A number of different bills within the Georgia General Assembly have been passed on to the Rules Committee. Committees from both the House and Senate of the Assembly participated in this process.
The Senate Public Safety Committee had a strong start with four different bills. They began with House Bill (HB) 238. This bill authorizes the creation of a new course of training at the Georgia Public Safety Training Center.
This new course will teach first responders how to deal with people who have dementia or Alzheimer's related illnesses. It easily passed to the Rules Committee.
The second bill was HB 77. This bill would require oncoming traffic on two lane roads to pull over for a funeral procession. It passed unanimously.
The next bill was HB 308. This bill allows the operation of miniature on-road vehicles for certain highways. The vehicles in question are usually twenty-five years old and imported. HB 308 passed unanimously.
The Senate Public Safety Committee concluded with the notable bill, HB 61. Also known as the Anti-Squatting Act, this bill would add many provisions to existing law.
HB 61 enables the swift and lawful removal of squatters by providing clear enforcement authority for law enforcement. It also grants magistrate courts jurisdiction over unlawful squatting cases. The bill passed to the Rules Committee
The House Motor Vehicles Committee met to revisit a bill that previously failed to pass. Senate Bill 160 was back on the agenda with new amendments.
This time, the bill brought back forfeiture of the vehicle as an option for a judge. It also increased the penalty time from three months to six months in order to guarantee a change in behavior. After much deliberation, the bill finally passed to the Rules Committee.
Finally, the Senate Science and Technology Committee convened to discuss HB 147. The bill requires the Georgia Technology Authority to provide an annual inventory of artificial intelligence usage by state agencies.
This bill had also failed to pass at one point, but underwent the amendment process. This time, it passed to the Rules Committee.
