Georgia lawmakers race to pass bills on final day of legislative session
Lawmakers are racing to pass remaining bills before the 2025 session ends at midnight on Sine Die.
A religious freedom bill has cleared both chambers and now awaits Gov. Brian Kemp's signature.
Several high-profile proposals — including bills on DEI bans, immigration enforcement, and public records — are still awaiting final votes.
ATLANTA - Georgia lawmakers are making a final push to pass key legislation as the General Assembly wraps up its 2025 session on Sine Die, the last day of the legislative calendar.
What we know
Legislators returned to the Capitol early Thursday morning, hoping to push bills through both chambers and onto Gov. Brian Kemp's desk for a signature before the midnight deadline. While some high-profile bills have cleared major hurdles, others face long odds as the clock ticks down.
2025 Georgia Bill Tracker | Current Status of Closely-Watched Bills
This week, lawmakers advanced several controversial measures, including a bill that supporters say protects religious freedom. That proposal has cleared both chambers and is now awaiting the governor's signature.
What's next
Other bills are still navigating the legislative process:
A measure to ban or restrict automated school zone cameras still needs approval from the state Senate.
A Republican-backed bill that would limit public access to certain police and lawmaker records is pending a vote.
Legislation targeting sanctuary city policies and tightening immigration enforcement awaits a vote in the House.
House Bill 127, which would ban diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives in Georgia's public schools and universities, is awaiting final approval in the House before moving forward.
The session officially begins at 10 a.m., with lawmakers expected to work late into the night. Once the final gavel falls and the words "Sine Die" are spoken, any bills not passed this year will have to be reintroduced in the next session.
MOST RECENT STORIES
Georgia lawmakers push to eliminate state income tax on overtime pay
Georgia legislature passes controversial religious freedom bill amidst partisan tensions
Georgia bill to reduce prison sentences for domestic violence survivors on its way to becoming law
Georgia House Democrats walk out in protest over bill banning gender-affirming care for inmates
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Associated Press
a few seconds ago
- Associated Press
Orlando officials denounce removal of rainbow crosswalk near Pulse nightclub mass shooting site
ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Orlando officials on Thursday denounced the overnight removal by Florida transportation workers of a rainbow-colored crosswalk outside the Pulse nightclub where 49 people were gunned down, saying it was part of an attack on LGBTQ lives by Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis' administration. Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer called the painting over of the crosswalk with rainbow colors often associated with LGBTQ pride a 'callous' and 'cruel political act.' The massacre at the LGBTQ-friendly nightclub in 2016 was the worst mass shooting in modern U.S. history at the time. 'This crosswalk not only enhanced safety and visibility for the large number of pedestrians visiting the memorial, it also served as a visual reminder of Orlando's commitment to honor the 49 lives taken,' Dyer said. State Sen. Carlos Guillermo Smith, a Democrat from Orlando, called the overnight removal work a cowardly act. 'They did this in the middle of the night because they were scared of the resistance because they know what they did was wrong,' said Smith, who is openly gay. The Florida Department of Transportation did not respond to an emailed inquiry seeking comment. The rainbow crosswalk originally was installed in 2017 by the state, Dyer said. The state transportation agency had been notifying cities around Florida in recent months that they must remove rainbow-colored crosswalks and intersections or they could face the withholding of transportation funds. Among the cities notified were Delray Beach and Key West. Will Watts, an assistant secretary for the Florida Department of Transportation, issued a memo in June prohibiting 'surface art' on crosswalks, sidewalks, intersections, travel lanes or shoulders. The memo prohibited 'surface art' associated with 'social, political or ideological messages or images and does not serve the purpose of traffic control.' The Pulse nightclub shooting during a Latin night celebration on June 12, 2016, killed 49 people and wounded 53 others. The attacker, Omar Mateen, who had pledged allegiance to the Islamic State group, was killed after a three-hour standoff with police. At the time, it was the worst mass shooting in modern U.S. history. But that number was surpassed the next year when 58 people were killed and more than 850 were injured among a crowd of 22,000 at a country music festival in Las Vegas. Smith, the lawmaker, promised that if the state gets its way, the LGBTQ community won't be erased at the site where a permanent memorial is planned. 'There will be a rainbow mural nearby that is even bigger, queerer and more colorful than they ever imagined,' Smith said. ___ Follow Mike Schneider on the social platform Bluesky: @
Politico
a few seconds ago
- Politico
Playbook PM: Texas nears approval on new maps
Presented by THE CATCH-UP ANYBODY HAVE A MAP? Texas' redistricting rodeo is hurtling toward the final buzzer today with Republicans in the Texas Senate set to greenlight the White House-backed redistricting plan that would create five new GOP congressional seats, after the state House rubber-stamped the effort yesterday.. This morning, members of the Texas Senate's Special Committee on Congressional Redistricting voted 5-3 to send the proposed maps for a final vote in the chamber. The state Senate is set to convene at 8 p.m. Eastern to take up the proposal and send it to Texas Gov. Greg Abbott's desk. Though the new maps have been fated to pass in the deep-red state, it's not all a wash for state Democrats. The group used their highly publicized two-week quorum break to spotlight the rare mid-decade redraw as a partisan power grab by Republicans. And though Abbott has promised legal punishments for the lawmakers who bucked against the special legislative session, Democrats have also threatened to challenge the new maps in court. And the map debate has spread out beyond the Lone Star State: INSIDE 1600 PENN: The White House's redistricting push is serving as a major test of President Donald Trump's grip on the Republican Party and whether his well-honed negotiating skills translate beyond the beltway, POLITICO's Lisa Kashinsky, Daniel Desrochers and Holly Otterbein report. 'The more-stick-than-carrot approach has delivered Trump major wins in Washington by helping him barrel through initial GOP resistance,' and now 'that machine is whirring into gear again.' HOOSIER DADDY: So far, the Hoosier State is proving to be the most significant challenge to Trump's pressure campaign, with Republicans 'resisting a more intensive — and public — push' to redraw state lines, our colleagues write. Though Republican Gov. Mike Braun remains undecided on whether to call a special session, the administration 'shows no signs of letting up' and is 'planning to court more than four dozen Indiana Republicans' at the White House next week. GOING TO CALIFORNIA: Golden State Democrats are gearing up to push their own redistricting effort forward today to counter Texas Republicans, creating five new seats for their party. State lawmakers gathered today to consider a referendum that would allow a special election on Gov. Gavin Newsom's proposed maps and two related bills. But the Democrat-centric redistricting effort faces a less certain future in the Golden State, which requires that voters — not lawmakers — decide to overturn the current district lines. SHOWING UP IN THE SHOW-ME STATE: Missouri Republican Party Vice Chair Jennifer Bukowsky said proposed maps drawn in D.C. have been floating around among lawmakers and she 'expects a special session when district lines are decided by national Republicans,' The Missouri Independent's Rudi Keller reports. 'Republican members of the Missouri House have been told there will be two caucus meetings scheduled to coincide with the annual veto session, which starts Sept. 10,' with one meeting likely focused on redistricting. Trump is already counting Missouri in the win column. The president signaled on Truth Social this morning that Missouri Republicans are moving ahead with their redistricting gambit. 'The Great State of Missouri is now IN. I'm not surprised,' Trump wrote. 'I won it, all 3 times, in a landslide. We're going to win the Midterms in Missouri again, bigger and better than ever before!' Good Thursday afternoon. Thanks for reading Playbook PM. Have thoughts on the White House's redistricting campaign? Drop me a line at birvine@ 9 THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW 1. RUSSIA-UKRAINE LATEST: Russia overnight launched over 500 drones and 40 missiles in an aerial attack on Ukraine — marking one of the heaviest bombardments in recent weeks. Part of the attack focused on the U.S.-founded electronics manufacturer near the Ukrainian border, per Reuters' Dan Peleschuk and Anastasiia Malenko. 'One person was killed and 22 were wounded, most of them in the attack that damaged storage facilities at the electronics manufacturer in Ukraine's far-Western Zakarpattia region.' The Russian attack comes just days after Trump led a series of diplomatic meetings in an effort to negotiate a ceasefire. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy noted the attack on the American-owned business 'is very telling' of Russia's motives, urging Western allies to respond in a post on X. 'The Russians carried out this attack as if nothing has changed at all, as if there are no global efforts to stop this war. This requires a response,' Zelenskyy wrote. 'There is still no signal from Moscow that they truly intend to engage in substantive negotiations and end this war. Pressure is needed. Strong sanctions, strong tariffs.' The view from the Kremlin: Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told reporters today that Russian President Vladimir Putin 'has repeatedly said' he's prepared to meet with Zelenskyy, but stressed 'all issues that require consideration at the highest level will be well worked out' beforehand, Reuters reports. Lavrov also added that questions must be resolved about Zelenskyy's authority to officially sign a peace deal. 2. IMMIGRATION FILES: The Ugandan government has reached a temporary deal with the U.S. to take in so-called third-country deportees, per WaPo's Victoria Craw and Rael Ombuor. Ugandan Foreign Ministry's permanent secretary, Bagiire Vincent Waiswa posted on X that the country will accept: 'Third Country Nationals who may not be granted asylum in the United States but are reluctant to or may have concerns about returning to their countries of origin.' It's unclear how many migrants will be accepted or when the deal will take effect. The announcement comes after a Ugandan senior official denied to Reuters reporting from CBS on Tuesday that the country had struck a deal, citing internal documents. And the huddled masses shift: A Pew Research Center analysis of Census data found that between January and June, the foreign-born population in the U.S. declined by nearly 1.5 million — the 'experts predict looming negative economic and demographic consequences for the United States if the trend persists,' NYT's Miriam Jordan reports. 3. NO PLACE LIKE HOME (RULE): Trump is planning to join law enforcement and National Guard troops on patrol tonight, 'the latest in a series of high-profile photo ops by the administration to broadcast the strength of its crackdown on the nation's capital,' POLITICO's Irie Sentner writes. 'I'm going to be going out tonight … with the police and with the military of course,' Trump told conservative radio host Todd Starnes this morning. A White House official said more details would 'be forthcoming.' The next phase: Trump may be eyeing another layer to his takeover of Washington and bypass the city's traditional process to transform the local judicial system, POLITICO's Daniel Barnes reports. Under D.C.'s Home Rule Act, 'the president is restricted to choosing from a roster of potential [D.C. judicial] candidates recommended by a seven-member panel known as the Judicial Nomination Commission.' But last week Trump 'indicated that senior Justice Department officials had already given him judicial recommendations for Washington's local courts, potentially bypassing the panel's selections.' Do you hear the people sing?: Washington is no stranger to large protests. But as Michael Schaffer writes in his latest Capital City column for POLITICO Mag, 'the nation's capital has been weirdly quiet' in response to Trump's police crackdown — and no one can seem to agree on why: 'Some cited the season … Others cited exhaustion and even fear,' while '[p]eople involved in planning protests against the takeover chalk some of it up to tactical choices.' 4. MAYBE THIS TIME: A New York appeals court tossed out New York AG's Letitia James' $500 million civil fraud case against the president's family business today — but the court declined to overturn James' case against Trump himself, POLITICO's Erica Orden reports. The verdict leaves the door open for Trump to 'seek to appeal the verdict to New York's highest court. And the three separate opinions issued Thursday by the appeals court revealed disagreement within the five-judge panel that one judge described as 'profound.'' What they said: 'While the injunctive relief ordered by the court is well crafted to curb defendants' business culture, the court's disgorgement order, which directs that defendants pay nearly half a billion dollars to the State of New York, is an excessive fine that violates the Eighth Amendment of the United States Constitution,' Judge Peter Moulton wrote. 5. ANOTHER HUNDRED PEOPLE: 'Trump's hometown train station renovation could be first fruits of South Korean trade deal,' by Just The News' Steven Richards and John Solomon: 'The South Korean government and its leading industry association have expressed interest in making significant investments in a complete renovation of New York City's Pennsylvania Station … The Korean government is prepared to invest $15 billion in the [a renovation] project and become the group's partner in constructing the new station and a new sports arena to replace Madison Square Garden.' 6. HOW TO SUCCEED IN BUSINESS: Tiffany Trump's husband, businessman Michael Boulos, and his family have reaped some dubious financial gains from marrying into the Trump dynasty, according to a new NYT investigation. Boulos was said to have overcharged his future brother-in-law, Jared Kushner, $2.5 million dollars for a yacht while his family's brokerage firm 'worked to conceal the true price from him.' Meanwhile, Boulos' cousin also negotiated with a Saudi businessman to get him access to Trump during his wedding: 'Everyone involved denies wrongdoing, and both deals went bad. … But Mr. Boulos received about $300,000 from the yacht sale, his cousin says, and $100,000 from the Saudi businessman.' 7. NEW YORK, NEW YORK: The former top aide to NYC Mayor Eric Adams is now facing four separate counts of bribery from the Manhattan DA's office, POLITICO's Jeff Coltin reports. Adam's former chief adviser, Ingrid Lewis-Martin, allegedly 'overrode other City officials' expertise and decision making to ensure that certain required actions were accomplished for the benefit of her co-conspirators,' according to a summary of the indictments. 'Jesse Hamilton, a deputy commissioner at the Department of Citywide Administrative Services, is being charged with Lewis-Martin in one case where the pair is accused of promoting a real estate developer's projects in exchange for more than $5,000 worth of home renovations.' 8. OLD FRIENDS: The Texas AG's office may be getting a new sheriff in town. After weeks of rumors, four-term Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas) officially launched an attorney general campaign today, The Texan's Brad Johnson reports. Roy, a former staffer for Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and House Freedom Caucus member, is aiming to replace AG Ken Paxton — who remains locked in a heated GOP primary against Sen. John Cornyn. Roy has had a rocky relationship with Paxton for years, calling for him to step down in 2020 during a federal investigation and subsequent impeachment effort. Roy's reputation as a fiery conservative could certainly help him as he joins a busy field that already includes GOP state Sens. Mayes Middleton and Joan Huffman, and former DOJ appointee Aaron Reitz. '[R]epresentatives should not be permanent,' Roy said in a release. 'And my experience watching Texans unite in response to the devastating Hill Country floods made clear that I want to come home. I want to take my experience in Congress, as a federal prosecutor, and as First Assistant Attorney General to fight for Texas from Texas.' Watch his launch video 9. ME AND THE SKY: Reps. Frank Pallone (D-N.J.) and Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) are launching an official investigation into Paramount's $7 billion merger with fellow media conglomerate Skydance, The Hill's Dominick Mastrangelo scoops. The pair sent a 'letter to Paramount leadership on Wednesday demanding documents, communications and detailed answers' on the merger and noted concerns about 'troubling' statements from Trump regarding a possible financial agreement. 'Paramount has denied any such agreement with Trump exists and insisted its settlement with the president only includes a $16 million payment to his foundation, which was announced as the deal was struck.' TALK OF THE TOWN SPOTTED: Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Jeanine Pirro having lunch at The Hamilton yesterday. Pic Matt and Ginger Gaetz welcomed a son, Luckey Louis Gaetz. AND THE AWARD GOES TO — The Congressional Management Foundation announced winners of the 2025 Democracy Awards, including multiple categories honoring one Republican and one Democratic congressional office as well as chiefs of staff. Honorees for excellence in congressional management include Rep. Richard Hudson (R-N.C.) and Nikki Budzinski's (D-Ill.) offices. Honorees for chief of staff of the year include J.T. Jezierski of Sen. Shelley Moore Capito's ( office, Tricia Russell of Sen. Chris Van Hollen's (D-Md.) office, Chris Crawford of Rep. Buddy Carter's (R-Ga.) office and Mitchell Rivard of Rep. Jason Crow's (D-Colo.) office. Winners will be formally recognized at the 2025 Democracy Awards Ceremony on Sept. 18. See the full list of awardees Send Playbookers tips to playbook@ or text us on Signal here. Playbook couldn't happen without our editor Zack Stanton, deputy editor Garrett Ross and Playbook Podcast producer Callan Tansill-Suddath
CNN
a few seconds ago
- CNN
GOP takes aim at Democratic seat in Missouri as redistricting fights spread
With Texas Republicans nearing completion of a new congressional map that could yield their party five additional seats in the House, President Donald Trump is escalating his efforts to secure more GOP-friendly seats in other states. Deep-red Missouri appears to be the next target, with Trump writing on Truth Social Thursday that 'The Great State of Missouri is now IN.' 'I'm not surprised. It is a great State with fabulous people. I won it, all 3 times, in a landslide. We're going to win the Midterms in Missouri again, bigger and better than ever before!' Missouri's GOP Gov. Mike Kehoe has not publicly committed to a special session to draw new lines but has made clear that he is considering it. 'Governor Kehoe continues to have conversations with House and Senate leadership to assess options for a special session that would allow the General Assembly to provide congressional districts that best represent Missourians,' Kehoe's communications director Gabby Picard said in an email to CNN on Thursday. 'Governor Kehoe appreciates President Trump's attention to this issue on behalf of Missourians,' she added. CNN has reached out to the White House for more information. Any redistricting in Missouri is expected to occur in September when lawmakers convene for an already-scheduled veto session. Republicans currently control six of eight US House seats, and a GOP-drawn map is expected to target the 5th congressional district in the Kansas City area, held by 11-term Democratic Rep. Emanuel Cleaver. He has vowed to mount a court challenge to any map that takes aim at his seat. Adam Kincaid, the president and executive director of National Republican Redistricting Trust and a key player in redistricting battles, told CNN that he expects Missouri Republicans to advance a map that will give the party seven of eight seats – and anticipates more Republican officials to follow suit in other states. 'I do think that generally, this is something that the base of the Republican Party is really supportive of right now,' he said. 'And if you are a Republican elected official and you're seeing this, it's good politics to look at opportunities in your own state.' Trump and his allies have urged Republicans in several states – including Missouri, Ohio, Indiana and South Carolina – to take aim at a handful of Democratic seats in their states in a quest to preserve or grow the GOP's narrow majority in the US House in the 2026 midterm elections. Florida has also launched a legislative committee to examine redistricting, but any action is likely to occur next year. Mid-decade redistricting is rare, and the effort to draw new lines marks an extraordinary campaign by the president and his allies to keep Democrats from controlling the House during the last two years of Trump's second term in the White House. The move underway in Texas to squeeze out as many as five additional GOP seats has sparked a counter-punch in California where Democrats – who control the governorship and state legislature – are advancing bills to amend the state constitution to temporarily redraw their maps to create five additional Democratic seats. The proposal would give California voters the final say in approving the revised maps in a special election this November. But Republicans – who control the governors' offices and legislatures in 23 states compared to just 15 held by Democrats – have more avenues to squeeze out additional seats that benefit their party as the redistricting battles spread. CNN's Arit John contributed to this report.
