GEORGIA, USA — Gov. Brian Kemp signed several bills during the 2023 to 2024 legislative session, including healthcare and public safety.
Most Georgia laws go into effect on July 1, even if the bill was changed to amend or update language in the state constitution, unless the bill is stated otherwise. The amended language normally goes into effect on July 1 as well.
A controversial and highly contested bill this session was the "Georgia Criminal Alien Track and Report Act of 2024," which took effect immediately after Gov. Kemp signed it into law.
It came after Augusta University nursing student Laken Riley was killed on the University of Georgia's campus in February. Police later arrested and accused Jose Ibarra, who entered the country illegally, of allegedly murdering Riley.
Another highly anticipated law was the Squatter Reform Act, which took effect immediately after Kemp signed the law. It gives property owners who are dealing with squatters more rights.
Here's which laws will take effect on July 1:
Tax Cuts
- House Bill 1015: A consequential bill that Kemp said would help many Georgians save extra money in their pockets by accelerating the largest state income tax cut in its history. The tax rate is currently 5.49%, and the governor is proposing to reduce it by 0.1% each year, which would bring it down to 4.99% if the state revenues hold up.
- House Bill 1021: This bill would increase the state's income tax dependent exemption by 33%. This would allow each taxpayer to deduct $4,000 per dependent rather than $3,000.
- House Bill 1023: This bill will also extend tax cuts to businesses by lowering the corporate income tax from 5.75% to 5.39%.
Healthcare
- House Bill 872: This new law will provide service-cancelable loans to dental students and other healthcare professionals who agree to practice in rural areas. It will give priority to roles experiencing particular shortages.
- Senate Bill 480: This bill is similar to House Bill 872 but particularly focuses on mental health and substance use professionals by creating a student loan repayment program.
House Bill 874: This bill would require all Georgia schools to have automated external defibrillators outside buildings instead of inside.
Education
- House Bill 409: After an 8-year-old was tragically hit by a car while attempting to get on her school bus in Henry County, her family pushed for Addy's Law, which would allow school systems to consider routes that do not have stops that require motorists to stop for students getting on the bus.
- Senate Bill 395: The amended combined bill took a controversial turn in its early stages. It started a bill to provide overdose-reversal drugs like Narcan for each school but then took a turn to also ban the use of puberty blockers for Georgia youth.
- House Bill 970: This bill adds amended text that will also allow victims of human trafficking to be eligible for the higher education scholarship.
Public Safety
- Senate Bill 159: This measure would increase the penalties for those providing contraband to inmates in jail or in person. Stronger penalties would also apply to those who work at the facility and provide the contraband.
- House Bill 1193: This bill would require certain vehicles, including tow trucks and other emergency vehicles, to have flashing or revolving amber lights. It would standardize the use of lights across code sections.
- Senate Bill 421: Georgia is now strengthening penalties against false reports of shootings and bomb threats at homes, known as swatting.
- Senate Bill 10: The state is also cracking down on drag racing. Gov. Kemp gave the green light to the new law that makes knowingly attending and facilitating drag racing a misdemeanor and increases the fines for illegal street racing.
Other Laws
- House Bill 404: This bill is known as the Safe at Home Act, which focuses on the habitability of a rental home or apartment. It also restricts the amount landlords can ask for in a security deposit—the amount cannot exceed two months' rent.
- Senate Bill 189: Senate Bill 189 would create new rules for challenging voter qualifications, possibly let more candidates qualify for Georgia's presidential ballot, and ban the use of QR codes to count ballots after 2026.
- House Bill 1207: This bill allows for a reduced number of voting machines. It would also give election supervisors leeway to change the number of voting booths in precincts. Current state law requires one booth “for every 250 voters therein or fraction thereof.
- Senate Bill 420: It bans any “agent” of China from buying farmland in Georgia or any commercial land near military installations, according to the Associated Press.