ATLANTA – A ban on gender reassignment surgery for minors, tougher penalties for gang crimes and changes to reading instruction for students are just some of the new laws that will go into effect in Georgia in July.
Governor Brian Kemp signed the bills after they passed both houses of the General Assembly earlier this year.
Here's a quick look at the key bills that will go into effect in the Peach State on Saturday, July 1:
Transgender care
Senate Bill 140 would ban most gender reassignment surgeries and hormone replacement therapy for transgender people under 18 in the state. Doctors would still be allowed to prescribe drugs to prevent puberty under the law.
Opponents said the measure would harm transgender children by forcing doctors to violate medical standards. They also said it would prevent parents from doing what they believe is best for their children.
Kemp signs bill banning gender reassignment services for transgender youth
Governor Brian Kemp signed a bill that would prohibit medical professionals from providing certain surgical procedures to transgender children.
Supporters argue that transgender youth can choose to continue to pursue interventions after they reach adulthood, while opponents say such a forced pause is harmful.
Truck weights
House Bill 189 would allow trucks hauling timber and agricultural products to weigh more than the current limit of 84,000 pounds. The current limit on state highways is 80,000 pounds, but trucks can weigh up to 84,000 pounds.
The increased weight would only be allowed on local streets and state roads, not freeways. The heavier trucks would only be allowed to travel within a 150-mile radius of their point of origin and would not be permitted in the 13 counties of the Atlanta core area.
Georgia House of Representatives passes law to discipline prosecutors
The Georgia House of Representatives voted to create a new state-level commission to discipline, fire or forcefully retire district attorneys.
Supervision by the public prosecutor
Senate Bill 92 established a commission to discipline or fire district attorneys and county attorneys general who refuse to prosecute certain crimes.
The Georgia bill parallels efforts to oust prosecutors in Florida, Missouri, Indiana and Pennsylvania, as well as larger nationwide battles over how to charge certain crimes. All of these efforts continue the nationwide anti-crime campaigns that Republicans have waged over the past year, accusing Democrats of coddling criminals and behaving inappropriately by refusing to prosecute entire categories of crimes, including marijuana possession. All of these efforts raise questions about prosecutorial discretion — a prosecutor's decision about which cases to try or dismiss and what charges to bring.
Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis condemned the measure, claiming it was a racist attack after voters elected 14 non-white district attorneys in Georgia in 2020.
Georgia State Capitol (FOX 5)
Social benefits for pregnant mothers
House Bill 129 would allow poor pregnant women to apply for financial assistance through the federal Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program.
Previously, Georgians were only entitled to social benefits if the child had already been born and lived in a household with one or two parents, one of whom was helpless.
Governor Brian Kemp had already highlighted his plans for the law in his State of the State address earlier this year, before the House of Representatives approved the bill nearly unanimously.
“To provide even greater support to new mothers, my team is proposing legislation that would provide TANF benefits to pregnant women who qualify. Previously, they could not apply for this assistance until after the birth of the child,” Kemp said. “I know this measure is supported by many in this House, and I am grateful for your support.”
Kemp signs anti-gang law
Georgia Governor Brian Kemp signed a new law on Wednesday that makes it illegal for gang members to recruit minors, part of a series of bills aimed at cracking down on crime.
Conviction of gangs
Senate Bill 44 adds 10 years to the prison sentence for people convicted of recruiting minors into a gang and makes it more difficult for judges to avoid giving people convicted of gang activity an additional prison sentence of at least five years.
“Gangs have to recruit children to survive, and with this bill we send a clear message: If you come to our state and recruit our children, we will punish you severely,” said Soo Hong, a Lawrenceville Republican who, as House floor leader, introduces bills for Kemp.
New bill requires mandatory “intruder alarm drills” in Georgia public schools
Next fall, every public school in Georgia will be required to conduct an “intruder alarm drill” by October. The state Senate passed the new requirement on Monday as part of the Safe Schools Act.
Safe schools
House Bill 147 requires schools to submit their safety plans to the state annually and requires every school to conduct a school shooting drill by October 1 of each year.
Student participation would be mandatory unless local districts allow parents to exclude their children from participation.
The measure also requires the state Commission on Professional Standards to develop a safety and anti-gang program to train teachers and other school personnel to improve safety and identify juvenile gang members and gang recruitment efforts.
At Kemp's urging, lawmakers had previously allocated $115 million to provide $50,000 school safety grants to all K-12 schools in the state.
Literacy classes
House Bill 538 proposes changes to the way Georgia students are taught to read, while Senate Bill 211 proposes establishing a council to consider changes.
The state Department of Education is required to develop a list of approved instructional materials for local school systems, and each school district must certify annually that it uses proven materials to support reading instruction. The state must also approve one or more screening tests to track reading progress, administered three times a year to children in kindergarten through third grade. The state must pay for one of these tests to be available to all districts at no cost.
For children who are found to be behind in their learning, an individual plan is drawn up within 30 days to help them catch up.
Reading tests will begin in the 2024-2025 school year.
Employees are given more time and opportunities to vote
Georgia lawmakers want to expand an existing law that requires businesses to give their employees time to vote. The law hasn't been touched since early voting was introduced. Lawmakers call it a win-win situation for employers and employees.
Exemption to vote
Senate Bill 129 would allow workers to take time off from work to cast their vote either in early in-person voting or on Election Day.
Under current Georgia law, businesses must work with their employees to provide them with up to two hours to vote on Election Day, unless the employee's work time begins at least two hours after polls open or ends two hours before polls close.
homelessness
Senate Bill 62 requires municipalities to enforce the ban on homeless people camping in public and says governments and hospitals cannot dump homeless people in other counties without permission.
Crimes against infrastructure:
House Bill 227 criminalizes the use of electronic or physical means to attack electricity, water, sewage, internet, public transportation, emergency services and health care systems.
Governor Kemp bans TikTok on government devices
Governor Brian Kemp has banned TikTok from all state government phones and computers. Several other states have already banned the app, citing concerns that the Chinese government could misuse customers' data.
On TikTok
Senate Bill 93 bans TikTok and some other apps on government-owned computing devices.
External campaign financing
Senate Bill 222 makes it a crime for local governments to accept money from outside groups (other than the state or federal government) to finance elections.
The measure tightens a provision of a 2021 Georgia state law that prohibited election officials themselves from accepting outside money after Republicans were alarmed that Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg had donated more than $400 million to election officials nationwide.
Income tax refund
House Bill 162 provides most taxpayers with a state income tax refund of between $250 and $500 for the second year in a row.
Tax on downloads
Senate Bill 56 would impose a sales tax on books, music, movies, pictures, games and other digital goods purchased online, but would not affect rental or subscription items.
Taxation of electric vehicles
Senate Bill 146 would allow electric vehicle owners to purchase electricity to charge their vehicles based on the amount used rather than the time it takes to charge, but would incur new taxes.
Until now, the state financed the transport infrastructure through the tax levied on gasoline. However, drivers of electric vehicles do not pay gasoline tax.
Foster families
Senate Bill 133 would require juvenile judges to take additional steps before ordering the placement of certain children in foster care.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
