2025 Capitol Update - Week 3
2025 Capitol Update - Week 3
February 3, 2025
Last week, the Georgia General Assembly met for legislative days 6 through 9, leaving only 31 days until Sine Die and 19 until Crossover!
On Tuesday of last week, our QBS legislation was introduced by Senator Ed Setzler (SB 51) and Representative Matt Reeves (HB 152). The bills are companion bills that have identical language. The bills propose the following:
Adds local governments (defined as cities, counties, and consolidated governments) to the “Mini-Brooks Act” which already requires QBS for A/E procurement on the state level
Mirrors the thresholds for competitive selection found at the state level (i.e. if the project cost is estimated to be over $1 million, or if the professional services fee is estimated to be in excess of $75,000, local governments must competitively select using QBS)
Allows for the continuation of an existing relationship between a local government and a qualified A/E firm, so long as the A/E firm is technically competent
Removes the requirement for cities and counties to receive two bids for professional services for road work design
The House bill will be heard in the State & Local subcommittee of the House Governmental Affairs committee tomorrow at 1pm. Be sure to tune in if you can!
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Tort Reform
On Thursday the Governor held a MASSIVE press conference on tort reform legislation. His legislative package (SB 68 and SB 69 by the President Pro-Tempore of the Senate John F. Kennedy, who is an attorney from Macon) is incredibly comprehensive. The comprehensive nature of this leads us to believe that if all or most of the provisions of the package are not passed this legislative session then Gov. Kemp will likely make good on his promise to call the legislature back for a special session later this year. The provisions included are:
Premises liability (i.e. clarifying what you are responsible for when actions happen on your property without your knowledge or involvement)
Limits phantom damages
Eliminating anchoring (a practice of announcing to the jury what a plaintiff’s attorney believes is a “fair” compensation)
Repeals the gag order on evidence relating to seat belt use
Eliminates double recovery of attorney’s fees
Eliminates plaintiff dismissal during trial
Reforms third party litigation funding
We’re very excited to see this legislative package and look forward to working with the Georgia Chamber of Commerce and other business interests, as well as House & Senate leadership!
PE Exam Decoupling
We will likely see our decoupling legislation drop this week or next week. We will keep you updated.
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Last week’s jump scare was brought to you by House Resolution 120 which proposes to extend the legislative session to 90 legislative days! Fortunately, that would require a constitutional amendment and that is unlikely to pass.
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This week the legislature will meet for legislative days 10 through 13 and on Thursday we will be hosting our Cobb Thirsty Thursday at Glover Park Brewing from 5-7pm. We hope to see you there!
LEGISLATION ACEC GEORGIA IS FOLLOWING:
Local Government
HB 137 by Representative Victor Anderson (R-Cornelia) would increase the dollar threshold for contracts exempt from public bidding from $100,000 to $250,000 for local governments, most state agencies, and school boards.
Status: Assigned to House Governmental Affairs
Position: SUPPORT
HB 152 by Representative Matt Reeves (R-Duluth): would extend the existing Mini Brooks Act to local governments. This would require Qualifications-Based Selection for the procurement of A/E services for projects where professional services are estimated to be $75,000 or more or for any project with a total preliminary construction cost of $1 million.
Status: House Hopper
Position: SUPPORT
SB 12 by Senator Frank Ginn (R-Danielsville): revises the Georgia Open Records Act by redefining what is considered a public record to include only documents that are prepared, maintained, or received by a public agency and not the possession of a person or group who has contracted with a public agency.
Status: Assigned to the Senate Judiciary Committee
Position: SUPPORT
SB 51 by Senator Ed Setzler (R-Acworth): would extend the existing Mini Brooks Act to local governments. This would require Qualifications-Based Selection for the procurement of A/E services for projects where professional services are estimated to be $75,000 or more or for any project with a total preliminary construction cost of $1 million.
Status: Senate Hopper
Position: SUPPORT
Industry & Professions
HB 34 by Representative Dale Washburn (R-Macon): would allow the professional licensing board division to utilize a continuing education tracking solution software that would monitor compliance of licensees with their respective continuing education requirements. Currently, this legislation does not affect the PELS Board.
Status: Assigned to the House Regulated Industries Committee
Position: Monitor
HB 107 by Representative Bethany Ballard (R-Warner Robins): would require all professional licensing boards in the state to adopt a process by which spouses of military members or transitioning service members may obtain a digitally verifiable license.
Status: Assigned to the House Defense & Veterans Affairs Committee
Position: Reviewing; NCEES is the national database for all holders of PE & LS licenses, so this legislation may not affect the PELS Board.
SB 68 by Senator John Kennedy (R-Macon): this is part of the legislative tort reform package. It proposes to limit phantom damages (including in medical malpractice), eliminates double recovery of attorney’s fees, allows admissibility of seat belt nonuse, and includes comprehensive premises liability.
Status: Senate Hopper
Position: SUPPORT
SB 69 by Senator John Kennedy (R-Macon): this is part of the legislative tort reform package. It proposes to regulate third party litigation financing and prohibits foreign third party litigation financing.
Status: Senate Hopper
Position: SUPPORT
Transportation
HB 76 by Representative Stacey Evans (D-Atlanta): would require the Department of Transportation to host public hearings for local transportation projects of significant impact.
Status: Assigned to House Transportation Committee
Position: REVIEWING
HB 164 by Representative Steven Meeks (R-Screven): would remove the sunset date of July 1, 2025 on the increase of truck weight limits to 88,000 on state roads for trucks carrying agricultural and farm products.
Status: Assigned to House Transportation Committee
Position: Monitor
Water & Environmental
Nothing yet!