Last week, Georgia legislators convened for legislative days 26 through 28. They stayed late on Thursday, which was the all-important Crossover deadline (please see legislative terms for more on “Crossover”), and adjourned at 11pm.

This week, lawmakers will meet for Legislative Days 29 through 31—and we are now less than a month away from Sine Die!

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Qualifications-Based Selection

Senate Bill 51 by Senator Ed Setzler passed last Monday by a nearly unanimous vote of 54 to 1! This legislation has been assigned to the House Governmental Affairs Committee.

As a reminder, this legislation would require qualifications-based selection for the procurement of A/E services for local government projects where the professional services cost is estimated to be $75,000 or more, or if the project cost is estimated to be $1 million or more. This is not a prohibition on cost being a factor, this simply shifts the consideration of cost to a second stage of negotiation after the firms have been ranked, rather than cost being an initial evaluation. If you are aware of a local government that has any questions or concerns, please send them our way: Christy.tarallo@acecga.org & sully@acecga.org

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Municipal Tort Clean-Up 

HB 531 by Representative Matt Reeves, which proposes to extend the period for plaintiffs to provide notice (ante litem notice) for an intent to sue a city from six months to twelve months, passed the House 161 to 13. The legislation also has a provision to limit the liability for cities at $3 million per person and $5 million per occurrence.

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Licensure Legislation 

Engineer decoupling legislation, SB 125 by Senator Larry Walker, will be heard this Wednesday. Other legislation dealing with licensure reform includes House Bill 579 by Representative Matt Reeves and Senate Bill 207 by Senator Brian Strickland. HB 579 is a massive professional licensing board proposal which would allow the division director to review and issue licenses which passed the House 158 to 2. While this legislation does not affect engineers or land surveyors, it does affect other licensed professions such as geologists and architects. SB 207 would provide a preclearance process for licensing individuals with previous criminal convictions and passed the Senate 55 to 0.

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: 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—THIS LEGISLATION IS DEAD FOR THE SESSION

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)—THIS LEGISLATION WILL NOT BE MOVING THIS SESSION

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; Assigned to House Governmental Affairs

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; passed the Senate 54 to 1; assigned to the House Governmental Affairs Committee

Position: SUPPORT

SB 70 by Senator Tonya Anderson (D-Lithonia): 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; Passed the House Intragovernmental Coordination Committee; Passed the House 172 to 0—now eligible for the Governor’s consideration  

Position: Monitor

SB 151 by Senator Brandon Beach (R-Alpharetta): proposes the creation of a “Joint Development Authority of North Fulton Municipalities”. A committee of seven directors would be created with one representative each from Alpharetta, Johns Creek, Milton, Mountain Park, Roswell, and Sandy Springs, with a seventh member being appointed by the committee.

Status: Passed out of the Senate State and Local Governmental Affairs Committee; passed the Senate 32 to 23. 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; passed the House 171-2; assigned to the Senate Regulated Industries and Utilities 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—THIS LEGISLATION IS DEAD FOR THE SESSION

Position: Monitor

HB 579 by Representative Matt Reeves (R-Duluth): is the omnibus licensing package that aims to fix numerous issues plaguing the Secretary of State’s licensing board division.

Status: Passed the House Appropriations Committee; Passed the House 158 to 2

Position: Monitor

SB 28 by Senator Greg Dolezal (R-Forsyth County): this legislation aims to reduce red tape and reconfigure how the regulatory environment operates in Georgia by allowing the legislature to take a more active role in regulatory activities.

Status: Passed the Senate Economic Development & Tourism Committee; passed the Senate 31 to 23. Assigned to the Budget and Fiscal Affairs Oversight Committee

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; passed the Senate 33 to 21; Assigned to the House Rules Committee special subcommittee on Lawsuit Reform

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; passed the Senate 52-0; assigned to the House Rules Committee special subcommittee on Lawsuit Reform

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; passed the Senate 56-0! Assigned to the House 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: Passed the Senate Judiciary Committee; passed the Senate 55 to 0.

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—THIS LEGISLATION IS DEAD FOR THE SESSION

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: Passed the House Transportation Committee; passed the House 164 to 9. Assigned to the Senate 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: Passed the House Transportation Committee; passed the House 172 to 0.

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—THIS LEGISLATION IS DEAD FOR THE SESSION

Position: Monitor

HB 575 by Representative Derrick McCollum (R-Gainesville): is the annual GDOT housekeeping bill. This legislation is primarily code clean up, however section 4 deals with right of way coordination between utilities. This would give the department the ability to move major utilities sooner, where it’s feasible, before a project is awarded.

Status: Passed the House Transportation Committee; passed the House 165 to 1; assigned to the Senate Transportation Committee

Position: Review

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—THIS LEGISLATION IS DEAD FOR THE SESSION

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—THIS LEGISLATION IS DEAD FOR THE SESSION

Position: Monitor