The Georgia House of Representatives reconvened last week, kicking off an important week of lawmaking at the State Capitol. As we move closer to Crossover Day, we have been working hard to pass meaningful legislation that will impact families and businesses across Georgia. Last week was our busiest yet, with several key bills making it through the House. Here’s a look at what bills passed and what they mean for our district and state.
Protecting Women’s Sports and Privacy
One of the most talked-about bills of the session, House Bill 267, or the Riley Gaines Act, passed the House last week. This bill ensures that schools and colleges in Georgia maintain separate restrooms and changing areas for male and female athletes. It also requires that sports teams be designated as male, female, or co-ed, ensuring fairness in competition. Additionally, HB 267 requires Georgia’s legal documents to use the term “sex” instead of “gender,” reinforcing the importance of biological distinctions in state records. This measure is about fairness, privacy, and protecting opportunities for female athletes. I was proud to speak in favor of this bill in the House chamber before its passage.
Improving Literacy in Georgia
House Bill 307, which builds upon last year’s Georgia Early Literacy Act, is another major step forward for education. This bill renames the act to include dyslexia, ensuring that students struggling with reading receive targeted, science-based instruction. HB 307 bans outdated teaching methods like the three-cueing system, which has been shown to be ineffective in literacy development. Instead, it mandates high-quality, evidence-based reading instruction. Additionally, the bill creates the Georgia Literacy Coach Coordination Council, which will help standardize training for literacy coaches across the state. As a former teacher, I know firsthand how critical early literacy is, and this bill will go a long way toward making sure all Georgia students get the support they need.
Cracking Down on AI-Generated Child Exploitation
Technology is evolving rapidly, and unfortunately, bad actors are using artificial intelligence (AI) to create obscene content involving children. House Bill 171, the Illegal AI Activities Act, makes it a criminal offense to distribute, solicit, or possess AI-generated obscene material depicting minors. Those convicted could face up to 15 years in prison, with additional penalties for crimes where AI played a role. This legislation closes a dangerous loophole and ensures that our laws keep up with emerging technology. Protecting Georgia’s children is always a top priority, and I’m proud to support this bill.
Strengthening Parental Rights with Ethan’s Law
House Bill 253, also known as Ethan’s Law, was another major win for families. This bill prevents Georgia judges from ordering children to attend out-of-state reunification programs, which have been used to force children into contact with previously unfit parents. The legislation ensures that parental rights are respected and that children’s safety remains a top priority. In some cases, these court-ordered programs have led to deeply distressing experiences for children who have already endured trauma, forcing them into environments that may not be safe or in their best interests.
Ethan’s Law establishes clear guidelines that protect families from being subjected to these questionable practices. Under this legislation, courts will no longer have the power to mandate reunification camps or similar programs that require children to travel across state lines. It also ensures that any court-ordered reunification efforts within Georgia prioritize the child’s well-being, requiring thorough oversight and accountability.
For far too long, families have been left navigating a legal system that doesn’t always consider the emotional and psychological toll of forced reunification. By passing this bill, we are taking a major step toward correcting these injustices. Children should never be compelled to reestablish a relationship in an environment that could be harmful to their well-being.
Additional Bills Passed Last Week
Along with these key measures, we passed several other important bills, including:
- House Bill 14, which would designate corn bread as the official state bread of Georgia;
- House Bill 34, which would require the Office of the Secretary of State to institute a unified system for tracking the continuing education credits completed by licensees of the various boards under the Secretary of State’s purview. Beginning on January 1, 2026, a professional licensing board would not renew a license until the applicant has complied with all applicable continuing education requirements;
- House Bill 66, which would amend state law relating to alternative ad valorem taxation of motor vehicles and title ad valorem tax fee by defining “special modified rental vehicle” as a motor vehicle significantly modified at a manufacturing facility operated by the owner of the vehicle that would be rented or leased without a driver to businesses, and the rental or lease transaction of which would be subject to state and local sales and use taxes. A person applying for a certificate of title for a special modified rental vehicle would be required to pay 50 percent of the title ad valorem tax fee at the time it is due and 50 percent within 12 months of filing the application;
- House Bill 78, which would allow the Firefighters Pension Fund to invest up to 20 percent of assets in alternative investments. HB 78 would also allow the Employees’ Retirement System (ERS) of Georgia to invest up to 10 percent of assets in alternative investments;
- House Bill 108, which protects veterans applying for benefits while ensuring ethical business practices. Many veterans face delays or denials, with over 300,000 appeals backlogged at the VA—some taking up to 10 years—leading them to seek private claims consultants. HB 108 ensures these businesses operate fairly by prohibiting upfront fees, deceptive promises, and referral-based compensation. It mandates written agreements, caps fees at five times the awarded monthly increase, and bans international call centers from handling veterans’ data;
- House Bill 113, which would require the Georgia Technology Authority to maintain a list of concerned goods produced by a foreign company of concern or a foreign country of concern. State entities would be prohibited from purchasing goods from a foreign company of concern, a foreign country of concern, or a third-party vendor or reseller;
- House Bill 115, which would establish procedure and policy for discovery and subsequent removal of vessels abandoned or left unattended on public property or in public waters of this state;
- House Bill 124, which would require the State Health Benefit Plan (SHBP) to provide coverage for children diagnosed with Pediatric Acute Onset Neuropsychiatric Syndrome (PANS) and Pediatric Autoimmune Neuropsychiatric Disorders Associated with Streptococcal Infection (PANDAS). Starting July 1, 2025, SHBP policies must cover diagnosis, treatment, and ongoing management of these disorders. Georgia would join 29 other states with similar mandates, helping families access critical care and support for these rare conditions.
- House Bill 131, which would revise self-serving storage facility advertising requirements so that storage facility owners attempting to enforce a lien would not be required to advertise an auction once a week for two consecutive weeks but would instead be required to publish an auction advertisement once in the legal organ for the county or in any other commercially reasonable manner. The advertisement would be deemed commercially reasonable if at least three independent bidders attend the auction;
- House Bill 136, which would amend state law relating to tax credits for contributions to foster child support organizations and would expand qualified expenditures for the credit to include wraparound services for aging foster children and justice involved youth who meet one of the following criteria: are enrolled in a public or private postsecondary education institution; enrolled in a program to obtain a high school diploma or equivalent; enrolled in a vocational school or participating in a registered and compliant apprenticeship program. The annual compensation threshold to receive the credit would be increased from $500 to $1,200 per year. Corporations contributing under this program would be limited to credits totaling no more than 30 percent of the entity’s income tax liability. HB 136 would become effective on July 1, 2025, and would be applicable to all taxable years beginning on January 1, 2026;
- House Bill 143, which relates to water permits for agricultural use and would remove language from state law that requires permittees to have an acceptable type of water measuring device within one year of the updated effective date on a revised permit. The bill would also remove other language that requires the Environmental Protection Division (EPD) of the Department of Natural Resources to document the withdrawal or lack of irrigation infrastructure at a given site and would further allow trained and certified EPD staff to install water-measuring devices at no charge to the permittee. EPD would also be allowed to undertake other repairs and replacements of these devices when necessary;
- House Bill 153, which would amend state law relating to sales and use tax exemptions for certain manufacturing equipment by extending the sunset date for an exemption on maintenance and replacement parts of machinery or equipment used with mixed concrete from June 30, 2026, to June 30, 2031;
- House Bill 156, which would define the term “vertiport” and include vertiports in the definition of “landing field.” The bill would also grant the Department of Transportation authority over vertiports;
- House Bill 163, which would require food service establishments to clearly denote items on their menus that contain lab-grown meat;
- House Bill 164, which would repeal the sunset on the allowable 10 percent variance on weight limitations upon a vehicle or load hauling certain commodities within certain areas of the state. The legislation would allow for enforcement of dimensions and weight of vehicles by local law enforcement officers trained to do so;
- House Bill 172, which would clarify eligibility for the Veterinary Education Loan Repayment Program to include former students and specifies that applicants must have practiced in the required specialty for 10 years or less. The maximum award amount for repayment would be increased from $80,000 to $90,000, to be paid in increments of $30,000 per 12 months of service;
- House Bill 182, which would prohibit group life insurance policies in Georgia from excluding or restricting liability for the death of an insured individual who is an active-duty service member unless the death is directly or indirectly caused by war or a related act or hazard;
- House Bill 187, which would be a modernization update to the licensing code for electrical contractors, plumbers, conditioned air contractors, low voltage contractors and utility contractors.
- House Bill 233, which would designate Brunswick stew as the official state stew of Georgia;
- House Bill 254, which would allow a marker to be placed on State Capitol building grounds and state archives building grounds that would commemorate the patriots of the Revolutionary War. The placement location would be subject to approval by the Capitol Arts Standards Commission for placement on Capitol grounds and by the Board of Regents for archives building grounds. No public funds would be used for the design and procurement of the markers;
- House Bill 287, which would update multiple sunset dates and authorize the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) to issue free courtesy hunting or fishing licenses to paralyzed or disabled individuals participating in approved organized events. HB 287 would also introduce a new fee structure for resident shellfish crew licenses. It would create two categories: one for up to 10 harvesters at an annual fee of $200 and another for unlimited harvesters at an annual fee of $400;
- House Bill 303, which would create the Original 33 Memorial Act, which would allow a monument honoring the Original 33, the black Republican legislators expelled from the General Assembly after the end of Reconstruction, to be placed on Capitol grounds or in another prominent place.
- House Bill 352, also known as the Georgia Gestational Diabetes Management Act, which would include patients with gestational diabetes on the list of those eligible for Medicaid covered by continuous glucose monitors. HB 352 would also remove the eligibility requirement for daily insulin administration;
- House Bill 373, which would mandate insurance coverage for annual prostate cancer screenings for high-risk men, including digital rectal examinations and prostate-specific antigen tests. Given that early detection significantly improves outcomes for prostate cancer. HB 373 would allow for greater chances of early detection and would ultimately save lives as a result.
- House Bill 423, which would provide for Next Generation 9-1-1 systems and services and would require all new 9-1-1 systems to conform to wireless enhanced 9-1-1 standards. The bill would revise the duties and responsibilities of the Georgia Emergency Communications Authority, would add members to the board of directors and would revise the role of the executive director of the authority;
- House Bill 428 the House took a significant step in supporting Georgians and their growing families. This legislation would codify the right to access to in vitro fertilization (IVF), reinforcing our commitment to making Georgia the best place to live, work and raise a family.
- House Bill 444, which would designate the month of April of each year as Georgia Native Plant Month;
- House Bill 495, which would transfer authority of the Center for Rural Prosperity and Innovation from the University System of Georgia to the Georgia Department of Agriculture. The center’s director would be appointed by the Department of Agriculture commissioner. The bill would further outline duties of the center, including producing an annual report, providing information and research and conducting meetings at least once per quarter;
These are just a few of the bills that passed last week, and more are on the way as we approach Crossover Day. To read these or any other bills for yourself, visit the Georgia General Assembly website.
Rev. Clint Hutcheson Serves as Chaplain of the Day
On Wednesday, Rev. Clint Hutcheson of Vidalia Advent Christian Church and the Mercy Ministries served as the House Chaplain of the Day. With him were Mercy board members Michael Thigpen and Micah Williams and Luis Gonzolez, Director of Ministry. We spent time with Speaker Jon Burns discussing the Mercy Ministries and the care that is provided there for uninsured adults in our area. Then, Rev. Hutcheson delivered an inspiring devotion to the House. You can see the video of his devotion here.
Visitors to the Capitol Last Week
- Toombs County Commissioners: Chairman David Sikes and Buck Moon.
- Vidalia High School Student Government Association leaders and their sponsor Missy Owens.
- Telfair County Commissioners: Douglas Perkins, Carla Sirmans, Dakkia Bradshaw, Christy Purvis, and Mike Cravey.
- Pastor Michael Plowman of Liberty Baptist Church in Lyons and Pastor Brian Patrick of Calvary’s Grace Baptist Church in Ailey and friends.
- Tuesday was Georgia 4-H Day! State President Kingston Ryals and others from Toombs County and members of the Fitzgerald-Ben Hill 4-H group were there.
- Oshiana Roberts, Toombs County Boys & Girls Club Youth of the Year nominee
Looking Ahead to Crossover Day
March 6th marks Crossover Day, the deadline for bills to pass out of their original chamber to remain eligible for final passage this session. This means we have another packed week ahead! If you have questions about any legislation, please reach out. I value your input and want to hear your thoughts on the issues that matter most to you and your family.
Thank you for trusting me to serve as your representative at our state Capitol!