NEWS

The 2025 session of the Georgia General Assembly is scheduled to end on April 4, which means legislators have just one month to get their priorities across the finish line. That also applies to the items on our Chamber’s legislative agenda.

Topping the list for the past couple of years has been civil litigation reform, and both of the major bills associated with this effort have passed the Senate and are now being heard in House Committees.

The big reform package is contained in Senate Bill 68, which was assigned to a special subcommittee of the House Rules Committee. After more than two hours of testimony from the bill’s sponsors, various supporters and opponents were heard last week, and we expect another subcommittee meeting this week.

The second part of the package is Senate Bill 69, which increases regulation on third-party funding of legislation, including preventing foreign governments from funding civil litigation in Georgia. This bill passed the Senate unanimously last Friday, and all three of our delegations (Sen. Derek Mallow, Sen. Ben Watson, and Sen. Billy Hickman) supported the measure. This bill will get assigned to a committee, and the House process will start after Crossover Day.

We are also closely watching Senate Bill 31, which exempts military retirement income from the state income tax. SB 31 passed the Senate on Monday with just one no vote. Again, our delegation members all voted to support this measure, and we greatly appreciate their support. SB31 continues to be an idea the Savannah Chamber believes will help our region’s workforce development efforts.

Two other bills look promising in supporting those efforts as well. Senate Bill 207, which streamlines occupational licensing and creates parameters around second chance hiring of previously incarcerated individuals, passed the Senate Judiciary Committee and is now eligible to be called in Senate Rules.

Senate Bill 89 makes improvements to the child care tax credits, has passed out of the Senate vote, and is waiting for a committee assignment in the House.

The Amended Fiscal Year 2025 budget received final passage this week as legislative leaders worked out the differences between the versions passed by each body. A $501 million appropriation that invests in our region’s water/sewer infrastructure has made it intact through the entire process and now only awaits Governor Kemp’s signature.

Finally, House Bill 224 allows the Georgia Department of Transportation to enter into agreements with the Federal Department of Defense for infrastructure maintenance on military installations.

Our Chamber has been working on this issue for years, and we hope this bill finally makes this state-federal collaboration possible.