Georgia Senate Session Recording

Good morning, everyone. Good morning. The time for convening has arrived. The senate will come to order. All unauthorized personnel, please exit the chamber at this time.

Chair recognizes senator from the six.

Good morning, mister president, president, we got a long, great list of pages joining us today from all over this great state. Out of Eatonton, Georgia, we've got Zoa Abbott. From Dallas, we have brothers, Baylor and Drake Bentley and their cousin Kennedy Fields, also from Dallas. From Cochran, we have Jake Floyd. From Hiram, we have the twins, Lily and Molly Fuller.

From Milton, we have June Gruskin. From Eatonton, we have Emma Lewis. From Douglasville, Sunny Lynn. We have another set of twins, Palin and Zuri Milbrett, and they're from Marietta. Also from Marietta, we have Zara, Maquando Wiri.

From Waycross, we have brothers, Baylor and Cooper Peacock. From Atlanta, we have our very own senator Kemp's nephew, Trenton Presley. From Valdosta, we have Corey Smith. From Atlanta, Cameron Snead. From Suwanee, we have Samdish Thukra.

And from Atlanta, we have Sarah Washington. Y'all give these pages a big round of applause. We appreciate your service to the great state of Georgia and to the Georgia State Senate. Mister president, I was reading through the journal, and it seems to be correct. So I would move that we dispense with the reading of the journal.

Welcome back. Yes, sir. Welcome back. It's so good to see you, senator. Are you done for the day?

I made a motion that we dispense with the reading of the journal, and we congratulated these great pages.

These are wonderful pages here today, senator. You're exactly right. We got a lot of them here today. How'd you get so many here on a Friday?

They didn't wanna go to school today.

Well, it's good. That's funny. That's probably right. That's probably right. Well, thank you, senator.

Appreciate that. And, is there objection to dispensing of the reading of the journal? Chair hears none. The reading of the journal is dispensed with. Is there objection to the confirmation of the journal?

Chair hears none. The journal is confirmed. All senators have bills and resolutions introduced. Please bring them to the secretary's desk at this time.

Secretary. Senate bill four sixty five by senators go to the fifty first and others. A bill to be entitled in act to amend article two of chapter seven of title 48 of the official Finance. Senate bill four sixty six by senators bearden of the thirtieth and others. A bill to be entitled in act to amend article 27 of chapter two of title 20.

In you. Senate bill four sixty seven by senators Kauser of the forty sixth and others, a bill to be entitled in act to amend and family. Senate bill four sixty eight by senators Kauser of the forty sixth and others, a bill to be entitled in act to amend article two of chapter one of title 42 of the OCGA relating to Public safety. Senate bill four sixty nine by senator Still of the forty eighth and others, a bill to be entitled an act to amend an act created State and local government. Mister president, that completes the order.

First reading in references to house bills.

House bill nine eighty five by representatives Bonner of the seventy third and others. A bill to be entitled and act to amend part three of article two of chapter four of title 38 of the official code of Georgia. Mister president, that completes the order.

Secretary Reed reports a standing committee.

Mister president, the senate committee on insurance and labor has had under consideration the following legislation as instructed me to report the same back to the senate with the following recommendation. Senate bill four forty four, do pass. Senate bill four zero nine do pass by substitute. Respectfully submitted. Senator Harbon of the 16th District Chairman.

Mister president, the senate committee on judiciary has had under consideration the following legislation as instructed me to report the same back to the senate with the following recommendation. Senate bill three ninety eight, due passed by substitute. Senate bill four zero five, due passed, respectfully submitted. Senator Strickland of the 42nd District Chairman. Mister president, the senate committee on regulated industries and utilities has had under consideration the following legislation and has instructed me to report the same back to the senate with the following recommendation.

Senate bill 86, due passed by substitute. Respectfully submitted, senator Kauser of the 46th District Chairman. Mister president, the senate committee on regulated industries and utilities has had under consideration the following legislation as instructed me to report the same back to the senate with the following recommendation. House bill one eighty five, due passed by substitute. Respectfully submitted, senator Cousert of the 46th District Chairman.

Mister president, the senate committee on state and local government operations general has had under consideration the following legislation as instructed me to report the same back to the senate with the following recommendation. Senate bill three zero one, do pass by substitute. Respectfully submitted, senator Dixon of the 45th District Chairman. Dear mister secretary, pursuant to senate rule two dash 1.6, I hereby give notice that I will introduce a minority report to be read along with the majority report of senate bill three zero one, which passed out of the senate committee on state and local government operations on 02/05/2026. Sincerely, senator Randall Magnum of the 55th District.

Mister president, the senate committee on urban affairs has had under consideration the following legislation as instructed me to report the same back to the senate with the following recommendation. Senate bill one sixty six, due passed by substitute, respectfully submitted to senator Halpern of the 39th District vice chairman. Mister president, that completes the order.

Takes care of rebills and resolutions for the second time.

Senate bill one forty three by senators Albers at the fifty sixth and others. Georgia's firefighters pension fund of certain members to retire at age 50, provide. Senate bill four twenty seven by senator Watson of the first and others, physicians, limited provisional license and a pathway to licensure for certain internationally trained physicians, provide. Senate bill four thirty five by senator Goodman of the eighth and others, Georgia Development Authority, renames the Georgia Agricultural Development Authority. Senate resolution, six eighty four by senator Halpern of the thirty ninth and others.

American Heart Month, recognized February 2026. House bill, one sixty three by representative Ridley of the twenty second and others. Food service establishment, certain food products be disclosed as containing cell cultured meat and plant based alternatives require. Mister president, that completes the order.

It is now time for the one and roll call. Are there any motions to excuse? Recognize senator from 33rd.

Thank you, mister president, and good morning. I ask for unanimous consent to excuse the senators from the tenth, the fifth, seventh for business outside the capital.

Senator from the tenth, the seventh, and the fifth. Without objection, senators are excused. Recognize senator from the fiftieth.

Thank you, mister president. I ask for unanimous consent to excuse the senator from the 56th District for business outside the chamber.

Without objection, senator from the 56th is excused. Breaking out senator from 48.

Good morning, mister president. I ask you to name his consent to please excuse the senator from the 56th for business outside the capital.

We we got him, senator. Thank you. Any other motion to excuse? Senator from 33rd.

Thank you, mister president. And y'all ask for, oops, Unanimous consent to excuse the senators from the 28th and 36

for business matter. Objection, senators from 28 And 36 are excused. Any other motions? Secretary, we call the roll. Senator, signify your presence by voting the a switch.

Secretary unlock machine. It is now time for our morning devotion. All senators, please take your seats and cease all conversation. I would ask that the door doorkeepers secure the chamber at this time. I now recognize the senator from the forty first to introduce our pastor today and lead us in our pledge.

Senator?

Thank you, mister president. Please stand as we, begin with the pledge of the allegiance to The United States flag. I pledge allegiance

to the flag

of The United States Of America

and to the republic who

Announce the Georgia flag. I pledge allegiance to the Georgia flag, the principles for which it stands. Wisdom, justice, moderation. Well, thank you everyone. It's my great honor and privilege today to introduce to you all a friend.

As many of you all know I am an ordained Episcopal priest and so when it comes to having a chaplain of the day I have a lot of choices and a lot of people that I get to offend by not asking them, and I decided to just make sure I didn't go anywhere near the Episcopal church, and stuck to somebody in my district. And so, today we have with us the Reverend Connie Tuttle who lives in Tucker, Georgia. She is, by all accounts an army brat, but was born at Camp Gordon in Augusta. So she is truly a Georgia girl, and has made her home in DeKalb County for many years. She's also the founding pastor of Circle of Grace, a church that meets in DeKalb County, that has for many long times is rooted in, a deep commitment to both, God's word and understanding how god loves us, and has deep feminist roots.

So a very unique community of people that she's able to serve. With that, it's my great honor and privilege to introduce to you reverend Connie Tuttle.

Thank you, Kim. Good morning, lawmakers. I am grateful that Kim Jackson invited me to this honor. She is everything I hope for in an elected official. She's compassionate.

She's smart. She's an advocate for justice. I could probably go on for a long time. The list is long. But more than that, she is a dear friend and colleague who has walked beside me in times of grief and struggle and in times of joy and holy reckoning.

Thank you, Kim. When I studied on what I might have to say today that would bless the work before this body, I wondered what, if anything, do we have in common? And I think I've hit on it. When I was ordained to ministry, things changed. People began to see me differently, to expect a level of spiritual perfection that, frankly, I will never attain.

And somehow, all of a sudden, when that happened, I was holier than everybody else, and I had some kind of direct line to God that other people didn't. Now I'm going to imagine that you've had some similar experiences with being elected. Because of your office, many see you as smarter or richer or better or more powerful than the average person. And all of a sudden, you are the person who can or should solve every problem. You are seen as your role rather than as a person, And that's okay.

That's okay. We embody symbols that point to something greater than ourselves. My role is to represent God in human situations when people are sick, when people are dying, when people are getting married, when people are having babies. Your role is to make laws with the welfare of the people at heart. Your work embodies the sanctity of the law on which our nation was built.

But the truth is, and you know it and I know it, we're just ordinary people. We are no different and no better than anyone else. We are flawed, but at our best, we keep trying to do the next right thing. We live every day tempted by the power that other people confer on us. But we are guided by documents.

For me, the Bible. For you, the Constitution to use that power responsibly. We don't have all the answers, so let's be open to new knowledge, to new understandings, as well as to the wisdom of our ancestors. Now, I also believe that people of all spiritual convictions try to live faithfully into their relationship with God. For me, as a Christian pastor, it means not that I believe some corrected dogma, but that I live into Christ's invitation to follow me.

As a Christian, I am informed and convicted by Jesus saying in the gospel according to Matthew, when asked, teacher, what is the greatest commandment in the law? Jesus replied, love the Lord your God with all your heart and all your soul and all your mind, and love your neighbor as yourself. All the laws and the prophets hang on these two commandments. Jesus teaches us about love in his parables, and he's not talking about that warm, fuzzy kind of love that we think of around Valentine's Day, but he's talking about a muscular love that welcomes both strangers and unexpected outsiders. The love that does the work of feeding the hungry and ministering to the ill, of visiting those in prison and liberating the oppressed.

So today, I'm inviting all of us to set aside the accolades that we've been given, the pretenses that we have of some kind of perfection, and even set aside the hidden fears that we may not be enough. Let us all today live and strive to live into the often uncomfortable, sometimes terrifying, but always blessed work of living our faith authentically. Today and every day, love god the best you can. Today and every day, let us love our neighbors near and far, gay and straight, old and young, immigrants and natives, red and yellow, black and white, with a faith that encourages us to love unceasingly. Because lawmakers, all the laws hang on those two commandments.

Let us pray. O holy one, our only home, give us the courage to live into your call. And then all that has divided us will merge, and then compassion will be wedded to power, and then softness will come into a world that is harsh and unkind. And then both men and women will be gentle, and then both women and men will be strong, and then no person will be subject to another's will, and then all will be rich and free and varied, and then greed of some will give way to the needs of the many, and then all will share equally in the earth's abundance, and then we will all care for the sick and the weak and the old, and then all will nourish the young, and then all will cherish life's creatures, and then all will live in harmony with each other and the earth, and everywhere will be called Eden once again. In the name of Christ, may it be so.

Amen.

Center from 48. Y'all come on so we introduce our doctor of the day. It is now time to introduce our doctor of the day. And to do that honor, well, I'll call on the senator from the 48th. Senator?

John.

College, good morning. Would love for y'all to, meet my new friend, but, long time constituent, doctor Jonathan Gillig. He is homegrown from North Fulton. Went to high school there. Went to med school at Emory.

Practices at Emory Johns Creek. And he is truly a product of what we love to be able to see for people to be able to grow up in our communities and then come back and and serve. He, he's an orthopedic surgeon, did not work at the same time with, another one of our dear colleagues who, used to work at the the same Resurgence Orthopedics, but, still exciting. But the most fun facts about doctor Gillig is that he lives in jobs group with his wife, Jane, who's a speech pathologist, and their two young children, Elizabeth and William. And William, his little son, is turning two today, and he is still here with us.

So with that, our doctor of the day, doctor Gillig.

Thank you all. Thank you so much, for the ability to be here and serve you all today. I hope if, there's anything that I can do to help, I'll be downstairs in the medical aid station. On behalf of the, Medical Association of Georgia, the Georgia Orthopedic Society, and, Resurgence Orthopedics, we thank you for giving up, time from your family, your friends, and, your livelihoods to be here representing us in the great state of Georgia. We thank you for all of your work in making our, state an excellent place to live and, hope you all have a blessed day.

Thank

you.

Are there any unanimous consents? Well, we've got our former senator in the room here. Hello, representative. Hello, representative. How's the house treating you over there?

So good. I'm so proud. Well, we miss you. We miss you, Senator. I mean, representative.

Are there any unanimous consents? None. Does any senator wish to to, enlighten us on a point of personal privilege today? No points of personal privilege today. Wow.

Wow. Senator, no points of personal privilege? I am shocked. I am shocked, shocked, shocked. Senator from the 38th, were you do you have your light on?

Do you have good news for us today? Are you gonna make us all sad sad and down for the day? Alright. I recognize center from 38 for a point of personal privilege.

Mister president, I'm a do both. I am going to address something that recently occurred, and then I'm gonna turn to some, happier, news. So today is February 6. It's the sixth day of Black History Month, a month meant to celebrate the contributions of African Americans to the growth of our nation. But last night, Donald Trump shared a video depicting Brock and Michelle Obama as apes.

This is not humor. It's not politics. This is racism, plain and simple. This was not a joke. It was a message, and the message was clear.

Racism. This is a tragic and long and ugly history of this country on full display by the president of The United States Of America. The president chose to dehumanize black people, deny our humanity. And when leaders dehumanize, violence is never far behind. And when someone who has held the highest office in the land amplifies this type of imagery, hate is not expressed.

It is endorsed. We can disagree on policy. We can debate values fiercely, but we cannot attack people's humanity Because the moment we normalize dehumanization, we normalize injustice. Condemning this is not partisan. It actually is patriotic.

And this body and this country must draw a line here. Racism is not a strategy. It is not strength, and it has no place in our politics, our leadership, or our democracy. And I just wanna share the White House's response. In response to this, the press secretary said the following.

This is from an Internet meme video depicting president Trump as the king of the jungle and Democrats as characters from the Lion King. Please stop the fake outrage and report on something that today that actually matters to the American public. Well, I want to impress upon everyone in here and that hears my voice. I can assure you the American public cares about this. The American public does not want to see the president of The United States share images of black people like apes.

This is what we're dealing with right now. This is coming from the president of The United States. I actually came to do a point of personal privilege on a good note, but when I saw that, I felt the need to speak out. And so I'm gonna turn to something more positive, and I apologize in advance, to, good brother from a a great fraternity for having to preview, to interlude that, with this. But, I wanted to recognize, Lieutenant Colonel Otha Thornton Junior who is here with us today.

He is a great man of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Incorporated. And he is a long serving educator and also a member of our armed services. He was selected for consecutive high trust assignments with the White House Communications Agency, serving as the JI Director and a presidential communications officer during the administrations of president George w Bush and Barack Obama, ensuring the continuity and security of national command communications. And this is actually from, our great senator from the twenty eighth, but in her hap absence, I wanted to recognize lieutenant colonel Otha Thornton for his contributions not only to our country, but also to education as a fellow educator. So thank you, mister Thornton.

Thanks for being here. Alright. Let's give him a hand. And with that, mister president, I yield to well.

We're gonna send it from the sixteenth for a point of personal privilege.

Thank you, mister president. I appreciate it. Yesterday, we had David Barton here speaking as our chaplain of the day. And on your desk, you will find he does a pro legislative conference each year in Dallas, Texas. The documents of the constitution, the things that he has in hand, I don't know if any of y'all saw it yesterday, some of the original documents that they brought with him here.

But on your desk or the cards, you can scan the QR code on there and get information on that conference. My wife says it's the best thing we do every year, and it's a really, great, great time to meet with other legislators from around the country. Appreciate it. Thank you, sir.

Reagan as a center from the forty first.

Good morning, friends. I just rise today with my colleague, the senator from the fourteenth, along with the senator from the thirty ninth in her absence to wish our administrator, Tina Coria a happy birthday. Tomorrow is her birthday. And so she serves all three of us, and it really is our honor and privilege. Tina is absolutely amazing.

If you've ever been into the CLOB and needed a snack or a hug or just a how y'all doing, Tina always has it. And so I wanted to wish her a happy birthday and thank her for all of the great service that she provides to us and to the entire state of Georgia. Thank you.

Breaking down the center from thirty fourth.

Good morning, mister president. I rise with my senate colleague my senate caucus to celebrate in a moment important moment in black history. To honor institutes that deeply are personal to me. The transformers, our communities, our historically black colleges and universities, our HBCUs are not just schools. They're legacies.

They're lifelines. They're places where excellence was built in the face of exclusion. This celebration is especially meaningful to me as a mother. My sons are proud graduates of HBCUs. Gremlin State University, Jackson State University and Kentucky State University.

I've seen firsthand how these institutes nurture talent, build confidence and create leaders. Today, I wanna spotlight just a few of many HBCUs that helped shape our nation's history. Shaw University founded 1865 in Raleigh, North Carolina. Built one of the first dormitories for black women. Sending a clear message that black women's education mattered.

Our very own Clark Atlanta University founded 1865 right here in Atlanta becoming a hub for black scholarships that help shape generations of professors, scholarships and civil rights leaders. The Normal School of Colored Girls founded 1851 in Washington DC was dedicated to training black women as teachers eventually becoming part of what's known today as University of District of Columbia. And in 1870, Benedict College which was founded to provide educational opportunity to African Americans at the time where they were systematically denied access to learn. These were not just schools or campuses. They were living proof that black education was being resisted, demanded, protected, and defined more than a hundred and seventy years ago.

They represent preservance. They represent pride. And they represent the possibility that even today, HBCUs continue to provide leaders in education, businesses, public service, medicine, law, and government. That includes many of us sitting right here in the chamber. Because when we invest in HBCUs, we invest in generations.

Thank you, mister president. I yield the well.

Does any other senator wish to rise on appoint a personal privilege? You have before you a consent calendar of privilege resolutions. Does any senator wish to remove a resolution from the consent calendar? Is there objection to the adoption of the resolution on the consent calendar? Chair hears none.

Resolution on the consent calendars are adopted. Are there any motions withdraw or commit? Moving on to the rules calendar. Secretary will read s b three eighty three.

Senate bill three eighty three by senators Kirkpatrick of the thirty second and others. A bill to be entitled in act to amend chapter 15 of title 19 of the official code of Georgia annotated relating to child abuse so as to modify the review to be performed by local child fatality review committees to add members to such committees to provide for required attendance for training to clarify the scope of child death subject to review to modify deadlines and requirements for reports relating to child deaths to modify the procedures of the coroner or medical informing changes to provide for related matters to repeal conflicting laws and for other purposes. The senate committee on children and family has recommended that this bill do pass by senator Kirkpatrick, chairman. Mister president, that completes your work.

Bringing out the senator from thirty second. The chairlady of children and family.

Thank you, mister president. This bill is an agency bill from GBI, and it has to do with cleaning up our current code on child fatality review. It corrects some timelines that are unrealistic and not being followed because they really can't be. It adds a couple of conditions other than SIDS. It adds, sudden infant, unexplained death and sleep related infant death.

And it, changes the meeting structure so that it's gonna be easier for the counties to deal with, and it changes the reports, to be due from forty eight hours to seven days. And that's gonna make it much easier to comply with our law. Be happy to answer any questions.

You have no questions, senator.

Thank you. I yield the wealth.

Does any senator wish to speak for or against the measure? Chair hears none. Is there objection to the previous question being ordered? Chair here is none, and the previous question is ordered. Is there objection to agreeing to the committee to the report of the committee, which is favorable to the passes of the bill?

Chair here is none. The report of committee is agreed to. Is there objection to the main question being ordered? Chair here's done. Main question is ordered.

The question is on the passes of the bill. All those in favor vote yay. All opposed nay. Secretary, unlock the machine. On the passage of the bill, the a's are 48 and a's are zero.

This bill had received rest requisite constitutional majority is therefore passed. Senator from the forty fourth, for what purpose do you rise?

I'd like to ask for unanimous consent to excuse the senator from the twenty second for business inside the Capitol.

That objection, senator from twenty second is excused. Secretary Reed, senate bill four zero two.

Senate bill four zero two by senator Tillery of the nineteenth and others to be a bill to be entitled and act to amend chapter five of title 49 of the official code of Georgia annotated relating to programs and protecting protection for children and youth so as to establish a pilot program relating to the provision of screenings, clinical evaluations, trainings, services, and resources for autism spectrum disorder to children in foster care, to provide for definitions, to provide for the division division of family and children services of the department of human services, to develop and implement such pilot program, to provide for a final report and recommendations, to provide for rules and regulations, to provide for automatic repeal, to provide for related matters, to provide for an effective date, to appeal conflicting laws, and for other purposes. The Senate Committee on Children and Families recommends that this bill do pass by substitute senator Kirkpatrick of the thirty second chairman. Mister president, the Senate Committee on Children and Families offers the following substitute, the senate bill four zero two. A bill to be entitled and act to amend chapter five of title 49 of the official code of Georgia annotated relating to programs and protection for children and youth so as to establish a pilot program relating to the provision of screenings, clinical evaluations, training services, and resources for autism spectrum disorder to children in foster care and for other purposes.

Mister president, that completes the order.

We're gonna have a senate from the nineteenth.

Thank you, mister president. Senate bill four zero two, pounds on the efforts of this body and our friends across the hall to combat autism, especially as we realize the relation now between autism and our foster care program. What we saw what last year, you helped us fund in the budget of $451,000 pilot that studied Region 12 of our state. Our defects regions are divided into 12 14 different regions. In Region 12, we realized that the number of children with autism in foster care is six times greater than the regular population.

We were able to use that $451,000 to first identify and diagnose, and then try to provide additional resources to help combat that cyclically in that area. The cost savings is immense. The $451,000 is literally spending pennies now instead of pounds later. What senate bill four zero two does is replicates that pilot project in three additional regions of our state to see if that correlation holds. If it does hold, we then would look to expand it to the other regions of our state, 14 regions of our state.

But let's go forward with a $1,500,000 proposal now rather than a $7,000,000 proposal, if we don't know that that correlation is still found. That is the senate senate bill four zero two. I think it should be unanimously approved, and I'd appreciate your support. Mister president, happy to yield to any questions.

You do have one question, senator. Recognize the senator from the fourteenth.

Thank you, mister president. Senator Yield? Yes, sir. I am genuinely curious because I had this conversation with an autism clinic director a few months ago, and the understanding I have, and I'd be interested to hear what you've heard about it, is that the incidence is going up, generally of diagnosis of autism, not just because of diagnosis rates, but because the actual incidence is going up. But I've also heard that we don't exactly know why.

And so I'm curious what you have heard in terms of your conversations with policy experts in this area about the rising incidents.

Well, thank thank you for bringing that up. As you know, president Trump is focused on that greatly. I think he's actually using the health and human services director, secretary Kennedy to look at that as well. They have some ideas. I don't know that all of those play across the field in study.

That's something we're looking at, of course, but I don't think that foster care causes autism. Clearly, the autism is why they end up later on in foster care. So let's try to identify that, diagnose it on the front end. If we can keep children from coming into our system, obviously, I think we all agree that's they're better served.

Thanks, senator. Glad to support your bill.

Yes, sir. You have no more questions, sir.

Thank you so much. I urge your favorable consideration of the committee substitute the senate bill four zero two.

Does any other senator wish to speak for against the measure? Chair here is none. Is there objection to the previous question being ordered? Chair here is none. The previous question is ordered.

Questions on the adoption of the committee substitute. Is there objection to the adoption of the committee substitute? Hearing none, the committee substitute is adopted. Is there objection to agreeing to the forward committee, which is favorable to the passes of the bill? Chair hears none.

Report of the committee has agreed to. Is there objection to the main question being ordered? Chair hears none. The main question is ordered. The question is on the passage of the bill by substitute.

All those in favor vote yay. All opposed nay. Secretary, unlock the machine. On the passage of the bill, the a's are 48 and a's are zero. This bill haven't received records.

The constitution majority is therefore passed by substitute. Good work on that, senator, and thank you, chair lady, for all your hard work on that children and family committee. Done a lot of good things for, for the foster care system, senator, And still have a lot more to go, and we appreciate all your hard work. Moving on, s b four thirty one. Secretary?

Senate bill four thirty one by senators Kirkpatrick of the thirty second and others. A bill to be entitled in act to amend code section 20 dash two dash six seventy two of the official code of Georgia annotated related to disclosures and information required for permanent enrollment in a grade higher than third, provisional enrollment, and transfer of education records so as to require the enrollment of foster care students within two school days of a request for enrollment by such student's parent or legal custodian, reporting noncompliance and for corrective action plans to revise provisions relative to provisional enrollment to provide for related matters to repeal conflicting laws and for other purposes. The senate committee on children and families recommend that this bill do pass. Senator Kirkpatrick, chairman. Mister president, I can place the order.

We're gonna have senate for the thirty second.

Thank you, mister president. Senate bill four thirty one is a result of the study committee that met over the summer in a bipartisan way, and we were dealing with aging out of foster care. The information who from people who testified was that some kids that are in foster care change placements in schools, but they're not immediately enrolled in the receiving school. And in some cases, this has resulted in credits not transferring. One young lady even had to repeat a year.

So we in looking into this, we learned that there are multiple districts in our state that are not immediately enrolling foster kids, and so this bill specifically addresses foster students and requires the school to enroll them within two days. It also gives the Department of Education the authority to, work with the school with a corrective action plan if they're not complying for whatever reason. And with that, I'd be happy to take any questions.

You have no questions, senator.

Thank you, IO.

Does any other senator wish to speak for against the measure? Yes. Chair here is none. Is is the any objection to the previous question being ordered? Chair here is none.

The previous question is ordered. Is there objection to agreeing to the report of committee, which is favorable to the passage of the bill? Chair hears none. Reports committee has agreed to. Is there objection to the main question being ordered?

Chair hears none. The main question is ordered. The questions on the passage of the bill, All those in favor, vote yay. All opposed, nay. Secretary, unlock the machine.

On the passage of the bill, the a's are 49, the nays are zero. This bill having received Brexit majority, constitutional majority is therefore passed. Secretary Reed, s r six twenty two.

Senator resolution six twenty two by senator Kirkpatrick of the thirty second and others. A resolution creating the joint study committee on evaluating escalating cost in Georgia's foster care system and for other purposes. The senate committee on children and families recommend that this resolution do pass. Senator Kirkpatrick, chairman. Mister President, can you please your order?

Recognize the chairlady from thirty second.

Thank you, mister president. This bill creates a joint study committee on the increasing cost of out of home care for foster kids. You should all be aware of the issues that have come up recently with the deficit at DHS, and that has gotten a lot of attention and has affected programs and services that are provided for foster kids. This is a complicated problem that we feel needs further discussion. Some of the factors that have been raised are increased cost for complex needs kids, delays in approval for medical care, and increasing court order directives for specific kinds of care, and there are many others.

So at this point, in working with lieutenant governor's office, the governor's office, and the department, we feel that it needs a deeper dive. And, I would appreciate your support and happy to answer any questions.

You have no questions, senator?

Thank you. I yield.

Any other senator I wish to speak for or against measure? Does any senator which does is there objection to the previous question being ordered? Chair hears none. Previous question is ordered. Is there objection to agreeing to the report of committee, which is favorable to the passage of the resolution?

Chair hears none. Report of the committee is agreed to. Is there objection to the main question being ordered? Chair hears none. The main question is ordered.

The question is only the adoption of the resolution. All those in favor of the resolution will vote yay. All opposed, nay. Secretary, unlock the machine. On the adoption of the resolution, the ayes are 49 and the nays are zero.

The resolution received, the rexton constitution of majority and therefore is adopted. I do wanna take a second to to thank, all the members of the, children and family committee. I'd like to thank the chairlady. This is a committee that when I first got elected lieutenant governor, I put together. And, because I thought it was I thought it was needed, I thought there needed to be a focus on on children, especially children who either in foster care homes or or, you know, go from in and out of foster care homes, foster care families, or children who, you know, can be forgotten very easily if we don't watch out.

So this committee was a is made up of both Republican and Democrats, and I don't believe that we've had many bills, that weren't unanimous out of the committee and on this, floor too. So thank you all very much. We show that we can all work together, when it's all, working in the same direction for a good cause, And and we've passed over 20 pieces of legislation, since we started this, three years ago. And I just wanna thank each and every one of y'all and, wanna continue the good work. So thank you all very much.

Give yourself a round of applause for that. So Regard a senate from the 46. For the purpose, you rise.

Thank you, mister president. Pursuant to senate rule seven dash 1.1 b, I give notice that on the next legislative day, I intend to move that the senate consider house action on s b one seventy.

Secretary, read the caption.

Senate bill one seventy by senators Jackson of the forty first and others. A bill to be entitled in act to amend chapter 12 of title 50 of the official code of Georgia annotated relating commissions and other agencies so as to create the Georgia interagency council for the homeless, to provide for the purpose, membership, and duties of such council, to provide for reporting of activities, to provide for compensation, to provide for legislative findings, to provide for related matters, to appeal conflicting laws, and for other purposes. Mister president, I can place your order.

Alright. Thank you for the note, senator. Bring it as the majority leader for a motion.

Mister president, I move the senate stand adjourned pursuant to HR nine nine eight until 10AM, Monday, February 9.

Majority leaders move. Secretary, read the announcements.

The rules committee will meet upon a German in Room 450 of the capital. Mister president, echo, please the order.

Any other announcements? Any other announcements? Alright. Majority leader has moved that we stand adjourn until Monday, February 9 at 10AM. All those in favor of the motion, signify by saying aye.

All those opposed. No. That's clearly have it. Have a good weekend.