Session Day 13: 2.5.26

Scott in the seventy sixth, Davis of the eighty seventh, Scofield of the sixty third. The resolution recognizing ambassador Davisha l Johnson as a goodwill ambassador for county and municipal economic diplomacy. House resolution 12 o two by reps of Scott in the seventy sixth, Davis of the eighty seventh, Scofield of the sixty third, a resolution recognizing National Immunization Week twenty twenty six and expressing its support for the goals of the Georgia Universal Vaccine Access Act. House resolution 12 o three by Ramses Scott in the 76, Davis of the eighty seventh, Scofield of the sixty third, Resolution proposing amendment to the constitution says to provide that the general assembly made by general law provided trust fund for the purpose of providing no cost access to certain vaccines for children 18 years of age and younger and seniors 60 years of age and older make all provisions regarding such fund. House resolution 12 o four by represent Hawkins of the twenty seventh, Newton of the hundred and twenty seventh, Cooper of the forty fifth, Jaspers of the eleventh, Kukley of the hundred and forty first.

Resolution recognizing the burden of lung cancer in The United States and the state of Georgia. House resolution 12 of of Hive by resident Barry the fifty sixth, Canada the fifty eighth, Bell the seventy fifth, Hughley of the hundred and forty first, Williams of the hundred and sixty eighth, and others, a resolution recognizing the honorable Abel and Abel Thomas and dedicating an intersection in her honor. Senate bill three eighty two by Senator Hovstadler the fifty second, Albers with the fifty sixth, Walker the third of the twentieth, and of March of the thirty first, Hatcher of the fiftieth, and others, a bill regarding ad valorem taxation of property. Senate bill four twenty by Senator Echols of the forty ninth, Anderson of the twenty fourth, Gucci of the fifty first, and in the March the thirty first, still the forty eighth and others, a bill relating to license permit, tag, and stamp fees through second readers.

Reports of standing committees, mister Clark will read

Representative Lynn Smith of the 70th District Chairman of the committee on natural resources and environment submitted the following report. Mister speaker, your committee on natural resources and environment has had under its consideration following bills of the house and instructed me to report the same back to the house of following recommendations. House bill nine fifty six due pass. House bill nine eighty three due pass is respectfully submitted. Representative Lynn Smith of the 70th District Chairman.

Representative Victor Anderson of the 10th District Chairman of the committee on governmental affairs submitted the following report. Mister speaker, your committee on governmental affairs has had under its consideration the following bills of the house instructed me to report the same back to the house following recommendations. House bill ten twenty seven, due pass. House bill ten sixty six, due pass. Respectfully submitted, representative Victor Anderson to the 10th District, chairman.

Representative Williams, the Hundred 48th District Chairman of the committee on banks and banking submitted the following report. Speaking of committee on banks and banking has had under its consideration the following bill of the house instructed me to report same back to the house the following recommendation. House bill nine thirty forty passed by committee substitute respectfully submitted to represent Williams, eleven forty eight district chairman. Representative Workheiser, the Hundred 40 Hundred And 57th District Chairman of the committee on industry and labor submitted the following report. Mister speaker, committee on industry and labor has had under its consideration following bill of the house.

It has instructed me to report the same back to the house at the following recommendation. House bill five seventy four do pass. Respectfully submitted, represent Werkheiser of the Hundred And 57th District Chairman. Representative Jones in 25th District chairman of the committee on technology and infrastructure innovation submitted the following report. Mister speaker, your committee on technology and infrastructure innovation has had under its consideration the following bill of the house.

We'll instruct immediate reports saying back to the house the following recommendation. House bill nine eighty six do pass respectfully submitted, representative Jones to the 25th District chairman. That completes the reports of the standing committees.

Members, we have a lot of guests in the house and in the gallery this morning, and we're gonna rest we're going to recognize many of them in just a few minutes. But right now, I need for all of you to return to your seats and cease conversation or have it in any room. You know how that works. We have a special invite resolution this morning. Thank you, members.

Mister Clerk, will you read house resolution eleven eighty six?

House resolution eleven eighty six by representatives Burchetta, the 176, Ridley, the sixth, Hatchett, the hundred and fifty fifth, Cox, the twenty eighth, Reeves, the ninety ninth, and others. A resolution recognizing and commending Andrew Jones upon his induction to the National Baseball Hall of Fame and for other purposes. Whereas, Andrew Jones, born 04/23/1977 in William Stead, Curacao, has consistently demonstrated extraordinary skill, leadership and talent throughout his illustrious baseball career. And whereas by the age of 11, Jones was on a youth select baseball team that traveled to Japan to play internationally. And whereas Jones signed with the Atlanta Braves as a free agent at the age of 16 and played with Danville of the Appalachian League, the Gulf Coast League Braves, and Class A Macon.

And whereas he made his Major League debut during the 1996 season with the Atlanta Braves. And whereas as the nineteen ninety six World Series, he became the youngest player ever to hit a home run-in the post season and the second player ever to home run-in his first two World Series at bats. Whereas in honor of his legacy, he's number 25, was retired by the Atlanta Braves on 09/09/2023. And whereas induction in the National Baseball Hall of Fame is one of the highest honors a baseball player can receive recognizing not only exceptional athletic achievements but also a lasting impact on the sport. Now therefore be it resolved by the House of Representatives that the members of this body recognize and commend Andrew Jones upon his induction into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.

Congratulations. Thank you, mister Clerk. I wanna recognize represent Jason Ridley to speak to the resolution and introduce our guest.

Thank you, mister speaker. It's with

a great honor and just hearing, the clerk read that how great the country is. Where else could you do what he's done? And it's an honor for me, probably one of the biggest honors I've ever got to do, is introduce the world's greatest center fielder that played for the Atlanta Braves. Andrew's a great guy. One probably the nicest guys you'll ever meet.

There's an old saying says, you know, be careful because you never wanna meet your heroes. Well, those people apparently had the wrong heroes, because I got to meet mine, and and he's one of the greatest guys. And it's an honor for him to be here, and we sure do appreciate it. And I will turn it over to him now.

First of all, I wanna say thank you. Thank you, mister speaker. Thank you for giving me this honor to be here today. This is my first time being in here. This is amazing.

You know, it's just one of those things that you don't dream about being in a hall of fame. You just dream about playing in baseball, that's, you know, a sport that you you you wanted to play since you was a little kid and get a chance to play it on a higher level and and and be consistent and and play on a great team that Atlanta Braves got me the opportunity to play, the sport that I I love. You know, I wanna thank the Atlanta Braves. Thank you for for, giving me the opportunity to to chase my dream and and, you know, now that I get the biggest biggest honor to to be elected into to the Braves Hall of Fame and you know, have a day in in the city that I grew up in and I I never moved from since I was, 19 years old. You know, I made I made a land in my home and I can say I'm a Lenton, because I live more here than I ever live in in Curacao.

So I only born in Curacao, so I'll say I'm a Lenton. So thank you very much for this great honor.

Members. I know y'all feel like I do our beloved Atlanta Braves have had a lot of great players, great individuals over the history of that club since they've been in Atlanta, but certainly in Milwaukee to. So, but I know of none that is any better at their position of Centerfield, but also any better individual than this gentleman right to my right. So we wanna congratulate you, Andrew, and and wish you the best. We're glad you were Georgian.

It's a great day to be a Georgian. I can guarantee you that. And so we wish you the best. And thank you for taking time to come here. Thank you to the Braves.

And thank you, jace representative Ridley, for what you've done bringing us and thank you, members, for owning a very special Georgian, a very special player that will always be in the history of our beloved sport of baseball, but especially our Atlanta Braves. Thank you so much.

Thank you.

Representative Barnes, are you on the floor? Representative Ahmadi Barnes is gonna be recognized for a two minute moment for black history, and then we'll begin our morning orders. We have a lot of friends here we're going to recognize. So I'm gonna ask members to please give the member in the well your attention. Either Hughley and representative Franklin, y'all will be on deck to recognize our friends from Columbus and from down in Bullock County.

Lady will suspend for a moment. She'll lady will suspend.

Oh my god, yo.

She will have up to two minutes to present her present her moment in black history. So please give the member in the well your attention, please, and then we'll move on. There's a whole slew of y'all. I'm gonna study how much time we have. I think if y'all we could be done by nightfall, something like that.

That's a slew. Representative Barnes, you're recognized.

Thank you, mister speaker. Good morning, colleagues. I'll be good morning. Oh, sorry. I'll be delivering our black history speech today, in in in enlightening you on a living legend.

So today, I rise in recognition of doctor Johnnetta Cole during Black History Month. Doctor Cole is a living legend, the kind that permeates entirely the entirety of America. Let me tell you about doctor Janetta Cole, sister president in 1987 of Spelman College. She made history by appointing Doctor. Cole was the first black president of Spelman College.

While that title alone was Thank you Mr. Speaker. While that title alone isn't just a milestone it's about her rigorous intellect and unwavering belief in sisterhood that changed the landscape of American education. Under doctor Cole's leadership, Spellman didn't just grow, it ascended. She launched the school's first campaign raising an unprecedented $113,000,000 This wasn't just about the money it was about proving that an HBCU for black women was a blue chip investment.

She showed her sisters that we are worthy of investment. She also oversaw Camille Olivia Banks Hanks Cosby academic center and ensured Spellman is consistently and was consistently ranked as one of the best liberal art colleges in the country. Doctor Cole's impact rippled far beyond Spelman's gates. She was an anthropologist and dedicated her life to study African dysphoria. I see that.

Thank you mister speaker and for allowing me to honor a living legend, doctor Janetta Cole, who is the first and longest standing president of Spelman College.

Thank you. I yield the well.

Great school and a great American. Thanks for her contribution to Spelman in education. Thank you, representative Barnes. Leader Hughley, is your is your folks are here. Leader Hughley is recognized for a morning order.

And some other folks from Columbus.

The Columbus Delegation. Thank you, mister speaker. Ladies and gentlemen of the house, we have the honor of having with us our Columbus Youth Advisory Council. These young people represent schools all across Columbus, and they are the youth advisors to our city. So we'd like to ask them to stand and you all greet them as they stand and we welcome you all to the people's house.

Welcome young people to the people's house. Now I'm going to let y'all follow the example of the minority leader. She did not have a time limit. The rest of you will. But I think you can do what she did.

She recognized some very important folks from Columbus. So I hope you'll do the same. You're gonna have less than a minute, like forty five seconds to get to your business, but she did it in under thirty seconds. Appreciate your cooperation because we have some important business to do today in this chamber. Chair lady Cooper, then representative Wade, you're on deck.

Representative Carter, you'll be after representative Wade. Chair lady Cooper is recognized for a morning order.

I'll try to go thank

you, mister speaker. If you haven't already realized, we are covered up with dental hygienist students today and they're here promoting good oral health from and they come from all over our state. So I along with my fellow legislators thank them for their dedication to helping keep our communities healthy and smiling. So if you see one of the students today, tell them welcome to the Capitol and we thank them very much for all they do in promoting public health. Thank you.

Would y'all stand? I think some of y'all are in the gallery. Let's give them

a warm welcome.

Thank you all for what y'all do. You're very important to our overall health. Thank you. Representative Wade is recognized for morning order.

Thank you, mister speaker. Colleagues, if you would join me in congratulating the Dawson County youth leadership and the Dawson County Chamber. Some of the members are here. Everybody give them a good warm house welcome. This is some of the best and brightest in our state, and I'm very proud to welcome them to the People's House.

Thank you, mister speaker. And these are the specific students that wanted to meet you, sir.

Thank you, sir. Welcome to the Dawson youth leadership team. Awesome. Good to have y'all. Representative Carter, recognized for a morning order.

Of course. If you have run red, please join me. Today, we have advocates today, we have advocates here from the American Heart Association. We'll read this briefly. Nearly half of all women over the age of 20 are living with some form of cardiovascular disease.

Yes. Most yet most women remain unaware of their personal risk factors or the unique ways heart disease can present in women. Whereas women often experience heart attack symptoms that differ from men, such as shortness of breath, nausea, back or jaw pain, extreme fatigue, or dizziness, which can lead to delayed treatment and poor outcomes when these symptoms are not recognized. Significant disparities persist with black, Hispanic, Latino, indigenous women facing higher rates of cardiovascular disease and barriers to prevention, diagnosis, and equitable access to care. Red light is on.

Ladies and gentlemen from the American Heart Association, would you please stand? Let's welcome them to the people's house. Yes. Thank you for the work that you guys are doing, and y'all just know that heart disease kills more women than all cancers combined. Before I leave, if you want your heart pinned, stop by my desk.

I yield a will.

Thank you, members. As coincidence would have it, Mandy Powers from Dawsonville is a cancer survivor and she's here with representative Wade Day. Mandy, thank you for the fight and thank you for your success and good health. Chairman Crow and representatives Herring, Washburn, Hickey. All the Monroe County Leadership Group is here.

Alright. Give yourselves just a second for everyone to get down. It's not eating into your forty five seconds. Don't worry, representative. Mister chairman, you'll be fine.

Thank you, mister speaker. Okay. Alright. We've got a couple of minutes

left now.

Thank you, mister speaker. Colleagues, honored to welcome, a group from Monroe County today. We have, members of the leadership Monroe class, other members of the Chamber of Commerce, and several other leaders, from throughout Monroe County and the city of Forsyth. We wanted to, make them welcome. If they would please stand and be welcome to the People's House.

Thank you, mister speaker.

Welcome to leadership. Thanks for what you do. Thanks for making the trip. Appreciate you recognizing. Come back anytime to the People's House.

Representative Rue of Ramon is recognized and friends. Hi. Oh, morning order. Representative Rue of Ramon.

Couple more actually. I'm sorry, mister speaker. I had a couple more. Okay. There they are.

Oh, you you do have friends. Yeah. I could sell. Just give them a second. They're showing

Oh, you're mine?

My They're showing up. I could come down there too. Yeah.

You don't tell them. Sorry. Sorry. Okay. Thank you.

The lady is recognized. Give the lady your attention, please.

Thank you, mister speaker. Colleagues, I am beyond honored to recognize Hany Matoon. Hany is the senior director of philanthropy at UNRWA USA and the cofounder of the Gaza Soup Kitchen, a grassroots humanitarian effort providing daily meals to displaced families in Gaza. With deep roots in Gaza and years of experience in humanitarian fundraising and emergency response, Hani brings a people centered approach to that work. Hani says, and he asked me to say this, is a proud and longtime fan of the Peach State and is honored to be here today in Georgia.

For all of you here, next Saturday there's gonna be a five ks so we'd love for you to join us. You don't have to run, you can just walk. And as a quick point of personal privilege, I don't think this bio does Heni any justice. He has been tirelessly working to feed people in Gaza in the ongoing genocide even as he navigated unending loss of his own family members. Our world is a better place because of people like him and we welcome you to the People's House.

So thank you, Hany. I know you're in the gallery, so you can stand along with, I believe Radha is with you as well. But there he is back there. Thank you so much.

Thank you, mister speaker. Yeah. Thank you. Thank you, and thank you for your work. Appreciate you being here with us.

Representative Franklin and the Bullock County Delegation. Y'all clear the aisles there. Representative Franklin and I am one too, part of that Bullock County delegation. So representative Franklin, representative Paris, you're recognized. Thank you, mister speaker.

I appreciate it.

I know the time is short, but we, I just wanna let everybody know that we three, the speaker, the chairman, and myself, wanna welcome Bullock Leadership to the People's House today. If you could stand up, you're back there in the corner. So thank you so much for coming today, and it's a a great day to have you on the capitol. Thank you very much.

Bullock County, Statesboro, Georgia, the home of Georgia Southern University. Thank you all for being here as always. We appreciate you. Chairlady Dempsey, she's studying. Representative Newton.

Chairman Newton, you're ready? Now you can hold for a minute. We're gonna let we're gonna let doctor Newton go next. And representative Miles. Oh, I'm sorry.

We have a whole group here. Representative Newton, representative Miles. I'm sorry. And representative Jackson, we're gonna have I think is that everyone?

Representative Carlton Howard.

Oh, and represent Carlton Howard. There he is there. Representative Derek Jackson. Who else do

we need?

There he comes. Recognized for a morning order.

Thank you, mister speaker. Colleagues, we have a group from Burke County. The group bridge Here today, they are a faith based organization whose mission is building a bridge strong enough to carry our youth and young adults to success. The organization make an impact both locally, nationally, and statewide. Their founders, Terry and Kenya f Sullivan Crumley, are here, and also with them is, Burke County commissioner of vice chair, Terry Large Kelly.

They also have a group of 40 students and supporters here, and we'd like for you to stand and be recognized. If you would, I'll pre would you all stand and be recognized? Burke County Bridge Youth Organization. Thank you, mister chair. I yield it well.

Welcome, Burke County. That's down in my neighborhood. Chairlady Dempsey and friends.

Thank you, mister speaker. Today is community service boards day at the State Capitol. I think we have some here with us if y'all would like to stand up a moment. Yay. Some are here.

I know they're all over the Capitol. So for those of you who are not aware, they are permeating all throughout your district and nearby. There are 22 CSBs across Georgia with boards that serve from local members in your own community. They serve as a vital part of Georgia's public safety net, serving persons with serious mental illness, intellectual and developmental disabilities or addictive diseases especially those who have no insurance or limited means to pay for treatment while also serving individuals with Medicaid and when capacity allows also those with other insurance. It is very fitting today that we thank them for the work they are doing and welcome you to your state capital.

Thank you.

Absolutely. Yeah.

This is up there.

You serve folks all over Georgia. Thanks for being here. Representative Scofield, recognized for a and friends recognized for a morning order.

You just stay here. Everybody come on.

Come on. Yeah.

Yeah.

Thank you, mister speaker and members of the house. Today, I rise to recognize Georgia's severe weather preparedness week and national weather person day. A reminder of simple truth, preparedness saves lives and trusted information turns certainty uncertainty into action. In Georgia, severe weather is not theoretical. Tornadoes, floods, extreme heat and powerful storms affect every part of our region whether you're urban, rural, coastal, and inland.

I begin by recognizing the dedicated professionals at the National Weather Service, and they work in close partnership with our local weather persons who are in the gallery today. Teams from WSB, Atlanta News First, Fox five, WXIA, eleven alive, c s, CBS Atlanta, CNN. With those weather people, national people that keep us going every day, stand up and let us love on you and welcome you. It's been a tough month, so we salute you. They'll join us in the anteroom for some pictures.

We've got the the chief meteorologist here. Thank you guys for being at the people's house. We love you. Mister speaker, I yield to well. Meet you on three.

Thank you for being here. We appreciate your

Thank you.

Looking at the weather and giving us a heads up on what's in front of us. Thank y'all. Chairlady Kemp is recognized for a morning order. And chairlady

How you doing?

Thank you, mister speaker. Colleagues, I rise Begin. Colleagues, I rise today to highlight the National Conference of State Legislators. NCSL is one of the few truly nonpartisan bipartisan spaces where lawmakers can come together to share best practices, learn from one another, and tackle real world practical issues with practical state driven solutions. Whether it's public safety, workforce development, health care, technology, NCSL provides research, policy expertise, and national network that strengthens us.

And just as importantly, NCSL amplifies our voices in DC, ensuring federal policies respect state authority and local needs. Simply put, NCSL makes us better legislators. Today, we welcome Brian Thomas and Sydney Unland to from NCSL to our beautiful state capital. Please, if you have a chance to meet with them today, take time and do so. Thank you so much.

Thank you all for being here. I'm gonna ask y'all to come down to the South Danny Room. Some members may wanna greet you and have conversation. And, certainly, you will encourage them to participate in NCSL, and I encourage all of you as well. Great organization, great assets for us.

And a great member of the board too. Where did she go? Newest member of the board.

She's over there.

Janet Kemp represent Seeball and chairman Hawkins, recognized for a morning order.

Thank you, mister speaker, colleagues. Joining us today in the gallery are members of the Georgia Society of Radiological Technologies. Rad Techs, as they're well known as, provide essential diagnostic imaging services, including x rays, CT scans, MRI's, and mammography, that help physicians diagnose injuries, illnesses, guide treatment, and save lives. Rad techs represent more than 11,800 registered imaging specialists who serve our communities and care for our patients across this great state of Georgia. Can I get all of my rad techs to stand and members, please help me welcome them to the people's house?

Members, let's pause for a second. A dear friend to many of us in this room and a great advocate for Georgians all over our state is, former representative Amy Carter. Amy, we love you, girl. Glad to see you. Representative Draper, recognized for a morning order.

Here you go.

And some friends? Yes. Some friends. Or you need someone to hold that? I could have done that.

Thank you.

Alright. Thank you, mister speaker. Members of the house, we are deeply honored to stand before you to recognize 02/05/2026 as Latino Day at the Capitol. Latino Day is about visibility, partnership. It is a reminder that more than 1,000,000 Georgians of Latin American heritage are known are not only part of the state's story, but they're helping write its future every single day.

Through Through their work in agriculture, health care, construction, hospitality, education and small business, Latino families strengthen Georgia's economy and sustain communities across every region of our state. We are proud to recognize the contributions, resilience and leadership of Georgia's Latino community and for affirming that when Latinos thrive, Georgia thrives. If you're here for Latina Day at the Capitol, please stand and be recognized. Please come on down and take a photo with us. Thank you, mister speaker.

Come down that south, any friend. We appreciate y'all being here and we appreciate what our Latino community does for all Georgians. Thank you for being such an important part of our state in so many different ways. Okay. Represent representative Scott, Schofield, and Bell.

Oh, and the Clayton delegation. Clayton delegation.

He's come.

Clayton delegation, if you'll join the lady down front and give the lady your attention, please.

The gentleman's recognized. Thank you, mister speaker.

Colleagues, we would like to welcome this morning, those individuals from leadership Clayton who have joined us. These are individuals who are professional, they're educated, and they are serving us by learning more about our community, and also striving to, engage in political activity so that, they can better our county. So at this time, let us recognize those in the gallery who are here from leadership Clayton. If you would just stand.

Okay. My neighbor is from Clayton. Thanks for no representative for no

thank you, mister Figger.

Appreciate it. Thank you for doing that.

Glad to

have y'all as usual. This is German Carpenter is recognized for a morning order. Oh, yeah. Okay. Got a friend.

I got

some You

got some friends up in North Georgia, Northwest Georgia.

Alright. You know what day it is, baby. It's Dalton day at the capital. Now, we need you to head on down to the freight depot tonight at, 05:00. Enjoy a few, cocktails, a little food, come get your rug.

Just, I know we hear a lot about manufacturing and economic development in this state. And I just wanna remind you, we've got a legacy industry up in Northwest Georgia that's been an economic driver for a really, really long time. And you hear Trump talk about bringing manufacturing back, and we've been here the whole time. So don't forget about it sometimes when you're thinking about the future. Forget about your old boys sometimes.

So appreciate you very much. See you tonight.

Chairman Dickey recognized for a morning order.

Thank you, mister speaker and, chair lady Kemp and Matheak, if they wanna join me. We got a great group. I know we've had a lot of, recognitions this morning, but we got a great group from Gordon State College in the, gallery, and I won't be able to understand if they're still there. It's like wonderful college in Middle Georgia. It's a real cornerstone of higher education and, quality academic instruction.

The unit a unit of the University of Georgia, really is a vital entryway, wonderful institution in Middle Georgia led by, president Don Green. And, just really grateful for the wonderful staff and faculty there, a huge economic generator there in Barnesville, Lamar County. And so on behalf of the house, thank y'all for being here. Thank you for what you do. Give them a warm welcome.

There they are. Great group of students.

Representative Bell.

No. But she

did

that.

Thank you mr speaker And members of the house, today I rise to recognize youth just

for a minute. Let's make sure we know this is a Clayton delegation again.

No. No. Youth bill.

Youth bill.

Which one? Youth bill. Alright. Let's do it. Gentlemen's recognized.

Thank you, mister speaker, for recognizing me. And to the members of the house, today we rise to recognize youth bill, a nationally recognized education and workforce development program serving young adults from ages 16 to 24. YouthBuild participants are seated with us in the gallery today. And at this time, I will ask you to please stand and rise and be recognized.

They are right there.

YouthBuild empowers young people with a seeking a second chance community service. YouthBuild equips young adults with the skills and the confidence needed to succeed in today's economy. YouthBuild demonstrates that it is possible to invest in opportunity, mentorship, and potential of our youth. To the young people with us today, we are proud of your determination, your commitment, and building a brighter future. Thank you to thank you to YouthBuild and you thank you to YouthBuild and your continued dedication to empowering the next generation.

Thank you, mister speaker. I yield the well.

Chair lady matheac, recognized for a morning order and friend. Friends. Okay.

Thank you, mister speaker. We're recognizing cancer prevention. So anybody that is interested, please come up and get your picture with us. The Georgia cancer community representing all the health care systems are here today, and we had a, a special study committee this summer for cancer treatment for rural Georgia. So and I'm very excited for some of the the information that came out of that.

So all that have survived cancer, it's because they had screenings early and were taken care of early. This is very near and dear to my heart. My best friend is fighting Jack too. Marsha, Jack too be gone. Cancer be gone.

Thank you, mister speaker.

Thank you very much. And welcome all of our friends, representative Ballard and friends. I see some coming.

If chairman Blackman wants to come up here.

Chairman Blackman, he was working a little business there. Now he's ready.

Thank you, mister speaker. I want to recognize some guests that chairman Blackman and I have here today, Saf Aslam and Luciano Dofino. They are from Georgia Tech. They're computer science students. And they have created an app that consolidates and synthesizes public data at the federal, state, and local levels to make it very simple for the public to find the issues that they care about.

Several of you have met them this morning and have been impressed by the product that they have created. I'm gonna take them to the Annie Room in just a minute and y'all can talk to them and I know that you will enjoy meeting them and seeing their new app. Thank you, mister speaker.

Thanks, representative Ballard. Representative representative Bazemore, you on your own this morning? No. Oh, do you have some friends too?

All of my Fulton County people. Here, please.

Fulton County, front and center.

Fulton County.

The lady is recognized when her folks arrive.

Thank you. Thank you. You got faulty okay. One more. I'm gonna try to be quick, mister speaker.

Thank you. So if you're not aware, colleagues, today is Fulton County Day. I don't know how many of you may have seen the truck outside, but that is our behavior health and mental health truck outside to service you. So please stop by and, get some information. The mission, the Fulton County Department of Behavioral Health and Development Disabilities, as a community leader, facilitates the coordination of services through the Fulton County Behavioral Health Network, which expands accessibility to barrier free person centered behavioral health services to all residents of Fulton County regardless of their ability to pay.

And will you please join them down in the South Wing from two to four? They will be there with information. Thank you so very much. And we acknowledge them being here and everything they do.

Thank you, representatives. Members, I'm honored to, recognize someone standing to my right, a very distinguished member of this house, Jim and Randy Nicks, is back here today. Let's make Randy welcome. Did a great job when he was here in this house. Chairman Nicks also served as chaplain of the day on numerous occasions.

We're gonna have him back. Chairman Wertheiser, Hagen, Osteen, and Corbett representatives are recognized for a morning order.

Thank you, mister speaker. Today, Hometown Health is here, along with about 70 rural hospitals. And, if you have a rural hospital in your area, you know how important it is. Angie's got a bill, addressing in one area. I've got one.

Lisa Hagen and I spent, two days, 300 miles visiting nine rural hospitals. Brutal trip, but it was very well worth it. But we've got to support our rural hospitals. We appreciate everything that Hometown Health has done. Chaz Cannon and myself actually serve on rural hospital, boards.

So thank you for your support. Thank you for them being here.

Are they here?

They're not in.

Yeah. Welcome to our rural hospitals. It's what makes America great. A little diversity, great health care. Wow.

That completes our morning orders. Outstanding. We're gonna move on to the rules calendar. So members, if you get close to your seats, we we're going to going to hear house bill nine eighty five. Mister Clerk, will you read the caption of house bill nine eight five?

House bill nine eight five by representative Bonner, the seventy third to be entitled an act to amend part three of article two chapter four title 38 of the official code of Georgia annotated relating to Georgia veteran cemeteries. So it was revised the terms of eligibility for persons to be buried in Georgia veteran cemeteries. This bill has been referred to the committee on defense and veteran affairs. That committee recommends that this bill do pass.

It's important bill. Mister chairman, you are recognized to present house bill nine eighty five. Chairman Bonner.

Thank you, mister speaker. Good morning, colleagues. Last session, the house was gracious enough to pass house bill 53, which, made, increase the eligibility for certain members of our national guard and reserves to be buried in our state veteran cemeteries. It was certainly a great thing for our veterans throughout the state. This year house bill nine eighty five clarifies some of that language.

And by all, accounts would simply would be a very simple bill that address some simple issues. But, there's more to the story of house bill nine eighty five. Thanks to the work of Commissioner Patricia Ross of our Department of Veterans Services, they identified an additional group that is federally recognized to be buried in one of our state cemeteries. So if you would bear with me for just a moment, I'm gonna tell you a little bit of the story of this very specific group who will now have this benefit. As the Vietnam War raged in Southeast Asia during the nineteen sixties and seventies, A separate United States backed operation was also underway in neighboring Laos.

Known as the secret war, the CIA recruited tens of thousands of Hmong soldiers for covert operations. These secret fighters were known as special guerrilla units or SGUs. Their missions included scouting enemy movements, fighting on the front lines, recruiting rescuing downed American pilots, and protecting US facilities in Laos. It is estimated that between thirty and forty thousand Hmong soldiers died during this secret war with many more wounded. These brave fighters consistently fought against superior odds and inflicted countless damage to communist communist forces in Laos.

As the war in Vietnam ended, so did this secret war. As US forces left Southeast Asia, the Hmong people were left to fend for themselves and experienced persecution from the Laotian government. Many were able to escape to America, but it was not until 1994 that the secret war was officially acknowledged by our government with the benefit of burial in a national cemetery to follow in 2018. It wasn't until 2000 that federal law allowed these members to become US citizens. So the question could be asked, why is this important to you and me and the people of Georgia?

Well, as former CIA director William Colby summed it up, the efforts of the Hmong special guerrilla units saved more than 50,000 American lives in Southeast Asia. Friends, that is 50,000 fewer names to be engraved on the Vietnam War Memorial in Washington DC. That's more men like Chairman Hitchens, Representative Williams, and Representative Griffin being here today. Now we are honored, mister speaker, to have in the gallery, some of these Hmong fighters. They are accompanied here today by commissioner of our department of veteran services, Tricia Ross along with members of the veterans of foreign war that fought alongside these brave men and women.

So if you would please stand and let us honor you. Thank you, colleagues, for allowing me to present the bill today. I certainly hope you will support nine eighty five as this is the least we can do for these brave men and women. With that, mister speaker, I'll stand for any questions.

General yield for a question. Representative Al Williams to your left is recognized for a question.

Thank you, mister speaker. Is it and thank you, mister chairman, for this bill. Is it not true that it's never too late to do the right thing?

Absolutely. I appreciate the question.

Is it not further true that these gentlemen certainly are responsible for the saving of many lives during Vietnam, and I'm

sure Colonel Hitchens

and lives during Vietnam, and I'm sure colonel Hitchens and colonel Griffin agrees with me that we're just glad we're able to stand here and recognize them.

Absolutely. Thank you for the question.

General has a couple more questions. Representative Tran is recognized for a question. To your left in your back. Representative Tran.

Thank you, mister speaker. Thank you, mister chairman, for bringing this bill to the floor. Is it not true that there are around 5,000 Hmong living in Georgia?

Yes. That is correct.

One further question. Yes. Is it not true that the children of these heroes are important members of the Georgia community because they are now doctors, teachers, engineers, and law enforcement in this state?

Absolutely. As, the the Hmong people are a testament to, grit, determination, hard work, and what can happen, when they do the right thing. And they've, this, I I would point out, this is the only benefit that the VA provides for this community. So it's certainly, again, the least we can do here in Georgia.

Thank you.

Representative Lynn Smith at the center aisle is recognized for a question.

Thank you. Gentleman yields. I do. So I join with all the members of the house to thank you for this initiative. As the wife of a Vietnam vet, I'd doubly appreciate your suffering.

Thank you.

Thank you, chair lady.

Representative Sandra Scott, to your right is recognized for

a question.

Thank you, mister speaker. Do you ill?

I do.

I would just like to say thank you for bringing this bill forward. As others had said, it's never too late to do the right thing. And I would just like to say thank you.

Well, thank you to my fellow veteran. It's Veterans Helping Veterans, and appreciate the committee for all their hard work.

Gentleman has no further questions.

Thank you, mister speaker. I yield the will.

Gentlemen's yield the will. We have a speaker on the bill in favor of the bill, and that's representative Patty Stinson. Representative Stinson is recognized to speak to the bill, house bill nine eighty

five. Thank you, mister speaker. Colleagues, I rise to today in support of this measure and to offer a perspective shape not only by my role as a state representative, but also by my twenty years of experience serving Georgia families as a funeral home owner. Often families come to me in moments of grief and when the loved ones they are laying to rest is a veteran, that responsibility carries an even deeper weight. Our state veteran cemeteries are sacred grounds.

They are places where Georgia express its gratitude, not in words, but in the final honors we extend to those who served. We all know that families does not always We we all know that life does not always fit neatly into statutory boxes. Records sometimes get lost, service histories are complicated, families may not have

every document in hand, especially

when they are grieving. This bill allows to especially when they are grieving. This bill allows the board to exercise compassion and common sense, ensuring that technicalities do not overshadow a lifetime of service. This bill also allows the department of veteran services to set reasonable burial fees. As someone who works directly with families navigating funeral expenses, I know how important transparency and predictability are.

This allows, the department to align fees with federal allowances or set an appropriate amount based on operational needs And while the revenue goes to the general fund, it still supports the state's ability to maintain these cemeteries with dignity they deserve. Colleagues house bill nine eighty five is about people. Family seeking clarity in the midst of loss. It's about ensuring that Georgia's veteran cemeteries remain a place of honor, a place of integrity, and a place of respect. As someone who has stood beside countless families at their most vulnerable moments, I can tell you this bill will help do exactly that.

And with that, colleagues, I respectfully ask your favorable consideration for house bill nine eighty five. Thank you, mister speaker. I now yield the well.

Thank you, representative. The lady has yielded the well. That completes our comments on house bill nine eighty five. Is there any objection to the previous question being ordered? Hearing none, the previous question is ordered.

Is there any objection to agreeing to the report of the committee, which was favorable to the passage of the bill? Hearing none, the report of the committee is agreed to. Shall this bill now pass? All in favor of the passage of the bill will vote yes. All those opposed will vote no.

And mister clerk, will you unlock the machine? Have all members voted? All members voted. If so, mister clerk, will you lock machine? On the passage of house bill nine eighty five, the yays are one seventy three, the nays are zero.

This bill hadn't received a requisite constitutional majority is therefore passed. Gentlemen, I can't add to what we've just discussed here, but I can only say thank you for your service. Thank you for your dedication to your fellow man, and God bless you all. Thank you for being here. Mister Clerk, will you read the caption to house bill nine seven three?

House bill nine seven three by Burns to the hundred fifty ninth, Jones of the forty seventh, the administration of the hundred and fourth, and Hatchett of the hundred and fifty fifth to be titled an act to amend an act making and providing appropriations for the state fiscal year beginning 07/01/2025 and ending 06/30/2026 known as the General Appropriations Act. This bill I'm referred to the Committee on Appropriations. That committee recommends that this bill do pass by committee substitute.

Thank you, mister clerk. Ladies and gentlemen of this house, the chair resolves the house into a committee of the whole house for the purpose of considering house bill nine seventy three, the supplemental appropriations bill. The chair appoints the gentleman of the 104th House District majority majority leader illustration as chairman to preside over the committee of the whole house. Need a restoration.

Alright. Thank you, mister speaker. The chair recognizes the gentleman from the 155th District, chairman Hatchett, to present the bill.

Thank you, mister chair. Is this is the mic on? Anybody know the mic's on? Can y'all hear it? Your mic is on.

I didn't get as many laughs as I thought I might. Oh, well. So much for humor. Good morning. Since I've held this position as your appropriations chair, budget discussions have been dominated by our our significant surplus.

A variety of economic factors resulted in Georgia having in a historically full bank account. We filled our revenue shortfall reserve in 2021 and we've had excess undesignated reserves on top of that. More recently, revenue collections have slowed to a more modest growth and we've appropriated a large portion of these rep reserves already. That said, we continue to sit in a very fortunate position. I can't count the number of ways that have been suggested we spend this surplus.

But I can tell you we've always acted conservatively and judiciously. We've always balanced giving money back to taxpayers with making needed investments in our state. We've never paid for ongoing expenses with one time money, and we've always worked hard to maintain a structurally balanced budget. Those of you who served in this house for some time may remember when the amended budget was a little sleepy affair with limited changes and adjustments. More recently, our amended budgets have been filled with activity as we find one time uses for this surplus.

Spending these funds in the amended budget ensures these projects are not added to our ongoing budget base, keeping our general appropriations

clean.

So as you all know, I have this crystal ball and I foresee a future where the amended budget goes on a GLP one. But for now, we still have some decisions and investments to make. House bill nine seventy three, the amended fiscal year 2026 budget is set by a revised revenue estimate of $42,300,000,000. In addition to the revenue growth, the governor's revenue estimate for the amended f y twenty six budget includes $3,300,000,000 in undesignated surplus funds for a total revenue adjustment of 4,500,000,000 or an 11.9% increase over the original f y twenty six budget. You all know that we in the General Assembly are responsible stewards of taxpayers dollars.

We spend wisely and when there's extra, we give it back. Since 2021, we've given back $9,700,000,000 to taxpayers through rebates, tax cuts, and other measures. We'll continue that tradition by giving back even more money through this budget. While the governor's budget recommendation recognized funds to provide income tax rebates, our amended fiscal year twenty six budget reallocates these funds to provide property tax relief for Georgia's homeowners, funding $850,000,000 for the homeowner tax relief grant program. This grant will reduce next year's tax bills for homeowners and we will continue to work to eliminate property taxes on your home.

We'll address income taxes through House Bill 1,001, bringing our rate to 4.9%, keeping Georgia one of the most affordable states to live and raise a family. Before I discuss some of the details in our line items, allow me to begin by highlighting some of the key investments we're making. Our budget has two statewide items that you'll see over and over nearly in every program. The first recurring item is a one time salary supplement of $2,000 to full time regular state employees and school personnel, including pre k through 12 teachers, nurses, nutrition workers, custodians, and bus drivers. These supplements will help us retain essential staff and teachers.

The second recurring item is related to the state health benefit plan. SHP BP currently has a healthy reserve fund balance which the governor recognized in fiscal year twenty seven by reducing how much state agencies pay per employee per month for health coverage starting in July. Our fiscal year twenty six budget passes these savings on to the state agencies a month earlier starting in June, saving $21,500,000. Running a growing state is not cheap. And this budget spends over 300,000,000 in workload adjustments including k through 12, Medicaid, corrections health contracts, and DHS out of home care.

These additions are largely associated with our growing population. Since 2024, we've used $4,100,000,000 in surplus revenues to fund capital projects with cash. Saving taxpayers over $3,000,000,000 in debt payments. The House amended '26 budget also makes a significant $802,000,000 cash investment in capital projects. In addition to funding most of the Governor's recommended projects, the House budget also funds a few noteworthy additional projects.

We provided $220,000,000 for a private prison expansion. While the new Washington County facility will bring much needed safety upgrades to the correctional system, It does not add additional bed space and we're projected to run out of bed space by 2029. This private prison expansion will provide us an additional 480 beds for a system that is rapidly approaching capacity. This expansion will give the state flexibility and it can be accomplished quickly and affordably. The house's vision also provides $29,800,000 to design, construct and equip a building that will house the brand new College of Optometry at Georgia Southern University, filling a tremendous need for our state.

Georgia has long sent aspiring optometrists to study in Alabama and Tennessee. In hindsight, we should have done this years ago. Nobody got it. Our budget also provides $27,000,000 to begin design and construction of a new Georgia Regional Hospital to address mental health and forensic bed capacity in our state. We're projected to have zero forensic beds by 2034.

And this funding is a down payment on a hospital that will help address this need by adding 200 forensic beds and a 100 mental health beds. These examples represent just a few of our priorities. Since you've now had time to read this budget in its entirety, I'll help you prepare for your test by highlighting a few items from each of our major policy areas. To help keep Georgia mobile, our budget makes several investments in transportation. I'm sure you've heard of the big ticket items like 1,700,000,000.0 for the I 75 express lane expansion, $200,000,000 for the State Route 316 interchange conversions, and these important projects are in our budget.

We also provide significant additional funds for all modes of transportation. We appropriate an additional $15,000,000 for airport aid. These dollars have a significant federal match and our airports keep economic development in our communities flying high. We've agreed to the governor's request of $250,000,000 for local transportation infrastructure and we're providing $85,000,000 for rural bridge rehab and increasing a $100,000,000 for local road resurfacing projects. We've also committed $4,200,000 in improvements to keep the trains chugging along our state owned short road short line rail lines.

To help keep Georgia educated, this budget continues to meet our obligations in k 12 and higher education. Fully funding our formulas and projections for QBE, charter systems, promise and special needs scholarships, AP exams, dual enrollment, completion schools and HOPE scholarships and grants. We're taking care of our existing facilities with $88,000,000 for major repair and rehab projects at USG and TCSG. And finally, we include $300,000,000 to provide state matching funds for an endowment to provide needs based scholarships. To help keep Georgia healthy, we're investing $4,800,000 for a grant program aimed at establishing new new rural medical and dental clinics.

We funded $3,000,000 for nursing home quality incentive payments at skilled nursing facilities and $17,800,000 to provide graduate medical education expansion. We also provide funds for rural colorectal screenings and we direct the Department of Public Health to develop a strategy to promote awareness and prevention measures for colorectal and prostate cancer. Our budget adds additional funds to out of home care. Our budget fully funds the deficit in defects, and we reinstate foster care supportive service contracts. To help ensure accountability in that system, we also provide $15,000,000 for an integrated child welfare reporting system that will help enable early detection and speed up service.

This system is up and running and already providing results in six counties in our state, So we wanna make it statewide. To help keep Georgia safe, this budget makes several investments in the Department of Corrections. To improve our aging prison infrastructure, we provide more than a $185,000,000 for capital projects to make needed safety, security, and technology upgrades. We also provide additional funds for new correctional officer positions to improve our officer to inmate ratio and we add significant funds to rising health, food and farm costs. We've also included 4 and a half million dollars in one time funds for divest domestic violence shelters and sexual assault centers for their operational and facility needs.

To help keep Georgia growing, this budget provides $35,000,000 to the Georgia Environmental Finance Authority to establish a state financing and assistant program for natural gas infrastructure needed for economic sorry. For natural gas infrastructure improvements and an additional $50,000,000 in rural infrastructure needed for economic development. We also support the governor's recommendation of $50,000,000 for the state housing trust fund. These funds will help address homelessness through matching funds to local governments and nonprofits, and they bring with them an up to four to one match, maximizing the impact of our state dollars. To help take care of our state retirees, our budget includes $50,000,000 for the employees retirement system of Georgia to strategically invest in in increasing the funded ratio to improve the long term financial viability of the pension system and support state retirees.

These items are just some of the highlights of this $42,300,000,000 budget. We've turned this budget around just three weeks after it was initially introduced by our governor. A task is not possible without the hard work and late nights from our subcommittee chairs and the staff of the House Budget and Research Office. Let's acknowledge how much work these people on this front row do for us. In fact, we've worked on this so hard.

We have made the senate's job much easier. They should be able to just agree and send it right back. Seriously, thank you to all the members of the committee and to those that work for work with us to get it done. I ask for your favorable consideration of HB nine seventy three. And with that, mister chair, I'll be glad to take a few questions.

Chairman, do you yield for questions? Yes. Chair recognizes representative Santos for a question.

Oops.

Does Yedema yield?

Yes.

Thank you for your hard work to everyone that was involved. I isn't it true that the 1,700,000,000 is going to relieve congestion in Henry County, Georgia, and we're all very excited about that.

I think we all hope and pray that that happens.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Chair recognizes representative Barry for a question.

Thank you, mister chairman. And thank is this gentleman to you? Yes. Thank you again for your hard work of this budget. I see the increase of $200,000 for prostate cancer research for Clark Atlanta University with a great partnership that they do with the Georgia Medical College.

What other specific investments are going to all of Georgia's h eight HBCUs in this budget?

So that's an additional funding for a grant that's already out there. So it would make the total of that research grant $500,000. Other grants through others, you know, we nothing has changed there, I guess I'll say. And I I don't know specifics. So I don't know that that exact if if

Well, thank you again. Obviously, there's a lot more we can do. I look forward to working with you on everything from HBCU security to Hope's scholarship for HBCUs. Thank you so much.

Thank you.

Chair recognizes representative Bernal for a question.

Thank you. Does the gentleman yield?

Yes, ma'am.

I did ask you this earlier, but I wanna make sure that we clarify that the money for the, schools, you did say it was for custodians, but also for our maintenance departments. If you can check, make sure that.

I I can verify that, but I'm pretty sure most any employees that are working in our school systems are receiving this. We've we've gone back and asked lots of questions about that. The nutrition workers is had been asked earlier and they are as a group, it's over $28,000,000 additional just for the nutrition workers.

Thank you.

Mister chairman, do you yield for further questions? Yes, sir. Chair recognizes representative Campbell for a question.

Thank you, mister chairman, for your hard work and for the entire staff. I asked this question earlier, but, I am interested to know, does this budget include incremental funding for the Department of Early Care and Learning, specifically to expand CAPS funding? Because, as we all know, right now, we only have funding to cover 15% of the eligible families.

So this particular budget does not include any increases for that, but all that usually takes place in the base budget and it is in so it will be in play in the '27 budget.

Mister chairman, you have no further questions.

Ladies and gentlemen, appreciate your favorable consideration, and thank you.

As the chairman returns to his seat, I know, we have a big football game this weekend, but I think it's safe to say the MVPs of the House of Representatives are the, House Budget Research Office led by Christine, Kalacke. So thank you so much for all of your hard work. Chair recognizes chairman Hatchett for a motion.

Mister chair, I move that the house bill nine seventy three do pass by committee substitute.

Chair recognizes chairlady Dempsey.

Thank you, mister chairman. I rise to second the motion made by chairman Hatchett to support this budget that is built with fidelity that each of us should be very proud to support.

Chair Lenny Dempsey has seconded the motion. At this time, we'll call the question on house bill nine seventy three. All those in favor, say aye. Aye. All opposed, say no.

The ayes have it and house bill nine seventy three passes by committee substitute. The chair recognizes the gentleman from the 155th District, chairman Hatchett.

Mister chairs, chairman of the committee of the whole house, you're instructed to report the action of the committee of the whole house to the house.

Yeah.

Chair recognizes majority leader illustration.

Thank you, mister speaker. The committee of the whole house has had under consideration house bill nine seventy three and has instructed me as its chairman to report the same back to the house with the recommendation that house bill nine seventy three do pass by committee substitute.

The report of the chairman of the committee of the whole house is received. The Committee of the Whole House has under consideration House Bill nine seventy three and has reported the same back to the House with the recommendation that House Bill nine seventy nine seventy three do pass by committee substitute. The committee of the whole house is hereby dissolved. Is there any objection to the previous question being ordered? Hearing none, the previous question is ordered.

Is there any objection to adopting the committee substitute? Hearing none, the committee substitute is adopted. Is there any objection to agreeing to the report of the committee which was favorable to the passage of the bill? Hearing none, the report the committee has agreed to. Shall this bill now pass?

All in favor of the passage of the bill will vote yes. All those opposed will vote no. And mister Clerk, will you unlock the machine? Have all members voted? All members voted?

If so, mister clerk, will you lock the machine? On the passage of house bill nine seventy three, the yays are one sixty seven, the nays are five. The bill having received a requisite constitutional majority is therefore passed. For what purpose does representative chairman Hatchett, excuse me, rise?

Mister speaker, I move that house bill nine seventy three be immediately transmitted to the senate.

Rep chairman Hatchett moves that house bill nine seventy three be immediately transmitted to the senate. Is there objection? Hearing none, it is so ordered. Congratulations, mister chairman, staff, and members. Mister chairman, hard work pays all sometimes.

Appreciate your work. Members, thank you for doing your jobs. That's a budget that moves this state forward in so many different ways and makes life better for Georgians. Thank you for your confidence in our appropriations staff and our committee and all members for your input into this most important document, The most important two documents that we passed during this session. One more to go.

We have a motion that's gonna be before us. For what what purpose does chairman Butch Parish rise?

To make a motion, mister speaker.

State your motion, sir.

I move that the rules be temporarily suspended so that a bill may be read for the first time and assigned to committee.

Mister Clerk, will you read the caption?

Unnumbered house built by representative Parrish, the Hundred And 58th, and others to be entitled to act to amend code section fifteen six two. The official code of Georgia and Teddy relating the number of judges of superior courts so as to provide for a third judge of superior courts of the middle judicial circuit.

On the gentleman's motion that the rules of the house be temporarily suspended so a bill can be read for the first time and assigned to committee. Is there objection? Hearing none, judiciary? For what purposes chairman Carpenter rise?

To to make a motion.

State Take your motion, sir.

I move that house bill eleven nineteen be moved from the committee on health to the committee on industry and labor. Both, chairman Hawkins and chairman Werkheiser agreed.

Mister Clerk, will you read the caption?

House bill number eleven nineteen by representative Carpenter the fourth and others being titled back to amend chapter nine to title 34 of the official code of Georgia annotator relating to workers' compensation so so as to provide for pharmacy care guidelines and pharmacy management.

On the gentleman's motion that house bill eleven nineteen be withdrawn from the health committee and recommitted to the industry and labor committee. Is the objection? Hearing none is so ordered. Okay. Members, we're moving on to afternoon orders.

You're gonna have a couple of minutes for your afternoon orders. Chairman Dewey McClain representative Dewey McClain. How about chairman Sainz? Is he ready? And representative Holly, you'll be well, there comes representative McLean.

He'll be next. Go ahead. Chairman Saints. Come on. You're next.

Thank you, mister speaker. My dear friends, I'd like your help in wishing me wishing a very happy birthday to Camden County, Georgia today. Chartered on 02/05/1777, she might be 204 years old, but her vibrancy is still felt and seen. And the ice cream being scooped at the Market On The Square in Saint Mary's, Georgia, the biscuits being buttered at Stephan's in Kingsland, the music being sung at Captain Stands in Woodbine, and the pork chops being served at Reed's Ponderosa in Tarboro. Camden County, you might be 249 years old, but you are still beautiful as the day my seatmate approved your charter.

Thank you.

-Oh, he's over there. I see him now. He's nodding his head in approval, so I guess he did do that. Beautiful county. Beautiful part of our beautiful part of our coast.

Representative McLean is recognized. Hey. Give the gentleman in the well your attention. This is important.

Thank you, mister speaker and colleagues. You know, today is a very special day. I always say it's special, but is there's a nice picture on the do on this oh, I guess, up. And I'm saying this because, fifty years ago today, my first born she's my first born. And she, probably, we say, the joy of our our lives, but it's her and her her younger sister are out partying today with my money like always.

But I do wanna wish her a happy fiftieth birthday. I know you all think that, we're twins. If you see us both, you think we're twins, but we're not. But what I wanna say to you, Larissa, thank you very much for being such a a joy. It has been a joy for me to you know, I always say that in May, it'll be my fiftieth year in this state, and I wanna say thanks to this state for for being great to me and my family.

You know, it's amazing that you can be in a place fifty years. And, I'm not gonna tell y'all a few other things, but I'm from Oklahoma. And I see the button is yellow, mister speaker. So I'm gonna finish talking to Red, but if I can get the house to give my my firstborn, Larissa, a nice hand, I'd appreciate it very much. Thank you, miss speaker.

As we're saying, glad she looks like a mama. There we go. Happy birthday, young lady. Congratulations, dear friend, representative McLean. Representative Holly.

Amen. Y'all give the gentleman the will of your attention. Representative Holly is recognized for an afternoon order.

Thank you. I see it fitting if you love America and you are proud to be an American, if you love Georgia and are proud to be a Georgian, will you please rise in honor of our country and our state? You don't have to, but it would be nice. Unfortunately, we, were not able to honor, this moment yesterday. But on February 4, our nation saw, the election of a very first president of The United States, George Washington himself, not only the commander in chief for the continental army, but is one who was able to least establish our nation as a response to the people's will to stand against tyranny for a system of government that had no longer served them.

You will see pictured on the monitor to his right is the sixty ninth governor of Georgia, Ellis Arnold, who you have passed as you entered the capital to see his stout figure, to the right of the capital on Washington Street. Fortunately as well, on February, this actually, this day, so many years ago, towards the end of World War two, himself a proud Georgian and one who appreciated seeing that all were able to participate in fair elections decided to abolish the poll tax, which unfortunately did not allow for all Georgians to be able to fairly elect someone to represent them. So on this day, especially as we contemplate taxes, which are no longer serving the people and systems no longer serving the people, it's good to see that we can honor two good Americans, and thank you for rising in honor of them today.

Thank you. Thank you, representative representative. Representative Ali is recognized for his traditional afternoon order. Thank you, sir. Gentlemen's recognized.

Thank you, mister speaker. Members of this house on the screen is Giovanni. Born in 2010, Giovanni's middle name is respectful. His other middle name is Atlanta Hawks because he lives and breathes basketball, soccer and football. But above all, he's a natural born leader and is looking to be adopted as is with many, children that I have, shown y'all.

As always, it is at the website it's myturnnow.ghs.georgia.gov. If you wanna make a difference in the child's life, that is the place to do it. Thank you so much, mister speaker.

Thank you. Representative Moore, you recognize for an afternoon order.

Okay. Hello, everyone. Representative Donahue and I, who seem to be the foodies of the house, wanted to come and publicly thank Chatham Savannah last night for bringing on the food, bringing on the oysters, coming all the way from South Georgia, all the way up here to the capital to do their thing and feed us and our loved ones. And we ate so many oysters. I had to get a chair and sit down, and I ate one less than representative Donahue.

So we wanted to thank all of you all from Savannah for doing your thing. This year was really special. For some reason, it felt that way, and there was a lot of team building in the house. Thank you, guys.

And you. Alright. Representative Reese, Stinson, and Griffin, and it Hughley. Do you know you were a part of this afternoon order? You do now.

I guess you want to be. Representative Williams.

Thank you, mister speaker. Mister speaker, today, we rise to acknowledge that happened virtually, for the last three days and today is the final day is the annual conference of the Georgia Alumni Association of Black State Universities. It was first founded by the alumni of Fort Valley State University, Albany State University, and Savannah State University to highlight the great work of those institutions right here in the state of Georgia. So even though they're meeting online, we want to make sure that they understand that their values and things that matter to them the most, that we hear them here at the Capitol, and we thank them for taking the time to have the three day conference. Thank you, mister speaker.

Jackson. Shout out to, representative Jackson from, Savannah State University alumni. I'm a Albany State University alumni myself, and, representative Stinson represents Fort Valley State. She's out of the room. And, representative Sampson, Albany State University.

Alright. Prince.

Representative Prince, chairman Prince from from the Fort Valley State University. Any other shout outs? We're on a roll. We got the speaker, honorary graduate of Albany State University.

Who? Mack Jackson.

And Mack Jackson, Albany State University. Thank you. Thank you. Albany State.

Got it. Thank you. Chairman Tyler Paul Smith.

Do you

have an afternoon order?

Yes, sir. Real important.

Oh, it's another important one. Let's hear it. Chairman Smith.

Thank you, mister speaker. Members of this house, I just rise today to wish, my son, Tip Smith, a first birthday. Thank y'all. Thank y'all. The prayers of this house last year when they came six weeks early, were felt in each and every way.

And I just wanna thank y'all and ask you to continue to pray for him. His mother's got it figured out. His dad's always working on it. So thank you all again and happy birthday, buddy. We love you.

That concludes afternoon orders. We have some announcements. For purpose of planning, though, I'll go ahead and tell you that committee meetings that are scheduled for this afternoon, we have a lot of activity this morning. We're gonna push back those committee meetings one hour. That'll give you time to get some lunch and be ready for your committee meetings.

If you're, like, economic development had one at 12:30, for example, that will be at 01:30. Alright. We're ready for an announcement. Chairman Green, recognized for an announcement. Thank you, mister speaker.

The state properties can member members will meet at 03:30 today instead of 02:30 in Room 403. Yeah. Please be on time, and we can move our annual conveyance and easements easements to the rules committee. Thank you. Representative McLean recognized for an afternoon order.

Homes and homelessness. So, please, if you get a chance, come by. We're in Room 310 CLOB. Thank you, mister speaker.

Chairman McDonald, recognize for afternoon order.

Thank you, mister speaker. I am helping the calls. I am canceling intergovernmental coordination for today. It will not be meeting.

Chairman Gunther, recognized for a for an announcement.

Thank you.

Thank you, mister speaker. Judiciary committee will be, as the speaker said earlier, at 02:00. We've had it scheduled for one, but we'll move it to 02:00 in Room 132. Thank you.

Chairman Erwin is recognized for an afternoon order.

Thank you, mister speaker. First of all, let me, let everyone in the chamber know that we are hosting or having a press conference on the South Steps about the literacy bill. Want to invite everybody to come to it. I will tell you this is gonna change some children's lives in this state. This is a very good thing.

Please come with us to the press conference at 01:00 on the steps. And education committee members, we will push our meeting to 02:00 start, same room, to begin our work in the education committee. Thank you, mister speaker.

Thank you, chairman. Chairman Thomas, recognize afternoon order.

Thank you, mister speaker. The special committee on resource management was initially, scheduled for a 9AM start. We will be moving that to 8AM tomorrow, same room. Thank you.

Chairman Jasper's chairman Jasper's waves. Love it, man. Representative Lofton. Ladies recognized.

Thank you, chair. Ladies in the chamber, can you all check your ears, please? I've ladies in the chamber, check your ears. I have a loose earring, pink round stone surrounded by white stones. It'll be at my desk and then I'll hand it over to the speaker's office in lost and found.

But if it's yours oh oh, yeah. Yeah. It's not yours. Okay. I'm I'm glad to know.

Glad to know you didn't lose it.

Thank you.

Thank you, mister speaker.

Representative Williams, you cannot have it.

I can

go ahead and tell you that. I know Olivia's looking for a a Valentine's gift. That will only be for one ear. You would try it. I know you would.

Chairman Stevens is recognized for

an announcement. Thank you, mister speaker. Speaker announced we're gonna meet in economic development tourism at 12:30 room, excuse me, at 01:30 that was for 12:30. We have lunch today. You can still pick that up.

And just a caution, whenever you walk out and press a button like I did today and your phone phones on your green from the red button, Check that before they lock the machine. Thank you,

mister speaker.

Yeah. Okay.

Likely story. Chairman Tarvin, recognized for an announcement.

Thank you, mister speaker. Budget and physical affairs oversight will have a meeting today at 01:30 or it may be post on on a few minutes in 04:06. We've got three bills to hear, hearing only. So 04:06.

04:06. What time, mister chair?

01:30 or two minutes.

About 01:30 ish. Hearing only. Also, we have, chairman Werkheiser has found something.

It's a lost and found day. I've got a phone of a kid. So if this is your phone or wanna adopt it, let me know.

Members, we do have pages. You see them on the boards. So if you've have some pages here, join me down at the rostrum. We'll get a photo. That concludes our business of the day.

My oversight, mister Clerk. Thanks for being on the ball.

You just

Clerk is recognized to read the caption to a group

of privileged resolutions. Mister Clerk. Honoring officer Brantley

Worley.

Honoring the work of lifting our voices incorporated. Recognizing 02/05/2026 is cancer prevention day at the State Capitol recognizing and commending Brianna Drake, recognizing the tartan trot, congratulating Herbert Hodges, the 2025 Georgia tree farmer of the year, commending doctor Latoya Thomas, the Douglas County School System, 2025, 2026, teacher of the year, recognizing, commending Empiricus, recognizing of February as national canned food month in the state of Georgia. Recognizing 2026 is the year of the Georgia birding Trail. Commending Abbott Amanda Abbott, Pickett County twenty twenty five twenty twenty six teacher of the year, commending the Georgia Walt the George Walton and James Oglethorpe chapters of the daughter of the American revolutions twenty twenty five twenty twenty six good citizens, recognizing and commending Joanne Celeste Landegren Gardner, recognizing and commending doctor Gloria Duncan on her outstanding public service with Clayton County Public Schools, recognizing and commending reverend Corey j Neal on the occasion of his eighteenth pastoral anniversary, recognizing the work and leadership of Noah McQueen, congratulating chief Stone Mathis and Columbus Police Department for being named the Georgia chapter of the FBI National Academy Associates, Phyllis Goodwin, agency of the year, recognizing and commending the Junior League Movement on the occasion of its hundred and twenty fifth anniversary, recognizing the League of Women Voters in Georgia, commending the Emergency Management Association of Georgia, and recognizing 02/26/2026 as Emergency Management Association Day at the state capitol, congratulating and commending Frank and Solomon Nixon Funeral Home on the occasion of its one hundredth anniversary, commending the Georgia peanut industry and recognizing March 2026 as Georgia peanut month at the state capitol.

Recognizing the efforts of communities and schools of Central Georgia for their significant contributions to improving student attendance and commending the efforts of Forsyth Monroe County Chamber of Commerce for its significant contributions to economic development, community leadership, and the cultivation of local talent through the Leadership Monroe program. And for other purposes, that completes the reading of the privilege resolutions.

Is there any objection to adopting the privilege resolutions? Hearing none, the resolutions are adopted. Thank you, mister clerk. Majority leader of this house is recognized for a motion.

Thank you, mister speaker. I move that this house stand adjourned until 9AM 9AM on Friday, 02/06/2026.

Got to rise and shine tomorrow. Yes, sir. On the motion of the majority leader that this house stand adjourn until 9AM, Friday, 02/05/2026. All those in favor will say aye. Aye.

Opposed, no. No. Oh, wouldn't even close again. Eyes have it. We're adjourned.

Thank you, members. A good day.