Beginning Tuesday this week, Georgians will reap what their state lawmakers sowed when a slew of new laws take effect, from divisive limits on transgender student athletes to a broadly popular guarantee to keep in vitro fertilization (IVF) legal.
In addition to providing options for starting life, the General Assembly gave Georgians a new way to say goodbye to loved ones when life ends.
They addressed technology that is changing how we live, allowing Georgians to use a digital replica of their driver’s license on their phone during traffic stops, while simultaneously banning cellphones in elementary and middle schools. They also passed laws affecting the justice system, food safety, and taxes.
Senate Bill 1 was the first item on the Republican-led state Senate’s agenda. It generally prohibits student athletes in private and public schools and colleges from competing in interscholastic and intercollegiate sports on teams that do not match their birth gender.
Lawmakers spent many hours debating whether transgender athletes were a threat to the safety of girls and women during competition, and whether there were enough of them to merit a legal ban.
Democrats called it unnecessary and dangerous, while Republicans called it necessary for safety, asserting that female athletes could be injured when competing against transgender opponents.
“This common-sense legislation is about what is fair and safe for our children,” Gov. Brian Kemp said when he signed the measure into law in April. “Girls should not have to share a playing field, a restroom, or a locker room with boys.”
Georgia House Speaker Jon Burns (R-Newington) said the legislation would ensure “no young woman is ever forced to face a biological male on the field, on the court or in a locker room.”
Critics fear the new law will encourage bullying of transgender youths. They also worry that girls with a masculine appearance will face unwanted scrutiny.
The law allows parents to challenge their gender.
“It’s legalizing discrimination,” said Lynn Green of Rome, whose transgender son, Ash, was born female.
Green said there are no documented incidents of transgender athletes playing on Georgia school teams, but 17-year-old Ash corrected her. While not interested in playing sports himself, Ash said he’d heard about a female high school athlete who is transitioning to male. Under this law, he must still compete on a girls’ team.
“That would be stupid,” Ash said, adding, “There are definitely trans athletes in Georgia. I just don’t think they’re as big a deal as the bill is making them out to be. They’re not going to affect anyone. They’re not beating people up.”
There were plenty of laws that were not so controversial. For instance, House Bill 428 passed with just one “no” vote in the Senate and no opposition in the House, as Republicans and Democrats found a rare moment of solidarity in support of protecting IVF.
The legislation was prompted by an Alabama Supreme Court ruling last year that declared frozen embryos had to be treated as children. Since some embryos are destroyed during the procedure, it was ruled illegal, raising concerns about legality in Georgia. Now, by near-unanimous consent, it is clearly legal here.
Among the highlights of the new laws on other important topics:
Technology
House Bill 340: No more cell phones in public schools, at least from kindergarten through middle school. Proponents of this ban on devices widely viewed as a distraction stopped short of prohibiting them in high schools, but ban backers say high schools could be next. Meanwhile, the law gives elementary and middle schools until fall 2026 to determine how to prevent their students from using phones at school.
House Bill 296: Nearly everyone has a smartphone, and almost everyone has a driver’s license. So why not put them together? This law went into effect Tuesday, but gives police two years to prepare. Apps that allow you to carry and read a digital license already exist. For instance, air travelers can present their license in Apple Wallet at select Transportation Security Administration checkpoints. However, the digital licenses are otherwise limited until July 2027, when Georgia drivers will be able to present their phones to police if they don’t have a physical license on hand. Officers will not be authorized to take the phone or check through it, but they will have to be equipped to scan the digital license.
Justice
Senate Bill 244: This law was backed by Republicans but drew support from some Democrats. It provides compensation to individuals who a court determines were wrongfully convicted, awarding them $75,000 per year of imprisonment. It also reimburses defendants for attorney fees and court costs when a prosecutor is disqualified due to improper conduct and the case is then dismissed. Those indicted by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis in connection with her criminal case against President Donald Trump stand to benefit.
Senate Bill 79: Far too many people, young people in particular, have died because they have taken fentanyl, sometimes unknowingly. The drug is used as a painkiller in medical settings, but it has found its way to the streets, often contaminating other drugs, such as Adderall, Oxycodone, and Xanax. And it is 100 times more potent than morphine. This law imposes mandatory minimum sentences on those convicted of trafficking fentanyl.
House Bills 85 and 86: These two measures update the way judges are paid. The former aims to equalize local supplementary pay for superior court judges. In contrast, the latter indexes pay for state supreme court justices, appeals court judges, and a statewide business judge to the level of federal judges.
House Bill 161: This law expands the authority of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation to secure subpoenas without requiring a court order. With the attorney general’s approval, the GBI will be able to compel telecommunications companies to turn over customer information, including name, address, and connection records, such as service usage times and durations. The types of investigations that will warrant these extrajudicial subpoenas include crimes against children, crimes facilitated by a computer, and, crucially, when it came to securing lawmaker support, the crime known as swatting, which, according to testimony, is happening more frequently against politicians. Swatting is when someone calls the police to an address on false pretenses.
Food
House Bill 398: This new “cottage food” law will allow home cooks to sell their goods online, by mail, in grocery stores, and at restaurants. The food must be stable without temperature control; therefore, refrigerated items are excluded. However, breads, cakes, cereals, jams, jellies, preserves, pasta, produce, dried fruits, herbs, nuts, seasonings, vinegar, dill pickles, dry soup mixes, and roasted coffee beans are generally included.
Senate Bill 144: Any pesticide with a federally approved label shall be deemed adequately labeled in Georgia and will satisfy the state law duty to label the substance.
Death and taxes
Senate Bill 241: This bill also passed with significant bipartisan majorities. It allows for the composting of human corpses and inspired gallows humor at the Capitol, which eased discomfort about the topic. The new law offers grieving families some measure of comfort. Proponents noted that it will allow them to plant flowers in soil that came from a departed loved one.
House Bills 111 and 112: The former is a tax cut, and the latter is a taxpayer rebate. The cut will reduce the state income tax rate from 5.39% to 5.19%, retroactive to the beginning of the current tax year. The rebate will provide taxpayers with a one-time bonus of $250 for single filers, $375 for heads of household, and $500 for married couples filing jointly.