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House Special Rules Committee

House Special Rules Committee, March 2, 2026

2025-2026 Regular Session · 515 CLOB · 38 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.

Copy for LLM, View as markdown, and Send to AI use the Markdown version: the summaries Georgia Commons wrote, under headings that name them, then the whole transcript with its times. View raw is the transcript alone.

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 · Agenda

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 considered four measures. It approved HB 1082 with a substitute removing school instruction provisions and retaining an annual Victims of Communism Day designation. It also approved HR 1445, urging continued preservation of the State Capitol, and HR 1475, creating a joint study committee on modified vehicle exhaust systems and noise enforcement. A motion to approve HR 1299, supporting dissolution of the U.S. Department of Education and returning educational authority to states, failed for lack of a second.

Bills discussed (4)

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.

HR 1299. United States Department of Education; dissolve and restore educational authority to the states; express support

From 0:15:54 · turns 5 to 39

The sponsor presented HR 1299 as support for reorganizing the federal government and returning more educational responsibility to states. The sponsor argued that the U.S. Department of Education had become too large and imposed prescriptive rules and unfunded mandates without improving educational outcomes. The sponsor said the proposal would reorganize support rather than eliminate it, describing Agriculture as a destination for feeding programs and Health and Human Services for special-needs support. Asked where federal student grants and Pell Grants would go, the sponsor said Treasury was a current idea, while acknowledging that reorganization might not be completed under the current administration. A committee member questioned the need for the change because states already control curriculum and the federal department does not design it. The sponsor responded by emphasizing federal rules affecting classroom teaching. A motion to approve received no second, and the chair declared the measure dead. The sponsor said it might be brought back at another meeting.

HB 1082. Victims of Communism Day; November 7 of each year; designate

From 0:20:52 · turns 47 to 185

The committee initially paused consideration of HB 1082 because members did not have copies of the substitute. After copies were distributed, the sponsor explained that the substitute removed school-related provisions from the original bill, leaving designation of November 7 as Victims of Communism Day. The sponsor said the governor could issue an annual proclamation and designate observances at the Capitol and elsewhere. Responding to questions, the sponsor confirmed that provisions concerning school observances and instruction for grades 9 through 12 had been deleted. The sponsor and chair said education provisions would be more appropriately considered by the Education Committee at a future date. A witness who described being Cuban-born said November 7 was chosen to recall the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917, which the witness described as the beginning of the communist movement. When a member asked whether parents could opt children out of instruction, the chair reiterated that the substitute removed the education portion. The committee approved the substitute by voice vote; no numerical tally was stated.

HR 1445. Georgia Building Authority team; continued historical preservation of the Georgia State Capitol; urge

From 0:22:16 · turns 61 to 93

The sponsor said HR 1445 urges continued historical preservation of the State Capitol and recognizes the Georgia Building Authority's restoration work. The sponsor described finding Carnegie-stamped steel beams above the Senate chamber during air-conditioning work and said Georgia and Texas had two of the oldest operating state capitols using Carnegie steel. Asked whether other artifacts had been found, the sponsor deferred to the Georgia Building Authority and said restoration remained ongoing. A committee member asked whether the resolution would require careful investigation and preservation of discoveries. The sponsor clarified that it urges preservation but does not impose a requirement. The committee approved the resolution by voice vote; no numerical tally was stated.

HR 1475. Joint Study Committee on Modified Exhaust Systems on Motor Vehicles; create

From 0:27:59 · turns 97 to 120

The sponsor said HR 1475 would create a joint study committee to examine excessive or unusual noise from vehicle exhaust systems. According to the sponsor, law enforcement officials said existing law was not enforceable because those terms were undefined. The sponsor said the study could consider definitions, law enforcement's role and tools such as decibel meters. No substantive questions were asked. The committee approved the resolution by voice vote; no numerical tally was stated.

Transcript

189 turns. Select a time to play that moment of the video.

  1. 0:15:24

    Representative Wade, if you'll come on over to the podium. Is that working? Yeah.

  2. 0:15:32

    And if you don't mind, tell us your house resolution and the LC number you're working off of, please, sir.

  3. 0:15:37

    I'm gonna need to borrow a folder first.

  4. 0:15:40

    Okay.

  5. 0:15:41

    Without bringing that, I wouldn't know what to do.

  6. 0:15:48

    Thank you, sir. So, Chairman, k- uh, committee members, colleagues, I bring to you House Resolution 1299, which is LC39-4931. Um, this is, um, in support of Washington DC's current posture of reorganizing our federal government, and in my view, reestablishing the importance of the Tenth Amendment. There was a time we did not have a federal Department of Education, and I think it has gotten way too bloated, and this is an effort to join in our state saying we want to have more responsibility to impact the education of the lives of students in this state.

  7. 0:16:30

    And I think that the resolution, I won't read it, it reads for itself. Um, there are some folks that may have a concern that we're gonna get rid of the support for f- feeding ch- children. That is not the case. We're talking about reorganizing those departments that more better align with where they are. So Department of Agriculture, for example, or on the taking care of students with special needs, that would be with the Department of Health and Human Services. So it is massively scaling down the Department of Education that, quite frankly, many could argue, has not been at the forefront of helping and benefiting outcomes in educations.

  8. 0:17:04

    We think states, I believe that our state is phenomenal. I also think that our legislature has shown leadership in the areas of literacy, mathematics, digital learning, as well as character education. Those are things that we're emboldening our Department of Education and our Governor's Office of Student Achievement to make an impact. So I think this just sends a message that Georgia is ready to take on that responsibility, and I will remind you that my great-grandfather served in the United States Air Force, and he was able to be a chief master sergeant and was a part of what became the space race, and all of that existed prior to the Department of Education.

  9. 0:17:40

    I think it just got bloated, and we need to have it reorganized, and that- that's the effort and the reason behind this resolution.

  10. 0:17:46

    Okay. Thank you-

  11. 0:17:47

    Thank you

  12. 0:17:47

    ... Representative, uh, Wade. Any questions from the committee?

  13. 0:17:53

    Seeing none. Oh, well, excuse me. Number seven. Um...

  14. 0:18:00

    Thank you for bringing the bill. Uh, just out of curiosity, because the, uh, Department of Education does currently handle, um, handle a lot of the federal student grants and the Pell Grants, how do you envision that to be restructured, as you say?

  15. 0:18:12

    So, um, I'll, I will say that my understanding is, is they are planning on moving those things to the Department of Treasury. If I'm not mistaken, that's a current idea. Obviously, it's Washington, DC. I'm also, um, smart enough to know that this may not be fully accomplished within the current administration, but I still, no matter who is at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, I think that this is a policy position that the states should be the bastions of how to educate our students. So I think for federal programs, those can be reallocated.

  16. 0:18:43

    It would be my thought it should go to the Department of Treasury.

  17. 0:18:47

    But, but just to that point, that states do have a say in terms of, you're talking about in terms of, like, curricular design and... Isn't that already how it is?

  18. 0:18:57

    Well, the-

  19. 0:18:57

    'Cause the Department of Education doesn't actually do that.

  20. 0:18:59

    Well, well, the Department of Education is promulgating a lot of rules based on the federal government and the federal Department of Education that have been very prescriptive in what teachers do in the classroom, and we have not seen better educational outcomes. And that's really what I'm trying to get at, is, as pushing back against the federal overreach that has become through unfunded mandates, quite frankly, from the federal Department of Education.

  21. 0:19:22

    Okay.

  22. 0:19:23

    Thank you.

  23. 0:19:25

    Thank you, Representative. Any other questions? Uh, what is the pleasure of the committee?

  24. 0:19:32

    Do pass.

  25. 0:19:34

    Got a motion to do pass. Do I hear a second?

  26. 0:19:39

    Okay. For lack of a second-

  27. 0:19:42

    Understand

  28. 0:19:43

    ... the bill is dead.

  29. 0:19:43

    I may come back if you have another meeting. Thank you.

  30. 0:19:45

    We will.

  31. 0:19:46

    Well, there's another person. I don't know if he wants to weigh in, but give a second or not.

  32. 0:19:50

    He's, uh, he's not on the committee.

  33. 0:19:52

    Okay, he's not.

  34. 0:19:53

    No.

  35. 0:19:53

    Yes, sir.

  36. 0:19:53

    Okay.

  37. 0:19:53

    All right. Thank you.

  38. 0:19:54

    Yep.

  39. 0:19:55

    Appreciate it.

  40. 0:19:55

    Thank you.

  41. 0:20:12

    Martinez, come on up.

  42. 0:20:21

    I believe.

  43. 0:20:28

    Representative Martinez, we heard your bill last week, and we heard testimony from a couple of witnesses that you brought with you, and, uh-

  44. 0:20:35

    That is correct

  45. 0:20:35

    ... so we called you back for a second hearing today. And do you want to, uh, do anything new? And tell us what LC number you're working off of.

  46. 0:20:43

    LC number. We do, we do have a substitution, Chairman, committee.

  47. 0:20:46

    Okay.

  48. 0:20:47

    Uh, LC number 443480SS, as in Sam. House Bill 1082 was-

  49. 0:20:55

    44347.

  50. 0:20:58

    Okay. Mr. Martinez, Representative Martinez, we don't have that sub, um...

  51. 0:21:03

    Nope.

  52. 0:21:04

    We don't. No, sir.

  53. 0:21:06

    You don't have it? All right.

  54. 0:21:08

    Uh, we can, I can send somebody to get copies if you wanna do that, and we'll take a look at it.

  55. 0:21:13

    Absolutely.

  56. 0:21:14

    Uh, let's, let's wait on your bill, and we'll call you back in shortly, and we'll get some copies made.

  57. 0:21:18

    Okay. Sounds good.

  58. 0:21:19

    All right?

  59. 0:21:30

    Representative Martinis, could you come up just a second?

  60. 0:21:36

    Okay, I think I seen, uh, Representative Cox come in first. Come on up.

  61. 0:22:08

    Okay, Representative Cox, uh, tell us what, uh, resolution number you have and the LC number you're working off of, please, sir.

  62. 0:22:16

    Yes, sir. House Resolution 1445.

  63. 0:22:19

    Okay.

  64. 0:22:19

    It's LC1299039.

  65. 0:22:25

    Okay. Tell us about your resolution.

  66. 0:22:28

    So it's an urging resolution, um, which is to keep and continue to keep our historical preservation of our State Capitol. And also recognizing the Georgia Building Authority for all the work that they've done, and we went into details of actually who all was involved, uh, getting, uh, the restoration of the State Capitol taken care of. One of the most interesting pieces of this, and this will be history that will go across the entire United States, um, when the air condition units were being pulled out of the State Capitol, specifically over the Senate chamber, because that's a world that I kinda live above the attic.

  67. 0:23:08

    I enjoy this weird stuff of climbing around. I had the ability and the opportunity to go on top of the Capitol and then go down where the unit was located. When going into the unit, we noticed that there were these brick arches that was old style of engineering from back in the 1880s. And I looked at it and, uh, Gerald Pilgrim and his team were there and I... And then there was structural steel sitting there next to it, and I looked at him, I said, "The only person I think around here that had structural steel back in that day was a man by the name of Andrew Carnegie." And he said, "You need to follow me." So follow me meant crawling, which then we went above the Senate chamber, and the steel I-beams have Carnegie stamped on the I-beams that had been hidden.

  68. 0:23:56

    And something that's incredibly, uh, unique, we're talking post-Civil War, somehow the General Assembly negotiated with the northerners at the time, we're gonna use Carnegie Steel. And there's an actual another piece of steel that has stamped Canada on it, and intriguing enough, uh, Canada did some of the work for Carnegie, uh, uh, I guess w- some of their facilities in Canada that brought it down.

  69. 0:24:27

    So this then led me down a path of what state capitals in the country have Carnegie steel that are still operational? The other one would be Texas, is the same age, and we're within a year of each other. So it also recognizes that the capital that we're currently in is one of the two oldest state capitals operational that has Andrew Carnegie Steel. And that had never been known till this renovation. It's pretty remarkable. So I ask for y'all's favorable consideration, and, uh, let's keep our history intact.

  70. 0:25:00

    That, that's a good history lesson for today. Thank you for bringing the bill.

  71. 0:25:03

    You're welcome.

  72. 0:25:03

    Um, number one.

  73. 0:25:06

    Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

  74. 0:25:08

    Mm-hmm.

  75. 0:25:09

    Um, you, I know you're speaking about the Carnegie Steel, but, uh, were there any other artifacts or any other historical pieces that were, that you were able to identify while you were there?

  76. 0:25:18

    Well, well, that wouldn't come from me, so I would leave that to the Georgia Building Authority. And I know that their team, anything that they had, they were able to... Uh, by the way, the, this process is ongoing. I can't imagine after some of these offices are removed, what could be found, but I'll leave that to them. I'm not 100% sure everything else is found.

  77. 0:25:37

    If, if I may, Mr. Chairman. So this is going to, um, require that they do careful due diligence in, in that are discovering. This resolution will actually mandate that they do diligence, do due diligence and preserve.

  78. 0:25:53

    It, it's not a mandate. It's just an urging resolution that we continue and always continue to have the historical preservation of our capital now and moving forward, that this is what we do.

  79. 0:26:03

    But we do-

  80. 0:26:04

    It's not a mandate.

  81. 0:26:05

    But we need a mandate.

  82. 0:26:06

    Well, I understand that. But this isn't a bill, it's a resolution.

  83. 0:26:08

    Okay. I just wanted to be clear.

  84. 0:26:09

    I understand.

  85. 0:26:10

    Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

  86. 0:26:15

    Okay, any other questions from the committee? If not, what is the pleasure of the committee?

  87. 0:26:21

    Do pass.

  88. 0:26:22

    A motion to do pass and a second.

  89. 0:26:24

    Second.

  90. 0:26:25

    Any, any other discussion? All in favor of the passing of this resolution say aye.

  91. 0:26:31

    Aye.

  92. 0:26:31

    All opposed. Thank you very much. On the rules.

  93. 0:26:34

    Thank you, Chairman.

  94. 0:26:35

    Yes, sir.

  95. 0:26:44

    Ladies and gentlemen, I gotta go present a bill in another committee and Vice Chair, uh, Ballard is gonna take over and, uh, she'll be, you'll be in good hands. Thank you.

  96. 0:27:27

    Let me get situated here. Um, did he

  97. 0:27:43

    Okay, Chairman Dubnik, if you would like to come up and present your resolution.

  98. 0:27:54

    Thank you, Madam Chair, members of the committee. I bring before you today House Resolution 1475. I, I just wanna read this to you briefly. This is all about loud and excessive unusual noise coming from, uh, mufflers. While existing law reads well, law enforcement tells us that current code is not enforceable as there is no definition of excessive or unusual noise. I'm simply, Madam Chair, asking for a study committee that could look at this to help to define what those terms mean, how law enforcement could be a partner, what we could use to measure, uh, those sounds through possible decibel meters, et cetera.

  99. 0:28:38

    So this is just a study committee, uh, if, if we could. A joint study committee, I should say. Madam Chair, that's the extent of the resolution.

  100. 0:28:47

    Okay, thank you so much. Um, do we have any questions from the committee?

  101. 0:28:51

    I don't have the bill.

  102. 0:28:53

    Oh, I took it out of your folder.

  103. 0:28:54

    Sorry. That's because he took it out of your folder.

  104. 0:28:57

    I am quorum in two other committees right now.

  105. 0:29:00

    Okay.

  106. 0:29:00

    I apologize. I was in a hurry. Uh-

  107. 0:29:03

    Thank you. Um, I don't see any questions. Uh, what's the will of the committee?

  108. 0:29:14

    It's a study committee.

  109. 0:29:14

    It's a study committee.

  110. 0:29:16

    Thank you.

  111. 0:29:19

    I don't know if she heard you.

  112. 0:29:22

    Oh.

  113. 0:29:23

    I think, uh, do pass and we need a second.

  114. 0:29:26

    Okay. We have a motion do pass. We have a second?

  115. 0:29:29

    I second.

  116. 0:29:30

    Okay, we have a motion and a second. All those in favor say, "Aye."

  117. 0:29:34

    Aye.

  118. 0:29:34

    Opposed, like sign. Okay, congratulations.

  119. 0:29:37

    Thank you.

  120. 0:29:39

    And you can get, um, your form to the chairman.

  121. 0:29:41

    Yes, thank you.

  122. 0:29:43

    Uh, okay.

  123. 0:29:53

    Representative Martinez, so you are passing out your sub.

  124. 0:30:02

    Thank you.

  125. 0:30:05

    And you can, uh, present your bill or your resolution. Is it ... Oh, it's still a bill. Okay.

  126. 0:30:28

    And we heard this for the first time in committee, um, last week?

  127. 0:30:33

    That is correct.

  128. 0:30:34

    That is, as a hearing only. Okay. So go ahead and let us know about, um, uh, the changes that, that you've made in, in this sub since we have heard this once before.

  129. 0:30:44

    Yeah, the changes, the changes that we had originally were, was we just deleted lines from the original bill. We, we deleted lines 40, from 40 all the way down to 58. So now all we're doing is we're, uh, recognizing, uh, and observing, uh, November 7th of each year as Victims of Communism Day. Um, that's all we're doing.

  130. 0:31:15

    And, um, basically what that's gonna do is every November 7th of each, of each year is gonna degsi- designate Victims of Communism Day in Georgia, and the governor may annually issue a proclamation designating November 7th as Victims of Communism Day. And it'll be observed, uh, by public exercise at the state capital and elsewhere the governor may designate. That's, that's what the bill basically does.

  131. 0:31:44

    Okay, thank you. And remind us about November 7th, why we chose that day.

  132. 0:31:49

    That's a great question, and I'm gonna have two victims of communism here. I got Jose Perez would, would be, uh, would be delighted to, uh, to mention about the significance of November 7th. So, so Jose, you wanna come up real quick? Can you do that real quick?

  133. 0:32:04

    Yes.

  134. 0:32:04

    Couple minutes.

  135. 0:32:05

    And while he's coming up, may I ask a question?

  136. 0:32:07

    Yes.

  137. 0:32:08

    Uh, now what did you say about alleviating line 40 and, and the-

  138. 0:32:12

    Yes, sir. Yes, Representative. Um, the original bill, lines 40, um, from about lines 40 all the way to 58 was basically talking about, um, teaching, uh, having, uh, the public elementary secondary schools in the state honoring the 100, 100 million people and, uh, beginning the 20-, uh, 2026-2027 school year and continuing each year after that, uh, students grade, grade 9 through 12 to enroll in a course with, um, victims of communism.

  139. 0:32:51

    That, that was all.

  140. 0:32:52

    And those are deleted.

  141. 0:32:53

    That, that has been substituted.

  142. 0:32:55

    All right. Okay. All right.

  143. 0:32:55

    That's, that's been deleted. Yes, sir. Um-

  144. 0:32:57

    Okay, so line 40 now is all, uh, section three?

  145. 0:33:00

    Mm-hmm.

  146. 0:33:01

    Okay. Okay.

  147. 0:33:01

    So, so we found that to be more appropriate, that section to go at some point into the education committee.

  148. 0:33:10

    Okay.

  149. 0:33:11

    Okay. Yes, sir. If you could tell us about, uh-

  150. 0:33:14

    Yeah.

  151. 0:33:14

    -the significance of November 7th.

  152. 0:33:16

    Again, I'm, I'm Jose Perez, who testified the last time. Uh, I'm Cuban by birth, American by choice. Uh, the September 7th date is to remind people of the Ru- Russia Revolution, the Bolshevik Revolution. What did I say? November. November. November 7th. Forgive me. So that, that's all.

  153. 0:33:39

    Okay.

  154. 0:33:39

    That's all it means. It's reminding people this is where it all started.

  155. 0:33:44

    Where did it-

  156. 0:33:48

    Representative Taylor.

  157. 0:33:48

    Yeah, the, thank you, Madam Chair. It w- what, what, November the 7th-

  158. 0:33:53

    The communis-

  159. 0:33:53

    ... is when what all started?

  160. 0:33:55

    The communism movement.

  161. 0:33:57

    Okay.

  162. 0:33:57

    It was the first ... The Soviet Union was the first-

  163. 0:34:01

    Okay

  164. 0:34:01

    ... Russia, I should say, was the first communist country.

  165. 0:34:05

    Okay.

  166. 0:34:05

    And that's where the ... That's where it began during the Bolshevik Revolution on November 7th, 1917.

  167. 0:34:14

    Okay. I was not here the- last Tuesday. I had a death in the family, so I missed it. I'm sure that was an amazing story that you gave. So, okay. Thank you.

  168. 0:34:24

    You're quite welcome. Anything else?

  169. 0:34:26

    Um, Representative Beckles.

  170. 0:34:30

    Thank you, Madam Chair. I just have one quick question. Will parents w- um, with this bill, will parents have the option to opt their kids out from any of this, um, training or whatever it is that's going on?

  171. 0:34:43

    Um, the ... We're looking at the sub, and the sub has all, has the education portion removed.

  172. 0:34:50

    Okay, thank you.

  173. 0:34:50

    Because we, we determined that that would be more appropriate to go through the Education Committee at some future date.

  174. 0:34:57

    Okay, thank you.

  175. 0:35:00

    Number 15.

  176. 0:35:04

    Oh, that's me.

  177. 0:35:04

    This one.

  178. 0:35:05

    Uh, at the appropriate time, Madam Chair.

  179. 0:35:07

    Okay, thank you. This is the appropriate time, so we have a motion on-

  180. 0:35:13

    Second

  181. 0:35:13

    ... and a second on HB, uh, 1082 LC 443480S. All in favor say, "Aye."

  182. 0:35:20

    Aye.

  183. 0:35:21

    Opposed? Okay, congratulations.

  184. 0:35:24

    Thank you. Thank you.

  185. 0:35:24

    And you can get your form, uh, to the chair. Um ...

  186. 0:35:44

    Thank you.

  187. 0:35:44

    Okay, we're just gonna stand at ease just for a second.

  188. 0:37:30

    Okay. Um, so HR, uh, 1419 was on our agenda, but, um, there seems to have been some confusion with the sponsor of that. So, um, we will stand adjourned, and we will hear that at a future time if we have time before crossover. Thank you. Thank y'all for attending.

  189. 0:37:46

    Thank you.

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