [0:19:45] All right, we've got Senate Bill 432, Senate Bill 446, and Senate Bill 462. [0:19:54] Government. [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. [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. [0:20:53] Aye. [0:20:53] All opposed say nay. Motion carries unanimous. Meeting adjourned. Get to your committees.