Community Development 

House Bill 514 by Rep. Dale Washburn (R-Macon) would create a six-month limitation on local zoning moratoriums. 
Status: Conference committee report has been issued, pending chamber action 
GMA Position: Neutral 

House Bill 1073 by Rep. Dale Washburn (R-Macon) would remove specific language relating to zoning procedures relating to halfway houses, drug rehabilitation centers, or other facilities for the treatment of drug dependency.  
Status: Pending in Senate State and Local Governmental Operations Committee 
GMA Position: Neutral 

Environment and Natural Resources 

House Bill 206 by Rep. Steven Sainz (R-St.Marys), also known as CPACE (Commercial Property Assessed Conservation, Energy, and Resiliency Cooperation), would allow for development authorities to create a financing district that acts as a mechanism for financing energy efficiency and renewable energy improvements on private commercial properties. 
Status: Pending in Senate Rules Committee 
GMA Position: Support 

House Bill 1146 by Rep. Ron Stephens (R-Savannah) would require the Georgia EPD to issue consumptive water permits to private companies without the consent of the relevant local government if said local government is unable to provide the water service within 18 months of the permit request. 
Status: Passed House on Crossover Day, Feb. 29 
GMA Position: Oppose 

Municipal Government 

House Bill 290 by Rep. Mitchell Scoggins (R-Cartersville) would limit the amount of compensation a county tax commissioner may receive for the collection of municipal taxes. 
Status: Pending in Senate Rules Committee 
GMA Position: Support  

House Bill 456 by Rep. Stan Gunter (R-Blairsville) establishes a two-year term for all municipal court judges and provides a removal mechanism in the event of the breach of an employment agreement. 
Status: Pending in Senate Judiciary Committee 
GMA Position: Support 

House Bill 461 by Rep. Brad Thomas (R-Holly Springs) would make revisions concerning a city's calculation of regulatory fees, specifically building inspection fees. 
Status: Pending in Senate Finance Committee 
GMA Position: Neutral 

House Bill 905 by Rep. Matt Reeves (R-Duluth) would clarify provisions of the Zoning Procedures Law relative to the role of quasi-judicial boards and agencies and the appeal process from their decisions. 
Status: Pending in Senate State and Local Governmental Operations Committee 
GMA Position: Support 

House Bill 1033 by Rep. Rob Leverett (R-Elberton) enhances the level of punishment for the crimes of assault and battery when the victims of those crimes are utility workers.   
Status: Pending in Senate Judiciary Committee 
GMA Position: Support 
 
House Bill 1044 by Rep. Victor Anderson (R-Cornelia) raises the dollar amount of the public works bidding exemption from $100,000 to $250,000. 
Status: Pending in Senate Government Oversight Committee 
GMA Position: Support 

House Bill 1407 by Rep. John LaHood (R-Valdosta) would revise the requirements for service delivery strategies, provide rules for negotiation of the strategy, and create a dispute resolution process.
Status: Passed House on Crossover Day, Feb. 29
GMA Position: Support 

Public Safety 

House Bill 348 by Rep. J Collins (R-Villa Rica) would revise the regulations for speed cameras in school zones. 
Status: Pending in Senate Rules Committee 
GMA Position: Neutral 

House Bill 451 by Rep. Devan Seabaugh (R-Marietta) establishes an insurance program to cover post-traumatic stress disorder claims for first responders and requires city participation in the program.  
Status: Pending in Senate Insurance and Labor Committee 
GMA Position: Support 

Revenue and Finance 

Senate Bill 349 by Sen. Chuck Hufstetler (R-Rome) would improve the notice requirements for tax assessments and millage rate adjustments to be more transparent but would also allow for a statewide floating homestead exemption with a cap of 3 percent. 
Status: Pending in House Ways & Means Committee  
GMA Position: Neutral 

Senate Resolution 82 by Sen. Carden Summers (R-Cordele) would allow cities and counties to waive delinquent taxes to the extent the tax exceeds the fair market value of the property, ultimately encouraging the reutilization of the property. 
Status: Passed the Senate on Crossover Day, Feb. 29 
GMA Position: Support 

House Bill 808 by Rep. Mike Cheokas (R-Americus) would increase the statewide ad valorem tax exemption for tangible personal property from $7,500 to $20,000. 
Status: Pending in Senate Finance Committee 
GMA Position: Oppose 

House Bill 946 by Rep. Lee Hawkins (R-Gainesville) would allow a single-county T-SPLOST to be levied at the full 1 percent without unanimous approval of the agreement by all local jurisdictions and provides protection for those jurisdictions that are not party to the agreement. 
Status: Pending in Senate Finance Committee 
GMA Position: Support

House Bill 1019 by Rep. Matt Reeves (R-Duluth) would raise the amount of the statewide homestead exemption applicable to city taxes from $2,000 to $4,000,
Status: Pending in Senate Finance Committee 
GMA Position: Neutral 

House Bill 1031 by Rep. Dale Washburn (R-Macon) would require an estimated roll-back millage rate to be included on the annual notice of current assessment instead of last year's millage rate and would require mandatory reappraisal of parcels at least once every three years.
Status: Passed the House on Crossover Day, Feb. 29 
GMA Position: Support 

House Bill 1115 by Rep. Noel Williams (R-Cordele) would raise the limit on local sales tax to 3 percent, allow for a HOST and a LOST to be levied simultaneously, and create a new local option sales tax which would be referred to as a flexible penny local option sales tax which could be used for property tax relief, similar to LOST or OLOST.
Status: Pending in Senate Finance Committee 
GMA Position: Support 

House Bill 1116 by Rep. Debbie Buckner (D-Junction City) would extend the sunset date for tax credits for rehabilitation of historic structures to January 1, 2029. 
Status: Passed House on Crossover Day, Feb. 29 
GMA Position: Support 

House Bill 1185 and House Resolution 1022 by Rep. Beth Camp (R-Concord) are two companion bills consisting of enabling legislation and a constitutional amendment that would allow for a statewide floating homestead exemption, tied to the inflationary rate, that local governments could opt in to via an ordinance or resolution. 
Status: Pending in Senate Finance Committee 
GMA Position: Neutral

House Bill 1197 by Rep. Penny Houston (R-Nashville) would expand the rural zone tax credit to include historic residential structures, and extends the time limit for the zone. 
Status: Passed House on Crossover Day, Feb.29  
GMA Position: Support 

Community Development 

House Bill 981 by Rep. James Burchett (R-Waycross) would set a $500 cap related to issuing a permit or other such approval by a local government to a qualified agricultural producer regarding the construction or renovation of an agricultural structure. 
GMA Position: Oppose 
 
House Bill 1043 by Rep. Scott Hilton (R-Peachtree Corners) would provide regulations for virtual currency mining operations and prohibit cities from adopting certain zoning policies or noise regulations that discriminate against such operations. 
GMA Position: Oppose 

House Bill 1121 by Rep. Bethany Ballard (R-Warner Robins) limits the ability of cities to prohibit short-term rentals that are in existence prior to any prohibition and provides a statutory process for cities to address violations by short-term rental operators. 
GMA Position: Oppose 
 
Senate Bill 435 by Sen. Frank Ginn (R-Danielsville), which is subject to the approval of a constitutional amendment called for by SR 533, would create the statutory framework for Community Development Districts to build and maintain public infrastructure and to levy ad valorem taxes to bond and to pay for such infrastructure. 
GMA Position: Neutral 

House Bill 1266 by Rep. Dale Washburn (R-Macon), also known as the CHOICE Act, would incentivize the local community to adopt from a list of policies that are intended to support housing development, and upon adoption of a specified number, the local community would receive priority for state grant funding. 
GMA Position: Support

Municipal Government 

Senate Bill 413 by Sen. Randy Robertson (R-Cataula) restricts the dates of elections on local sales tax referendums to the November election of odd-number years and to the general primary (currently in May) and the November election of even-number years, with an additional option every four years for the presidential preference primary. 
GMA Position: Neutral 

Senate Bill 499 by Sen. Frank Ginn (R-Danielsville) would revise the requirements for service delivery strategies, provide rules for negotiation of the strategy, and create a dispute resolution process. This bill is similar to HB 1407, which did cross over.
GMA Position: Support 
 
House Bill 813 by Rep. Victor Anderson (R-Cornelia) clarifies and standardizes the process for the creation of a new city by setting forth the procedural steps in state law rather than just in legislative committee rules. 
GMA Position: Working with author 
 
House Bill 1228 by Tyler Paul Smith (R-Bremen) would change how some local governments procure engineering services as it would require all local governments in the state to utilize QBS (qualifications-based selection) as their sole procurement process. 
GMA Position: Neutral  

Public Safety 

Senate Bill 16 by Sen. John Albers (R-Roswell) would allow municipalities to establish EMS service areas and is a priority for GMA as we aim to address the critical need for efficient EMS response times. 
GMA Position: Support 
 
Senate Bill 415 by Sen. Randy Robertson (R-Cataula), referred to as the Police Registration Oversight for Tracking Enforcement and Capture Technology (PROTECT) Act, allows law enforcement officers to ticket drivers without proper motor vehicle insurance and registration via electronic image.  
GMA Position: Support 
 
House Bill 447, by Rep. Ken Vance (R-Milledgeville) provides that a person driving without insurance or with invalid vehicle registration may be subject to citation via electronic image (camera). The camera, affixed to an officer vehicle, will notify the officer of the violation, and the officer will then have the option to automatically issue a civil citation rather than initiate a traffic stop.  
GMA Position: Support 
 
Senate Bill 94 by Sen. Randy Robertson (R-Cataula) would require the governing body of local law enforcement agencies to apply for and secure a permit from the GA Department of Transportation prior to placing a speed detection device within a school zone, as opposed to the school applying. 
GMA Position: Support 
 
House Bill 1126 by Rep. Clay Pirkle (R-Ashburn) seeks to repeal all laws relative to the enforcement of speeding via cameras in school zones. 
GMA Position: Oppose 

Revenue and Finance  

Senate Bill 364 by Sen. John Albers (R-Roswell) would allow for a statewide floating homestead exemption with a cap of 3 percent or the rate inflation, whichever is less. The exemption would be based on the assessment value from 2020, 2021, or 2022, whichever is lowest. 
GMA Position: Oppose 

Senate Bill 383 by Sen. Shelly Echols (R-Gainesville) would allow for a referendum on a single-county T-SPLOST without the requirement of unanimous approval of the agreement by all local jurisdictions and provides protection for those jurisdictions that are not party to the agreement. This bill is similar to HB 946 which did cross over. 
GMA Position: Support 

House Resolution 1041 by Rep. Dale Washburn (R-Macon) would allow for counties and consolidated governments to opt-in to an alternative method of property appraisal and assessment via a local ordinance and subsequent referendum for at least five years. 
GMA Position: Oppose 

House Bill 1225 by Rep. Chuck Martin (R-Alpharetta) would amend the required parties for a LOST distribution certificate, allowing the county to be absent from the agreement in certain circumstances. An absent county would be guaranteed a minimum distribution based on their unincorporated population 
GMA Position: Support