ATLANTA – The General Assembly will convene under the Gold Dome on Monday with the usual mix of old and new business on its plate.

Supporters of perennial to-do items including tort reform and legalized sports betting will be back for another crack at getting their favorite causes through the legislature and to Gov. Brian Kemp’s desk for his signature.

At the same time, new demands for funding for victims of Hurricane Helene and to improve conditions inside the much-maligned state prison system will vie for attention. Lawmakers also will be asked to respond to the school shooting in Barrow County last September with legislation aimed at ensuring safe storage of firearms.

Kemp has made tort reform a major priority for the second year in a row. The General Assembly passed a Kemp-backed bill last year directing the state insurance department to gather data on legal trends affecting insurance premiums and prepare a report.

At a roundtable with small business leaders last August, the governor vowed to use that data to help craft legislation aimed at reducing “runaway” jury awards that drive up premiums business owners struggle to pay.

Opponents warn that if carried too far, tort reform threatens to rob Georgians injured in car crashes or by medical malpractice of their day in court.

“Ensuring that Georgia remains the No.-1 state for business while also protecting the rights of consumers requires a balanced approach to litigation reform,” said House Speaker Jon Burns, R-Newington. “We will be driven by the facts, gather input from constituents and stakeholders from across the state and look at thoughtful, data-driven solutions to balance the scales.”

Legalized gambling is another issue the General Assembly has taken up repeatedly in recent years without passing. Armed with a new poll showing widespread public support for legalizing sports betting, an alliance of sportsbooks including FanDuel and DraftKings will be back asking lawmakers to legalize what already is legal in 39 other states.

“Illegal sports betting is happening in the state, but they don’t pay taxes,” said Scott Ward, a national expert on sports betting and counsel to the alliance. “People are realizing this is here. We need to put guardrails around it, regulate it, and tax it.”

Faith-based organizations also will be back at the state Capitol opposing legalizing sports betting on moral grounds and as an economic threat to Georgians addicted to gambling.

While tort reform and legalized gambling have sparked annual tussles in the General Assembly, new demands to tap into Georgia’s bulging budget surplus promise to play major roles in 2025.

In Athens last month, Kemp pledged to unveil a Hurricane Helene disaster relief package at the beginning of the legislative session. The massive storm struck South Georgia and spread north through the Augusta area in late September, killing 34 and causing heavy rainfall and widespread flooding as well as extensive power outages. 

“We’ve gone through probably the most damaging storm in our history … lasting and generational damage,” the governor said. “We saw unbelievable damage and communities that will probably never be the same.”

The importance of improving conditions inside Georgia’s prison system was brought home Jan. 7 when Kemp and state Commissioner of Corrections Tyrone Olive asked lawmakers to pony up $372 million to hire more correctional officers, raise the salaries of those already on the payroll, and invest in infrastructure upgrades needed to improve the health and safety of inmates.

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The spending request was highly unusual, coming before the start of this year’s legislative session, but Kemp and legislative leaders see the need as critical following the release of a U.S. Justice Department audit last fall accusing the prison system of violating inmates’ constitutional rights by failing to protect them from widespread violence.

“We need to make sure our guards are adequately compensated,” Burns said. “(Also, inmates) need to be protected when they go to prison.”

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Two teachers and two students were killed in Apalachee High School by a 14-year-old student, who is in custody.

The legislature also is expected to respond to the mass shooting at Apalachee High School near Winder last September that killed two students and two teachers. A fellow student was arrested at the scene and charged with the murders, while his father faces criminal charges for allegedly letting his son possess the AR-15 style rifle used in the killings.

While the Republican-controlled General Assembly is not likely to support legislation requiring gun owners to buy trigger locks or gun safes to safely store their firearms, a proposal to offer tax credits as an incentive to those who do enjoys broad support.

But state Sen. Emanuel Jones, D-Decatur, who chaired a Senate study committee on safe firearm storage last year, said that’s not enough. Jones said lawmakers should require school districts to improve how they communicate with each other when a student moves into a new school.

Colt Gray, the 14-year-old student arrested in the Barrow County case, had recently transferred to Apalachee High.

“When a kid transfers to a new school system, any information his former school system has doesn’t automatically get transferred to the new school system,” Jones said. “That needs to be changed.”