Georgia’s legislative session is fast approaching Crossover Day, the March 6 deadline for bills to stay in play, by getting passed in their originating chamber and “crossing over” to the other chamber.
Atlanta Civic Circle has been tracking bills that would affect free speech, civil liberties, and ballot access, along with others that would regulate workplace conditions and big landlords. Here’s where they stand and which ones could make it past Crossover Day.
Speech & civil liberties
Senate Bill 57: Freedom of Speech and Belief Act
Summary This bill would prohibit financial service providers and utility companies from denying service to customers based on certain activities. These activities include choosing not to help employees access abortions or gender reassignment services, and engaging in business related to firearms, ammunition, oil, and gas.
Status: Aligns with Republican priorities on free speech protections and has strong GOP support.
Senate Bill 74: Criminalizes librarians for distributing “harmful materials” to minors
Summary: This bill would remove the current exemption that protects libraries and librarians from criminal penalties under a 2024 state law against distributing harmful materials to minors. It would make any knowing violation a “high and aggravated misdemeanor,” which carries a $5,000 fine and jail time of up to one year. It also provides a legal defense for librarians who make good-faith efforts to remove such materials.
Status: Passed committee but faces strong opposition and uncertain House support.
Senate Bill 1: Bans transgender women from female sports teams, restricts bathroom access
Summary: This bill, the “Fair and Safe Athletic Opportunities Act” bans transgender students (middle school through college) from playing on sports teams that align with their gender orientation. For instance, transgender female students would not be able to play on female sports teams. It would also require schools to designate teams and athletic facility restrooms based on gender. Democratic legislators have expressed that there is no recorded instance of transgender women participating in female sports teams in Georgia, questioning the necessity of the bill.
Status: Passed committee and has strong GOP support.
Elections
House Bill 397: Allows Saturday advance voting for municipal elections
Summary: This bill proposes allowing municipalities in Georgia to opt into providing advance voting on Saturdays for municipal elections. The goal is to enhance voter access, which could
increase voter turnout.
Status: Has bipartisan support.
House Bill 215: Voter List Integrity Act
Summary: This bill would ban the Georgia Secretary of State and local elections offices from participating in multistate voter-list maintenance organizations, which cross-check voter lists across states to ensure that participating states have up-to-date, accurate voter rolls. For instance, a registered Georgia voter who’s relocated to Maine and registered to vote there would be deleted from the Georgia roll. President Donald Trump called on Georgia to pull out of the Electronic Registration Information Center (ERIC) in March 2023, which is the largest such group.
This bill is important because it directly affects how accurate Georgia’s voter rolls are, potentially influencing elections in Georgia and how the state interacts with federal election systems.
Status: Stalled in committee with bipartisan opposition.
House Bill 502: No waiting in line for older voters or those with toddlers
Summary: Voters who are over age 75 or have a disability and require assistance to vote, may vote immediately without waiting in line under current statute. This bill would expand that accommodation to voters accompanied by a child under the age of two. It aims to increase access to the polls for parents with young children.
Status: Not yet scheduled for a hearing.
Labor rights
House Bill 16: Warehouse Workplace Protection Act
Summary: This bill would establish more comprehensive labor protections for employees working in warehouse distribution centers. Key provisions include: limiting work-speed quotas, mandating paid rest breaks, and ensuring adequate health and safety protections like water stations and proper air conditioning. It could improve working conditions and reduce workplace injuries.
Status: Stalled in committee
Housing
House Bill 305: Protect the Dream Act
Summary: This bipartisan bill would prohibit investment funds with $6.25 million or more in assets, or who own at least 25 single-family homes in any single county from buying more houses anywhere in the state. Homebuilders and nonprofits would be exempt. The bill aims to reduce the outsize pricing influence that institutional investors have over Georgia’s housing markets.
Status: Stalled in committee
House Bill 399: Big landlords must have in-state staff
Summary: This companion legislation to HB 305 would require big, out-of-state landlords to employ in-state staff to respond to tenant communications about maintenance issues. It would apply to any out-of-state landlord that owns or operates 25 or more single-family or duplex rental houses in Georgia.
Status: Stalled in committee
House Bill 374: Allows landlord registries
Summary: This bill would permit local governments to establish residential rental registries – databases tracking landlord, property owner, and/or property manager information – to improve transparency and accountability within rental housing markets. It would also impose fines for entities that fail to provide that information.
The aim is to enable local governments to more closely monitor institutional investors, such as hedge funds, in Georgia’s residential rental markets and enforce housing codes and landlord-tenant laws. It would also reveal which rental properties are “partially or wholly owned, directly or indirectly, by a foreign adversary,” including China, Russia, Iran, North Korea, Cuba, and Venezuela, even though there is no evidence that these countries are significant investors in Georgia residential properties.
Status: Stalled in committee
House Bill 170: Statewide Interagency Council for the Homeless
Summary: This bill would create a Georgia Interagency Council for the Homeless to coordinate a statewide approach to addressing homelessness. The 21-member group, all appointed by the governor, would conduct a statewide survey of current resources for unhoused people, identify gaps in services, and coordinate services statewide. It would also coordinate statewide efforts to combat the criminalization of homelessness.
The council would be led by the Department of Community Affairs commissioner, with 13 officials from the Department of Public Health and other state agencies, as well as one member of the Continuum of Care network, three members who have personally experienced homelessness, and three service-provider members.
Status: Stalled in committee.
House Bill TBD: To provide a legal definition of “habitability” for rental housing
Summary: State Rep. Terry Cummings (D-Mableton) plans to file legislation to amend last year’s House Bill 404, the “Safe at Home Act,” which requires landlords to provide rental dwellings that are “fit for human habitation.” HB 404 didn’t define “habitability,” so Cummings aims to establish a legal definition of the term, as it pertains to rental housing conditions.
Status: Not yet filed
HOW TO GET INVOLVED
If you want to weigh in during Georgia’s current legislative session, you can find out who your state representative and senator are and contact them here.
If a bill is in a committee, it is up to the committee chair to hold a hearing on that bill. You can search for committees and find the contact info for their chairs and members here.