We kicked off the 2024 legislative session with five questions for lawmakers as they attempted to navigate the tricky politics of an election year.
With the session officially in the books, we now have our answers.
1. Is 2024 the year Georgia expands Medicaid?
ANSWER: No.
Lawmakers once again kicked the can down the road on expanding access to Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act, leaving Georgia as one of just 10 states that have yet to do so.
Early on, it appeared that the topic would see some serious debate this year, with neither House Speaker Jon Burns nor Gov. Brian Kemp completely shutting the door on the idea.
After House leaders punted, however, Senate Democrats tried taking up the task themselves. But a committee defeated their last-ditch effort in what was the first substantive legislative action on the topic in Georgia in the 14 years since the ACA became law.
Republicans are hoping to give Gov. Kemp’s administration more time to implement new work requirement programs, while Democrats are holding out hope that the issue will gain more traction next year, when election season is over.
2. Will anti-semitism become a hate crime?
ANSWER: Yes.
Efforts to enshrine anti-semitism into state law made it across the finish line after stalling last year.
“Spearheaded by Democratic state Rep. Esther Panitch of Sandy Springs and Republican state Rep. John Carson of Marietta, H.B. 30 describes anti-Semitism as “a certain perception of Jews, which may be expressed as hatred toward Jews. Rhetorical and physical manifestations of antisemitism are directed toward Jewish or non-Jewish individuals and/or their property, toward Jewish community institutions and religious facilities.”
Though many Jewish Georgians have spent years sounding the alarm about a rise in hate crimes, the conflict between Israel and Hamas acted as the catalyst for this year’s push to outlaw anti-semitism. But some opponents of the new law worry that it might be weaponized against pro-Palestine protesters.
3. Will Georgia start paying teachers to carry guns?
ANSWER: No.
Lt. Gov. Burt Jones kicked off the year with an ambitious agenda for the state Senate, where he serves as the presiding officer. Among the many items on the list was an annual stipend for teachers who carry firearms in their classrooms.
But that specific bill never materialized.
The Senate did, however, pass several bills aimed at schools this session that the House never agreed to take up, such as severing ties with the American Library Association and a mental health bill for student athletes that was transformed by Senate Republicans into a host of culture war priorities.
4. What about private school vouchers?
ANSWER: They passed.
Republicans were able to muscle through a bill creating a private school voucher system after a similar effort last year was dealt an embarrassing defeat on Sine Die.
SB 233, or the Georgia Promise Scholarship Act, offers students enrolled in underperforming schools a $6,500 waiver that can be used for other schooling options. Lower-income households will be prioritized first, Republicans say.
Democrats worry that the bill could further harm already struggling public schools, but Republican supporters see it as the first step toward promoting school choice.
Gov. Kemp is expected to sign it into law.
5. “Wanna make a bet?”
ANSWER: I’d rather not.
In what has practically become a pattern every year, gambling lobbyists once again left the Gold Dome disappointed. That’s because lawmakers once again struggled to expand online sports betting and casinos.
A House committee had passed a pair of revised sports betting measures early Thursday morning: one to authorize it and another to amend the state constitution and put the issue before voters this November. But neither one received a vote on the full House floor, a sign that Republican leaders were unable to whip enough votes from within their caucus to reach the required two-thirds majority.
Supporters have long argued that a larger gambling scene would be a boon for Georgia’s economy, with travelers and even some Georgians forced to visit nearby states to get their gambling fix. But opponents, Republicans who tend to be more conservative, continue to look down on the idea largely for religious reasons.
Since Georgia voters must approve constitutional amendments, don’t expect to see sports betting on the ballot until at least 2026.
Here are a few other issues that came up this year.