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Found 23 matching documents.
Meeting transcript · Georgia Senate Rules Committee · March 19, 2026
Senate Rules Committee, March 19, 2026
Summary by Georgia Commons (AI-written): The committee heard brief requests to schedule bills on education, taxes, health care, veterans, licensing and other subjects. Members unanimously approved a 16-measure floor calendar. In separate committee business, members unanimously approved a prison education study committee resolution, a resolution honoring Bangladeshi peacekeepers, and a substitute for HB 445 that added public water and sewer systems to a public utility definition. Members questioned trout-stream buffer changes in HB 485. The chair postponed action on that bill until the next day so legislative counsel and the original sponsor could help explain the changes.
That's right. Uh, House Bill 1009, which is the bottom of your second page, House Bill 1009 extends the cellphone-free bill that we passed last year through K through eight to include high school. Um, passed both committees unanimously, and, uh, it's just been a big win for our schools, and we'd like to keep it going. A lot of happy parents and teachers....
Um, I'd like to ask the committee to consider House Bill 907. It regards our completion schools. It's something I've worked on with some of the senators, including, uh, Clint Dixon and others, and, uh, we've identified a number of loopholes that would better- we're closing the up to better serve students. Completion schools are dropout recovery schools at...
Meeting transcript · Georgia Senate Rules Committee · March 20, 2026
Senate Rules Committee, March 20, 2026
Summary by Georgia Commons (AI-written): The committee approved a substitute for HB 328 by a 7 to 5 vote after discussing removal of the scholarship tax credit program’s expiration date. Members then heard requests to schedule bills on education, taxes, courts, veterans, public safety and other subjects. The committee unanimously approved a 14-measure floor calendar, including HB 154, which a presenter said now seeks year-round Atlantic Standard Time, and HB 1009, concerning cellphone-free high school classrooms. After initially selecting HB 1077, members removed it from the calendar and unanimously returned it to the Rules Standing Committee for an unspecified correction. Members also unanimously returned HB 1129 to that committee.
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....
Okay. Gotcha. Okay. Uh, no other House members. Uh, Chairman Hickman, you got a bill or two? 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...
Meeting transcript · Georgia Senate Rules Committee · February 25, 2026
Senate Rules Committee, February 25, 2026
Summary by Georgia Commons (AI-written): The committee unanimously approved a substitute for SB 447, concerning deadlines for land-disturbance permits, and approved a substitute for SR 668, concerning separate property-tax treatment for data centers, with 16 in favor and two opposed. Members then heard brief presentations on bills awaiting floor consideration. The committee unanimously placed SR 480 and SR 567 on a consent calendar. It also unanimously approved a floor calendar containing SB 34, SB 399, SB 441, SB 470, SB 472, SB 500, SB 513, SB 535 and HB 377. The other measures presented were not selected for that floor calendar.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Yeah, this is the Parents' Bill of Rights. Uh, it requires school systems to notify parents, uh, if a student meets with a school counselor. Um, it also has a carve out in there that notification wouldn't be required- Mm-hmm ... if it was suspected of child abuse or if the notification could cause the child harm.
All right. Any questions on that? None. All right. Go ahead and do Senate Bill 425. 425 is requiring what's happening, cursive writing to be taught in all of our schools. What's happened in the past, we, when we changed to Common Core, many of our young people do not know even how to sign their own name. This would, um, make it re- um, required- Oh, man ......
Meeting transcript · Georgia Senate Rules Committee · March 16, 2026
Senate Rules Committee, March 16, 2026
Summary by Georgia Commons (AI-written): The committee heard requests to move bills to the Senate floor on education, taxes, public safety, transportation, health care and other subjects. Members unanimously approved a six-bill calendar for the next day: HB 376, HB 998, HB 999, HB 1159, HB 1302 and HB 1379. The committee then switched to a standing committee meeting to consider a substitute for HB 1020 combining district attorney retirement changes with salary changes. Members questioned the proposed limit on local salary supplements and whether some district attorneys could lose pay by opting in. The committee approved the substitute, with the chair announcing a final tally of 11 yes votes and three no votes, and sent it to Rules.
Um, on the bottom of... Well, it's actually the last bill on page three. It's kind of toward the top, but page three short. Um, House Resolution 1243. This is a constitutional amendment where we're asking the, uh, voters of the State of Georgia to create a dedicated fund for next generation 911, um, for the purposes of the expansion maintenance operations...
... hopefully soon. Um, I've got, uh, House Bill 1123 for the members of the committee to consider. It's on the second page, the fourth or fifth one down. It would require all public school systems that offer both pre-K and make afterschool services that are paid for by the parents available to make those services available on the same basis to pre-K...
Meeting transcript · Georgia Senate Rules Committee · February 24, 2026
Senate Rules Committee, February 24, 2026
Summary by Georgia Commons (AI-written): The committee heard brief presentations on bills concerning courts, education, licensing, public safety, retirement and local government. Members unanimously moved SB 447 and SR 668 to the Standing Rules Committee. They also unanimously approved placing SB 116, SB 433 and HB 571 on the next day's floor calendar. Other proposals were discussed or called up without a recorded vote. The chair said the next day's floor work would also include two special actions and possibly the budget, and warned that longer floor sessions would require committee chairs to prioritize their work.
What number? Ah. SB513, and if my memory serves me correctly, this would be your first bill to make it to rules. Is that correct? You are correct, Mr. Chairman. Thank you so much. I appreciate that. Hint, hint. Yeah, so this is Senate Bill 513. Uh, this is the Every Day Counts Act. It has to do with, um, chronic unexcused absence in our school system. Uh,...
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Senator, uh, can you give us a little bit of background as to the state's requirements and the state constitution as it relates to K through 12 education? No, Mr. Chairman, I cannot. Oof, oof. That's an easy one. That's an easy one. I mean, that was a softball. Everybody knows that. You learn that in week one at orientation. Well,...
Meeting transcript · Georgia Senate Rules Committee · February 26, 2026
Senate Rules Committee, February 26, 2026
Summary by Georgia Commons (AI-written): The committee briefly reviewed bills and selected 11 measures for the Senate floor calendar. The committee unanimously approved a calendar containing SB 240, SB 437, SB 443, SB 447, SB 463, SB 468, SB 471, SB 497, SB 527, SR 800 and HB 377. Other measures received brief descriptions or acknowledgments but were not included in the approved calendar. Most reviews were limited to a few words, with little substantive discussion and no amendments offered.
All right, enough fun. Y'all get serious. Let's pick a few. Let me get to my chart, see where we left off. All right, you did. We left off with Senator Dolezal with the ding-ding, so we'll pick up with you. Go ahead. SB 443. 443. Not a ding-ding. Okay. Senator Rhett. Uh, 527. 5 what, Senator? 527. 527. Is that a dinger? Negative. Um, Senator Kirkpatrick....
Man, you guys are getting good. I'm on a roll today. Senate Bill 540, littering of attorney. More big government. Three words. Three words. Protect the kids. Oh. All right. For the children. For the children.
Meeting transcript · Georgia Senate Rules Committee · March 30, 2026
Senate Rules Committee, March 30, 2026
Summary by Georgia Commons (AI-written): The committee set the Senate floor calendar for legislative days 39 and 40. Sponsors gave brief presentations, members selected bills, and the chair added several measures. After a lunch recess, members held an informal vote to choose one additional bill, selecting HB 421. The committee then unanimously approved the full calendar. The selections covered taxes, education, health care, public safety, local government and other subjects. Separately, the committee unanimously moved 12 study committee resolutions to the consent calendar. Several measures presented or nominated were not included in the final calendar. The chair said no Wednesday meeting was planned and cautioned that some calendar bills could later be tabled on the floor. The meeting ended in recess.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman and committee. I, I'm asking for House Bill t- 629. It's on four, page four, halfway down. This bill is about two things, saving lives in our schools and protecting our t- teachers' time. First, on school safety, this legislation modernizes emergency preparedness by expanding protocol beyond cardiac events to include severe bleeding...
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Great. Hope y'all are, um, top of page six or third down page six, HB1023. This is, uh, the, a school safety measure require weapons detection systems in all Georgia public schools. Is there money with it? There is in the budget. I know the budget's still being worked out right now. Mm. But there's $166 million in the budget which...
Meeting transcript · Georgia Senate Rules Committee · March 25, 2026
Senate Rules Committee, March 25, 2026
Summary by Georgia Commons (AI-written): The committee approved substitutes for two study committee resolutions, HB 79 and HB 485, then unanimously approved a group of bills for the Senate calendar. Presentations covered taxes, education, insurance, veterans’ benefits, transportation and other subjects. Members questioned whether HB 1178, which would put a House oversight committee into law, duplicated existing powers and should also cover the Senate. A vote followed, but the result was not clearly announced. The committee also voted on an artificial intelligence-related substitute for HB 171, without a clear announcement of the result. During calendar consideration, one speaker opposed the transit referendum provisions substituted into HB 583. The final calendar included that bill, the budget and numerous other measures.
House Bill 1114. It's on page four, uh, kinda toward the middle. Uh, it actually just, uh, directs the State Board of Education to adopt, uh, digital literac- literacy standards, also- Good bill ... personal financial literacy s- uh, updates to the, what we've already passed in '22. We, uh, we originally put it in place- The vice chairman's calling for the...
Good afternoon, Mr. Chairman and committee. This is page three, HB 971, next to the last. It's the College and Career Academy Bill. Benefits kids, parents, and public schools, and like you said, the home school and private school students as well. It's a win, win, win. All right. Thank you. Thank you.
Meeting transcript · Georgia Senate Rules Committee · March 3, 2026
Senate Rules Committee, March 3, 2026
Summary by Georgia Commons (AI-written): The committee heard brief presentations and selected a large slate of bills and resolutions for the Senate calendar, approving the slate with one dissenting vote. Topics included retirement systems, schools, insurance, property owners’ rights, public safety and taxes. The committee referred HB 1199 to its standing committee after the chair said disputed policy should be removed from the annual tax conformity measure. That referral also passed with one opposing vote. SB 540 remained on hold at its sponsor’s request. A sponsor requested consideration of SB 327, but the transcript does not show it being selected for the calendar. The chair announced that the next Rules meeting would be Thursday and that the standing committee would meet Monday after crossover.
Okay. All right, moving on. Senate Bill 482. That is, uh, Senator Strickland's mugshot, can't profit off mugshots. Uh, Senate Bill 498, Senator Dixon. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Uh, this is for charter schools, and it allows them to have a revolving line of credit for building new facilities or remodeling current ones.
Okay. And authors asked for a hold on SB 540, so moving on to SB 552. Senator Ben Watson- Yeah ... of the first. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Uh, this has to do with, uh, schools and extracurricular activities, non- non-discriminating against, uh, uh, those extracurricular activities based on religion and politics. Basically, it upholds our Constitution.
Meeting transcript · Georgia Senate Rules Committee · March 23, 2026
Senate Rules Committee, March 23, 2026
Summary by Georgia Commons (AI-written): The committee heard brief presentations on a wide range of tax, education, public safety, health, court and other measures, then unanimously approved a package for the Senate floor calendar. In its standing committee session, it approved a substitute for HB 1077, extending an arts-related sales tax exemption and adding Georgia National Fair admissions, by an 11-4 vote. It approved a substitute for HB 1129, removing a proposed five-year expiration provision for enterprise zones, by a 9-5 vote. Members questioned how a restored House budget oversight committee under HB 1178 would involve the Senate. The chair made that discussion hearing-only and asked the sponsor to work with the committee.
Another great American. House Bill 451. Whoa, whoa. Stop it. Go ahead. Y- you know you don't get to call yourself a great American. The title is Hunting Safety, but as someone who doesn't own a gun, it is not hunting safety. It is, uh, release time education, allowing students to go off campus to take religious courses, uh, in school. That's 451 on the one...
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Thank you, committee. Allow me to come back for you again today. This is House Bill 874, page three, four down from the top. Um, this bill would prohibit the disclosure of telephone numbers, uh, when property tax records are sold, transferred, or shared to third parties. Uh, the intent is, like I said, not only, uh, providing...
Meeting transcript · Georgia Senate Rules Committee · March 18, 2026
Senate Rules Committee, March 18, 2026
Summary by Georgia Commons (AI-written): The committee heard presentations on education, taxes, public safety, vehicle titles, veterinary care and other issues. Members unanimously referred HB 445 and HB 485 to the Standing Rules Committee. After hearing presentations and reviewing other measures, the committee unanimously approved ten measures for the floor calendar. Those included proposals on pre-K after-school access, technical college education, manufactured-home taxes, veterinary care, funeral expenses, delivery devices, public safety license plates, nonpartisan probate judge elections and a dedicated 911 fund. Other measures were discussed without a calendar vote.
1123. 1123 is... Where is that? It's right. Top of... Uh, 1123. Huh? Uh, yes, sir. I, um, I thought I'd done this one before- Oh, first one on the back of pins ... but I might not have. This one, um, requires public schools to offer after school services that are paid for by parents to pre-K students, if they offer pre-K- Ah ... on the same basis that they...
Thank you. All right, HB1284, that's Representative Silcox's education bill about high school diplomas to, um, children in, with end of life. And HB1295, Representative Cooper's physician assistance compact, licensure compact. And HB1391, that's our public safety officer's license plates.
Meeting transcript · Georgia Senate Rules Committee · February 20, 2026
Senate Rules Committee, February 20, 2026
Summary by Georgia Commons (AI-written): The committee heard brief presentations on bills concerning education, health care, courts, public records, retirement and other topics. Members unanimously approved SB 171, SB 392, SB 395, SB 428 and SB 430 for the floor calendar. The committee also unanimously approved a consent calendar containing SR 684 and SR 744, after sponsors described wording corrections to those resolutions. The chair said SB 487 remained under review. No calendar action was recorded for the other bills discussed.
Keep working. Yes, sir. SB, uh, 261 is magistrates. No money from the state. They just wanna expand their board and change the money, um, that, uh, or the percentages they can put away. That one you've heard before. SB 399 is one that's really a, a, um, a close one, is that, um, it is the coordination of 911 services with the AEDs on college campuses. This...
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Uh, no songs on a Friday afternoon. Senate Bill 171. It's okay. It's the math pathways, uh, QB program for middle school and elementary school students to prepare them for future mathematics courses.
Meeting transcript · Georgia Senate Rules Committee · February 12, 2026
Senate Rules Committee, February 12, 2026
Summary by Georgia Commons (AI-written): The committee approved a substitute for SR 744, correcting a hometown spelling and clarifying that the recognition concerns an event at the Capitol. It unanimously moved SB 437 to the standing committee for changes. After hearing presentations on several proposals, the committee unanimously selected SB 143, SB 369 and SB 452 for the Senate calendar. Other presentations covered retirement benefits, medical cannabis program communication, magistrate court claims, insurers’ use of aerial images, school mask policies and bingo rules. A member questioned support among magistrate judges for raising the court’s claim limit. A question about which state law enforcement officers would qualify for increased retirement contributions remained unanswered.
That was a good question. Any other questions? We've gotta get All right, moving on. Thank you. SB 471, Senator Dolezal. Back in 2022, we passed the UNMASK Georgia Students Act, which prevented any school from putting a mask mandate in place that did not provide an opt-out for parents. That sunsets next year. All that this bill does is removes the sunset....
... committee. All right. SB369, Senator Still. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Uh, this is the Dropout Recovery Charter School, not a completion school. Helps get kids across the finish line in, uh, the best way possible. Great bill, and, uh, got a lot of support. We hear that a lot in here. For the people. For the people. For the people. For the children. For...
Meeting transcript · Georgia Senate Rules Committee · March 5, 2026
Senate Rules Committee, March 5, 2026
Summary by Georgia Commons (AI-written): The committee heard brief presentations on bills covering education, elections, criminal justice, veterans, utilities, taxes and other subjects, then unanimously approved a package for the next day's Senate floor calendar. The package included bills discussed during this meeting and 11 bills carried over from the previous day. Members questioned proposals involving monument relocation, veterans' park fees, school employee retirement, online identity fraud and school enrollment choices. The chair declined requests to add SB 34 and SB 94, explaining that language from the first was already included in SB 410 and that the second had not been selected. The chair also said SR 668 remained on the Senate floor's table and could be brought back up there.
All right, moving on. Senate Bill 589. This is mine. It's on, um... It, right now a, if you're four-years-old before, if a child is four-years-old before September 1st, you can go to pre-K. If you are five before September 1st, you have to go to kindergarten. If you did not go to pre-K and you're five years old- It is up to the county as to whether you can,...
Thank you. Senator Rhett, did you have a question? Yes, Mr. Chairman. How old were you when you entered the Senate, I mean kindergarten? Uh, I was... Let me think about this. I came in in '17, so I would've been 39. No. I was 38 and then turned 39 when I entered the Senate. I was five when I entered kindergarten. They didn't have kindergarten. You want to,...
Meeting transcript · Georgia Senate Rules Committee · February 17, 2026
Senate Rules Committee, February 17, 2026
Summary by Georgia Commons (AI-written): The committee reviewed bills for possible floor consideration and unanimously approved a calendar containing SB 432, SB 446 and SB 462. Those bills concern college-system carryover funds, participation in a federal scholarship tax-credit program and insurance coverage for emergency ambulance transportation. The committee also unanimously referred HB 521 to a standing committee after a member described a proposed change allowing one city to expand its council. Other listed bills received brief presentations but were not selected for the calendar. The chair said the calendar was being kept short to leave more time for committee work and urged committee chairs to move department bills forward.
All right. Any questions? None. SB 471, Senator Dolezal, he asked me to cover this. The, uh, sunset on the face mask coverings in our schools, that, it sunsets, I believe, next year, and this eliminates that sunset. No questions. All right. HB 244 is, uh, Representative Cannon's bill, and that's to allow the smaller cities out of, uh, certain audits.
Senate Bill 446, Senator Dixon. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. This bill is a, uh, student scholarship, uh, federal tax program, uh, where couples can contribute up to $3,400 and get a dollar for dollar, uh, federal tax credit. Uh, and then students receiving, uh, the scholarship, they can use it for, um, tuition, school supplies, transportation. Uh, the governor...
Meeting transcript · Georgia Senate Rules Committee · February 5, 2026
Senate Rules Committee, February 5, 2026
Summary by Georgia Commons (AI-written): The committee considered four measures for a children and families-themed floor calendar: SB 383 on child fatality reviews, SB 431 on prompt school enrollment for foster students, SR 622 on studying foster care costs, and SB 402 on expanding an autism pilot program for foster youth. After brief presentations and no substantive questions, the committee unanimously approved placing all four measures on the next day's calendar.
Um, I'll skip down to Senate Bill 431, which has to do with immediate enrollment of foster students within two days of changing schools. As you know, they change placements in schools frequently, but some of our school districts are not immediately enrolling them, which causes them to get behind. Their credits don't transfer and, um, we even heard a story...
My vice chairman's so anxious, I'm gonna let him do the prayer. I knew that was coming. Thank you so much for allowing me to, to pray with you. Please bow your heads. Please, Lord, continue to look over us in our decisions, and please guide us in your will. And continue to look over us in our travels, and, um, may God speed us home. Uh, in Christ's name I...
Meeting transcript · Georgia Senate Rules Committee · February 6, 2026
Senate Rules Committee, February 6, 2026
Summary by Georgia Commons (AI-written): The committee briefly reviewed several bills and unanimously approved a motion covering SB 146, SB 150 and SB 411. The discussion included a teacher return-to-work program, cemetery legislation and dry needling. The committee also heard brief remarks on five-year vehicle registration under SB 384 and a Georgia Development Authority name change under SB 435, but no votes on those bills were shown. In a separate unanimous vote, the committee moved SB 395 from the general calendar to standing rules.
Thank you, Mr. President. Um, Mr. Chairman, uh, Senate Bill 150, Return to Work bill for teachers, I'm sure everybody on this committee has had questions of, of teachers calling. They're excited about this. Uh, actually, we've got over 5,000 vacancies in Georgia right now as of December 25 for teachers. And this is a... this does have a sunset on it. It is...
... on your tag registration. All right. Senator Hickman, SB 150, you got 30 seconds.
Meeting transcript · Georgia Senate Rules Committee · February 10, 2026
Senate Rules Committee, February 10, 2026
Summary by Georgia Commons (AI-written): The committee heard presentations on SB 400, SB 405, SB 409, SB 444 and HB 244. Members questioned the sponsor of HB 244 about which local governments would qualify for audit flexibility, audit requirements and penalties for noncompliance. The committee then unanimously approved selecting SB 398, SB 400 and SB 444 to move forward. No vote on the other listed bills was shown.
I don't even know this. Anybody that came out of Judy? Anybody on Judy wanna cover that? All right, moving on. Senate Bill 400, Senator Burns. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Listen, I wanna remind the committee of an old song by Engelbert Humperdinck. It's called Please Release Me, Let Me Go. Oh. Senate Bill 400's agency bill takes care of, uh, independent...
Let's go with Senate Bill 398. Senate Bill 398, wiretapping. Let's see. Don't wanna do... Let's do one more. Senator Hufstetler. Senate Bill 400. Senate Bill 400 for Senator Humperdink. What's that guy's name? Engelbert. Engelbert. Who names their kid that? born in 1440. Mr. Humperdink. Old man Humperdink, apparently. All right. I think that's good enough....
Meeting transcript · Georgia Senate Rules Committee · February 9, 2026
Senate Rules Committee, February 9, 2026
Summary by Georgia Commons (AI-written): The committee unanimously approved a substitute for SB 395 addressing information sharing for the low-THC oil patient registry. In the calendar portion of the meeting, members heard presentations on retirement benefits, vehicle registration, AI-generated sexual material, postsecondary education oversight, an agency name change, small claims court limits, insurance decisions using AI, and unlawful occupancy. The longest discussion concerned SB 405, with members debating access to lower-cost court proceedings and protections for defendants. The committee unanimously placed SB 384 and SB 435 on the next day's calendar. No further action was shown on the other bills presented.
Okay. Thank you. Does that... Okay. Senator Robertson. Thank you. The, Senator Noel's correct. The, the... Everything's electronic. It goes into the system. The, the... You could lose the sticker and all this. The, the tag readers read the tag, go into the system, tell us whether the tag is, is good or inactive. And based on what the senator specified too,...
Meeting transcript · Georgia Senate Rules Committee · March 10, 2026
Senate Rules Committee, March 10, 2026
Summary by Georgia Commons (AI-written): The committee heard brief presentations and requests to schedule bills for Senate floor consideration. By a unanimous voice vote, it approved a calendar containing HB 162, HB 185, HB 219, HB 483, HB 956, HB 1020 and HB 1199. Members also discussed recycling, deannexation, manufactured homes, squatting, credit for time spent in jail and reimbursement of police training costs. Other bills and resolutions presented were not included in the approved calendar.
Senator Hufstetler, lead us in a word of prayer, please. Certainly, Chairman. Our dear heavenly Father, we thank you for all that you've blessed us with, all you've provided us with. We know you've been good to us in so many ways and, uh, have been abundant in your mercies to us. We pray that you would give us your wisdom in all that we do today, and that...
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