|
The Georgia House of Representatives began the eighth week of the 2025 legislative session on Monday, March 3. By the end of the week, we completed Legislative Day 28, Crossover Day. This week, we convened for three legislative days and a committee day, passing 75 House Bills on Thursday, March 6th, Crossover Day.
State Budget Priorities: Hurricane Relief & Public Safety
We began the week by fulfilling our constitutional duty to pass House Bill 67, the Amended Fiscal Year (AFY) 2025 budget, which largely prioritizes Hurricane Helene recovery efforts following the storm’s devastation across Georgia. This budget includes:
✔ $113 million for emergency response and relief
✔ $50 million for debris removal
✔ $285 million to assist farmers and timber producers
Another key focus in HB 67 is public safety and corrections, with $345.9 million allocated to the Georgia Department of Corrections (GDC) for safety, security, and technology improvements. This funding ensures:
✔ $215 million for security upgrades in Georgia prisons
✔ $50.9 million for new correctional officer positions
✔ $10.5 million for body cameras and tasers
With Governor Kemp’s signature, this budget provides essential resources to rebuild communities and strengthen security across our state.
Protecting Georgia’s Students: House Bill 268
Ensuring school safety remains a top priority in the House. House Bill 268 is a comprehensive initiative to create a safer learning environment for Georgia’s children. Key provisions include:
✔ Anonymous Reporting App – Allows students to report safety concerns confidentially
✔ Mental Health Coordinators – Connecting students with critical resources
✔ School Safety Database (S3) – Centralizing critical threat data
✔ Behavioral Threat Assessment Teams – Identifying risks before they escalate
✔ Office of Safe Schools – Providing training and resources to prevent violence
With the passage of HB 268, we are strengthening student safety, mental health support, and emergency preparedness in schools statewide.
Encouraging Responsible Firearm Ownership
The House also passed House Bill 79, the Firearm Safe Handling and Secure Storage Tax Credit Act, which provides up to $300 in tax credits for firearm safety training and secure storage devices. This bipartisan bill encourages responsible gun ownership and helps reduce preventable accidents.
Ensuring Justice in Georgia’s Courts
With unanimous support, the House passed House Bill 123, which prevents individuals with intellectual disabilities from facing the death penalty. This measure ensures a fairer judicial process while maintaining Georgia’s commitment to justice.
Strengthening Maternal Health & Rural Hospitals
Two important bills passed this week to improve healthcare:
✔ House Bill 89 – Enhancing oversight of maternal care services and ensuring medical examiners, not hospitals, conduct autopsies for deceased mothers.
✔ House Bill 262 – Creating a grant program for backup generators in rural hospitals, ensuring they can operate during power outages, especially after disasters like Hurricane Helene.
Expanding Missing Person Alerts for Individuals with Autism
✔ House Bill 465- With the passage of House Bill 465, Georgia will expand Mattie’s Call—the state’s missing person alert system—to include individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). This will help law enforcement quickly locate missing individuals and improve response efforts for those with autism.
We also passed the following bills this week:
Additional Bills from Week 8 of 2025 Session
The Georgia House of Representatives will resume its work on Monday, March 10th, for the ninth week of the session. Wednesday will be dedicated to a committee workday, which will be followed by Legislative Day 31 on Thursday as we move into the final quarter of the 2025 Legislative Session.
Committee Schedules
House Committees continue to meet; we are working hard across all committees. Full committee schedules are available online by clicking here.
| 
