House Motor Vehicles Committee, March 24, 2026 Video: https://vimeo.com/1176569748 (a timestamp t plays at https://vimeo.com/1176569748#t=s) Page: https://georgiacommons.org/meetings/2026-03-24/house-motor-vehicles 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. [0:10:36] But what are we gonna do? You know, we're still gonna have to do something. [0:10:39] Yeah. [0:10:40] They gonna make us work. [0:10:41] Go fishing. [0:10:46] You know what he told me? But it ain't big. It's big, big, big, but I ain't believe it. [0:10:52] I'll send it over. [0:11:00] Okay. [0:11:00] Come on. We got six. [0:11:02] Uh, if y'all can make sure y'all write down the third Monday. [0:11:05] Third Monday. [0:11:07] Always the third Monday. Been there 30 years. [0:11:09] Hey. [0:11:10] Hey. The third Monday, right? [0:11:10] Oh, it's your seat. [0:11:10] Okay. [0:11:10] Hey, good morning. [0:11:11] Good morning. Good morning. [0:11:11] Ten years now? [0:11:11] Yeah. [0:11:11] Oh, no. [0:11:11] And a week before he died, he was still failing him a heart attack. [0:11:16] Hey, if I do, I'm gonna take it. [0:11:25] Functional till the end. That's what [0:11:36] you want to be. We're gonna miss you. Functional. We're gonna miss you. Time is time. [0:11:39] Oh. [0:11:41] Watch that. [0:11:46] It took me three years to get him old to be here. [0:11:56] That's... [0:11:57] We, we do have a sign-up sheet if anybody would like to s- s- s- speak to the measure we have before us this morning, but, uh, i- if not, I don't think I'm gonna keep you very long. [0:12:14] One minute. [0:12:19] I got 10 o'clock. [0:12:20] Yeah. She talks a little fast. [0:12:25] Yeah. [0:12:26] Shake it up with some water. [0:12:29] All right, it is now officially 10:00 o'clock. I'm gonna call this meeting to order. Uh, uh, we've got one bill on the agenda this morning, SB 76, but, uh, to start with, I'm gonna ask, uh, Chairman Vance Smith of Hill to open in prayer for us, 22. [0:12:43] All right. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Lord, thank you for all the blessings you've given us. We ask that you be with us as, as we make decisions for the citizens of the state of Georgia. Be with our families, take care of them, keep them safe till we can get back home, and keep us safe when we travel. Lead, guide, and direct us, Lord, in everything we do. In Jesus' name, amen. [0:13:05] Thank you for that. And actually, we do have one, one bill on the, the, uh, agenda today, and that's SB 76. I'm gonna ask, uh, Representative McCollum if he could come to the, to the table. And, uh, I think we've, we've seen pretty much everything in this bill, uh, that, that you have except the last section. And I think Chairman Rhodes has that, and we'll get him to come up and, and talk about that at, at the, when we get to that point. [0:13:28] All right. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you, committee. Uh, this is deja vu, so we're back again. Uh, essentially what's changed in this bill is, uh, since I had presented it the first time, is, is to doing away with the sticker on the tag, on the, yeah, on the tag. And what you will not have to do is get a sticker, put it on the, the tag, just like we talked about before. Um, the thing that has changed is, uh, Senator Bo Hatchett has passed a bill, and it's on the governor's desk, to make a five-year sticker. [0:13:59] And, uh, so what we had to do is Jenna had to merge the two so they wouldn't conflict. So what will happen is, is, uh, if we get this bill passed, you will be able to get a five-year sticker. You'll pay $100, and, um, uh, it'll just be a renewal. You won't have, you won't get a sticker. And so that's, that's essentially... You, you can get a one-year sticker, fi- uh, one-year tag, five-year tag, um, and then you just re- renew it, and there'll be no stickers. [0:14:29] It's a $5 million savings to the state. And, uh, that's pretty much on that part. And then the Section 43, uh, what we're doing is we're amending, uh, the law that was changed for off, the side-by-side vehicles. They will have insurance, tag, everything that's already, uh, uh, in place now. Um, it's, uh, essentially a vehicle that just, it has open sides. And what we're doing is, we had some issues with these vehicles. They could only... When, when the bill was passed, um, they could only b- drive on, uh, county roads. [0:15:04] And what happens is if you get on the county road and you have to go down state road a mile to get on another, uh, county road, um, that's essentially illegal. So what, what we did on that is we just changed it so if the speed limit is, um, 60 miles an hour or less, a state road, they can go on those roads. So it, they'll be able to go on county roads and state roads less than 60 miles an hour, and that's essentially that, that piece. It's nothing, um, earth-shattering as far as that goes. [0:15:35] And for that, I'll just stand for questions if anybody has a question. [0:15:38] Uh, uh, we do have a couple questions, but on the, um, doing away with the sticker part, now, there was some questions, uh, last, last week when we had, uh, uh, Representative Hatchett, Bo Hatchett's bill in, in the, in the, uh, House. There was questions about the, uh, the, uh, emissions testing every year, and that's, they still have to get that done on a yearly basis. You- [0:15:58] That, that's correct. So you'll have to go onto, uh, uh, the, essentially a, a web- website, and, um, you'll have to, to go get your emissions every year just the same, and you'll have to reg that when you, every yearly. And then if you don't do that, it'll be flagged on your, on your tag- [0:16:15] Yeah [0:16:15] ... uh, at the, uh, at the, uh, at the, uh, tax assessor's office. [0:16:20] And, and a- and again, and, and I think it's the same far as the, the savings to the Department of Revenue. What, I mean, we, we talked about that last time at a meeting. What, what was that number? [0:16:28] It's $5 million. Um, and then I, I ... In the prior bill, the dollar had, uh, went away from the, the counties 'cause the dollar is $19 goes to DOT for your $20. So $19 goes to DOT and the dollar goes to the county. We, in this bill, we put the dollar back in. Uh, the prior one we didn't have it in, which would've been $5 million to the state, savings for stickers. And I will also say that just a rough estimate on Senator Hatchett's bill, since we're having to print another sticker, if we don't do this, it'll probably cost the state roughly a million, million dollars more, because now we're gonna have to s- print another, uh, sticker. [0:17:12] So we'll have three stickers, and those three stickers also is gonna put a burden on our, on our locals because now my tax commissioner said that, uh, or tax assessor said that, uh, that they have to store those stickers, but now they're gonna have to store even more stickers, uh, as far as labor goes, so. [0:17:30] And, and, and can you speak to the letter that's in our, that you, that you handed out as well? [0:17:33] Yeah, so the, uh, PBA had, had wrote, wrote a letter, I put it in your folder, and they spoke, uh, in favor of the bill because it's just, uh, now the technology has really outrun the, outrun the stickers. Um, they have all these different ways that they can verify that you have not, uh, uh, paid your, uh, taxes on your vehicle. So- [0:17:56] Yeah. I, I think the letter calls it, it, the, the previous bill number, but they're, they're talking about- [0:18:00] That's correct [0:18:01] ... the bill you're doing- [0:18:01] Yes [0:18:02] ... or what we're doing here, so. [0:18:03] Yeah. [0:18:03] Uh, we do have a couple other questions. We, uh, number 18, uh- [0:18:08] Thank you, Mr. Chairman [0:18:08] ... Representative Alexander. [0:18:10] Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I'm, I'm a little confused. You s- so we at first started out with one year, now you're going to five. Is this an option that if you choose to do one year, you can do one year, you choose to do five, or is it mandatory that it's five? [0:18:24] Right. Thank you for that question. So the five-year piece is, is already, uh, i- it's on the governor's desk. That's, that's done. But essentially what you're asking is, is you can go in and you get a one-year, uh, now, you can go in and get a one-year sticker or a five-year sticker when the governor signs the bill. That bill's totally done. That, that has nothing to do with this. We just merged them together. But yes, to your question, one-year sticker, five-year sticker. This bill actually does away with the sticker. So once you go in and you'll buy one year, you'll pay $20 to renew your tag because you've already paid your TABT tax, or you can buy a five-year, uh, tag, which you will still will, if this bill passes, you will not get a sticker as well. [0:19:09] So you can do a one or five. [0:19:11] Thank you. [0:19:11] $20 or $100. [0:19:13] Thank you. [0:19:15] Number 19, Representative McClain. [0:19:20] Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and, and I guess, uh, I guess my question was on, on line 63, uh, where you say the department provides, uh, notification and communication electronically. Uh, was that the only way that the department's gonna notify to someone that they hadn't paid their insurance or they hadn't paid their emissions or whatever, is gonna be done el- electronically? And I'm just ... Because I'm, I'm not saying that everybody has a computer, everybody has, um, a, a cell phone. [0:19:53] I don't know. I mean, I, I- [0:19:57] That's on the five-year. That's, that's already- [0:19:58] By, by electing the five-year- [0:20:00] Yeah [0:20:00] ... if you read on li- line 68 through 72- [0:20:03] Yeah [0:20:03] ... you're agreeing to do that if you, uh, [0:20:05] Right. I'm just trying to make sure that, that, that electronically, that, that more than, you know, this is the way if he decide to, uh, uh, to do something, I wanted to make sure that they could, they could be notified some other way other than electronically, or are you just saying that is the only way they're gonna be notified? [0:20:23] Well, that, that piece is actually, uh, I mean, uh, it's not in law yet, so, but once the governor, that, that piece is already in place. There's nothing, that has nothing to do with ... We just- [0:20:34] Okay [0:20:34] ... had to take the language from the five-year bill and the no sticker bill- [0:20:37] I mean- [0:20:37] ... and merge them. But that piece is already, uh, essentially in law. [0:20:42] Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. [0:20:43] Number 20, Representative Tyson. [0:20:46] Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm confused. [0:20:48] I'm sorry. [0:20:49] I can imagine that when this goes public, the confusion. [0:20:53] Okay. [0:20:54] So Chairman Hatchett's bill that's on the ... Is it Hatchett? [0:20:59] Um, it's not. It's, uh, Bo Hatchett, Senator Hatchett. [0:21:02] Senator Hatchett's bill- [0:21:03] Yes [0:21:03] ... that's on the governor's desk gives you an option of getting a one-year or a five-year tag. [0:21:09] That's correct. [0:21:11] But it has the sticker. [0:21:12] That's correct. [0:21:13] And your bill does not have a sticker. [0:21:14] So my bill actually compounds on top of his bill. So essentially, uh, now once the governor signs it, you'll be able to get a one-year or a five-year sticker. [0:21:24] Not, not, not the sticker. [0:21:26] Yeah. Well, now. [0:21:27] Now. [0:21:27] It, once his pa- passes, it'll just be the sticker. Now, if we get this bill passed, the sticker will be negated. You will not have to get a sticker any longer if we get this passed. [0:21:38] Okay. So you're canceling out his sticker. [0:21:40] That's correct. That's, all stickers. So now, you know, when you go to the tag office, you go and renew your tag for a year- [0:21:47] Mm-hmm [0:21:47] ... they give you a t- sticker, or you go to kiosk and it prints you a sticker, or they mail you one. You have to go out, you have to go get it, you have to go out to your car, peel it off, and stick it on your car. If you don't put it on the specific location, they can write you a ticket for it. [0:22:03] 如果 you put it on the top left, they can write you a ticket. So now what we're doing is we're just completely doing away with the sticker because technology has completely just outrun it because of cameras and flock cameras, and they can run the tags now. Okay. And then, and I- Mr. Chairman, if I may, you said that the, um, tax assessors and tax commissioners were concerned about having to house stickers. Can you clar- clarify that for me? Well- Because we gotta remove the stickers. So, so now what they have to do is they have to, DOR has to mail them the stickers they have printed, and that's the 5 million savings piece, because they have to get all these stickers printed. [0:22:39] They have to mail them to the tax, uh, each local community, uh, each county, and they have to store those. They have to go get them off in truck and store them in a facility and keep them in place for, for two years, because they're two stickers per year. And now they're gonna have to get another sticker. So the, it's essentially redu- reducing the labor on the locals. So you're, you're saying this is what's happening currently, but- That's correct ... with your bill, we're eliminating that. That's right. Okay. That's what- It'll be better for a, for a local. Okay, so it's a good thing. [0:23:09] Yeah. Okay. That's right. Thank you. Yeah. I appreciate that. We're saving money, better, li- less labor for our locals. Okay. Yeah. That's- More, more efficient government. That's correct. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you. Number 18, Representative Alexander. I'm sorry. The more you talk, the more questions. I know. I, I believe it. Um, I heard, uh, somebody address the emissions. So let's just say a person goes and they're choosing to do the five-year. So- That's already in law. Th- th- that has nothing- Yearly that you, even though you have that five-year- That's correct. [0:23:43] That- ... you still annually go. Yeah. Who is that gonna be reported to? The motor vehicles? Yeah. All that's- I mean- ... already in place. Now, now you have to, if you get a one-year sticker, you go get your emissions, and then you have to take that to the tag office and, and to get your sticker, right? Correct. All right. So the five-year sticker is already in law now, uh, once the governor signs it, so it's on his desk. So now the five-year sticker that's in law and has nothing to do with this bill, you have to go and get your five years tag sticker. [0:24:18] But yearly you're still gonna have to, if you're in the county that you have to get emissions, you yearly still have to go and do your yearly emissions and mail it in, or actually you do it electronically, into the tax, your local tax assessor. The, it, nothing changes. You're just still gonna have to go yearly. If you get a one-year or five years, nothing changes. You have to get your emissions. That, but that's already in place. That has nothing to do with this bill. If that makes sense. Not really, and I'm not sure the citizens- Tell me what you don't understand. I'm sure- I'm not sure if the citizens are gonna understand that, that if they go to the tag office and they're gonna pay for five, would that emissions that is still out there, 'cause they're used to coming back annually with that emission. [0:24:58] Mm-hmm. Well- And now that's gonna, you know, with the, the emissions, so now that's gonna be confusing that, okay, you paid for- Well- ... you actually five. Well, it says, uh, so if you get a five-year sticker, it says in the bill, and, and like I said- What page is that? This is already in law, so th- this is nothing to do with my bill. But it actually says when you sign up electronically, it's, um... What page is it on? Yeah. You see that in bold letters right there on page four? So when you do a five-year sticker, it says buy l- that right there, you have to read that and, and, and sign up for it. [0:25:36] So the, nothing confusing. But, but let me just say this is already in law. This has nothing to do with that. But to your point, you have to read that, sign up for it, and acknowledge that you have to go get your emissions yearly. Did that- I understand. Yeah. Okay. I'm just saying in, in essence, the emissions is only for a few different counties. That's correct. Not really relevant if it's only for 13 counties. [0:26:07] That's the, that's my point I'm trying to make with this is emissions. Well, well, if you're saying to get rid of the, I, I've, uh, this has nothing- I am. If you're saying to get rid of, I'm- I am ... I'm with you. I am. I'm with you. I am. And, and, and that's federal. That's, we, we, we don't control that. But- I am. Yes. Thank you. But, but, but I, I think if you, if you look on page 39, it answers some of the questions, where the, the person, the, the, the company or whoever that's doing the emissions testings, they, they have seven days to, to electronically submit that to the department. Uh, so I think- Page 39 ... uh, 30, 39, um, um, starting on nine, line 966. [0:26:40] And it, but, and it's, you know... [0:26:48] But anyway, they, they have to within seven days, you know, s- send that into the, the department on, on the inspection. Uh, we, we... A few more questions. Number 16. Representative Douglas. Uh, thank you, Mr. Chairman. I was just trying to help the, the author clear this up a little bit, 'cause it seems like everybody, the more he talks, the more everybody gets confused. Right now if you have to get an emissions, correct? I have noticed over the years that sometimes I forget my emissions paper that they give you when you check out, and when I get to the tag office to get my tag, they said, "No, we don't need it. [0:27:23] We already see it in the system." That's correct. So this alleviates one step that we don't have to do, and it saves the counties and the state about $5 million, if I'm not- That's correct ... if I'm correct. Yeah. So you really, we're allevia- alleviating one step, 'cause my daughter's in college, and sometimes she can't get home to get her tag, but if she goes to get her emissions, I can still get the tag. Does that make sense to everybody? Mm-hmm. Okay. So I'm just trying to cl- he- help the author. Thank you. I need the help. [0:27:54] All right. Nu- number, number 12. Representative Burnell. This, um, thank- Burnell? Yes. Taylor. Taylor. Taylor. I'm sorry. I was- Thank you. [0:28:06] So why didn't you alleviate the need for the emissions in this bill? I mean, 'cause- I mean, we really wanna know, 'cause that, that... 'Cause you're saying you're gonna save the, the state $5 million, but then the state's gonna make another $5 or $10 million off these emissions. [0:28:21] Well, the, the, that's federal, so we have n- now we need to reach out to our senators and congressmen up at the Capitol and see if they can get it changed. But, uh- [0:28:30] That's here [0:28:30] ... yeah, that's, that's nothing to do with- [0:28:32] That's, that, that's- [0:28:34] Emissions are what it is [0:28:35] ... that's, I thought it was state, the emissions. [0:28:37] Well- [0:28:37] 'Cause so many, so many counties require it. [0:28:39] 13. [0:28:41] 13. [0:28:41] 13. But that's a, that's a federal issue with, with the EPD. Uh, yeah, the EPD. [0:28:46] EPD? Okay. Thank- [0:28:47] EPA and EPD, state. But- [0:28:49] Okay. Well, number 19. [0:28:51] Mr. [0:28:51] Representative McClain. [0:28:53] Boy, I tell y'all. But thank you, Mr. Chairman. I'd say the more you talk, the more we all, uh, get in, and I wanna, uh... We're gonna correct it. There's only 13 counties, uh, that, that do emissions. And, and it, it is state, and we hope we can one day get rid of that as well, because people drive from other, the other 146 counties into those 13 counties and bring whatever they bring. But, uh, my colleague, I'm gonna help him a little bit. If your daughter's not in one of those 13 counties, she can't get an emissions, uh, because there's not an emission down in, in north Georgia or, or south Georgia. [0:29:28] So it depends on where she's going to school. I just, uh, I, I appreciate the bill, Mr. Chairman. I think, um, uh... But I do want us to understand that it is bigger than, than where we are. Uh, because out of 159 counties in the state of Georgia, 159, only 13, it's on the back of 13 counties to pick up what we're talking about, one. Two, we also have members that are trying to increase, uh, that amount of emissions, which I think is wrong. [0:30:00] Yes. [0:30:00] Uh, so I say all of that to say that, uh, 13 counties should not pick up the back of 146 counties, uh, that travel through those 13 counties. So thank you, Mr. Chairman. [0:30:15] Okay. N- Number 23. [0:30:16] Oh, I'm just, I was just trying to make sure everybody knew that that stuff's already in law. This has nothing to do with any of that. It's already m- it, we're just, it's just mentioned in the law. [0:30:26] Yeah. [0:30:27] All this does is take the sticker off. [0:30:29] Yeah. [0:30:29] Yeah. [0:30:29] Both of you. [0:30:30] All right. [0:30:32] I wouldn't have asked. [0:30:32] All right. At, at, at, at this time, I'm gonna ask Chairman Rhodes if he want to come up and speak a little bit to the side-by-side language as far as the requirements and stuff they, they have to be able to do this on the roads right now, if you wanna speak to that. [0:30:48] Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Just to make clear, um, you know, a couple of years ago we, we made it legal for side-by-sides on county roads. They can cross state highways and city streets. They have to have insurance, they have to have seat belts, they have to have mirrors, they have to have brake lights, they have to have headlights. And I don't know if y'all are aware, but these are just like cars almost now. They're, uh, um... Technology has come a long way, and, you know, a lot of communities and a lot of towns are having to pass their own ordinances to make 'em, you know, legal in town. [0:31:22] I know even the City of Atlanta has 'em. I know, uh, we see 'em all around town right here in the different communities. We're having to do different things, and we just wanna make it all consolidated, make it one level playing field. I'm just saying that that road 60 miles an hour or less, you can drive these on there. [0:31:38] So we're just making it uniform. [0:31:40] Correct. Yes. [0:31:41] All right, does anybody have any questions about that section of the, of the bill? [0:31:48] I- If not, what would be the pleasure of the committee? [0:31:50] Motion to do pass. [0:31:51] Uh, we have a motion to do pass. Do we have a second? [0:31:54] Second. [0:31:55] Motion and a second. Any further discussion? [0:31:57] Can we add an amendment? [0:31:59] No. [0:31:59] Well, we, we, we, we, we, we, we do need to amend the effective date, uh, to July instead of January. Uh, uh, I would take a, a, a motion on the amendment to change the effective date to July 1, 2027. [0:32:11] Something like that. Motion. [0:32:13] Do we have a second? [0:32:14] Second. [0:32:14] All right, now we have a motion and a second on the amendment. Uh, all in favor of the amendment say aye. [0:32:18] Aye. [0:32:19] All right. Now we're gonna vote on the bill as amended. Uh, all in favor say aye. [0:32:24] Aye. [0:32:24] All opposed like sign. All right. Lot, lot more complicated than I f- I thought we'd be this morning, but we're good. [0:32:30] Talking to yourself. I talk to myself. I will. [0:32:32] If we could've got that other amendment on to get rid of the 13 county emission for the 0-... [0:32:37] Yeah. [0:32:38] That is a federal standard. [0:32:39] Huh? [0:32:40] We have three [0:32:45] counties- [0:32:45] He won't make it. [0:32:47] Love me some. [0:32:48] We can do it then. [0:32:49] There. Let's go down to 5:06. [0:32:54] Derek, I see you trying to get out. [0:32:57] Yeah. Not a platform. [0:32:59] Thanks, buddy. [0:32:59] What's up, man?