House Rules Committee, February 19, 2026 Video: https://vimeo.com/1166168226 (a timestamp t plays at https://vimeo.com/1166168226#t=s) Page: https://georgiacommons.org/meetings/2026-02-19/house-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. [0:22:21] Morning, everybody. [0:22:28] Good morning. Good morning. I'm gonna go ahead and call our meeting to order, and we're gonna ask, uh, Chairman Stevens, if he would, to open us with a word of prayer, please. [0:22:39] Let us pray. Most kind and gracious Heavenly Father, lead us in your way. Show us the light. Most importantly, teach us to be disagreeable at times, but not do it in a nasty way. All these things we ask in your precious name, amen. [0:23:00] Hallelujah. Thank you, sir. [0:23:32] I've been informed we can start, so we'll, we'll, we'll get, get started here. Good morning again, everybody. Uh, let's go ahead and hear from our members. Representative Taylor. [0:23:45] If you would, uh, when you make your presentation, tell them where it is on the blue sheet, it'll make it easier for the members to find it, please. Thank you. [0:23:53] Good morning, Mr-, uh, Mr. Chair, committee. And thank, I wanna thank you for this opportunity to bring this legislation. It is House Bill 684. It will be found on the back side of the first page. [0:24:08] 684. [0:24:09] Yes, sir. [0:24:12] Okay. [0:24:12] Six- House Bill 684 is legislation requiring the teaching of 30 hours in trichology in barber and cosmetology schools. And having over 20 years in the industry as a technician and an instructor, I have seen so much change. So when a former industry colleague, who is with us today, Ms. Connie Judge, who brought this bill to me, asked if I would sponsor the bill, I was absolutely elated. So you may ask, "What in the world is trichology?" It is the hair science, the study of hair loss and scalp disorders. [0:24:47] Why is it needed in the curriculum? Every day in Georgia, someone walks into a salon experiencing unexplained hair loss. They may be recovering from illness, they may be on medication, they may be silently bat- battling stress or an autoimmune disease. And the professionals serving them, after 1,500 hours, still may not be properly educated to recognize the warning signs. The problem, rising post-pandemic hair shedding, chemical and health risk concerns, and the risk factors include cancer survivors, thyroid patients, diabetes, dial- dialysis, lupus, chemicals, relaxers, hair colors, and dyes. [0:25:29] And we know that this amendment does not criticize the industry, it actually, or the professionals, it strengthens them. It does not burden the schools, it modernizes them. Georgia can lead the nation in safe, informed beauty education, because we can infuse this particular p- part of the curriculum in the existing 15 hours without creating any additional- [0:25:51] Thank- [0:25:52] ... need [0:25:52] Thank you, ma'am. [0:25:52] Mm-hmm. [0:25:52] We got a question for you. Representative Williams. [0:25:55] Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Uh, to the lady in the well, behind the podium, is it not true that in committee you explained that this will not add hours required, but be incorporated into an exist- into existing curriculum? [0:26:08] That is correct. No additional hours would be needed. It can be infused in the current curriculum. [0:26:13] Great. Thank you. Don't see any other questions. [0:26:17] And thank you. [0:26:18] Yes, ma'am. To our members on the wall, um, brevity is a virtue. Amen. Okay, uh, Representative Lewis-Ward. [0:26:30] Good morning, Chairman and committee. I've, I'm here to present HB 1222. It's the first item on the last page, and I'll be reading from LC620384S. It's a simple bill. It does one thing. It proposes to amend the Georgia Condo Act and the Georgia Property Owners Association Act to allow them to charge no more than $250 for a closing or settlement letter, and that is the bill. [0:27:01] It's on the very back of your blue sheets there. Very, very- [0:27:04] Okay [0:27:04] ... uh, page five. [0:27:06] 122. [0:27:06] Okay, we got a question. Uh, Chairman Powell. [0:27:08] The top of the last page. [0:27:09] Is it not true that this very same bill was passed by the legislature in 2019, but vetoed by the governor because of the dollar amounts? [0:27:18] That is correct. [0:27:19] Is it not true that that's been amended and should be applicable today? [0:27:23] That is correct. [0:27:23] Thank you. [0:27:25] Okay, don't, don't see any other questions. Thank you, ma'am. [0:27:28] Thank you. [0:27:30] Representative New. [0:27:33] Thank you, Chairman, members. Appreciate the opportunity to talk to you about 1134. It's at the bottom of page three on the blue page. This bill updates law industry standards by doing two things. It updates the rules of notification for reclaiming personal property taken during a vehicle repossession, and clarifies the completion of a vehicle repossession. I've given you a form so that you see the comparison of where, where we are compared to states that are surrounding us for the reclaiming of personal property, and that's the bill. [0:28:09] Okay. Don't see any questions. Thank you, ma'am. [0:28:12] Thank you. [0:28:14] Vice Chair Hong. [0:28:17] Good morning, Chairman and members of the committee. I have HB 1131, which is at the bottom of page three, three up from the bottom. Um, what this bill does is it deals with the service of process for warrant applications by including personal service, so individuals who have applications for warrants out against them can have personal service. Okay. Don't see any questions. Thank you. Thank you. Chairman Petrea. [0:28:49] Thank you, Chairman. Uh, today I'm bringing to you House Bill 1097, page three, halfway down, Chairman. This bill very simply, uh, last year, uh, we, we, uh, passed a bill that moved, uh, certain facilities to the licensure of DBHDD, the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities. Those included adult residential mental health programs, CLAs, and, uh, drug abuse treatment centers. What we failed to do was move the authority to do criminal record checks and fingerprints to that department. [0:29:25] That's what this bill does. It moves that authority, uh, expressly by statute to the department for those entities. Okay. Thank you, sir. I don't see any questions. Thank you, Chairman. Representative Cox. [0:29:43] Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Um, page two, HB 675. It's, uh, six one from the top. Um, this bill's similar to what we did last year. It's the same bill. Nothing's actually changed. But it's creating a crime in the state of Georgia which would be a felony and giving authority to DAs to be able to prosecute individuals who support and promote, um, terroristic material in the state based off of the, um, foreign terrorist organizations that are, uh, listed with the State Department. [0:30:20] Okay. Got a couple of questions for you. Butch Parks? Thank you. Thank you, Mr., uh, Chairman. Uh, federal law already makes it a crime to support terrorism. Um, are there any cases that you could name in Georgia in which someone went free because this state law did not exist? Um, currently, since about 9/11, there's roughly about 2,000 cases that's been tried across the United States by the federal government. What this is actually going to do is allow us as a state to do similar to what's being done at the federal level, but here in the, in the, at the state level, to get more efficiency in, um, in getting to these cases, uh, more quickly. [0:31:02] So that's, that's more of the concern. There are many that have occurred in the southeastern United States of people crossing states. We just wanna make sure that we're protecting the people. A- a- are you asserting, uh, if I may, just that justice is being delayed, or that, again, state prosecutors, the attorney general does not have the current authority to, to prosecute these cases? The, the authority, this is what the authority is going to, this is what the law's gonna do, is give the authority at the state level. Currently at the federal level, they already have this, as we know. [0:31:34] Um, but we need to be able to do this here locally in the state as well for efficiency. Uh, two more quick questions, if I may, Mr. Chairman. Um, so the bill uses very broad language with respect to material support. What protections are in place so that we don't accidentally criminalize free speech or any other constitutional rights protected under the First Amendment? Well, this definitely has to show that, that there is knowing information from terroristic groups. So currently, you have roughly 55 that are listed, um, some of which actually in Nigeria. [0:32:06] I mean, th- those terrorist groups are the ones that were murdering the Christians and actually Muslims as well. And we know that there is a promotion and a desire for them to get into the United States and into the Southeast as well, and we just wanna make sure that we're protecting from that. But there has to be a tie between the two, um, that they knowingly, I think that's the key word here, uh... [0:32:34] Uh, o- o- one final question, if I may. Okay. Um, just in reading the bill, are there any other Georgia criminal statutes that are defined by a executive action, uh, from Washington or by the federal government with a date specific? I, I do not know the answer to that question. Thank you. Okay. Chair Lady Smith has a question. Thank you. General Yeld. Yes. Um, I want to thank you for bringing this bill to, before the committee. Is it not true that, um, we have a much better stan- chance of securing the safety of our Georgia citizens by directly being able to do this in the state, not as many, um... [0:33:14] Our problems will be more dealt with directly than, than at a federal level. Quickly, better reaction. Yes, ma'am. Okay. Representative Evans, you have a question? Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Um, there's a definition of act of terrorism starting on page one, and I was wondering where that came from and did you make sure that that lines up with, I mean, there's a plethora of, if that's the right word. There's a lot of federal statutes that define terrorism. I'm also not sure if terrorism is defined anywhere else in our state code. [0:33:45] Did you make sure that that definition i- is not creating a new definition that doesn't line up with those others? It, it lines up with, with what's done at the federal level. This is similar to what was done at the federal level. Um, so that lines up. And, and went before the Attorney General's office as well to confirm that this was the right language that we needed to use as well. Who from the Attorney General's office? Excuse me? Who from the Attorney General, General's office testified about the definitions? Not testified. W- when I was working on this, that's who I was working with. [0:34:16] Who, who did you work with? With his legislative, with his legislators. [0:34:21] I mean, as legislators with his attorneys, my apologies. Could you tell me who? I would pref- we can talk about that after. We're, we're protecting legislative liaisons in the attorney general's office? Their names are gonna be kept secret? Well, Chris Carr would be one of them, the attorney general. Okay. Um- And then his team. My other question is, could you, could... You, you mentioned that you wanted to improve efficiency and there, there was lagging. Can you give me an example of any case that has lagged that you have heard, or if you have heard from state prosecutors that they were, they were ready to go and knew they could do a case faster, an example of a case that lagged? [0:35:00] Well, the concern was is that the federal government wasn't getting to some of these cases as fast as they should, so it gave an opportunity for us as a state to be more efficient in what we're doing. Could you give me an example? Just one. Um, there was an example in Alabama where a case was coming into Georgia. Um, I'll have to go back into my notes and, and pull those details, but there's been several cases. I'd like to see an example from Georgia, if you could bring me one before we get to the floor. And then my final question is, um, the, the, like I said, there's a lot of federal statutes that deal with terrorism, and there are, you know, there's intelligence committees, there's the FBI, there are all these resources that help federal prosecutors. [0:35:40] Um, has there been any discussion about the extra resources, or has GBI testified about whether they are properly manned and available to provide the investigative tools that will be necessary to make these, uh, statutes successful in Georgia? They did- Has PAC weighed in? Those are two questions. GBI and PAC, where are they on this? Okay. So both have not physically testified in support or against, but both said that they like the bill and that's something that they would be more than glad to execute here in the state of Georgia. Okay. Okay, we got one last question. [0:36:11] Whip Burchett. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you for bringing the bill, uh, Representative Cox. Um, is, uh, one of the intents of the bill to discourage any mass destruction, assassination, or kidnapping? Is that one of the stated intents? Yes. It's, it's any, any material that's being promoted that's supporting terroristic groups or funding back to or from terroristic groups is what we're trying to address here. Well, very good. Thank you for that. And also intimidation or co- or coercion, is that correct? [0:36:45] Yes, sir. All right. Thank you very much. Oh, oh, one more. To, it's also intended to, to discourage intimidation or injury or coercion of the civil population, the civilian population. Is that correct? That is correct. Okay. Thank you. Okay. No more questions. Thank you, sir. Thank you. Representative Lim. [0:37:08] Thank you, Mr. Chair. Good morning to the committee. I am presenting HB 641. That is also on page two, fourth from the top. This bill by substitute, uh, simply ensures that electric utilities that serve residential consumers have some policy in place regarding utility disconnections for people with serious life-threatening conditions, and will furnish that policy to customers upon request. Georgia Power, Georgia EMCs, and the electric cities are all good with the bill. Okay. I don't see any questions. Thank you, sir. [0:37:38] Thank you. Jim Chastain. Good morning, Mr. Chairman, members of the committee. I have, uh, HB 1075 on the third page, eight down. This is a GBI bill, uh, that two of the special agents had given me back in the summer that we've been working on. But this bill simply, uh, changes, uh, the code for pimping in Georgia, which is now a first offense, a misdemeanor. It changes it to a felony, um, based on the fact that the, that the person charged already has a previous conviction of, uh, human trafficking or sex trafficking. [0:38:09] That's the bill. Okay. No questions. Thank you, sir. Thank you. Representative Reeves. [0:38:18] Thank you, Chairman Parrish, members of the Rules Committee. I'm here to request House Bill 1020. Uh, this bill is a companion bill to House Bill 1028, which I hope reaches you soon. This is a district attorney's, uh, retirement bill. It mirrors the judge's retirement bill and judge's pay bill that Chairman Leverett worked on so hard the last, uh, two or three years. It moves the retirement age from age 60 to 65 for DAs who take office July of 2026 or later. And, uh, also on page three, House Bill 1042, I respectfully request that to be recommitted to the House Judiciary Committee. [0:38:52] Mm-hmm. Okay. Don't see any questions. Thank you, sir. Thank you. Okay. Any committee members? [0:39:05] Let's see. Jim Carson. [0:39:11] Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Um, I bring before the committee House Bill 1199. This is our annual, um, IRC conformity bill. It's a housekeeping measure. There's a number of tax provisions that were considered and changed in the one big beautiful bill in Washington, D.C., and we're just, uh, conforming to a number of those, uh, for the Georgia Income Tax Code. Um, we do have a sub- a rule substitute, uh, that was passed out just before the committee meeting. I wanna bring the committee's attention to line 11. We're just correcting a scrivener's error- Mm-hmm ... [0:39:42] from, uh, to be the correct year, 2024. Give, give them the LC number on that, please. Yes, sir. The LC is LC443431S. We're all just making a, a correction of an error on line 11. That's all. Okay. You've heard that. Uh, is there a motion to do pass on the rule substitute to House Bill 1199, LC443431S, which contains just a minor scrivener's error in there? [0:40:17] Move do pass. I have a motion do pass. Is there any opposition? Okay, it's passed. [0:40:22] What we're trying to do on these rule substitutes, if y'all will work with us, is not have any of those unless they come and they're just a very simple, you know, scrivener's error or something, not a change of policy or anything like that. What we'd like for them to do is go back to the committee and get them straightened out and then bring them back. But on something like that, where it's just a minor error and this is something that needs to go ahead. So there we are with that. Okay, uh, Chairman Powell. [0:40:50] Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I'd like to ask on the third page, uh, House Bill 1095, straightforward, simple bill for the fireworks industry. Currently, if you own a, uh, a licensed, uh, distributorship or retail, you can have up to 10 temporary locations that are used during holidays and all. Currently, you gotta have some kind of a hard stand. This would allow tents to be used for those special event, uh, such as the 4th of July and all. And, uh, it's one per ... [0:41:20] You get 10 per, uh, licensed lo- location, and clarifies that not-for-profits can use these as a, uh, fundraiser for their cause. [0:41:32] Okay. I don't see any questions. Would any other members? [0:41:40] Okay. Before we set a calendar, let's take care of a little housekeeping. Uh, I'd like ... Uh, is there a motion to recommit House Bill 1042 back to Judiciary? Moved. We have a motion and a second. Any opposition? It's back in Judiciary. Is there a motion to recommit House Bill 1226 back to Judiciary Non-Civil? Moved. There's a motion and a second. Is there any opposition? [0:42:11] It's back. Okay. Now, let's set a calendar for today, Thursday, and for Friday. Okay, for today, Thursday, under modified structure, House Bill 1020. Moved. We have a motion and second. Is there any opposition? It's on. House Bill 1027. Moved. [0:42:41] Motion and seconded. Any opposition? It's on. House Bill 1161. Moved. Second. Moved and seconded. Any opposition? It's on. House Bill 1180. Moved. Moved and seconded. Any opposition? It's on. Okay, House Bill 1181. [0:43:12] Moved. Moved and seconded. Any opposition? It's on. Okay, that takes care of our calendar for today. Now, [0:43:24] let's set a calendar for Friday [0:43:30] under the modified open. House Resolution 1049. Moved. Moved. Second. And seconded. Any opposition? It's on. Under modified structured, House Bill 1061, 1061. Moved. Moved and seconded. Any opposition? It's on. [0:44:00] House Bill 1086. Moved. Second. Moved and seconded. Any opposition? It's on. Now, under structured, [0:44:16] the substitute to House Bill 1099 ... Um, excuse me, excuse me. House, the rule substitute to 1199, and the LC number is 44-34-31-S. Moved. Second. Moved and seconded. Any opposition? It's on. House Resolution 1000. Moved. Is there a move on that? Second. And seconded. Any opposition? It's on. [0:44:47] Okay, that sets our calendar for that. Now, let me make a couple announcements for you. Uh, we will not have a rules meeting in the morning, Friday. We will not have a m- meeting. It's my understanding that the session will probably start at 9:00 in the morning. So watch your emails on that. And for Monday, that's a committee day, we'll have a rules meeting at 11:00 AM on Monday. [0:45:21] Okay? Thank you very much. We're adjourned.