Georgia’s two-year legislative session came to a close on Thursday, marking the last day for bills to pass both the House and Senate. Lawmakers were faced with key decisions on various issues, including the legalization of sports betting and tightening rules on law enforcement cooperation with immigration officials. Some proposals that had already passed included a plan to cut income taxes and loosen rules for permitting new health care facilities, while others, like expanding Medicaid and overhauling tax incentives for the film industry, were likely to fail. Gov. Brian Kemp will have 40 days to sign, veto, or allow legislation to become law without his signature after the session ends.
Several key measures were pending on Thursday, including proposals to legalize online sports betting, tighten rules on immigration enforcement, limit property tax increases, and require parental permission for children under 16 to create social media accounts. Other pending measures addressed issues such as judge pay, school policies, elections, mining near the Okefenokee Swamp, library funding, religious liberty, film tax credits, wrongful convictions, and more. Some of the bills aimed to protect religious liberty, ensure fair treatment in film production tax credits, and compensate wrongfully convicted individuals.
Among the bills that had already passed were measures to accelerate a state income tax cut, require cash bail for additional crimes, impose new rules on nonprofit bail funds, prohibit the recognition of labor unions without a secret ballot election, allow some health care facility expansions without state permits, ban foreign agents from owning farmland near military bases, alter laws related to water use, and limit the ability to sue insurance companies directly after a truck wreck. However, discussions on expanding Medicaid to more lower-income adults had failed, with Republicans preferring to study the issue further.
Gov. Brian Kemp had already signed some bills into law, including one defining antisemitism for use in hate crimes and anti-discrimination cases. Another bill revived a commission with powers to discipline and remove prosecutors, a move that Democrats warned was aimed at targeting a prosecutor involved in the prosecution of former President Donald Trump. The legislative session had seen a mix of both contentious and bipartisan issues, with lawmakers now turning their focus to reelection, as all Senate and House seats are up for grabs this year. The decision-making process on various bills had sparked debate and discussion deep into the night, with the outcome of these measures shaping the future of Georgia’s policies and regulations.
