by Ty Tagami | Mar 13, 2025 | Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA – The Georgia Bureau of Investigations would have expanded authority to compel telecommunications and internet companies to divulge subscriber information under legislation moving through the state legislature.
House Bill 161 could soon get the nod for a vote by the Senate, after the House of Representatives approved it by a wide bipartisan margin last week and after a Senate committee moved it forward this week.
The GBI, which requested the legislation, can already demand subscriber information from electronic service providers without going through the courts, if the attorney general agrees. But that authority only covers certain cases involving children, such as sexual exploitation.
HB 161, sponsored by Rep. Clint Crowe, R-Jackson, would expand the agency’s authority to include terroristic threats, identity theft, computer-related crimes, false reports to law enforcement, and harassing communications.
An action colloquially known as “swatting” would be covered. It became a big problem for the GBI a couple of years ago when false reports scrambled police to the addresses of public officials, with potentially dangerous consequences.
“We were requested back in 2023 and 2024 to conduct multiple investigations into swatting incidents across the state,” said Sara Lue, special agent in charge of cybercrime at GBI. She told the Senate Judiciary Committee Wednesday that the incidents included “cyber-enabled” threats.
“They pose a serious risk to public safety,” she said.
Lue said services such as Facebook and Instagram would be among those subject to demands for subscriber names, addresses, phone numbers, IP addresses and associated bank and credit account numbers. The agency would also be able to subpoena telephone records containing connections made, times they were made, and duration of conversations — but not the content of those conversations.
Sen. Bill Cowsert, R-Athens, an attorney who serves on the state Board of Homeland Security, said he was “sensitive” to granting subpoena power without judicial review. But his concerns about the proposed changes, including minor amendments to the version that passed the House, were ultimately allayed. Cowsert motioned to pass HB 161, and the Judiciary Committee then sent it to the Senate’s Rules Committee by a unanimous vote.
If the Rules Committee sends the legislation to the full Senate and the Senate approves it, the bill would have to return to the House for final approval of the latest changes.
by Dave Williams | Mar 13, 2025 | Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA – Both sides of the controversial tort reform issue got their say at the Georgia Capitol Thursday, not on either the state House or Senate floors but in the hallways under the Gold Dome.
A group of business owners held a news conference Thursday morning to endorse legislation Gov. Brian Kemp has singled out as his top priority for the 2025 General Assembly session.
The comprehensive bill, which the Republican-controlled Senate passed last month mostly along party lines, is intended to reduce “runaway” jury awards in civil lawsuits that business owners complain are threatening to put them out of business.
“Our industry is under attack … by frivolous lawsuits,” said Haley Bower-Frank, chief marketing officer for Flowery Branch-based Clipper Petroleum, which operates convenience stores across North Georgia. “The current situation is absolutely crushing small businesses.”
Later Thursday, victims of human trafficking and lawyers who represent victims and their families in lawsuits against businesses where trafficking takes place, held a news conference of their own to criticize Senate Bill 68. Their opposition focused mainly on a provision in the bill that establishes “premises liability” guidelines for when plaintiffs can sue business owners for negligence due to injuries suffered from criminal acts committed by a third party outside of the defendant’s control.
“This bill will give total immunity to bad actors … no matter how many safety measures they fail to take,” said Natanya Brooks, a trial lawyer with an office in Peachtree Corners. “This bill is not good for Georgians. It will cost lives.”
Survivors of human trafficking aimed most of their complaints at hotels they said are aware that human trafficking is going on inside their premises but fail to act.
At the earlier news conference, a hotel executive defended the industry’s practices when it comes to preventing human trafficking.
“Safety and security of our properties is always at the forefront,” said Frank Phair, vice president of hotel operations for Legacy Ventures Hospitality, which operates several hotels in metro Atlanta.
The bill’s opponents also criticized a provision in Senate Bill 68 that would require liability in a civil suit to be determined before the jury considers damages if either the plaintiff or defendant requests such “bifurcation” of trials. They said such bifurcation would force victims already traumatized by trafficking to testify multiple times in court.
After years of failing to push significant tort reform through the General Assembly, Republicans have built strong momentum this year, thanks in large part to Kemp’s pledge to call a special session of the legislature if lawmakers don’t act on the issue. Tort reform also is being heavily lobbied, with two business groups launching statewide ad campaigns in favor of the bill this week.
“Small businesses are the backbone of Georgia’s economy, but many local businesses are struggling under the weight of excessive litigation costs,” said Hunter Loggins, director of the state chapter of the National Federation of Independent Business. “Senate Bill 68 would help Main Street businesses focus on growth, job creation, and serving their communities instead of wasting time and money fighting unfair lawsuits.”
Meanwhile, an Atlanta personal injury law firm headed by former Democratic state Rep. Ronnie Mabra posted a billboard along the Downtown Connector in Atlanta urging a “no” vote on the bill.
The Senate bill now sits in the House Rules Committee, which formed a special subcommittee that has heard hours of testimony from both sides. It’s expected to reach the House floor for a vote next week..
Opponents said Thursday they plan to propose an amendment to the legislation to carve out human trafficking from the premises liability provision.
by Dave Williams | Mar 13, 2025 | Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA – Georgia’s unemployment rate held steady in January at 3.6%, despite declines in jobs, the size of the state’s labor force, and the number of employed.
The jobless rate in the Peach State in February was four-tenths of a point lower than the national unemployment rate.
“Georgia’s economy is built for the future, but to maintain our competitive edge, we must remain committed to making Georgia the top choice for businesses and talent,” said Louis DeBroux, interim commissioner of the state Department of Labor. “By continuing to invest in our people, expand opportunities, and drive innovation, we are ensuring Georgia remains the national leader in economic opportunity for all.”
Jobs were down by 28,200 in January, although some job sectors posted over-the-month gains. The durable goods manufacturing sector led the way by adding 1,800 jobs, while state government gained 1,400 jobs.
The transportation and warehousing sector lost the most jobs in January – 11,200 – while the accommodation and food services sector saw a loss 6,100 jobs, and the administrative and support services sector declined by 4,000 jobs.
Georgia’s labor force fell to 5.4 million, and the number of employed declined to 5.2 million.
However, fewer Georgians were unemployed in January as well. The state’s jobless ranks fell by 3,441 to 193,062.
Initial unemployment claims were up 3,448 to 34,494.
by Ty Tagami | Mar 12, 2025 | Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA – A Georgia Senate committee advanced legislation Wednesday that would double the amount of money that families of teachers and other public school employees would receive when their loved ones are killed at school.
House Bill 105 would double to $150,000 the compensation for victims of violence “in the line of duty,” putting it in parity with the indemnification for police officers killed on the job.
It is an acknowledgement of the increasing risk of death in schools, such as the mass shooting last fall at Apalachee High School in Barrow County, said Sen. Bo Hatchett, R-Cornelia, who presented the bill to the Senate Education and Youth Committee.
“Through this legislation, our state will be able to better support families who have lost loved ones in their service of our children. We live in a scarry world and unfortunately this is a necessity,” Hatchett said. “We hope and pray it’s never used, but if and when it’s needed, it’s there.”
The measure by Rep. Will Wade, R-Dawsonville, would increase the $75,000 indemnification established in 2000, a year after the mass shooting at Columbine High School in Colorado, which at the time was seen as a shocking and extreme development.
The payout would cover any school employee killed while working at school.
The compensation to families of police officers was raised from $100,000 in 2017 to the current $150,000. The money comes from a trust fund of about $3 million.
HB 105 would not increase the $75,000 payout to school employees who are permanently disabled by a shooter or other assailant at school.
The measure passed the House of Representatives 168-0 last month and passed the Senate committee by a unanimous vote. It now goes to the Senate Rules Committee before a possible vote by the full Senate.
by Dave Williams | Mar 11, 2025 | Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA – The Georgia House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed Gov. Brian Kemp’s $37.7 billion fiscal 2026 state budget Tuesday, a spending plan that prioritizes prisons and education.
The budget, which cleared the House 171-4, is smaller than the record $40.5 billion fiscal 2025 mid-year budget lawmakers passed last week, which used $2.7 billion of the state’s $16 billion surplus. The 2026 spending plan, which takes effect July 1, does not count on surplus funding, a recognition that economic headwinds likely lie ahead.
“Things are tight,” House Appropriations Committee Chairman Matt Hatchett, R-Dublin, told his legislative colleagues before Tuesday’s vote. “The needs are great, and many worthy causes are competing for the same limited resources.”
The 2026 budget includes $250 million in new spending on Georgia prisons, the subject of a federal audit last fall that criticized the prison system for failing to protect inmates from violence. To reduce the ratio of inmates to correctional officers, the spending plan authorizes hiring more than 700 guards, while providing pay raises to the current correctional staff.
The House version of the budget added $98 million in education spending above the spending recommendations Kemp presented to the General Assembly in January. Most of that increase would go toward student safety and mental health in the wake of last September’s mass shooting at Apalachee High School in Barrow County.
“School safety and mental health go hand in hand,” Hatchett said.
The budget provides $62 million for a new program called “Student Support Services.” Of that total, $19.6 million would go to hire mental health counselors for middle schools and high schools, and $28 million would go to school districts to help low-income students.
The spending plan also includes $10.8 million to hire 116 literacy coaches. Georgia students’ poor reading scores have prompted the legislature in recent years to emphasize improving literacy.
With such a large budget surplus, Kemp and the General Assembly were able to authorize a series of building projects in the current budget to be financed with cash rather than the usual practice of borrowing the money. The fiscal ’26 budget continues that practice for $545 million in projects, but the House spending plans calls for funding an additional $321 million in building projects through bonds.
The budget now moves to the state Senate.
