Georgia House passes CHIPS commission, banking housekeeping, new judgeship, privacy and procurement changes

The Georgia House of Representatives on Feb. 12, 2025, approved a set of bills on the rules calendar that included creating a state CHIPS and Advanced Technology Commission, updating banking statutes, adding a superior court judgeship in the Alapaha Judicial Circuit, raising public-works bid thresholds and changing how judges’ personally identifiable information is handled.

Lawmakers moved each measure through the rules calendar with recorded roll-call votes. Supporters said the bills address workforce and economic development, court workload and safety, and technical updates to existing law; opponents were few and recorded votes are listed below.

The most consequential measure approved was House Bill 216, which creates a Georgia CHIPS and Advanced Technology Commission in the Department of Economic Development to coordinate research, workforce and business recruitment connected to semiconductor and advanced-technology manufacturing. Representative Vance Smith, who presented the bill, said the commission would centralize state efforts to attract investment: “It does create a commission… It deals with research and technology. So we need to bring that home because over 90% of the chips right now that go in your phone, your appliances, your cars, all that's made in Taiwan… So we need to bring it back to Georgia.” The House approved HB 216 on a recorded…