ATLANTA — Friday is the last day of this year’s legislative session in Georgia, or as it’s better known at the Gold Dome as Sine Die.
After the session ends, Gov. Brian Kemp will have 40 days to sign, veto, or allow legislation to become law without his signature.
Here are three things to know as the clocks wind down on today’s final day of legislative session.
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1. Controversial Bills on Social Issues
The 2025 session has featured a lot of controversial bills on social issues, many of which came to a boiling point on Wednesday.
The Georgia House passed the latest version of the religious freedom bill. The bill passed the Senate last week and now heads to the governor’s desk. Some Republicans insist the bill is needed to protect people of faith, while Democrats say it only gives people a license to discriminate.
The Georgia House also passed a “diversity, equity and inclusion” bill on a party-line 33-21 vote. The measure would ban any policy or procedure “designed or implemented with reference to race, color, sex, ethnicity, national origin, gender identity or sexual orientation.” The House will only have to vote once on the final bill on Friday.
Georgia House Democrats walked out of the legislative chamber before a vote Wednesday that would ban gender-affirming care for the state’s prison population. They said that House Bill 185 would only impact five people currently in state custody. With the state’s Democrats out of the chamber, HB 185 passed easily with 100 votes for the bill and two against.
2. Lawmakers Must Pass the Budget
The only thing the General Assembly is constitutionally required to do is pass the state’s $37.7 billion budget.
The fate of other bills will be up in the air as the countdown clock gets closer to midnight.
3. Lawmakers Wear Seersucker
On a lighter note, it is a tradition for Georgia lawmakers to wear seersucker. You’ll see a lot of that around the State Capitol.
Another tradition: tossing papers in the chambers to signal the end of their paperwork for the session.
Channel 2 Action News will have live reports throughout the day and let you know which bills made it to the governor’s desk, on WSB Tonight at 11.
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