Most new laws the General Assembly enacted this year took effect in July.
But some significant legislation or portions of legislation lawmakers passed pertaining to elections, taxes, and health care don't become operative until New Year's Day.
The list includes Senate Bill 189, a controversial election reform measure the legislature's Republican majorities passed along party lines. While most of the 24-page bill took effect in July, three of its provisions don't kick in until Jan. 1.
The most far-reaching of those provisions requires homeless Georgians to use their county registrar's office as their mailing address. While Republicans said the homeless registration provision would help fulfill the overall bill's broader goal of restoring integrity to the voting process, Democrats and civil rights groups said it would disenfranchise eligible voters who happen to be homeless.
"Ill-conceived laws like Georgia's SB189 are a bad solution in search of a non-existent problem," said Damon Hewitt, president and executive director of the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, one of the civil rights groups that filed a lawsuit challenging the bill. "The people of Georgia, especially its most vulnerable, deserve better."
The other two portions of Senate Bill 189 that take effect Jan. 1 allow voters in local elections in the smallest rural counties to use paper ballots and require county election offices to take steps to prevent tampering with absentee ballots.
Two tax measures about to take effect will provide both property tax relief and greater accountability surrounding the various tax incentives the state offers businesses as bait to lure jobs to Georgia.
Georgia voters ratified an amendment to the state constitution last month with 63% of the vote that prohibits local governments from raising residential property assessments in a given year by more than the annual rate of inflation, even if a home's market value has gone up more.
Cities, counties and school districts will be allowed to opt out of the measure if they choose. However, any local government that wishes to take that step will be required to file its intent to do so with the Georgia secretary of state's office by March 1 and hold at least three public hearings.
The Tax Expenditures Transparency Act of 2024 will require the Georgia Department of Audits and Accounts to complete at least 12 analyses each year of state income tax credits or sales tax exemptions. Those reports must include how much the incentives covered by the audits cost in lost tax revenue and whether the tax breaks are delivering the intended economic benefits to the state.
One provision tucked inside a 40-page bill reforming Georgia's certificate of need law governing hospital construction and new health-care services is aimed at helping rural hospitals keep their doors open. Among other things, House Bill 1339 will raise the annual cap on the state’s rural hospital tax credit from $75 million to $100 million, starting Jan. 1.
The program, launched in 2016, allows donors to contribute to hospitals in counties with populations of 50,000 or less and reduce their state income tax liability by the amount they donate. Taxpayers may choose a specific hospital or, if one is not designated, the hospital will be chosen based on a ranking of need.
Two other new laws that take effect Jan. 1 with health-care ramifications are intended to help military families and first responders.
House Bill 880, which passed the Georgia House and Senate unanimously, will allow military spouses to use an existing professional license "in good standing" from another state to obtain a license in Georgia. Supporters said making it easier for military spouses to get jobs in Georgia could help put a dent in the state's nursing shortage.
Another measure that made it through the General Assembly without a single "no" vote - House Bill 451 - will require insurance companies to cover mental-health services for first responders suffering post-traumatic stress disorder from being exposed to traumatic events in the line of duty.
