Crossover Day at the State Capitol was predictably busy Monday, with the halls of the Gold Dome swarming with lobbyists and legislators trying to make sure their bills passed their respective chambers to move forward this session. Here are some of the key bills that passed – or died – Monday. Look for more on other legislation that survived later this week on IAG.
Midyear budget: The House and Senate got the midyear budget out of the way early Monday, agreeing to a $32.5 billion midyear budget that will fund the state through June. It includes a 7.8% spending increase – in line with inflation – and a $1.1 billion property tax cut. It also sends $1.1 billion to the Georgia Department of Transportation to make up for the budget shortfall left by the suspension of the fuel tax last year. The General Assembly will continue to work on a budget for FY2024, which it must approve before the conclusion of the session.
Sports betting: One of the key issues of the 2023 session at one point had four separate bills seeking its legalization in the Peach State. One, SB 57, failed to make it out of committee last week. Another, SR 140, sought a constitutional amendment to legalize betting, which requires a 2/3 ‘yes’ vote in each chamber. It failed Monday and so its companion legislation, SB 172, was taken off the table. HB 380 was the last chance for sports betting advocates (barring a Sine Die Hail Mary) and it failed to come to a floor vote before the House was adjourned close to midnight. That means once again sports betting, for all its high favorability numbers statewide, is quite possibly dead for yet another session.
Hate crimes: When State Rep. Esther Panitch, D-Sandy Springs, discovered anti-Semitic flyers distributed in her neighborhood she sprung into action. Her HB 30, approved Monday, would provide a legal definition of anti-Semitism so that it is covered under the state’s hate crime laws, passed in 2020.
Medical marijuana: The Georgia House voted 170-2 in favor of HB 196, which seeks to break up the logjam that has prevented medical cannabis oil from going into widespread production since it was originally legalized all the way back in 2015. The bill would allow additional companies to start growing and selling the oil, which does not contain enough THC to get users high but is used to treat a variety of ailments.
Charter schools: Republican-backed SB 233 passed the Senate on a party-line vote, sending the controversial education bill to the House. The legislation would give $6,000 a year in state funds to parents who pull their child out of public school to send them to private school, the same amount per-year that the state spends on each student. Bill sponsor Sen. Greg Dolezal, R-Cumming, calls it a “money-follows-the-child bill.”
