Georgia
Democracy, housing and labor: What bills will become Georgia law?
It wasn’t the usual late-night lawmaking frenzy under the Gold Dome for Sine Die on Friday.
The Georgia legislature passed the state’s annual budget — $38 billion this year — in the morning and adjourned relatively early on April 5, the last day of the 2025 legislative session. The Senate wrapped up around 9:15 p.m., and the House concluded just over an hour later.
Since the start of the session, Atlanta Civic Circle has been tracking bills related to democracy, housing, and labor. Here’s a look at what will and won’t make it to Gov. Brian Kemp’s desk for his signature into law. The governor can choose to veto any of those bills within 40 days of the session’s April 5 conclusion.
As a reminder, 2025 marks the first year of a two-year session, so bills that stalled in the House or Senate (without receiving an actual “no” vote) can always be taken up next year.
Speech and civil liberties
Senate Bill 36: Georgia Religious Freedom Restoration Act
STATUS: SIGNED INTO LAW APRIL 5. ( HOUSE 96-70 / SENATE 32-23 )
This Republican-backed bill restricts state and local governments’ ability to “burden a person’s exercise of religion.” Democrats opposed the measure, because they say it opens the door for a business to discriminate on the basis of religion. A previous attempt to pass the law in 2016 was vetoed by then-Gov. Nathan Deal.
Senate Bill 12: Public records law changes
STATUS: PASSED APRIL 4. AWAITS GOVERNOR’S SIGNATURE. (HOUSE 167-1 / SENATE 33-1)
This bill adds an extra step to the rules for obtaining public records from a private entity, such as a nonprofit or government contractor, that is subject to the Georgia Open Records Act. The law applies to non-governmental organizations that do work on behalf of or in service of a government agency.
The key change is that members of the public can no longer make public records requests directly to the private entity. Instead they must direct their requests to a designated “custodian” at a relevant government agency. That intermediary will solicit the records from the private entity.
Government transparency advocates say that adding the middle-man intermediary will inhibit access to public records from private entities and make it harder to verify compliance with the state’s open records law.
Senate Bill 74: Criminalizes librarians for distributing “harmful materials” to minors
STATUS: STALLED.
Libraries and librarians are currently exempt from criminal penalties in a 2024 state law against distributing materials to minors that the legislature deems harmful. SB 74 would make any knowing violation by librarians a “high and aggravated misdemeanor,” with a $5,000 fine and up to a year in jail. It provides a legal defense for librarians who make good-faith efforts to remove such materials.
Senate Bill 1: Bans transgender women from female sports teams, restricts bathroom access
STATUS: PASSED MARCH 31. AWAITS GOVERNOR’S SIGNATURE. (HOUSE 100-64 / SENATE 32-20)
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 can’t play on female sports teams. It also requires schools to designate teams and athletic-facility bathrooms based on gender.
Democratic legislators questioned the need for the law, pointing out that there is no recorded instance of any transgender girl or woman participating on female sports teams in Georgia. The bill also defines female gender statewide as “an individual who has, had, will have, or, but for a developmental or genetic anomaly or historical accident, would have the reproductive system capable of producing human ovum.” It does the same for male gender, replacing “ovum” with “sperm.” SB 1 took a rocky journey through the legislature. It underwent multiple amendments before finally passing the Senate and then the House. In fact, the House’s modifications were so extensive that SB 1 had to return to the Senate for two final rounds of agree-disagree votes.
Elections and governance
House Bill 397: Withdraws Georgia from ERIC, plus makes changes to State Election Board and early voting
STATUS: STALLED.
This House bill originally spelled out how municipalities could opt in or opt out of advance voting on Saturdays. However, lawmakers in the Senate turned it into a franken-bill of MAGA elections law wish-list items. The overhauled elections bill passed the Senate, but with such extensive changes that it had to go back to the House for an agree-disagree vote. That vote didn’t happen before Sine Die. Among the provisions were:
- withdrawing Georgia from a multi-state compact, Electronic Registration Information Center (ERIC), that shares real-time voter-registration updates.
- 24/7 video monitoring of ballot drop boxes.
- Increasing the powers of the controversial State Election Board.
Senate Bill 175: Substitute omnibus election bill, similar to HB 397
STATUS: STALLED.
This Senate bill was originally written as a ban on using ranked-choice voting for any Georgia election. But once it reached the House, all of that language got stripped out and it turned into a pared-down version of HB 397. It never reached a full House vote.
House Bill 147: AI regulation for state and local governments
STATUS: STALLED.
This bipartisan bill would create Georgia’s first-ever state body to set best practices for how state and local governments use artificial intelligence (AI). It also would set disclosure requirements so the public understands how, when, and why local governments are using AI. Although HB 147 incorporated elements of another AI transparency bill, Senate Bill 37, that fizzled out, the House bill didn’t make it to a floor vote in the Senate.
Housing
House Bill 92: Adds barriers for local governments trying to avoid Georgia’s new homestead-exemption tax cap
Status: SIGNED INTO LAW APRIL 1. (HOUSE 165-0 / SENATE: 52-2)
This new law makes it harder for local governments that opted out of the state’s new homestead property-tax exemption to stay opted out. Cities, counties, and school boards that successfully exited before the one-time March 1, 2025 deadline now must continue opting out annually.
Georgia’s new constitutional amendment permanently caps any increases in the assessed value of someone’s primary residence at the annual inflation rate statewide for property-tax purposes. However, many localities, such as the city of Atlanta, have preemptively opted out, saying they prefer to maintain local control over property taxes and tailor their own homestead exemptions.
House Bill 399: Big landlords must have in-state staff
Status: PASSED APRIL 4. AWAITS GOVERNOR’S SIGNATURE. (HOUSE 159-5 / SENATE 41-9)
A bill requiring many out-of-state landlords to employ at least one Georgia staffer to handle tenant complaints is bound for Gov. Brian Kemp’s desk. It’s a minor win for affordable housing advocates, who celebrated the increased landlord accountability, but cautioned that it could lead to retaliation against lower-income tenants who raise concerns about living conditions.
HB 399 is the only legislation to regulate institutional investors buying up residential housing across Georgia that passed this year. Here’s our full story.
House Bill 61: Anti-squatter legislation targeting motel residents
Status: STALLED.
House legislation that would make it easier for hotel managers to evict long-term guests failed to get a Senate vote — but lawmakers are likely to try again with House Bill 61 next year.
Another franken-bill, HB 61 initially authorized the state to issue special license plates for hearses and ambulances. Republican senators gutted that language in March and implanted provisions from the failed House Bill 183, a measure to bolster innkeepers’ power over the length of guest stays.
The overhauled HB 61 said that anyone committing the misdemeanor of “unlawful squatting” — living in a house, apartment, hotel, or vehicle without express permission — “shall be subject to removal” by law enforcement within 10 days of being notified via legal affidavit by the property owner, legal occupant, or landlord.
Georgia
5 things to watch for in Georgia politics this year
Your daily jolt of news and analysis from the AJC politics team.
Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp is his second and final term of office. (Hyosub Shin/AJC)
Today’s newsletter highlights:
- Marjorie Taylor Greene stokes feud with Donald Trump as she exits Congress.
- Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens will be sworn in today for a second term.
- Dana Barrett is expected to run for secretary of state as a Democrat.
Looking ahead
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Things to know
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- A yearslong challenge to Georgia’s anti-abortion law and a case blaming Snapchat for a teenager’s reckless driving are among the cases to watch in state courts this year, the AJC’s Rosie Manins reports.
- Garland Favorito believes the U.S. government covered up the truth about the assassinations of President John F. Kennedy and the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. Now, he’s become a leader among conservatives who say Georgia’s 2020 presidential election was rife with fraud, the AJC’s David Wickert reports.
- A shadowy group has paid roughly $8 million for ads criticizing Lt. Gov. Burt Jones’ campaign for governor. Now, Jones is urging the Federal Communications Commission to step in, Greg Bluestein reports.
Last day

U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Rome, is stepping down from Congress today.
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Dickens’ second term
Andre Dickens was first sworn in as mayor of Atlanta during an inauguration ceremony at Georgia Tech in 2022.
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Ossoff’s strategy
U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff held a rally in Savannah last July.
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Campaign watch

Democrat Dana Barrett is a Fulton County commissioner.
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Listen up
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Today in Washington

President Donald Trump waved after arriving at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland. He was returning from a holiday break in Florida.
:sgnineppaH
- President Donald Trump participates in a policy meeting at the White House.
- The full House is out for one more day.
- The House Ethics Committee is expected to announce an update on a complaint involving U.S. Rep. Mike Collins, R-Jackson, and his top aide, Brandon Phillips. The committee disclosed in November that the complaint had been referred to its members on Oct. 7 and set a deadline for today to announce its course of action. The complaint wasn’t made public, and Collins’ office has called it a “desperate and baseless attack” by the U.S. Senate candidate’s political opponents.
- The Senate return for evening votes.
Shoutouts
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- Rebecca Yardley, executive director of America First Georgia (was Tuesday).
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Before you go

Georgia author Allen Levi tells the story of a man named Theo who transforms lives with small acts of kindness.
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Georgia
Georgia lands first transfer portal commitment in Clemson transfer Khalil Barnes
ATHENS — From a statistical standpoint, the two things Georgia did best were convert on fourth down and score touchdowns in the redzone. Entering the Ole Miss game, the …
Connor Riley
Georgia
Sources: Georgia State landing new defensive coordinator from ACC champs
Dell McGee’s defensive staff overhaul as he enters Year 3 atop the Georgia State program is getting its most significant piece of the puzzle, FootballScoop has learned.
McGee is hiring Cam Clark, a senior analyst on Duke coach Manny Diaz’s 2025 Atlantic Coast Conference Champions staff, to run the Georgia State defense, sources tell FootballScoop.
It’s a notable hire for McGee, who is seeking to turn around Georgia State after going just 4-20 in his first two seasons at the helm.
While Clark arrives at Georgia State after assisting the Duke Blue Devils offense, his background is in defensive coaching.
He served two years as defensive coordinator at Football Championship Subdivision program Western Illinois, and he also ran the defense at Lamar University. Additionally, Clark was defensive coordinator at Georgia prep powerhouse Thomas County Central High School.
A former star player at Harding University, Clark obtained his master’s degree from Auburn University, where he served as a graduate assistant.
He has additional Football Bowls Subdivision experience from coaching under both Hugh Freeze and Gus Malzahn while serving on their respective staffs at Arkansas State.
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