Several committees convened this week in the Georgia General Assembly to discuss bills pertaining to the health, rights, and education of Georgia citizens. The process started with the House Committee of Creative Arts and Entertainment, where a new bill concerned with the use of deepfake technology was discussed.
House Bill(HB) 566 seeks to protect the likeness of artists from being used in digital replicas without their permission. Likeness in this case, refers to the voice or visual appearance of a specific artist.
HB 556 arrives as a response to the widespread usage of AI’s ability to replicate a person’s likeness. The committee passed the bill and it moved on to the Rules Committee.
The Senate was also busy today as its committees also discussed several different bills that could impact the livelihoods of Georgians across the state. The Education and Youth Committee discussed Senate Bill(SB) 65, which seeks to make kindergarten mandatory for all children prior to entering first grade.
SB 65 was hotly contested within the committee due to the issue of how it could be enforced and when a child would need to be enrolled into a kindergarten program. A motion to table it and amend it later was denied. It was eventually passe,d and it will move on to the Rules Committee.
The Education and Youth Committee then moved to discuss a transparency initiative known as SB 295. This bill would require local school systems to maintain and publish a registry of all contracts worth more than $10,000.00.
SB 295 avoided any controversy when it was discussed and it was quickly passed. It will also move on to the Rules Committee.
The House Health Committee discussed a bill known as HB 382 which sought to revise the classification of a drug known as psilocybin. The bill’s sponsor, Rep. Ron Stephens of the 164th district, explained how the drug is dangerous and should be reclassified as such. HB 382 passed and will be sent to the Rules Committee.
