Latest news with #RickyandAlyssa'sLaw
Axios
01-07-2025
- Politics
- Axios
Georgia laws on hunting, IDs and schools take effect July 1
Over 100 new laws — covering everything from hunting vests to digital IDs — take effect across Georgia today. Why it matters: The new rules affect Georgians' lives in many ways, including changes for schools, health care, employers and law enforcement. How it works: July 1 marks the start of Georgia's fiscal year, which is when most new state laws go into effect. Here's an overview of some of the new laws. 🪦 Human composting: The law legalizes "human composting" — an environmentally friendly burial process that essentially turns a person's body into soil. 🪪 Digital IDs: The driver's license you loaded on your cellphone is now legit in the eyes of Georgia. Law enforcement can scan your ID but are not authorized to search your phone. 🧑⚖️ Fentanyl: People convicted of trafficking fentanyl will receive mandatory minimum sentences of at least five years. ⚖️ Wrongful convictions: People who were wrongfully convicted in Georgia can seek up to $75,000 for every year they served. Under the law, people can also seek attorney fees and other costs if the prosecutor in their case was later disqualified for misconduct. 🏳️⚧️ Trans youth sports: The controversial law prohibits trans youth from playing sports or using locker rooms that align with their gender identity. 👶 In vitro fertilization: Lawmakers approved a resolution protecting IVF in Georgia after an Alabama court ruled that a frozen embryo could be considered a person. The Georgia measure passed with near-unanimous support from Republicans and Democrats. 🩷 Hunting garb: The law permits the use of fluorescent pink hunting vests and other headwear in addition to traditional hunter orange. 📵 Cellphones: Students through eight grade must now stow away smartphones in Georgia public schools. Schools have until fall 2026 to create policies to enforce the law. 💵 Disabled workers: The new law makes clear in Georgia code that employers can't pay workers with disabilities less than the federal minimum wage. 🚨 School safety: Named in honor of two students who died at Stoneman Douglas and Apalachee high schools, " Ricky and Alyssa's Law" requires classrooms to have a panic alert button. 🚁 Vertiports: The law creates a framework for the state to start regulating electric vertical takeoff and landing vehicles, or eVTOLs, specifically where they take off and land.
Newsweek
26-06-2025
- Business
- Newsweek
Georgia Laws Changing July 1: From Income Tax To Driver's Licenses
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. As the new fiscal year starts in Georgia on July 1, a slew of new laws will be coming into force, impacting residents across the Peach State. State Governor Brian Kemp has put his signature on hundreds of new bills, including a decrease in income tax rates, a boosted child tax credit, new rules on phones in schools, and access to new medical treatments for seriously ill Americans. Here's everything you need to know that's changing in Georgia starting next month: Money & Finance Georgia's flat income tax rate drops from 5.39 percent to 5.19 percent, with a plan to reach 4.99 percent over time. The child and dependent care tax credit is expanded, with a new $250 credit for each child under the age of 6. Sub-minimum wages for workers with disabilities are eliminated, ensuring equal pay. Law & Justice Sentences for fentanyl trafficking are now tougher, even for small quantities. Wrongfully convicted individuals can seek compensation; misconduct by prosecutors may trigger reimbursement of attorney fees. Survivors of domestic violence or trafficking can request reduced sentences for crimes committed under duress. Statue of former Governor and U.S. Senator Richard B. Russell on the grounds of the Georgia State Capitol on December 30, 2024. Statue of former Governor and U.S. Senator Richard B. Russell on the grounds of the Georgia State Capitol on December 30, 2024. GETTY Education & Children Regarding schools and families, the following changes have been made: Cell phones and devices must remain stored during K–8 school hours. Known as "Ricky and Alyssa's Law," there is a new law requiring all public K-12 schools to install mobile panic alert systems that connect directly to emergency services. School sports teams must be designated by sex assigned at birth, not preferred identity. Home-study students are guaranteed access to standardized exams from local schools. Schools can no longer expel students for chronic absences alone; supportive interventions are required. Public colleges must report funding from any Chinese-linked sources. Daycare and Head Start employees face stricter fingerprinting and registry checks. Public education funding increases from $300 million to $375 million under the Quality Basic Education Act. Motoring There are only a few changes for motorists starting in July. Some of these are: A phone wallet driver's license is legally valid—just remember to keep a physical copy, too. Heavier vehicles will be able to use local roads, with trucks permitted to be 4,000 lbs heavier (up to a limit of 84,000 lbs) on non-interstate roads. New "America First" specialty license plates will become available. Health In health and family policy, Georgia has: Legalized the use of fentanyl test strips to help prevent overdoses. Adult adoptees will have the right to request their original birth certificates without a court order—known as Andee's Law. Patients with serious illnesses will gain expanded access to experimental treatments. In vitro fertilization is now explicitly protected and defined under state law. Health insurers will be required to provide better coverage for gestational diabetes during pregnancy. Drug reimbursements under state health plans must reflect transparent pricing. State employee health plans must include high-deductible options. Military and Veterans For military families and veterans: Eligibility for burial in state veterans cemeteries has been expanded. Military retirees are now exempt from paying state income tax on their retirement income. Other Changes Some other notable laws include:
Yahoo
11-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Gov. Kemp's amended budget includes $50 million in school safety grants
ATLANTA (WJBF) – The Georgia Senate has given the green light on three legislative bills to improve school safety in the state. Georgia's Lieutenant Governor Burt Jones said these bills will build on school safety initiatives to keep both students and teachers safe. Just last week, Governor Brian Kemp signed the FY 2025 amended budget which allocates $50 million dollars for school safety grants. Senate Bill 17, or Ricky and Alyssa's Law, will require all Georgia schools to have mobile panic alarms to alert first responders. Senate Bill 61 will strengthen the state's law so attempted murders and terror acts towards schools by juveniles will be tried as adults. Senate Bill 179 will require transferring students to show their academic and disciplinary records to the new school within 10 days, and let the parents or guardian to know about the transfer within 5 days. Lawmakers are using the school shooting last year at Appalachee High School on how to strengthen safety. 'In this situation at Apalachee High School, that was not as appropriate as it could have been. Certainly the security officers limited the mortality related to that shooting,' said State Senator Ben Watson. State house lawmakers will review the bills in committee and may add changes to the legislation, but will have to do so before session ends up on April 4. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
09-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Georgia Senate unanimously passes bill requiring panic buttons in all schools
Students wait to be picked up by their parents after a school shooting took place on September 4, 2024 in Winder. Two teachers and two students were killed and multiple students were September, the Barrow County Sheriff's Office was bombarded with alerts of a shooting at Apalachee High School in Winder. The school had issued panic buttons to its teachers a week earlier, which allowed them to alert officers within minutes after a 14-year-old gunman first opened fire. '(The panic button) was extremely helpful in what we did that day of the incident,' Sheriff Jud Smith said in an interview. 'I think there were over 20 alerts from people in that general area that was able to help us (get to) where we needed to go.' The panic buttons were tested at a different school just a few hours before the shooting. 'It had been implemented about a week prior but that was the first day we tested it,' Smith said. '7:30 a.m. that morning is when the first test of it had gone off to let us know that it was, in fact, working.' Even with the quick response, two teachers and two students were killed in the shooting. Nine others were injured. In the wake of the shooting, Senate Bill 17, called 'Ricky and Alyssa's Law', unanimously passed the state Senate on Thursday. The bill seeks to put panic buttons in every public and private school across Georgia, as well as provide location data to emergency services. The bill is partly named after Richard 'Ricky' Aspinwall, a football coach and math teacher at Apalachee, who was fatally shot during the shooting. His name is commemorated alongside Alyssa Alhadeff, who was killed in the 2018 shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. Since her passing, legislation bearing the name Alyssa's Law has been implemented in 10 other states with Georgia following close behind. Georgia's legislation intends to establish faster contact between emergency services and schools by requiring schools adopt panic buttons. 'The goal is to increase coordination, reduce response times and, when a medical emergency or an active shooter type event is happening, basically get people quicker to the assailant, quicker to the incident that's happening and cut time off the clock to save lives,' said the bill's sponsor, Dallas Republican Sen. Jason Anavitarte. The bill would also provide first responders with digital mapping data of schools, such as main entrances or first aid kit locations. In a committee meeting, Aleisha Rucker-Wright, director at Georgia Emergency Communications Authority, highlighted the 'disparate technology' in 911 centers. 'Our current 911 (mapping) infrastructure is still the same infrastructure that was installed in the 1960s,' she said. 'We have some 911 centers that if you were to enter and ask them to show you their mapping data, it's literally a printed map on the wall or it may be a Google map.' Anavitarte said 'over half the school districts in Georgia' already use similar panic button systems. CENTEGIX, a tech safety company, said it already provides such systems to several school districts, including Douglas, Clayton and Cherokee counties. Some gun safety advocates say implementing the bill would face challenges, and they argue the measure doesn't address the underlying issues of gun violence. 'In my estimation, we have so many schools and it would be a very hard job to implement all of the safety features that would prevent against these terrible tragedies,' said Heather Hallett, organizer of Georgia Majority for Gun Safety. Hallett said she isn't against these measures but maintains that regulating gun access would have a greater impact than school panic buttons. '(School shootings) are horrific and they are attention grabbing and I think that it makes people feel very unsettled,' she said. 'But the truth of the matter is unintentional injuries, suicide and regular violence are much bigger components of the problem, and that's the much bigger percentage of childhood death and injury from firearms. 'I just think it's missing the mark. The most logical approach to this is that states that control for access have much lower rates of gun violence,' she said. The bill's efforts would be funded by the $108.9 million in school security grants allocated in this year's state budget, averaging around $41,000 for each K-12 school. With the additional $50 million for school safety proposed in the amended 2026 budget, this adds another $21,000 per school. Lt. Gov. Burt Jones backed the passing of SB 17, along with two other bills – Senate Bill 61 and Senate Bill 179 – related to school safety. In addition, House lawmakers passed House Bill 268, which aims to improve school safety and threat management. All of the bills have until April 4 to make it to the governor's desk before they can become law. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Axios
07-03-2025
- Business
- Axios
What passed on Crossover Day at the Georgia General Assembly
Georgia state lawmakers worked overtime on Crossover Day on Thursday, advancing proposals to ban THC-infused drinks, require moped insurance and continue cutting the state's income tax. Why it matters: Crossover Day is the last opportunity for a bill at the Georgia General Assembly to move from one chamber to another. Though there are ways to get around it, the odds of legislation becoming law get pretty slim if the measure fails to pass the House or Senate by the end of Crossover Day. Zoom in: Here are important pieces of legislation that passed Thursday. Escaped the House Income tax: State reps OK'd cutting the state income tax rate and sending up to $500 tax refunds — legislative priorities for Gov. Brian Kemp that cost nearly $2 billion — to Georgia residents. Democrats said the tax cut would mostly benefit the affluent, with most people living on low and middle incomes seeing a roughly $70 annual benefit. "Y'all, you can't even afford a dozen eggs for $6 a month," House Minority Whip Sam Park (D-Lawrenceville) said. MARTA: Lawmakers approved MARTA's request to mount cameras on buses that will ticket the owners of cars parked in the Summerhill bus rapid transit-only line. More Mulberry: A proposal to expand the city limits of the recently created City of Mulberry to include 45 houses, business and other properties passed with Democrats who represent the Gwinnett County area leading the opposition. Vroom vroom: House reps overwhelmingly supported legislation requiring moped drivers to carry insurance to cover accident liability claims. Survived the Senate Cannabis and medical marijuana: Lawmakers added surprise language on legislation limiting the total amount of Delta-8 THC and Delta-9 THC in hemp-infused products with an outright ban on drinks with the psychoactive compounds. Yes, but: Not long afterward, senators passed legislation upping the maximum potency of low-THC oil available through Georgia's medical marijuana program. School safety: Named after victims of the Apalachee High School and Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shootings, "Ricky and Alyssa's Law" would require school systems to install panic alarm systems. The Senate also approved legislation that would make "terroristic threat of a school or terroristic act upon a school" a felony offense. What's next: Lawmakers in the chamber across the Capitol get to craft — or in General Assembly-speak, "perfect" — laws that affect residents and businesses' rights, safety and bank accounts. What's next: Lawmakers reconvene on Monday, March 10. Sine Die, the final day of the legislative session, is Friday, April 4.
