SINE DIE: Senate adjourns early as last day of Georgia legislative session comes to an end

ATLANTA — The final day of the Georgia legislative has come to an end.

The budget is the only thing state leaders were required to do this legislative session, and that nearly $38 billion budget was passed earlier in the day Friday.

“We are very thankful that you have yet again delivered a historic session for the people of Georgia,” Kemp told lawmakers.

The Senate surprised everyone by adjourning around 9:15 p.m., while the House remained in session to finish its work.

Afterwards, Lt. Gov. Burt Jones told Channel 2’s Richard Elliot that he’d been planning to Sine Die the Senate early.

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“We had all our priorities done and I’ve been saying all day, of course, I been leading up the last two days that we’re going to adjourn early,” Jones said.

On Friday morning, Kemp signed the controversial religious liberty bill into law to protect, he says, people of faith from unwarranted government intrusion.

“I think it’s a commonsense piece of legislation that mirrors what the vast majority of states in the United States have done,” Kemp said.

But Democrats insist that without an underlying civil rights law, which Georgia doesn’t have, the bill gives people a license to discriminate.

“At the end of the day, those who will bear the brunt of this are not those in the majority. It’ll be us, people in the religious minority,” state Rep. Ruwa Romman.

The governor now has 40 days to sign or veto all the bills passed by both chambers.

Here is a look at what bills have passed and which ones did not:

Passed

CHILD TAX CREDIT: Parents of children age 5 and under could claim a $250 state income tax credit under House Bill 136, which also expands the state income tax credit for child care expenses.

RELIGIOUS LIBERTY: State and local governments wouldn’t be able to “substantially burden” a person’s religious freedom under Senate Bill 36, but opponents say it would enable discrimination. Kemp signed the measure Friday.

INCOME TAXES: An already-planned state income tax cut will be accelerated under House Bill 111, giving the state a flat 5.19% income tax rate retroactive to Jan. 1. And Georgians will get income tax rebates between $250 and $500 under House Bill 112.

HURRICANE AID: House and Senate members agreed to spend more than $850 million on aid after Hurricane Helene did billions of dollars of damage in Georgia in September.

LAWSUIT LIMITS: Senate Bill 68 would make it harder to bring lawsuits and win large verdicts while Senate Bill 69 limits who can finance lawsuits.

SCHOOL CELLPHONES: Public school students in kindergarten through eighth grade would be banned from using cellphones during the school day under House Bill 340.

TRANSGENDER RIGHTS: Both Senate Bill 1 would ban transgender girls and women from playing girls’ and women’s sports, while Senate Bill 185 would ban the state from paying for gender-affirming care for prisoners.

AMERICA FIRST LICENSE PLACE: Senate Bill 291 would create an America First license plate for Georgia vehicles.

Did not pass

PUBLIC RECORDS: A discarded version of Senate Bill 12 would have exempted Georgia state legislators and police departments from some requirements to disclose public records.

LIBRARY CRIMES: Librarians in public libraries, K-12 schools and colleges could have faced prosecution for providing sexually explicit materials to minors under House Bill 483.

GUN TAX BREAKS: House Bill 79 would have offered a four-day sales tax holiday on guns, ammunition and safety devices, while offering income tax credits of up to $300 for paying for gun safety courses.

CLARENCE THOMAS STATUE: The state would have put up a privately financed statue of the U.S. Supreme Court Justice and Georgia native under House Bill 254.

ELECTED OFFICIAL PAY: Lawmakers abandoned a proposal to increase pay for statewide elected officials including paying Gov. Brian Kemp $250,000 a year.

SPORTS BETTING: Georgians would have gotten a chance in 2026 to vote on a state constitutional amendment authorizing sports gambling under House Resolution 450.

The Associated Press contributed to this article.