Friend,
Last week, we adjourned Sine Die, capping a busy but productive 40-day legislative session. We were able to accomplish so much for Georgia families during this short time, from workforce development, tax rebates, pay increases for law enforcement and teachers, increased public safety, and so much more. I wanted to take a minute to share some of our priorities that passed this year.
Create a Stable Workforce
Cut burdensome regulations so that Georgia’s businesses can hire more employees and grow our economy
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Legislation: Senate Bill 3 “Reducing Barriers to State Employment Act of 2023”
- Senate Bill 3 instructs state agencies to examine qualifications for state government jobs to not require a college degree unless truly necessary.
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Legislation: Senate Bill 86 - Expands Access to HOPE Career Grant
- Senate Bill 86 would allow eligible students participating in the Dual Enrollment program to access HOPE Grant funds for certain Career Technical and Agricultural Education (CTAE) courses if they’ve reached maximum credit hour caps or not.
Strengthen Public Safety
- Limit the pretrial release of any suspected gang members and impose tougher jail time to ensure these criminals are not allowed back onto the streets
- Support increased funding and higher salaries for public safety personnel
- Tighten Georgia’s gang law to require mandatory minimums and consecutive sentencing for any gang related activity
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Legislation: Senate Bill 44 “The Street Gang Terrorism and Prevention Act”
- Senate Bill 44 addresses gang violence by creating a new offense for recruiting minors to gangs and establishes a mandatory minimum sentencing scheme for all gang offenses.
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Legislation: Senate Bill 68 - Dogfighting/RICO
- Under Senate Bill 68, the commission of more than one dogfighting offense (or a conspiracy to do so) would constitute “a pattern of racketeering activity” that would subject the participants to liability under the RICO statute and allow them to be punished as an organized criminal enterprise.
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Legislation: Senate Bill 92 Prosecuting Attorneys Qualifications Commission
- Senate Bill 92 creates an oversight commission for Georgia's district attorneys. The eight member panel could remove district attorneys and solicitor generals for a variety of issues, including refusal to prosecute certain crimes.
Put Children and Families First
- Give a bigger platform to critically important issues and develop policies that benefit children and families across our state
- Support increased funding for students, teachers, and other critical educational improvements
- Support increased funding for additional counselors throughout the state of Georgia
- Make Georgia the most affordable place to adopt
Creation of the Senate Children and Families Committee
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Legislation: Senate Bill 131 - Aligns notice requirements for permanent guardianship
- Senate Bill 131 aligns notice requirements for permanent guardianship with termination of parental rights (TPR) proceedings. Additionally, SB 131 addresses the termination of parent rights when a surviving parent is being criminally indicted for the offense of murder or voluntary manslaughter of the other parent.
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Legislation: Senate Bill 133 - Child in Need of Services (CHIN) hearings
- Senate Bill 133 establishes a uniform process for the Division of Family and Children Services (DFCS) to address custody of children for delinquency disposition orders and Child in Need of Services (CHIN) hearings.
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Legislation: Senate Bill 134 - Addresses parental rights
- Senate Bill 134 helps streamline proceedings addressing parental rights by expediting the use of medical narratives and makes it easier for children to testify in proceedings
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Legislation: Senate Bill 135 - Addresses genetic testing
- Senate Bill 135 which establishes standards for admissibility and authenticity of genetic testing
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Legislation: Senate Bill 216 - Respite care for foster parents
- Allows for up to 72 hours of respite care for foster parents. 'Respite care' means occasional or short-term relief for a caregiver by a person or entity.
Secure Elections
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Legislation: Senate Bill 222 – Zuckerberg Election Reform
- Ensures that all costs and expenses relating to election administration are paid for with lawfully appropriate public funds and would prohibit certain local governments and individuals from soliciting or accepting donations or other things of value to support election administration.
2023 Priority Study Committees
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Senate Resolution 85: The Senate Occupational Licensing Study Committee sponsored by Senator Larry Walker (R – Perry) addresses Georgia’s current occupational licensing laws and requirements.
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Senate Resolution 275: Senator John Albers (R – Roswell) sponsored the Senate Study Committee on Expanding Georgia’s Workforce, which will examine current practices, pilot programs, private-public partnerships, and initiatives by industries across Georgia to increase workforce opportunities.
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Senate Resolution 279: The Senate Study Committee on Certificate of Need (CON) Reform sponsored by Senator Greg Dolezal (R – Cumming) will address CON reform policies that will preserve the ability of hospitals to continue to provide open access to all patients in a community.
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Senate Resolution 282: Senator Kay Kirkpatrick (R – Marietta) sponsored the Senate Study Committee on Foster Care and Adoption, which will review current guidelines and processes related to foster care and adoption.
