Lieutenant Governor Burt Jones (R-GA) celebrated the advancement of the True Patriotism and Universal Student Access Act this week after the Georgia Senate passed the bill with a bipartisan vote of 46-7.
Also known as Senate Bill (SB) 552, the bill was sponsored by Senator Ben Watson (R – Savannah) and is now headed to the Georgia House for consideration.
Lt. Gov. Jones thanked the Senate for honoring the life and legacy of the late Charlie Kirk, elaborating on the importance of the bill and highlighting its codification of Kirk’s efforts to evangelize and promote open debate.
“The TPUSA Act is the first piece of legislation in the nation that would codify into law Charlie Kirk’s brave efforts to bring both the Word of God and the truth of conservative values to school campuses across America through open discussion and debate in public forums,” Lt. Gov Jones said in a statement.
The TPUSA Act
SB 552 ensures that public school students may engage in political activities and expression before, during, and after the school day in the same manner and to the same extent as they may engage in non-political activities and expression.
It also ensures that public school students can organize partisan or non-partisan political activities and groups before, during, and after school to the same extent that students are permitted to organize other non-curricular student activities and groups during the same time.
To enforce these new standards, public schools that provide a limited open forum are barred from denying equal access or discriminating against students who wish to conduct a meeting within the forum based on the group’s political, philosophical, or ideological alignment.
Partisan and non-partisan political groups must also be given the same permissions to advertise meetings and use school facilities as other groups, and cannot be discriminated against based on the political content of their expressions.
Lt. Governor Burt Jones Supports Senate Passage of the “True Patriotism and Universal Student Access Act”
“I am proud to prioritize this bill to ensure that students’ First Amendment rights to organize, gather, and speak are protected, regardless of their religious, political,… pic.twitter.com/j7iM8gmq4w
— Lt. Governor Burt Jones (@LtGovJonesGA) March 4, 2026
