The Holland Report- 2025, Week 7

Week 7

With Cross Over Day fast approaching, Week 7 had the Capitol buzzing with activity.  During legislative days 22 through 25, the number of bills coming up for debate and a vote each day kept increasing. Expect the pace to continue to quicken as we head towards Cross Over Day on Thursday.  While we passed some good bills this week, there were also some bad bills that made it through the chamber. Read below for more, and don't forget to register for our Town Hall on Sunday complete with a Cross Over Day recap!

Health Related Bills

HB124 Autoimmune Neuropsychiatric Disorders Associated with Streptococcal Infection (PANDAS) and Pediatric Acute Onset Neuropsychiatric Syndrome (PANS) refer to a group of disorders that are defined by children suffering from obsessive-compulsive behaviors, eating restriction and tics, following certain infections such as strep throat. HB124 would mandate insurance coverage for medical treatment for children suffering with these disorders. HB124 passed in the House on February 24, and had its first Senate reading on the 26th.  HB373 Continuing on insurance coverage, HB373 would require medical coverage for annual prostate cancer screenings. HB373 passed unanimously in the House on February 28.  HB428  HB428 codifies the right to In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) for Georgians and passed unanimously on Thursday. Conservatives have raised concerns regarding the discarding of unused embryos in the IVF process, and with Georgia's "fetal personhood" provision, IVF being lost as a right has been a genuine fear for many Georgian's looking to grow their families. Having this right codified is a huge step in protecting access to fertility treatments, but as Representative Cannon pointed out, we have more work to do to expand these protections. This bill passed the House on February 27 and is waiting to be assigned to a Senate Committee.  HB227 You may have heard the terms "low THC oil" and "medical cannabis", so what does it all mean? Right now in Georgia we have a medical marijuana law that allows for people with certain conditions to legally posses up to 20 fluid ounces of "low THC oil" derived from the marijuana plant. HB227 replaces the term with "medical cannabis", which would broaden the law and not make it so limited to the described specifications. Additionally, the bill would also add lupus as a condition that could be treated with medical cannabis. Some of the conditions eligible are Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, Autism, AIDS, and Tourettes. HB227 passed out of the House on February 27th.

Higher Education

HB56 This one we actually voted out of committee already, but once it made its way to Rules an amendment was requested and thus it made it's way back to us. HB56 would provide grants to the spouses and children people who have died in the line of duty such as firefighters, law enforcement, and correction officers. The amendment that brought this back to committee includes educators in this bill. This change was a needed one, if we are to understand working in a school means there is a reasonable expectation of danger, the people employed there should have the same rights as other professions with similar risks. However it is a reality that is difficult to accept, and one that I hope we can change, for our educators and for our children.  HB385  HB385 is related to the HOPE scholarship and would allow for successful students seeking education beyond an undergraduate degree to use the full number of hours of HOPE eligibility. This means that students who graduate with their bachelor's degree in less than than four years due to Advanced Placement or dual enrollment courses may have left over HOPE hours eligibility that currently would be lost. With this bill, students would be able to use their HOPE scholarship until its completion as they continue their education. HB385 has been favorably reported by Higher Education.

Happy Black History Month!

HB303 proposes a monument in honor of The Original 33: the 33 first African American members of the Georgia General Assembly. The Original 33 were elected into office in 1868; however, upon taking office, members of the General Assembly, both Democrat and Republican alike, successfully had them removed from office in September of that year. A year later, the Supreme Court of Georgia ruled that African-Americans had the right to hold office in our state, and another year later, in 1870, the legislators returned to take office. In the bill, the monument will either be installed on the Capitol grounds or another prominent landmark in our state as a way to commemorate and honor the work, pioneering, and suffering they endured in their efforts to integrate the Georgia General Assembly. During this Black History Month, I encourage you to take in the words of Angela Y. Davis: "In a racist society, it is not enough to be non-racist, you must be anti-racist.", and ask yourself, what can you do, to continue the work of creating an anti-racist society?  HB303 passed unanimously out of the House on February 28.

HB267

HB267 is one of several divisive bills we have seen this session regarding trans children. This bill would ban trans girls from participating in girls team sports, ban trans children from using school bathrooms contrary to their assigned sex at birth, and replace the term "gender" with "sex" throughout the Code. Sex is primarily a biological term, meant to break down typical physical attributes such a reproductive organs or chromosomes. Gender is a societal and cultural construct, which encompasses the roles we are assigned, identity and behavior. And thus is the term transgender, your gender does not align with your sex. Sex is often used to bully and harass transgender people, as a way to disrespect their gender identity by insisting upon calling them by their assigned sex at birth, like calling transgender men "females". By changing this in the code, we would be writing this harassment into law, as well as other unintended consequences. The school bathroom section of the bill is harmful to cisgendered and transgendered people alike. For trans people, this can have severe effects on mental health. This may lead to trans youth being outed; often we don't know who is trans and who is not, and this will result in a lot of attention about why certain people are in specific bathrooms. Lastly, there is the discussion of trans-girls in girls sports. The proponents of these bills will claim this is to protect young girls, but this is not to protect young women, this is about oppressing trans youth. I want you to consider that there advantages that people of any gender can have in sports, such as height, weight, arm span. And yet we are not policing those attributes so that each player is physically equal. Youth sports are meant for everyone, and for some children, it may feel like the only space they have to belong. This bill protects no one, but hurts so many. We are putting children in the position where their bodies are open for scrutiny by adults in power. HB267 has passed out of the House, and awaits assignment to a Senate Committee

Department of Labor

We so many Georgians facing economic uncertainty and lack of job security, I wanted to take the opportunity to go over some information regarding applying for unemployment.  - Any employee in Georgia who has lost their job, including Federal employees, are welcome to file a claim with the Department of Labor. Whether or not your specific case will be eligible will need to be reviewed by their staff, however they will walk you through what documents and materials you will need for your circumstances. Previously, you could file a claim over the phone, this is not the case anymore. To file a claim your options are to file online, or in person. - To file online you will need to visit the Department of Labor website  , select "Online Services", scroll down, then select "My UI Claimant Portal", and from there create or login to an account, and from there the site will walk you through filing a claim. - For in person services, you may go to the website and scroll over "Contact Us", from the drop down select "Find a Career Center" and from there find a location nearest to you. Their offices are open Monday - Friday from 8:30AM - 4:30PM, and you do not need an appointment. All you need to bring is your state issued ID or license, and it is recommended you go as early in the day as possible for a shorter wait time. - If you have further questions or have feedback on your experience with filing for unemployment benefits, please reach out to me! I am actively doing research on this topic and want to know how your experience could be improved.

Upcoming Town Halls I always want to make sure you are in the loop, and feel informed to what is happening in the people's house, so I will be hosting a post Cross-Over day Town Hall on March 9! Here we will discuss all the excitement of March 6, and make sure you are all up to date and what passed and what we will have to revisit next year. Make sure to register using the link down below! Click Here to sign up for March 9, Sunday at 4:00PM Click Here to sign up for March 30, Sunday at 4:00PMIf you haven’t already, please browse my website, betsyforgeorgia.com. As your Representative, your concerns are important to me. Please contact me at betsy.holland@house.ga.gov or 404-656-0116 with questions, concerns, or solutions you may have regarding legislation or other happenings in District 54. To stay updated, follow me on Twitter and Facebook, and follow the Georgia House of Representatives @GAHouseHub on Twitter. Additionally, in-depth information regarding current bills, Georgia's annual and supplemental budgets, committee meetings, and livestreams from the General Assembly can be accessed via www.legis.ga.gov. I encourage you and your family to visit our State Capitol and my office, where all constituents are welcome. I look forward to connecting with you! My office is located at: 18 Capitol Square, SW 409-B, Coverdell Legislative Office Building Atlanta, Georgia 30334 Thank you for allowing me to serve as your representative. Representative Betsy Holland GA House District 54

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