Committee amends House Resolution 29 to lower settlement appropriation threshold from $75M to $10M; votes do pass

A Georgia House committee on an unrecorded voice vote approved an amended version of House Resolution 29 (LC 560226), a proposed constitutional amendment that would require the General Assembly to appropriate settlements and other unanticipated funds of $10,000,000 or more received after Jan. 1, 2027.

The sponsor presented the resolution to the committee, saying the amendment would cover “settlements and unanticipated funds that come into the state after January first of 2027.” The sponsor said the measure initially set a $75,000,000 threshold and described the change as a way to give the legislature control over large incoming settlements. “I feel this is necessary because that is not what is always going on now with monies that are coming into our state,” the sponsor said.

The committee discussed the threshold level. Representative Holcomb asked why the sponsor set the threshold at $75,000,000. The sponsor said $75 million had been discussed previously and “is a number that is greater than most of the settlements that come into our state,” and that the figure was intended to target large settlements such as the opioid settlement. The sponsor also said the committee could consider a lower number but that he would be uncomfortable if it were set much lower.

Committee members noted prior action on a similar measure. The sponsor said the bill had passed the committee in the prior year and went to the Senate, where an amendment excluded the Georgia Department of Transportation; the two chambers subsequently disagreed and the Senate did not take it up again. The sponsor said using the $75 million threshold last year was partly intended to reach a compromise that could clear the legislative process.

A motion to amend the resolution lowered the threshold in lines cited by the committee from $75,000,000 to $10,000,000. Representative Sherman Kelly seconded the amendment. The committee approved the amendment by voice vote; members then voted to return the amended LC 560226 with a “do pass” recommendation, again by voice vote. The transcript records the approvals by spoken “aye” with no roll-call tally recorded.

The resolution would appear on the ballot as a proposed constitutional amendment if it is passed by both the House and Senate. The measure as discussed directs that settlements and similar unanticipated funds meeting the threshold be appropriated by the General Assembly; the transcript did not specify exceptions beyond the prior-year Senate amendment that excluded GDOT, nor did it specify an enforcement mechanism or how appropriations would be handled administratively.

The committee’s action sends the amended resolution to the next stage of the legislative process; the transcript does not indicate a calendar date for further consideration or floor action.