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Committee amends memorial fund bill to add public school teachers, employees; language changes to be socialized, bill held over
Summary
Lawmakers discussed expanded language for HB 56 to add a memorial fund and indemnification updates for public school teachers and employees killed or permanently disabled in the line of duty; the committee agreed to socialize changes with leadership and held the bill over for further review.
Representative Petrie described changes to HB 56, which began as a measure tied to a Public Safety Memorial Fund and now includes additional provisions to create a similar fund for public school teachers and public school employees killed or permanently disabled in the line of duty.
The bill would add a new check-off on Georgia tax returns and a Department of Driver Services checkbox to fund the memorial fund. The measure also updates existing memorial-fund language to explicitly include highway emergency response operators and to mirror indemnification language that raises certain amounts from $75,000 to $150,000 in line with earlier action on indemnification.
"We have created a fund similar to the public safety fund for public school teachers and public school employees, who lose their lives or suffer a permanent disability, in the line of duty through an act of violence," Petrie said. The bill defines that act of violence as a willful act committed by a person other than a fellow teacher or school employee.
Members asked for clarifications about scope and definitions. Representative Stetson asked whether "permanent disability" could include mental conditions such as PTSD; staff attorney Anna Forrester said the bill mirrors existing indemnification code (lines 206–215) and that eligibility would follow that definition. Another member urged the committee to consider whether other state employees might seek inclusion in the future; Petrie and colleagues said firefighters and other first responders were already addressed in earlier language.
Committee leaders said they would socialize the revised language with the rules chairman, minority leader and the speaker's office and bring the bill back for further consideration. "We'll hold it over without it even though it's a second so that people can take a good look at it," the committee chair said. No formal vote was taken at this hearing.
