April 4 marks the final day of the Georgia General Assembly’s 40-day session. Lawmakers have been evaluating hundreds of proposed bills regarding education, healthcare, technology and other important topics.
Here are a few of the assembly’s top priority bills currently under consideration:
HB 268- School Safety
HB 268 seeks to establish mental health coordinators, ensure a speedy transfer of student records between districts, set infrastructure regulations and enforce safety threat assessment teams in Georgia public schools.
As of April 1 the bill has passed the senate with a majority support.
SB 1- Ban Transgender Girls from Participating in Girls’ Sports
SB 1 – The Fair and Safe Athletic Opportunities Act would ban transgender girls from playing in girls’ sports teams in both public and private Georgia schools as well as some state colleges.
As of April 1 the Senate had voted for majority support.
SB 74- ‘Harmful Materials to Minors’ in Libraries
SB 74 would ban public, school and state university libraries from distributing explicit material. The bill would further grant librarians who make “good faith attempts” to remove harmful materials from minors with the ability to defend themselves.
As of April 1 the bill was voted mostly in favor by the Senate.
SB 36- Georgia Religious Freedom Restoration Act
SB 36 will limit the state government’s ability to interfere with an individual or group’s ability to exercise religious freedom. The bill claims that the state can only interfere if it is to further a “compelling governmental interest”.
As of April 1 the bill has passed the Senate with a majority support.
SB 39 – State Health Coverage for Gender Affirming Care
HB 39 seeks to eliminate gender affirming care/surgeries under state health insurance or state funds.
As of February the bill passed the Senate with a partisan vote.
HB 441- Abortion Ban
HB 441 would deem abortion as a criminal offense with a charge of murder with no exception for fetuses or embryos. The bill would also prosecute healthcare providers for causing “assault and battery on an unborn child”.
As of February the bill has not received a vote in the House.
SB 9- Criminalize AI Election Interference
SB 9 – Ensuring Accountability for Illegal AI Activities Act criminalizes “obscene material” generated by artificial intelligence with the intention of impersonating a politician and/or deceiving voters.
As of March the bill passed the House and will go on to the Senate for further evaluation.
To stay informed about bills and upcoming sessions within the Georgia General Assembly visit: https://www.legis.ga.gov/schedule/all.
