The final day of the Georgia Legislative session comes with many traditions, like throwing fistfulls of paper, wearing seersucker suits in early spring and, in recent years, failing to pass a bill to allow for medical cannabis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sine Die<\/a>, pronounced \u201csee-nay dee-ay\u201d in Latin but \u201cSigh-nee Die\u201d in Georgia, typically sees lawmakers scramble to get their favorite bills past the finish line before the 40-day session expires.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Legislature\u2019s only constitutionally required job is to pass the state\u2019s budget. This year, the House and Senate approved a $32.4 billion spending plan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Here\u2019s a look at what other legislation made the cut \u2014 and what didn\u2019t \u2014 in the last 24 hours of this year\u2019s convening of lawmakers under the Gold Dome in Atlanta.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Fans of school vouchers<\/a> were hoping this would be the year Georgia would finally expand its nascent program to use millions in state taxpayer money for private school tuition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Supporters say the plan would allow parents the choice to take their children out of poorly-performing public schools. Opponents call the plans a trick to siphon money from public education to less accountable private schools.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The plan got further along in the process than any other voucher plan in recent years, passing the Senate on a party line vote, but it failed in the House, where a handful of Republicans joined nearly all Democrats to scuttle the bill.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A closely watched mental health bill stalled this year<\/a> after getting caught up in the end-of-session politics between the Legislature\u2019s two chambers, though the Senate did end up passing a small portion of the measure before the clock ran out. That bill remains alive for next year, and proponents vowed to continue working on it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI\u2019m disappointed, again, that the value that we saw in the mental health legislation was not shared in the Senate,\u201d House Speaker Jon Burns told reporters after the final gavel. \u201cIt was not able to be moved forward. So we\u2019ll continue to work together. We\u2019ll continue to work with all the senators, not just the Lieutenant Governor, to ensure they see the value in the propositions we put forward that impact every family in this state.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Lawmakers late Wednesday sent Gov. Brian Kemp a law-and-order bill that stiffen prison sentences for street gang offenses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Sen. Bo Hatchett\u2019s anti-gang bill imposes a mandatory minimum sentence of five years for street gang offenses and a mandatory minimum sentence of ten years for recruiting minors, meaning those convicted will not be eligible for reduced time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Sen. Randy Robertson\u2019s Senate Bill 63 would have added more than 30 criminal charges to the list of offenses that require a person arrested to put up a cash bail or property as collateral in order to be released from jail.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Democrats said the bills could result in harsh sentences for people convicted of minor crimes, reversing years of progress in criminal justice reform.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A planned fix for Georgia\u2019s medical cannabis distribution fizzled in the Senate after Senators were affronted at a 50-plus page bill that the House sent to their desks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Parts of the bill were aimed at allowing the Secretary of Agriculture\u2019s office to grant more licenses to produce low-THC oil for patients on a registry with serious illnesses. It would also abolish the state Medical Cannabis Commission and provide new regulations on hemp products.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Athens<\/a> Republican Sen. Bill Cowsert said it would be impossible for lawmakers to know what was in the bill.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe are known as a deliberative body,\u201d he said. \u201cThis is making a mockery of deliberations. You will remember back before Crossover Day, parts of this bill were on our floor, the hemp bill, and it was such a disaster, it ended up being reconsidered, being tabled, never got out of this chamber. This has been on our desk literally maybe two minutes before it was called up, three minutes, I haven\u2019t had a chance to even read it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The 2023 Legislative session ended just past midnight without the Senate considering a bill legalizing sports betting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Lawmakers wagered political capitol on several failed attempts this session to open up the state to letting adults bet on sporting events. The last attempt, House Bill 237<\/a>, never reached a full Senate vote.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A variety of sports betting bills failed to make it out of either chamber, from online wagering to voting on-site at licensed locations and other events via kiosks to a push to open up several horse race tracks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The final gambit steered by Republican Lt. Gov. Burt Jones and Economic Development and Tourism Committee Chairman Brandon Beech was to tack on sports betting onto a bill sponsored by Lyons Republican Rep. Leesa Hagan, who intended to get the southeast Georgia city\u2019s 31-year-old soapbox derby<\/a> declared the state\u2019s official version of the homespun event.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A hijacked HB 237 called for the Georgia Lottery Corp. to have oversight over sports betting and for the revenue to be used for the same purpose as the state lottery\u2019s HOPE collegiate scholarship and Pre-K programs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In a vote 31-21, Republicans passed Senate Bill 222<\/a>, which prohibits nonprofits and outside organizations from donating directly to city and county election offices. The COVID-19 outbreak disrupted the 2020 election cycle, resulting in millions pouring from foundations and other organizations to support local elections in Georgia.<\/p>\n\n\n\nVouchers<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Mental Health<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Crime<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Cannabis<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Sports betting craps out<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Legislators ban direct donations to local election offices<\/h4>\n\n\n\n