Previous Legislative Session Information

2023 Legislative Session

Topics discussed included - not all of these passed into law.

  • Amended Fiscal Year 2023 Budget
  • 2024 Budget
  • Representation of minority business enterprise, women and veteran owned businesses in procurement of state contracts
  • Truck Weights
  • Local Government Public Works Law
  • Creation of Commercial Property Assessed Conservation, Energy, and Resiliency Development Authorities
  • Education; energy and cost savings measures; revise definition
  • Extend Sunset on Sales Tax for Construction Projects of Regional Significance
  • Contracts; Eligibility for Licensure Without Examination; Change Certain Provisions
  • Metals Theft
  • Education; eligible students participating in the Dual Enrollment program to access HOPE career grant funds for certain CTAE courses; allow
  • Time off for employees to vote
  • Preclearance of licensing for nonviolent offenses
  • Construction Provider Lien Rights on Georgia Development Authority Projects
  • Georgia Landowners Protection Act

2022 Legislative Session

Topics discussed included - not all of these passed into law.

  • Local Government Regulatory Fees
  • Call Before You Dig
  • Independent Contractors
  • Professional Employer Organizations
  • Exempt Certain Contracts Procured by the State or Cooperative Purchasing Organizations
  • Historic Preservation Tax Credits
  • Expedited Licenses for Military Spouses
  • Comparative Fault
  • Injunctive Relief Against Employers Not Complying with Tax Withholding Requirements
  • Sales & Use Tax
  • Extends sales tax exemptions for the sale or lease of computer equipment to be incorporated into facilities of high-technology companies
  • Revisions to Georgia's Income Tax Rates
  • Protecting Georgia Businesses and Workers Act
  • Apprenticeship Legislation
  • Public Works Retainage
  • Metals Theft

2021 Legislative Session

Topics discussed included - not all of these passed into law.

  • One year extension of immunities from liability claims regarding COVID-10
  • Local Government Regulatory Fees
  • Call Before You Dig Law
  • Independent Contractors/1099
  • Professional Employer Organizations
  • Exempt Certain Contracts Procured by the State or Cooperative Purchasing Organizations
  • Tax credit review legislation
  • Private Plan Review & Inspections
  • Lien Law Clarification Bill
  • Virtual shareholders meetings
  • Electronic Signature on Surety
  • Energy Savings Contracts

2020 Legislative Session

Topics discussed included - not all of these passed into law.

  • Georgia Lien Law
  • Fire Marshal Elevator Inspections/Private Plan Review & Inspections for all Construction Projects
  • Construction Workforce Development Funding in the 2020 State Appropriations Budget
  • Creating a new PE SE License for Structural Engineers in Georgia
  • Georgia COVID-19 Pandemic Business Safety Act
  • Nonprofit Corporations; Directors and officers of electric membership corporations
  • Clarify actions that may be brought pursuant to Code Section 9-3-51 regarding deficiencies in connection with improvements to realty
  • Georgia Major Airport Authority Act
  • Georgia Municipal and Local Government Infrastructure Finance Authority Act
  • New requirements under the "Georgia Civil Practice Act" for settlement offers and arrangements
  • Lawsuit reform
  • Dedication to revenues derived from fees or taxes
  • Sovereign immunity
  • Hate crimes
  • Dual enrollment
  • Mass timber
  • Home delivery of alcohol
  • Military spouse licensure
  • State board of workers' compensation
  • Occupational tax

2019 Legislative Session

Topics discussed included - not all of these passed into law.

  • Private Plan Review and Inspections
  • Georgia DOA Procurement Registry
  • Construction Workforce Development Funding in the 2020 State Appropriations Budget
  • Georgia Business Court
  • Disclosure requirements for those with arrangements to prepare or develop requirements for bids
  • Worker's compensation; certain provisions; change
  • Certificate of Need
  • Georgia's Hope Act
  • State Government - Limited Waiver of Sovereign Immunity
  • Truth in Budgeting
  • Georgia Major Airport Authority Act
  • Changes to the statute of limitations regarding the burial of construction waste
  • Proposed tax on sale or use of building and construction materials
  • Building design elements in on- or two family dwellings

2018 Legislative Session

Topics discussed included - not all of these passed into law.

  • Creating Opportunities Needed Now to Expand Credentialed Training(CONNECT Act)
  • Public works projects must be advertised on Georgia's Procurement Registry
  • Public works: Contractors cannot be disqualified simply because they lack previous experience with the construction delivery method
  • Prevents local government from restricting use of wood products recognized by building and fire code
  • Hands Free Communication in Vehicle
  • Constitutional Amendment to create business court with statewide jurisdiction
  • Georgia Regional Transportation Authority (GRTA) as the new governing entity for all transit
  • Senate Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta Airport Operations and Authority Creation Study Committee
  • Licensing Board Study Committee
  • State Board of Workers Compensation
  • Disclosure requirements for local government consultants  
  • Fairness, Accountability, Simplification, and Transparency (FAST) Act
  • Local Government Occupational Tax
  • House Study Committee on Equitable Taxation under Business and Occupation Tax
  • Changes the statute of limitations regarding the burial of construction waste
  • ESPLOST Allows Funds to be used for M&O
  • ESPLOST Constitutional Amendment
  • Constitutional Amendment that provides for dedication of revenues derived from fees or other taxes to the public purpose for which such fees or other taxes were imposed
  • Governor Deal’s Proposal to Move CTAE to TCSG
  • Consolidation of Fire Safety Services in Georgia Act
  • Georgia Major Airport Operations and Management Act

2017 Legislative Session

  • Corporate Directors
  • Spaceport in Camden County
  • Sanctuary Campuses
  • Tax Credits for Rural Downtown Development
  • Allows Multiyear Registration for Corporations
  • Insurance for City & County Firefighters
  • On-Call Scheduling
  • Sales & Use Tax Machinery Used to Mix or Transport Concrete is Exempt
  • Georgia Campus Carry
  • Failing Schools
  • Low THC Oils (Medical Marijuana)
  • HOPE Scholarship for Dual Enrollment
  • Family Medical Leave
  • Hearing Aids for Children

2016 Legislative Session

  • Encouraged employers to provide work-based learning for students age 16 or older
  • Blasting and excavating near utility facilities
  • Architect/Engineer indemnification
  • License boards
  • Revisions to Georgia's garnishment laws
  • Prohibit the State from entering into contracts unless such contract contains certification that the bidder/proposer does not presently conduct a boycott of Israel

2015 Legislative Session

  • Workers' compensation exclusive remedy defense applies to all claims
  • Transportation funding for roads
  • Partnership for Public Facilities and Infrastructure (P3)
  • Atlanta Belt Line Urban Redevelopment
  • Dual enrollment for high school students in post-secondary institutions
  • Building Officials Association of Georgia Certification
  • Metal theft
  • Payroll card program
  • Coastal Marshland Buffers


2014 Legislative Session

  • Changes to guidelines for state and local fire marshals, inspectors, code officials
  • Clarifications to the Georgia Utility Facility Protection Act (GUFPA) in regard to definitions of excavation, farming activities, milling and white lining
  • Regulatory process for investing in wireless infrastructure
  • Technical college student HOPE Grant eligibility
  • Funding for planning and revitalization of downtown areas
  • Limiting liability for purchasers of brownfields
  • Establishing watershed protection standards
  • Enhanced regulations for fire protection sprinkler and subcontractors
  • Wood framing guidelines for public school construction
  • Tax exemption for private interest on BOR property


2013 Legislative Session

  • Georgia Lien Law
  • Revisions to Public Works Law
  • Clarifications on Workers' Compensation Guidelines
  • Licensing for Returning Veterans
  • Illegal Immigration Reform Enhancement
  • Ethics Legislation
  • State Labor Reforms


2012 Legislative Session

  • Sales & Use Tax Withholding Requirements on Non-Resident Subcontractors
  • Reciprocal Preference Legislation
  • Comprehensive Tax Reform
  • Metals Theft
  • State Contract Awards for Heavy Equipment
  • DOL - State Fire Marshal's Office Reorganization on Elevators, Escalators and Boilers
  • Unemployment Benefits

2011 Legislative Session

  • Helping Contractors Comply with New State Ethics Guidelines
  • Utilities Participating in PACs
  • Immigration Reform
  • Water Infrastructure Expansion, partnering with private sector
  • Lead Pain Renovations
  • Insurance Certificates

2010 Legislative Session

  • The Georgia Water Stewardship Act
  • Amended FY 2010 Budget and Fiscal Year 2011 Budget
  • Transportation - creating ability to hold T-SPLOST vote in regions across Georgia
  • Ethics Reform - Georgia Transparency and Campaign Finance Act of 2010
  • State Preferences to Georgia Businesses
  • Prohibits code requirements for fire sprinklers in homes
  • Employers buying into Georgia Insurers Insolvency Pool
  • Contractors Eligibility for Licensure
  • Utility Contractor License Law
  • Lien Law
  • Revisions to Georgia's Security/Immigration Compliance Act

2009 Legislative Session

  • Illegal Immigrants/Local Government Grants and Benefits
  • Advertising Transit Agencies; Asbestos Pipe Removal
  • Local Governments; Homeowner tax relief grants
  • Ad Volorem tax; change in definitions
  • Income tax credit; purchase of one single-family residence
  • Voluntary Environmental Remediation
  • Motor Vehicles; place of return for tax purposes/tax exemption for heavy equipment
  • Workers' Compensation Advisory Board Legislation
  • Georgia Geographic Preference
  • Metals Theft Legislation
  • Mandated Stream Buffers not Application to Wet-Weather Ditches

2008 Legislative Session

  • Water
  • Transportation Funding
  • Tax Reform
  • Lien Law
  • Contractor Licensing
  • Tax Allocation District
  • Large Forest Conservation Use Act of 2008
  • Energy Efficiency and Sustainable Construction Act of 2008

2007 Legislative Session

  • General Contractor Licensure Revisions
  • Public Works Law Revisions
  • NPDES Certification
  • Construction Contracts/Indemnification
  • Increased Penalty for Metal Thefts
  • Infrastructure Development Districts
  • Career Academies
  • DOT State Contractors
  • Subsequent Injury Trust Fun Modifications
  • Utilities Relocation/Contractor delay Damages
  • Highway Construction Contract Thresholds

2006 Legislative Session

  • Private Architect/Engineer construction plan review
  • Lien Law Revisions
  • Contractor Sales & Use Tax Withholding Requirements
  • Immigration Reform
  • General Contractor Licensing
  • Public/private initiatives (DOT Bond Requirements)
  • Imminent Domain
  • Revisions to the Right to Cure Law