ATLANTA — Anyone who is still groggy from, and maybe a little bit resentful about, the time change earlier this month, might find solace in the Georgia Senate’s action Monday.
The chamber gutted a bill about ambulances and replaced it with language that would effectively do away with daylight saving time.
Eliminating the semiannual back and forth shifts in the Eastern time zone would require an act of Congress. Since it might be easier to alter the rotation of the sun, the state Senate opted for moving Georgia eastward on the time map, to the zone occupied by places such as New Brunswick and Nova Scotia to the north and Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands to the south.
House Bill 154 would shift Georgia from the Eastern to the Atlantic time zone, aligning the state with parts of Canada and the Caribbean that do not wobble between standard and daylight saving time.
No act of Congress required, just permission from the U.S. Transportation secretary.
HB 154 would require that Gov. Brian Kemp seek that permission. Should Congress ever grant authority for year-round daylight saving time, the governor would be obliged to request a return to the Eastern zone.
One of his allies, Sen. Bo Hatchett, R-Cornelia, is responsible for the new language in the bill.
“Every time we change the clock, we create confusion for families, for businesses, for schools, and for anyone trying to maintain a consistent routine,” Hatchett told his fellow senators Monday. “And for what? The evidence that this system does what it was originally intended to do is weak at best. But the evidence that it disrupts people’s lives, that is overwhelming.”
Sleep, workplace productivity and safety all suffer, he said.
One source of opposition to such a shift in the past has come from parents concerned about their little ones catching a school bus in lingering darkness.
But schools could adjust start times to address local concerns as needed, he said, using a scalpel to address seasonal changes in daylight rather than forcing millions to adapt to a changing clock.
The only critic was a fellow Republican, Sen. Ed Setzler, R-Acworth, who observed that Georgia would be as much as two to three hours out of step with neighboring states at some points on the calendar.
But Sen. Nikki Merritt, D-Grayson, said children suffer even more than adults under the current order.
“I remember when I had small children and what children thrive on is a routine,” she said. “And every time the time changes back and forth, that routine gets disrupted.”
She added that if Georgia leads, other states might follow, a message echoed later by Hatchett.
The measure passed 45-5, with Setzler joined in opposition by four Democrats, including Sen. Harold Jones, II, D-Augusta, the minority leader.
This led Lt. Gov. Burt Jones to quip that it was “the most interesting coalition of nays I’ve ever seen.”
Hatchett, who is a floor leader for Kemp, said later that he was not pushing the bill for the governor. It now goes to the House for consideration of the amendment.
ATLANTA — The Georgia House voted Monday to impose tougher punishments on protesters who block streets, approving the bill over objections from legislators who said it infringes on free speech rights.
The 96-69 vote sends the bill to Gov. Brian Kemp’s desk after it previously passed the state Senate.
“Blocking traffic in the name of protest is not just an inconvenience for those who cannot pass, it’s impeding first responders, school buses, hard-working people,” said Rep. Leesa Hagan, R-Lyons. “This bill is not about stifling the right to lawful protest in any way. It is a bill about public safety.”
Democrats opposing the legislation, Senate Bill 443, said it would discourage protesters who are intimidated by potential fines, jail time, and the possibility of lawsuits.
The bill makes the crime of obstructing a highway or street a high and aggravated misdemeanor, punishable by fines of up to $5,000 and a year in jail. In addition, the bill allows protesters to be held civilly liable in court for damages such as lost wages or medical costs.
“When people know that participating will expose them to civil lawsuits, may people will choose not to show up at all,” said Rep. Karla Drenner, D-Avondale Estates. “That is about stopping participating before it begins. It turns a Constitutional right into a financial risk calculation.”
The Georgia bill follows the shooting of Renee Good in Minneapolis, who was killed by an immigration officer in January. Good’s partner, Becca Good, has said they stopped their car in the street to support neighbors during an immigration operation.
Lawmakers didn’t mention the Minnesota shooting during the Georgia House debate Monday.
Instead, opponents of the legislation discussed how it could have been used against protesters seeking civil rights or opposing a public safety training center in DeKalb County.
Rep. Noel Williams Jr., R-Cordele, said roads need to be clear for emergency vehicles.
“All we’re trying to do is protect the citizens,” Williams said. “You think about ambulances trying to get through. You think about people in need and they’re obstructed.”
Rep. Park Cannon, D-Atlanta, said police could use this kind of law to make Georgians pay a price for raising their voices.
“One charge like this is not a minor inconvenience. It’s a crisis. The threat alone is enough to silence them,” Cannon said. “Under this bill, a worker standing in the street to demand fair treatment could face not just arrest, but criminal penalties.”
ATLANTA — Cellphones will be banned in Georgia public high schools starting in the 2027-28 school year, if Gov. Brian Kemp signs House Bill 1009 into law.
The state Senate passed the measure unanimously on Monday.
“This is a great, great, win for our students and our classrooms,” said Rep. Scott Hilton, R-Peachtree Corners, the author of the bill.
He has argued that devices are a distraction that can incite disruptions, including fights.
The all-out ban on personal devices would bring Georgia in line with other states that have prohibited personal devices in schools. Those bans tend to be across all grade levels, but an earlier prohibition passed into law in Georgia was only for elementary and middle schools.
That law, established last year, will affect K-8 schools starting this summer. If HB 1009 goes into effect and extends the ban to high schools, current seventh graders will never be able to use a phone in school again after this semester.
A Democrat’s attempt to amend the bill failed on the Senate floor. Sen. RaShaun Kemp, D-Atlanta, wanted students to have access to their phones between classes.
Some have jobs, some even have children, the former high school principal said. “I do not believe that we should do a blanket policy that treats 17 year olds like 7 year olds.”
Sen. Shawn Still, R-Suwanee, who presented the bill on the Senate floor, opposed the amendment.
It would have forced teachers to regulate devices when students returned to class, he said, and they didn’t want that responsibility.
There was no debate about crisis communications, an issue that had come up in the House last month before that chamber passed the high school phone ban 145-20.
Some then had expressed concerns about parents being able to talk to, or text with, their children during a crisis, such as the 2024 mass shooting that left four dead at Apalachee High School in Barrow County.
But safety experts have said phones can be a distraction in an emergency, as police and teachers try to lead students through the danger.
If a child listens to a parent’s instruction rather than to a teacher who is relaying instructions from police, the outcome can be catastrophic, Still said after Monday’s vote.
Many Georgia high schools voluntarily banned the devices from their schools ahead of the deadline after Kemp signed the K-8 restrictions into law last year. Some even included high schools in their local bans.
The positive reception among teachers, parents and even some students helped Hilton make the case to expand the statewide prohibition to high schools.
Still, who worked with Hilton on the bill since the summer, said he had heard no pushback from parents or teachers.
“I think the only people that are going to have a hard time with this are the teenagers that have to adjust to life without it,” he said, noting that most adults alive today grew up without cellphones and that adults would “have to kind of reprogram” for a tech-free existence.
ATLANTA — In the 11 years since Georgia’s medical marijuana program started, it has slowly stumbled forward, with patients restricted to low-potency oils.
The Georgia General Assembly gave final approval to a bill Monday that would change that.
The House voted 144-21 to lift Georgia’s limit on THC content in medical marijuana, and to allow registered patients to vape the drug to receive faster relief. Senate Bill 220 now advances to Gov. Brian Kemp.
“These are badly needed improvements,” said Shannon Cloud, whose 20-year-old daughter suffers from seizures and is a registered Georgia medical marijuana patient. “It allows more flexibility for patients and doctors to access what’s really going to work for them, taking away the really tight restrictions.”
Of the 42 states with medical marijuana programs, Georgia’s has the lowest adoption rates, said Gary Long, CEO of Botanical Sciences, which owns five dispensaries across the state.
There are about 34,500 registered patients and 2,200 registered caregivers in Georgia, according to the state Department of Health.
Patients will get quicker relief from vaping rather than ingesting oil tinctures, Long said.
“If you’re a patient who has chronic, intractable pain, you don’t want to wait 45 minutes for those other forms to take effect,” Long said. “This is a medicinal product. This is not a recreational product. This gives the majority of patients a form of the product that provides the quickest relief possible.”
Currently, Georgia’s medical marijuana law allows patients to buy and consume products with up to 5% THC, the compound that gives marijuana users a high. Recreational marijuana, which is illegal in Georgia, can have THC content of 20% or more.
Under SB 220, there would be no THC percentage cap. The name of Georgia’s medical product would be changed from “Low THC Oil” to “medical cannabis.”
Sen. Ed Setzler, R-Acworth, said he has “grave concerns” about raising the THC limit and allowing people to get high.
“This is not Low THC Oil to solve the problems of little girls that have serious medical conditions that modern medical science cannot otherwise solve. This is something different,” Setzler said before the 38-14 Senate vote to pass the bill last week. “It’s about getting people high on THC with concentrated THC into their lungs. That’s a very different proposition.”
Sen. Matt Brass, R-Newnan, said the bill will support legitimate patients and prevent a slide toward recreational marijuana legalization that occurred in other states.
“This state does it different. We have put it in medical hands,” Brass said. “We have a tight lock around those qualifying conditions, and we are taking advice from medical experts.”
To qualify for medical cannabis, Georgia patients need approval from a physician to treat conditions including seizure disorders, Parkinson’s disease, multiple sclerosis, post-traumatic stress disorder, and intractable pain. SB 220 would add lupus to the list and limit treating physicians to those whose principal practice of medicine is located in Georgia.
Georgians for Responsible Marijuana Policy, a group that warns against the risks of marijuana expansion, said increased availability and potency of THC can lead to addiction, impair youth brain development and driving skills, and undermine worker productivity.
“When cannabis use disorder takes root, it does not create freedom — it takes away the ability to choose,” wrote the group’s executive director, Michael Mumper, in a statement at the beginning of this year’s legislative session.
Kemp could sign the bill, allow it to become law without his signature, or veto it.
ATLANTA — After passing a budget that puts a bounty on wild pigs, Georgia lawmakers reiterated their lethal intent by enlisting cutting-edge technology to hunt them down.
Feral hogs have been ripping through farmers’ fields, inflicting millions of dollars of damage a year. Lawmakers, it seems, would prefer them sitting on a plate as bacon.
So, last week, the state House passed a preliminary 2027 budget with $400,000 toward a feral hog eradication incentive program and another $500,000 for a state management program.
It didn’t end there.
On Friday, the state Senate sent House Bill 946 to Gov. Brian Kemp for his signature.
“All it simply does is make it where you can take a drone and locate feral hogs that destroys and damages your property,” explained Sen. Lee Anderson, R-Grovetown.
Anderson had already left the well of the Senate when Sen. Carden Summers, R-Cordele, said he had a question.
Lt. Gov. Burt Jones did not make Anderson return, so Summers exploited the rules of the Senate and raised what’s known as a “parliamentary inquiry,” a technical question for the lieutenant governor.
“What’s the difference between a hog and a hog,” Summers asked, adding an extra vowel to his second expression of the word in an attempt to mimic Anderson.
Jones had a quick response.
“Depends on if you’re below the Gnat Line or not,” he said, with a flourish of his hand. It was a reference to the geological “fall” line that spans Middle Georgia and acts like a screen door to keep gnats down there.
Before he had left the well, Anderson had implored his fellow senators to vote for HB 946, which had been sponsored by Rep. Rob Clifton, R-Evans.
“I just ask each and every one of you vote green so we can go kill some hogs this afternoon,” Anderson had said.
With those words, he had doomed the pigs. The vote was 46-0 for HB 946.
The legislation also allows people to catch hogs without a hunting or trapping license “provided that such hogs shall be killed upon capture.”
ATLANTA — Drivers will soon find gas to be a little cheaper in Georgia after Gov. Brian Kemp signed a law Friday that immediately suspended the state excise tax on motor fuel to address affordability concerns.
“Today is just the latest step we’re taking and it’s one that will help all Georgians as they work to make ends meet,” Kemp said at the Capitol before signing House Bill 1199 into law. The measure passed the House on Wednesday with broad bipartisan support and cleared the Senate unanimously on Thursday.
Kemp also signed House Bill 1000, giving Georgians a one-time rebate on income taxes paid last year or the year before. Individual filers will get $250 back, heads of household $375 and married couples filing jointly $500.
Gov. Brian Kemp speaks before signing Georgia House Bills 1199 and 1000 into law at the Georgia State Capitol on Friday, March 20, 2026. The laws suspend the state motor fuel tax for 60 days and implement one-time income tax rebates. (Ashtin Barker/Capitol Beat)
Kemp noted that lawmakers were working to help Georgians deal with affordability well ahead of the elections, when voters are expected to select candidates based on their feelings about the issue.
The fuel tax suspension, the fourth during Kemp’s tenure, will cost the state treasury an estimated $400 million during the 60 days it is in effect. The timing has the suspension in place up to the Georgia primary election on May 19.
Lt. Gov. Burt Jones, who is running for the GOP nomination for governor, applauded the collaboration between the Senate, the House and the governor’s office.
“We want to get income tax relief. We want to get property tax relief. So, we’re working together on getting this done,” Jones said.
Kemp’s signature on HB 1199 immediately suspends the state’s 33 cent per gallon excise tax on gasoline. It also suspends the 37 cent a gallon tax on diesel fuel, which affects the cost of food and other goods on store shelves.
Gas prices spiked after President Donald Trump ordered air strikes on Iran last month.
“We’re all feeling the pain at the pump as instability in the global oil markets causes the cost of fuel to rise across this country,” House Speaker Jon Burns, R-Newington said.
He said Georgia is among the first states to suspend the gas tax to suppress the recent run-up in prices. He said the state House met this week with representatives of the trucking industry, which faces a nearly $2 per gallon increase in diesel costs.
Burns said he anticipated “a quick and successful end to the conflict overseas that is causing these increases.” He also thanked American military members and their families, saying “we should all keep them in our prayers.”
Then, Kemp signed the bills that will leave more income tax money in Georgian’s pockets and reduce the cost of travel as families embark on spring break trips.
