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Georgia Crossover Day: Key bills live or die
Georgia lawmakers worked late into the night for Crossover Day to decide the fate of major proposals including income tax reductions, data center tax exemptions, and paper ballot voting.
ATLANTA - Georgia lawmakers worked late into the night Friday at the State Capitol for Crossover Day. This is the critical deadline for any piece of legislation to pass its chamber of origin and stay alive for the remainder of the session.
It was a busy day of debate as dozens of proposals hit the floor, covering everything from prosecutorial oversight to police body cameras. Several key measures successfully crossed the finish line. The House passed a measure that would further reduce the state income-tax rate to 3.99%. Meanwhile, the Senate passed a bill to eliminate tax exemptions for future data centers. However, that legislation does not legally require these centers to fully cover infrastructure costs or upgrades.
Dig deeper:
Some other bills that made it out before the deadline are:
House Bill 1009: The proposed bill would ban cell phones in high schools.
House Bill 1023: Bill would require local boards of education and other public school governing bodies to utilize weapon detection systems in certain school buildings.
House Bill 1193: A bill that would require literacy coaches for every Georgia school that serves kindergartners through third graders.
House Resolution 1114 (The HOME Act): A measure aimed at gradually eliminating property taxes on primary residences by 2032.
Senate Bill 552: The True Patriotism and Universal Student Access Act would give students the right to engage in political activities and expression as well as form partisan or nonpartisan groups or activities before, during and after the school day.
Senate Bill 568: Legislation that would end countywide early voting in favor of precinct-based voting and alter how election equipment is managed.
The other side:
Not every bill made the cut. A controversial Senate resolution that would have required voters to provide proof of citizenship failed in the chamber.
The debate over election integrity and corporate responsibility drew sharp divides among state leaders. State Sen. Greg Dolezal, R-Forsyth County, spoke in favor of a shift to paper ballots. "We’re just going to get machines out of the equation in terms of the actual process of voting, go back to analog, pencil and paper, give us a verifiable backup we can do audits on," Dolezal said.
State Sen. Kim Jackson, Minority Whip, expressed security concerns regarding that proposal. "In order to do what the bill proposes, we pre-print a whole lot of ballots. The last time I checked, when you have a lot of ballots laying around, that’s probably not the most safe and secure way to vote."
Dig deeper:
Some other bills that didn't pass the first chamber in time are:
House Bill 1223: A proposal that would restrict public access to police body and dash camera footage depicting a death.
House Bill 1324: A proposal that would make it easier to purchase gun silencers.
What's next:
Technically, any bill that does not cross over by the end of today is considered dead. However, there is a caveat: legislation can sometimes live on as a "zombie bill" if the language is tacked on to another piece of active legislation later in the session. Lawmakers expect a long night of deliberations before the midnight deadline.
The Source: Information in this article came from reporting by FOX 5's Christopher King and Sam Daniel looking at the legislature's website.