2025 Legislative Review

• Citation: Vol. 30 No. 4 Pg. 0026
• Year: 2025
• Pages: 0026

2025 Legislative Review Vol. 30 No. 4 Pg. 26 Georgia Bar Journal May 2025

An in-depth look at the key legislative developments from the 2025 Georgia General Assembly session, and the State Bar's work to address issues impacting the legal profession.

BY JENN MCNEELY

The Georgia State Capitol Building.

Overview of the 2025 Georgia General Assembly Legislative Session

The 2025 session marked the first year of the biennial term for the Georgia General Assembly. With the addition of two newly elected lawyer-legislators, the total number of attorneys serving in the Legislature now stands at 36. As always, lawyer-legislators bring valuable legal input to policy debates, committee work and floor deliberations, making their presence and participation especially meaningful to the legal community.

This year's session began on Jan. 13 with the customary fanfare, but its conclusion on April 4—Sine Die—was anything but traditional. While many anticipated a late-night flurry of activity to close out the 40th legislative day, the Senate unexpectedly gaveled out around 9:30 p.m., leaving several high-profile bills unresolved. The House, still actively engaged in its final legislative work, wrapped up around 10:30 p.m., finalizing what it could without the Senate's continued participation. Though both chambers upheld the time-honored tradition of tossing shredded bills into the air upon adjournment, the atmosphere under the Gold Dome was tinged with confusion. Capitol watchers and stakeholders were left to speculate about the reasons behind the abrupt early departure from business as usual.

Despite the curious ending, the 2025 session saw meaningful debate and movement on various significant issues, including civil litigation reform, school safety measures, speed camera reform and protections related to in vitro fertilization. Lawmakers engaged in robust discussions and compromise in many of these areas, with several pieces of legislation receiving final passage. All bills that made it through both chambers during the 40-day session are now before Gov. Brian Kemp, who has until May 14 to sign or veto them—or allow them to become law without his signature.

Budget

The only constitutionally required duty of the Georgia General Assembly each session is the passage of a balanced state budget. Unlike other legislative acts, the governor retains line-item veto authority over the budget. This power may be exercised at the end of the 40-day bill review period following the legislative session.

Throughout the 2025 session, the House and Senate demonstrated firm commitments to their respective fiscal visions, resulting in spirited—and at times contentious—negotiations between budget conferees. Two of the most debated issues centered on the funding mechanism for capital projects (cash versus bonds) and the level of funding for Promise Scholarships, Georgia's school voucher program.

Despite the disagreements, the Legislature ultimately approved a roughly S38 billion Fiscal Year (FY) 2026 budget. In a show of bipartisan support, the final version passed with a 54-1 vote in the Senate and a 170-5 vote in the House on Day 40. That same morning, Gov. Kemp announced an increase of S50 million to the state's revenue estimate. House Appropriations Chairman Matt Hatchett (R-Dub-lin) and Senate Appropriations Chairman Blake Tillery (R-Vidalia) worked quickly to incorporate those additional funds into the final compromise.

Among the key highlights of the FY 2026 budget:

• $141 million to fully fund Promise Scholarships, providing up to 21,000 students with educational choice options;

• $22.7 million for initiatives recommended by the Georgia Council on Literacy, including S10 million in new funds;

• $108.9 million in school security grants, with S47,124 allocated per school for local use;

• $6.9 million in grants for "qualified student advocacy specialists" to help identify and support students with...