'Lawmakers' Day 33: House OKs 60-day gas tax suspension; Chambers pass education legislation

Caption

On March 18, 2026, the House passed a new amendment to HB 1199, the annual bill that aligns Georgia code to federal revenue laws. The new amendment suspends the gas tax in Georgia for 60 days.

Credit: Adobe Stock Image

On Wednesday at the Capitol, both chambers passed bills dealing with schools and students and the House passed a measure aiming to lower prices at the gas pump.

In the Senate, six bills and lots of politics were discussed. Lt. Gov. Burt Jones used time during the points of personal privilege to bring the politics of his current gubernatorial campaign to the Senate floor. Jones called out his chief Republican challenger, Rick Jackson, and his company for driving up medical costs.

"It does really kind of disgust me that you have one private company that's used taxpayer dollars to basically triple the costs of health care in this state," he said. "So, I don't mind calling out Jackson Health Care for being the culprit of our health care costs in this state more than tripling when you allow a private entity to be monopolizing an industry like they have."

One of the more contentious bills, House Bill 1379, would require K through secondary schools to report any financial donation of $10,000 or more they received from countries considered foreign adversaries like China, Russia, and Cuba.

"This bill is a reporting bill; it does not prohibit any nation from donating funds to Georgia educational environments," Sen. Max Burns (R-Sylvania) said. "It just means that if you receive the fund, exceeds $10,000, it would be reported."

Democrats said that it was heavy-handed and an overreach. They also questioned who was going to be influenced by the donations.

"Is it your contention that our system is being led by people who could be so easily swayed by the influence of a mere $10,000, which represents, what, 0.00001% of the budget?" Sen. Kim Jackson (D-Stone Mountain) said. "Is it your contention that our chancellor would be swayed and influenced by $10,000?"

"Not at all," Burns said. "As a matter of fact, I think that the chancellor and the regents and the university presidents and the technical college presidents and our school systems across the state are not influenced by such a nominal amount. However, I think it is important for the citizens of Georgia to know who is contributing and what amount they contributed and for what purpose."

HB 1379 was passed along party lines, 31 to 20.

The lieutenant governor wasn't the only one playing politics Wednesday. Democrats tried to flex their muscles as well as they filibustered, debated and added amendments with Democrat priorities like increasing the minimum wage, making data centers pay for their own power infrastructure, or pushing for fair taxation to many of the bills brought to the floor.

"Days of Democrats putting their head in the sand and allowing you to say anything that you want to say are long gone," said Senate Minority Leader Sen. Harold Jones III (D-Augusta). "So, you talk about a debate. This ain't your grandfather's Democratic Party anymore. You want it, you're going to get it. Thank you."

In the House, the day was more harmonious. The chamber gave unanimous passage to Senate Bill 399 or the Mason Sells AED Act.

"First, it creates a map of the locations for automated external defibrillators or AEDs across state facilities and provides those locations to our 911 emergency centers so that they can map those for future use," Rep. Josh Bonner (R-Fayetteville) said. "And secondly, it creates in collaboration with the Georgia Emergency Communications Authority and the Georgia Public Safety Training Center, a roadmap for the implementation of a training program for all 911 emergency services on the telephone instructions for the use of AEDs for lay people."

The bill was named after Mason Sells, a Mercer University student who died from going into cardiac arrest after being hit in the chest with a soccer ball. An AED kit was nearby and could have saved him. Sells' parents visited the Capitol to watch the bill pass.

"We are extremely grateful for the bipartisan support," Mason's father Scott Sells said. "We're extremely grateful for these two gentlemen standing beside us today. We came to Sen. [Marty] Harbin (R-Tyrone) a little over a year ago with broken hearts and a concern. We know that our actions today can't save Mason, but they can impact future young people and their parents."

SB 399 now moves to the governor's desk to be signed into law.

Another bill dealing with students also received unanimous passage. SB 523 establishes a procedure for dealing with religious and other harassment complaints in Georgia schools. Supporters say those complaints aren't always being addressed in schools now.

"In Fulton County, my county, a federal civil rights complaint documents dozens of incidents across the district," Rep. Esther Panitch (D-Atlanta) said. "I have the list of two dozen. A student miming shooting at Jewish girls. A fifth grader told that Jews and Israelis should all be killed. And when parents reported it, nothing happened. So, the harassment continued because the harasser was enabled."

The House also passed a new amendment to HB 1199, the annual bill that aligns Georgia code to federal revenue laws. The new amendment suspends the gas tax in Georgia for 60 days.

"We're also calling for a 60-day pause on the gas tax," said Marietta Republican Rep. John Carson. "Given the actions in the Middle East, this is gonna be some well-received relief to our constituents and taxpayers, particularly as we head into the summer season."

The bill passed 163 to 4 and was immediately transmitted to the Senate for final approval. Kemp also must to sign off on the gas tax suspension for it to go into effect.

Also today, Rep. Dewey McClain (D-Lawrenceville) gave his retirement speech to the chamber after 13 years in the House.

"Mr. Speaker, thank you for doing that because doing Crossover [Day], I want to appreciate you for 1 o'clock because that's one of the reasons I am kind of leaving," he said. "Because when you get this age, you just can't hang out until 1 o'clock in the morning."

The Senate also passed SB 220, which would expand the legal use of medical cannabis. Since the Senate made some changes, it now heads back to the House. 

GPB's Lawmakers returns for Day 34 on Thursday, Mar. 19 at 7 p.m. on GPB TV.