With Crossover Day looming, each chamber of the Georgia General Assembly extended its hours, working late into the night to debate and pass a wide range of bills, many of which touch on deeply personal and contentious issues. The legislative session was a showcase of ideological divides, passionate testimonies, and in some cases, rare moments of unity.
One of the most heated debates unfolded in the Senate chamber, where lawmakers discussed the Georgia Religious Freedom Restoration Act, or Senate Bill 36. This bill has stirred significant conversation among lawmakers and citizens alike, raising questions about the balance between religious liberty and protection against discrimination.
The proposed legislation is designed to mirror the federal Religious Freedom Restoration Act, aiming to ensure that individuals’ religious rights are upheld in the face of state and local government action.
“After the federal RFRA law was passed almost unanimously in 1993, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 1997 that the federal RFRA only protected people from unfair federal government intrusion and would not protect people from unfair state and local government intrusion on their basic rights,” State Sen. Ed Setzler (R-Acworth) said. “Since then, 39 of 50 states have adopted their own state RFRA laws or seen their courts adopt RFRA-level protections about judicial ruling to protect … people who have faith from overreach by state and local governments.
“RFRA puts their First Amendment right of free exercise on the same level of protection as the First Amendment rights of speech, assembly and press by simply creating a judicial balancing test to weigh out the facts in cases, to make sure that a person’s right to practice their faith versus government powers is matched and balanced and brought together in the fairest way possible.”
However, Democratic lawmakers voiced deep concerns about the potential consequences of the bill, citing personal stories and legal implications that go beyond the text of the law.
“Under this bill, someone could deny me, my husband, my son and my beautiful daughter service out of business and use their religion as a reason to do that,” Sen. RaShaun Kemp (D-Atlanta) said. “So, this isn’t about politics for me. It’s about the ability for my family to live freely in this state.”
Sen. Jason Esteves (D-Atlanta) added his voice to the chorus of opposition, pointing out that the federal RFRA is not the same today as it was when it was first enacted.
“RFRA at the federal level has changed dramatically since then,” Sen. Jason Esteves (D-Atlanta) said. “It does not provide the same protections, and in fact, it is being used across the country to discriminate against people. It is also a fact that there are over 30 states that have RFRA laws in the books, but the vast majority of those states have a civil rights statute in place to protect against discrimination. Georgia is one of the handful of states that does not have a state-level civil rights law.”
Despite the passionate debate, the bill ultimately passed the Senate by a vote of 32 to 23, strictly along party lines.
While the Senate debated matters of religious liberty, the House was focused on legislation aimed at improving public safety and protecting vulnerable populations. One such bill was House Bill 465, which updates Georgia’s emergency alert system. The bill expands Mattie’s Call — typically used for locating missing adults with dementia or other cognitive conditions — to include adults with autism. This development helps missing adults with autism, offering families and law enforcement a faster, more coordinated response when a loved one with autism goes missing.
“This bill is Georgia’s bill that’s saving lives because we can help others find their loved ones and help law enforcement with the tools to find them quicker,” Rep. Carl Gilliard (D-Savannah) said. “There are other states and cities such as Los Angeles, California, Chicago, Illinois, New York, Houston, Texas, and Phoenix that have established this law.”
HB 465 was met with unanimous approval, underscoring a shared commitment across party lines to protecting vulnerable members of the community.
Another bipartisan success in the House was the advancement of HB 123, a bill that would prevent individuals with intellectual disabilities from being sentenced to death. Under this proposed law, courts would be required to determine intellectual disability status during the pretrial phase — effectively barring capital punishment for those found to have such a condition.
“Beyond the legal principles legalities of this,” Tyler Paul Smith (R-Bremen) said, “this bill reflects our state’s shared values and our belief in our state motto of wisdom, justice, and moderation. We must recognize that intellectual disability affects an individual’s ability to understand those complex legal proceedings, not to mention their actions and the results thereof.”
“To put them to death is to punish them for a cognitive limitation that they did not choose,” Rep. Esther Panitch (D-Sandy Springs) said. “A limitation, and in essence, a part of their fundamental human identity. We are not defined by how we treat the strongest among us, but how we protect the most vulnerable.”
That measure also passed with unanimous support — a rare but powerful show of legislative solidarity.
Also on the House docket was HB 79, a bill incentivizing safer firearm storage through a voluntary $300 tax credit. The credit could be applied toward the purchase of gun safes, lock boxes, trailer locks, or gun safety classes. Supporters emphasized the bill’s preventive value, especially in households with children or teens.
“Especially when you have children or maybe neighborhood children come to visit that weren’t trained like maybe you train your own children,” Rep. Mark Newton (R-Augusta) said. “Grandparents that may not think about this. And then, of course, we’ve got troubled teens — that’s almost a redundant to say that because all of us were somewhat troubled when we were teenagers — but it’s a challenge, and it is and occasionally gets to the level of a tragedy.”
Although the measure was largely welcomed on both sides of the aisle, some Democrats argued that it didn’t go far enough.
“What if we passed a bill offering families vouchers for buying car seats, but we did not also have a law requiring car seat use for babies and children?” Rep. Michelle Au (D-Johns Creek) said. “What if we passed a bill instructing car insurance companies to offer lower premiums for drivers with clean records, but we didn’t also have speed limits or DUI laws? What if we passed a bill offering tax credits for swimming lessons and water safety courses, but did not also require safety fences around public and private swimming pools?
“In those cases, I think we can recognize how, despite all the good intentions, incentives alone do not work nearly as well as incentives coupled with regulation.”
Despite those concerns, the bill sailed through the House with a vote of 165 to 8.
As the General Assembly moves closer to the finish line of the legislative session, the day’s proceedings demonstrated both the divides and the points of consensus in Georgia politics. While issues like religious freedom remain deeply polarizing, initiatives focused on protecting the most vulnerable — whether through emergency alerts, legal safeguards, or public safety measures — continue to draw strong bipartisan support.
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