Senate Rules Committee, March 20, 2026 Video: https://vimeo.com/1175315260 (a timestamp t plays at https://vimeo.com/1175315260#t=s) Page: https://georgiacommons.org/meetings/2026-03-20/senate-rules This is a machine transcript of the General Assembly's video, made by a speech-recognition model. It is not an official record and can mishear words, names, and numbers. Speakers are not identified. The video is the record: every timestamp links to the moment it plays. [0:05:37] We got a new chairman in town. Yeah. All right. If, if Matt Brass is watching, he can just stay at home for the rest of the session. Oh, my goodness. Uh, all right. Uh, all joking aside, uh, Chairman Anderson, would you mind, uh, saying, bringing us to prayer please, sir? [0:05:58] Let us pray. Dear Heavenly Father, we once again thank you for another beautiful day you've blessed us with. Dear Lord, we just thank you for a productive week this week. And dear Lord, we just ask you to watch over us as we travel home here in a few minutes. Dear Heavenly Father, just give us the wisdom and knowledge to make the right decisions for the great people of the great state of Georgia. And as always, I ask you to watch over our families as we're away from them. Dear Lord, we always want to say thank you and thank you, thank you for your love and your mercy and your grace. [0:06:30] And thank you for loving us. In your name sake, amen. Amen. [0:06:34] Thank you, Chairman. And h- he did say a few minutes, so we will be a few minutes, and people drive home safely. Uh, Senator Dolezal, on witness one that we just heard- [0:06:44] On witness one. Mr. Chairman, I, I know we've been working hard passing these House bills. What time did the House come in today? We started at 9:00, I know. [0:06:52] I don't know. We'll have to ask each one in, each and every one of the, um- [0:06:55] I suppose if we get done a little early on day 40, it might be because of days like today, Mr. Chairman. [0:06:59] Oh, could be. Could be. It's starting already. Here we go. [0:07:02] Mr., Mr. Chairman, I want to help my suite mate and the friend that got elected with me. I will guarantee you they did not come in at 6:00 AM. [0:07:11] You know, the House members aren't laughing about that, so, uh- ... you know, I get that. Okay. All right, so, uh, we're in, we're gonna be in standing committee to begin with. And, uh, so, uh, we have House Bill 328, LC590427S, and that is being presented by, uh, Senator Still. Are you ready for that? And you can stay there, or you can go up and present at the podium, whichever one you would like. [0:07:44] Uh, I tell you, for a matter of time, why don't you just stay in your seat. Is that okay? [0:07:48] I'll stay right here. [0:07:49] Senator Dolezal? Uh, got it. Okay. [0:07:53] Uh, Mr. Chairman, this, the only thing this changes, uh, out of House Finance is it does remove the sunset on the SSO program. Um- [0:08:00] Ooh. [0:08:01] And we're doing it for the children in rural Georgia- ... that are related to farmers. [0:08:09] And trees. [0:08:11] So the chairman, Greg Dolezal, is removing the sunset, and that's all this bill does. Let's be clear. Uh, gotcha. For the children and the veterans. Is, did you say veterans too? [0:08:23] Uh, that are related to farmers. [0:08:24] Uh, and farmers. [0:08:25] Yes. [0:08:25] I gotcha. Okay. Well, we appreciate that. Thank you so much. Any, uh, further discussion here, uh, with this bill? Well, HB 328, we're in standing committee. And, uh- [0:08:41] Chairman [0:08:41] ... Chairman Hufstetler, y'all, do you just wanna explain that any, any further, your question? [0:08:46] This is the SSO credit. It had gone up from 120 to 225. Um, in addition, the Finance Committee had put a sunset on it, and people said, "This one's different than everything else. It doesn't need a sunset on it." [0:09:01] Okay. Any questions from the committee? [0:09:05] So moved. [0:09:06] Uh, we have a motion, uh, from Senator Ginn. And we are on LC590427S. We have a second from the whip. And, uh, any further discussion? All those in favor, say aye. [0:09:21] Aye. [0:09:22] All those, uh, like sign. Uh, so we have, um... D- I'll tell you what. Why don't we do, why don't we raise our hands? Why don't we do that? All those in favor, raise their hand. One, two, three, four, five, six, looks like seven. And all those against. [0:09:46] Against the children. [0:09:48] One. [0:09:48] Against the children. [0:09:49] One, two, three, four, five. Five. Seven to five. Was that right? [0:09:53] I got it. [0:09:53] Okay, great. Thank you. The motion passes. And, uh, alrighty, so that we are we're gaveling out, uh, of standing committee, and we're gaveling into, uh, the calendar, committee, uh, rules calendar. [0:10:12] Can you hold that right there? [0:10:39] Right. Thank you. Uh, so we're now in, uh, the calendar, rules consideration calendars. Uh, uh, representative, about to say Senator, Earhart. Thank you. Uh, you, uh, if you tell us your bill, and, um- [0:10:53] We bring you [0:10:54] ... the floor is yours. [0:10:55] Yes, thank you, Mr. Chairman and members of the committee. I present, uh, for your consideration HB 181, which is the second bill from the bottom on page one. Uh, this bill removes a costly and duplicative step for Georgia families who seek to acquire a Georgia certificate of foreign birth for a child who they have adopted internationally and who has already completed, uh, the adoption process. The child has received a certificate of US citizenship, uh, been granted admission through the US Citizenship and Immigration Services. [0:11:26] Um, currently under Georgia law, um, we are, these families are required to go through something called a re-adoption process. Uh, it's a dwindling number of states that still require this. [0:11:36] I'm good. [0:11:36] You're good? Okay. Yep, we're good. [0:11:38] Thank you. Any questions from the committee? Uh, no questions. [0:11:43] Okay. [0:11:43] Thank you so much. [0:11:44] Thank you. [0:11:45] We, we appreciate that. And we are at Representative Rice. Thank you. [0:11:51] Thank you, committee members. Um, I bring to you House Bill 1107, that's the third one on page four. And what this is, is the Education Preparation Provider Bill, um, and it's called the Excellent Teacher Preparation Act. And what it does, it's a measure to ensure that our education preparation provider programs in our colleges and universities, um, are, are make- ... or have our teachers ready, classroom ready day one. And it has the support of the chancellor, we work with it collaboratively with the chancellor and with the Professional Standards Commission. [0:12:21] And, um, and so I'll take any questions. And also, Senator Hickman wanted to speak on this one briefly. [0:12:30] Well, I support it. [0:12:31] Oh, you support it. [0:12:32] I- [0:12:32] I gotcha. [0:12:33] Yeah. [0:12:33] Okay. He is in support. [0:12:35] Okay. [0:12:35] We got it. All right. Anybody... Very brief. Anybody else with questions? Thank you so much, Representative Rice. [0:12:42] Thank you. [0:12:43] Appreciate that. Uh, Representative Campbell. [0:12:49] Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Uh, I'm presenting a Flood Disclosure Bill, and it's on the second page, the fifth one from the bottom, HB 618. Uh- [0:12:59] So 618 [0:13:01] ... 618 provides Georgia homebuyers the right to know their flood risk. Currently, Georgia has no statutory or regulatory requirement for a seller to disclose a property's flood, flood risk or past flood damages to a potential buyer. Georgia law provides flood disclosure for renters. This bill would provide the same right to homebuyers. This, this bill puts the, the buyer and the renter on several, se- on the s- level playing field. [0:13:31] Good, good bill. Thank you. [0:13:33] Thank you. [0:13:33] Any, any questions? Uh, All righty. Thank you so much. [0:13:37] Thank you. [0:13:38] Appreciate that. Uh, Representative Townsend from the coast. All right. [0:13:43] Thank you, uh, Chairman. Thank you, Committee. Uh, House Bill 971, page three, third way down. This is a bill that, uh, benefits college and career academies, benefits kids, allows home school kids or private schools kids to attend a career academy in an adjoining county or recent district. And the school system gets to keep the FTE for it, and it's an opt-in only situation. I was actually asked by the school system to do this, this, this bill this year. So, uh, we already have it. Where it happens, you can do it within the county, and, uh, it's been successful in many parts of Georgia, so appreciate any support and, and supporting our kids in the college and career academies. [0:14:21] Mm-hmm. [0:14:22] I'll take any questions. [0:14:24] Uh, looks like there are no questions. And is that the only bill you have? [0:14:28] Uh, yes. Yes, sir. I've got one in committee. Hopefully we'll get it next week. [0:14:32] Oh, yeah. We will. We will. Thanks for the reminder. Uh, Representative O'Steen. [0:14:37] Thank you. [0:14:37] Thank you. [0:14:40] Thank you so much, Mr. Chairman. I have House Bill 1191. It adds the Navy Core Medal, Marine Corps Medal, Airman's Medal... Sorry, let me tell you. It's page four, fourth from the bottom. I'm so sorry. I'll pick up. Airman's Medal, Coast Guard Medal, Combat Infantry Badge, and a list for them to be able to get a special vehicle license plate. [0:15:06] All right, uh, no questions. Thank you so much. [0:15:09] Thank you. [0:15:09] Appreciate that. All right, Representative Huddleston. Thank you. [0:15:15] Thank you, Mr. Chair. Thank you for the committee allowing me to come back for you again today. Uh, HB 874 is on page two, two up from the bottom. This is known as the, uh, Georgia Taxpayers Privacy Protection Act. This bill would, uh, prohibit the disclosure of taxpayer's telephone numbers when property tax records are sold, transferred, or shared to third parties. [0:15:34] That was very efficient. Much appreciated. No questions. Thank you so much. [0:15:37] Thank y'all. [0:15:39] All right. Uh, Representative Donatucci. All right. [0:15:44] Chairman, Committee, I pre- appreciate your consideration for the following, HB, uh, 1030, that is on the third page in the, about the middle. Um, this is for, uh, one hour of reading for fourth and fifth graders, uh, and then an automatic enrollment for a distinguished learner from sixth grade through tenth grade. If they are proficient math learners, then it would be discussed at a local level. And GACE will begin teaching this to our college teachers in 2028. [0:16:14] Thank you. Uh, and, uh, very good bill. Committee, this is a very, very good bill, and, uh, that, you know, it has been said to happen before. Thank you. Any... No questions. [0:16:27] I do have one more. [0:16:28] You have one more? [0:16:29] Yes. [0:16:29] Okay. [0:16:29] It's on page four, um, about the middle. Again, it is HB 1118. Um, this is for, uh, state and teachers, employees that have maternal birth leave. This is maternal birth leave. This is three weeks immediately following the birth of the child. It must be taken all at once, and anything that's left over cannot be used for funds. [0:16:53] Any questions, committee? No. Thank you, Representative. [0:16:56] Thank you. [0:16:57] Appreciate that. Representative Bonner. [0:17:00] Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I've got three good veteran bills to present. The first two are on page three. House Bill 979 is a request from the Pentagon's Office of Family Policy. Provides a framework for the, our federal military installations to cede jurisdiction to the state, uh, in juvenile cases. The second is sen- uh, House Bill 985, that's a request from the Department of Veteran Services. This clarifies eligibility and expands eligibility in our veteran cemeteries. And then the third one is on page four. [0:17:31] It's House Bill 1087. It establishes that if a disabled veteran makes improvements to their home to accommodate their disability, they do not pay permit fees. [0:17:43] No questions from the committee. Thank you, Representative Bonner. [0:17:47] Thank you. [0:17:47] Chair Lady Dempsey. [0:17:51] Afternoon. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Um, the top of page five, HB1238, this measure came to us from the Department of Community Health, uh, at a health study committee on abandoned child placement following hospital discharge. It is to help them get a Medicaid waiver, which they are already pursuing, to involve these wraparound services, keep families together, and help take appropriate care of these individuals. [0:18:19] That is a good bill. Thank you, Representative- [0:18:22] Thank you [0:18:22] ... Representative, Chair Lady Dempsey. Representative Richardson. How long have you been here, Representative? [0:18:31] Um, this is my second year. [0:18:33] Second year. [0:18:34] Yes, sir. [0:18:35] All right. [0:18:36] So this- [0:18:37] And, and where are you from now? [0:18:38] I'm from Evans, Georgia. [0:18:40] Evans, Georgia. And your senator is? [0:18:42] Uh, Senator Lee Anderson. [0:18:44] Lee Anderson. [0:18:45] Yes. [0:18:45] Yeah. [0:18:45] Thank you, thank you, thank you. [0:18:46] Thank you. Okay. [0:18:48] Page- [0:18:48] All right. All right. [0:18:50] Mr. Chairman, I'm on, uh, page two, the fourth one down. [0:18:54] Page two, fourth one down. [0:18:56] Thank you, Mr. Chairman and committee, I come to you with HB439 LC474254S. This bill auth- authorize the establishment of a local homeowner's incentive adjustment grant fund by cities and counties after approval by a local voter referendum. [0:19:15] It sound like a good bill. Thank you so much. Any questions? Doc Rhett, you are s- you're on number- [0:19:21] 439. [0:19:22] 439. Yes, sir. [0:19:23] Oh. Oh, that was not... That was the question. [0:19:25] 439. [0:19:25] What bill was this? I got you. Okay. Okay. All righty. Uh, doesn't look like any questions. Thank you so much. Y- any other bills? [0:19:33] That's it. [0:19:34] That's it. [0:19:34] Thank you, sir. [0:19:34] Thank you so much. [0:19:35] Appreciate it. [0:19:37] Representative Camp, come on up. [0:19:41] Thank you so much, Mr. Chairman. I'm on page three, HB948. This bill, um, is a great bill for a number of reasons, but primarily because it's a transparency bill. It's a disclosure bill. If someone's getting foreclosed, they will know that if there are excess funds, how to regain those funds in the event that excess funds exist. [0:20:03] I see. Thank you. E- did you have another bill? [0:20:07] I do. Actually, it is on page five, and it's HB1409. This bill passed out of public safety. It is a bill that modernizes and provides a level of transparency that does not exist currently with our mandated reporting system. It, um, timestamps, there's a lot of continuity, and, um, it- it's a- it's a great mandated reporting bill. [0:20:31] Thank you. [0:20:32] Thank you so much. [0:20:33] Okay. Any questions? No questions. That's it. Thank you. [0:20:36] Thank you, Mr. Chairman. [0:20:37] All right. Uh, Representative Jenkins. [0:20:40] Yes, sir. Uh, I come before you to present two bills. Uh, the first one is on the top of page two, House Bill 413. Uh, this is titled Agriculture Relating to Sawmills, but it no longer does that. We stripped this bill and used it for another purpose. Uh, this bill now relates to transfer on death deeds. Uh, transfer on death deeds were brought into Georgia law at the end of the last biennial. We've taken them for a two-year test run. It's been a amazing consumer-friendly, uh, f- uh, program. [0:21:11] However, there has been some issues that have come up with re- recording, uh, deeds and some language that needed to be cleaned up in it, so that's what this seeks to do. It doesn't fundamentally seek to change it, but it just corrects problems that we have identified in that law. And, uh, it's a- it's very important legislation, which is why we decided to use this- this bill here to do it. [0:21:32] Thank you so much. Did y- did you say you had two? [0:21:34] I do. My second bill is towards the bottom of page five. That's 1434. This bill relates to airports. Above all of Georgia's general aviation airports is protected airspace by, protected by 14 CFR Part 77. That's a federal regulation. And this airspace contains the air routes flowing into and out of the airport. Uh, Georgia doesn't have a g- a good, uh, policy in place to protect that airspace. Uh, 47 out of 50 states have introduced legislation like this in all states a- adjoining Georgia. [0:22:07] Over 100 of Georgia's general aviation airports have come forward in asking for this. And essentially what this does is it creates a procedure for local governments to create zoning and regulations to protect that airspace and directs GDOT to help them do it in case they have need expertise to do that. [0:22:22] All right. Any questions? No questions. Thank you, Representative. [0:22:26] Thank you. [0:22:27] Representative Panitch. [0:22:28] Good afternoon. [0:22:29] Good afternoon. [0:22:31] If my bill was on the list, it would be in the middle of page five. [0:22:37] It's, it's not on the list. [0:22:39] No, not on the list. Okay. All righty. You know, just a brief, brief description. [0:22:43] Sure. It's Bill Eight- House Bill 1283. It's the Family Justice Center Act. It would provide, um, locations and structure for cities, munici- mu- municipalities, agencies that wanna put domestic violence, child abuse, sexual abuse, uh, resources all in one place. [0:23:03] Great. Thank you. Any questions? I have one question. Got one question. Representative, Senator Gooch. Representative, true you learned a little Appalachian in a recent trip you took last fall? [0:23:14] I did. [0:23:14] Could you tell us how's your mom and 'em? [0:23:18] How would, how would you answer that- [0:23:20] Good [0:23:20] ... if somebody says, "How's your mom and 'em?" [0:23:21] How's your mom and... I'm the one that usually asks that, "How's your mom and them?" Fine. [0:23:25] Then, then the answer would say, "All right." [0:23:27] A'ight. [0:23:27] Okay. [0:23:28] That's right. [0:23:28] All right, you pass. Thank you. [0:23:29] I have one though. Gee, it? [0:23:31] Oh, yeah. You want to? [0:23:33] Mine? Here. [0:23:35] Okay. For those of us who have a four-hour drive, I really appreciate that. Thank you so much. You can think about that on your way back to Savannah, Mr. Chairman. I will. [0:23:43] That's right. [0:23:44] Yeah, I'll probably dream about it tonight. Try it, try it, Mr.- A nightmare ... try it, Dr. Watson. Okay. You want to, Dr. Watson? Say, "How's your mom and 'em?" Oh, Representative New. How we doing? Okay. Thank you. We appreciate that. [0:23:55] Thank you, Senator, members. Uh, fourth page, sixth from the bottom, HB1134. It updates Georgia code to industry standards for repossessors of motor vehicles. It does three things: updates the rules for notification for reclaiming personal property, provides guidelines for determining the completion of a repossession, and allows for rebuttable presumption, and that is the bill [0:24:19] All right. Any questions? Thank you, Representative New- is that your only bill there? [0:24:24] Yes, sir. [0:24:25] Great. Thanks so much. [0:24:26] Thank you. [0:24:26] Appreciate it. All righty, we're good. All right. Representative Matt Reeves. [0:24:31] Thank you, Chairman Watson- [0:24:32] Yes, sir [0:24:32] ... members of the Rules Committee. I'm here to request, uh, House Bill 1020. This is the District Attorney Pay and Retirement Bill. I've worked with Senator Rick Williams, District Attorney Barksdale, Chairman Brass, his district attorney Cranford on this. It models the Judge Pay Bill that was enacted last year. [0:24:49] Another very good bill. Very good bill. We really appreciate that, uh, Representative Reeves. Any others? Is that it? [0:24:57] One more. [0:24:58] One more. [0:24:58] One more. Uh, House Bill 1254, this is a good professional licensing bill that's the product of the joint, uh, Blue Ribbon Professional Licensing Study Committee. House Bill 1254, we discussed at length in regulating in, industries, and I'm back on the second time- [0:25:12] Thank you so much [0:25:13] ... respectfully. And- [0:25:14] Any questions? No questions. [0:25:16] If I could ask Senator Gooch if he's heard, uh, what's the 11th Commandment of your way? Don't let them catch you. [0:25:23] 10. [0:25:23] Don't let them catch you. [0:25:24] Oh, okay. [0:25:26] I thought you were talking about Reaganism. [0:25:30] Yeah, I did too. Actually, I... Thank you. Thank you, uh, Representative Reeves. Appreciate that. The happiest guy at the Capitol. There we go. Thank you, Mr. Rules Chairman. You looked a little different the last time I saw you. Thank you. I guess. I don't know. Well, different Rules Chairman. Yeah. It's not... [0:25:50] Who's the- I was referring to the other Rules Chairman, but yeah. Oh. Yeah. Okay. Gotcha. All right. Okay. Never mind. I'll stick to the North Georgia. There. There we go. Um, thank you. House Bill 1009, midpage, page three, going cellphone-free in our classrooms. That's it. That's it. That's simple. That's straight. Simple. This is- 1009 ... 9 through 12. A popular bill. 1009. What was that number again, now? [0:26:15] 1009. [0:26:16] 1009. 1009. And that's, that's a very- 6-7 ... special bill, too. We really appreciate. Very- Thank you ... very good bill. Good bill. Yep. Very good. That's a... That is a... Is anybody against that now? Because, I mean, it used to be everybody was against it, now nobody's against it, right? No. Yeah. Yeah. They're not voters yet. Uh, we're talking about voters here. Is that right? Yeah. Okay. Thank you so much. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Yeah. Appreciate that. All right. Um, [0:26:44] Mr. Robert Leverett, Representative, thank you so much- [0:26:48] Mr. Chairman [0:26:49] ... for being here. [0:26:49] Thank- [0:26:50] Thank you for your help, and you are... It is, the floor is yours. [0:26:54] Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Um, appreciate the, the committee's, uh, solicitude of my initiatives this year. I have one more. House Bill 530, about the middle of the second page, would allow for electronic filing in probate courts, try to bring our probate courts into the modern era. [0:27:09] All right. Thank you. Probate modernization. [0:27:12] There we go. [0:27:13] Yes, sir. [0:27:13] Thank you so much. [0:27:14] Any questions? [0:27:14] Any questions? [0:27:15] All righty. They got a lot of discussion. I think they're discussing your bill down there. [0:27:19] Okay. [0:27:19] I think that's what it is. [0:27:20] I'm sure they are. [0:27:20] Uh, got it. Thank you. [0:27:22] I thank you. [0:27:23] Thank you, Representative Leverett. Uh, Representative Thomas. [0:27:26] Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I have two bills here. Um, one is House Bill 147. It's on the first page. Does two things. It, it, uh, limits government, uh, Georgia governmental entities from entering into software licensing contracts that restrict where the software can be installed or run. It's, uh, also known as targeting hardware lock-in clauses. Um, and then also has audits for AI systems that are involved in decision-making processes in state government. So that's 147. [0:27:56] And then the other one is HB668 on the second page, and it, it modernizes state law governing service dogs, and it does it by standardizing us to the US, uh, code. Uh- [0:28:09] All right. Thank you. Any questions? There we go. No questions. [0:28:12] All right. [0:28:12] Thank you so much. [0:28:12] Thank you very much. [0:28:13] Appreciate that. Representative Sebaugh. Thank you. [0:28:19] Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I've lost my voice, so if you find it, p- please send it back to room 109. Um, I bring to you House Bill 1128. It's a governor's bill that ensures an injured public safety officer and their legal guardian is made aware of their eligibility for workers' compensation indemnity benefits. [0:28:38] And what was that number again? [0:28:39] 1128. [0:28:40] 1128. All right. No questions. Thank you so much. [0:28:46] All right. And I presented them before, but I've still got, uh, for- uh, HB1415 and HB549 for your consideration. [0:28:56] Oh. 1415 and 549. Okay. Yes, sir. Thank you. [0:29:02] Thank you. [0:29:02] Any questions on those bills from the committee? No questions. That's a good sign. [0:29:07] All right. Thank you. [0:29:08] Maybe. I don't know. So Representative McNeel. Uh... [0:29:15] Thank you, Mr. Vice Chair. Uh, so I am not on the list, but I was told to come. I'm not on your li- yellow sheet. [0:29:23] All right. [0:29:23] And my bill is 283, House Bill 283. [0:29:26] Okay. [0:29:28] Um, thank you to this body once again. We've been here before. This bill's been here before. I present to you House Bill 283, the Traffic Signature Bill. All this bill does is codifies into law the ability for law enforcement to write "refuse to sign" on the tickets in instances where they encounter a citizen who does not agree with the charge, and allows officers to take the safer route if they feel it would be necessary to make them feel safe and get home at the end of the night. Also, in this bill that was added in the Senate was a, um, a one line to change the date of the bill, uh, to change the date of, of 2027 to 2032 for the implementation of electronic license readers. [0:30:12] Um, that was an addition, um, that was made by the Senate in reference to law enforcement who needed more time to implement electronic license readers. That's the other part of the bill that was added. [0:30:22] And when did that get out of committee? [0:30:26] Either yesterday or the day before yesterday. [0:30:27] So- [0:30:28] Two days. I think two days ago [0:30:29] ... just, and you know, listen, I was in the House, it's different. Y'all read bills, you know, first and second before it's assigned. [0:30:34] Yes. [0:30:34] And we read bills, uh, second and third after they're assigned. [0:30:38] Yes. [0:30:38] So it's, it's to be read again today, and then read next day, and then it's eligible. So we're good. [0:30:43] Like I said, the only reason I'm here- [0:30:44] Thank you for that [0:30:44] ... is because I was asked to come today. [0:30:46] Uh, you're, we appreciate you coming. [0:30:48] Okay. Cool, cool. [0:30:48] Thanks so much. [0:30:48] Thank you so much. All right. [0:30:50] Representative Monahan. [0:30:55] Good afternoon. [0:30:57] Good afternoon. [0:30:57] Members, chairman, members, uh, on the front page of one about five down, it's House Bill 141. Uh, this bill is a very simple bill. It provides a transparency, but also privacy, uh, for our small business community. Uh, if you are a business that is in a municipality that uses gross receipts, uh, then you would be able to use a CPA to send th- those numbers so that the city will not have access to your financials and to your books. [0:31:30] A pretty good summation there. Stand for questions. [0:31:33] Any questions at all? Uh, Representative Robertson is in number two. Thank you. [0:31:40] This bill doesn't sound familiar. Didn't you have another bill that dealt with SNAP benefits or something like that? [0:31:45] I did, and it unfortunately hasn't been, uh, hasn't been heard. [0:31:48] What is that bill number? Do you recall? [0:31:49] That's House Bill 947. [0:31:51] 947? Thank you. [0:31:52] Great bill. Great bill. [0:31:53] Where, where, uh, what, what committee was that in? [0:31:55] That is in the Senate Agriculture Committee. [0:31:57] 947? [0:31:58] 947. [0:31:58] Thank you. [0:31:58] Yes, sir. Thank you. [0:32:00] Thank you. All righty. Um, thank you. I think no more questions. You had just that one bill. [0:32:05] Yes, sir. Thank you. [0:32:06] Okay. Gotcha. Okay. Uh, no other House members. Uh, Chairman Hickman, you got a bill or two? [0:32:19] Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Um, the three bills that I've, that, these are House bills, but I'd like to reiterate them. It's, um, House Bill 1107, which is one for, uh, Representative Rose a few minutes ago. Th- this bill basically wants us to put everybody on notice if a te- if a- [0:32:35] All right [0:32:35] ... parent wants to teach- [0:32:36] 1107. We've already discussed that one. What else you got? [0:32:38] Okay. Didn't know. Well, then House Bill 1164 is the Dublin City School Bill, and I think the pro tem- pro tem is very interested in that. [0:32:45] 1164. [0:32:47] Yes, 1164. [0:32:48] Gotcha. [0:32:48] And then, um, House Bill 1284 is a, it's another great education bill which awards a high school diploma- [0:32:54] All right [0:32:55] ... to a high school student who's at the end of their life. [0:32:57] We appreciate you- [0:32:58] Thank you [0:32:58] ... substituting for those representatives. Thank you. [0:33:01] Thank you, sir. [0:33:01] No questions? Appreciate it. [0:33:02] Thank you, sir. [0:33:04] Uh, governor's floor leader. [0:33:08] Mr. Repres- senator. Goodness gracious, getting my senators mixed up here. Hatchett. There we go. He's the man. [0:33:14] Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I've got two Senate resolutions. Senate Resolution 610 dealing with recycling. Senate Resolution 927, which would study PBMs. And then I have, um, also would like- [0:33:28] Wait, wait, hold on just a second. Where is that now? [0:33:31] SR 927. It's the top, first two on the list. [0:33:34] Oh, okay. I gotcha. I'm sorry. Yes. Okay. 927, and the other one's yours too, 610, right? SR. [0:33:39] Yes, sir. And then I'm also asking for House Bill 154. Um- [0:33:45] Ooh. Ooh, a very good bill. Hmm. [0:33:48] House Bill 154 would extend the sunset an hour every day throughout the year in the State of Georgia. Would go around congressional authority and allow us to do what we've been wanting to do for years. We're just waiting on Congress, but now we figured a way around them, Mr. Chairman. [0:34:05] Mm. [0:34:05] Really like your, uh, support on this one. [0:34:08] All right. Any questions on that? Uh, all right. Yeah, that's HB 154. The majority leader. [0:34:18] Mr., uh, Mr. Floor Leader, can you just give us, like, a 20-second synopsis of how you're gonna go around federal authority? [0:34:27] That's a good question. [0:34:27] It's not actually going around federal authority. What it is, is it's going around Congress. Um, we have already passed a law in the State of Georgia, it was signed by the governor, that states that if the f- uh, if Congress ever allows us to go to daylight savings time year-round, then we automatically will. Right now, Congress only allows us to be in standard time year-round. You cannot go to daylight time year-round. What this bill would do, would petition the US Department of Transportation to allow the state of Georgia to leave the Eastern Time Zone and move into what's called the Atlantic Time Zone, which is one time zone to our east. [0:35:06] You may not realize it, but right now we're in Eastern daylight time, which is also Atlantic Standard Time. So what we would do is we would observe the time we're in right now- [0:35:14] All right. Thank you [0:35:15] ... year-round. [0:35:20] Right. So the governor requests from the federal DOT- [0:35:24] Yeah, baby [0:35:24] ... to put us on Atlantic Standard Time. Any other questions? [0:35:26] So, Mr. Chairman- [0:35:27] Yes, uh, wait, so just- [0:35:30] Follow-up question. So do you invoke DOT? Could, do you have any solutions to how we could get, um, DHS and TCA lines open at Hartsfield Jackson Airport? I mean, any suggestions there? [0:35:42] No, but Brandon Beach was here earlier. [0:35:44] Yeah, but he- [0:35:44] And you may wanna consult with him. [0:35:46] Yeah, he's at Treasury. That doesn't help us. Yeah, let's, let's call the senators on that one. [0:35:50] No coin though. [0:35:51] All right. So, uh- [0:35:52] Thank you, Chairman [0:35:53] ... uh- [0:35:54] Chairman Hufstetler [0:35:56] Would, um, Atlantic Time be the same time as Puerto Rico time? [0:36:00] It would. It would. [0:36:02] Hmm. [0:36:03] I think it would be. [0:36:03] Four times a week. [0:36:05] Senator Ginn. [0:36:07] Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I am, I, I am just a little bit confused, and this is, y- you said east of where we are. [0:36:14] East Coast. [0:36:16] The, uh- [0:36:17] Puerto Rico, Eastern- [0:36:18] And- [0:36:18] ... Canada [0:36:19] ... and so f- maybe I'm, I'm missing, but if we went daylight savings time, if we went to Alabama time, we'd be daylight savings time year-round. Would we not? [0:36:28] No, Alabama is behind us in time and a lot of other stuff. [0:36:31] In bed all the time. [0:36:32] But they're an hour behind us- [0:36:33] They're about 20 years behind us [0:36:34] ... so we're trying to go an hour ahead. [0:36:36] Yeah. All right. Any other questions? I have a question from the farmer contingency. [0:36:43] Tom Kellow. [0:36:44] Yeah, that's right. [0:36:45] Uh, Senator, isn't it true that my representative has not told me anything about this bill? [0:36:55] I'm not sure, to be honest. But this is not what the original bill did. [0:37:00] I know it isn't. I know it isn't. [0:37:01] All righty. We're good. We're good. [0:37:02] We're gon- we're gon get it done, though. [0:37:04] All right. Any other questions? No other questions? [0:37:08] Thank you, Chairman. [0:37:09] Thank you, floor leader. We appreciate that. And Chairman Harbin, you have some discussion or bills or- [0:37:17] Speaking for a member of the House. [0:37:18] That's... There, oh, yeah. [0:37:20] Page three. [0:37:20] Speaking for the House members. We're good. [0:37:22] Page three, fifth from the bottom up is HB1024. This bill increases the homestead exemption in a bankruptcy case. Bankruptcy law is governed by federal law, but in some states, including Georgia, have exemptions governing state law. Our current exemption is at $21,000 for an individual, $43,000 for a couple, and has not been updated in 11 years. Texas and Florida are unlimited. We wanna raise it to $50,000 for an individual and $100,000 for a joint homestead. [0:37:55] Thank you. [0:37:55] Okay. [0:37:57] Uh, all righty. So nobody else, anybody else want to speak? We're all good. So we're going to go through the bills. All right. W- you got... Do you have a question? Yes, sir. [0:38:08] I have House Bill 944. [0:38:10] Hold on. Got you. Is that on 12? [0:38:13] Uh, 12. Yes, sir. [0:38:15] Okay. All right. [0:38:15] Uh, Representative McDonald asked me to let you know about House Bill 944. [0:38:21] Oh, he did. [0:38:21] This is a department bill. It's on- [0:38:26] Two [0:38:26] ... page two. Bottom of page two. This is for the, uh, Georgia motor carriers, commercial motor carriers. It's just changing the date- [0:38:38] We got you [0:38:38] ... from 2025 to 2026. [0:38:40] We got you. We got you. Changes the date. [0:38:42] That's it. [0:38:42] But it is a department bill. Yes, it's a very, very good bill. [0:38:47] We have a question. [0:38:47] Yeah, have we got a question on, on here for- [0:38:49] Senator Williams, the question I have, Representative McDonald, what, what's his occupation? [0:38:56] Uh, he's, uh, he's a s- [0:38:59] Thanks [0:39:00] ... he's a Southern planter. [0:39:06] Thank you. [0:39:06] He's a, he's a farmer. [0:39:07] Good answer. [0:39:08] Uh, good an- Yeah. Okay. Yeah. That's a g- that was a great answer. We appreciate that. All right. Uh, let's go from... Let's make sure we got everything covered. HB77, uh, anybody covering that one? It's being covered by- Someone's got that one. We're not here. We've done that one before. Oh, yeah. That is the funeral h- Funeral home. Oh, yeah. Yeah. That's right. Yeah, definitely. Move on. Uh, uh, HB79, uh, safe handling Anavitarte. [0:39:40] Uh, think you're carrying that one. That's, uh, Newton's, the tax credit. And then going down to HB163. [0:39:48] No food. [0:39:49] Uh- Lab meat ... that was Representative Ridley. What was that? Lab meat. [0:39:54] Fake food. [0:39:55] Oh, yeah. That is cultured meat. That's right. Mm-hmm. Yeah. There we go. Almost like those fake shrimp there, wasn't it? So- [0:40:02] I guess these House bills are done [0:40:03] ... got you. Uh, HB232, the, that was a compact, interstate compact there. Okay. And 421, uh, that was a sexual predator act. That's closing a loophole with, uh, Representative Taylor. HB438, uh, Representative Crow, retirement system, and we've covered that. Uh, we've got 439 already. S- [0:40:29] Very good [0:40:30] ... Richardson. And 519, uh, another... Uh, Chairman Hickman, did you cover that for Mr. Esteves? [0:40:40] We covered that one, yeah. [0:40:41] HB519, we're good. [0:40:43] We're done with that one. [0:40:44] 530. [0:40:44] Yes, sir. [0:40:45] Uh, we've done the pleadings there. Leverett there, we've done that. The House Bill 717, uh, we did not do that. That is the ketamine. This is, uh, Chair Lady Cooper's bill. I'm actually carrying that one. That's, uh, obviously a very, very good bill too. Mm-hmm. As if anybody knows, that's, uh, uh, ketamine clinics. That's tightening those up. And then, um, uh, we've done all those. Let's see. [0:41:15] Uh, uh, HB964, uh, Chairman Albers has done that one, right? Okay. And, uh, 1070, uh, uh, Chairman Hickman did that, has done that. And 1077, uh, Senator Hickman has done that one too. All right. That's good. So we're, uh, pretty much covered. House Bill 1096. Um, Chairman Hufstetler, you want to just, uh, update us on that one? [0:41:47] 'Cause that's a really good bill too. [0:41:50] That's a- [0:41:51] Yeah, that's just a department bill that updates who, um, qualifies for retirement. There's been some switching around of health department peoples between county and state employees. [0:42:03] Okay. Uh, so and then we got, uh, hmm... Do we need to talk about 1112 again, uh, Chairman Hufstetler? We've talked about that one before. [0:42:14] That's the, yeah, that's the, the Penny bill. [0:42:16] Okay. And 1133, we've talked about that one. And, uh, 1202. That was Chairman Albers. Anything, update there? Yeah. No, that's the Scribner's Era. Yeah. That's right. Mm-hmm. Scribner's Era, 1208. Um, okay. [0:42:40] Chairman Hatchett or floor leader Hatchett, anything to add to that? We have done that one more than once. [0:42:47] Nothing to add. [0:42:49] What was that? [0:42:50] That was, uh, 1208. [0:42:52] Nothing to add. [0:42:53] Nothing to add. Thank you. All righty. And then [0:42:59] 1266, that was the Ogeechee River. [0:43:06] With conscious sedation, that's 1278. That's actually, uh, uh, Chairman Hufstetler I think is carrying that. But, uh, that came out of HHS. That was having to do with conscious sedation in the dentist office. Uh, GD, uh- [0:43:18] No. [0:43:18] Uh, dental associations all, uh, has worked with us on that one. Uh, compact 1295. Uh, 1328 is the military scholarships, so we're good. Uh, and last one, House Resolution 1416. Uh, that was a joint study committee, and that's a really good bill, too. So okay. Uh- [0:43:40] Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman. [0:43:40] Yes, sir. [0:43:41] Did we do 1230? [0:43:45] 1230. [0:43:45] Skipped it. Bottom of the fourth. [0:43:47] Yeah. [0:43:52] Oh, that's the, uh... You know what? I think I did skip that one then. [0:43:55] Excuse me. [0:43:55] House Bill 1230, that was, uh, aviation. That was, uh- [0:43:59] Topography. [0:44:01] Drones. Right. Gotcha. [0:44:02] Prisons and jails. [0:44:03] Drones over prisons, that's right. [0:44:05] Yeah. [0:44:05] Places of incarceration. Okay. Hang on here just a second. [0:44:20] The brass is away. [0:44:22] Skips in . [0:44:23] Taking over. [0:44:25] Suspicious. [0:44:26] The brass is away. [0:44:27] Brass is away. [0:44:29] Fully, right. [0:44:34] Somebody call the second four. [0:44:37] That's all. [0:44:39] All right, so we just, uh, we're gonna do, finish the calendar, then we'll go back to standing just for a couple minutes. [0:44:45] Take a little stand. [0:44:47] This one we refer to standing. This one he needs to- [0:44:50] Yes. [0:44:50] Oh, we won't need to. I will do that at the end. All right. There we go. [0:44:53] Thank you, Mr. Chairman. [0:44:54] All right. [0:44:55] No problem. [0:44:55] No problem. We got you. All right. Let's pick some bills. I think we left off going back to the top of the order here. Uh, and [0:45:08] President Pro Tem Walker, it is you. [0:45:14] Thank you, Chairman. I've got so many good bills I'd love to pick. But, um, one that's real important to my district in particular, I'm gonna pick Senate Bill, I mean, House Bill 1164. It's on page four. House Bill 1164 gives some accountability and transparency to our local school boards. Financial accountability. [0:45:47] You got it. Okay. All right. Thank you. All right. Um, [0:45:55] Majority Leader Anavitarte, what you got? [0:45:59] I would like to ask for number 79. [0:46:04] Number 79. [0:46:05] House Bill 79. Okay. [0:46:08] RS Kaplan. [0:46:10] 1164. [0:46:12] We do have some ringers, and I've been giving some broad hints. Very broad hints. [0:46:18] We can give you some more. [0:46:19] All right. Minority Leader. [0:46:22] Yes, sir. Here. On page three, HB1077. [0:46:29] 1077. [0:46:33] Page three. Okay. All righty. So, oh, you know, my name's next. So, you know- [0:46:41] Oh, yeah [0:46:41] ... I think I'm going to defer for a few minutes on that one, okay? Uh, the Dean of the Senate. [0:46:48] Thank, thank you, Mr. Chairman. [0:46:49] Yes, sir. [0:46:50] I'll take House Bill 979. [0:46:56] 979. Okay. And Chairman Cowsert was excused. And you, the majority whip, Chairman Robertson, what you got? [0:47:12] Uh, man, decision, decisions. I will do 1024. [0:47:23] All righty. So I think it's time to go back to, uh, to my pick. And, uh, we're gonna add some that we've got to add. [0:47:31] Secretary's been happy with that. [0:47:32] And I'm gonna go in reverse order. Uh, so we've got to do H.R. 1416. That's page five. 1416. House Bill 1096. Okay, I'm gonna see if we're 1060. Oh, there it is. [0:47:52] The blueberry man. [0:47:56] House Bill 1085 for the foresters. House Bill 1030. We want the children to learn some math. House Bill 1020. [0:48:12] House Bill 1009. [0:48:21] And House Bill 944. That is that single day change, another department bill. House Bill 717. [0:48:32] And last but not least- [0:48:38] I ha- I feel very sure that Delta would have no problem getting the planes landed, because the time is not different. Uh, the time for the, for the air, for the sun is not different- ... but the, but the number may be a little different. I think they can handle numbers pretty well. [0:48:53] Mm. [0:48:54] If not, then goodness gracious, they do have some problems, don't they? Okay. House Bill 154. [0:49:00] Oh. Yee-haw. [0:49:05] Well, [0:49:05] All right. So let's make sure we got the, uh, got the bills. Um, so... [0:49:23] 12? [0:49:26] 15. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10. I must have missed a couple. [0:49:47] You know what? It is that we have one more pick to do. [0:49:50] Mm. [0:49:51] We have one more pick. And, uh, you know, my suite mate has been really good to me. We're gonna let, uh, Chairman Anderson pick. [0:50:03] Wow. [0:50:04] Gonna be the last pick. [0:50:07] It's such an honor. To be the, to be the last pick, Mr. Chairman. Uh, ladies and gentlemen, we're gonna pick a very important bill for a lot of good counties in the great state of Georgia. [0:50:23] There you go, with Columbia. [0:50:26] House Bill 439. 439. [0:50:30] 439? [0:50:31] Yes, sir. [0:50:34] So someone said House Bill 439 is a good bill, and especially for Columbia County. And, uh, Chairman Anderson, uh, will be carrying that for Representative Richardson. And, um, there we go. Let's go through all of them here. Let's make sure we got them right. House Bill 79, House Bill 154, House Bill 439, House Bill 717, House Bill 944, House Bill 979, House Bill 1009, House Bill 1020, House Bill 1024, House Bill 1030, House Bill 1077, House Bill 1085, House Bill 1096, House Bill 1164, and House Resolution 1416. [0:51:19] Do I have a motion? [0:51:20] Make a motion. [0:51:21] I'll tell you what, I'd like- [0:51:22] Uh, uh- [0:51:22] I'd like to split the question or make a motion to, on 10, House Bill 1077. [0:51:28] Okay. Well, I think we can do this, and then we c- I want, I wanna adjourn. How about that? And then we can do, we can do that. [0:51:35] We won't, we won't- [0:51:36] It's already been approved. [0:51:38] We picked it. I didn't know we picked it. [0:51:40] 1085? [0:51:41] Well, you said 1077. [0:51:42] You got 1079 picked. [0:51:45] So I wanna... I need to- [0:51:47] Okay. Hang, hang on. Let's just go at ease here for a second. [0:52:15] That was a chairman's pick, so it's gonna be a chairman's priority. I'm taking off, uh, House Bill 1085. [0:52:21] No, 10, 1077. [0:52:23] Did I say that? 1077. [0:52:24] Yeah. [0:52:25] Okay. So House Bill 1077, uh, is off. And, uh, so there we are. So we have a motion on the bills I just called out, minus the 1077. All those, uh... Do I have a second? [0:52:45] Second. [0:52:45] Second. Uh, all those in favor say aye. [0:52:48] Aye. [0:52:48] All those against, like sign. All right. So motion passes. That's great. Unanimous. So we have a couple of motions for, uh... I'll recognize the present pro tem. [0:53:03] Uh, we need to make a slight correction to House Bill 1077, so I'd like to recommit it to Rules- ... Standing Committee. [0:53:14] All right. You have a s- [0:53:15] That's my motion [0:53:15] ... motion. Do I have a second? [0:53:18] Second. [0:53:18] Second. And all those in favor say aye. [0:53:21] Aye. [0:53:22] All those opposed, like sign. Passes unanimously. And, um, [0:53:30] I'd like to make a motion to refer House Bill 1129 back to the Rules Standing Committee. That's by, uh, request from above. So, um, any- [0:53:43] Second. [0:53:43] Do I have a second? Do I have a second? All those in favor say aye. [0:53:48] Aye. [0:53:48] All those opposed, like sign. Uh, the motion passes unanimously. Any further for the good of the order? [0:53:56] We can take them all if we want. [0:53:58] Uh, I think we're good. I think we're good. All righty. Meeting adjourned. [0:54:05] Thank you. Sorry I-