We are over halfway to Sine Die!  

This week Georgia lawmakers will meet for legislative days 22 through 25 and will have a committee work day on Tuesday.    

Decoupling 

Senate Bill 125 by Senator Larry Walker, which proposes to remove the requirement for engineers to pass their professional exam after they receive their professional experience, was passed out of the Senate today by a vote of 56-0! Now that it’s in the House, we will continue to work to ensure this legislation passes that chamber without much debate or controversy. 

Open Records Act Clarification  

On Friday, the Senate passed Senate Bill 12 by Senator Frank Ginn unanimously. SB 12 aims to clarify that political subdivisions of the state, rather than private contractors doing business with governmental entities, are the required point of contact for fielding open records requests (rather than making those requests directly to the contractor). Section 2 of the legislation clarifies that if the private contractor is in possession of the requested record that they must furnish it to the custodian (which is the public entity).  

In short, this legislation aims to reestablish the status quo on open records.  

Tort Reform 

SB 68 by Senator John F. Kennedy, the Governor’s tort reform proposal, passed the Senate on Friday with a vote of 33 to 21. It is now pending in the House where it will likely be assigned to the House Judiciary Committee. 

SB 68 deals with: 

Premises liability (i.e. clarifying what you are responsible for when actions happen on your property without your knowledge or involvement) 

Limits phantom damages, which allows a plaintiff to recover damages that were already paid by an insurance for medical treatments. Current law says that juries can only see the entire bill without knowing what the patient responsibility was or insurance covered: an amendment that allows juries to see the entire medical bill, including the patient responsibility and what insurance covered unanimously passed the chamber  

Eliminating anchoring (a practice of announcing to the jury what a plaintiff’s attorney believes is a “fair” compensation)—the Senate committee revised the legislation slightly to allow plaintiffs’ attorneys some flexibility in suggesting a monetary value for damages  

Repeals the gag order on evidence relating to seat belt use 

Eliminates double recovery of attorney’s fees 

Eliminates plaintiff dismissal during trial 

Allows bifurcated trials (which would split a trial into multiple stages allowing juries to determine liability in one stage then damages in another stage) 

House Bill 132 

A substitute to House Bill 132 by Representative Matt Reeves was introduced in the House Judiciary Committee on Thursday. This legislation would clarify that municipalities in the state would have limitations to the waiver of sovereign immunity. The state currently has a liability threshold of $1 million per person and $3 million per occurrence, while counties also enjoy a sovereign immunity waiver limit that is lower than that of the state. This legislation would give cities the same waiver limitations that the state enjoys. The substitute to this legislation is not yet online.   

Senate Bill 207 

SB 207 by Senator Brian Strickland (R-McDonough) would provide a preclearance process for the licensing of individuals with criminal records who apply for a professional license in the state. The legislation outlines the process which boards, including the PELS board, must follow when dealing with an application by an individual with a prior conviction. The purpose of this legislation is to provide individuals who have previously been convicted of a crime the opportunity to pursue professional licensure, so long as the crime is not a felony that would preclude the individual from performing the duties the license would allow that person to do. We are supportive of this measure.  

LEGISLATION ACEC GEORGIA IS FOLLOWING: 

Local Government

HB 132 by Representative Matt Reeves (R-Duluth): while the relevant language is not yet available online, a substitute to this legislation would clarify that cities are eligible for the waiver of sovereign immunity and that the limits would mirror the state limits of $1 million per person and $3 million per occurrence.  

Status: Assigned to the House Judiciary Committee. A substitute include the sovereign immunity waiver was introduced 2/20/25. 

Position: SUPPORT  

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: Passed the House Governmental Affairs Committee; Passed the House 152 to 9; Assigned to the Senate State and Local Governmental Operations Committee  

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: Assigned to the House Governmental Affairs Committee  

Position: SUPPORT 

HB 168 by Representative Mitchell Horner (R-Ringgold): would revise the way in which SPLOST can be reinstated. Current law allows local governments to reimpose a SPLOST in the original way in which it was enacted, however this legislation would require that any reimposition of such SPLOST must also go through the general assembly as a local bill.  

Status: Assigned to the Ways & Means Committee 

Position: Reviewing  

HB 317 by Representative Ron Stephens (R-Savannah): would create a new option for local governments to help finance essential infrastructure needs called a “Workforce and Residential Infrastructure District (WRID). If approved by the local government, this would allow landowners within the district to self-impose taxes to fund these public infrastructure projects & improvements. A constitutional amendment would be required for the enactment of the legislation, HR 192 by Representative Ron Stephens (R-Savannah). 

Status: Assigned to the House Ways & Means Committee (was originally assigned to Governmental Affairs)  

Position: Reviewing  

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: Passed the Senate Judiciary Committee; passed the Senate 49-0 on 2/21/25 

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: Passed the Senate State and Local Governmental Affairs Committee unanimously; currently in the Senate Rules Committee  

Position: SUPPORT 

SB 70 by Senator Tonya Anderson (D-): would authorize the creation of the Conyers Community Improvement District  

Status: Passed the Senate State and Local Governmental Affairs Committee; passed the Senate 49-0; Assigned to the House Intragovernmental Coordination Committee 

Position: Monitor  

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: Passed the House Regulated Industries Committee; currently pending in the House Rules 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: Passed the House Defense & Veterans Affairs Committee  

Position: Monitor 

SB 28 by Senator Greg Dolezal (R-Forsyth County): would allow legislators to request an impact analysis of any legislation on small businesses, similar to a fiscal note where an analysis on the potential cost of legislation is conducted.  

Status: Passed the Senate Economic Development & Tourism Committee; this legislation will be on the floor of the Senate on Monday (2/24) 

Position: Monitor 

SB 68 by Senator John Kennedy (R-Macon): this is part of the legislative tort reform package. It proposes to limit phantom damages, eliminates double recovery of attorney’s fees, allows admissibility of seat belt nonuse, and includes comprehensive premises liability.  

Status: Passed the Senate Judiciary Committee 

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: Passed the Senate Judiciary Committee  

Position: SUPPORT  

SB 125 by Senator Larry Walker (R-Perry): decouples the exam and experience for professional engineers.  

Status: Passed the Senate Regulated Industries Committee  

Position: SUPPORT  

SB 207 by Senator Brian Strickland (R-McDonough): would provide a preclearance process for the licensing of individuals with criminal records who apply for a professional license in the state. 

Status: Assigned to the Senate Judiciary Committee  

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

HB 224 by Representative Josh Bonner (R-Fayetteville): would allow GDOT to authorize the construction or maintenance of any private road on a military base or installation so long as the funds for such roads are derived from the US DOD.  

Status: Assigned to the House Transportation Committee 

Position: Monitor 

HB 387 by Representative Brad Thomas (R-Holly Springs): would require a service delivery agreement to include a growth boundary agreement component 

Status: Assigned to the House Governmental Affairs Committee 

Position: Monitor 

Water & Environmental 

HB 559 by Representative John Carson (R-Marietta): this legislation would revise the sunset date on the sales tax exemption for the equipment used in data centers from 2031 to 2026.  

Status: Assigned to the House Ways & Means Committee 

Position: Monitor  

SB 34 by Senator Chuck Hufstetler (R-Rome): would prohibit an electrical utility provider from recovering the cost of servicing a data center from regular ratepayers.  

Status: Assigned to Senate Regulated Industries & Utilities Committee 

Position: Monitor