Senate Rules Committee, February 26, 2026 Video: https://vimeo.com/1168256832 (a timestamp t plays at https://vimeo.com/1168256832#t=s) Page: https://georgiacommons.org/meetings/2026-02-26/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. [0:06:37] Rules Committee, February 26th, 2026, in the year of our Lord. Dr. Kay, would you lead us in a word of prayer, please? [0:06:47] Sure. Dear Heavenly Father, you know that the days are getting long and we're all tired, and we ask for your safety and your, uh, help in helping us to remain calm and pursue what your will is with, um, wisdom, justice, moderation, and courage. In Jesus' name, amen. [0:07:16] Amen. [0:07:17] Amen. [0:07:18] That's good. [0:07:19] All right, let's see some bills. [0:07:29] Any members not on the committee on there? I don't see any. Ah. [0:07:32] Yes, sir. [0:07:33] Senator Harbin, come on up. [0:07:36] I got two bills today. [0:07:37] You had two today. [0:07:38] Yes, sir. Thank you, sir. Appreciate it. [0:07:40] You coming back begging for more. [0:07:42] Begging for more, sir. Yes, sir. [0:07:43] All right. [0:07:45] Thank you. [0:07:45] What you got? [0:07:46] Uh- [0:07:47] 261. [0:07:48] 261. Yes, sir. Magistrate judges are still out there wanting to retire, but they want to put their own boards... They want to ch- choose their boards, and it doesn't require any state money. It's just them wanting to put more money away, and then we need to amend that to allow them to do that. Uh, SB425 is a really good bill and it is required cursive writing, not to be con- uh, confused with cursing, but just cursive writing that would be taught where someone could put down their signature, somebody can read the Founding Fathers' documents. Uh, and that'd be mandatory. It's done, uh, in some schools and not in others. [0:08:20] Uh, third page, top, second down, is the, um, is an Airbnb, uh, um, bill that deals with this. Right now, when you rent out your house, this is just property damage only. You have an issue, uh, they have a guarantee that's written. What this does, it makes them have insurance as a backstop to their guarantee. That's all it is. [0:08:42] All right. [0:08:42] Good consumer protection. [0:08:44] We've got a question from the senator from the 29th. [0:08:47] Thank you. Um, Senator Harbin, on the, uh, 261, how early... What, what's their current retirement age? [0:08:56] Uh, current retirement age, and I don't have it in my b- uh, it's 60, and it goes to 55, but if they go to 55, it's a 3% reduction for every year that they're not at 60. [0:09:07] Do, do all of our judges retire at 55? [0:09:10] I'm not sure on that one, sir. [0:09:11] Thank you. [0:09:13] I'd like to retire at 55. [0:09:15] Mm. [0:09:17] I'd like to retire at 63. That's helpful. [0:09:21] Question, Senator Dolezal? [0:09:23] Thank you. Um, Chair Harbin, uh, the, this, you said it'd be 85% if they retire at 55. Is there a COLA then that's involved? [0:09:30] I don't believe there's a COLA, uh, to that plan. [0:09:34] Judicial Retirement System. [0:09:35] Is that, is that in the Judicial Retirement System or is it- [0:09:37] This is in the magistrate. It's, it's, it's separate, as I understand it. It's a totally separate plan. I've got there. [0:09:44] Can you, can you come back to us when you do come back to us, Senator- [0:09:47] Okay [0:09:47] ... uh, on that, uh, COLA answer? [0:09:50] I'll give you the COLA answer. [0:09:51] If you don't mind. Thank you. [0:09:58] Anything y'all want to share with the rest of us? [0:10:01] We do. I'm trying to make sure we have a quorum for a 5:00 committee today, so I hate to slow this one down. Let, let's get the train rolling again. [0:10:08] You want to get it moving quick? [0:10:10] Let's move them. Choo choo. [0:10:12] All right. All right, we can go speed mode. All right, you're done. [0:10:16] Thank you. [0:10:16] Senator Summers. We're in speed mode now. Oh, oh, oh, by the way, my secretary has been promoted to vice-chairman today. [0:10:27] Ooh. [0:10:27] So- I would love for you to come over here and sit. [0:10:31] Slow this thing down a little bit then. Let me enjoy. I thought you meant- [0:10:37] Well, you know, after, after the vice-chairman tried to usurp me last week, or two weeks ago... Yeah, last week, he tried to take all my power, and then he took over the president of the Senate's power. We, uh, we sent him on home early this week. So all right, Senator Summers. [0:10:58] Madam Vice Chairman, 443 is a great little bill. Thank you so much. [0:11:01] Did you say Madam Vice Chairman? [0:11:02] I repeat just what you said. She's vice-chairman, isn't it? [0:11:06] No, I didn't. [0:11:07] Yeah, we were taking it literally. [0:11:08] How did I confuse the two? [0:11:10] I don't know. [0:11:11] She's not a secretary. She's a legislative assistant. Formerly known as a- [0:11:17] I made a promotion [0:11:18] ... a administrative assistant. [0:11:20] No, I got a promoter. [0:11:21] My secretary is Senator Cowsert, the dean- [0:11:25] She is not [0:11:26] ... of the Republican Party. All right, moving on. I don't even know what bill he just did. [0:11:34] 443. [0:11:34] 443. All right, Senator Payne. Senator Payne, would you get us back on the rails here? [0:11:41] Yes, Mr. Chairman, Senate Bill 485. This is a bill that allows students take their, in their final semester take their, a Master of Social Work, uh, examination while, before they graduate. [0:11:52] All right. [0:11:53] Ooh, ooh. [0:11:56] Can you say that into the microphone? Goodness gracious. [0:12:01] I, I just make a motion that we done heard the bills five times. Let's just skip them. [0:12:06] All right, let's move on. Um, Senator Williams, that's his retirement bill for former members. [0:12:14] Okay. [0:12:14] Senate Bill 198, another retirement bill. Senator Albers, any questions? Senator Robertson, another retirement bill. Good Lord. A lot of retirements. Any questions? You've covered that one. [0:12:30] I have. [0:12:30] SB230, Senator Still, you've covered that one. Senator Williams, who's not here, SB 240, that's, uh, changing the- State flower ... state flower from the Cherokee rose to the sweet bay magnolia. Uh, SB 405, Senator Setzler, is his magistrate judge court- Singular Singular. No, singular. Singular. Court, not courts, 'cause only one one wants it. [0:13:03] Go ahead. [0:13:05] Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Uh, Senate Bill 405 is the bill that raises the threshold on magistrate court to allow folks to represent themselves at a higher threshold. [0:13:13] All right. [0:13:13] I'll take questions if you like. [0:13:14] No questions. Senator Dixon, SB 437. Y'all can read it. All right, moving on, Senate Bill 447. We just moved that one out of committee standing yesterday, didn't we? So y'all know that one. 454, we know that one. 458 is Goodman's, uh, home inspector licensing bill. Senate Bill 463, Senator Dolezal. [0:13:49] Us. Three words. Stop hedge funds from buying houses in Georgia. I said three. Sorry. Uh, Senate Bill 468. Protects our children from homeless sexual offenders. I said three. You get three words. Be, be thinking. SB 471. No more masks. No more masks. Very, very good. Very good. Senate Bill 478. Out door stewardship. [0:14:21] That's three words. Two words. No, no. We separated out and door. Senate Bill 482, Senator Strickland. Mugshot man. [0:14:34] Mugshot profiteering. All right, uh, Senate Bill 486. Only American laws. Ooh. Ooh. He's getting good at this. Senate Bill 489, there's no way he could do anything in- Another. Yeah, that's three words. All right, Senate Bill 497. [0:14:59] Anyone wanna take a shot? Parents deserve to know. Must know. Parents must know. We'll take it. Senate Bill 501, Senator Robertson. Fire, fire, fire. Hmm, you can do better than that. I'm lazy. Senate Bill 523. No discrimination ever. Okay, I'll take that. Senate Bill 527, Senator Robertson. Qualified sheriffs only. Very good. Good. [0:15:29] Man, you guys are getting good. I'm on a roll today. Senate Bill 540, littering of attorney. More big government. [0:15:47] Three words. Three words. Protect the kids. Oh. All right. For the children. For the children. [0:15:55] Uh, SR624, Honor Drew Brown. [0:16:02] Road. Yeah. Actually, that is the... That's the full name, road naming bill, right? All right, SR800. Power. That's good. Most important bill. [0:16:16] And HB 244. Already on floor. Yes. Oh, no, that was a different one. Save the old house bill. Mm. [0:16:36] That's good. We'll go with that. Second. [0:16:41] All right, enough fun. Y'all get serious. Let's pick a few. Let me get to my chart, see where we left off. [0:16:53] All right, you did. We left off with Senator Dolezal with the ding-ding, so we'll pick up with you. Go ahead. SB 443. 443. [0:17:05] Not a ding-ding. Okay. [0:17:10] Senator Rhett. [0:17:14] Uh, [0:17:19] 527. 5 what, Senator? 527. 527. Is that a dinger? Negative. [0:17:32] Um, [0:17:39] Senator Kirkpatrick. [0:17:42] Thank you, Mr. Chair. In honor of my garden club people, I'll pick Senate Bill 240. [0:17:47] 240. [0:17:54] All right. Senator Anderson of the leaf. [0:18:01] Hmm. Let's go make him happy. Um, SR 800. [0:18:10] SR 800. [0:18:20] You lose picks for that. [0:18:22] What's that? [0:18:23] Skipping you. Um- Senator Harbison. Want to use one of your timeouts? Yeah, he lost picks last year. I wouldn't do it to him again. Uh, Hufstetler's not with us. Dixon's not with us. Williams not with us. Senator Albers. Although your phone just went off. That, that was his. No, it wasn't either. I turned it off for you. That was kids in school. Mr. Chairman, I, I wanna help out my good friend, Senator Bill Cowsert, and fix Senate Bill 468. [0:18:55] What a friend. Now that I'm secretary, I'm getting all the friends. You're vice-chairman. Oh, wonderful. You're vice-chairman. Damn. You kidding? Weren't you already? No, you were already secretary. I thought I'd meet a friend in the AG's office. How many is that? Yeah. And then one. All right. Let's see. What do we do 468? All right. Senator Still. [0:19:25] Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Uh, I'm gonna go with the, uh, the first of our bills that was described in the accurate requisite number of three words. No more masks, SB471. [0:19:37] Ooh. Yes, sir. All right, 471. All right. Senator Gooch, how many did you get? How many ding-dings did you get in a row yesterday? I have the records. Three? Three. Was it three? Four or five maybe. I think it was three. See. It was three. All right, I'm gonna see if I can break that record today. Let's see. Let's go with Senate Bill 437. Hey, how about that? [0:20:07] Let's see. Next, I'm gonna go with Senate Bill 447. Hey, how about that? Ooh. Uh, Senate Bill 463. And 497 for the record breaker. We did four. I'll save my next pick. Um, what is that one? I think it's somebody, but- Yeah, I know. But I just said that he was [0:20:35] on. All right, I'm not gonna save my pick. HB377. And the record's now five. There you go. You got that one. It's, it was on the floor today. It's back on. Oh, 377. And I made this yellow sheet so I can add to it. [0:20:56] HB377 was on the floor today. Who picked that yesterday? Senator Ginn. Yeah. So you know what? Because that got knocked off, I'm gonna, we'll start back with you. You'll have next pick. Thank you. That's a hint to all y'all that want your bill picked. All right. Here we go. Senate Bill 240, Senate Bill 437, Senate Bill 443, Senate Bill 447, Senate Bill 463, Senate Bill 468, Senate Bill 471, Senate Bill 497, Senate Bill 527, Senate Resolution 800, and HB377. [0:21:37] What's the will of the committee? Bill did pass. I got a motion from a president who's been standing all day, and thankfully gets to sit down. I got a second from Senator Anderson, who didn't yawn when he said it. Is there any further discussion? All in favor say aye. Aye. All opposed say nay. Motion carries unanimous. Get to your committees. Meeting adjourned.