Sen. Ben Watson
State senator
The Georgia General Assembly has adjourned Sine Die, or in layman’s term, has finished its business for the constitutionally mandated 40-day session. The session started slow as the House of Representatives and Senate had to organize after the 2024 elections were held. But this year’s General Assembly dealt with many issues that favored taxpayers, helped navigate the new President’s directives, and protected children, schools and athletes.
The Senate passed House Bill 268; a comprehensive school safety plan developed by the General Assembly in response to the tragic loss of four Georgians during a school shooting at Apalachee High School last September. This legislation is the result of months of collaboration with educators, students, parents, school administrators and law enforcement agencies to develop a comprehensive school safety plan that addresses the security needs of our school buildings, prioritizes the mental health of Georgia’s students and ensures we take proactive measures to keep our children safe.
The specific policies established by House Bill 268 include requiring that, when a student transfers between school districts, all relevant student records, including education and disciplinary records, to be shared with a receiving school in a given time frame. It further requires for the Georgia Emergency Management and Homeland Security Agency to establish a statewide alert system to report and monitor incidents of safety threats made against schools. The legislation also requires schools to adopt threat assessment plans to provide a structured, multidisciplinary process to identify, assess and mitigate potential threats to schools while supporting the safety and well-being of students and school personnel.
In addition, H.B. 268 requires all public schools to implement a mobile panic alert system, much like the system used at Apalachee, which we know saved many lives and prevented a much larger tragedy. It creates “qualified student advocacy specialist” positions, as well as grants to fund these positions for local school systems. It also requires that students in sixth grade and above receive an hour of suicide awareness and prevention training, as well as one hour of youth violence prevention training annually. It also requires all high-needs schools to implement positive behavioral interventions and support (PBIS), which are proven to reduce disciplinary incidents, increase a school’s sense of safety and support improved academic outcomes. And finally, the bill increases penalties for terroristic acts and requires schools to suspend and provide counseling to students who make credible threats.
House Bill 266 passed the General Assembly, which excludes $35,000 of income related to military retirement benefits for retired military members under age 65, beginning in tax year 2027. The amount increases $5,000 per year until it reaches $65,000.
We also passed Senate Bill 17 called the “Ricky and Alyssa’s Law.” The bill requires local school systems to implement a mobile panic alert system capable of connecting disparate emergency services technologies to ensure real-time coordination between multiple state and local first responder agencies in the event of a school security incident. The bill authorizes the Georgia Emergency Management and Homeland Security Agency to adopt rules and regulations for the requirements for school mapping data.
The “Georgia Religious Freedom Restoration Act,” S.B. 36, is legislation that matches federal law and protection for the practice of religion and shores up freedom of speech and religion in our state courts. In the past, both Republicans and Democrats have supported this law, including former President Obama, and was signed into law by President Bill Clinton. This important legislation protects the First Amendment rights of Georgians.
The General Assembly passed H.B. 136, creating a child tax credit and expanding childcare tax programs. The bill increases the current tax credit for child and dependent care expenses from a 30% match of the federal credit to a 50% match. The bill creates a new Georgia Child Tax Credit, allowing taxpayers to claim an income tax credit of $250 for each child under the age of 6 years old. The bill also creates a new incentive for employers to cover childcare expenses. This program will allow an employer to claim a $1,000 credit in the first year and $500 in subsequent years for any employee for which the employer covers at least $1,000 in childcare costs. The bill preserves the existing tax credit program for employer- sponsored childcare centers.
Thank you for your continued interest in the work of our General Assembly. As your public servant, feel free to visit me at the Capitol or to reach out by phone or email. I am in 325A Coverdell Legislative Office Building. My office number is (404) 656-7880 and my email is ben.watson@senate.ga.gov. I look forward to continuing to serve you.