'Lawmakers' Day 39: House rejects Senate budget; True Patriotism and Universal Student Access Act OK'd

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The Georgia General Assembly is slated to resume its lawmaking process when they return Jan. 13, 2025 for a new legislative session.

Credit: File/Georgia Recorder

It was a busy day at the Capitol as both chambers pass as many bills as possible before the session sunsets on Thursday.

The House kicked off the day by rejecting the Senate version of the budget and insisting on its own substitute. Speaker of the House Jon Burns then appointed Chairman Matt Hatchett, Speaker Pro Tem Jan Jones, and Majority Leader Chuck Efstration to hold a joint conference committee to hash out the differences.

Then it was on to the rules calendar.

Representatives considered Senate Bill 587, which creates an animal cruelty offender database.

"Additionally, this bill in section three creates a database for individuals who abuse animals," Rep. Beth Camp (R-Concord) said. "They're on this database. They cannot then go and get another animal to abuse."

It passed unanimously.

Senate Bill 406, or the Georgia Property Owners Bill of Rights, also received bipartisan support.

"This bill basically creates accountability and transparency," Rep. Rey Martinez (R-Loganville) said. "It creates an administrative process for homeowners to file their complaints to be heard by a neutral hearing officer by the Secretary of State's office."

The bill also increases the minimum delinquent homeowner association payment required for the HOA to foreclose on a property. It passed 155 to 10.

After a lunch break, the House approved SB 552, the True Patriotism and Universal Student Access or TPUSA Act. The bill guarantees equal treatment of school political clubs.

"That if a school is going to establish a limited open form, that is if they are going to allow other groups to come in and use school facilities for meetings, that they have to, they can't discriminate based on the content of the subject or the viewpoint of the group," Rep. Robb Leverett (R-Elberton) said. "The Federal Equal Access Act already provides this, but this tries to flesh that out in Georgia with a little greater detail."

Democrats objected to the bill and raised concerns about the legacy of the late conservative activist Charlie Kirk, by whom the bill was inspired.

"This bill is an homage to a particular organization, Turning Point USA, with a particular viewpoint," Rep. Anne Allen Westbrook (D-Savannah) said. "That homage is contained within two short lines of the text of this bill. Now that text doesn't serve any purpose in this bill other than honoring Turning Point USA."

The bill passed 95 to 68 along party lines.

The House's rejection of the Senate's budget proposal caused feigned consternation on the Senate floor.

"On Friday before they left, when they left this chamber, left this building, do you know what they chanted as they sent back the perfect document you had prepared?" said Senate Appropriations Chairman Sen. Blake Tillery (R-Vidalia). "They chanted, 'Send it back. Send it back!' And I ask that three appointees be appointed, that Mr. President, you would choose our best and brightest. Not our oldest and feeble. Those who are prepared to either come back behind their shield or on it."

The Senate agreed to form its joint committee and meet with the House's.

After that, senators went to work on the 85 pieces of legislation on their calendar.

First up: House Bill 1193. It would fund literacy coaches for every school in the state with a kindergarten through third grade to improve reading skills and comprehension, as well as provide literacy and dyslexia screenings. The bill has been a top priority for Speaker Burns this session.

Before the vote, a lengthy amendment was added changing sections of the bill on behalf of House requests.

"We state that coaches, literacy coaches in each school shouldn't be doing other things," Tillery said. "They should spend no less than 70% of the school day in the classroom. They should have no other activities like coaching and mentoring. They should literally, while they may be doing coaching and mentoring as it relates to literacy, that we don't want them to have other administrative duties."

The bill had one significant rule change from past educational doctrine. First graders can now be held back if they don't meet the new reading standards.

"The amendment, the committee substitute, and the original House bill provide different ways for parents to be informed that their children may be held back, but what we do stop here is any type of social promotion to make sure that a child is ready to proceed out of first grade and that they are reading on grade level or understanding the science of reading or understanding our reading programs before we just socially promote them to a higher grade," Tillery said.

The bill was unanimously passed.

HB 1116 would limit the growth of property taxes for most homeowners. A 3% cap on yearly property tax assessments would go into effect in 2028. And counties and municipalities would no longer have the option of opting out of the plan that was passed in 2024.

"If all counties implement this, two-thirds of the cities will completely eliminate their property taxes for all classes," Sen. Chuck Hufstetler (R-Rome) said. "That's two-third of cities, and virtually every city and county will reduce their property tax on city and county taxes by more than half. But in this bill, we give them another option. They can pass a local homeowner option sales tax instead. Under this method, the sales tax revenue would go to homeowners first."

Democrats objected, saying it just passes the tax burden from homeowners to consumers and will strangle local governments.

"It starts with people who pay for basic essentials and that money flows as a subsidy to people who own houses," Sen. Josh McLaurin (D-Sandy Springs) said. "So, if you're a senior who already benefits from substantial property tax relief, if you are a renter who does not own property because you haven't turned 40 yet, so you're not able to afford your first home because it's 2026, then you will be subsidizing, under House Bill 1116, property owners who likely have six or seven figures in wealth already."

The bill passed along party lines 31 to 19.

Also today, the House rejected a proposal that criminalizes the loss,removal or destruction of monuments, including Confederate monuments. The chamber also approved a bill that limits out-of-state campaign contributions to 50%.

GPB's Lawmakers returns for Day 40, Sine Die, on Thursday, April 2 at 7 p.m. on GPB TV.