Original source: Georgia Legislative Report - March 28, 2025
MCO Group

01. Legislature Completes Day 37

The General Assembly convened for three days this week, completing day 37 of the 40-day session. The legislature will convene Monday, Wednesday and Friday of next week for days 38 through 40, at which point they will adjourn Sine Dine. Tuesday and Thursday will be reserved for committee days. Committees are feverishly meeting to pass legislation as we are entering the final week of the 2025 legislative session

As a reminder, the adjournment resolution (SR 6) and House and Senate committee schedules are linked below.

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02. Second Tort Reform Bill Passes House

The second part of Gov. Brian Kemp's top priority to limit lawsuits and large verdicts won approval Thursday from the House. The full package, also called tort reform, is set to hit his desk in the coming weeks.  The bill, which seeks to limit predatory activity from third parties and foreign adversaries who invest in litigation, got overwhelming approval in the Senate and bipartisan support in the House, passing 98-69. But those moves come as lawmakers grapple with the fallout from political disputes over the first half of the proposal. SB 69 requires third-party entities that invest in litigation to register with the Department of Banking and Finance and bans foreign adversaries and governments from investing in litigation, among other reforms. It also limits how much the funders of litigation can influence civil litigation proceedings and the people involved.

03. President Trump Selects GA Senator as U.S. Treasurer

Senator Brandon Beach has been nominated by President Donald Trump to serve as the next U.S. Treasurer. Beach, a Republican, has represented District 21, which includes parts of Fulton and Cherokee counties, since 2013. He is a longtime Alpharetta resident, president and CEO of the Greater North Fulton Chamber of Commerce and president and CEO of the North Fulton Community Improvement District. Trump said Beach would "uphold the values of fiscal responsibility and economic growth — and help unleash America’s golden age."

04. Georgia to Cancel 455,000 Inactive Voter Registrations

Georgia election officials are set to cancel approximately 455,000 inactive voter registrations this summer, one of the largest purges in U.S. history. According to a report from the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, more than half of the removals were flagged by the Electronic Registration Information Center (ERIC), a 24-state organization that identifies voters who have moved or become ineligible. State officials, including Elections Director Blake Evans, argue that the cancellations demonstrate ERIC’s effectiveness in maintaining an accurate voter list. “ERIC is the best tool out there right now that gives us valuable information you can’t get anywhere else,” Evans told the AJC.  The majority of the cancellations affect voters who appear to have moved, either by changing addresses, registering in other states, or obtaining out-of-state driver’s licenses.

05. Senate Passes FY26 Budget

The Senate voted today 48-7 to adopt HB 68, the Fiscal Year 2026 (FY26) budget. The FY26 budget is set by a revenue estimate of $37.7 billion, an increase of $1.6 billion or 4.4 percent over the FY 2025 original budget. House and Senate conferees will need to reconcile line-item differences including over $1.1 billion in state funds between the Capital Projects Fund and the General Obligation Debt Sinking Fund as well as over $95 million of state funds for Promise Scholarship Grants pursuant to SB 233 adopted in 2024.  Senate FY26 budget highlights:

• The House provides $792,585 for eight positions to expand the Georgia Hemp Program pursuant to SB 494 (2024 Session). Senate decreased to $490,873.
  
• The Senate version of House Bill 68 cuts $6 million to improve homelessness initiatives including $4 million to leverage additional federal funding for the State Housing Trust Fund and $2 million to expand the Accountable Housing Initiative.
  
• The Senate maintained $2.7 million in new funding is provided in the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities (DBHDD) for various programs that address homelessness, including 100 new housing voucher slots, outreach services for those with severe mental illness, and a community action team.
  
• The Senate version of the Fiscal Year 2026 budget cuts $7 million to the Georgia World Congress Center Authority to prepare for the execution of public safety and infrastructure costs related to the hosting of future major sporting events, including Super Bowl 62 and the 2031 NCAA Men’s Final Four.
  
• The Senate struck $200,000 of state funds to establish the Georgia Grown Wood Product program in the Georgia Forestry Commission.
  
• The Senate failed to fund $25 million for the first-year cost of the statewide School and Student Safety (S3) Database to gather and investigate school-based threats across state and local law enforcement agencies. The funds also provide support for behavioral threat assessment management (BTAM) teams to resolve identified threats, ultimately improving the safety of Georgia’s students.
  
• The House version of the FY 2026 budget includes a new program under the Department of Education called “Student Support Services,” providing academic and mental health supports for students in and outside school. The program contains $19.6 million for mental health support grants to school systems. Structured like school security grants, systems will earn $20,000 for each middle and high school (979 statewide) for mental health services, to include contracting with mental health providers, tele-mental health contracts, or hiring staff for in-school counseling. The program also includes $5 million for social work services grants.  The Senate failed to fund or partially fund these initiatives.
  
• The House and Senate budgets fully fund the Quality Basic Education (QBE) program, totaling $14.7 billion in state funds. The House version of the FY 2026 budget includes $302.4 million to provide for enrollment growth and training and experience for an additional 1,291 students and 3,413 teachers.
  
• The budget also includes $24.7 million for growth in the State Commission Charter School supplements. Charter system grants receive $313,627 in additional funding and local charter schools receive an additional $48,477 in funding. Additionally, the House supports the governor’s recommendation of lowering the school psychologist ratio from 1:2,475 to 1:2,420, totaling $871,982.  The Senate increased the Charter School supplements to $25,374,042 and the ratios to $874,984.
  
• The Senate struck the House funding of $2.5 million for college preparatory exams based on increased utilization. Currently, the state funds PSAT exams for all tenth-grade students and one AP/IB exam for free and reduced-price lunch students, and one AP/IB STEM exam for any student. In FY 2025, the state funded 99,960 PSAT exams and 80,000 AP exams for Georgia students.
  
• The Senate version of HB 68 cut almost half of the $32 million in reimbursement rate increases for providers treating patients on Medicaid across the state. The services include: $8 million (Sen: $4 million) for emergency medical services (EMS) transports to provide payment for the first 10 (Sen: 6) miles of transportation, air ambulance transfers, and service increases; $1.9 million for an increase for speech therapy (Sen: $0) $1.9 million for neonatologists and maternal fetal medicine specialists; $6.3 million (Sen: $900,000) for applied behavior analysis; $7.5 (Sen: $3.75) million for primary care physicians; $3.1 million (Sen: $0) for dental code increases; $1.7 million (Sen: $0) to increase durable medical equipment reimbursements; and $1.5 million to provide coverage for heart and lung transplants. The Senate struck $1 million earmarked for the Department of Community Health to conduct a comprehensive study of all Medicaid provider reimbursement rates and to make recommendations for improvements.
  
• The Senate also cut over $2.5 million in funds for the Program for All-Inclusive Care (PACE) for the Elderly pursuant to HB 1078 in the 2024 Session.
  
• The House version of the budget includes $3.1 million to continue the $3 dispensing fee for independent pharmacists for an additional six months, and an additional $1.2 million for drugs dispensed to a covered person in an amount equal to the national average drug acquisition cost.  The Senate increased the $1.2 million to $5 million.
  
• The Senate agreed to new funding for graduate medical education. However, the Senate proposes to fund the programs through a new State Plan Amendment similar to Florida’s recent filing that was approved in 60 days.  This includes $2.8 million for 150 new residency slots, $469,654 in new fellowships, and $5 million to establish a grant program to support new and expanding residency programs.
  
• House Bill 68 directs the Georgia Student Finance Commission to utilize existing funds to increase the Tuition Equalization Grant (TEG) award amount from $1,100 to $1,150 per year.  The Senate failed to fund this increase.
  
• The Senate agreed with the House to fund an additional $33 million in formula funds for the Technical College System of Georgia (TCSG) to reflect a 10.6% increase in enrollment. The budget also includes $15.8 million in additional targeted funding, bringing the total appropriation to TCSG to offset the increased cost of providing high-demand and high-cost programming in aviation, commercial truck driving, and nursing to $31 million.
  
• The House version of the FY 2026 budget supports the governor’s recommendation for 100 NOW/COMP waivers and adds 50 new waivers with a $3.4 million appropriation.  The Senate added 50 additional slots and increased funding to $4.6 million.
  
• HB 68 provides $5.8 million to DBHDD to expand the availability of forensic services and adds $185,420 (Sen: $0) for a jail diversion program. Finally, the House adds $9.4 (Sen: $2.3) million for a new behavioral health crisis center in North Fulton.
  
• The House version of HB 68 provides $19.2 million to address growth in foster care and the increased costs of care; $1.5 million to provide clothing and supplies for foster youth, keep foster children closer to their families, deter child welfare involvement, and support those aging out of care; and $6.1 (Sen: $3) million for a 2% (Sen: 1%) provider rate increase for Child Caring Institutions, Child Placing Agencies, foster parents, and relative caregivers.
  
• The Senate added over $1 million for the Department of Public Safety for the protection of communities.
  
• The House and Senate provides the Department of Corrections with a total increase of $250 million over the agency’s prior year budget. The budget includes $45 million to add more than 700 correctional officers to improve inmate to staff ratios. The state’s aging correctional facilities are in need of critical repairs to keep both correctional officers and inmates safe. In order to renovate facilities, the budget provides funds to move 667 prisoners out of state prison facilities to other housing units. With the addition of four 126-bed prefabricated housing units coming online in FY 2026, a total of 1,171 inmates will be moved from state prisons to empty housing units for widespread renovations.