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Sine Die 2024 winners and losers: 2025 budget, elections, film industry, culture warriors
Speaker Jon Burns runs down the aisle after the House adjourns Sine Die. (Credit: Jill Jordan Sieder)
Georgia lawmakers late Thursday night nailed down a budget in the final hours of their legislative session and passed a controversial omnibus election bill that critics say will burden election workers and impact the November presidential election in this key battleground state.
Measures to legalize sports betting, curtail the state film tax credit and restrict mining of the Okefenokee Swamp — all inspiring vigorous debate in each chamber on prior days— did not make the cut.
The election bill immediately drew fire from the American Civil Liberties Union of Georgia, which has threatened to sue if Gov. Brian Kemp signs the bill.
More wins for education in 2025 budget
House and Senate appropriations leaders spent the last two weeks and weekends of the session haggling over the $36.1 billion fiscal year 2025 budget, said House Appropriations Chair Matt Hatchett, R-Dublin, who noted the House made some painful cuts to balance the budget but “was able to maintain or enhance many of our priorities. And we actually agreed with some of their adds, too,” particularly in education.
A significant change in the final budget is an infusion of new funds into pre-K education.
Hatchett said Gov. Kemp sent a letter to revise his revenue estimate to increase Georgia Lottery funds by $48.2 million to request more funds for pre-K, in line with recommendations from the House Working Group on Early Education, led by Speaker Pro Tem Jan Jones. The budget conference committee then made adjustments to pre-K programs, including salary increases for lead and pre-K teachers on par with K-12 schools, increases in start-up grants for new pre-K classrooms, new funding for student transportation and an operating increase for private pre-K providers.
“Ultimately we’ll spend $75 million more a year to reduce class sizes from 22 to 20 and pay teachers more — we weren’t paying them enough,” Jones said. “We dramatically increased transportation money to provide bus service to public schools and to provide van service with the kids at private providers, the day cares. We more than doubled the amount of money to equip a new classroom. We had not changed that amount in 30 years. It went from $8,000 to $20,000 for every additional classroom. And all of that will be yearly. … So we’ll have more classrooms open and more teachers that actually want to teach pre-K.”
The budget for K-12 schools includes $255 million for 4% cost-of-living increases (which most state employees across all agencies and departments will receive, up to $3,000) and an additional $374 million for $2,500 raises for teachers. It provides a $200 million increase in student transportation, $109 million for local school security grants and $6.1 million for regional literacy coaches. The House was able to win back $6.3 million to provide free breakfast and lunch to students from low-income families that the Senate had previously removed.
The Senate pushed to double the $4.6 million budget increase the House recommended for child care providers through the Childcare and Parent Services program, which currently offers below-market reimbursement rates that have led many workers to leave the industry. The House agreed, and the $9.2 million increase will push hourly rates for child care workers well past 50% of the market rate.
Other state employees will also get additional $3,000 raises, including law enforcement officers, corrections officers and child welfare workers.
The two chambers agreed to provide hundreds of millions of dollars more for Medicaid programs, including $18.6 million to increase payments to some medical providers, such as obstetricians, optometrists, audiologists and physical therapists. Adult dental care was also fully funded with an additional $10.5 million, and independent pharmacists will see higher reimbursement rates through a new $6.2 million appropriation.
Behavioral health got a boost, with $2.5 million to expand jail-based competency programs, $26 million for housing voucher slots and $1 million to expand mental health services in schools.
In addition to $46 million to fund the $3,000 pay increases for law enforcement officers, the budget includes $10.7 million in new funding to make infrastructure and technology improvements to harden jails and prisons and to detect and prevent contraband. A backlog of cases at the Sexual Offender Risk Review Board will be addressed through a $2.5 million increase, and $19 million will go to domestic violence shelters and sexual assault centers.
Hatchett said $866 million in capital projects for schools systems, colleges, universities and state-funded agencies will be funded with cash rather than bonds, reducing future debt obligations.
Senate Appropriations Committee Chair Blake Tillery, R-Vidalia, said the governor asked budget writers to be mindful of national economic trends and inflationary pressures and to focus on one-time spends. Tillery said that led to many of the capital expenditures, such as renovations at Fort Valley State University, Albany State University, a nursing center at the Coastal College of Georgia, Technology Square at Georgia Tech and many libraries statewide.
Election bill seen as furthering voter suppression
Against Democrats’ fierce objections, lawmakers passed an omnibus election bill that sets new rules for challenging voters and who can qualify to be placed on Georgia’s presidential ballots.
Rep. Saira Draper, D-Atlanta, called Senate Bill 189 a continuation of a slate of election rules that state lawmakers have instituted over the past few years to dissuade voters and make the election process tougher. She was particularly appalled by the bill’s presidential candidate qualification provision, which will take effect in July.
“That’s terrible,” Draper, former voter protection director for the state Democratic Party, told State Affairs. “This 11th-hour inclusion is deeply cynical in a presidential year where Republicans are aware there’s multiple Democratic presidential nominees but only one Republican nominee.”
SB 189 will further overwhelm already-burdened election workers who are required to deal with voter eligibility challenges immediately upon receiving the inquiry, she said.
“Instead of doing anything to help them, we have now made their job harder with the passing of SB 189,” Draper said.
Sen. Matt Brass, R-Newnan, dismissed claims that the bill is voter suppression legislation, saying those critics have “zero credibility.”
“Those same critics said the same thing about [SB] 202 [another omnibus election bill that became Georgia law in 2021], and then we had record [voter] turnout,” Brass told State Affairs.
As for overwhelming election workers?
“Even if it does cause extra work, for us to think that that extra work is not worth a secure election is just, in my opinion, a poor way of thinking. Both sides want secure elections — there’s no question about it,” Brass said. “We want to make sure that people can trust that what they cast is the vote they’re going to receive. And anybody who doesn’t want that needs to go to a different country.”
The legislation, which now goes to Gov. Kemp for consideration, includes provisions to remove the secretary of state from the state election board, let any political party that qualifies for the presidential election in at least 20 states or territories be placed on Georgia’s presidential ballot, and make it easier for counties to fill vacancies when an elected official prematurely leaves office. The bill also calls for all advance and absentee ballots to be counted within an hour of the polls closing, changes ballot design and creates voting changes for the homeless.
“Access to the ballot is at the heart of our democracy,” Andrea Young, executive director of the ACLU of Georgia, said in a statement shortly after the bill passed. “This election ‘Frankenbill’ violates the National Voter Registration Act. We are committed to protecting Georgia voters. If the governor signs this bill, we will see him in court.”
Bills that didn’t cross the finish line
While some lawmakers are still reveling — or reeling— over significant legislation that passed on Sine Die, here are some bills that raised a lot of hopes and fears but didn’t make it in the end:
Lawmakers worked for months on legislation to review and possibly roll back the state’s film tax credit, which offers over $1 billion in tax rebates to production companies each year. The Senate settled on a bill that would require movie producers to film in more Georgia locations, use more local crew and invest more in local studios to earn the credit. But on the last day of session, the film bill was rolled into Senate Bill 349, which also contains tax credit measures for interactive gaming and affordable housing.
The Senate didn’t go for last-minute changes made by the House, much to the relief of housing advocates, who said the Senate’s amended version of the bill would have drastically reduced the state low-income housing credit by 50%, making many affordable housing projects impossible to finance.
Other bills that failed:
- Despite the Senate passing an online sports betting bill, a bill that would have approved a constitutional amendment allowing for a referendum to let voters decide the issue in the November election never left the House Rules Committee on Sine Die. Another bill, SB 386, which spelled out how gambling operations would work and where the proceeds would go, also died.
- Also, the House never took up two bills — HB 1170 and HB 1104 — that critics say were harmful to transgender children by banning puberty blockers and preventing transgender students from playing on sports teams or using restrooms of the gender with which they identify.
- A bill that would have had Georgia libraries cut ties with the American Library Association — which provides various resources and services nationwide, including training for librarians — due to its controversial president, also died.
- Environmentalists and other groups pushed heavily this legislative session for stronger protections regarding the Okefenokee Swamp. But lawmakers ended the 2024 session without dealing with the issue. A bill that would have temporarily stopped the issuance of permits for new mines near the refuge never made it to the Senate floor for a vote on Thursday, the final day of the session.
Have questions or comments? Contact Jill Jordan Sieder on X @journalistajill or at [email protected] and Tammy Joyner on X @lvjoyner or at [email protected].
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House speaker Jon Burns hires new communications director
House speaker Jon Burns, R-Newington, announced today that he has hired a new communications director. Kayla Roberson, who has served as press secretary at the Georgia Chamber for the past year or so, will now oversee all external communications, media relations and strategic messaging for Burns.
“I’m excited to welcome Kayla to our team,” Burns said in a statement. “Kayla has an excellent background, deep skill set and strong work ethic, and we’re excited to have her on board to continue getting our message out and sharing the House’s priorities ahead of and into the next session.”
A double major in political science and journalism at the University of Georgia, where she graduated in 2022, Roberson interned for U.S. Rep. Andrew Clyde, a Republican in north Georgia’s 9th Congressional District, and worked as a consultant for GOP political candidates before joining the Georgia Chamber.
“I’m beyond grateful for the opportunity to work under the leadership of speaker Burns,” Roberson told State Affairs. “Whether it’s improving education opportunities, putting money back in the pockets of hardworking Georgians, creating jobs or supporting our rural communities, speaker Burns always prioritizes doing what is best, and what is right, for Georgia.”
Political strategist Stephen Lawson, who has held the top communications role for the speaker since last December, announced he’s joining Dentons, where starting today he’ll lead the global law firm’s public affairs efforts.
Have questions or comments? Contact Jill Jordan Sieder on X @journalistajill or at [email protected].
Global bird flu disrupts Georgia exports, costing chicken producers millions
ATLANTA — A global bird flu that has rapidly spread from birds to dairy cows, milk supplies and humans has cost untold millions of dollars in lost export business in Georgia, the nation’s leading poultry producer, officials with the state Department of Agriculture and poultry industry said.
Georgia has had only three reported cases of H5N1 avian influenza since it reemerged in 2022. The last of those cases was resolved in November 2023 but ramifications of those outbreaks continue to have a big effect on the state’s ability to export chicken and chicken parts, such as chicken feet, to different countries, including China, one of Georgia’s biggest export markets for chicken feet.
In 2022, frozen chicken feet, for example, accounted for more than 85% of all U.S. poultry exported to China, according to Farm Progress, publisher of 22 farming and ranching magazines.
The $30 billion poultry industry is Georgia’s largest segment in its No. 1 industry — agriculture.
China has also placed a ban on the import of chicken products from 41 other American states. The ban on Georgia products went into effect Nov. 21, 2023. Efforts to reach the Chinese Embassy in Washington, D.C. were unsuccessful.
Georgia Poultry Federation President Mike Giles estimates the state’s loss at “well into the millions of dollars.”
“It’s a significant amount in a significant export market for us,” he said. “Poultry paws [feet] immediately lose value because of the loss of demand.”
The ban has forced Georgia poultry producers to find alternative markets for their products that would normally be headed to China.
“Some are sold domestically, some are frozen and stored, hopefully to find markets later on, and some go to other countries,” Giles said.
This isn’t the first time China has banned U.S.-produced poultry products due to a bird flu outbreak. The country instituted a ban in January 2015 which lasted until November 2019 — even though U.S. poultry products were deemed free of the disease by August 2017.
After that ban was lifted, China’s appetite for American-produced chicken products became voracious.
In 2022, U.S. producers shipped nearly $6 billion in poultry meat and related products (excluding eggs) to over 130 countries. China has emerged as the second largest destination for U.S. poultry exports, increasing from $10 million in 2019 to a record $1.1 billion in 2022, according to Southern Ag Today.
Chicken paws, for instance, are eaten in many Asian countries, including the Philippines, Thailand, Indonesia and Korea.They can also be found on Chinese dim sum menus throughout the U.S. and are also popular in Jamaica, Trinidad, Russia and Ukraine in everything from soups and curries to fried snacks.
Three Georgia counties have reported H5N1 outbreaks since 2022. The most recent case was late last year. Henry, Sumter and Toombs counties each reported one case of H5N1 bird flu. Those outbreaks are resolved, poultry and state agriculture officials say.
“When HPAI cases are found in any state, that state is given a designation that could lead to foreign countries halting trade on poultry products from that state,” Georgia Department of Agriculture spokesman Matthew Agvent told State Affairs.
Not since 2016 has the United States experienced such a fast-moving case of the H5N1 avian influenza. In the last two months, the virus has spread in parts of the United States from birds to dairy cows, some milk supplies and humans. Two people — a Texas dairy worker and a prison inmate in Colorado who was killing infected birds at a poultry farm — are reported to have caught the virus, according to news reports. The outbreak is the largest in recent history, impacting both domestic poultry and livestock as well as wild birds and some mammal species.
State officials are continuing to monitor the national outbreak and its impact on Georgia.
Georgia’s poultry & egg industry: At A Glance
Annual economic impact: $30.2 billion
Percentage of the Agriculture industry: 58% *
Jobs: 87,900
Counties involved in poultry & egg production: 3 out of 4
National ranking in chicken broiler production: No. 1
Daily production of table eggs: 7.8 million
Daily production of hatching eggs: 6.5 million
Pounds of chicken produced daily: 30.2 million
Pounds of chicken produced annually: 8 billion
Number of chicken broilers processed each day: 5 million
Counties involved in poultry & egg production: 3 out of 4
Source: Georgia Poultry Federation; The Center for Agribusiness & Economic Development, University of Georgia, Ag Snapshots 2024; Georgia Poultry Federation.
Have questions? Contact Tammy Joyner on X @lvjoyner or at [email protected].
Is it safe to eat chicken and eggs and drink milk? Answers to your most pressing questions about the latest bird flu outbreak
A two-year-old strain of bird flu has heightened concerns in Georgia and the rest of the country after the virus recently spread to dairy cows. Here’s what you need to know about the virus and its impact on Georgia and the rest of the country. What are the symptoms of this flu in humans? Eye …
Kemp signs bills on education, health care, taxes
Gov. Brian Kemp signed a slew of bills over the past week or so, including the private school voucher bill long sought by Republicans and a bill that will ease regulations over the construction and expansion of medical facilities in rural areas.
His bill-signing events were clustered into themes: education, health care, military members, human trafficking and Georgia’s coastal communities.
Education
Among the education-related bills Kemp signed was Senate Bill 233, also known as the Georgia Promise Scholarship Act, which provides the families of Georgia students enrolled in underperforming school districts with $6,500 scholarships that can be used toward private school or homeschooling expenses, including tuition, fees, textbooks and tutoring.
“Georgia is affording greater choice to families as to how and where they receive their education, while also continuing our efforts to strengthen public schools, support teachers, and secure our classrooms,” Kemp said, and thanked leadership in the House and Senate for prioritizing passage of the bill, which had failed in a close vote in 2023.
Democrats and many public education advocates who opposed the bill argued it will drain resources from public schools and primarily benefit students from wealthy families.
Kemp also signed Senate Bill 351, sponsored by nine Republican senators, which will require social media companies, as of July 1, 2025, to verify their users are at least 16 years old unless they receive approval from a parent.
House Bill 409, sponsored by Rep. Lauren Daniel, R-Locust Grove, directs school systems to consider not having bus stops where a student would have to cross a roadway with a speed limit of 40 mph or greater. The bill also increases the penalty for passing a stopped school bus to $1,000 from $250.
Kemp noted that Ashley Pierce, the mother of Addy Pierce, an 8-year-old who was fatally struck by a motorist as she boarded her school bus, “passionately advocated for and was instrumental in the passage of this legislation.”
Senate Bill 395, sponsored by Sen. Clint Dixon, R-Gwinnett, states that no school visitor or personnel can be prohibited from possessing an opioid reversal drug such as Narcan and directs schools to maintain a supply. It also allows opioid antagonists to be sold in vending machines and directs certain government buildings to maintain a supply of at least three doses.
Senate Bill 464, also sponsored by Dixon, creates the School Supplies for Teachers Program to financially and technically support teachers purchasing school supplies online. It also creates an executive committee of five voting members within the Georgia Council on Literacy and limits the number of approved literacy screeners to five, one of whom must be available to schools for free.
Health care
The governor chose his hometown of Athens as the venue to sign several bills aimed at improving health care in rural and underserved communities.
Among them was House Bill 1339, sponsored by Rep. Butch Parrish, R-Swainsboro, which revises the Certificate of Need process by which the state determines if and how new medical facilities can be built or expanded. The bill provides for several new exemptions, including psychiatric or substance abuse inpatient programs, basic perinatal services in rural counties, birthing centers and new general acute hospitals in rural counties. It also raises the total limit on tax credits for donations to rural hospital organizations to $100 million from $75 million.
Senate Bill 480, sponsored by Sen. Mike Hodges, R-Brunswick, establishes student loan repayments for mental health and substance use professionals serving underserved youth in the state or in unserved geographic areas disproportionately impacted by social determinants of health.
House Bill 872, sponsored by Rep. Lee Hawkins, R-Gainesville, chair of the House Health and Human Services Committee, expands cancelable loans for certain health care professionals to dental students who agree to practice in rural areas.
Senate Bill 293, sponsored by Sen. Ben Watson, R-Savannah, chair of the Senate Health and Human Services Committee, reorganizes county boards of public health and opens the qualifications for the CEO of each county board of health to include either licensed physicians or people with a master’s degree in public health or a related field.
Military members and veterans
Kemp on Wednesday focused on bills to improve military recruitment and provide more work opportunities for veterans and military family members.
House Bill 880, sponsored by Rep. Bethany Ballard, R-Warner Robins, allows spouses of military service members to work under a license they hold in good standing in another state while under the supervision of an existing Georgia medical facility or provider.
Senate Bill 449, sponsored by Sen. Larry Walker, allows military medical personnel to practice for 12 months while a license application is pending, including working as a certified nursing aide, certified emergency medical technician, paramedic or licensed practical nurse. The bill also creates a new advanced practice registered nurse license and makes it a misdemeanor to practice advanced nursing without a license.
Human trafficking
The governor on Wednesday was accompanied by first lady Marty Kemp and other members of the GRACE Commission for the signing of an anti-human trafficking package. It includes Senate Bill 370, which adds certain businesses to the list of organizations that must post human trafficking notices, including convenience stores, body art studios, businesses that employ licensed massage therapists and manufacturing facilities.
Sponsored by Sen. Mike Hodges, R-Brunswick, the bill also allows the Georgia Board of Massage Therapy to initiate inspections of massage therapy businesses and educational programs without notice and requires massage therapy board members to complete yearly human trafficking awareness training.
House Bill 993, sponsored by Rep. Alan Powell, R-Hartwell, creates the felony offense of grooming of a minor and creates new penalties for offenses relating to visual mediums depicting minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct.
House Bill 1201, sponsored by Rep. Houston Gaines, R-Athens, allows human trafficking survivors who received first offender or conditional discharge status to vacate that status for certain crimes, as long as the crime was a direct result of being a victim of human trafficking.
Coastal communities
Earlier today in Brunswick, Kemp signed legislation impacting Georgia coastal communities, including House Bill 244, which amends the laws around how wild game can be hunted and how seafood dealers operate, and House Bill 1341, which designates white shrimp as the state’s official crustacean.
Taxes
Earlier this month Kemp signed several bills related to taxation, including House Bill 1015, sponsored by Rep. Lauren McDonald, R-Cumming, which lowers the state income tax for tax year 2024 to 5.39%, accelerating a multiyear drop in state income taxes that started at 5.75% in 2023 and will continue through 2029.
The Governor’s Office of Planning and Budget estimates the tax cut acceleration will save Georgia taxpayers approximately $1.1 billion in calendar year 2024 and about $3 billion over the next 10 years.
Kemp also signed House Bill 1021, sponsored by Rep. Lauren Daniel, R-Locust Grove, which increases the state’s income tax dependent exemption to $4,000 from $3,000.
House Bill 581, sponsored by Reps. Shaw Blackmon, R-Bonaire, and Clint Crowe, R-Jackson, enables a constitutional amendment (House Resolution 1022) to let voters decide whether counties can provide a statewide homestead valuation freeze, which limits the increase in property values to the inflation rate.
The governor has until May 7 to sign or veto bills passed during the legislative session that ended on March 28. Those he takes no action on will automatically become law.
Legislation signed by Kemp is posted on the governor’s website.
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Have questions, comments or tips on education in Georgia? Contact Jill Jordan Sieder on X @journalistajill or at [email protected].
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