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Camden County delegation touts $588,000 Local Road Assistance grant, bidding-threshold increase and other legislative changes
Summary
Representative Steven Sainz and Deputy County Administrator Seth Collins summarized 2025 session outcomes affecting Camden County, including an additional $588,000 in Local Maintenance and Improvement Grant (LMIG/LRA) funds, an increase in state bid thresholds and changes to EMS reimbursement and tort law reforms.
Georgia House Representative Steven Sainz and Camden County Deputy County Administrator Seth Collins presented a legislative update to the Board of Commissioners, highlighting bills passed in the 2025 legislative session that county officials say will affect local operations.
Representative Sainz reviewed several statewide measures and commended the county for proactive engagement with the delegation. “I want to highlight about 5 major pieces of legislation,” Sainz said, listing measures aimed at tax relief, parity for military retirement income, and credits for childcare and other measures that passed or are awaiting final signature.
Key outcomes for Camden County
- Local road funding: The state increased Local Maintenance and Improvement Grant (LMIG/LRA) funding and Camden County was allocated an additional $588,000 for road improvements; Seth Collins said the grant requires no local match.
- Bidding threshold: House Bill 137 raised Georgia’s formal state bidding threshold from $100,000 to $250,000; county officials said the change will allow smaller-scale projects to proceed without formal competitive bidding, reducing administrative overhead and speeding routine infrastructure work.
- EMS reimbursement: Seth Collins noted a change in reimbursement rules under House Bill 68 that he described as allowing reimbursement “between 10 miles from point of patient pickup” for EMS responses; county staff said this will help recover some transport costs.
- Tort reform and other bills: Senate Bill 68 (described by staff as the governor’s tort‑reform package) included changes to admissibility of seat-belt evidence and limits on medical damages; county officials said those reforms could reduce liability exposure for local governments.
Bills and initiatives that did not pass
Sainz and Collins also summarized several measures that failed to pass, including a set of election omnibus items, proposals on nonpartisan county boards and certain revenue policy changes. Collins said the county will continue to track and advocate for local priorities, including notice of intent when state-owned properties come off county tax rolls and rural site-development funding.
Speakers on the record for this update were limited to Representative Steven Sainz and Deputy County Administrator Seth Collins.
