House floor session, March 3, 2026 (legislative day 26, PM)

Transcript

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1. 0:30:11

   House will come to order. House will come to order.

2. 0:30:20

   Mr. Clerk, how about ring the bell and we'll get started on some privileged resolutions.

3. 0:31:23

   Okay, members, we're going to, uh, have Mr. Clerk read the caption to a group of privileged resolutions. Mr. Clerk.

4. 0:31:34

   Honoring the life and memory of Dr. Ego Okafor. Honoring the life and memory of Bishop Lee Roy Barnes. Honoring Mr. Anthony J. Royal Sr., and Mrs. Leslie E. Royal. Honoring Senior Chief Ernest C. Washington upon his retirement from the Department of Veteran Affairs. Recognizing commending Nakira Middleton, professionally known as Kiki Chanel, for her outstanding contributions to broadcasting and community engagement.

5. 0:32:09

   Commending the City of Cochran Fire Department. Recognizing commending the Atlanta Children's Day Shelter for forty years of service to Georgia's children and families. Congratulating and commending Lady Libby J. Pollard for receiving the twenty twenty-six Yellow Rose Nikki T. Randall Service- Servant Leadership Award. Recognizing and commending Malcolm Mitchell. Commending Dr. Sylvia Williams McGee for her lifelong dedication to education, community development, leadership cultivation, and civic engagement in Macon-Bibb County.

6. 0:32:44

   Commending the life leadership and enduring contributions of Ms. Pearly Tolliver and her role in advancing civil rights, community development, and economic empowerment.

7. 0:32:57

   Commending Chief Chelsea Green Ogletree for her outstanding achievements in the culinary arts. Congratulating and commending Kelby Millan for receiving the twenty twenty-six Yellow Rose Nikki T. Randall Service Leadership Award. Congratulating and commending Corliss Turner for receiving the twenty twenty-six Yellow Rose Nikki T. Randall Servant Leadership Award. Commending and congratulating Kailyn Landrian Shrewsbury. Recognizing and commending Nancy Davoursi.

8. 0:33:30

   Recognizing and commending Juliet Obi. Honoring Georgia retirees and the Georgia State Retirees Association. Congratulating and commending Mercedes A. Arnold for receiving the twenty twenty-six Yellow Rose Nikki T. Randall Servant Leadership Award. Recognizing May twenty-fifth, twenty twenty-six as Africa Day and commending for its cultural leadership. Recognizing and commending Emaya Asberry. Recognizing and commending Star DeVan Harris.

9. 0:34:03

   Recognizing and commending Charlotte Wright. Recognizing and commending Shyla McGuire. Recognizing and commending Kennedy Chapman. Recognizing and commending L- Elsie Johnson. Recognizing and commending Isaiah D'Souza. Commending the remarkable career and lifelong dedication of Dr. Thelma Dillard and her exemplary service in education, civil rights, and community leadership within the Bibb County region. Honoring House Minority Leader Carolyn Fleming Hugley for her historic leadership and enduring legacy of service.

10. 0:34:37

    Commending and congratulating Carrie Lula Neal Harden.

11. 0:34:44

    Honoring Speaker Pro Tem Jan Jones for historic leadership and lasting contributions to the State of Georgia. Congratulating and commending Judy McClendon Redmond for receiving the twenty twenty-six Yellow Rose Nikki T. Randall Servant Leadership Award. Recognizing the twenty-fifth anniversary of the Metropolitan North Georgia Water Planning District. Commending and congratulating the Georgia Environmental Finance Authority. Honoring and recognizing Chief Kevin Roberts for his dis- distinguished service to Clayton County.

12. 0:35:15

    Recognizing and commending Ms. Anne Webb for her unwai- wavering faith, dedicated mis- min- ministry, steadfast service to her family and community, and for outstanding examples of resilience, leadership, and love. Recognizing and commending Ms. Barbarette Russell for outstanding service. Honoring Vernice P. Marble for forty-one years of distinguished service in education. Honoring and commending Dr. Lawanda Folami for her outstanding service, leadership, and dedication to the citizens of Clayton County.

13. 0:35:50

    Congratulating and commending Nancy Daves for receiving the twenty twenty-six Yellow Rose Nikki T. Randall Servant Leadership Award. Commending the Latin American Association and recognizing March tenth, twenty twenty-six as LAA Day. Honoring and celebrating Jesse and Emily Cole, Banana Ball, and Banana Foster. Recognizing and commending Neal Weintraub, MD. Congratulating Breanna Agenbau. Upon being named the 2025-2026 Youth of the Year for Boys & Girls Clubs of Chattahoochee Valley, and recognizing and commending Julia Wood and for other purposes.

14. 0:36:28

    That completes the reading of the privileged resolutions.

15. 0:36:31

    Amen. Amen.

16. 0:36:44

    Is

17. 0:37:33

    there any objection to adopting the privileged resolutions? Hearing none, the resolutions are adopted.

18. 0:45:40

    I think Chairman Parrish has finally released the Rules Committee. You did? Good. All members, if you're in the ante room, go ahead and, uh, take care of your business in the ante room, or if you're out visiting with folks on the rope line,

19. 0:45:59

    we'll invite you to come on into the House.

20. 0:46:03

    We've already rung the bell a little bit earlier, as we did on privileged resolutions. I'm getting ready to go back onto the rules calendar. You...

21. 0:46:26

    Mr. Clerk will read the caption to House Bill 1196. 1196.

22. 0:46:34

    House Bill 1196 by Representative Smith of the 18th and others to be entitled An Act to Amend Code Section 16-7-21.2 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated relating to criminal trespass involving a wild animal so as to provide for the offense of criminal trespass involving a wild animal. This bill having referred to the Committee on Judiciary Non-Civil, that committee recommends that this bill do pass by committee substitute.

23. 0:47:17

    I'm gonna reco- recognize the Chair of Judiciary Non-Civil, Chairman Tyler Paul Smith, to speak to House Bill 1196. The gentleman's recognized.

24. 0:47:30

    Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Members of this most august body, I bring to you...

25. 0:47:38

    Gentleman will continue.

26. 0:47:39

    I bring to you members House Bill 1196. This is a little bit of a cleanup. If you'll remember about two or three years ago, we had legislation dealing with those who committed criminal trespass against certain animals that are primarily, and I would say almost exclusively, located in zoos across our state. So this one comes up, and we're doing some clarification work. Uh, this would actually update our law by providing for criminal trespass by someone who knowingly causes a foreign object to enter an animal enclosure, and if someone were to interfere with the operation, functionality, or integrity of that cage, enclosure, or other area where a wild animal is housed or otherwise contained.

27. 0:48:27

    I wanna thank those on the Agriculture Committee, of which I'm very privileged to sit on as well. Uh, there were some questions, if you'll look in lines 25 through 27, uh, concerning some of the languages, language that was struck out con- uh, what the definition of a wild animal is. If you'll see the language on lines 25 through 26, this would apply only to those animals that serve as a purpose of public visitation, conservation, education, or science.

28. 0:49:01

    That would not include any of our livestock that we raise so well here in the great state of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, that is the bill, and I'll stand for any questions.

29. 0:49:11

    The gentleman has no questions.

30. 0:49:12

    Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I yield the will and ask this body's favorable consideration.

31. 0:49:16

    The representative has yielded the will. Is there any objection to the previous question being ordered? Hearing none, the previous question is ordered. Is there any objection to adopting the committee substitute? Hearing none, the committee substitute is adopted. Is there any objection of agreeing to the report of the committee, which was favorable to the passage of the bill? Hearing none, the report of the committee is agreed to. Shall this bill now pass? All in favor of the passage of the bill will vote yes. All those opposed will vote no, and Mr. Clerk will unlock the machine.

32. 0:50:30

    Have all members voted? All members voted. If so, Mr. Clerk will lock the machine. On the passage of House Bill 1196, the yeas are 167 and nays are 0. This bill having received the requisite constitutional majority is therefore passed. Mr. Clerk, will you read the caption to House Bill 1201, 1201.

33. 0:50:59

    House Bill 1201 by Representative Gullett of the 19th and others being titled an Act to Amend Code Section 45-2-40 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated relating to smoke detectors required in new dwellings and dwelling units and exceptions so as to provide for compliance with safety standards for smoke detectors. This bill having been referred to the Committee on Agriculture and Consumer Affairs, that committee recommends that this bill do pass.

34. 0:51:30

    Chairman Gullett is recognized to present House Bill 1201. The gentleman is recognized.

35. 0:51:36

    Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Members, I bring today House Bill 1201. Uh, this is a simple safety update for new residential materials. I'm sorry, residential construction. New residential construction. Georgia already requires smoke alarms in new homes, uh, and this bill updates that standard to ensure that alarms meet the latest UL 217 certification. As you all know, fires today burn hotter and faster in modern homes due to synthetic materials, and early detection is more important than ever.

36. 0:52:13

    The ninth edition standard improves the ability to detect both fast flaming and slow smoldering fires while reducing nuisance alarms. This bill keeps our code current, strengthens safety in new homes, and ultimately will protect Georgia families. Again, this is for new residential construction homes, just updating the version of smoke detectors in those. Happy to answer any questions for you.

37. 0:52:36

    The gentleman to your right, Representative Carpenter.

38. 0:52:39

    Does the gentleman yield?

39. 0:52:40

    I do.

40. 0:52:41

    Just a real quick, the, uh, the new smoke detectors, how expensive are they versus the old ones?

41. 0:52:46

    It's the same price.

42. 0:52:47

    Okay.

43. 0:52:47

    Yeah.

44. 0:52:48

    Perfect. Thank you.

45. 0:52:48

    Mm-hmm.

46. 0:52:50

    The gentleman has no further questions.

47. 0:52:51

    Thank you.

48. 0:52:53

    The gentleman has yielded the well. Is there any objection to the previous question being ordered? Hearing none, the previous question is ordered. Is there any objection to agreeing to the report of the committee which was favorable to the passage of the bill? Hearing none, the report of the committee is agreed to. Shall this bill now pass? All in favor of the passage of the bill will vote yes. All those opposed will vote no. And Mr. Clerk will unlock the machine.

49. 0:53:52

    Have all members voted? All members voted. If so,

50. 0:54:03

    Mr. Clerk will lock the machine. On the passage of House Bill 1201, the yeas are 166, the nay is 1. This bill having received the requisite constitutional majority is therefore passed.

51. 0:54:21

    Mr. Clerk, will you read the caption to House Bill 1209, 1209.

52. 0:54:28

    House Bill 1209 by Representative Stevens of the 164th and others being titled an Act to Amend Code Section 48-8-3 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated relating to exemptions relative to state and sales and use taxes so as to provide for a sales and use tax exemption for purchases of tangible property. This bill having been referred to the Committee on Ways and Means, that committee recommends that this bill do pass by committee substitute.

53. 0:54:55

    The gentleman from the coast, Representative Ron Stephens, is recognized to speak to House Bill 1209.

54. 0:55:04

    Thank you, Madam Speaker. Ladies and gentlemen of the House, as you know, if you've been down to coastal Georgia over the past few years, there's been quite a lot of things going on, to say the least. Uh, everything from the Hyundai plant, well, you name it. It's just been, um, pretty amazing. Uh, what you have before you is an incentive for another, um, large project. Uh, this one has to do with a $7 million sales tax refund at the completion of a project. This incentive, if, if approved, um, for this project to begin fall, um, will begin this fall, creating 300 immediate construction jobs with a $100 million in construction cost, uh, to be spread over eight months.

55. 0:55:48

    This $7 million refund is shared, if you will, by the locals as well. So essentially, you're looking at three and a half million dollars for the state, three and a half for the locals as well. They understand the importance of this project. The incentive, if you approve, um, will begin, again, this fall, uh, with the jobs that I just mentioned. When completed in the fourth quarter, it will be one half billion dollar project to be expected to produce approximately 1,000-

56. 0:56:18

    Permanent jobs

57. 0:56:19

    ... permanent jobs and a total tax revenue of approximately $12 million. So- the return on investment to the consumer, the taxpayer for the state of Georgia is pretty significant. And then question comes about, is it a worthy project? I certainly hope so. Everything that we look for in economic development is to see how many jobs we create, what's the return. Uh, it is a worthy project, uh, and it does increase state and local revenues.

58. 0:56:50

    Mr. Speaker, that's the bill and I'll open up to any questions.

59. 0:56:54

    The gentleman has no questions.

60. 0:56:56

    Mr. Speaker, I'll yield the will and ask for your favorable consideration.

61. 0:57:00

    Nice job of explaining. Is there any objection to the previous question being ordered? Hearing none, the previous question is ordered. Is there any objection to adopting the committee substitute? Hearing none, the committee substitute is adopted. Is there any objection to agreeing to the report of the committee, which was favorable to the passage of the bill? Hearing none, the report of the committee is agreed to. Shall this bill now pass? All in favor the passage of the bill will vote yes. All those opposed will vote no. And Mr. Clerk will unlock the machine.

62. 0:57:34

    I thought that one was asking.

63. 0:57:51

    Have all members voted?

64. 0:57:55

    Can we just pause one second? We may do 574 next. Thank you.

65. 0:58:02

    Have all members voted?

66. 0:58:06

    If so, Mr. Clerk will lock the machine. On the passage of House Bill 1209, the yays are 160, the nays are eight. This bill having received the requisite constitutional majority is therefore passed.

67. 0:58:47

    I'll have them get it out.

68. 0:58:54

    Members, we will be at ease just for a moment. The, uh, clerk's office and some wonderful volunteers from the page program-

69. 0:59:03

    You're good

70. 0:59:03

    ... are out there trying to get some information on our desk. So if you will, don't block the aisles, anything else, so they can efficiently and effectively get this information out. So we'll be at ease just for a minute or two.

71. 1:17:02

    House will come to order.

72. 1:17:06

    All members, if you're in any room, you may wanna come to the floor. Finish up your phone calls. We'll give you just a second. All members will come to the floor and hopefully get in your seats. All members.

73. 1:19:02

    Members, you should all have a copy of House Bill 1116 and House Resolution 1114. If you don't,

74. 1:19:17

    you need to make it known now.

75. 1:19:22

    I think we're good.

76. 1:20:42

    Okay, members, there's a couple of, um, there's several pages on your desk, so let me give you the correct LC number. This is for HR 1114. It's LC 3398 98S.

77. 1:21:02

    So anything else is not being considered at this time.

78. 1:21:10

    98 98S. Now just give you one second to organize

79. 1:21:19

    your paperwork.

80. 1:21:40

    Okay, members, the House will come to order. Mr. Clerk will read the caption to House Resolution 1114.

81. 1:21:53

    House Resolution 1114 by Representative Blackmon and 146 and others, proposing an amendment to the Constitution so as to remove the cap on benefits granted pursuant to the Homeowners' Incentive Adjustment Clause, to provide for related matters, to provide for the submission of this amendment for ratification or rejection. This resolution having been referred to the Committee on Ways and Means, that committee recommends that this resolution be adopted by Rules Committee substitute.

82. 1:22:27

    Thank you, Mr. Clerk. We will now recognize the chairman of the Ways and Means Committee, Chairman Shaw Blackmon, to speak to House Resolution 1114. The gentleman's recognized.

83. 1:22:43

    Thank you, Mr. Speaker and fellow members. I rise before you today-

84. 1:22:50

    Support of House Resolution 1114. Organize my papers here just a little bit. Um, as we've heard, and thanks to your leadership, Mr. Speaker, um, and you've stated this repeatedly, that property tax is, is on an unsustainable path. I have a few slides that would illustrate this if they're available.

85. 1:23:25

    Our homeowners... If you advance to the next one. Our homeowners are having to make some impossible choices, and for many, this means paying for necessities like healthcare or groceries instead of their property tax bill. We've all received emails from constituents worried their skyrocketing property tax will force them from their homes, and that is largely why we have taken action with this resolution and enabling res- legislation.

86. 1:23:59

    You'll notice on the board what property taxes have done and the increases we've seen over the last several years. And this does not include 2025, where they have jumped up nearly another h- half a billion dollars. So we've spent months engaging our local, local stakeholders and having some very, uh, very beneficial conversations on our various partners to search for solutions.

87. 1:24:30

    And, uh, so today I bring you, uh, one such comprehensive solution, and this is part of the HOME Act. Simply put, this act addresses this systemic problem by fundamentally changing Georgia's homeowners' relationship with property taxation and homeownership. We intend to provide real, meaningful, and decisive property tax relief, while at the same time remaining respectful of our local government's services and operations.

88. 1:25:13

    H.R. 1111 is designed to provide this much-needed property tax relief for our homeowners. It starts by reducing the taxable value over a period of 10 years from 40% to 10% at 3% a year.

89. 1:25:35

    It also takes 100% disabled veterans' homestead exemption up to 100% of their home's value. It enables locals to use certain portions of the sales tax code as a direct dollar-for-dollar property tax offset and backfill if they so choose. It also establishes a grant fund to help backfill local governments using proceeds dedicated from high-speed data centers.

90. 1:26:14

    That's the gist of the bill. It is dramatic savings for homeowners.

91. 1:26:24

    We believe it will increase homeownership and generational wealth. We will see home sales increase. It's attractive to the workforce and remote workers. Economic development can show greater benefit to our residents. It preserves local control, and it preserves all other local or otherwise exempt properties or certain exemptions.

92. 1:26:52

    No one is forced to use local sales tax, and no one is forced to take a homestead.

93. 1:27:04

    Mr. Speaker, this should not, and me- fellow members, this should not be a state versus local issue. This should not be one party versus another or a House versus Senate issue. This is about more and more Georgians realizing the American dream of homeownership, and one of the primary ways families create generational wealth, security, and safety.

94. 1:27:37

    We serve the same constituents, and we appreciate all the ongoing conversations as these measures have evolved many times. We've listened intently to suggestions received from citizens, members, local administrators, and local officials, as well as organizations representing our local governments. In fact, the most current iteration came from these same groups. We continue to operate in good faith and transparency, but it is our charge to roll up our sleeves and go to work for the people of Georgia.

95. 1:28:11

    Again, homeownership is fundamental to the American dream, and as elected officials, we have the awesome responsibility of fostering and enabling that dream. This major step, seen by some as revolutionary, but in my mind it's rather simple. Do we allow this measure to go before the people and allow them to have a voice in solving this unsustainable burden? The Tenth Amendment of the Constitution states that any powers not specifically delegated to the federal government nor prov- prohibited to the states are reserved for those states or the people.

96. 1:28:52

    Let's today show that we truly can be of, by, and for the people by allowing them to vote on this measure. I ask for your favorable consideration, Mr. Speaker. I'll be happy to try to answer any questions.

97. 1:29:13

    The gentleman has no questions. He obviously did a great job of explaining it, but we do have some folks that will be speaking.

98. 1:29:21

    I know we have a number of others that wish to speak to the bill. Uh, I will yield the well and, uh, let others have their voices heard. Thank you.

99. 1:29:32

    Appreciate your work in, in your presentation. Uh, we have some folk-- We have a, a number of folks that are opposed, those that are in favor, so we're gonna start with Lita Hugley. The lady has, um, concerns about the proposition, the resolution. So, Minority Leader of this House, Re- Representative Carolyn Hugley is, um, recognized.

100. 1:29:56

     Thank you, Mr. Speaker, ladies and gentlemen of the House. What we are seeing here today is a exercise in cold, hard politics. It's simply about what voters do you wanna drive out to the polls. Politics is what gets us here. We're all qualifying for some office or the other this week, but once we are elected to this body, we are called to a higher purpose, to make decisions for the betterment of our great state, to make decisions with the principles of wisdom, justice, and moderation.

101. 1:30:39

     When we look at this constitutional amendment, and we can't even keep up with what version that we're on, it's a simple matter. If you cut revenue, 'cause that's what we're talking about, we're cutting revenues to local governments and schools, they will have to either make them up some way or they will have to reduce services in order to stay in balance. It's just that simple. As a matter of fact, there's an old gentleman in my hometown that says it this way.

102. 1:31:10

     He says, "When your outgo is more than your income, then your upkeep is gonna be your downfall." And that is the message that we're sending forth to locals today. This is a very serious matter, and I appreciate all the work that has been done on this bill and all the conversations that we have had, but this is a constitutional amendment, and once we pass it, there is no going back.

103. 1:31:40

     This measure should be something that could stand the light of day, not something that was passed last evening. People are still looking at it and trying to see where they are. Not something that, well, it was better than what we had last week. But is-- The question is, is this the right thing to do? Is this the right thing to do not only for today, not only for the upcoming election, but for future generations?

104. 1:32:11

     Because once we put forth this constitutional amendment, there's no going back. There is no going back. So we-- what we're doing is raising taxes on everyone. Homeowners are very important, but they're only sixty-five percent of the people of this state. What about the other thirty-five percent? What about the other thirty-five percent that's gonna have to pay more for all the things that they do each and every day?

105. 1:32:42

     The question before us is, who will be the adults in the room and say to this body on this day that a matter of this magnitude should be able to stand the light of day? It should be done, uh, carefully and judiciously, and it should be done in a way that all of the voices can come to the table and be heard. Now, I will admit that, uh, they say that they've talked to GMA and ACG and GSBA, uh, but I've heard from people back home, and I hope you've heard from your people back home, and the math's just not mathing.

106. 1:33:28

     It does not add up, and this is not a responsible thing to do. We are called to be leaders. We are called to stand in this moment, and it's not about your politics. It's about good, sound public policy that can stand the test of time, and I submit to you today, this is not ready. So I would encourage you to join me in rejecting this constitutional amendment, and if we wanna continue to talk about it, let's continue to talk about it.

107. 1:34:02

     Let's, uh, let's remember, before I go, one more thing, Mr. Speaker, let's remember that the taxes that are being forced on our people back home, we're partly responsible for because we have sent unfunded mandate, unfunded mandate, unfunded mandate down to local communities. We have told our schools that we're not gonna help you as much as we used to on the step- state health benefit plan.

108. 1:34:34

     We have changed the equalization formula. We're saying to them that we're not gonna be fifty percent on transportation, yet we know kids gotta go to school. They still gotta buy buses. So we have to take responsibility for part of where we are today. And the last thing I wanna remind you is that everybody in this room who voted for the budget voted for immediate relief for homeowners in this state. What I'm asking you to do is before we do a permanent change to the tax instruction in our state, we need to take a breath.

109. 1:35:10

     We need to study it further, and we need to make sure that we have heard from the experts and we've heard from everybody involved so that it can withstand not only this election, but the next generation. Mr. Speaker, with that, I yield the will. The leader has yielded the will. Representative Gisler, Gisler, you're recognized to speak to the bill. Representative Gisler.

110. 1:35:41

     Gentleman's recognized.

111. 1:35:45

     Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you, Representatives. Um, so when this bill came out, I immediately thought it was a partisan political gimmick, but I kept an open mind. I think the chair of the Ways and Means Committee would, would admit that I, I kept an open mind. I, I listened to the arguments. I looked at the math, and the leader, or the minority leader stole my line here, but the math ain't mathing.

112. 1:36:16

     So I wanna share a story with you. You know, I've, as, I'm one of the more recently elected members of the House here. I'll share you a story that I heard on the campaign trail one week before election day in December. I went to the Oconee County Farm Bureau meeting that night. I met with a bunch of farmers who some of them were not totally welcoming to a Democratic candidate. But I spoke to them last night, and I heard about the need for property tax relief. I get that. One of them told me i- just a few short years ago, his property was valued at $300,000.

113. 1:36:49

     And then somebody bought the property next door and built a $2 million house, and all of a sudden his property's valued at $600,000, and his property taxes went up consequently. So he, I know that there's a need for property tax relief. The very next night I was at a, a meeting in downtown Athens, uh, with a completely different group of people. I heard the same thing. People are struggling with costs. They need property tax relief. It's a real issue. I get that. And I wanna provide that.

114. 1:37:19

     N- nobody asked me to eliminate property taxes on their homestead. They, they said they need relief, right? And I wanna deliver that. I wanna deliver that for, for the people in the city in Athens and for the farmers out in Oconee County. But the guy that built a $2 million house that drove up that property value, if he's building a $2 million house, he doesn't need his property homestead taxes eliminated. It's too much. So I also wanna mention that

115. 1:37:52

     I represent a very red county, Oconee County, right? Every elected official in the county is a Republican. They ran on the Republican ticket. They were elected by Republicans. The mayor of Watkinsville, all five county commissioners, including the chairman, the school board, all five seats, and the superintendent. Well, superintendent is, is appointed, but appointed by an all-Republican school board. Every single one of them have spoken publicly against this bill because it's gonna do so much damage to the county, to the city, to the schools, and if you know anything about Oconee County, they are proud of their schools.

116. 1:38:31

     Every one of them is a Republican, though. The mayor of Watkinsville and the chairman of the board of commissioners from Oconee County testified in the committee, in the Ways and Means Committee, against this bill and spoke very plainly about the damage that it stands to do. Mayor Broderick, friend of mine, I'm gonna, I'm gonna make a quote here of something that he told the committee. "Property taxes are not the government charging rent on your home." They're not. "They're an insurance policy making certain that your home appreciates in value, that your neighborhood stays safe, and that the community you love is able to take care of itself." That's pretty powerful.

117. 1:39:10

     That's the Republican mayor of Watkinsville. Another thing he pointed out to get more tactical is they just fi- they financed a, a project through GEFA recently in Watkinsville to, to extend a sidewalk. They couldn't have got that funding if they only had sales tax revenue to base it on. Sales tax revenue is too volatile. Property tax value, uh, revenue is much more stable. And you cannot get financing on purely sales tax revenue.

118. 1:39:47

     So many of you guys... Oh, uh, he- I talked a lot about Oconee County. Clarke County is very liberal, very, very Democratic, and, uh, and I talked to them as well. One of the county commissioners there, when I was explaining this to her, said, "It's a shell game and there aren't enough shells." And that pretty much describes it. So many of you guys represent rural areas that don't have the sales, uh, the, the commercial activity, the sales activity to support making up the hole that this is gonna create in local governments' budgets with just sales taxes.

119. 1:40:21

     It's just not mathematically possible.

120. 1:40:25

     Replacing property taxes with higher sales taxes and assessments that are not based on property size or value is actually a tax increase for many of the people who need relief the most, including those seniors that we all talk about who are at risk of losing their homes. I agree strongly with the need for property tax relief. I'm happy to work with anyone in the chamber on that. I don't care what side of the aisle you're on. But this one, this isn't the way. Mr. Speaker, I yi- yield the will.

121. 1:40:57

     The gentleman's yielded the will. Thank you for your comments. Representative McQueen. Lady is recognized to speak to the bill.

122. 1:41:09

     Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I rise today in firm opposition to H.R. 1114. Let's start where this bill will land first.

123. 1:41:19

     Not in talking points, not in press releases, not in political mailings. It will land in our public schools. Property taxes in Georgia are not an abstract villain. They are the backbone of public education. Under the Quality Basic Education formula, local property tax revenue funds the local five mil share, the baseline contribution that keeps classroom doors open.

124. 1:41:53

     In many districts, that local share makes up nearly half of a school system's operating budget. So when we talk about shrinking digests or restructuring property tax policy without a stable, long-term, constitutionally protected revenue replacement, we are not just adjusting a tax mechanism, we are destabilizing classrooms. In Gwinnett County, roughly 49.8% of the school district's operating budget comes from local revenue.

125. 1:42:30

     In Bibb County, local property taxes account for about 37.7% of total district revenue. That is not theoretical money. That is teachers, that is paraprofessionals, that is reading specialists, that is bus routes, that is art, that is after-school programs. Students at Dublin High or Colquitt County High may never use the phrase local property tax digest, but they will feel it.

126. 1:43:04

     They will feel it when class sizes swell from 22 to 35. They will feel it when the art program disappears because it was labeled non-essential. They will feel it when the reading interventionist is cut. They will feel it when their favorite teacher transfers to another state where funding is stable and predictable. And let's be clear about who feels it first and worst: rural counties, working class communities, Black and brown communities where the public school is not just a school, it is the free meals, the counselor, the after-school care, the safe place.

127. 1:43:45

     This body says we care about workforce development, we say we care about economic growth, but the workforce starts in the kindergarten classroom with a child learning how to read. You cannot starve the seed and expect a harvest. You cannot starve the seed and expect a harvest. I wrestled with this bill. I take no votes lightly. For me, this job is moral before it is political, and the question I kept coming back to was this: Why now?

128. 1:44:18

     After years of majority control that has left us near the bottom in healthcare coverage, struggling to keep rural hospitals open, and number one in medical debt, why is this the affordability priority? If the intent were truly about helping working families, we would be expanding healthcare access, we would be strengthening worker protections, we would be lowering the cost of prescriptions and childcare. Instead, we are gambling with the most stable funding stream our public schools have. This is fiscal roulette. We are spinning the wheel and placing classrooms on the table.

129. 1:44:50

     The chips do not belong to us. They belong to the students in Fayette County. They belong to the teachers in Screven County. They belong to the families who trust us to protect stability, not experiment with it. If this body believes the risk is worth it, then own the risk, but do not call it harmless, do not call it neutral, and do not pretend the consequences won't land first in our public schools. Until we have a responsible guaranteed replacement that protects every classroom and every child, I will vote no, and I urge this body to do the same.

130. 1:45:21

     Thank you. I yield the floor. Thank you. The lady has yielded the floor. Rep- Representative Ro- Romman is recognized to speak to the bill.

131. 1:45:39

     The lady's recognized. Thank you, Mr. Speaker, colleagues. I find it really interesting that this bill made it to our floor, and I understand the political arguments behind it, but the majority of conversations I've had have actually been emphatically full of concern about what this bill will do to various cities, and it's not even just Democratic cities, it's Republican ones too. The reality is balancing a budget doesn't have anything to do with party affiliation.

132. 1:46:13

     It's basic math. One plus one equals two. It doesn't matter what your political party is. And it doesn't matter if you're a Republican who is representing a city or a Democrat representing a city, these cities still need to fund the services they are providing, and these services have gotten more expensive. And I wanna be clear, we absolutely need to root out corruption. We absolutely need to make sure that every cent is being used judiciously. But there is a very, very troubling trend happening in our legislature and in our bodies in our state right now, which is instead of fixing the problems of our present and investing in our future, we are actively defunding both.

133. 1:46:58

     Because the reality of the situation is, what I am continuing to notice is this, that the people who we seem to be prioritizing the most is not our future. We have one of the youngest populations in the country. The median age in our state is 37 years old, and yet when you look at the age of first time home ownership, it has jumped up by decades.

134. 1:47:26

     It used to be that the average age of a first-time homeowner was a little under 30 years old. Now we're looking at closer to 50, and this bill doesn't fix that. It's not just about homeownership and being able to keep it and keeping property taxes low because trust me, I am very sympathetic to that intention. But what we are seeing in our economy right now is a constant, frankly, prioritization of not our people.

135. 1:48:00

     Because here's the thing, property taxes have gone up, a lot of services have not improved with them. And why is that? Because again, home values are going up because when a company buys a home in your neighborhood in cash that you can't compete with and then turns around and sells it to a shell company and raises its price, everyone's homes are evaluated the same way. And now everyone's taxes are going up even though none of the services are going up. This isn't going to fix the housing crisis. This isn't going to fix the homeownership crisis, and it's definitely not going to fix the property tax crisis.

136. 1:48:36

     It just won't.

137. 1:48:39

     And the saddest part about being in bodies like this one is it really does seem as if we are ignoring entire generations for temporary political gain, because that's what this is at the end of the day. 'Cause I will tell you, my mayors are represented by both Democrats and Republicans, and I have heard emphatically from every single one of them, the beauty about gerrymandering is you get a lot of mayors you talk to, and they have all very emphatically told me they don't want this bill. They have made it clear why they don't want this bill, and it's not just about lowering the revenue.

138. 1:49:12

     I want to be very, very, very clear. Many of these mayors have worked with me on tax exemptions. We've worked on good property tax relief together. We spent time studying the issue and making sure that whatever decision we make is one that is sound. But you know what this is not? It is not sound. And the reality about a constitutional amendment in our state is it's permanent. I cannot remember a single time that we have actually repealed a constitutional amendment in recent memory.

139. 1:49:44

     So you want us to rush through a massive overhaul of our tax system that is permanent, that will impact generations to come. I cannot do it, and I urge you not to do it, and I urge you in this moment to listen to your constituents and to listen to those in your community who are begging you for better and sound policy. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I yield the floor. Lady's yielded the floor. Representative Stacey Evans is recognized to speak to House Re- House Resolution 1114.

140. 1:50:19

     Representative Evans is recognized. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. I rise in opposition to House Resolution 1114. You know, we all heard about this when we first got here, and I remember I was in the elevator with a bunch of interns, and, uh, it was the first time I had heard about this proposal. And I said, "Yeah, you know, 'cause we really have been spoiling the kids, you know, with all the schools and the buses and the food and the roads and the trash pickup.

141. 1:50:50

     I mean, somebody's really gotta rein it in 'cause they're not, they're not understanding. They're spoiled." Because I thought it was a cheap political joke. Because sure, do I wanna pay property taxes? No. Do you wanna pay property taxes? No. Do we want our property taxes to go up? No. But do we want our kids to be educated? Yes. Do we want sewer systems to work and trash to be picked up and do we want clean air?

142. 1:51:20

     Do all these things that we enjoy? Yes, of course. Of course, we want those things. But here we are, and not only are we doing this, but we're gonna do it in the Constitution? The per- it's permanent. It's going to affect this state for generations. And we can reduce tax burdens, we can reduce property tax burdens even, but we can do it responsibly. And you know how I know we can do that?

143. 1:51:52

     Because we've done it. We almost unanimously voted on a property tax relief refund for our citizens not too long ago, so don't let it be said that Democrats don't support property tax relief. We absolutely do, and we have this session and many sessions before. And you know how we have done it time and time again as Democrats? By playing either with our own pot of revenue that this government is responsible for distributing when the Democratic governor, Roy Barnes, eliminated the state property tax.

144. 1:52:33

     You wanna reduce property taxes, deal with the ones that you levy, the ones that you appropriate, so that when it comes time to make the hard choices, you are making them and you're not just taking an easy, cheap thrill, cheap shot, cutting someone else's revenue and telling them to deal with it. That's responsible. That's what Democrats did. You know the other way Democrats did responsible property tax reduction policies over the years? By working hand-in-hand with their local governments.

145. 1:53:03

     Senior exemptions, low-income exemptions. This can be done in a responsible way by working hand-in-hand with the government and not lobbing bombs over and saying, "You figure it out." And here's, here's the thing. If you look at House Bill 1116, which I guess we'll get to at some point, this is what we're saying.

146. 1:53:28

     We're gonna reduce all these property taxes local governments, but here's what you can do. You can line up your SPLOST, your ESPLOST, your LOST, your HOST, your FLOST, your S- your SLHOST, your SLHOST, your LHOST, your MHOST.

147. 1:53:47

     It's just a tax by another name, but it will be them levying it. We get to be the heroes. We ended property taxes, and then those big, bad local government folks gave you OST after OST after OST after OST after OST after OST after OST after OST, 'cause that's what's gonna happen. Because it costs money to buy stuff like schools and buses and trash pickup and sewer cleanup. You know, I think what one of the things that makes me sad about today is we passed this bill out on our desks.

148. 1:54:26

     The people that this is gonna hurt the most is the future of this state, and we had our pages, our students, our future pass this out. Pass out the ticket to cutting off their local government's ability to invest in them. How dare we?

149. 1:54:45

     The Constitution, y'all, you know how hard it is? We gotta pass it by two-thirds, they gotta pass it by two-thirds, the governor's gotta sign it. Everybody's gonna vote on it. You can't undo that. That's why states don't do this, and the few that have, I think they wish they could take it back. Ask California. The majority party spends a lot of time talking about how don't want- how we don't wanna be like California.

150. 1:55:16

     We are about to be exactly like California. Y'all heard of Prop 13? California passed that constitutional amendment, cap the-- you cannot raise the property tax more than 1% of assessed value in any year. That is in the Constitution. It's been there since 1978. They can't change it. It's a big problem. Remember they went bankrupt once? Remember how they had the rolling blackouts and we all laughed at them? What comes around goes around. Cap it at 1%. Can't increase assessed value by more than 2%.

151. 1:55:48

     That's California. Who else tried to do this in their constitution? Oregon, 1990, capped their property taxes that local governments could charge at $5 per $1,000. What happened? The state had to backfill the school budget. It costs money to buy stuff. If we are so concerned about tax policy, why don't we mess with our own pot? At least the people across the hall had the guts to mess with our pot that we distribute so that when things go south, we're the ones that are gonna have to deal with it.

152. 1:56:29

     What we are doing is so irresponsible. We're just throwing it on someone else. And this has been said, but we did this. I can't even keep up with how many drafts there's been. The leader said that. I'm, I'm with you, leader. I have no idea what draft we're on. There was a draft that came out last night, and then there was a draft that came out just a few, not even an hour ago. We're gonna put, we're gonna mess with the most stable revenue source that our local governments have, that our kids have, that our schools, that our babies have, and we're gonna do it in less than an hour while we go at ease to pass around this?

153. 1:57:15

     Think about the study committees that you've sat on over the years, ladies and gentlemen. I tried to go back and look, and I won't name them all 'cause I don't need to. I can see it. You know. Oh, we need to study that. Mm, that could have some implications. I, I really think we need to study that. This last summer, we studied what would happen if we changed the ability of people to, to charge the, the merchant fees on the credit cards because heaven forbid we do that too quickly.

154. 1:57:49

     We needed to study that. We're talking about eliminating a stable source of revenue for our schools, and we're gonna do it this quickly. No study committee. No time to really go back and talk to our local governments about the most recent draft that we got not even an hour ago. That's not responsible. It's not serious. And I'm really disappointed in us.

155. 1:58:19

     I was really proud of us all across the aisle when it seemed we weren't really interested in picking up the elimination of the income tax bill that was passed across the hall because that's not super responsible. It's also not super constitutional since it started over there, and that means something. The process means something. But we've just erased whatever responsibility, whatever seriousness I thought we had, and for what?

156. 1:58:51

     A cheap thrill, a cheap shot, passing the buck to someone else. And it's even more disappointing because we, we should want more of our Georgians to own homes. We should want homeownership to be more of a reality. We should want a lower tax burden, and we should want to make it more affordable for more Georgians. And we have the ability to do all those things by working with local governments, by going slower, running some pilots perhaps, and even more so, and this is, this is where I'm gonna end.

157. 1:59:31

     We spent so much time over the last two years in a very bipartisan manner talking about the very real problem, the re- the re- the real reason that home ownership is so dang hard right now, corporate ownership of residential property. And we came into this session, I felt so hopeful to do something about that. You wanna do something about home ownership, you wanna do something about affordability, deal with the rampant corporate ownership of housing. And we had the ability to, to deal with that and also give some tax relief.

158. 2:00:05

     You- we could have changed the, the tax structure with whether the way you're taxed as a, as a residential owner versus a corporate owner at the state level. We could have done that responsibly. Instead, we just lob a bomb, and we're better than that. I really would like to think we were better than that. Thank you, Mr. Speaker, I yield the will. Thank you, Representative. The lady's yielded the will. That concludes the, uh, speakers who signed up to oppose the bill.

159. 2:00:36

     We'll now have a number of s- focus- folks who want to speak in favor. I'll start with Representative Chas Cannon. Representative Chas Cannon is recognized to speak in favor of the bill. The gentleman's recognized.

160. 2:00:55

     Well, thank you, Mr. Speaker. First, I wanna thank the, uh, the Chairman Blackmon for the extraordinary, extraordinary amount of labor, both physical and mental, that he has put into this effort. I think his hair is actually turning grayer as we speak here. Um, I do wanna push back on what the minority leader said a little bit and about this being political.

161. 2:01:18

     We have not approached this from a... I helped, I helped draft the bill. A lot of time, a lot of effort, a lot of serious effort, um, over the weekend, over the past several months. I have approached this from an executive, a managerial perspective. And what I just heard, I don't recognize that in the language of the bill. I don't recognize that in what you have on your desks. So I just wanna push back a little bit on that.

162. 2:01:48

     And I do wanna thank Chairman Blackmon's staff, w- which have worked very hard on this issue along with us. Leg council and former members Brett Harrell and David Knight, they've all done some really impressive work, and they are to be commended for their efforts. And I wanna thank Speaker Burns for his leadership on this and making this issue a top priority for our state, because it is a critical priority for our state. Everyone up here has mentioned property tax is an issue, and it is.

163. 2:02:19

     And most of y'all know I've worked in local government for about 15 years. I've worked with some great people, and we've done some really, really good things down in our rural south Georgia community. And based on that experience, I do wanna walk you through some slides, I hope you can see them on the, on, on the big screen, that kind of explain portions of the enabling legislation that we'll get to, assuming this bill passes, and how it might work in my county.

164. 2:02:54

     Now, it represents a way, not the way, represents a way to do it. And you'll see it is not politically mot- It is, this is policy related.

165. 2:03:11

     Some may wanna implement this, this measure faster at the local level, some might wanna do it slower, but it really depends on how you manage it locally. That is the key. And I can tell you that our focus will be on managing the expectations with the citizens, communicating with them, and allowing for incremental changes, all the while keeping the main thing the main thing, and that is a significant reduction and the potential elimination of property taxes for our citizens. And just as an aside, nor- normally people in my position, in county managers or city managers or school superintendents, they don't have a very long shelf life.

166. 2:03:45

     They are only in, in those positions for about two to four years before they move on to something different in a different location. So to have served for so long in one position in my county is unique. But, uh, what I will tell you is that the most consistent issue that I've dealt with in my interaction with the citizens of my county is property tax.

167. 2:04:10

     That's just a fact. The number one issue that my citizens are concerned about year in, year out, is property tax. Hands down, across the board. So let me just take a few minutes, and I learned my PowerPoint skills at the Pentagon. Uh, you can't present slides at the Pentagon unless you have a PowerPoint degree. So I'm gonna walk you through how I would manage this. And as a reminder, this is much more geared towards the enabling legislation.

168. 2:04:43

     So again, in our county, a breakdown of our county, you have, you see the 5% cap. You have three on the county side and two on the, the school side. All right? You've got SPLOST and TSPLOST. Those are your capital pennies. You use it for capital. You've got the FLOST, which is offsetting property tax revenue dollar for dollar. That is not new revenue. You're just offsetting your property tax revenue with a sales tax revenue. On the school board side, you have an E-SPLOST. Again, that's capital related.

169. 2:05:13

     You're buying equipment. You're buying school buses. You're buying whatever it is that the school wants to buy capital related. You've got an E-LOST, which is an O&M's offset, O&M offset, operations and maintenance. That goes to the general fund budget of the schools. Next slide, please.

170. 2:05:30

     So the homestead property tax in my county is $4.8 million. The s- SPLOST collections is 8.6. We use that as a basis for revenue.

171. 2:05:39

     What's this mean? I gotta, I have to backfill. The state's telling me if this bill passes, you have 10 years to eliminate or reduce, significantly reduce $4.6 million of your homestead property tax. So I've gotta backfill that amount by 2037. So if you subtract what is today collecting at 8.6 minus 4.8, I've got about 3.8 left over. Keep that in mind. Next slide. So what am I gonna do?

172. 2:06:09

     Converting my FLOST, which I already have, I've already got that on the books today, to an LHOST. Okay, I'm not buying stuff, I'm not buying things with that penny. I'm just offsetting my revenue. All right? How do I, why do I do that? I'm spreading the backfill over 10 years. That gives me time for my sales tax revenue, which over the past 30 years has been a 4% increase, to outpace the 3% downturn in homestead exemptions.

173. 2:06:41

     So I, I think my sales tax will outpace the revenue I'm losing. The homeowner gets the annual reduction in their fair market value, 3% every year, and then I have money left over to offset other types of property: ag, apartments, commercial, industrial. And I have 10 years to get, provide feedback to the state on any issues associated with this plan. Next slide. So again, here's my three pennies. I've got the SPLOST, no change.

174. 2:07:11

     I've got the TSPLOST, no change. My FLOST convert to the LHOST. This is very technical. This is how you do it. The red is what I have to backfill year one. I've gotta get to the red line at 4.8 million. I've got 10 years to do that. And the yellow portion is the FLOST penny converted to a HOST penny offsetting other types of property, apartments, ag, commercial, industrial, to the tune of $8.2 million in offsets. That's what's going on with that. Next slide.

175. 2:07:43

     Here's my follow-on years. Year two, a little bit more. Year 10, I got the full amount of homestead exemption backfilled, and I've still got money left over to offset my other types of property. Now, that 3.8 million, because of my increased revenue in sales tax over 10 years, could be worth six or seven million. Next slide. Schools, same exact way. Same exact way. Fast-forward to the summary, uh, if you don't mind, Jason.

176. 2:08:16

     Same process. Again, this is not political. This is, this is, this is working and managing local government. That's what we're doing here. Keep going, Jason, if you don't mind. Justin.

177. 2:08:30

     Well, I think we're... Keep going back. Next slide to the end. I'm gonna get to the summary here. So summary here, breaking it down real quick. One penny to the schools, one penny to the counties, revenue neutral. 10 years to backfill any loss of revenue from homestead properties. Any excess revenue goes to non-homestead property tax. That's critical. We got more flexibility to manage, execute, and prepare at the local level over that 10-year period.

178. 2:09:02

     And we mentioned it before, the potential for additional state support on top of what you got at the local level for tools in your tool bag. Now, I'm happy to help on this matter. It's very complex. Unless you're in the business, it's hard to understand it. I'm gonna wrap up here. I'm not saying the legislation is perfect, and again, not every county, city, and school board is gonna be 100% on board with this plan. Uh, we know that. And not every lo- uh, local government has the same level of competency. We also know that too.

179. 2:09:34

     Some will have an easier time managing than others. And after 21 years of marriage with two teenagers, I know you cannot make everybody happy. One thing I've noticed is that this body, the General Assembly, has been nimble enough to make tweaks to our existing law. We do that all day long. We make tweaks to our existing laws every day that incorporate feedback from your end users. And for the most part, the end users in this case are our local governments, your city managers, your county managers, your school superintendents, and their elected boards, councils, and commissions.

180. 2:10:07

     And we have been working with ACCG and GMA, and I appreciate their feedback, to get to a point where they all have a level of comfort with this legislation. Not politics, local governments having a level of comfort with this bill. Because they have to carry it out. They have to execute it. And they gotta, they gotta manage it, because if they can't and don't execute it and don't manage it, our taxpayers don't get the maximum benefit the bill is intended to provide, hands down.

181. 2:10:42

     And from my perspective, that is our ultimate goal with the language in this bill. It's not politics, it's policy for the taxpayers in our districts. That is, means, in plain English, significant property tax relief for citizens in our districts. In closing, let me make one final point, and I didn't hear this from the speakers on the other side about this topic. That's the issue of property tax versus sales tax. The taxpayers that live in your districts, if they live in single-family housing, multi-family housing, primary residences, or apartments, they are all subjected on an annual basis to property reevaluations by their local assessor's office.

182. 2:11:21

     And if they live within a city, they are subject to a city millage rate being set by the local government, a county millage rate being set by the locals, and a school board millage rate being set by the, by the locals every year. If those three agencies don't adapt the full rollback rate to offset those assessment increases, the people in your districts will pay more property taxes. All three entities, city, county, school. Every year, all three entities, more property tax.

183. 2:11:58

     This process happens, as I said, every year. And every year that the property owners that live in your, within the confines of your district face this occurrence. Now, unless you have some very capable people at the local level, which I encourage you to reinforce locally with your local men at your local county commissions, the cities and school boards, competent people serving in those positions who are actively trying to reduce costs in their annual budgets, trying to generate non-tax revenue, trying to create efficiencies where it makes sense, then it is much, much easier to just push those expenses

184. 2:12:38

     onto your property owners. Conversely, our sales tax, both local and state, is capped at a certain percentage. It can only be approved by the voters and can only be adjusted by the general assembly. The cap on proper- on sales tax is locked by us. The millage rate process, conversely, is a moving target year after year across all local government entities. And again, I have no issue with property tax being used as a local revenue source, but I think you can agree with me that it's good policy to limit the government's ability to remove you from your home simply because you can't afford to pay higher and higher taxes year after year.

185. 2:13:29

     This bill sets us on a path to get that accomplished, and I ask for your favorable consideration of HR114. Mr. Speaker, I yield the will. I'll be happy to work with any member one-on-one about the policy provisions in this language because it is serious, we take it serious, and we have worked very hard on making something that works for most counties, most cities, and most school boards in the, across the state. Mr. Speaker, I yield the will.

186. 2:13:59

     Gentleman has yielded the will. Thank you. Rep- Representative Todd Jones, Chairman Todd Jones is recognized to speak to the resolution. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Members, a lot of conversation going on, and I wanna agree with many of the members of the minority party. This is an opportunity, but it's an opportunity to transform our state. We sit in a world where the third industrial revo- revolution took sixty years, and the fifth is literally gonna take a fraction of that. Everything that we do today in terms of competing against other states, competing for workforce, competing for industry, is all about setting ourselves up for the future.

187. 2:14:38

     We have to set ourselves up for a future both from a cost perspective and from a revenue perspective. I've never seen a business drive down costs so much so that they weren't able to be sustainably profitable. I've seen them let go of expenses so much so that they basically went bankrupt. But I do know this. It's always been about the numerator and the revenue that allows any business to, to thrive and be able to truly become a unicorn. We've spoken a lot about property taxes and I wanna pivot just for a second because I think at the end of the day, what we need to be thinking about is, it's property taxes within basically the jigsaw puzzle of the state of Georgia.

188. 2:15:14

     The state of Georgia needs to be looking at basically the entire value chain, and that value chain is made up of basically cost burdens that we place onto our citizens, but also opportunities that we give to our workforce, that we give to folks that wanna move to Georgia, and we give to companies that are here, here that will grow and thrive, and others that are looking to move here. By being able to give in this type of bill and this type of reflection, I laud the sponsors of this bill and I laud the authors of this bill because it gave a s- basically a decade, a decade to ramp to what's appropriate for each local government.

189. 2:15:49

     I think we can all agree that all 159 counties and 538 cities live in a different world. Every one of us deal with different demographics. We deal with different issues. We deal with an industry base that is different and, and a commercial basis that is different. We deal with the fact that our workforce is different than how it is that we will train them, but we know this. We know that the burden of ever-rising property taxes is causing people to effectively pay additional rent even when they own their home outright. And this isn't rent that's just capped at one or two percent.

190. 2:16:20

     You saw what Chairman Blackmon put up on the screen. You saw basically a line that basic was an inversion rate that if you were a private sector business, you'd love your revenue going up that high, but in no way, shape, or form would you have ever wanted to have your costs go up that high and that fast and that rapidly. We have seen basically a 45 degree basically swing into the positive right, and I don't mean positive in a good way. That's positive in four to five years. Some of the things that have been talked about though by the minority party, I wanna make sure that we have, I guess, the facts.

191. 2:16:55

     We do wanna be fair to our local governments. We wanna make sure that education is a priority, 'cause priorities are things that we're gonna be thinking about, and I know this. As the only college graduate of my family, education is the great equalizer. Lifting every child up, no matter what their zip code is, is our moral responsibility. We must be able to lift out to them and lift them up. I know that we have fully funded QBE. We talk about that a lot, but you know what we don't also talk about?

192. 2:17:27

     180 school boards are sitting on $7.5 billion in reserves. That's a great way for us to work with our local governments to make sure that we are moving the capital in the right place. I think for us, this property tax bill gives us a chance. It gives us a chance to alleviate the burden on seniors, on disabled veterans, and those on fixed incomes.

193. 2:17:50

     It gives us a chance to be able to maintain the critical, the critical exemptions. In my home county, at 65, you get a full exemption for the school tax. We can't risk that for them. That's a fixed income, and that's someone who can't withstand a 45-degree upswing into what their cost could possibly be. But we know this on this bill. We know that we have that moral responsibility to 11 million Georgians, but we also know that we're only on day 26. We know that this solution isn't completely settled.

194. 2:18:23

     We have to look across the third floor and say, "How can we work with them?" So we know that we have a little bit of time. We've given ourselves a 14-day ramp. Every county has its own challenges, but I would ask this. I would ask this body to consider that as it reflects on this resolution, it reflects on not just should we give it 14 more days, I think giving it 14 more days is exactly what it needs, but I think putting it into the broader scheme of a tapestry of the state of Georgia. We cannot remain the eighth largest economy in this country and the 22nd largest economy in this world if we don't understand and plan for the next 5, 10, 15, 20 years.

195. 2:19:03

     And that plan should and shall include how it is that we can move our cost basis and our revenue basis to support not just 11 million Georgians, but 15 and 20 million Georgians in the decades to come. I ask that I ask for your yes vote today. I ask for a chance to continue the critical dialogue to bring relief and to bring hope to today 11 million Georgians and to those that are looking to us to be able to address, address an, an issue that stands pantomime, or pardon me, paramount in their mind.

196. 2:19:34

     Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker, and I yield the well.

197. 2:19:38

     The gentleman has yielded the well.

198. 2:19:42

     Representative Tyler Paul Smith

199. 2:19:47

     is recognized to speak to the resolution. Chairman Smith.

200. 2:19:53

     Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

201. 2:19:58

     Members of this body, generally when I stand before you, try to really stay in what the Greeks used to call the logos of an issue.

202. 2:20:15

     And I'll try not to belabor you, belabor you here today with too much more Greek, but there is a Latin phrase that Cicero used in some of his writings, and that's the modus anonyme, or anonyme. And several different English translations of that are out there. I encourage you to look those up. But what I wanna focus on is that word connotes a capturing the idea of being moved by a feeling.

203. 2:20:51

     I can speak for many residents, not only in the 18th house district, but all over this great state of Georgia, but there's a feeling, the feeling that we get when we go about 50 miles west of here, and you look up at night when you usually get there, it's pretty dark, and you see those stars. Seeing those stars standing on that same dirt that's been passed down from generation to generation,

204. 2:21:28

     160 years.

205. 2:21:32

     My good friend Luke Bryan from down in South Georgia, I'll admit I don't listen to too much of his stuff since he started wearing skinny jeans. But- ... he did have a pretty good song that came out a few years ago saying, "Buy dirt." And that has stuck with me ever since I heard it the first time. The problem is, ladies and gentlemen, how you gonna buy that dirt if you can't afford that dirt?

206. 2:22:05

     And when I say afford it, it's not the buy-in, it's the taxes on that. I can tell you that I've seen the family farm be reduced to half of what it was the year I was born, in my lifetime. What started out as my great-grandfather's 1,000-acre tract is now only maybe a tenth of that. What I will tell you is this is not politics for us.

207. 2:22:39

     One of these days I wanna do a study committee on just how much farmland we've lost north of I-20 in the last 15 years. Every time I ride home and I see family farms being sold left and right, part of my soul just has left me, and it hurts me to know the reason why.

208. 2:23:08

     This is the most monumental legislation I think I've seen come up since I was able to pay attention and reading back in the history of my lifetime. I'll tell you, the emotion around this for me is

209. 2:23:24

     seeing a dad,

210. 2:23:29

     that although it occurred before I was born, being a Beirut Marine, defending this country, seeing over 240 Marines and US servicemen, French military personnel blown up due to terrorist organizations funded by Iran- Come back over here and fight to continue to afford that farm. Financially, been much better if we'd have sold that property.

211. 2:24:03

     We could've been sitting up in one of them nice fancy houses uptown, living the good life. Probably been driving a brand new Chevrolet.

212. 2:24:14

     But I saw him fight all my life to keep that piece of dirt. I've seen my parents, throwing Mama in there too, fight every year. We were out of district students. We sold our calves at just the right time of year to pay for those tuition payments and the property tax bill.

213. 2:24:46

     Ladies and gentlemen, this is a story that is replicated 10 times 10 and then some in my home district. And I can't help but notice the argument about what we've done in the budget. Well, Grandfather had a good saying, and we probably applied it to him, that, "If a little bit do a little good, whole lot do a whole lot of good." That's what I see in the passage of this bill.

214. 2:25:19

     Just the philosophical premise, and I'll leave you with this. We are renting our property from the government,

215. 2:25:29

     paying rent to the government. We don't pay them taxes, government gonna come calling and they gonna evict you. Now, that's not the technical legalese that we usually use, but they gonna get your butt off of that property if you don't pay your taxes. I submit to you that paying rent to the government on that dirt has long since passed its utility, and I just hope this little anecdote, on a personal note, might just inspire or give you the courage to join myself and others in voting in favor of this resolution.

216. 2:26:11

     Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

217. 2:26:15

     Thank you, Representative Smith. Chair Lady Camp.

218. 2:26:27

     Ladies recognized.

219. 2:26:30

     Thank you, Mr. Speaker. At its core, this resolution says something, is about something every Georgian understands, home. This legislation provides meaningful property tax relief to homeowners across our state. Everyone does not live in a million-dollar house. I have sold homes to people from all price points that look all kinds of different ways, who speak with an accent, who don't speak with an accent. Home ownership is something everyone has the ability to do.

220. 2:27:00

     This bill addresses the growing challenge, though. Rising property values, while signaling growth, have placed increasing financial pressure on the very people who make our communities what they are, and that pressure is real, and it's very personal. It's the senior citizen who retired but is worried that their income is not gonna be enough to pay their property tax. It is the person who is working two jobs to make their mortgage because something's happened in their life, and now they're trying to make a choice between paying their property taxes and paying their mortgage.

221. 2:27:36

     And it's also the young couple who are trying to find a home, but in some communities they would be paying $500 a month in property tax and escrow. That is a big deal, and it impacts people daily. This debate is not about tax policy. It is about stability, and it is about security. Because for many families, it's, a home is not just a place to live, it is the most important and largest investment they will ever have.

222. 2:28:06

     And that security impacts the community through opportunity, and it provides a foundation, because when you live in a home, you have some stability. We talk about rising costs because of corporate ownership. I would say that when people rent, oftentimes corporate ownership is something that makes it almost unsustainable for them to be able to afford their rent because it's constantly moving up.

223. 2:28:37

     Now, members, I want to speak from experience. I have served in the local level in many capacities. I was elected to my local school board, and I served on that board setting millage rates. I've also served as an employee in two public safety roles. I understand how local government functions, and I understand how budgets are built, and I understand how critical the services local governments provide are, including our schools. On paper, the process is straightforward. A budget is adopted, the tax digest is applied, and the millage rate is set.

224. 2:29:07

     But disproportionately, the burden of funding local governments and schools has fallen on our homeowners, many of whom have not been able to keep pace economically with escalating property taxes. Cities were created by charters. Counties are subdivisions of the state, and school systems were established by a change in the Georgia Constitution. How these local created governments set forth their taxation was established by the General Assembly, defined in Georgia law and in our state constitution, both created and codified by this body, which means this system is not static.

225. 2:29:45

     It is one that we have the authority and the responsibility to evaluate and to improve. At the same time, we have to be clear about what's at stake. We have local services that are important, including schools, including public safety, including water and, and sewer, and all the important things that we need in our communities. But I want to be really clear about this. I would never support a policy or a law that I believed even for one moment would harm the functioning of our local governments or our schools.

226. 2:30:16

     This bill provides tax relief to homeowners while ensuring that local taxing bodies are not negatively impacted. It protects both the taxpayer and those taxpayers, the services taxpayers rely on. This bill takes a measured and pragmatic approach by gradually reducing the taxable assessment from 40%, which is what we do now, down to 10% over 10 years. That assessment gradually declines. It's not a rapid s- flip of a switch.

227. 2:30:47

     We're not creating a disruption. We are providing real sustainable relief to Georgians in a way that allows local governments time to adjust and plan responsibility. And part of that responsible approach, the new sales tax options, which have been discussed by many of my colleagues, are available to local communities to help offset property tax changes. This provides flexibility and ensures that local governments have the tools, not mandates, to maintain the services their citizens depend on. Mr. Speaker, this is what responsible governing looks like.

228. 2:31:20

     I am proud to support this bill, and I hope all of you do as well. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I yield the floor.

229. 2:31:26

     Thank you, Chair Lady Camp.

230. 2:31:32

     Representative Clint, gentleman Ways.

231. 2:31:46

     Representative Vance Smith.

232. 2:31:54

     The gentleman from Harris County. Representative Smith is recognized. Give the gentleman your attention, please.

233. 2:32:03

     Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

234. 2:32:07

     Y'all, I don't come up here too much, but I felt like I wanted to today for just a minute or two, if you'll bear with me. Um, first off, I want to thank the Speaker and, and Chairman Blackmon and members of the Ways and Means Committee, both sides of the aisle. We've got a lot of great members on there. I can't tell you how many hours they worked on this bill. Um, I don't know of another bill that that many hours have been put into. And it's just, it's just amazing to see all great minds come together from both sides of the aisle and try to come up with something.

235. 2:32:40

     And I respect everybody's opinion, uh, try to do that all the time. Um, I've had the opportunity to serve in this House off and on since 1993. I served 12 years in the minority, and I know what it's like to be there, and now I'm serving in the majority. Uh, I look back and I enjoyed the minority. I think I may enjoy the majority a little bit better. But, uh, but you know, I've had the opportunity back in the '80s to serve as a county commissioner down in Harris County, and, uh, I wouldn't trade those years in for anything.

236. 2:33:21

     Learned a lot about my own county. Back then, we probably had around 18,000 people. Right now, we're probably about 38,000. We're a growing county, a great bedroom community to Columbus, Georgia, LaGrange. A lot of our residents work in Columbus during the day, in LaGrange. Not many people left at home between 8:00 and 5:00, but that's good. We like being a bedroom community. And you know, we, we talk about people having to cut back, and I've had a lot of conversations with local officials, county, school board, managers in my area, and we talk about, you know, having to cut back.

237. 2:34:00

     But I don't know how many of you were here in 2009, the 2009 session. I won't ask you to raise your hand. But, uh, Dean Green, he said he was here. But, um, that year, we cut 1.5 billion, with a B, out of the budget.

238. 2:34:23

     1.5 to retire. But, uh, we've done a pretty good job. And now we're funding the QBE, fully funding QBE. That's important. We're supposed to educate our children. So, and I've heard some comments, and look, you got, everybody's got a right to their opinion, but I heard somebody say, "Why are we doing this now?" And I say, "Why not now?" You know, there's an, there's an old movie, as an old codger, I watch It's a Wonderful Life about two or three times every Christmas, and there's a portion in there when Jimmy Ch- Stewart's in the room of the bank, and Mr.

239. 2:35:04

     Potter's sitting at the end of the table, and he's trying to convince him they need to wait to do something. And I can remember Jimmy Stewart saying, "Wait? Wait for what? What are we waiting on?" Look, the time is now. We got a 40-day session. Let's do something meaningful for the taxpayers of the state of Georgia. Seniors need relief, and I can speak honestly about that. I'm a senior. Our young people need relief.

240. 2:35:36

     We have children that are married with grandchildren.

241. 2:35:42

     Wait.

242. 2:35:45

     I'm, I'm through waiting. I say let's move forward. Let's give these taxpayers relief like they need. That's totally my opinion, but they need relief. I can't remember the last time my taxes went down, and I won't ask for a show of hands of anybody in here the last time their taxes went down. Y'all, we got, we've got to come up with another system. I think this is a great plan. Let's work it. We do have, uh, 14 days left.

243. 2:36:17

     Let's work with our partners across the hall, and let's give the taxpayers some meaningful relief. And I would ask you to consider that. Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the opportunity to come to the well, and I will yield.

244. 2:36:33

     Thank you, Representative, Representative Smith. Appreciate your service as well. Representative Chairman Chuck Martin. We'll have one more speaker after Chairman Martin. Gentleman's recognized. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Ladies and gentlemen, I didn't bring anything up here with me, and y- you guys that have been around here for a minute know I'm not a great orator. I have sometimes a hard time saying what I mean. But this is, this is simple to me, that we, the action we take today is simple.

245. 2:37:09

     The work to complete it is complex, and it's hard. But anything worth doing is gonna be hard. I sat in the shoes of all our mayors. I, I've sat in the mayor's role. I've sat in the city council role. I've seen people sit in those roles since I left 20 years ago. And I would tell you today, they all mean well for the people for which they work, every single one of them. They may not believe exactly the way I do or the way you do, but they each and every one of them want to provide the services they need to run our cities, counties, and school boards.

246. 2:37:50

     Nobody takes issue with that. But we have to realize our ad valorem tax system was put in place when Georgia was an agronomy, agronomy c- I'm having trouble again there, um, Mr. Leader. An agricultural state. It's not anymore. It used to be everybody lived in a similar house with a similar valuation, and as the gentleman said about his grandpa's thousand-acre farm, he paid the same on that per acre as somebody else did.

247. 2:38:23

     That no longer exists in the state of Georgia.

248. 2:38:27

     Ladies and gentlemen, we're taxing people out of their houses. It's gotta be fixed. And we all know that doesn't make the cost of city government or county services or education go down. But if we don't realize things are changing, we'll never figure out how to get Georgia to the next level. And we will take our folks, because make no mistake, I love my cities, I love my county, and I love my school board, but I love the people that send me down here more.

249. 2:39:03

     And we're taking their life and livelihood away based on our current system. In areas of Fulton County, you can have houses that back up to each other, have very similar square footage, and may be assessed four times the one fella's backyard to the other one based on what road they front on. What about down in, in Atlanta here? I, I looked a few, uh, years ago in Southwest Atlanta at some properties that folks had owned for years, and there'd been property that had been bought beside them and developed, and their assessment had gone up fivefold.

250. 2:39:47

     The folks couldn't pay the bill. So we were lucky, and it took a while, but we got a floating homestead put through, and we heard when we did that in 2018, all our cities and our school board wouldn't be able to make it. And you know what? Since then, we have good mayors and good council members and good members of the Board of Education, and they've worked and made it work with the floating homestead that have help pe- helped people stay in their homes.

251. 2:40:22

     Someone once said the search per- for- for perfection is the enemy of the good. I would say that today, that this may not be exactly perfect, but the constitutional amendment that we put in place gives us the opportunity through enabling legislation that our Ways and Means chairman has put together to give an- give us an opportunity today to make a big change that will make big change for Georgia families. I today will proudly vote in favor of H.R.

252. 2:40:53

     1114 because this is what the people that sent me down here asked me to do, take care of them so that they could take care of their families. Mr. Speaker, I thank you for your time and I yield the well. The gentleman's yielded the well. Representative Allen Powell

253. 2:41:16

     is recognized to speak to House Resolution 1114.

254. 2:41:26

     Chairman Powell is recognized.

255. 2:41:34

     Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and ladies and gentlemen of the House. You know, this isn't the first time I've seen one of these, uh, one of these debates that, uh, consume this legislative body. And there's a few thanks that I wanna make. I wanna make thanks to the speaker and his staff, and, uh, Chairman Blackmon done a good job this year. Something's gonna have to happen. If not, he's such a nice guy, he's gonna have a nervous breakdown if we, uh, keep putting pressure on him the way it has, 'cause we all know he can make a cup of coffee nervous at times.

256. 2:42:09

     I listened to, uh, all the comments, and I was, uh, compelled to come down here even though a reluctancy was that I knew that sometimes I say things that I can make folks mad on both sides of the aisle. And if I've done that, then maybe I've done something good. My political career started as a county commissioner, probably before a lot of you folks was born, in 1980. And in 1980, we ran the county, but we had a very few functions that we had to deal with compared to today.

257. 2:42:47

     I've seen city taxes escalate, and I've seen county taxes escalate, but probably the one I've seen the most is school taxes. Now, I will tell you that I'm a believer in education. I've got constituents. I live in a part of the country where, uh, we were ag- agrarian. Uh, we had a lot of farmers, and they would basically always strap to pay property taxes and all, but it never was to the extent that it is today. We've had a lot of growth up in Northeast Georgia.

258. 2:43:18

     We live in such a great part of the country, and the people are so good that we've just basically showed the rest of the world, "We want you to come on up here." Well, you know, that's had a price tag, and it's grown and it's cost. Now, I tell you about this background because I remember once upon a time that all levels of government, city, county, schools and all, they seemed to be a little bit more austere. I mean, they didn't look for ways of spending money, and today they look for ways of spending money, quite frankly.

259. 2:43:50

     And I don't mean that to condemn them. It's just a fact of life, and that's what happens. Now, for the politics of this, I started off by thanking the speaker and thanking Shaw, and I wanna thank everybody in here. I live in a part of the country, and my politics is kind of old-fashioned. I still return phone calls. People stop me in the grocery store. I don't hide behind a mask or anything to try to get out. Never been afraid to answer a question. You know, sometimes I can make people madder by telling them the truth than I can by hiding from the truth.

260. 2:44:22

     But I've had an awful lot of folks, and it didn't just start last year or the year before. It's been going on for several decades now.

261. 2:44:29

     that a lot of the people in my part of the world and others, they talk about the burden of property taxes, and it's not light in a lot of cases. I have senior citizens, educated people, retirees who are the captains of industry and commerce that moved up to Lake Hartwell, and these people know the value of a good education, but they also have said enough is enough. And it concerns me when I hear people say, uh, "I've paid enough taxes.

262. 2:45:03

     I'm tired of paying school taxes." And I've heard that, and I know every one of y'all out here has heard the same comments that come from a lot of these people. And I've always said that we all have a vested interest in good education. Somebody to help to educate my, is helping to educate my grandchildren. They helped educate my children. They helped educate me. They helped educate you. So we all have an interest. But what you have here is a proposition about how do we pay for this?

263. 2:45:34

     You know, I sent out a sheet last week, and I had several of y'all that commented on this. One of my school superintendents, well, actually the only school su- superintendent that actually communicates to me, sent me this. And it's a, it, it was a sheet about schools and about what's happened over the last 125 years to this state about what was expected of public education. A lot of y'all read this, and if you didn't, call my office, I'll get you another copy, but it's quite telling.

264. 2:46:06

     We don't just run schools today to educate children. Schools have now become the keeper of those children, the ch- the parent of those children, because they expect schools to do any and all things. And if you look at this, it's quite telling about what schools are required to do today. And for that, I say every one of us and our predecessors up here, we're all guilty, because every time we pass another mandate to them, then we're passing another cost onto those school systems.

265. 2:46:37

     I'll talk about all of these other things, but one of the things that troubles me is that everybody in here, despite your political party, we all have an interest. I heard an awful lot of good comments here today from both political parties. Uh, and I understand, believe it or not, I do understand politics. I mean, I've been at it long enough, and I've seen the, the fight, the turbulence between the parties. But we're reaching a point of unsust- unsustainability. And I want to give you something that, something that you might look at, but, or you might consider.

266. 2:47:11

     Property taxes revenues have gone up since 2019. Seven years, they've gone up 52% in this state. That's the average around the state, 52% in seven years. Sales tax disbursements have gone up 49%. We are a prosperous state, and sales taxes are really bringing it in. The median household income has gone up only 29%, and the CPI inflationary index has gone up 24%.

267. 2:47:42

     Those numbers are somewhat skewed. I mean, it ki- it's kind of telling. I know that's part of the economy that we're living in that's creating all of this, but the unsustainability of an old system. You know, when our leadership wheeled out the first, uh, the first proposition, I thought to myself, "You know, there's a better way of doing it," to realign the tax structure. But then when I started looking at the numbers, I said, "Well, maybe it is time that we are realign our tax structures for local governments." I remember over my tour of duty here in this house, this very house that I love so much, that we passed sales tax after sales tax after sales tax to give another source of revenue to local governments.

268. 2:48:36

     You know, a lot of times this has worked, but what it's done is also created, uh, the reason for spending more money. I see the fight that goes on between ACCG and GMA. One doesn't like the other one. One thinks one's getting over on the other one. In a lot of cases, neither side is being fair about it. Uh, the schools have only had, uh, one, uh, particular sales tax or two that they can use. So, you know, that being said, I won't get into the politics of this, and I don't think I'm gonna change a vote here today, because I do understand politics.

269. 2:49:13

     I understand that on one side there's been a shutdown on any constitutional, uh, amendment, and I'm told that whatever the reason is because they don't want any reason for folks to want to go out and vote in November. That may or may not be true, and if it is, I'm not saying it is or is not, but there's a possibility to it. Maybe a lot of the things that's been proposed is, uh, a lot of things that might could have been done a lot easier. But this is all about trying to find some relief, because property taxes is getting out of hand to a lot of folks, and it's not just for those older people who don't want to outlive their money.

270. 2:49:51

     That's a saying that a lot of y'all may or may not have heard. A lot of these people that retire,

271. 2:49:59

     they're more afraid of outliving their money, and when they have property tax bills that are pretty high, then they start looking at that. You know, sometimes the stock market isn't always, uh, stable or whatever the income is. Social Security certainly doesn't go up like a lot of people think it should, but that's one of the issues. And then I heard people talking. I heard some of the speakers in here talking about, uh, about the young folks. Those are the ones that have the children.

272. 2:50:31

     And the question is how can a lot of those, quite honestly, how can they afford to reach that American dream of home ownership? I'm a real estate broker by profession, and I will tell you that we have a lot of our clients, and I wonder when I look at the closing documents, how in the world can they afford to buy a house when they've got two new cars, they wanna have the same bass boat, or they want the pontoon, or they want all the stuff it took mom and daddy 60 years to accumulate.

273. 2:51:06

     How can they afford all of this? Well, in a lot of cases, they're having to fall back on their mamas and their daddies to help them with it. So all of these are bits and pieces you need to look at, ladies and gentlemen. You know, do I think that we can keep on putting more sales taxes out there? I don't know. I don't think we can. You know, that's a whole, that's a argument between, uh, taxing on property or taxing on consumption. But, you know, one is considered more fair because everybody pays their share on one, and the haves that have properties are the ones that pay on the other.

274. 2:51:43

     So that's something I want you to consider, but I would like to say this to, to the others about the idea of a constitutional amendment. I'm probably the last member of this House that voted against Governor Miller's proposition to elect school superintendents or to, to appoint school superintendents. Now, to a lot of y'all out there, there's a bipartisan resolution that it's got a sizable number of Democrats on there because they saw the same wisdom that a lot of the Republicans did.

275. 2:52:15

     So, you know, wisdom-itten, uh, is equal. One crowd can see it as well as the other. But, you know, there's a direct correlation if you wanna look to see when schools went, in a lot of counties, went out of control. Now, I don't know that every county wants to do it, but I would reach out to the other party to tell you that if the whole ploy is that we're not gonna vote for a constitutional, uh, amendment for that purpose, then I would say you're missing the boat for the sake of politics.

276. 2:52:46

     Neither side's always right, and neither side's always wrong. But I will tell you, I don't know anybody, I really don't know any... Well, there might be one or two folks in here who vote against everything that's not in favor of a good education. Um,

277. 2:53:03

     but I would like for y'all to consider this. There's been proposition after proposition, uh, and quite frankly, not everybody in here on either political party knows what's been, been put out there. I hear that, I heard from, uh, one of the speakers and one of the leaders that said that, uh, they were willing to work. I really don't know. I'm not on Ways and Means. Never had a, never had a desire to be on the Ways and Means Committee. I always thought that you could shoot me with, in the right temple for putting me on Ways and Means, and you could shoot me in the left temple for being on the Education Committee.

278. 2:53:41

     So I chose a different path of expertise in this House. But I would want to reach out to each and every one of y'all, to my friends in the minority caucus. I would ask you, do you have a better proposition? If you do, reach out to the leadership, reach out to Chairman Blackwell, because at some point, we have reached a point of unsustainability, and it's not going to get any better, ladies and gentlemen. So with that, I would certainly appreciate your consideration of these thoughts, uh, and I would appreciate putting the partisanship aside.

279. 2:54:19

     I mean, I did hear a lot of things today that basically said that maybe that we're only, our only existence here is to, to support government as an individual or as a family or as a working family. The other proposition that I truly do believe in, and that's that government is here to serve the public, and that's what can the public afford. I would encourage you to think about these comments. I would hope you do, and, uh, I would hope that whatever the decision is on this resolution, it moves forward, because if the resolution doesn't move forward, then there's nothing else.

280. 2:54:59

     I would tell you that there's a proposition that, uh, Representative Washburn's got. I've been, since the 1990s, I've been saying that we need to cap the appraisal process. One of the most irritating parts that these property owners have is that sometime in the spring or the summer, they get a notice from the tax office telling them that that piece of property, that home, or whatever they bought, has escalated in price. It was bought at 100, and it's 120 or 130 or 150 or whatever each year.

281. 2:55:31

     And that, that's part of the, one of the parts of the movable parts of this property tax situation we have, that these folks feel like something's not right about this. This is the equivalent of paying taxes on unrealized gains. So just as an example, there's a simpler way of doing this if you do not pass this resolution. If you pass the resolution, then let's move on together and let's find a solution that works for local governments, because this is a process and not an event, ladies and gentlemen.

282. 2:56:04

     I will g- thank you so much for listening, and I'll yield the well. Thank you, Representative Powell. The gentleman has yielded the well. That completes our discussion so far on House Resolution 1114. Is there any objection to the previous question being ordered? We now have a minority report, which will, was signed by Representative Holcomb. You have up to 20 minutes.

283. 2:56:35

     Gentleman, yield just for a second.

284. 2:56:37

     And then we'll have comments from the chairman. He will have up to 20 minutes. And Representative Holcomb, you will divide those. You have several speakers, I think you understand that, and you will divide that 20 minutes up as you see fit. The gentleman's recognized.

285. 2:56:56

     Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Ah, one thing I would like to say is I really would like to thank my good friend, Chairman Blackmon, for his hard work on this. Um, it, it's, it's really been an incredible effort. Uh, I'd like to yield my time to Whip Park. Thank you. Whip Park is recognized. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you, Representative Holcomb. Ah, colleagues, um, you know, first I wanted to rebut a few of the arguments, ah, made on, made in this well so far.

286. 2:57:28

     But to begin, you know, we've heard that d- a very catchy phrase of we are renting our property from the government. But of course, at the same time we're hearing this is not about politics. Y'all, if, if this was about good public policy, we would not see a fifth, sixth or seventh iteration of this bill come out at the 11th hour as we are about two days away from crossover day.

287. 2:58:02

     If this was a matter of good public, public policy that could stand on its two feet by itself, arms would not have to be twisted in order for members to vote in favor of this piece of legislation. If this were good public policy, the math would speak for itself, which as we've heard from many different sources, it does not. My understanding of this proposal is that it would create a $5 billion hole in local governments.

288. 2:58:40

     We've heard from this well a lot of my colleagues and chairman stating how important education is for all of us, that we all have a vested interest in education. Well, this proposal will undermine the most stable source of revenue for education. If we wanna prepare for the future five, 10, 15, 20 years down the line in which we are rapidly moving toward a knowledge-based economy, the best thing, in my opinion, for us to do is to invest in our public education, not simply based on a formula that's existed untouched for decades, but to meaningfully invest in public education for every single Georgian across this state, which again, this bill undermines.

289. 2:59:37

     Which this bill, again, undermines the most stable source of revenue. 50% of Gwinnett County Public Schools, the largest school district in Georgia, where one in 10 Georgia students are taught, 50% of their budget is based on property tax revenue. If you care about public education, vote no to this piece of legislation. Now, you know, I'm a, I, I think perhaps one of those young folks that Chairman Powell, ah, recognized in which as an older millennial, yes, I had a very difficult time in buying my first home, which I did just about a year and a half ago.

290. 3:00:22

     And when I saw my property taxes, yes, there was sticker shock. But let me tell y'all, I did not buy a home based on property taxes. I was saving year after year after year to ensure I had 10, 15, 20% that I could put down. This bill would undermine that ability and make it harder for people to save up. It would make it harder for renters and people who don't already have a home based on increased sales taxes on everything in perpetuity.

291. 3:00:56

     So I would respectfully disagree that this bill in any way would make folks in my generation mo- uh, allow it for us to be able to provide a home. Now, I know a lot of hard work has gone into pers- uh, i- into this proposal, countless hours, countless meetings. However, again, that, that mere fact does not make this good public policy. I think this is a very important issue that we should continue to work on in a deliberate manner.

292. 3:01:30

     Uh, in this enabling bill or in this constitutional amendment, H.R. 1114, there are components of this which I know have full bipartisan support in this body. If there is a bill on this floor that would remove property taxes for disabled veterans, for seniors of a certain age that requires 120 votes, two-thirds of this body, I can guarantee y'all, I can guarantee the public that that would pass. As the leader had already stated, every single person in this body who voted for the amended fiscal '26 budget voted to provide $870 million of property tax relief this year.

293. 3:02:12

     We need to continue to work on this proposal in a bipartisan manner. But this bill, this constitutional amendment, this is, if we go down this path, there's no going back.

294. 3:02:28

     I would vote if, if, if it was a plain question to remove my property taxes, yes, I would vote yes, if that were on a ballot. Would anybody vote to reimpose property taxes on themselves? Even if it causes chaos, even if it undermines public education, even if it undermines local law enforcement, which is what exactly this piece of legislation would do? Absolutely not. From every indication, this proposal is not a good-- This is not good public policy.

295. 3:03:05

     This is politics. Politics in an election year. Politics that will take this state down a very dangerous path and undermine what I believe to be shared values and priorities of this body, of education, of public safety. So last thing I'll say, we have a very diverse and big state. I appreciate the presentation from one of the members talking about Colquitt County, a county of forty-five thousand people that is a commercial base in its area.

296. 3:03:44

     Colquitt County does not represent a county of a million-plus people. It doesn't represent a bedroom community in which there's only residential properties in a county. If we want to be intentional and truly and in a bipartisan manner providing property tax relief, we can do so, but not by taking us down this path that will undermine critically important revenue streams for public education, public safety, and so many other things for generations to come.

297. 3:04:20

     That is what is at stake when we are debating this matter. So I urge every single member in this body to vote no. A no vote means that you do not oppose property tax relief. A no vote here means that we will continue to work on ensuring that we are able to move on this important matter in a bipartisan manner. So again, vote no, and at this time, I will yield the remainder of my time to Representative Jasmine Clark.

298. 3:04:52

     Representative Clark. Representative Jasmine Clark is recognized. Uh, you have about twelve minutes.

299. 3:04:59

     All right. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today I rise to ask you to vote no on this res- resolution and the accompanying enabling legislation. I rise today as a homeowner and also a mother of a child that attends public school in the largest school system in this state. This is an important clarification because I do have skin in the game. Whether this bill passes or does not pass, I have skin in the game.

300. 3:05:31

     If this bill passes, I will get a discount on my tax bill. Yay. But if this bill, if this bill passes, I have to look at my daughter and say, "I get to save money at the expense of you and your classmates at school." When we suck the coffers of our schools dry by taking away a significant revenue source from these schools, that leads to resources going away, quality of our schools declining, and jobs being lost.

301. 3:06:10

     It also impacts the surrounding communities. A lot of people worry about their property values, but what do you think happens to your property values when your school systems decline? As a taxpayer, if I had a chance to choose where my money goes, I would unequivocally choose to invest in our children and our future. To invest in education is one of the few things that we can guarantee will be a return on investment for our community.

302. 3:06:43

     Investment in an education is investment in innovation, in entrepreneurship, in safe communities, in property values, and so much more. So what do you think happens with disinvestment? What do you think happens when we defund our schools? The outlook is not good. So let's look at this policy in the totality of all the other bills that we're trying to pass in this chamber and across the hall that would defund our schools, because nothing in here happens in a vacuum.

303. 3:07:21

     Every single policy that we pass is additive. The-- They add up. And we've been trying to chip away at this property tax thing in a number of different ways. SB 382, eliminating the opt-out for all of the, um, political subdivisions in the state. Sixty-eight percent of school districts will be impacted. Many of the people sitting in this room, your school district would be impacted if that bill were to pass, and now we're trying to make it exponentially worse for them.

304. 3:07:56

     HB 1101 and 1105, great bills, tax exemptions for seniors. I'm actually in favor of policies like that. But again, there is an additive effect. HB 1023 that we just passed, a great bill. We wanna keep our babies safe in the school, but here's the thing, it's an unfunded mandate. We are telling these schools that you have to buy expensive weapons detection systems for every K through 12 school in your district, but we are not giving you a single solitary dime to do it.

305. 3:08:28

     You gotta rob Peter to pay Paul in order to pay for these systems. Again, like I said, unfunded mandates that we are putting on our schools. HB 1193, another amazing bill. I love the fact that we are leaning into literacy in our state. But this bill does require us to hire literacy coaches for every single elementary school while not actually funding the full salaries of every single one of those literacy coaches that they are now mandated to hire.

306. 3:09:01

     We love that we care about literacy, but we not putting the money behind it. Let's also not take into account that while we talk about fully funding QBE every single year since I've been here, we always say, "We fully funded QBE. We fully funded QBE." The, the funding formula was, I was two years old when that funding formula came out, and it is inadequate. I'm not gonna tell y'all how old I am, but just know y'all can do the math.

307. 3:09:33

     That funding formula does not invest in the transportation that we need to get our babies to school. That funding formula does not invest in the health insurance for all employees. And so our school systems do backfill this with their budgets. Let's also take into consideration we are diverting public funds to private schools. We passed that bill as well. So here's the thing. I try really hard to believe that people are inherently good, and I really want to believe that people in this chamber do not want to see disinvestment in our schools across the state.

308. 3:10:13

     Many people who are for this bill came to the well and said exactly that. I really want to believe that when schools tell you that this will harm them, that we will listen to those schools, that we will care about those schools. This bill does harm our schools, yet the schools were given less than 24 hours to decipher the latest iteration of this bill, 54 pages of text that have changed significantly over and over, and schools weren't even given enough time to digest it, to digest the impact of something that will essentially be permanent.

309. 3:10:49

     For some of you, your heels are dug in, and no amount of us coming to this well to ask you to consider these students in our schools will move you. But for those of you whose hearts and minds are open, open to considering the absolute devastation this bill would do to some of our schools, to our communities, to our babies, I ask you, please don't do this to them. There are some very smart people in this room, very smart people in this chamber.

310. 3:11:22

     Let's work on policy that helps homeowners, but not on the backs of our babies. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I yield the well.

311. 3:11:32

     The lady's yielded the well.

312. 3:11:33

     Oh, and I yield the remaining time to, uh, Representative Wilkerson.

313. 3:11:36

     Representative Wilkerson is recognized. You have about five minutes. The gentleman's recognized.

314. 3:11:42

     Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Uh, today I come in opposition to H.R. 1114. Um, I wanna first thank all those, uh, I know a lot of folks have asked me to talk. They will listen to both sides. When I say both sides, they will get two different opinions, I should say, because at the time I was just kind of explaining from my perspective what was in the bill, and then I explained from my perspective what was in the next version, and then the next version. And this morning, I, to be honest, I kinda, not gave up, but it made it very difficult when the versions were changing so quickly.

315. 3:12:13

     But, um, one thing I do wanna mention, and you heard a lot of good conversation, and there was some talk about family farms. The average farm in Georgia, I believe, is about 235 acres. This only applies to f- five acres or less. So let's be clear that this is not gonna impact any family farm, 'cause not only will they not get a break, but they'll probably get more tax 'cause they're the only ones we're grabbing money from. So if you got a family farm, we got land up in Illinois, and I'll tell you that if you got a family farm, I'm gonna be watching because those local governments can be coming to get their money. Um, the second thing we mentioned was 2009, which, which is great.

316. 3:12:47

     We did cut a million and a half, a billion and a half, but at that time, um, we were marching toward greater property tax relief, and the Republican governor at the time said, "We're in a recession, so we've gotta stop that." Not only did we stop those homeowner relief tax grants that were started under Democrats, we also added an institutional fee during that recession, which added about $1,000 to some students' tuition every year. And not only that did we keep it during the recession, but we kept that until 2022. Long throughout the Biden great years, we kept that institutional fee of charging a student's $1,000 a year at some schools because we could.

317. 3:13:26

     Once government gets food in front of them, they continue to eat. It doesn't matter who you are. Our budget at the state level, despite how conservative we are, our budget has increased almost 50% in the last six years from state funds. Government eats. Local government eats even more because we don't fund buses. We don't fund a lot of things we used to fund. So let's look at what this actually means. It's very small writing, but hopefully everybody has that.

318. 3:13:55

     Oglethorpe,

319. 3:13:58

     you know, it's a homestead property, um, um, county, residential. I was gonna go out there last weekend to, to, to visit to see what it actually looked like 'cause I see it on the chart. Nothing's open on Sunday because all the restaurants are closed because it's a bedroom community. A bedroom community. Many of these communities rely on local property taxes, and what we're telling them is, "No longer can you rely on yourself. Let government help you. We will take care of you through data centers." I don't know about y'all, but I don't trust us to take care of them because any time we make them mad, we take away from them.

320. 3:14:36

     So this community is surviving on its own. Let them survive. Let, let, um, Lamar County survive on their own. So the reality is that this bill is a s- is a good conversation piece, but, um-

321. 3:14:52

     The reality is to try to get something done just because we wanna get something done is not the right answer. Um, if you can go to the next slide, group. Not that, go to the next presentation. So what I did, we talked about other counties, so let's look at a Cobb County family. Go to the next slide. Cobb County has a 6% sales tax rate. Everybody 62 and over no longer pay school taxes. We have a floating homestead exemption for our homeowners.

322. 3:15:22

     You don't pay any more just to county and the cities just because your values go up. We have 100% disabled vets. There is a committee called Intergovernment Coordination that you can go there and just get, have the delegation, and you can do the same thing that we have without passing a constitutional amendment statewide. So join us. Join Cobb County. Join, you know, Cherokee County. Join Forsyth County. Join us in removing those taxes from your citizens if you're complaining, but just don't mess with my 6% sales tax rate because the way the taxes work is the 4% we collect at the state does not tax food.

323. 3:16:00

     Any additional penny, which used to be capped at nine, but this bill allows you to go up to what, 12? Maybe higher? Because government eats, we are giving them the S host, the L host, the M host, the host of the most because we wanna make sure they can eat off of somebody else's plate. Um, next slide, please. So there was a nice little pretty picture, but I took it down. 150% tax increase on food and other essentials. So when Grandma goes and you ask, run to the store, you're gonna pay tax on that.

324. 3:16:31

     Next slide, please. However, that was a nice pretty picture of the Tesla 'cause they will not pay any more in sales tax. Next slide. This was the language we did get rid of, um, I think it was Monday, which was great because the original bill that everybody loved, that everybody was gonna vote for would have allowed your local governments to put an assessment on somebody, and if they did not pay that assessment within 30 days, you could take away every homestead exemption they have and, and basically put a lien on their home. So I'm glad that came out. And I think I'm-

325. 3:17:01

     Gentleman, I need you to wrap up.

326. 3:17:02

     Okay, I'm gonna wrap up. One more slide. Uh, historic tax increase. You could lose your home because of this assessment. Next slide.

327. 3:17:08

     Gentleman, I need you to wrap up.

328. 3:17:09

     Okay. I'm sorry. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And if there's any... Do, can... Now, questions do not count against the time, and I'd be happy to take any if I have it, or if that's up to you, Mr. Speaker. I, you're telling me-

329. 3:17:19

     No, you need to wrap up. We've had our-

330. 3:17:20

     Okay.

331. 3:17:21

     Time.

332. 3:17:21

     Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I yield the floor and I ask you to vote no. Thank you.

333. 3:17:24

     I think we've worn this one out.

334. 3:17:30

     That completes the minority report. I'm gonna recognize the author of the bill for the chair's time. Chairman Blackmon is recognized, and he will, he can, um, speak for 20 minutes or he can elect to let someone else speak for 20 minutes, part of that time. So the gentleman's recognized.

335. 3:17:51

     Thank you, Mr. Speaker, fellow members. I wanna yield part of my time back, uh, to Chairman Erwin.

336. 3:18:01

     Gentleman's recognized.

337. 3:18:03

     Thank you, Mr. Speaker and members. Uh, let me put my superintendent hat on for a minute and, and discuss with you on how budgeting works and the concerns of budgeting and, and the burden of, uh, school systems on budgeting. I also think we need to talk a little bit about the mandates that we have piled on school systems a- in that talk. First of all, the biggest complaint as a school system when I'm budgeting came in, came from my taxpayers.

338. 3:18:36

     Not only a aged taxpayer that had been paying for decades taxes on their homes, but also to the new taxpayers that had come into my district, and they complained whenever we were talking about rolling back the millage or raising the millage as a burden to them and their life and their suce- and, and to their success at being able to either fund their house, stay in their house or, or do whatever they needed to at their property at which they lived at.

339. 3:19:13

     So the, uh, the, the school systems deal quite a bit with this, and I don't look at this as a takeaway if you read H.R. 1114. I look at it as a tool for the school system to use during the, the times of budgeting to lower that burden that they're seeing on their taxpayers. So it's a tool they have in their hands that they can immediately start working with those individuals that need it the most within their systems.

340. 3:19:49

     So it isn't a takeaway, and then when I look at it and think about what would I have to remove from my school system, we always budget. Every year the budget is different. It goes up and down for different reasons. I'm gonna give you an example. We have a bottom end of our QBE formula that is equalization. It rides a roller coaster every year. It goes up and down for school systems. Some that get that equalization will have a lot less money the next year than they had the previous year, so they have to work their budgets and figure it out.

341. 3:20:28

     But I have full confidence in our superintendents at budgeting in this state, looking at it, how to appropriate the money correctly. I'll give you an example. Exactly what we're talking about doing here, we gave them an ELACH decades ago. And if you look around this country, we're the envy of our buildings for our one penny that we gave the school systems. Look at the schools. Look at what they're using that penny for.

342. 3:21:00

     ... and how often that penny gets reappropriated for them. We've got the best school buildings in the Southeast. We got some of the best buses, the best technology, all because of that appropriately and effectively used penny that we allow the school systems to use. Again, that's a tool that they were able to take in their hand and, and make good for. By the way, there was a program where that one penny won't work for every school system, so we developed a program in capital outlay called Project Specific Low Wealth, and we're helping those systems where that one penny didn't exactly work, and we bridged that gap so they could build schools and be competitive in that same market, too, just like H.R.

343. 3:21:53

     1114 does for our school systems. So again, I, I, Mr. Speaker and members, I look at this as an opportunity for our, um, superintendents, for our schools to take this penny, make good use of it to take the burden off of the citizens that normally would be coming to them telling them of the burden of this penny, and lowering it.

344. 3:22:25

     So there are many checkpoints if you've read this bill, and the one that was just passed out yesterday, that are, are very accommodating to school systems. So I will tell you that, uh, I urge you to vote positively for H.R. 1114. Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and I'll yield the rest of the time back to the chairman.

345. 3:22:48

     The gentleman has yielded the well. Representative Kelley

346. 3:22:56

     is recognized to speak to House Resolution 1114. Gentleman's recognized.

347. 3:23:01

     Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We've, uh, had extensive debate today. That's what we're sent here to do. But at the beginning of the opposition's debate, the minority leader said something that I agree with. There's some politics being played here, y'all, but it's the minority party that's playing politics.

348. 3:23:25

     Because their logic doesn't add up. You can't say that, you can't say that the majority party has brought you version after version after version, even up until today, trying to get something to provide tax relief to the citizens of Georgia, and you keep saying no, and it not be about anything besides politics. To the citizens of Georgia, the House Democratic Party wants to deny and disenfranchise your right to vote for property tax relief in our state.

349. 3:24:07

     The chairman has gone above and beyond to try to take into consideration all those inputs from our local governments, and we satisfy that. They're not opposed to this legislation. But all we get from the minority r- party and their minority report is, "We are concerned about potential unequal impact and/or a cut to local services." You know what they don't say in their minority report? They don't say a thing about taxpayers, because they want to deny your right to vote because they're scared of the impact that it will have on the electoral turnout in November.

350. 3:24:48

     They're more worried about their elections than they are you keeping your home. So as we wrap up debate, Mr. Speaker, I'll say this. To the 100% disabled veteran, it's the House Democrats who are denying you the opportunity to vote for tax relief. To the senior citizen, it is House Democrats who are denying you your right to vote for property tax relief.

351. 3:25:20

     To the renter who is stuck in an apartment, the House Democrats wanna grab the key and lock you inside there, because they do not want you to have the opportunity to vote for tax relief. I ask all of us to put politics aside. It's not too late. We can do the right thing. But the taxpayers of Georgia, I unfortunately feel, will see the House Democrats denying them the right to vote. Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and I yield the well.

352. 3:25:49

     The gentleman yields the well. Chairman Blackmon, gentleman's recognized for up to almost 12 minutes, or any part thereof.

353. 3:26:01

     Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and, uh, fellow members. Uh, certainly appreciate all the conversation and the attention given today. We've taken up a lot of time. In my closing remarks, rather than, um, trying to rebut some of the things that I, I, I don't believe are consistent at all with the legislation, and are not consistent with our efforts to try to provide meaningful property tax relief, I thought as this session started and, um,

354. 3:26:44

     I started receiving emails and conversation about this particular issue, may be at best to just read a letter that came through. And for those of you that wanna study this further, um, perhaps it'll speak to you as well. "Dea- dear sir, after reading some of the press about the HOME Act..."

355. 3:27:08

     The gentleman will suspend. Members, we've had a good day thoroughly debating this question. We're about to wrap it up, so give the gentleman the will, the courtesy to take your conversations into the ante room.

356. 3:27:29

     If you have a conversation, take it in the ante room. Anybody on this side have one, take it to the ante room.

357. 3:27:44

     The gentleman deserves to be heard.

358. 3:27:49

     Please continue.

359. 3:27:51

     And I, I did receive permission, permission to read this, uh, and some of the points are redacted. Dear sir, after reading some of the press about the HOME Act, H.R. 1114, I felt compelled to send this letter.

360. 3:28:09

     I wanna tell my family's story. Our current situation is a prime example of why this bill should and needs to pass. I'm a 20-year and counting public servant. After that, I worked a number of jobs to include digging ditches, setting water services to provide mor- for my family, and working towards my goal of becoming a law enforcement officer. My wife and I, after raising our children and watching them grow up and move on to build their lives, found ourselves alone in our family home with four empty rooms that were once filled with screaming laughter and all kinds of other nonsense.

361. 3:28:45

     After some convincing on my part, we decided to sell our family home and downsize. Our plan was to move further out in rural Georgia, buy, buy a small plot of land, and build our forever home from scratch. This project took a little over 18 months to complete, both of us working full-time jobs, and any and all free time was spent building our dream. The dream home we built isn't a mansion. It's a very modest 1,736 square foot home with two bedrooms and two baths on a slab.

362. 3:29:18

     We've lived in that house now going on three years. On July 20th, 2025, I received a phone call that changed my life in an instant. This call was from a firefighter asking if I was the father, mentioned her name, and my heart sank as I have made hundreds of these same calls to family members before. I said, "Yes, that is my daughter." He proceeded to tell me that my eight-year-old granddaughter had called 911 because she couldn't get her mom to wake up.

363. 3:29:50

     The EMS and fire arrived. They found his daughter to be unconscious in her bed. She lived alone with her three small children, eight, six, and three.

364. 3:30:02

     She's a Type 1 diabetic that was diagnosed at the age of five. She experienced a hypoglycemic episode sometime during the night and was unable to call for help herself. She had all of the new-fangled gadgets that are supposed to help her to avoid this, but they failed. She was rushed to the hospital and placed on a ventilator in ICU. Spent over a month in ICU. The doctors weren't able to give us any certainty that she would recover, only that time will tell. As of the date of this letter, she's at home with me and her mother in one of the two bedrooms of our small house.

365. 3:30:35

     She requires 24 hours around the clock care. She breathes on her own, but has never regained full consciousness and cannot communicate in any way with us. Since she's been in a hospital bed since July 20th, we live our life minute by minute, never knowing what's around the corner. She could live this way longer than me and her mother are alive. She could also die at any moment. My wife quit her job of almost 10 years to stay at home with our daughter and care for her. To say the least, when you lose one of two incomes of a household, it causes major hardships.

366. 3:31:12

     We've always tried to live up to our obligations

367. 3:31:18

     and save where we could. This situation we couldn't prepare for. Our rainy day fund couldn't hold up to the disastrous storm we are facing and dwindled overnight. Any and all available savings we had had been spent. The money set aside for our property taxes, I now have to make a choice. Use the last bit of savings we have to pay my property taxes, which will save me from losing my home, or keep the last bit of savings we held back to pay for funeral expenses for my daughter.

368. 3:31:48

     This is an impossible choice to make. This choice should never have to be made. We built this home with our own hands. We receive no direct services from the county, no water, no sewage, power, internet, trash pickup. We have no children in the school system. The only thing the county supplies to us is emergency services if we were to need them. And let's be perfectly clear, the only free emergency service is law enforcement and fire. If you take a ride in a county ambulance, you will receive a bill for said ride.

369. 3:32:20

     My tax bill was due on said date. I have already received three letters from the county threatening action regarding my 30-day delinquency. I was in the hospital with my daughter on December 20th being told by doctors and staff that I would have to decide on continuing treatment for my daughter or just letting her die. Luckily, she's still with us. I have reached out to the tax commissioner. I hope to hear back from him the first of the week. I feel that the situation that we are in is a perfect example of how the HOME Act would save so many people the worries of losing their homes and having to make an impossible decision like I'm faced with.

370. 3:33:05

     Pay my property tax or bury my child.

371. 3:33:14

     Mr. Speaker, this has been a long day,

372. 3:33:22

     but we can't wait.

373. 3:33:26

     We can't put property tax relief on hold for people like this gentleman and his family. We can't put it on hold for the 80-year-old that can no longer afford her property tax. We need relief for these people now.

374. 3:33:47

     I ask for your favorable consideration, and I yield the well.

375. 3:33:54

     The gentleman has yielded the well. That completes our minority report and our chairman's time. Thank you for your attention this afternoon, members. The previous question is ordered. Is any objection to withdrawing the committee substitute? Hearing none, the committee substitute is withdrawn. Is there any objection to adopting the substitute offered by the Committee on Rules? Hearing none, the Rules Committee substitute is adopted. Is there any objection to agreeing to the report of the committee, which was favorable to the pa- to the adoption of the resolution?

376. 3:34:29

     Hearing none, the report of the committee is agreed to. Shall this resolution now be adopted? All in favor of the adoption of the resolution will vote yes. All those opposed will vote no. And Mr. Clerk will unlock the machine.

377. 3:35:16

     Have all members voted? For what purpose does Representative Washburn rise?

378. 3:35:23

     Parliamentary inquiry.

379. 3:35:25

     State your inquiry.

380. 3:35:26

     Mr. Speaker, is it not true that the Georgia Association of Realtors, which sells more single family homes than any one other entity in the state, has urged the passage of H.R. 1114?

381. 3:35:43

     I'm sure the gentleman knows of what he speaks because he's in close touch with that organization. For what purpose does Chair Lady Hagan rise?

382. 3:35:52

     Parliamentary inquiry.

383. 3:35:53

     State your inquiry.

384. 3:35:54

     Mr. Speaker, isn't it true that while everyone in this room cares greatly about the cities, counties, and school systems in the districts that we represent, we were not sent here to represent local governments or school systems. We were sent here to represent people. And the people of this state have told us time and time again that they need this help. And Mr. Speaker, isn't it time that we made the decision to represent the people who sent us here and make this change for them?

385. 3:36:25

     I know the lady believes deeply in what she just said. For what purpose does Representative Darlene Taylor rise?

386. 3:36:31

     Parliamentary inquiry.

387. 3:36:32

     State your inquiry.

388. 3:36:33

     Is it not true that I have an 80-year-old friend, a widow, who has lived in her home about 50 years, planned to live there for the rest of her life, but now is fixing to have to sell the house because it takes almost half of her Social Security just to pay the taxes? Everyone in this room has constituents in that same condition. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

389. 3:36:58

     I'm sure the lady b- knows of what she speaks. Have all members voted? All members voted. If so, Mr. Clerk will lock the machine on the adoption of House Resolution 1114, which requires a 120 vote. The yays are 99, the nays are 73. The resolution having failed to receive the requisite constitutional majority is therefore lost.

390. 3:37:29

     For what purpose does Chairman Blackmon rise?

391. 3:37:32

     Uh, Mr. Speaker, uh, pursuant to Rule 143, I'm serving notice of my intent to move for reconsideration of this House's action on H.R. 1114 on the next legislative day.

392. 3:37:44

     The gentleman has that right. It will be taken up on the next legislative day.

393. 3:37:59

     I'm gonna recognize the Rules Chairman of this House,

394. 3:38:08

     Chairman Butch Parrish, for an announcement.

395. 3:38:14

     Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'd like to ask the members of the Rules Committee to meet me in 341 right now. Thank you.

396. 3:38:22

     Rules Committee members, this will House will be at ease while the Rules Committee meets, and they, as soon as they're back, we'll be back. This House will stand at ease.

397. 4:08:08

     Members, if the House will come back to order. Members, if you'll come to the floor. We're gonna move on with the rules calendar, but I, I need to ask the members of this House to, um, come to the floor and go to your desk. Cease conversations just for a moment. I need to make you aware of something.

398. 4:08:36

     Ask them to come in from the ante room, please, Mr. Leader.

399. 4:08:54

     Members, I'm gonna ask you to stand with me 'cause I'm gonna ask you to, uh, all have a moment of silence and a word of prayer.

400. 4:09:04

     I'll wait just a minute for folks to get to their desk.

401. 4:09:09

     So evidently, just a short time ago,

402. 4:09:13

     Retta Mumford, Gerald Greene's sister, had come home from work and she was checking her mail when she was struck by an automobile. So you can imagine how upset our dear friend is. We understand that she is conscious and breathing. They're getting ready to Life Flight her to, um, I'm not sure where from, her location is, if it'll be to maybe to Columbus or to Albany or where that... So we'll find that out at, um, shortly, I hope.

403. 4:09:45

     So if you will, if you'll bow with me, and let's offer multi- multiple prayers for Retta and for Gerald and that family. Let's pray. Father, we ask that you would wrap your loving arms around Retta, around the family. Lord, give them peace, give them comfort. Lord, it would be thy will, give her healing, Lord. We ask your blessings upon them. We ask your comfort upon them, Lord.

404. 4:10:17

     And we implore you, Father, we will ask that you heal this lady. Make her whole again. Lord, thank you for your love for them and your love for us. Amen. Thank you, members.

405. 4:10:35

     As information becomes available, we will let the members of this House know just what's going on.

406. 4:10:52

     We're gonna bounce around a little bit. We're gonna move on to a supplemental rules calendar that the chairman just put together, and we're gonna bounce back to our original calendar, and we're gonna move around a little bit, but we're gonna take up some more bills before we call it a day. Mr. Clerk, would you read the caption to House Bill 1268, 1268?

407. 4:11:15

     House Bill 1268 by Representative Burchett of the 176 and others to be entitled an act to amend the Official Code of Georgia Annotated so as to revise, modernize, correct errors or omissions in and reenact the statutory portion of said code as amended and further so the work of the Code Revision Committee. This bill having been referred to the committee on Code Revision, that committee recommends that this bill do pass.

408. 4:11:44

     Will Burchett is recognized to present House Bill 1268.

409. 4:11:50

     Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Colleagues, I bring before you a very exciting bill. Uh, many of, uh, of us, uh, who serve on the Code Revision Committee every year, uh, uh, for hours we, uh, toil over what needs to be done in our code to assure that, uh, uh, there's accuracy and, um, that it's organized. And every year we pass a code revision bill, and that's what you have before you in House Bill 1268.

410. 4:12:22

     It's LC 39-4848. There's no substantive changes to the code. Uh, this is just, um, correcting of sections and numbers and removal of, uh, obsolete law. There's nothing here, uh, for anybody to di- disagree about. Well, I, I shouldn't say that. Somebody probably could disagree about something in here. Uh, but, uh, generally there's nothing in here that, uh, can be disagreeable. And I'm asking for your favorable consideration. Uh, with that, Mr. Speaker, uh, I'll yield the will.

411. 4:12:53

     You did a nice job. I almost dozed off, but it was exciting. It's about like the State of Judiciary, but, um, we'll go on from there. Love those guys. Um. Mr. Speaker, I forgot to tell you how I became chairman of the Code Revision Committee. I, I missed the meeting, so I became the chairman of the committee, um, voted by the committee members. And I can assure you, you deserve it. You have no questions.

412. 4:13:22

     I think we both need to shut it down, yeah. Is there any objection to the previous question being ordered? Hearing none, the previous question is ordered. Is there any objection to agreeing to the report of the committee, which was favorable to the passage of the bill? Hearing none, the report of the committee is agreed to. Shall this bill now pass? All in favor of the passage of the bill will vote yes. All those opposed will vote no, and Mr. Clerk will unlock the machine.

413. 4:14:34

     Have all members voted?

414. 4:14:43

     Have all members voted? If so, Mr. Clerk will lock the machine. On the passage of House Bill 1268, the yeas are 168, the nays are zero. This bill having received the requisite constitutional majority is therefore passed.

415. 4:15:00

     Mr. Clerk, will you re- read the caption to House Bill 1-3-1-0, 1310? House Bill 1310 by Representative Ford of the 170th and others to be titled "An Act to Amend R3 Chapter 3 Title 50 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated Relating to Other State Symbols So As to Designate Cotton as the Official State Fabric." This bill having been referred to the Committee on Special Rules, that committee recommends that this bill do pass. The lady who knows a little bit about cotton, Representative Jaclyn Ford, is recognized to present House Bill 1310.

416. 4:15:35

     Thank you, Speaker. This bill just really highlights the economical benefits of cotton as well as the health benefits. When I brought this up, um, everybody was like, "That hasn't been done yet?" Um, Texas is the only state who has done this, and Georgia is second to Texas in cotton production. Um, so this highlights that, you know, cotton is hypoallergenic, and wearing it reduces skin irritations. Um, it's recommended by dermatologists. It also prevents the addition of harmful microplastics in our air and our water that synthetic fibers leave behind.

417. 4:16:10

     Um, and also as far as the economical impacts, cotton is grown in 100 of, nearly, i- anywhere from 95 to 100 of Georgia's 159 counties, and it contributes three, over three billion annually to the state's economy. And, um, I know that there's 56 gins in the State of Georgia and as well as mult- as well as multiple warehouses. Um, and so this bill is really just to increase awareness and try to force the markets to offer more cotton options in our daily wear.

418. 4:16:44

     Um, right now we are wearing, 20% of what we wear now is actually from natural fibers, so 80% of what we wear are synthetics, microplastics that contribute to environmental issues. So with that, I would ask for, welcome any questions. Lady, he has a cotton to your right. Uh, Chairman Meeks in the corner. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Does the gentlelady yield? I do. Number one, thank you for, uh, for the bill, but isn't it also true, uh, but i- isn't it also true that cotton is the only sustainable fabric that is on the market today?

419. 4:17:27

     Yes. The man who grows cotton knows of which he speaks. And is it not further true that synthetics is, uh, that fuel and, um, uh, well, fuel is used, uh, in the making of synthetics, and therefore it is less sustainable than that of cotton? Absolutely. Thank the gentlelady for her bill. Are you- Lady, yield for a couple more questions, then we do have a speaker, so I'm gonna, we'll take a couple more. We have some bills to get to today. I can. Representative Schofield

420. 4:17:54

     To your right.

421. 4:17:55

     Does the gentlelady yield?

422. 4:17:57

     I do.

423. 4:17:58

     Um, is it not true that I've been working on trying to get this issue for plastics and all of these toxins that are in our clothes and our products for a long time?

424. 4:18:08

     Yes.

425. 4:18:08

     So I really thank you for bringing this to the floor.

426. 4:18:11

     I look forward to working with you.

427. 4:18:12

     Thank you.

428. 4:18:14

     I got it, the fabric of our lives, cotton, no doubt. The lady has no further questions.

429. 4:18:19

     Thank you, Speaker.

430. 4:18:21

     Ladies yield to, ladies yield to the will. Representative Al Williams.

431. 4:18:29

     This will be interesting, I'm sure. The gentleman's recognized.

432. 4:18:35

     Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I rise to support this bill, but to explain something. To many of you, it's very hard for you to understand why would anybody say something bad about cotton? Well, you've had to walk a mile in the shoes of those who cotton has a very sad and bad story about. And we understand that, and I just ask that you respect that. We have children that had to ride down the rows while their daddy pulled a cotton sack down the rows.

433. 4:19:08

     But here's the other side. This is a cotton shirt I have on. This cotton jacket. There are a lot of good things about cotton. And I can't help but think, when I came to the legislature, I sat about halfway back near the door next to Lynmore James, one of the dearest friends I ever had. And Lynmore James literally became a millionaire, and part of that was for the amount of cotton he sold through the years.

434. 4:19:42

     Fact of the matter is, there are a lot of African American cotton farmers, and they do a great job with it. And I'll be frank with you. If I got a problem with something, I wouldn't wear any part of it. It's about like casinos, my friend.

435. 4:20:04

     And I'm likening it to cotton. If you don't like casinos and you don't like tobacco, then you shouldn't accept anything that the tax revenue gives to you. If you don't like cotton, don't wear it. If you don't like gaming, stop using the Hope Scholarship. There are two or three sides to every story. I just want you to know I support this bill because cotton, in spite of some of its history, has brought economic success, success to many folk that I love dearly.

436. 4:20:43

     With that, Mr. Speaker, I can go much longer, but I know you want me to hurry. It's getting late. I yield the will.

437. 4:20:56

     I told you that'd be interesting. I'm going to break protocol here and tell y'all, tell you all, um, about Gerald's sister. She has a broken pelvis, but she's stable. They're gonna take her either to Dothan or Columbus is where the best place for her to be treated. So, uh, that's good news, I think, even though it's, um, not great, but it's not what we, we were concerned about when we first got the call. So keep Gerald and, and Retta in your prayers, please.

438. 4:21:27

     Thank you for letting me inject that. It, that concludes our discussion on House Bill 1310. Is there any objection to the previous question being ordered? Hearing none, the previous question is ordered. Is there any objection to agreeing to the report of the committee, which was favorable to the passage of the bill? Hearing none, the report of the c- the report of the committee is agreed to. Shall this bill now pass? All in favor of the passage of the bill will vote yes. All of those opposed will vote no. And Mr. Clerk will unlock the machine.

439. 4:22:14

     Have all members voted? For what purpose has Representative Carter rise?

440. 4:22:20

     I'd like to be excused according to Rule 133.

441. 4:22:24

     The lady has that right, and the journal will so reflect. For what purpose does Representative Dickey rise? Parliamentary inquiry. State your inquiry, sir. If we pass this bill, will we be able to wear blue jeans in this chamber, Mr. C- Mr. Ch- Speaker?

442. 4:22:40

     I'll check the rule book. But we're leaning that way, no doubt. Tha- thank you for the question, Mr. Chairman. Have all members now voted? All members voted. If so, Mr. Clerk will lock the machine. On the passage of House Bill 1310, the yays are 158, the nays are zero. This bill having received the requisite constitutional majority is therefore passed.

443. 4:23:31

     Mr. Clerk, will you read the caption to House Bill 1230? 1230.

444. 4:23:36

     House Bill 1230 by Representative Todd Jones of the 25th and others to be entitled An Act to Amend Chapter 1 of Title 6 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated relating to general provisions regarding aviation so to, so as to prohibit the operation of unmanned aircraft systems over a place of incarceration.

445. 4:23:56

     This bill then referred to the Committee on Technology and Infrastructure Innovation. That committee recommends that this bill do pass by committee substitute.

446. 4:24:10

     Chairman Todd Jones recognized to present unmanned avia- sounds like it's gonna be interesting as well. Gentleman is recognized. Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Members, uh, first and foremost, I'd like to highlight two things. Uh, this bill was critical, uh, to the Department of Corrections, the Georgia Sheriff's Association, and others. Uh, but I want to say thank you to Chairman Crowe and the Public Safety Committee for doing a combined meeting with TII. I think it helped to perfect the bill. In addition, after three hearings with TII, we were able to get unanimous passage through the bill, so I wanna thank everyone who participated in this.

447. 4:24:46

     Uh, the bill basically has two key parts. This is around unmanned aircraft systems. We have a real s- challenge with places of incarceration, which are places, are basically prisons and jails. We are having operators effectively go over the places of incarceration. They are videoing, they are landing, they are basically delivering contraband, et cetera. Uh, this is happening hundreds of times a year, not just a few times a year. So this bill effectively puts them into Title 42, into the criminal statutes, and basically, we hope, be a very big deterrent to having these unmanned aircraft go over places of incarceration.

448. 4:25:23

     The second part of the bill does a quick refinement to Section 614, which we did last year around unmanned aircraft, and we did a couple of refinements based on what we learned from the past year. Mr. Speaker, that is the bill in its totality, except I'd like to add several counties, several cities, including the city of Atlanta, have voiced a very, very big support for this bill. So thank you, sir.

449. 4:25:47

     Gentleman has no questions. Thank you very much. I yield the will and ask for your favorable consideration. Gentleman is yielded well. Is there an objection to the previous question being ordered? Hearing none, the previous question is ordered. Is there any objection to adopting the committee substitute? Hearing none, the committee substitute is adopted. Is there any objection to agreeing to the report of the committee, which was favorable to the passage of the bill? Hearing none, the report of the committee is agreed to. Shall this bill now pass? All in favor of the passage of the bill will vote yes. All those opposed will vote no.

450. 4:26:18

     And Mr. Clerk will unlock the machine.

451. 4:26:42

     Have all members voted? All members voted? If so, Mr. Clerk will lock the machine on the passage of House Bill 1230. The yays are 166, the nays are two. This bill having received a requisite constitutional majority is therefore passed.

452. 4:27:26

     Mr. Clerk, will, will you read the caption to House Bill 1045, 1045? House Bill 1045 by Representative Herring of the 145th and others to be entitled An Act to Amend Part 3 of Article 16 to Chapter 2 of Title 20 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated relating to student health in elementary and secondary education. So as to enact that You Are Not Alone Awareness Act. This bill then referred to the Committee on Education. That committee recommends that this bill do pass by committee substitute.

453. 4:27:58

     Representative Tangie Herring is recognized to present this bill. House Bill 1045. The lady's recognized. After this long day, I was in a rush to get up here. Thank you, Mr. Speaker, members of this House. I rise today not only as a legislator, but as a mother and someone who spent 28 years in a classroom here in the state of Georgia teaching our children. Soon we will vote, but before we do, I ask you to picture a child.

454. 4:28:28

     Picture a 17-year-old carrying a, the weight of the world on his shoulders and not being able to describe it. Picture the quiet warning signs we sometimes miss. Long sleeves in August. A once talkative student who grows silent. Grades that begin to slip. Sudden anger and withdrawal. Picture the child who experiments with drugs, pulls at his or hers hair, and harms their own skin.

455. 4:28:59

     These are not acts of rebellion. These are signals. They are in pain, and it's made visible. They are cries for help. As an educator, I saw those signs. I have known children who struggled silently, and I have known parents who carried the heartbreak of realizing too late how deeply their child is hurting. Too often, families are left wishing they had one more opportunity, one more moment, one more connection that might have opened the door for help.

456. 4:29:35

     This issue is deeply personal to me.

457. 4:29:44

     I have seen the grief in the eyes of a dear friend who lost their beloved son to suicide. A young life filled with hope and promise, yet carrying pain and suffering that no one fully saw.

458. 4:30:04

     Too often, suffering happens in silence. The silence can steal hope before help ever arrives. That is why this legislation matters. This is one simple act that could potentially save a struggling student, but also save a family member, a friend, or a parent from unimaginable loss. And this is not hypothetical. In Bibb County alone, we recently lost a 14-year-old child to suicide.

459. 4:30:39

     Just last month, a 12-year-old in Byron took her own life due to bullying. A family is grieving, a school community is grieving, and we are left asking, what more could we have done? Today, we have an opportunity to do something simple, practical, and compassionate. House Bill 1045, the You Are Not Alone Awareness Act, requires the public schools that are issuing student ID badges grades six through 12 include 988, the crisis hotline, and the words, "You are not alone." That's all.

460. 4:31:16

     We don't need to create any new bureaucracy. We are not adding curriculum mandates. We are not imposing a financial burden. We are placing a lifeline where every student can see it quietly, consistently, and without stigma. Some worry that taking up, talking about suicide introduces harmful ideas. Research shows the opposite. Making help visible does not increase risk.

461. 4:31:46

     Silence does. Isolation does. Stigma does. What saves lives is connection and immediate access to support. By placing this information on every badge, no child is singled out. No student has to raise their hand or explain their pain. Every child carries the same message every day: help is available, and they are not alone. Self-harm hides in plain sight.

462. 4:32:17

     The warning signs are subtle, and in moments of crisis, clarity matters, seconds matters, access matters. If one student in a difficult moment turns over that badge and chooses to call 988 instead of harming themselves, then this legislation has done exactly what we are sent here to do: protect the people of Georgia, especially our children. We cannot prevent every tragedy, but we can remove barriers.

463. 4:32:47

     We can offer hope. We can make it easier for a child to reach out and find a family member to offer help before it's too late. Members, years from now, none of us will ever remember the speech we, we gave or every vote that we cast, but somewhere in Georgia, a child may still be alive because we chose to act today. Let this be the moment when this bill, this House bill, decided that silence would not win, that hope would be visible, and that every child would carry a reminder that help is right there in reach.

464. 4:33:28

     Let us pass this bill and send a clear message to Georgia's children, "You are seen, you are valued, and you are not alone." I respectfully ask that your, this House for your favorable vote. And Mr. Speaker, I'll stand for questions.

465. 4:33:43

     Thank you for your presentation. Representative Dawson, to your left, is recognized for a question.

466. 4:33:49

     Thank you, Speaker. Uh, does the gentlelady yield?

467. 4:33:54

     I do to my friend.

468. 4:33:55

     I- is it not true that, um, this type of, uh, public health, mental health awareness legislation and policy strikes at the very core of public health policy in Georgia?

469. 4:34:06

     Yes, it does.

470. 4:34:08

     Does the gentlelady yield one more time?

471. 4:34:10

     I do.

472. 4:34:11

     Is it not true that this is your first bill?

473. 4:34:14

     Yes, it is.

474. 4:34:15

     Okay. Well done.

475. 4:34:17

     Thank you.

476. 4:34:19

     Lady yield for another question. Representative Rice, to your left. Representative Carter, wait. Uh, yes, your extreme left.

477. 4:34:26

     Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Does the gentlelady yield?

478. 4:34:29

     I do.

479. 4:34:30

     So Representative Dawson took one of my questions on this being your first bill. But is it not true that your first piece of legislation we'll never know on this side of Earth how many people that it saved and lives it changed?

480. 4:34:43

     The gentlelady knows what she speaks.

481. 4:34:47

     Representative Franklin, to your left as well. Representative Lehman Franklin. Extreme left.

482. 4:34:53

     Right here.

483. 4:34:54

     Representative Herring, to your extreme left.

484. 4:34:56

     Does the gentlelady li- uh, yield?

485. 4:34:58

     I do.

486. 4:34:58

     I'm just curious. I, when I was in, uh, public school, we didn't have badges at all. Do you know how many schools in Georgia have to have these badges or have badges?

487. 4:35:07

     The majority of our schools in the state of Georgia do have student badges. They have their student IDs. With this, you will only put the sticker, or the school system can be able to decide how they want to implement the badges, the 988 Act on the badges. So all schools right now, they do have badges. Most public schools do.

488. 4:35:25

     So does the gentlelady continue l- to yield?

489. 4:35:27

     Sure.

490. 4:35:28

     So the ones that, you're saying that pretty much all of them have it. The ones that do have to, to have this sticker on it, the ones that don't are not required to do the badges. Is that what you're saying?

491. 4:35:37

     Most public schools in the state of Geor- Georgia, they do have student badges. So the ones that do have the badges, they do have to put the sticker on them.

492. 4:35:44

     Okay. Thank you.

493. 4:35:45

     You're welcome.

494. 4:35:48

     Representative Bell is recognized for a question. To your right. To your right. Yes, ma'am.

495. 4:35:53

     Parliamentary inquiry.

496. 4:35:55

     No, you're recognized for a question.

497. 4:35:59

     Does the gentleman-

498. 4:36:00

     Yes

499. 4:36:00

     ... lady yield? I'm new at this. I'm sorry.

500. 4:36:02

     The gentlelady yields.

501. 4:36:04

     Isn't it true that we're all someone's mental health patients?

502. 4:36:07

     I'm sorry?

503. 4:36:08

     Isn't it true that we all could be someone's mental health patients?

504. 4:36:14

     I don't. That depends. Maybe you are.

505. 4:36:17

     Is it not true that we all could be someone's mental health patient?

506. 4:36:23

     If that is your opinion, yes. We could all be- ... mental health patients.

507. 4:36:27

     Isn't it further true if we had legislation like this when we were a lot younger, this august body would be so much better off doing the work of Georgians?

508. 4:36:36

     Yes.

509. 4:36:37

     Thank you. Good job.

510. 4:36:38

     Thank you.

511. 4:36:39

     Lady, you have up for one more question. Representative Townsend, right down the center aisle on the right, is recognized for a question. This will be the last one.

512. 4:36:46

     Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Does the representative yield?

513. 4:36:47

     I do. I gotta get used to this.

514. 4:36:51

     Is it not true that this will save lives?

515. 4:36:54

     Yes, it will.

516. 4:36:54

     Can I ask a second question?

517. 4:36:56

     Yes.

518. 4:36:57

     Is it not true that any school I know of in the state of Georgia have lunch cards, they can put the stickers on the back or the printing on the back if they wish to? So, uh, schools do have the cards.

519. 4:37:06

     Yes.

520. 4:37:07

     Thank you.

521. 4:37:09

     Lady has no further questions. May I ask her a question?

522. 4:37:13

     Sure.

523. 4:37:14

     Doesn't your legislation, which we're very grateful for, further the, um, ongoing efforts of this House to deal with mental health issues in our state?

524. 4:37:23

     Yes, it does, Mr. Speaker.

525. 4:37:24

     Thank you for the bill.

526. 4:37:25

     Thank you. I yield the well.

527. 4:37:27

     Lady's yielded the well. Thank you for the bill. Is there any objection to the previous question being ordered? Hearing none, the previous question's ordered. Is there any objection to adopting the committee's substitute? Hearing none, the committee's substitute is adopted. Is there any objection to agreeing to the report of the committee, which was favorable to the passage of the bill? Hearing none, the report of the committee is agreed to. Shall this bill now pass? All in favor of the passage of the bill will vote yes. All those opposed will vote no, and Mr.

528. 4:37:57

     Clerk will unlock the machine.

529. 4:38:19

     Have all members voted? For what purpose does Representative Taylor rise?

530. 4:38:28

     Representative Taylor, did you have a inquiry? Evidently not.

531. 4:38:38

     Have all members now voted? If so, Mr. Clerk will lock the machine. On the passage of House Bill 1045, the yays are 168, the nays are 0. This bill having received the requisite constitutional majority is therefore passed. Congratulations. Great bill.

532. 4:40:04

     Representative Olaleye, you didn't have to hold onto the fish very long, did you? You didn't hold onto the fish very long, did you, before you passed it on?

533. 4:40:17

     Congratulations, Representative Herring. Proud of you and proud for you.

534. 4:40:24

     Mr. Clerk, will you read the caption to House Bill 664?

535. 4:40:32

     House Bill 664 by Representative Silcox of the 53rd and others to be entitled an act to amend Article 6 of Chapter 3 of Title 44 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated relating to property owners associations so as to provide for property owners associations to submit to said article after the creation of such associations. This bill has been heard the Committee on Judiciary. That committee recommends that this bill do pass by committee substitute.

536. 4:41:02

     Chair Lady Silcox is recognized to present House Bill 664.

537. 4:41:09

     Thank you so much, Mr. Speaker. I bring to you this evening House Bill 664, and this comes to us from my hometown of Sandy Springs. Huntcliff Subdivision is one of the largest and oldest subdivisions in my district, and it was actually started in 1966. And so it has covenants and restrictions for its homeowners association there, but they are very old. And because they were so old, they never had an, a, a provision within those covenants to be able to amend them at any time.

538. 4:41:47

     Um, and in, in 1994, this body passed what, what became known as the Georgia Property Owners Association Act of 1994 that would allow, um, subdivisions that had a provision for amendment in them to opt into that act so that they could then amend their covenants. Um, but unfortunately, because Huntcliff was so old- Um, it is a product of what's known as frozen covenants.

539. 4:42:18

     And so it is actually a hole in our law, and this would actually repair that hole and say that with a vote of 75% or more of the homeowners in that homeowners association, that they could opt into the 1994 act so that they would be able to amend their covenants and then they could propose amendments to those covenants and pass those amendments, again, with another 75% or more vote by the homeowners association. This does not change the structure of any homeowners association.

540. 4:42:52

     It does not change the governance of a homeowners association in any way. This is really just repairing a hole in our law to allow frozen covenant situations, um, to opt in to the 1984- 1994 Georgia Property Owners Association Act. So with that, I'd be happy to take any questions. Lady has a couple of questions. Representative Wilkerson, in back in your le- on your left in the back. Uh, if members will sit in front of him so we can see Representative Wilken- Rep- Representative Jackson.

541. 4:43:27

     Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Does the, uh, the gentlelady yield? I sure do. So by opting into this, uh, property owners association, is it not more restrictive than just being an HOA? Because I know being part of it has benefits, but it also has more restrictions to it. Are you familiar with those? No, it does not pr- it doesn't restrict it in any way. It just allows them to be able to amend their covenants because as it is right now, they can't change their covenants at all, even with 100% vote of the homeowners. But it doesn't restrict them in any way.

542. 4:43:58

     Well, does the gentlelady have one more question? Yes, sir. My understanding just dealing with HOAs is we know a lot of us have put forth bills or supported bills that would tighten up the restrictions. And one of the things that is recommended to HOAs is to put it themselves into the Property Owners Association Act because it does give them more enforcement power. And my only concern would be that HOAs, which are already a problem with just, you know, more people would sa- face the same problems we do. This just allows them to be able to amend their covenants, which I think given the current climate is a very difficult, it's a uphill battle, um, because they would have to have 75% or more of their homeowners vote to actually amend the covenants.

543. 4:44:39

     This just would give them the power to be able to do that. Thank you. Lady yield. Representative Doreen Carter to your left, extreme left, back over here. Yes, ma'am. Thank you. Does the le- uh, gentlelady yield? Yes, I do. So my question is, um, reducing this to 75%, does that still, will that address the issue where some HOAs can't find the owners and, uh, a lot of them can't even get to a 50%? So how will we address that?

544. 4:45:11

     Because that's what, this is what we're, the issues we're getting from subdivisions is they cannot change their covenants. And I appreciate what you're bringing. No, of course. But will 75% really, uh, really help those communities that where we have these owners, especially in older subdivisions to your point- Right ... and now they're renting them out and we can't find the owners. We, we debated this very point and actually suggested in committee that it be a lower threshold. Um, but the people who testified on the bill, um, the attorney who testified said that 75% is kind of a standard in the industry now, and that if we lowered it any more, that it could bring legal action against, against the association because there are other comparable subdivisions in that area that have 75%.

545. 4:46:00

     So but it's an excellent question. Representative Sandra Scott to your right is recognized for a question. Does the gentlelady yield? Yes, ma'am. Okay. Um, many Georgia neighborhoods are now seeing increased corporate and investor ownership. If those investors can reach the 75% voting threshold, what prevents them from changing HOA rules in ways that increase fees, fines, and liens that disproportionately burden seniors, working families, and first-time homeowners trying to keep their homes?

546. 4:46:39

     Sure. I appreciate your question, but again, this really has nothing to do with who owns property in the subdivision or is going to own property in the subdivision. Okay. This has to do with the will of the people living there being able to amend their covenants. Does the lady further yield? Yes. Okay. So is it not true that by lowering the voting threshold to 75%, this bill could allow investors who own multiple properties in a neighborhood to control the HOA votes and adopt the rules that increase fees, fines, and liens, placing the greatest financial pressure on the homeowners who actually live there?

547. 4:47:26

     I appreciate your question, but I can't really speculate what might happen in the future. I just know that the homeowners in Huntcliff Subdivision brought me this, and they want to be able to amend their covenants, and it doesn't have anything to do with corporate ownership or changing or imposing more fines on the homeowners. It just has to do with the, the ability of the will of those people in that area to be able to amend their covenants. Okay. Thank you. Do, lady yield for one more? Representative Rice to your left.

548. 4:47:57

     Yes. Extreme left. Your other left. That one. Oh, there we go. Other left. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Do- does the gentlelady yield? I do. Does, um, does House Bill s- 664 support property values by making community rules easier to update and understand fairly? I really appreciate that question, Representative. It does, and I think it, it helps to protect home values, um, for sure. Thank you so much.

549. 4:48:23

     You, you have one more question. Whether you would, it's up to you whether you yield or not.

550. 4:48:28

     Yes, sir.

551. 4:48:28

     Representative Davis.

552. 4:48:29

     I would.

553. 4:48:30

     She waves.

554. 4:48:31

     Okay.

555. 4:48:32

     So you have no further questions.

556. 4:48:33

     Thank you so much. I yield the well.

557. 4:48:36

     Lady's yielded the well. Is there any objection to the previous question being ordered? Hearing none, the previous question is ordered. Is there any objection to agreeing to the committee substitute? Hearing none, the committee substitute is adopted. Is there any objection, objection to agreeing to the report of the committee, which was favorable to the passage of the bill? Hearing none, the report of the committee is agreed to. Shall this bill now pass? All those in favor will vote yes. All those opposed will vote no. And Mr. Clerk will unlock the machine.

558. 4:49:26

     Have all members voted?

559. 4:49:35

     All members voted if so,

560. 4:49:42

     Mr. Clerk will lock the machine. On the passage of House Bill 664, the yeas are 121, the nays are 44. This bill having received re- the requisite constitutional majority is therefore passed.

561. 4:50:03

     Members, we're gonna go a little bit longer because of the time we are into session. We're gonna take up just a couple more bills, and then we'll call it a day and get started again tomorrow. Mr. Clerk, will you read the caption to House Bill 1290? One, two, nine, zero.

562. 4:50:20

     House Bill 1290 by Representative Hilton of the 48th and others to be entitled an act to amend Article A to Chapter 5 of Title 16 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated relating to protection of elder persons so as to revise the definition of sexual abuse. This bill having been referred to the Committee on Judiciary Non-Civil, and that committee recommends that this bill do pass.

563. 4:50:47

     Chairman Hilton's recognized to speak to House Bill 1290.

564. 4:50:53

     Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Like many of you, I am passionate about protecting our state's most vulnerable citizens, along with keeping our community safe. House Bill 1290 targets the sexual exploitation of an elder person, disabled adult, or resident in a long-term care facility by making three important changes. It changes the standard from coercion to consent, the rationale there being a, someone who is comatose or a non-verbal person is unable to be con- coerced.

565. 4:51:25

     The second change is it removes the requirement that a person be a caregiver or in authority position, uh, because oftentimes, unfortunately, we see a, a neighbor or family member, uh, commit the abuse. And then lastly, it a- this bill adds sexual abuse or exploitation of an elder, uh, to the sex offender registry commensurate with the sexual exploitation of children. I ask your favorable consideration as this body fights to protect those who are most vulnerable, uh, and need it, need it the most amongst us.

566. 4:51:58

     And so that, with that, Mr. Speaker, I will yield, uh, for any questions or parliamentary inquiries.

567. 4:52:07

     They got it.

568. 4:52:09

     Gentleman has no questions.

569. 4:52:11

     Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I yield the well.

570. 4:52:21

     Is there any objection to the previous question being ordered? Hearing none, the previous question is ordered. Is there any objection to agreeing to the report of the committee, which was favorable to the passage of the bill? Hearing none, the report of the committee is agreed to. You did yield the well, didn't you?

571. 4:52:35

     Yeah.

572. 4:52:35

     Yeah, I thought you did. Um,

573. 4:52:39

     the report of the committee is agreed to. Shall this bill now pass? All in favor of the passage of the bill will vote yes. All those opposed will vote no. And Mr. Clerk will unlock the machine.

574. 4:53:09

     Have all members voted? Not quite.

575. 4:53:22

     Have all members now voted? If so, Mr. Clerk will lock the machine. On the passage of House Bill 1290, the yeas are 167, the nays are zero. This bill, having received the requisite constitutional majority, is therefore passed. Mr. Clerk, will you read the caption to House Bill 1396? One, three, nine, six.

576. 4:53:51

     House Bill 1396 by Representative Efstration of the 104th to be entitled an act to amend Article 1 of Chapter 8 of Title 50 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated relating to general prohi- provisions relative to the Department of Community Affairs so as to require certain privately funded organizations that operate a shelter or provide outreach services to homeless individuals within, within 1,000 feet of schools, public parks, playgrounds, or certain childcare facilities to participate in the Georgia Homeless Management Information System.

577. 4:54:22

     This bill having been referred to the Committee on Governmental Affairs, that committee recommends that this bill do pass.

578. 4:54:30

     The gentleman from Mulberry is recognized. Leader Efstration to present House Bill 1396. The gentleman's recognized. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Ladies and gentlemen, I bring to you House Bill 1396. As you may recall, two years ago, I really began, uh, work by passing what at the time was HB 1410, uh, working to address the issue of unsheltered homelessness in our state, putting in place a separate aspect of the Georgia, um, ho- uh, Homelessness Trust Fund that would provide for measures allowing unsheltered homeless to be on a track to, um, to be self-sustaining, to have a means by which, similar to the accountability court structure, uh, to be in, uh, job training, alcohol and drug treatment, and, um, with state dollars that are provided that there's actually accountability measures to ensure that these individuals are in a position to, uh, to get better.

579. 4:55:29

     And, um, and so I'm ve- I was very proud of that measure, and I view this bill as a next step. Right now, we have a significant funding, state and federal funding, to address unsheltered homelessness in our state. And, uh, while I think many individuals who are, are involved in this, whether well-meaning, or well-meaning and receiving government, um, assistance for the efforts or privately funded organizations, there must be a means by which to track the services that are being provided to make sure we have some metrics as to the quality of care that's being received.

580. 4:56:09

     So through DCA, there is the HMIS, a homeless, Homelessness Management Information System. This is a database as to the services that are provided. Uh, entities receiving government funds must participate in this, but what this bill would do is require in Atlanta if there are private entities within the proximity to, um, public parks and, and the like, uh, that if these services are being provided by private entities, that they too would par- participate in the HMIS framework, which I think will provide needed data to make sure that we're best serving unhoused, uh, homeless, unsheltered homeless individuals in our state.

581. 4:56:54

     And, Mr. Speaker, I'd be happy to yield for any questions, and I'd ask for the body's favorable consideration. The gentleman has several questions he would address. Representative Sanchez, to your right, in the back a little bit. Yes. The gentleman's recognized. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Does the gentleman yield? Yes, sir. Thank you. I know we talked about this in committee, but just to clarify, this only applies to Fulton County, correct? That's, I, I said that in committee. I believe it's only the Atlanta municipality. The city of Atlanta. Yes, sir. Got it. Uh, do you further yield? Yes, sir.

582. 4:57:24

     Is there a reason we're only doing this for the city of Atlanta and not statewide? So what I, uh, initially, an initial draft of the bill prior to introduction was, um, more broad- would more broadly apply. In my view, focusing this on the city of Atlanta where we have more of an issue in making sure we don't capture well-intended charities in other parts of the state that may not be familiar with the HMIS system is why I drew this very narrowly. And just to identify, that's lines 56 to 60 where it specifies it's just for Atlanta.

583. 4:57:57

     Thank you. Yes, sir. Thank you. Uh, Representative Park Cannon is recognized for a question. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Do you yield? Yes, ma'am. What is the process to participate as an authorizing agency?

584. 4:58:15

     Um, which l- which line or aspect of the bill are you talking about? So am I correct that this bill requires that an entity that operates services must now participate as an authorizing agency of GHMI? So as I understand the process, currently the HMIS, uh, database administered through DCA, Department of Community Affairs, is available, and participants by law are any entity receiving, uh, government funds to provide services, uh, for homeless individuals.

585. 4:58:59

     And this would include within this limited area those who are not receiving government funds to also participate. And so by that, that would be a captured organization. Mm-hmm. Thank you. Do you further yield? Yes, ma'am. So what is the process to participate? Is it simply they receive this funding and they check a box to say, "I participate," or is there a course they have to go through?

586. 4:59:30

     What is the process to participate? I see. As I understand it, what they would do is have a means by which to register for the system through DCA. So as they're providing s- uh, let's just say it's a charity that decides that they wanna provide assistance, that they would through DCA be given access to make entries into the HMIS system, and then for whatever services they're providing, they would enter that into the system when they provide those services. Okay.

587. 5:00:00

     I am still unclear, but thank you. Do you further yield? Yes, ma'am. Thank you. Yes, ma'am. Go ahead. So how many privately funded entities currently participate, and how many publicly funded entities currently participate? What is the ... What, what are we solving here? Right. Right. So, um, to answer the first part of your question, we do not know how many ... Well, to answer broadly here, we do not know how many- private charities, charities that are not receiving government funds, are providing these services.

588. 5:00:40

     That's really a big, that's the reason that we need the bill. And, um, and as far as privately funded charities that are participating in HMIS, I do not know the number, but I don't believe there's very many of them that are actually participating. There again, that's why we need the bill. By law, any publicly funded charity must be providing the data in HMIS currently.

589. 5:01:06

     Thank you. Do you yield for one final question?

590. 5:01:09

     One, one final question.

591. 5:01:10

     As the chair of the Fulton County delegation, have you spoken with Fulton County External Affairs or the City of Atlanta local leadership about this legislation, and what did they say?

592. 5:01:22

     So I have not personally spoken to them. It is my understanding that there's been communication with the City of Atlanta as well as legislators that represent, uh, Atlanta about this legislation, and, um, I have not heard of any opposition to the bill since it's, since it was in, introduced. It passed unanimously in committee. Mr. Speaker, I'll yield for one, uh, final question if there are any.

593. 5:01:46

     Representative Willis is recognized for a question.

594. 5:01:51

     Thank-

595. 5:01:51

     To your right.

596. 5:01:52

     Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Does the gentleman yield?

597. 5:01:54

     Yes, ma'am.

598. 5:01:57

     Is, is it not true that homelessness or issues around the unhoused is a statewide problem and not just a local one?

599. 5:02:08

     Absolutely.

600. 5:02:09

     Does the gentleman further yield?

601. 5:02:10

     Yes.

602. 5:02:11

     In the absence of collaborating with or sitting with members of the Atlanta delegation, the Fulton County delegation, the City of Atlanta or Fulton County, how do we know this is the right solution for the city that we live in? And do you live in the City of Atlanta? Thank you.

603. 5:02:30

     So, uh, to the gentlelady's, um, question, I would just respond by saying this general assembly has appropriated significant funds, Georgia taxpayer funds, to address the issue of unsheltered homelessness, which is predominantly an issue in Atlanta. It is a statewide issue, but it is an issue that we observe here coming to the State Capitol. I'm not a resident of the City of Atlanta. I'm a resident of Mulberry. But, but I am aware of the issues. Certainly when I come here, my heart goes out to individuals who are unsheltered, um, and homeless.

604. 5:03:05

     And, uh, and I believe that taxpayer dollars that are spent, be it state or federal dollars, need to be spent most effectively, and the way to determine that is by tracking it in a data system. Mr. Speaker, I'd ask for the body's favorable consideration, and I'll yield the well.

605. 5:03:22

     Gentleman's yields, yielded the well.

606. 5:03:29

     Is there any objection to the previous question being ordered? Hearing none, the previous question is ordered. Is there any objection to agreeing to the report of the committee, which was favorable to the passage of the bill? Hearing none, the report of the committee is agreed to. Shall this bill now pass? All in favor of the passage of, passage of the bill will vote yes. Those opposed will vote no. And Mr. Clerk will unlock the machine.

607. 5:04:11

     Have all members voted?

608. 5:04:18

     All members has voted. If so, Mr. Clerk will lock the machine. On the passage, House Bill 1396, the yays are 105, the nays are 50. This House, this bill having received the requisite constitutional majority is therefore passed. For what purposes Representative Ridley, Jason Ridley rise?

609. 5:04:41

     Make a motion.

610. 5:04:42

     State your motion.

611. 5:04:43

     I request that House Bill 1324 be r- recommended back to Rules, please.

612. 5:04:49

     Mr. Clerk, will you read the caption?

613. 5:04:54

     House Bill 1324 by Representative Ridley of the 6th and others be entitled an act to amend Article 4, Chapter 11 of Title 16 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated relating to dangerous instrumentalities and practices.

614. 5:05:06

     On the gentleman's motion that House Bill 1324 be recommitted to Rules Committee. Is there objection? Hearing none, it's so ordered. For what purpose does Representative Stevens rise? To make a motion. State your motion, sir. I move that House Bill 574 go back to the Rules Committee. Mr. Clerk, will you read the caption?

615. 5:05:34

     House Bill 574 by Representative Stevens of the 164th be entitled an act to amend Code Section 34-9-2 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated relating to applicability of workers' compensation to employers and employees generally.

616. 5:05:51

     On the gentleman's motion that House Bill 574 be recommitted to the Rules Committee. Is there objection? Hearing none, it's so ordered. Here's the one you've been looking for.

617. 5:06:02

     Thank you.

618. 5:06:02

     And y'all know which one that is. I won't explain it. Mr. Clerk, will you read the caption of House Bill 1076, 1-0-7-6?

619. 5:06:11

     House Bill 1076 by Representative Ehrhart of the 36th and others to be entitled an act to amend Article 2 of Chapter 10 of Title 16 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated relating to obstruction of public administration and related offenses so as to create the felony offense of obstruction of a law enforcement officer with a motor vehicle. This bill having been referred to the Committee on Judiciary , that committee recommends that this bill do pass.

620. 5:06:38

     So we do have some folks signed up to speak on this bill, and we have a minority report. So it's, um, getting a little bit late, but we're gonna finish up with this one. So I'm gonna recognize Representative Ginny Ehrhart to speak to House Bill 1076. Lady's recognized.

621. 5:06:54

     Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Members, I present for your consideration HB 1076, which is a public safety bill with the purpose of protecting the lives and well-beings of our law enforcement officers, as well as members of the general public. This bill will make it a felony to use a motor vehicle to knowingly obstruct, hinder, block, or otherwise interfere with law enforcement officers in the discharge of their official duties. Currently, this offense is prosecuted under a more general obstruction law as a misdemeanor, and the obstruction code currently makes no distinction between general non-dangerous obstruction, examples would be lying to police officers, tampering with evidence, fleeing on foot, and obstructing with a 4,000-pound motor vehicle.

622. 5:07:46

     The reason for carving out obstruction with a motor vehicle from the general obstruction code is because of the dramatically increased risk of danger and personal injury associated with using a motor vehicle to disrupt an active police operation. If this vehicle also happens to be driven by an individual with the intent to obstruct or impede that operation, the outcome could be deadly for both our law enforcement officers and the people engaging in the obstruction.

623. 5:08:16

     It is dangerous conduct for all involved and should be taken seriously. Georgia is not alone in this concern. From 2020 to 2025, there has been a 230% increase in state-level bills filed to combat vehicle-related crimes like this. Why is that? Let's be very clear about the danger. Over the past 20 years, all types of motor vehicle-related incidents, on average, have been either the number one or number two leading cause of death and injury to law enforcement officers, second only to gunfire.

624. 5:08:59

     From 2023 to 2024, deaths to on-duty law enforcement officers as the result of all motor vehicle incidents rose by 48%. The danger is real. A motor vehicle in the hands of an ill-intentioned person is a lethal weapon. That is likely why 24 other states have classified this dangerous conduct as a felony. The goal of HB 1076 is to provide an enhanced deterrent to obstruction of, with a motor vehicle by increasing the penalty from a misdemeanor to a felony.

625. 5:09:34

     It is highly likely that many individuals who engage in this kind of obstruction purposely may not realize or anticipate that their actions could actually end in injury or death to themselves or law enforcement officers, yet these scenarios escalate quickly, and the risk is high. We need to deter this crime before injury or death occurs. As with many criminal offenses of this nature, intent will need to be proven and will be a prerequisite for conviction of this crime.

626. 5:10:08

     Members, classifying this particular offense as a felony is necessary because of the extremely high risk of potential danger. Legislatures across the country, and like ours, often treat nonviolent weapons-related conduct as inherently serious because of the risk and the possibility of rapid escalation. Um, this bill is supported, um, and endorsed by the Georgia Sheriff's Association and the Georgia Chiefs of Police.

627. 5:10:41

     Mr. Speaker, that is the bill, and I'll yield for any questions.

628. 5:10:45

     You have a couple of, lady will yield to Whip Park, right in front of you there, has, has a question. Gentleman's recognized.

629. 5:10:51

     Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Does the gentle lady yield?

630. 5:10:53

     I do.

631. 5:10:54

     Uh, why are we creating a new felony when OCGA 16-10-2040, 10-24 already covers hindering a officer with violence or threats?

632. 5:11:06

     Well, if you're talking about the felony offense of obstruction, there is a requirement for violence in that particular offense. I am familiar with that code. Um, this is punishing the conduct. Should someone use a motor vehicle to interfere with a police operation and injure or harm or strike a police officer, that takes it to a different level. Then you're talking about aggravated a- aggravated assault. So that is the difference.

633. 5:11:28

     Does the gentle lady further yield?

634. 5:11:29

     I do.

635. 5:11:30

     So is it not true that this is ultimately a, given the redundant nature of your proposal, really something that is just a political response to an American citizen, Renée Goode, who was shot and murdered by law enforcement, and that all this bill really does is just, again, is a yet another political ploy? Is that not true?

636. 5:11:49

     Oh, absolutely not true. On the contrary, this, this bill does not deal with violent actions towards police officers, to be very clear, uh, and the code that you referenced does. Uh, this deals with the dangerous conduct involving a motor vehicle, uh, and, and law enforcement officers. In terms of your reference to recent events, um, you know, I would argue that no, we have seen a dramatic escalation in motor vehicle-related instances with police officers, um, since 2020, far before, you know, long before the incident that you referenced.

637. 5:12:21

     Does the gentle la- lady yield for a final question?

638. 5:12:23

     Yes.

639. 5:12:24

     So your bill would make it a felony for there to be a parked car that's not moving?

640. 5:12:30

     I pre-

641. 5:12:30

     Can you help me explain how that constitutes a threat-

642. 5:12:33

     Ab- absolutely

643. 5:12:33

     ... to a police officer's life?

644. 5:12:34

     Absolutely. I'm happy to do... Yes, I'm happy to do that. Um, so it, to be clear, very, very clear about parked vehicles, um, using a vehicle to block officers, whether blocking them in or blocking them out, is not a benign action. It is not an action without potentially serious consequences for a host of reasons. Law enforcement has shared this information with me. Prosecutors and others in the field have shared this information with me. Number one- ... block, using a blocked car to impede a police operation, you prevent emergency response for anyone who might be in need of help.

645. 5:13:12

     Number two, you cause a situation to escalate, not just between obstructors and law enforcement officers, but between obstructors and bystanders even. Number three, as any police officer would tell you if you ask them, a stationary vehicle used to purposely interfere with an active operation distracts those officers at a time when they should be focused on the operation at hand and the safety of all involved, and that distraction enhances danger.

646. 5:13:45

     Thank you.

647. 5:13:45

     Thank you.

648. 5:13:50

     Does the lady want to yield for some more questions?

649. 5:13:52

     Yes, I'll yield, I'll, I'll yield for another one or two.

650. 5:13:55

     Uh, Representative Miller to right in the center aisle is recognized for a question.

651. 5:14:01

     Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Does the gentlelady yield?

652. 5:14:03

     Yes.

653. 5:14:04

     Just to, uh, I really wanna understand what we're trying to accomplish here.

654. 5:14:08

     Mm-hmm.

655. 5:14:08

     And I'm intrigued a little bit by the question my colleague, the minority whip, asked you about parked vehicles.

656. 5:14:15

     Mm-hmm.

657. 5:14:15

     Okay. So can you give me an example for how a vehicle that is stationary-

658. 5:14:22

     Mm-hmm

659. 5:14:23

     ... in other words, was not driven to a place and then put there, could be obstruction or felonious under your bill?

660. 5:14:31

     Okay. Well, I would argue that someone did have to drive that vehicle there c-

661. 5:14:35

     Uh-

662. 5:14:35

     ... to begin with, right?

663. 5:14:35

     Understood.

664. 5:14:36

     And, and then park it in a manner that is impeding a police operation. So for all of the, the, the three or four reasons that I just gave as to why that is a det- as, can impede a police operation and create a dangerous s- situation, feel like I explained that, but please let me know if I can further elaborate.

665. 5:14:54

     Yeah, you can further elaborate. So what is the intent element? I guess what I'm trying to figure out is can a park, can a car merely be parked and then become obstructionist without any conduct-

666. 5:15:07

     Well, I-

667. 5:15:07

     ... by the person driving it?

668. 5:15:08

     Thank you for, thank you for the question, and it does make sense. I would, I would explain though to you that, that you're now talking about, remember, intent is a prerequisite for prosecution of this law, right? So that person would have to be deliberately intending to obstruct that operation. It would not include someone that just parked their car there and then lady, later, are, are you insinuating that maybe later a police operation just crops up around the car? The person would have to have intentionally driven the car there and parked it in a way to impede that police operation.

669. 5:15:36

     Understood. Thank you.

670. 5:15:39

     Mm-hmm. Mr. Speaker, I yield for one more question.

671. 5:15:41

     Uh, Representative, um, Romman, right at the center aisle on your left is recognized.

672. 5:15:47

     Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Does the gentlelady yield?

673. 5:15:49

     Yes.

674. 5:15:49

     So there was a little bit of back and forth earlier about why we are making this a new felony, and you mentioned that those were violent felonies. Is your argument that we, this is now a felony for peaceful or non-violent action?

675. 5:16:03

     No, it, it's, it's a felony for dangerous conduct u- with using a motor vehicle that impedes or interferes with a police operation.

676. 5:16:12

     But-

677. 5:16:13

     We have, we have many felonies on the books that are non-violent. There are weapons possessions charges that are non-violent. They don't actually involve firing a gun or, or harming anyone. Nonetheless, this body, this state recognizes that those are inherently, it's inherently dangerous conduct, and therefore, there are felonies on the book for a host of, of non-violent offenses.

678. 5:16:34

     Got it. So it's non-violent. Thank you.

679. 5:16:37

     Mr. Speaker, that's, that's all I have. Uh, that is the bill in a nutshell. Um, I will yield the well.

680. 5:16:45

     Ladies yield the well. We do have, um, speakers signed up that are opposed to the bill. We have, um, let's see, looks like about four, and then we do have a minority report. Representative Sanchez, you're recognized. Speak to the bill. This gentleman's recognized.

681. 5:17:01

     Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I rise today on the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, and what we're doing here is attacking a fundamental right that date ba- dates back to the core of the founding of this nation. The right to protest is a cornerstone of American democracy, and just like my colleague already mentioned, what was the impetus for this bill?

682. 5:17:32

     Was it the murder of Rene Good? Because under this legislation, you would have slapped a felony charge and a $100,000 fine onto her lifeless body if this had happened in Georgia. Is that what justice looks like to you? Are we defending the murderer of Rene Good?

683. 5:17:51

     We need to stop legislating against people just because you do not agree with them, because that's exactly what this bill is doing. I'm sorry if protesting for civil rights and civil liberty annoys you, but that is the point of protest. Protests are supposed to be disruptive. This nation would not exist without protest and disruption. Anyone wanna call back to the Boston Tea Party or the Boston Massacre, where people protesting against the British government were killed?

684. 5:18:29

     By the way, they were tossing things towards those British soldiers, so you could argue that there's a lot of parallels from the Boston Massacre to today's protest against ICE,

685. 5:18:42

     and now that we have people, American citizens, murdered for simply expressing their right to free speech, like Rene Good, Alex Purdy, Keith Porter, and many more. We are tarnishing the legacy of our founding fathers and the legacy of this country by undermining such a core fundamental right with this legislation.

686. 5:19:06

     It seems to make sense the Republican Party is red because this legislation really makes you all look like redcoats. I hope this body will consider once again on the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence to not undermine one of our most fundamental rights. So I hope that you vote no on House Bill 1076. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I yield the well.

687. 5:19:26

     Gentleman yield the well. Representative Holly.

688. 5:19:34

     Gentleman is recognized.

689. 5:19:35

     Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

690. 5:19:51

     My colleagues arise today to both ask you, uh, to vote your conscience and therefore vote against this measure. House Bill 1076 seeks to create a redundant criminal offense for obstructing a law enforcement officer using a motor vehicle. And while everyone agrees that violence against law enforcement is unacceptable, that officers must be able to do their jobs safely, this bill is the wrong tool.

691. 5:20:23

     It unnecessarily, given the existing law, is dangerously vague, and it opens the door to discriminatory enforcement and excessive punishment, especially against minorities and people exercising their constitutional rights. Civil liberties and civil rights organizations in Georgia have consistently warned that these new criminal offenses and sentence enhancements in the name of order and public safety often end up eroding our constitutional protections and deepening racial disparities that already exist in the criminal injustice system.

692. 5:21:06

     We must challenge ineffective, costly pretrial and sentencing practices and opposing bills that expand criminal liability without clear need or safeguards.

693. 5:21:21

     Let us review the robust set of laws that Georgia currently punishes for dangerous conduct involving a vehicle and a police officer. Our respected members of even the Georgia State Police know this legislature has already granted them the ability to charge any suspect with the following crimes: aggravated assault on a peace officer, fleeing an attempt to elude, reckless driving and related traffic crimes, and e-existing obstruction statutes.

694. 5:21:53

     Think on this. If someone deliberately uses a motor vehicle to harm or threaten an officer, prosecutors can already charge felony obstruction of an officer, as Section B increases the offense from a misdemeanor to a felony. Now, how might I know? I say it time and time again, but it's just good to put it in perspective. You can walk two blocks north, where I wrote the criminal arrest warrants for 13 metropolitan counties and including officers of the Georgia Bureau of Investigators, processing their criminal arrest warrants, and I signed my name as a warrant officer on obstruction of an officer felony warrants.

695. 5:22:38

     Almost tens of thousands of them that came through me over those five or six years. Creating a new felony category specifically for obstructing using a motor vehicle, it invites duplication, confusion, and governmental overreach. Justice organizations have repeatedly emphasized that Georgia does not suffer from a shortage of criminal statutes. Instead, it suffers from one of the highest per capita correctional rates in the entire nation.

696. 5:23:11

     If we really wanna stop crime and support responsible law enforcement, we should be focused on minimizing these manufactured scenarios that seem made for nightly news broadcasts, but they only rebrand laws that are already on the books, that have already been applied to suspects over the years. HB 1076 frames itself as targeting obstruction, but here's the key question: What exactly counts as obstruction?

697. 5:23:42

     Without extremely precise statutory language, this bill risks turning routine or ambiguous situations into felonies. How you might ask? Because as it is written, persons charged with this offense, they need not show any intent to harm officers, no intent to harm the public, or even harming themselves. The mere presence of their motor vehicle in the lane or near a lane or in any place where an officer is pursuing a suspect automatically suggests that the driver should have known there was an active police matter happening in that moment if they failed to move their vehicle.

698. 5:24:21

     Yes, you've heard that correctly. The bill's sponsor wants you to believe that any person, not just a protester, not some miscreant, not a spectator, but a grandmother who can't hurry up and get out of the way, or ordinarily law-abiding citizens whose Camrys or Buicks or any other regular vehicle can't move fast enough or may be momentarily inoperable at the time a pursuit is taking place, deserves to be charged with an automatic felony punishable by up to $100,000 or even five years in jail.

699. 5:24:57

     So let's think about who those persons might be. A driver who hesitates, panics, or misunderstands an officer's hand signals. Someone slowly maneuvering around a police vehicle at a traffic stop or a protest believing that the road is partially open. Is it a protester or is it a legal observer in a car near a demonstration who was accused of blocking an officer's pass even if they are simply just sitting in traffic?

700. 5:25:30

     The felon this law seeks to stop is you. The US Supreme Court has consistently warned against and has invalidated criminal laws under the void for vagueness doctrine, which is rooted in the due process clause of the Fifth and 14th Amendments. It's why the American Civil Liberties Union of Georgia and the NAACP have long warned that vague criminal laws allow law enforcement to police the person, not the conduct, giving officers very wide latitude to interpret ordinary or protected activity as, quote unquote, "criminal." A law that can turn a confusing or emotionally charged traffic encounter into a serious felony is fundamentally dangerous.

701. 5:26:22

     It gives officers a powerful tool that can be used, not to say that it will, but it can be used to threaten, to coerce, or to retaliate in situations that should be resolved with de-escalation, with clear instructions, and at worst, an existing misdemeanor or traffic charges. When a driver is confronted with a chaotic environment, think about this for yourselves, this is real, sirens, smoke, large crowds, extreme weather, and then approached by an officer, several factors can lead to a total immobility.

702. 5:27:07

     The brain receives more sensory input than it can process. This leads to a tonic immobility where the body simply stops responding to external commands. If a threat is perceived as inescapable, your brain may trigger a freeze to avoid detection because it can't decide on a course of action. Now I know this personally to be true. I remember five years ago when I was on I-75 going north and literally as a officer was there trying to get a mother to unload the children out of her Chevy Suburban and I saw her tense and freak out.

703. 5:27:54

     It caused me to pull my car over to the side and one by one as I pulled the children from the passenger seat of the vehicle, I saw that woman stressed and to the point that she was clutching her head. In that moment, I thought it wise to judge her. I said, "How can this woman sit here on the highway as her car is burning?" Literally flames are coming from the hood. Officers are pointing her to move and she can't and she's stressed out.

704. 5:28:27

     And even though we were able to successfully get those children into my car and other cars that were there and to drive those vehicles out of the harm's way, I imagine for myself what she must have been feeling in that moment. Was she trying to break the law when the officer asked her to respond? Could she even factor the harm that was created at the thought that her children could have been scorched if she didn't respond correctly?

705. 5:29:01

     But still she found herself in that moment clutching her head and I realized over the time that maybe it was not right for me to judge her, that I too could find myself in a situation where physically or emotional shock might cause some sort of disassociation from reality and that makes it hard for any driver, almost placing them in a catatonic situation unable to respond quickly.

706. 5:29:32

     So I think we're very clear here and really this message is not for any of us in this room. This is for you at home who are watching. When this bill passes out of here, I want you to know that for many who are watching, particularly our seniors, those who are members of AARP, who without your support many of us wouldn't be seated in this chamber, you who are law abiding, who don't find yourself in situations where you're trying to break the law, if in our times where because of the mere fact that your car is sitting idly because you haven't been able to respond quickly, you will now be placing yourself in the same position that others who do not necessarily have a desire to obey the law will find themselves when they are unable to move their car out of harm's way at the direct order of an officer.

707. 5:30:34

     And that is the reason why this bill does not exist in law because the culpability of the person who will be arrested, it doesn't need for them to be showing that they intentionally desire to have that car to stop a officer. It just says that they have to have known about it, that there's some type of knowledge. And for anyone who has never been in a situation where you are literally in a parade or amidst a crowd or even where you're at a sports game and there's large crowds in the street or if you find yourself incapable of moving your car because there's a bear cat- A very large decommissioned army, army military vehicle that sometimes police departments have.

708. 5:31:26

     If you're unable to respond quickly, then yes, you too might be able to beat your charges, but this will at least allow for a law enforcement officer to apply a high felony to you, of which again is you can have a fine on you for up to $100,000. Let us respect the law that is currently on our books. Section B of 16-5-dash, sorry, 16-10-21.

709. 5:32:04

     Actually, I apologize. The hour is late, and my mind is not on the particular code. But I do know that Section B of aggravated assault on a officer actually can be applied in situations where the suspect is arguably trying to actually, uh, hurt the officer. We don't need this bill, and we don't need it because we already have laws on the books to be able to protect people. So please, I ask for you to do the right thing.

710. 5:32:34

     This is simply not about targeting suspects. We have to make sure that those who are law-abiding but cannot respond quickly are not hit with a felony charge. That's why I ask you all to please vote no on this, and I ask the public to please show some mercy for those who do not intend to do the harm they do to you. I yield the will.

711. 5:33:00

     Gentleman's yielded the will. Representative Derrick Jackson. Gentleman's recognized to speak to House Bill 1076.

712. 5:33:09

     Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Ladies and gentlemen, I know the hour is late, and you're probably hungry. But listen, House Bill 1076, what's broken that House Bill 1076 is trying to fix? My, my remarks are gonna be brief, so here we are. Not only House Bill 1076 will create penalties that are disproportionate to the act. A conviction will be a felony carrying an imprisonment up to five years, and as my colleague already stated, up to $100,000.

713. 5:33:47

     Is that what we're in the business of doing, creating a new felony? House Bill 1076 will be elevating what is often a non-violent act of civil disobedience. This could ruin lives right here in Georgia over a single protest. There's redundancy in the law, and as already stated, it's a misdemeanor right now that can carry one year and $1,000.

714. 5:34:18

     In this bill, 1076, is very vague language that can v- carry a very chilling effect. We're gonna start criminalizing civil disobedience, peaceful protests, something that our Constitution warrants us to be able to have the ability to peacefully protest. What about bystanders? What about bystanders? There's a level of subjectivity in House Bill 1076.

715. 5:34:51

     And in my closing remarks, uh, Mr. Speaker, I s- I'm starting to use ChatGPT, and I asked ChatGPT, my dear friends, I said, "If House Bill 1076 was in effect today, what would, what would be the results?" This is what ChatGPT said, "There is no recorded surge of police officers being killed by vehicles in a manner that existing Georgia law couldn't already prosecute.

716. 5:35:26

     The significant disadvantage of House Bill 1076 here, Georgians will be subjected to a level of subjectivity that could ruin their lives with a new felony and fines up to $100,000 to address a statistical rarity that is not actually happening on Georgia's street." And then here, here's the amazing thing about ChatGPT, Mr. Chairman. It says, "Derrick Jackson, you should vote no to House Bill 1076 for a problem that doesn't exist." With that, Mr.

717. 5:36:01

     Speaker, I yield the will.

718. 5:36:09

     He said that with spirit. Yes, sir.

719. 5:36:20

     That concludes our speakers on the bill. Is there any objection to the previous question being ordered? We do have a minority report.

720. 5:36:34

     Representative Holley.

721. 5:36:47

     Representative Holley is, um, the member that signed it, so you have up to 20 minutes, sir, to bring the-

722. 5:36:54

     You bet

723. 5:36:54

     ... the minority report.

724. 5:36:57

     All right. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I know the hour is late. I know the hour is late, even to the point that sometimes I think that gavel, uh, it rings loud and clear, but I don't know if it's getting people back in their seats. Hopefully, you can, because I would love for you to be able to hear from Representative Ruwa Romman, uh, whom I yield the remainder of my time. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

725. 5:37:27

     The lady's recognized for up to 19 minutes and 30- I'm used to being hungry. So, um, you know, I was reading this bill and I was th- I've been thinking actually a lot recently about where we are as a country, and I am gonna start with a story. I went down to Stewart Detention Center recently where I had the opportunity to meet with three separate detainees. One of them has been living here for almost his entire life, was randomly picked up earlier this year, had been in there for about a month and a half, and frankly, he was still pretty shocked to be there.

726. 5:38:06

     He was frankly still in denial. The other one was an asylum seeker with no criminal history. I don't think any of them had criminal histories, but either way, one of them was an asylum seeker, and the kinda case that you would think, "Okay, this is what, this is why we have the kinda laws that we do that allows us to welcome those that need us most." He would've been someone who contributes a lot to our communities. And, um, and he was terrified. I remember talking to him and the judge had said that he was not, uh, deportable, and yet he was still in Stewart Detention.

727. 5:38:39

     They refused to release him. And the third story was about Rodney Taylor. Rodney Taylor is somebody that this body should have heard about, although no one really pays attention to afternoon orders apparently. And Rodney Taylor in particular is someone who uses prosthetics to get around, and unfortunately has not been getting the care that he needs. In fact, because a single guard had seen him stand up, they refused to help him get food.

728. 5:39:11

     Other detainees had to help him by getting him food for weeks, by the way. They wouldn't give him a wheelchair. If he wanted a shower, if somebody was willing to help him shower, he had to crawl on the dirty floor. And there are countless stories like this, stories of people I personally know over the decades, stories of people that I had, I heard about from constituents. And why do I share this in light of this bill? Because I know there are people in this chamber that no matter what I say, it's never gonna come through, and that's fine, but I also know that there are many in this chamber who probably never heard those stories.

729. 5:39:48

     There are probably many more in this chamber who have frankly no idea what's happening in our own backyard. For example, did you know that Georgia has the fourth-highest rate of detention, or of ICE detentions in the country? I didn't say deportations, by the way. I said ICE detentions. And why am I focused on detentions? Because this has become an entire industry. I need you to hear me when I say this. We have developed an entire industry that we are paying for to continue caging people because there is a massive financial incentive to make sure those beds are full.

730. 5:40:27

     But if you look at our deportation numbers, they have not kept up with the number of detentions, and why is that? Because there's no financial incentives to adjuc- actually adjudicate their cases. Many of the people that ICE is arbitrarily picking up end up released. And again, why am I sharing these stories? We have turned this into an industry. We have turned caging people into an industry. In fact, it's been an industry. We're just now growing its reach.

731. 5:40:59

     We are putting people in cages that should not be there, including children, by the way, who we recently took away things like coloring books from. We've recently shut down health services in these facilities. We have recently taken away the number of judges available to adjudicate these cases and actually get people out. We have turned detaining people into an industry, and I need you to hear this because it is relevant to this bill.

732. 5:41:30

     I need you to understand that no matter how much spin we're going to hear about this bill, this is what this bill is about. It is about making it harder for you and I to stand up for our neighbors.

733. 5:41:43

     This bill is meant to make people more fearful to stand up for their neighbors, and I say this in a chamber of people that not even a couple of hours ago told me personally they didn't agree with a basic property tax bill and voted for it anyway. And when those consequences are simply political, you want to tell me that doing things like fining people for protecting their neighbors is not going to deter people from protecting their neighbors?

734. 5:42:17

     I don't know, y'all. I think that when people are trying to do the right thing, the basic, most basic part of our jobs is to listen to them, even if you disagree with them, even if you cannot see their perspective, even if you cannot understand what would motivate somebody, what would move them, what would move them to stand between them and someone who does not see that person they're trying to take as a human being. Do you really think that it's evil and animus that moves those people, or could it honestly be that we see some of the best in people in those instances?

735. 5:42:54

     One of those people, her last name is Good. Her name was Renee Good. At bare minimum, shouldn't that make us pause and wonder if the propaganda that we are being exposed to is telling us something that isn't true? To me, that is the world screaming at us to wake up, to look around us. I saw even conservative commentators condemn what happened to Alex Preddy, people who have called me a demon, by the way.

736. 5:43:25

     Because you do not shoot a man in the back for simply trying to stop a- An untrained ICE officer from pepper spraying another person that they were there with. He was protecting her and he was killed for it. Does it not make sense that for once, for once we learn something? That for once we go, "You know what? Maybe I should look into this. Maybe I should wonder what could move people to put themselves in that situation." 'Cause let me tell you what happened in Minnesota.

737. 5:43:56

     Take away the spin for a second, 'cause I know people there. And no, not because they're Muslim. I know people there because they're fellow elected officials, by the way. And they will tell you that the tear gas, the increase of ICE agents, the infiltration of their communities, it's still happening. But unlike, unfortunately, many of us here, they continue to show up for their neighbors and they continue to be brave and actively speak out, and by the way, in a bipartisan manner.

738. 5:44:30

     We have seen Republicans in Minnesota speak out for their colleagues instead of trying to pass bills to obstruct their own constituents from doing the right thing. I came home one night and there was somebody outside my house, which for someone like me is, can be quite terrifying by the way. But either way, it was an unknown car and the person jumps out and she is crying. Like, I cannot... I mean, just absolutely crying, and I had no idea why she's at my house. Turns out she is one of my volunteer's moms, had seen an unmarked vehicle enter our neighborhood and was wondering if they were there to take away her neighbor.

739. 5:45:06

     And she begged me to come with her to figure out what's going on, and this was at night. I ran over there. Am I gonna get charged with obstruction because I went to ask questions because people are scared right now? People are terrified. I cannot begin to describe to you the fear that continues to permeate itself throughout our communities in this moment. It is not good.

740. 5:45:31

     An officer killed a woman named Renee Good, her last name was Good, and in our response instead of saying, "Hey, we should be protecting Georgians and our constituents and maybe doing something about this," instead we're saying, "We are going to continue to vilify and feed into the vilification, and by the way, criminalize any kind of action that you take to protect your neighbors." That's not okay. It's unacceptable. But even more than that, even more than any of this, there is a world in which we can choose to actually do better.

741. 5:46:03

     Because right now down in Social Circle there are people who are worried about what is going to happen to their town when you triple the population and try to shove 10,000 people into a warehouse. 10,000. Can y'all imagine 10,000 people in a warehouse? How many of y'all have been to a warehouse recently, especially in the summer? It is hot. Warehouses don't have enough bathrooms. They don't have enough showers. They don't have enough anything to be able to accommodate 10,000 people. That town doesn't have enough infrastructure to accommodate 10,000 people.

742. 5:46:37

     What is the plan here? So again, I, I wanna, like, really tie all this in for you because we have managed to turn this into an industry where we are detaining people because there's a financial incentive to it, but we're not actually adjudicating their cases. They're not getting deported. We're putting them in a cage and letting them rot there. There's no way to amplify their case. There's no way to push their case. These court systems are so overrun that sometimes it's going to take a year or more just for a basic hearing.

743. 5:47:08

     And even if it is deemed that you should not be deported, you're still going to have to sit there until they decide whether or not you can be released. It's easy. It's easy to be able to say everyone's a criminal. That is easy. That's how propaganda works. Nobody... Because I, I think that there's a lot of good in all of you. I'm often told not to believe that, but I actually sincerely do believe there's a lot of good in people. It is a belief of mine that I have seen day after day after day, even when on the most disappointing of days.

744. 5:47:41

     But I need y'all to take a second. You can actually go and visit people at Stewart Detention, by the way. You can find people from your districts and go visit them and go talk to them. I urge you to do that. Because you are going to find out that we are being lied to. These people are not criminals. Creating laws to then criminalize people trying to protect them is a complete abdication of responsibility. In fact, we are enabling some of the worst horrors that I think we are gonna look back on in our history.

745. 5:48:12

     Because here's the fascinating thing about humanity. One day we are all going to look back, many people are gonna say that they have always been against this. Always. This is how people view slavery today. This is how people view Jim Crow. This is how people view just about every atrocity in our history, where they look back and they say, "This is awful." But the reality is there were people in that moment that enabled those horrible policies. There were people in that moment that made it more difficult to stand up for our neighbors, to stand up for what's right.

746. 5:48:47

     Because what is legal is not always what's right and what is illegal is not always what's wrong. We are literally creating a law right now that says if I see somebody who is being detained, by the way, by, in an unmarked car... 'Cause it's important to remember this, by the way. I talked about this last year and a lot of y'all didn't believe me until I showed you the video. But when there is an unmarked car driven by a masked individual and they're gonna try to come at me, you bet I'm gonna think I'm getting kidnapped. Are you kidding me?

747. 5:49:18

     And you're telling me if I see that happening to my neighbor that I shouldn't step in, and if I do, then that's a felony? Do you not think that we have an obligation to protect each other? What is the point of being a neighbor? What is the point of, of being around people? And by the way, we have legislation that says ICE agents should identify themselves. We can vote on it today. We have legislation that says those unidentified ICE agents cannot enter a school or a house of worship or a hospital.

748. 5:49:49

     We can move those today. We can actually help alleviate this tension and reduce so much of what we are seeing, that fear, that anger, that frustration, instead of telling people they're on their own and that they start to feel that their only way out of this is take matters into their own hands. We have a responsibility and an obligation to be leaders in this moment outside of bipartis- uh, outside of partisanship. There are some things that should go above partisanship.

749. 5:50:20

     I know that y'all are tired and I know that y'all wanna go to dinner, but I mean, this came up as the last bill of the day. And I think that there is a point in which we have to talk about what all of this means and what we are doing and the signal we're sending to people. And to those of you out there that have been showing up for your neighbors, that have been caring for each other, I hope y'all know that no matter how many people tell you that there's no point, that it doesn't matter, it matters more than you know.

750. 5:50:53

     I'm gonna yield the rest of my time to Representative Neal. Thank you.

751. 5:51:00

     Ladies recognized for up to five minutes and 55 seconds. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I won't need that long. I wasn't gonna give remarks but, um, and I know this bill's probably gonna pass, but, um, tonight I wanted everyone to consider the unintended consequences. I'm worried about the bad apples with this bill. I'm worried about the stretch of this bill.

752. 5:51:27

     I know this body is trying to do the right thing, but we also have to be careful to not give bad apples any charge they can stretch. Stretching this code to fit, stacking charges, and arresting people that probably shouldn't be arrested is problematic. We don't wanna encourage bad behavior by those that we are actually worried about. So with that, I hope you just consider as we move forward, and I think we have some more bills that are a little concerning as well, that we have unintended consequences that I would love to see us correct for.

753. 5:52:03

     But as we move forward with this bill and others, we should always be careful to not give bad officers, not the good ones, but bad officers the tools to do worse than they already are. And with that, Mr. Speaker, I yield the well.

754. 5:52:21

     Thank you, Representative Neal. The lady has yielded the well. That completes our minority report. Now we'll have the chairman's time up to 20 minutes. Chairman's recognized. Chairman Smith. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'm going to yield a portion of the chairman's time to the author of the bill, Representative Ginny Ehrhart, and the majority whip, Representative Burchett.

755. 5:52:49

     Representative Ehrhart is recognized to- Thank you, members ... speak to House Bill 1076. Sorry. Thank you, members, and, um, I will not be using 20 minutes. I will be using two. Um, I appreciate the thoughts that I've heard tonight and I wanna be very, very clear about this legislation, this proposed legislation. It is not about ICE. It is not about detainees. Um, it is not about immigration. It is not about so many of the things that I heard spoken of this evening.

756. 5:53:21

     Uh, this bill is about deterring dangerous behavior that puts people at risk. Not just our law enforcement officers, but folks that are engaged in the activity and innocent bystanders as well. I've heard talk tonight about individuals involved in very serious situations in other states that ended very badly. I have not brought up those situations, but I can tell you when we talk about deterrence, it's something to consider. It's worth noting.

757. 5:53:52

     I heard someone from this body recently state in committee that we know deterrence don't work, and I would offer a correction to that statement by saying that weak deterrence don't work. Enhanced criminal penalties absolutely can be justified on a theory of deterrence. It is a solid and proven theory. Real-life examples, DUIs, felony classifications, license suspensions, and mandatory jail time have been associated with a long-term decline in alcohol-related traffic deaths on Georgia roads.

758. 5:54:27

     How about domestic violence? Enhanced domestic violence laws and mandatory arrest laws have shown to significantly reduce the incidences of repeat domestic violent offenses. Deterrence do work. It begs the question, are our deterrents strong enough? Had deterrents been stronger, would they have dissuaded some of the decisions that were made that led to tragic circumstances? In the end, stronger penalties paired with consistent enforcement can deter criminal offenses.

759. 5:55:01

     They can signal a shift in social no- norms, and they can reduce a tolerance for this sort of behavior. I would like to remind all of us about the issue of constitutionality. I've heard things tonight that are, are flat out wrong. This bill recognizes that we have the authority to enact criminal laws that protect public safety. The courts, including the United States Supreme Court, have consistently upheld laws that regulate dangerous conduct involving motor vehicles.

760. 5:55:34

     We know that courts draw a strong line between expressive activity, meaning speech, protest, symbolic expression, and conduct that threatens safety or interferes with lawful duties.

761. 5:55:47

     In closing, members, and in plain terms, a felony charge for using a vehicle to obstruct police is constitutional when it regulates dangerous behavior, not ideas, not speech, and it serves a strong public safety purpose. As long as the bill is clearly written, which this is, and applies equally regardless of viewpoint, which it does, it fits within established constitutional guidelines. Ladies and gentlemen, I ask for your favorable decis- uh, consideration of House Bill 1076, and Mr.

762. 5:56:22

     Speaker, I yield the well.

763. 5:56:24

     The lady's yielded the well.

764. 5:56:29

     She waves. Chairman waves. Excellent choice.

765. 5:56:36

     Excellent choice.

766. 5:56:44

     The previous question is ordered. Is there any objection to agreeing to the report of the committee, which was favorable to the passage of the bill? Hearing none, the report of the committee is agreed to. Shall this bill now pass? All those in favor of the pa- of the bill will vote yes. All those opposed will vote no, and Mr. Clerk will unlock the machine.

767. 5:57:29

     Have all members voted?

768. 5:57:34

     All members voted. For what purpose does Representative Evans rise?

769. 5:57:42

     Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Parliamentary inquiry.

770. 5:57:45

     State your inquiry, ma'am.

771. 5:57:46

     Mr. Speaker, isn't it true that if the proponents of this bill are really intent on making sure that there is an intent element, that they needed to use the words that you're gonna find in every code section that deals with a felony, which is knowingly and willingly, and not just the word knowingly, either knowingly and willingly or with intent to cause harm? And isn't it true that I hope that the proponents will fix this very real problem, uh, when this bill goes to the Senate, and until then, I will be voting no.

772. 5:58:14

     I appreciate the lady's, uh, thoughts and her insight. Now, have all members voted? If so, Mr. Clerk will lock the machine. On the passage of House Bill 1076, the yays are 97, the nays are 64. This bill, having exceeded the requisite constitutional majority, is therefore passed.

773. 5:58:37

     We have a couple of further actions, and then we're going to have some announce, some afternoon orders and announcements, and we'll be on the way. For what purpose does Representative Wade rise?

774. 5:58:49

     Uh, Mr. Speaker, I move that the rules be temporarily suspended so that a bill may be read for the first time and assigned to committee.

775. 5:58:55

     Mr. Clerk will read the caption.

776. 5:58:58

     Unnumbered house bill by Representative Wade of the ninth and others to be entitled an act to amend part two of article six of chapter two of title 20 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated relating to competencies in core curriculum under the Quality Basic Education Act.

777. 5:59:13

     On the gentleman's motion that the rules of this house be temporarily suspended so a bill can be read for the first time and assigned to committee. Is there objection? Is there... There's objection. Gentleman move?

778. 5:59:28

     I move.

779. 5:59:28

     Gentleman moves.

780. 6:00:11

     Gentlemen, for what purpose does Representative Wade rise again?

781. 6:00:17

     Speaker, I make a motion to withdraw, but I would like to comment to my colleagues on the other side of the aisle. This is a measure that you have been communicating with me for three years on. I've worked with several of you. I'm very disappointed, but I'll make a motion to withdraw, begrudgingly, sir.

782. 6:00:35

     Measure's withdrawn. For what purpose does Representative Gamble rise?

783. 6:00:41

     I move that the rules of this House be temporarily suspended so a bill can be read and assigned to committee for the first time.

784. 6:00:47

     Mr. Clerk, read the caption.

785. 6:00:49

     Unnumbered House Bill by Representative Gamble. The 15th being entitled An Act to Amend Titles 20-45 and 50 of the Official Code of Georgia and it's headed R- Relating to Education, Public Officers and Employees.

786. 6:01:03

     All in the gentleman's motion that the rule of this House be temporarily suspended so a bill can be read for the first time and signed to committee. Is there objection?

787. 6:01:16

     Objection.

788. 6:01:16

     Is that the Governor's bill, too?

789. 6:01:18

     This, this is a Governor's bill, Mr. Speaker, and I regret that we have to do this, but I will withdraw my motion.

790. 6:01:26

     Motion's withdrawn.

791. 6:01:40

     All right, before we get into the afternoon orders, we have several of them. The following bills and resolutions will be postponed to the next legislative day. House Resolution 1049 and 1000, House Bill 421, 942, 334, 545, 626, 892, 1122, 1167, 1283, and, uh, 1116 will be taken up the next legislative day.

792. 6:02:14

     Afternoon orders. Representative Griffin. Representative Ali, you're on deck. Chairman Sainz and Representative Ford. Representative Griffin is recognized for an afternoon order. Give the gentleman your attention, please.

793. 6:02:39

     Representative Griffin. I'm gonna ask y'all to do it in a minute or so if you can. I hope you can.

794. 6:02:49

     Yeah.

795. 6:02:53

     Mr-

796. 6:02:55

     Give the gentleman your attention, please. We'll be out of here.

797. 6:02:59

     Mr. Speaker, today I rise not as a Democrat, but as a fellow soldier. We have learned of the loss of American soldier members during a military operation in the Middle East. Behind every headline is a human story. These were not statistics. They were our sons and maybe daughters, teammates and neighbors, also Americans, who have, who have answered the call to serve and stood to watch for all of us.

798. 6:03:47

     As someone who has worn the uniform, flown into dangerous missions, and served alongside brave men and women in harm's way, I know there is no such thing as a routine deployment. Every mission carries risk, and every loss carries a lifetime of grief for families who gave their very best to this nation.

799. 6:04:17

     And Mr. Speaker, this is, this is no distance to me. Today, my grandson is serving in the Middle East. He represents the fourth generation of army service in my family. So when we speak of sacrifice, we speak of families. Families who pray, families who wait, families who live each day with both pride and concern.

800. 6:04:49

     Today, or tonight, somewhere in America, families have been received the most painful knock on the door, and a family, as a family can receive. These soldiers did not make policy. They did not sit in a chamber like this one. They executed duty. They trusted leadership, and their sacrifice reminds us that leadership carries responsibility beyond this room.

801. 6:05:24

     Because of the decision made in places like this are carried out in deserts, skies, oceans, and conflict zones by young Americans willing to give everything. So today we pause to honor their courage, we lift up their families, and we recommit ourselves to the seriousness of the decision entrusted to us.

802. 6:05:56

     May we always remember leaders solve problems, not create them. Mr. Speaker, if I may, let us pause for a moment of silence.

803. 6:06:12

     Thank you, and I yield the will.

804. 6:06:16

     Thank you for your service, Representative Griffin, and we offer prayers for your grandson, that he'll be safe, and all of our men and women in the military. Representative Ali, the gentleman's recognized for Adopt a Child.

805. 6:06:33

     Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Members of this house, it's been a very long day, but I'm sure we can all agree we can come out and carve out time for Georgia's foster children, such as Cameron, age eight, who is a Lakers and Eagles fan while being caring, inquisitive, and a loving addition to anyone who chooses to adopt him at itsmyturnnow.dhs.georgia.gov. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I yield the will.

806. 6:06:58

     Thank you, Representative. Chairman Sainz, the gentleman's recognized.

807. 6:07:07

     Thank you, Mr. Speaker. On the board is, uh, what in-class instruction looks like after a, uh, bats have infested the St. Mary's Elementary School. Uh, they prioritized in Camden County in-class instruction and worked with Chancellor Sonny Perdue and the College of Coastal Georgia to ensure elementary students had an alternative learning environment to ensure, uh, education. So we're gonna give Chancellor Perdue the BAT award, Backing Academics Together, uh, for their partnership.

808. 6:07:37

     And this house has been very supportive of, of this unexpected, uh, $2.5 million cost to, uh, the Camden County school system, and we very much appreciate the state partnership. Thank you.

809. 6:07:49

     Thank you for letting us know about that. Don't give a- don't, don't go very far. You have an announcement. Representative Ford is recognized for an afternoon order.

810. 6:07:59

     I'll be really quick. Um, just couldn't let this day go by without wishing my sweet girl a happy 18th birthday at home. So if y'all would join me in wishing her a happy birthday. Um, anyway, what we do is important, but our children are more most important, so thank y'all.

811. 6:08:17

     Happy birthday. 18, that's pretty cool. Chairman Todd Jones. The gentleman's recognized for an announcement. We're moving on to announcements now.

812. 6:08:28

     Thank you, Mr. Speaker. TII will meet in 341 right now. Uh, as soon as we have eight people, which is quorum, we will commence the meeting. Thank you so much, Mr. Speaker.

813. 6:08:39

     Which room?

814. 6:08:41

     341, sir.

815. 6:08:42

     341. Chairman Sainz, recognized for an announcement.

816. 6:08:47

     Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thanks to the Trump administration, a new tool to communicate to our constituen- constituents is now available. A TikTok training sponsored by the Future Caucus will be a bipartisan effort happening tomorrow night, um, either upon adjournment or upon break in the Blue Room. We hope each legislator and their staff can join us.

817. 6:09:10

     Chairman Gunther. The gentleman's recognized.

818. 6:09:14

     Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Uh, Judiciary, House Judiciary will meet in room 132 at 8:00 AM in the morning. We have just a couple of bills. Uh, hopefully it'll be quick, and we'll be out of there by 9:00.

819. 6:09:30

     Representative Gambill, are you still... Oh, there you are. I'm sorry, sir. Representative Gambill is recognized for an announcement.

820. 6:09:36

     Thank you, Speaker. After a day like today, we need some prayer. In the morning, the fellowship will meet at 7:00 AM in House Judiciary. I hope to see y'all there.

821. 6:09:44

     Excellent observation. That completes our announcements, and we'll recognize the majority leader of this house for a motion.

822. 6:09:54

     Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I move that this house stand adjourned until Wednesday, March 4th, 2026 at 10:00 AM.

823. 6:10:02

     On the motion of Majority L- Leader Efstration, this House...

824. 6:10:11

     Yeah, I guess I better go back. I'm gonna do that, too. Uh, so bring your sleeping bags. We're gonna work late tomorrow night. We will have some dinner for you, but we wanna get some things done tomorrow as we lead into Friday and crossover. So, um, be prepared to come in and make your plans to hang a while, hang around a while tomorrow night, and we'll, uh, we'll have dinner for you tomorrow night. As us country boys say, we'll have supper for you. So it, we'll have both supper and dinner. So, uh, with that, on the majority leader's motion that this house stand adjourned until 10:00 AM, Wednesday, March 4th, 2026.

825. 6:10:48

     All those in favor will say aye.

826. 6:10:51

     Aye.

827. 6:10:51

     Opposed, no.

828. 6:10:54

     No.

829. 6:10:54

     Not close again. The ayes have it. This house stands adjourned. Thank you, members, for your day.