House approves a package of bills; several local items recommitted

The Georgia House of Representatives on Wednesday passed a series of measures and agreed to Senate substitutes on several House bills, while sending three local items back to committee.

House members approved the local calendar (excluding three pulled bills) and recorded roll-call votes on a set of Senate bills and House bills that had been amended by the Senate. Several local bills were recommitted to intergovernmental committee by unanimous consent earlier in the morning.

The action matters because it advances multiple pieces of legislation toward final approval by both chambers or toward further work in committee, and because the local-calendar actions determine county and municipal tax and charter matters that typically must meet higher constitutional thresholds.

Key votes and actions

- Recommitments to intergovernmental coordination: Chairlady Kemp moved to remove Senate Bill 336 and Senate Bill 355 from the local calendar and return them to the House Committee on Intergovernmental Coordination. The motion was agreed to by unanimous consent. (Motion by Chairlady Kemp; outcome: recommitted by unanimous consent.)

- Recommitment of House Bill 8 25: A motion to pull HB 8 25 from the local calendar was made, later withdrawn by the original mover; Chairlady Kent then moved to recommit HB 8 25 to the Committee on Intergovernmental Coordination. The motion was agreed to by unanimous consent. (Mover: Chairlady Kent; outcome: recommitted by unanimous consent.)

- Local calendar passage (third reading, uncontested local bills): The House voted to pass the local calendar as presented, excluding HB 8 25, SB 336 and SB 355. Recorded vote: yeas 168, nays 0; the clerk announced the calendar "therefore passed." (Tally: 168–0.)

- Senate Bill 5 (rules substitute): The House adopted the rules committee substitute and passed Senate Bill 5, which addresses insurers''procedures including reduced prior-authorization requirements and a separate provision on PANS/PANDAS coverage. Recorded vote: yeas 169, nays 2. (Tally: 169–2.)

- Senate Bill 173 (committee substitute): The House adopted the committee substitute and passed SB 173, which creates a process to address uncontested pretrial motions in superior and state courts (mechanism for notice and deemed grants when courts do not act within specified timeframes). Recorded vote: yeas 168, nays 0. (Tally: 168–0.)

- Senate Bill 17 ("Ricky's and Alyssa's Law", rules substitute): The House adopted the rules committee substitute and passed SB 17, which updates statutory language related to public school property and facilities and a statewide first-responder building-mapping information system. Recorded vote: yeas 171, nays 0. (Tally: 171–0.)

- Senate Bill 131 (rules substitute): The House adopted the rules committee substitute and passed SB 131 (the companion to earlier parity legislation to establish a parity compliance review panel and add the insurance commissioner as a member of the Behavioral Health Coordinating Council). Recorded vote: yeas 166, nays 3. (Tally: 166–3.)

- House Bill 575 (agreement to Senate substitute): The House agreed to the Senate substitute for HB 575 (which amends Title 32 regarding public notification by electronic publication for certain Department of Transportation proceedings). Recorded vote: yeas 167, nays 1. (Tally: 167–1.)

- House Bill 94 (agreement to Senate substitute): The House agreed to the Senate substitute for HB 94 (insurance coverage for fertility preservation), with the Senate substitute removing state plans from required coverage; recorded vote: yeas 162, nays 3. (Tally: 162–3.)

- House Bill 182 (agreement to Senate substitute, as amended by the House): The House agreed to the Senate substitute to HB 182 (insurance-related cleanup and confidentiality language) as amended. Recorded vote: yeas 166, nays 2. (Tally: 166–2.)

Context and next steps

Several items on the local calendar and other measures passed with recorded tallies indicating broad support in the House. Recommitments to intergovernmental coordination mean those local items (SB 336, SB 355, HB 8 25) will receive further committee consideration before final floor action. Measures that passed now head toward the Senate (if they originated in the House) or toward enrollment and the governor (if originating in the Senate) as appropriate in the legislative process.

Notes on procedure

Where the transcript records unanimous consent, the House disposed with formal recorded roll calls for those specific procedural motions. The roll-call tallies above come from the clerk's announced results following recorded votes.

Votes provenance

Topic start: "To make a motion... I make a motion to remove from the local calendar senate bill 3 3 6 and senate bill 5 5 5 and send them back to the intergovernmental coordination committee." (Transcript segment starting at 2606.23 was used to mark the first related action.)

Topic end: "On the gentleman's motion, the yeas are 166, the nays are 2, and the house has agreed to the senate substitute to house bill 1 82 as amended by the house..." (Transcript segment starting at 7440.15 was used to mark the final related action for this roundup.)