Georgia House advances literacy, Next Gen 911, rural prosperity and a package of bills

The Georgia House of Representatives on Feb. 24 passed a group of bills that Republican and Democratic members described as focused on public safety, education and support for rural communities.

In two of the session’s most discussed items, lawmakers approved a literacy bill aimed at early identification and intervention for struggling readers and a Next Generation 9-1-1 bill to modernize emergency call handling statewide.

Representative Bethany Ballard (Representative), the sponsor of House Bill 307, told the chamber the measure “removes outdated language regarding programs that do not align with our new science of reading standards, defines characteristics of dyslexia and dyslexia, and creates the structure and composition of the literacy coach coordination committee to ensure our state's literacy coaches get quality and uniform training.” Ballard answered several questions on the House floor, saying, “When we identify these children in kindergarten or first grade, they might need this much help to get on grade level,” and urged members to support the bill. The House recorded 166 yeas and 0 nays on passage of HB 307.

Representative Will Wade (Governor’s Floor Leader) presented House Bill 423 as the state’s Next Gen 9-1-1 bill, describing it as an update to a more than 50-year-old system. “This current bill will amend the purpose and duties and responsibilities of our agency, GEMA Homeland Security, to include procuring, implementing, and overseeing the Next Gen 9 1 1 service,” Wade said. During questions he affirmed that location information accessed through Next Gen 9-1-1 would be used specifically for 9-1-1 purposes. HB 423 passed by a recorded…