GSSA Capitol Report
Monday, March 16 – – Legislative Day 32
The House of Representatives did not consider any bills that we are tracking.
The Senate considered the following:
HB1000 (Gambill – R) Enacts Governor Kemp’s proposal to provide tax refunds to Georgians totaling $250 for individual filers, $375 for heads of household, and $500 for married filing jointly. PASSED 53-0, on to Governor for signature
House Ways and Means Committee met at 1 p.m. and considered the following:
SB 566 (Hufstetler – R) Revises required information to be contained on a property tax bill and extends certain exemption application periods. DO PASS
Property tax bills and assessments were discussed as well as timelines for filing for exemptions. Sen. Hufstetler closed discussion by stating that he and Rep. Blackmon had been working all weekend on a property tax bill that would be forthcoming.
Senate Public Safety Committee met at 2:30 p.m. and considered the following:
HB 1409 (Camp – R) Revises mandated reporting of child abuse HEARING ONLY
Creates a secure web-based platform for reporting
House Judiciary Committee met at 1:30 and considered the following:
SB 552 (Watson – R) “True Patriotism and Universal Student Access (TPUSA) Act:” establishes equal access rights for students to engage in political activities and expression in Georgia public schools. Requires schools with limited open forums to provide the same opportunities for partisan and nonpartisan political groups as other noncurricular student organizations. DO PASS
Additional guardrails were discussed but not included via an attempted amendment.
Senate Finance Committee met at 3 p.m. and considered the following:
HB382 (Carpenter – R) Increases the aggregate limit for contributions to student scholarship organizations from $140M to $225M. DO PASS
The bill also now includes language from HB1220 which would waive public school attendance requirements for military students and students with disabilities. The bill also now contains the Peach Tax Credit and increases the cap from $15 million to $25 million.
Tuesday, March 17 will be a Committee Workday
As of this writing, the following committees are scheduled to meet:
House Education Subcommittee – Curriculum and Academic Achievement 11 a.m.
House Education Subcommittee – Policy and Innovation 1 p.m.
Senate Retirement Committee at 1 p.m.
House Retirement Committee at 2 p.m.
Senate Children and Families Committee at 1 p.m.
Senate Education and Youth Committee at 2 p.m.
House Appropriations Subcommittee on Education at 2:30 p.m.
House Ways & Means Ad Valorem Subcommittee at 3:30 p.m.
Senate Finance Committee at 5 p.m.
Editorial: Senator Hufstetler and Representative Blackmon are working on a property tax bill that could be the one that moves. With eight days left in the session questionable legislation can all of a sudden gain momentum. Stay tuned and be ready to reach out to local reps and senators.
