Georgia CommonsSenate Rules Committee, February 19, 2026
2025-2026 Regular Session · 450 CAP · 22 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.
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 awaiting Senate floor consideration and selected five for the next day's calendar: SB 409, SB 427, SB 440, HB 455 and HB 973. The calendar motion passed by voice vote, which the chair described as unanimous. Presentations covered legislative and magistrate retirement, budgeting, medical cannabis program communication, court claim limits, homeowner protections, healthcare licensing, public health code changes and local government audits. Members asked questions about licensing radiologist assistants, including whether it would improve hiring and provide career advancement for radiology technicians. The other reviewed bills were not included in the approved calendar.
Bills discussed (15)
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.
SB 157. Retirement; certain members or former members of the General Assembly to buy into the Georgia Legislative Retirement System; provide
From 0:08:58 · turns 5 to 12
The sponsor said SB 157 would let returning legislators buy into the legislative retirement system if they previously served two terms without joining it. The sponsor described eligibility after eight years of service. No questions or vote followed.
SB 171. Quality Basic Education Act; State Board of Education to develop an advanced mathematics pathway; require
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The chair called up SB 171 and said the committee had heard it previously. There was no further presentation or action.
SB 261. Magistrates Retirement Fund; early retirement benefit; provide
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The sponsor said SB 261 would change the magistrates' retirement board membership and allow magistrates to contribute more to their own retirement plan. The sponsor said the changes would cost taxpayers nothing. No vote followed.
SB 392. "Waste Reduction Act of 2026"; enact
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The sponsor described SB 392 as reinstating zero-based budgeting. The chair noted that the bill had recently been heard in Appropriations and invited questions. No substantive questions or vote 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 0:10:54 · turns 37 to 39
The sponsor said SB 395 would fix a communication gap between the Department of Public Health and the Georgia Composite Medical Board concerning the medical cannabis program. No questions or vote followed.
SB 405. Magistrate Court; the maximum amount of civil claims that can be tried in magistrate court; increase
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The chair described SB 405 as increasing the magistrate court civil claim limit from $15,000 to $50,000. The chair said it would be selected for floor consideration eventually, but not necessarily the next day. No questions or vote followed.
SB 409. "Insurers' Use of Aerial or Satellite Images Act"; enact
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The sponsor described SB 409 as a transparency and consumer protection measure for homeowners, noting that it had been presented previously. No substantive questions followed. Later, the chair selected it for the next day's floor calendar. The committee approved the five-bill calendar by voice vote, which the chair described as unanimous.
SB 427. Physicians; limited provisional licenses and a pathway to licensure for certain internationally trained physicians; provide
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The chair briefly described SB 427 as concerning foreign medical graduates and said it had been discussed previously. Later, the president pro tempore selected it for the next day's floor calendar, saying it would help the healthcare workforce. The committee approved the five-bill calendar by voice vote, which the chair described as unanimous.
SB 440. Department of Public Health; provisions relative to duties or functions; modernize and update
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The sponsor said SB 440 would reduce unnecessary requirements by addressing obsolete and nonfunctional provisions governing the Department of Public Health. The chair later selected it for the next day's floor calendar as a department bill. The committee approved the five-bill calendar by voice vote, which the chair described as unanimous.
SB 471. Education; requires a student to wear a face mask or face covering while present on school property; eliminate automatic repeal provision
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The chair said SB 471 had been covered previously and would remove an automatic repeal provision. There was no further explanation, questioning or vote.
HB 244. State auditor; local governments to request and receive in certain circumstances due date extensions related to filing annual audits; provide
From 0:13:25 · turns 55 to 95
The chair initially called up HB 244 while discussing whether House bills would be scheduled. When the bill returned later, the sponsor said it would provide audit-related relief for smaller cities and counties with spending below $2.5 million. The sponsor said the conditions had been developed with the auditor. No questions or vote followed, and the bill was not included in the approved calendar.
HB 377. Buildings and housing; manufactured homes; provisions
From 0:13:56 · turn 59
The chair called up HB 377, noted the absence of the Senate presenter and continued discussing the scheduling of House bills. No substantive presentation or vote occurred, and the bill was not included in the approved calendar.
HB 571. Professions and businesses; licensing of radiologist assistants; provide
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The sponsor said HB 571 would license radiologist assistants and establish their educational requirements. The sponsor said assistants already work in Georgia but lack state recognition and licensing, and that some hospitals will not hire them for that reason. The sponsor said the bill was developed with the medical board and would expand the workforce, allowing patients to receive results and care sooner. One committee member asked whether the bill would improve efficiency. The sponsor emphasized removing the licensing barrier to hiring. A second member asked whether it would also give radiology technicians a path to further training and career advancement. The sponsor agreed. No vote followed, and the bill was not included in the approved calendar.
HB 973. Supplemental appropriations; State Fiscal Year July 1, 2025 - June 30, 2026
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The chair called up HB 973 and noted the Appropriations chair's absence, but then selected the bill for the next day's floor calendar. There was no substantive budget presentation or debate. The committee approved the five-bill calendar by voice vote, which the chair described as unanimous.
HB 455. Bingo; properties used for games; limit number of sessions; provisions
From 0:18:22 · turns 97 to 109
The chair selected HB 455 for the next day's floor calendar in honor of the absent Rules chair. There was no substantive presentation or debate. The committee approved the five-bill calendar by voice vote, which the chair described as unanimous.
Transcript
110 turns. Select a time to play that moment of the video.
- 0:07:42
Uh, in Chairman Brass's absence, he is at a constituent's, uh, or family member's, uh, funeral, and, uh, I am chairing today. So, uh, Senator Anderson, we need lots of prayer today. If you don't mind opening us up for prayer.
- 0:08:02
Let's go to the Lord in prayer. Dear Heavenly Father, we just once again thank you for another beautiful day you've given us. Dear Lord, just thank you for allowing us to be here. And dear Heavenly Father, we just ask you to watch over all our families as we're away from them. Dear Heavenly Father, we just ask you to be with our chairman today and his family as they're having a funeral. Dear Heavenly Father, we just ask you to give us the wisdom and the knowledge to make the right decisions for the great people of the great state of Georgia.
- 0:08:33
As always, we just want to pause and thank you for loving us. Thank you for your love and your mercy and your grace. Forgive us of our sins, and thank you for the wonderful blessings. In your namesake, amen.
- 0:08:45
Amen.
- 0:08:45
Amen.
- 0:08:49
Thank you, Chairman. We appreciate that. Um, so let's go through the legislation here. SB 157, who has... Uh, that's retirement. Um, Senator Williams.
- 0:09:05
Yes, sir.
- 0:09:05
You're, um-
- 0:09:07
Second, Mr. Chairman.
- 0:09:08
Mm-hmm.
- 0:09:09
Uh, this bill was brought for people who had served in the legislature for two terms, and then they were out a while, and they did not join into the legislative retirement. That if they come back into the legislature, they're able to buy back into that retirement after they've become vetted after eight years.
- 0:09:30
That's great.
- 0:09:31
Yes, sir.
- 0:09:31
Thank you. Uh, and SB 171. Is Chairman Burns here? We have heard this one. Uh, and then SB 261. Senator Harbin, um, do... You can go to the podium if you like.
- 0:09:50
Yeah.
- 0:09:50
And we have heard this one also.
- 0:09:53
Heard it. You've heard that.
- 0:09:54
Yes.
- 0:09:54
It's basically for the magistrates. It costs the taxpayers zero. This is basically an internal bill for them to change their board makeup, and it can increase their ability to make more contributions to their own plan, so it doesn't cost the taxpayers anything.
- 0:10:06
Thank you.
- 0:10:07
It's a good bill.
- 0:10:08
Yes, sir.
- 0:10:08
Thank you, sir.
- 0:10:08
It is a good bill. And, uh, let's see. We're... SB 392, we heard this one in Appropriations by our distinguished, uh, 56. Who is... Senator Albers. I'm sorry. Uh-
- 0:10:26
Number three
- 0:10:27
... three.
- 0:10:28
I'm always first and last. First alphabetically, and last district number, Mr. Chairman. This is, uh-
- 0:10:33
I will always remember that one.
- 0:10:34
That's it. First and last.
- 0:10:35
First and last.
- 0:10:36
That's that.
- 0:10:36
Okay. All right.
- 0:10:37
Waste Reduction Act of 2026. That's reinstating zero-based budgeting.
- 0:10:42
Thank you. Any questions? This is the first time we have heard this, but we heard it, everybody heard it in Appropriations. Uh, was that yesterday? Wow. Uh, day before yesterday.
- 0:10:50
Day before, yeah.
- 0:10:51
Yeah.
- 0:10:51
Yes.
- 0:10:51
Okay. And, uh, 395, SB 395. Uh, s- dead straight across from you, Senator Kirkpatrick.
- 0:11:01
Yeah. Thank you. Uh, we've talked about this one before, but this fixes a disconnect in the communication between the Department of Public Health and the Composite Medical Board as it relates to our medical cannabis program.
- 0:11:14
Well, thank you very much. Any questions? No questions. SB 405, I think we have this one memorized. Uh, this increases it from 15,000 to 50,000. Any questions? It's a good bill. It will be picked-
- 0:11:30
One day
- 0:11:31
... maybe not tomorrow, but it will be picked. All right. Okay. All right, uh, SB 409, our distinguished, uh, President Pro Tem.
- 0:11:41
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I have, uh, described this already. It's a transparency consumer protection bill for homeowners.
- 0:11:50
Thank you so much. No questions. And another stellar bill, SB 427, uh, by now the chairman of Rules, as in today only. Uh, so, uh, foreign medical graduates, uh, and we've discussed this one before too. Any questions at all? Um, and SB 440, this is one of the department bills. Uh, and that is Senator Kirkpatrick again.
- 0:12:17
Yes. Thank you, Mr. Chair. This is a red tape rollback bill that has to do with the Department of Public Health and a bunch of obsolete and, uh, non-functional, uh, parts of their code.
- 0:12:29
Thank you. Uh, SB 471, uh, Senator Dolezal. Chairman Dolezal is not here, but, uh, that, that has been covered already, and it has to do with doing away with, uh, with the automatic repeal there. Uh, SB, uh, 485, uh, Senator Payne, I saw him walk in. Uh, if you don't mind just talking about that. I'm thinking that that one has not been discussed or has been discussed? This-
- 0:12:56
It has not been discussed in Rules yet.
- 0:12:58
Okay.
- 0:12:58
No, no, sir.
- 0:12:58
Okay.
- 0:12:59
Um, this bill simply a- allows, uh, professional counselors, they're enrolled in, uh, they're trying to get their licensure. It allows them to take their test for the licensure, um, before they fi- take the final exams.
- 0:13:12
So like in the last semester they can take-
- 0:13:14
Yes
- 0:13:14
... the social work.
- 0:13:14
Yes.
- 0:13:14
That's right. I, I knew I'd heard that. Thank you so much. Anybody with questions? No questions. Thank you, Senator Payne, Chairman. Uh, HB 244, um, Cannon and Senator Watson. Uh, you know what? It is a House bill. So we're doing a real big House bill tomorrow, so I don't... And we've done House bills in the past. I'm not sure the, the House has done any Senate bills, though, so we'll have to just wait and see on that.
- 0:13:48
Boo.
- 0:13:48
Yeah.
- 0:13:50
Boo.
- 0:13:50
Oh. Yeah, yeah. That's it. No. Okay, so we're going on to, let's see, House Bill 377, uh, Senator Leverett, uh, Senator- Representative ... Representative. We were giving him a promotion there, weren't we? Uh, being carried by Senator Setzler, who's also vacated, but you know what? S- same applies. He did, same applies. Uh, and you know what? We may be doing two House bills tomorrow, um, in honor of our chairman of Rules.
- 0:14:25
Uh, here we go. We're talking about bingo for Allen, the distinguished chairman of what we call Regulated Industries. I'm really not sure what they call it. Uh- Regulated Industries ... they do call it Regulated Industries, too. Uh, so bingo is regulated. And, and that is our Rules chairman. But any questions on that? Uh, and then HB 571. Uh, I see the chairman. He has shown us respect.
- 0:14:56
Have the podium, please, sir.
- 0:15:00
Dr. Hawkins-
- 0:15:02
Yes, sir
- 0:15:02
... talk to us about radiology assistants.
- 0:15:05
We actually have radiology, radiology assistants in Georgia. They're not recognized. They're not licensed. We have nothing in code with them. I've met with the Board of Medicine and worked through this bill. This will license them to, uh, delineate their education and add to the workforce. Uh, right now we have r- uh, techs. The, uh, assistants will be, uh, be able to do a little bit more so people will wait a little less time to get the results and, and get to their healthcare quicker.
- 0:15:36
That's absolutely, we appreciate that.
- 0:15:38
Yeah.
- 0:15:38
Just more government. That's what, exactly what we need, but I'm, I'm just joking with you. It is a good bill. And, uh, and then we do have... Thank you.
- 0:15:46
Yeah.
- 0:15:46
Any questions on that? Uh, yes, Senator Rhett, uh, number 10.
- 0:15:54
So basically it just makes it a little more efficient, right?
- 0:15:58
Well, it license them. We have some hospitals who won't hire radiology assistants because they're not licensed in the state, that Athens will not hire them. So this clears up a, a, a cloud that's been over this profession. There is a school in North Carolina. One day we may have a school here, too.
- 0:16:18
Oh, all right, we have another question. The questions are now just flowing in. Okay. All righty. President Pro Tem.
- 0:16:26
Chairman Hawkins, uh, I'm known on the Senate side kind of as the anti-licensing-
- 0:16:32
Yeah
- 0:16:33
... person.
- 0:16:33
That's right.
- 0:16:34
Uh, but you, uh, explained the need for this, and I'm, I'm excited that, is it, you know, d- doesn't it provide a career pathway for rad techs also to-
- 0:16:48
Yes, sir
- 0:16:48
... maybe get further training and have a career path that might help us with our healthcare workforce?
- 0:16:54
That's right.
- 0:16:55
All right.
- 0:16:55
M- moving on up.
- 0:16:56
Thank you. Thank you.
- 0:16:57
All right, a- and out of our deference to the Hou- any more questions? All right. Thank you-
- 0:17:03
Thank you
- 0:17:03
... Chairman. Out of our deference to the House, I mean, we're, we're gonna be doing House bills tomorrow, and I don't think they've been doing too many House bills. But, uh, Representative Cannon, you can certainly talk about House Bill 244 if you don't mind, 'cause no one was here to talk about it, but the floor is yours.
- 0:17:21
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. This is just a, it's a bill that we use to basically give some relief to, um, smaller cities and counties for audit purposes. There's a threshold that we went through with the auditor to create some conditions for smaller cities and counties with a spending level below $2.5 million.
- 0:17:37
Okay. Any questions? Sounds like a good bill. We certainly appreciate that.
- 0:17:42
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
- 0:17:43
Just let the, let the House know we're doing a couple of House bills tomorrow. We've done a few House bills. I did one myself, and, uh, and sent it back to y'all, so.
- 0:17:51
Will do.
- 0:17:52
Okay. Thank you-
- 0:17:52
Thank you, sir
- 0:17:53
... so much.
- 0:17:56
All right, so did we do House Bill 973, that little bill? And I tell you what, the Appropriations chair just didn't even bother to show up here, so I don't know. W- I guess we'll, we'll- Postpone it. It m-
- 0:18:11
All righty, so, uh, at the discretion of the chair, I think that we can all agree that House Bill 973 is going on. And in honor of our Rules chairman, House Bill 455, again, two House bills going on. And then we have a department bill, 'cause we have over 30 that, uh, are still, uh, to be done, but we're gonna get them all done, uh, before the time is up. And, uh, so Senate Bill 440. So those three we're going to put on.
- 0:18:43
Uh, so we got, um, so we got two more picks. And the President Pro Tem, uh-
- 0:18:52
Mr. Chairman.
- 0:18:53
Uh-
- 0:18:54
Do, do we have any ringers?
- 0:18:56
We have no ding-dings. I am sorry. I, he just, he, he delegated a lot of things, but he did not designate any, uh, ding-dings. I have ding-dings at a funeral. Yeah. All right, uh, President Pro Tem Walker.
- 0:19:11
Thank you, Chairman. Um, Representative Hawkins brought us d- described a bill that he has that would help us with our healthcare workforce, but we've got a very good Senate bill that certainly will help us in that area, so I'd like to pick Senate Bill 427.
- 0:19:30
Oh, my goodness. Yes, that w- that is, uh, that, that, that's, uh- That's a ringer ... that's a very good bill. Absolutely. Yes, that is. Uh, and you know, I'm next on the list, so I may just return that favor and pick SB 409.
- 0:19:44
Oh, thank you.
- 0:19:45
So, uh, it is, uh- Oh. Right? So, uh, so we have... Let's go over the bills we have. So we have, we have five bills, and we have one that may be coming off the table. We're doing a working lunch tomorrow. We're starting at 9:30, and we want to be as efficient as possible for folks like Senator Hodges who has about four and a half hours to travel, uh, so much appreciated.
- 0:20:10
How long do you have to travel?
- 0:20:11
I, about, about four hours. So, uh- So, okay. All right, so we're doing Senate Bill 409, Senate Bill 427, Senate Bill 440, House Bill 455, and House Bill 973. So moved. I hear a motion from Senator Albers, second by my, uh, suitemate, uh, Senator Anderson. All those in favor say aye. Aye. All those in against say s- like sign.
- 0:20:43
Like sign. Sounds unanimous. Thank you. Meeting adjourned.