Georgia CommonsGeorgia General Assembly
Meetings on February 24, 2026
Machine-readable: https://georgiacommons.org/meetings/2026-02-24.md
Senate Rules Committee, February 24, 2026
Summary by Georgia Commons: The committee heard brief presentations on bills concerning courts, education, licensing, public safety, retirement and local government. Members unanimously moved SB 447 and SR 668 to the Standing Rules Committee. They also unanimously approved placing SB 116, SB 433 and HB 571 on the next day's floor calendar. Other proposals were discussed or called up without a recorded vote. The chair said the next day's floor work would also include two special actions and possibly the budget, and warned that longer floor sessions would require committee chairs to prioritize their work.
House Insurance Committee, February 24, 2026
Summary by Georgia Commons: The House Insurance Committee considered and approved three bills by voice vote: HB 1058, allowing employees to name qualifying nonprofit employers as beneficiaries of group life insurance; HB 1198, allowing retailers to offer optional insurance for more consumer goods; and HB 961, addressing surprise bills for out-of-network ground ambulance services. Members discussed safeguards for employee beneficiary choices, whether product insurance would require original receipts, and ambulance reimbursement rates and coverage exclusions. No numerical vote counts were stated.
House Small Business Development Committee, February 24, 2026
Summary by Georgia Commons: The committee heard a presentation from Access to Capital for Entrepreneurs (ACE) and testimony from two business clients. ACE’s president and CEO described loans, free coaching and other support for small businesses, including rural businesses, and asked members to consider additional state budget support. The president said ACE had provided about $295 million in lending over its lifetime and offered loans from $15,000 to about $1 million. Representatives of Coffee Man and Blinds By Noon described how ACE financing and advice helped their businesses expand and maintain payroll. Members asked about eligibility, coaching, collateral, repayment terms and interest rates. ACE’s president said rates ranged from 8% to 12% and that ACE could refinance borrowers unable to move to bank financing. No bills were taken up, and no votes or funding decisions were recorded.
House Motor Vehicles Committee, February 24, 2026
Summary by Georgia Commons: The committee approved HB 461, covering motorcycles at unresponsive traffic signals and limited passing of stopped vehicles; HB 1391, creating a specialty license plate benefiting the Georgia Public Safety Foundation; and SB 160, allowing eligible people suspended for reckless stunt driving to seek limited driving permits using speed-limiting devices. Each received a voice vote, with no numerical tally announced. Members questioned motorcycle safety rules, who would benefit from the license plate proceeds, and the costs and penalties associated with the speed-device program. The chair also called HB 1380, but its sponsor was not available and no presentation or vote followed.
House floor session, February 24, 2026 (legislative day 23)
Summary by Georgia Commons: The House focused on education, passing HB 1193 to expand early reading instruction and support, HB 372 to extend a retired-teacher return program, and HB 1123 to expand access to pre-K after-school care. Members also passed HB 1009 to restrict personal electronic devices in high schools and HB 1023 to require school weapons detection systems, after debate about costs, local control and school safety. Other measures passed would expand career academy access, provide grants to student teachers and allow unused HOPE scholarship eligibility toward graduate or professional study. The House heard bill readings and committee reports, adopted recognition resolutions, postponed two resolutions to the next legislative day and reassigned HB 1377 to Transportation. The House adjourned until February 25 at 10 a.m.
Senate floor session, February 24, 2026 (legislative day 23)
Summary by Georgia Commons: The Senate passed SB 171 on advanced math instruction, SB 395 on medical cannabis registry information, SB 428 on community-based Medicaid services, and SB 430 on military museums and hotel-motel tax funding. It also passed SB 392 on reviewing agency budgets, but a senator gave notice of reconsideration for the next legislative day. Senators approved moving SB 510 to a different committee and rejected moving SB 541. The chamber also heard bill readings and committee reports, adopted recognition resolutions, and passed an unnamed local consent calendar, 53-0. The transcript does not identify the measures on that calendar. Senators gave notice of plans to consider House changes to two bills the following day. A newly elected senator was seated, and the Senate adjourned until February 25.
Senate Retirement Committee, February 24, 2026
Summary by Georgia Commons: The committee approved SB 216, concerning retirement coverage for the Prosecuting Attorneys Qualifications Commission director, and a substitute for SB 285, adding a telephone surcharge to support peace officers’ retirement benefits. Members debated whether consumers or the state budget should fund those benefits. The committee also approved changes to fees and dues supporting probate judges’ retirement. After hearing retirees’ calls for cost-of-living increases and the retirement system director’s concerns about funding and financial stability, the committee approved SB 339. The chair indicated there was no opposition to that final vote. No numerical vote totals were announced.
Senate Children and Families Committee, February 24, 2026
Summary by Georgia Commons: The committee approved SB 540, which would set safety requirements for conversational AI services used by minors, after removing a $500,000 cap on penalties. Members raised unresolved questions about age verification and privacy. The committee also held a hearing on a substitute for SB 495, which would restrict online design features the sponsor described as addictive and strengthen privacy protections. Witnesses offered support and raised constitutional concerns, but no vote was taken. The committee unanimously approved SR 771 to create a study committee focused on making adoption easier and more affordable.
Senate Education and Youth Committee, February 24, 2026
Summary by Georgia Commons: The committee approved SB 475 with an amendment limiting school districts’ obligations to spend education sales tax proceeds on property they do not own. Two members voted against the amended bill. The committee also held hearings, without votes, on SB 519, addressing educator employment and working conditions; HB 200, creating an elementary-school writing pilot; and SB 484, creating a certification pathway for experienced private-school and college teachers. Questions focused on writing-program providers and funding, and on the training and experience needed to enter public-school teaching.
Senate Banking and Financial Institutions Committee, February 24, 2026
Summary by Georgia Commons: The committee continued its hearing on SB 424, which the sponsor described as allowing gold and silver to be used as money through regulated storage and electronic payments. Members questioned fees, fraud protection, investment risks, lost tax revenue and the need for state involvement. Witnesses supported recognizing gold and silver as legal tender but differed over the proposed depository system and the state's role. The committee voted 5–3 to advance the bill to Rules.
House Code Revision Committee, February 24, 2026
Summary by Georgia Commons: The committee approved HB 1268, which the sponsor described as a cleanup of the state code without substantive policy changes. No committee members asked questions, and the chair declined a section-by-section review. The bill passed by voice vote and was sent to the Rules Committee. The meeting then adjourned.
House Ways & Means Committee, February 24, 2026
Summary by Georgia Commons: The committee advanced all five measures it considered. It approved HB 275, presented as a clearer property assessment notice, HB 376 with a revised provision, and HB 1209 supporting a public-private construction project. HB 942, concerning taxation of Atlanta-owned airport property outside city limits, initially failed, but the committee reconsidered and passed it. The committee also advanced HR 1114, a proposed constitutional amendment providing a framework for homeowner property tax relief. Members debated how that proposal would affect farms, schools and local services. The chair announced that it would move to the Rules Committee. No numerical vote totals were announced.
House Budget and Fiscal Affairs Oversight Committee, February 24, 2026
Summary by Georgia Commons: The committee unanimously approved HB 1178 after discussing oversight of state spending. It also approved a substitute for HB 733 with an amendment requiring public website notices explaining approved insurance rate increases. The committee then held a hearing on HB 1354, which the sponsor said would speed up health insurers’ approval of medical providers already credentialed for Medicaid. Members asked about the plans covered and the reasons for current delays. No vote on that bill appears in the transcript. The chair said another meeting was planned for the following morning.
House Retirement Committee, February 24, 2026
Summary by Georgia Commons: The committee approved three bills: HB 1234, allowing life insurance benefits to be assigned for funeral expenses; HB 438, extending certain retirement and disability benefits to additional Department of Public Safety officers; and HB 905, reopening an opportunity to transfer retirement service into the Judicial Retirement System. The vote on HB 1234 was explicitly unanimous. After a break, a joint retirement committee meeting heard an Employees’ Retirement System financial update and testimony about cost-of-living increases. An ERS representative projected improved funding and a possible 2% increase in July, while cautioning that market conditions could change. Retired law enforcement officers described dangerous service, financial pressures and expectations of annual 3% increases. Members discussed funding options and comparisons with other states. No further vote or funding decision was shown.
House Public and Community Health Committee, February 24, 2026
Summary by Georgia Commons: The committee advanced five bills: HB 668 on service-dog protections, HB 1368 on oversight of community service boards, HB 1250 on hospital cooling cradles for families experiencing infant loss, HB 334 on reviews of sickle cell treatments, and HB 1040 on smoking restrictions. Substitutes were approved for the service-dog, community service board and smoking bills. Each approval came by voice vote, with no opposition heard. The committee also heard HB 866, a proposed rural-hospital insulin-management pilot, but took no vote. The chair asked the presenters to return with clearer details about the technology and how it would work.
Senate Insurance and Labor Committee, February 24, 2026
Summary by Georgia Commons: The committee considered three insurance bills. Members voted to advance SB 503, concerning property-damage guarantees offered through rental-home marketplaces, although discussion after the vote left the final count unclear. The committee heard SB 528, which would extend orthotic and prosthetic coverage requirements to state-sponsored health plans, and SB 509, which would require chest imaging coverage after a mastectomy or other cancer treatment. Neither health coverage bill received a vote. The chair said both would return for consideration Thursday. Questions focused on consumer protections, insurance oversight, coverage costs and who determines whether additional imaging is medically necessary.
House Defense & Veterans Affairs Committee, February 24, 2026
Summary by Georgia Commons: The committee heard HB 1296, which the sponsor described as a three-year research and treatment pilot for veterans and retired first responders with serious mental health conditions. A witness for Veterans Exploring Treatment Solutions supported the proposal and explained psychedelic-assisted treatments. Members asked about costs, patient selection, university partnerships and which treatments would qualify. The chair requested a more specific funding estimate. The committee adopted an amendment adding the House and Senate veterans affairs committees as recipients of program reports, then approved the bill as amended by voice vote. No vote count was stated.
Senate Higher Education Committee, February 24, 2026
Summary by Georgia Commons: The committee heard SB 523, which the sponsor said would create statewide coordinators to handle discrimination complaints in public schools and public higher education. Public testimony focused on equal protection for all faiths, free speech, staffing and fair investigation procedures. The committee rejected an amendment explicitly naming additional religious and nonreligious groups. It then approved the bill without amendment, with the final vote announced as 5 in favor and 1 against. The sponsor and chair said more work remained as the bill moved forward.
House Special Rules Committee, February 24, 2026
Summary by Georgia Commons: The committee approved all seven measures it considered and sent them to Rules. Discussion covered changing the state flower to sweetbay magnolia under HB 955, recognizing collard greens and potlikka under HB 65, designating lemon pepper as the state chicken wing flavor under HB 1013, and naming cotton the state fabric under HB 1310. Members also approved a sleep health awareness week under HB 1167, support for high-school media literacy education under HR 1111, and support for modernizing audiology standards under HR 1106. Each measure passed by voice vote, with no opposition heard. The meeting briefly paused after the chair announced that the committee lacked a quorum, then resumed when a quorum was present.
House Game, Fish & Parks Committee, February 24, 2026
Summary by Georgia Commons: The committee approved HB 1266 after adding a ban on personal watercraft, except law enforcement craft, along the Ogeechee River stretch where the bill would remove a motor-size limit. The committee also approved HB 1415, which presenters said would protect Stone Mountain Park’s original property while allowing sales of later-acquired land under state oversight. One opposing vote was recorded. Finally, the sponsor discussed HB 919, concerning funding for outdoor stewardship and land preservation, and described plans to pursue the issue further next year. No vote was taken on that measure.
Senate Regulated Industries and Utilities Committee, February 24, 2026
Summary by Georgia Commons: The committee heard revised proposals on brewery sales and electricity costs for large customers. On SB 456, brewery representatives supported expanded sales and limited local distribution, while opponents raised concerns about public health and effects on retailers and wholesalers. A motion to pass it received no second, so it did not advance. On SB 34, members debated whether contract requirements alone would protect other electricity customers or whether an explicit ban on shifting costs was also needed. The committee rejected the sponsor’s preferred version, 4 to 9, then approved an alternative substitute, 9 to 3, sending it to the Rules Committee.
House Energy, Utilities & Telecommunications Committee, February 24, 2026
Summary by Georgia Commons: The committee approved HB 1320, which the sponsor said would explicitly add nuclear generation facilities to the options considered in integrated resource planning. The committee also heard extensive testimony on a substitute for HB 1304, which would remove interconnection agreement requirements for small portable solar systems. Discussion focused on worker safety, electricity flowing back onto utility lines, product certification, household wiring and a possible registry. Utility representatives opposed the proposal as written, while other witnesses suggested safeguards and changes. The chair held HB 1304 without a vote because of unresolved questions and safety concerns.