Week Eight Under the Gold Dome
Happy Crossover Week! This is the last chance for bills to pass out of their original chamber and stay alive for the rest of the session. It’s a fast-paced and critical time under the Gold Dome, and this week was no different.
In the Senate, we passed dozens of bills that focus on helping Georgia families, students, small businesses, and law enforcement. Here’s a look at some of the key measures we moved forward: SB 17 – Requires all schools to install mobile panic alert systems and provide school maps to law enforcement. In an emergency, seconds matter.
SB 61 – Ensures that juveniles charged with attempted murder or threats against a school are tried as adults. Schools should be places of learning, not fear.
SB 179 – Requires schools to transfer students’ academic and discipline records within 10 days when they switch schools. Parents or guardians must also be notified within five days. This keeps schools informed for safety and ready to provide the right support.
SB 56 – Expands the Georgia Indemnification Fund to help families of public safety officers who died from COVID-19.
SB 31 – Eliminates state taxes on military retirement income. Georgia already has some tax breaks for veterans, but this makes us fully competitive with states that don’t tax military pensions at all. It’s about honoring our veterans and keeping Georgia a great place for them to retire.
SB 85 – The “Georgia Foster Care Scholarship Act,” provides more financial aid for foster youth who want to go to college. These students face big challenges, and this bill helps them build a brighter future and get out of the foster care cycle.
SB 126 – Lowers the age for students to enroll in a completion special school from 18 to 16. Completion schools better allow students to work while learning, and some students need a different path to graduate. This gives them the flexibility to earn a diploma on their own timeline.
SB 119 – Allows manufactured homes (including mobile homes) to be classified as real property. This gives homeowners the same legal protections as others, helping them build equity and secure their financial future.
SB 201 – Strengthens consumer protections for homeowners after natural disasters. After Hurricane Helene, many families struggled to rebuild because of shady contractors. This bill makes sure Georgians aren’t taken advantage of when they need help the most.
I was proud to help pass SB 91, which will stabilize prescription prices. This bill prevents state-affiliated pharmacy benefit managers from cutting independent pharmacies out of contracts. We need to let the free market work and make sure Georgians can afford their prescriptions.
I also carried Senate Bill 57.
Conservatives are aware that businesses and individuals have been “debanked” or had their bank accounts “cancelled” based on “reputational risks” or “social credit scores,” simply because they were exercising constitutional rights in conservative ways.
SB 57 sought to correct this and ban debanking. The bill failed on the Senate floor with comments that either debanking doesn’t happen or that passing this bill would create frivolous lawsuits.
Interestingly, this past Friday, the day after SB 57 failed in the Georgia Senate, I was vindicated as the Trump administration filed suit in Florida against Capitol One Bank alleging over 300 counts of debanking.
This is a real issue, and conservatives know it. I will continue to fight to protect all constitutional rights from woke cancel culture.
Finally, the Senate approved the amended 2025 state budget (HB 67), which includes: More funding for the Department of Corrections to support law enforcement and public safety Continued funding for hurricane relief efforts Governor Brian P. Kemp signed this budget into law on Thursday to help Georgia families and small businesses recover and rebuild.
As we near the end of the session, I encourage you to reach out with any questions, concerns, or ideas. It’s an honor to serve you under the Gold Dome, and I’ll be sure to keep you updated over the remaining weeks of session.
Sen. Blake Tillery serves as Chairman of the Senate Committee on Appropriations. He represents the 19th Senate District, which includes Appling, Bacon, Jeff Davis, Long, Montgomery, Telfair, Toombs, Wayne and Wheeler counties, as well as a portion of Coffee County. He can be reached at 404.656.5038 or by email at Blake.Tillery@senate.ga.gov.
By Sen. Blake Tillery (R-Vidalia)
