As Sine Die arrives, legislators face a packed agenda—including the 2026 state budget—after late-night sessions and surprise protests. From a heated debate over gender-affirming care in prisons to election law changes and efforts to ban DEI programs in schools, tensions run high. Plus, the team celebrates a milestone for longtime GPB photojournalist Wesley Nichols.

Today's the day — the 40th and final day of the Georgia legislative session for 2025. It’s called Sine Die. 

As in past years, this should prove to be a very long day. It's clear legislators will need plenty of stamina to get through all the bills still needing a vote. 

Each chamber worked well into the night on Wednesday, then held committee hearings on Thursday. 

The big lift today is the fiscal year 2026 budget.

Otherwise, it's been a week of surprises. The biggest came on Wednesday when just about every Democratic legislator walked out of the House in protest of the vote on a bill that would prohibit gender-affirming care for transgender people in Georgia prisons. 

The Republican-backed House Bill 185 would outlaw the use of taxpayer dollars for transgender inmates.

 

"What struck me most about this bill is that non-criminal citizens would not be able to get the surgery for free in the outside world unless you were prison," Rep. Scott Hilton (R-Peachtree Corners) said. "I don't know why we would offer better health care for criminals than we do for law-abiding citizens."

A bill opponent, Democratic Rep. Tanya Miller of Atlanta, also provided remarks.

"The presenter of this bill shared today in rules that there is not a single case — not one — of an inmate receiving, yet even asking for a sex change operation," she said.

Republicans passed the bill 100 to 2. 

In the Senate, two bills dealing with elections sparked debate. One would allow for hand-marked paper ballots. The other would allow counties to opt out of early voting on Saturdays and prevent voters from hand delivering ballots the weekend before Election Day. 

"In an era where we have seen that the post office is wholly unreliable, many voters have relied on dropping it off the weekend before an election because life happens," Sen. Jason Estevez (D-Atlanta) said.

The Senate also took on a bill to eliminate diversity, equity, and inclusion in K-12 schools and colleges. 

"We’ve developed curriculum programs, degrees, courses, all at taxpayer expense to promote and promulgate the discriminatory ideology of DEI," Sen. Max Burns (R-Sylvania) said.

Opposing Democrat Sen. Derek Mallow of Savannah voiced his thoughts on the bill.

"And so when I read words in the bill and talk about, "you cannot promulgate policies or promote policies or procedures implemented with reference to race, color, sex, ethnicity, national or gender identity or sexual orientation," — colleagues, I wonder what made us so nervous about having folks that were diverse," he said.

The legislation passed along party lines. So did a controversial bill in the House on religious freedom. It now heads to the governor. 

Also, this week, there was a point of pride for those of us on the GPB Lawmakers team: Legislators joined House Speaker Pro Tem Jan Jones in honoring one of our own. 

"Wesley Nichols: It's his 25th year as a member of the Capitol press corps," Jones said. "He serves as lead Capitol photographer for Georgia Public Broadcasting Lawmakers and has helped countless of us with coverage on the formation of laws throughout the legislative process."

Congratulations to Wes.

You can find all of our coverage of the Georgia General Assembly and state politics on gpb.org.

Tags: Lawmakers