Votes at a glance: bills passed Friday in the Georgia Senate
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Summary
The Senate passed a package of bills including the bingo reform (HB 4‑55), the state amended budget substitute (HB 9‑73, sent to the House), DPH cleanup with amendments (SB 4‑40), provisional licensing for internationally trained physicians (SB 4‑27), homeowner aerial‑image protections (SB 4‑09), and an AI 'virtual peeping' criminal offense (SB 3‑98). Vote tallies and outcomes are listed below.
The Georgia Senate recorded the following final actions on Friday:
- House Bill 4‑55 (bingo regulations): Passed (yeas 38, nays 8). The bill allows permit portability between properties for operators with multiple locations, raises maximum prize awards from $3,000 to $6,000, and increases pay allowed for assistants from $30 to up to $150 per session.
- House Bill 9‑73 (state amended budget): Senate passed its substitute and immediately transmitted it to the House; the Senate then insisted on its position and appointed a committee of conference to negotiate differences. (Floor passage recorded; conference committee appointed.)
- Senate Bill 4‑40 (Department of Public Health cleanup): Passed as amended (final recorded vote 51‑0). The floor sequence included contested amendments that inserted Medicaid‑related language; one effective‑date amendment passed 31‑20.
- Senate Bill 4‑27 (limited provisional licenses for certain internationally trained physicians): Passed by substitute (yeas 45, nays 3). The bill creates a pathway for internationally trained physicians to obtain limited provisional licenses to practice under supervision in rural and underserved areas and Federally Qualified Health Centers.
- Senate Bill 4‑09 (homeowner protections re: aerial/satellite imagery): Passed by substitute (yeas 49, nays 0). The bill requires insurers using aerial imagery in underwriting to provide a dated image (no older than nine months) to the policyholder and agent when making an adverse decision and allows time for the homeowner to address issues.
- Senate Bill 3‑98 (virtual peeping / AI‑generated explicit images): Passed by substitute (yeas 48, nays 1). The bill creates a criminal prohibition on using generative AI to produce explicit images of a person without that person's authorization or consent.
Each vote was taken on the floor and recorded as shown. For bills that passed, the Senate followed procedure to transmit or insist where appropriate; a number of the bills will require House action or conference committee resolution.
