Policy Updates
Bill Tracking for the 2024 Legislative Session
We aim to engage community members in the policy process through community education and by creating opportunities for individuals to be involved in advocacy. Below is some of the legislation we are keeping track of that may affect AAPI and other immigrant communities in Georgia.
PROTECTING IMMIGRANT AND CIVIL RIGHTS | VOTING RIGHTS & ELECTIONS | ADVANCING IMMIGRANT RIGHTS | OTHER BILLS
Protecting Immigrant and Civil Rights
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SB 420
High Priority
Position: Oppose ❌
Summary: SB 420 criminalizes the purchase, lease or holding of “agricultural land and land” by those deemed to be agents of China, Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Russia, and Venezuela. Some people from these countries would not be able to have “possessory interest” in land that is within 10 miles of military installations, bases, or airports in Georgia, as well as any land that is capable of agricultural use unless zoned otherwise. The bill charges anyone who is found in violation of this law with a felony, punishable by up to $15,000 and between one to two years in prison.
Status: Sent to governor
Related Bills: SB 132 HB 452, HB 1093
Learn More: Op-Ed in Georgia Recorder, AP article, Testimony (3:50-3:54)
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HB 1093
High Priority
Position: Oppose ❌
Summary: A companion bill to SB 420, HB 1093 also criminalizes the ‘possessory interest’ in agricultural land and land for individuals from China, Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Russia, and Venezuela. The provisions in HB 1093 prohibit ‘possessory interest” in land within 10 miles of a military installation, military bases, military airports, as well as critical infrastructure. HB 1093 also requires brokers to have purchasers sign affidavits attesting that they are not a national of one of the listed countries. Noncompliance with the legislation could also result in forfeiture of the land, felony conviction, $15,000 in fines, and one to two years in prison. Anti-Asian and anti-immigrant land laws could lead to the discrimination, harassment, and exploitation of Asian-Americans and immigrants.
Status: Recommitted to House Rules
Related Bills: SB 132, SB 420, HB 452
Learn More: Talking Points
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HB 1102
Position: Oppose ❌
Summary: HB 1102 mandates process to transfer undocumented offenders to so-called “sanctuary states.” This bill poses a number of issues including violating due process, imposing high costs to the state and to localities to transfer individuals, and increases burden to the courts.
Status: Introduced and Assigned to Committee
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HB 301
High Priority
Position: Oppose ❌
Summary: This bill, originally about speed cameras in school zones, was changed in committee to a new bill. This bill would attempt to hold local governments accountable on their policies around sanctuary cities, which are already prohibited in the state of Georgia. It also creates a process that will allow any resident to go to court to get a ruling that says whether or not the county or municipal government is in violation of sanctuary policies. If a court finds that there is a violation, the local government —including law enforcement —will have state and federal funding withheld until they can prove to the court otherwise.
Status: Passed Senate by substitute
Learn More: WABE story
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HB 1105
High Priority
Position: Oppose ❌
Summary: The bill mandates several requirements on local law enforcement regarding the identification and reporting to ICE of all so-called “suspected foreign nationals” who are confined within jails and further entanglement with ICE. The bill would compel local officials to use limited resources to police immigration in their communities or face criminal penalties or loss of funding. It further restricts law enforcement agencies’ discretion in complying with immigration detainer requests, and mandates collection of DNA samples from individuals convicted of a misdemeanor or felony and subject to an immigration detainer. Bills like this one are failed policies that have no public safety benefits. Instead, they harm families and communities and promote racial profiling while weakening trust and relationships with law enforcement.
Status: Sent to governor
Related Bills: SB 136, HB 1415
Learn More: 11Alive story, Testimony (9:30 - 11:45)
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SB 132
High Priority
Position: Oppose ❌
Summary: This bill creates measures to prevent some migrants and refugees from owning land based on their country of origin, and companies owned or operated by those individuals. Pitched as a national security measure against the Chinese government, state legislatures across the country are debating similar measures.
Status: Passed Senate, Passed House Committee
Related bills: HB 452, HB 246, SB 420
Learn more: Statement | Report | Testimony (30m/37s to 34m/37s)
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HB 1359
Position: Oppose ❌
Summary: This bill would entitle property owners to property tax refunds if the value declined or the owner incurred expenses as a result of cities’ adoption of “sanctuary policies” prohibiting local officials and employees communicating or cooperating with federal immigration and law enforcement officers with regards to reporting immigration. The bill also grants property owners tax refunds for declined value or incurred expenses as a result of cities’ lack of enforcement of iissues related to homelessness such as “public camping,obstruction of public thoroughfares, loitering, panhandling, public urination or defecation, or public consumption of alcoholic beverages or illegal substances.”
Status: Passed Committee by Substitute
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HB 1415
Position: Oppose ❌
Summary: HB 1415 requires local law enforcement agencies to take on federal immigration enforcement tasks by requiring them to apply to enter memoranda of understanding with federal authorities to enforce federal immigration and customs laws. This bill threatens to withhold state funding or state administered federal funding from sheriff’s offices or local law enforcement agency and remits those funds to counties for non-compliance.
Status: Introduced and Assigned to Committee (Key portions of this bill have been incorporated into HB 1105)
Related Bills: HB 1105
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SB 559
Position: Oppose ❌
Summary: This bill mandates compliance with ICE detainers and waives sovereign immunity for local governments, officials and employees in “all matters arising from or resulting in violation on the prohibition on immigration sanctuary policies.” This bill erodes community trust, requires additional costs for jails, and opens up agencies to legal liability for damages when individuals are wrongly detained for lengthy periods of time.
Status: Introduced and Assigned to Committee
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SB 568
Position: Oppose ❌
Summary: This bill provides for the State Board of Pardons and Paroles to inquire into and consider individuals’ immigration status when considering whether to probate or suspend a criminal sentence, or whether to grant parole. It also requires the State Board of Pardons and Parole to deny parole to noncitizens if the Board determines that granting parole would frustrate the state’s interest in securing certain and complete execution of its judicial sentences.
Status: An amended version of this bill is now in HB 1275
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SB 721
Position: Oppose ❌
Summary: A companion resolution to SB 568, this resolution proposes an amendment to the state Constitution authorizing the General Assembly to prohibit the State Board of Pardons and Paroles from granting parole or a pardon to noncitizens who were inadmissible or subject to removal at time of sentencing.
Status: Introduced
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SB 569
Position: Oppose ❌
Summary: This bill creates additional requirements for judges conducting bail hearings and prohibits release-on-recognizance for noncitizens charged with a felony punishable by imprisonment of one year or more. It allows prosecutors to charge noncitizens by accusation for offenses which otherwise would require an indictment. And it requires sheriffs, jailers, and deputies to report all noncitizens in their custody to ICE and to honor immigration detainer requests.
Status: An amended version of this bill is now in HB 231
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HB 30
Position: Oppose ❌
Summary: This bill codifies a definition of anti-semitism for state agencies to use to determine discrimination or hate crimes, which includes as examples criticism of Israel. This bill attempts to fight the very real and harmful issue of anti-semitism but fails to do so while creating unintended consequences such as curtailing freedom of speech.
Status: Signed by Governor
Learn more: Statement, Press Conference, Written Testimony,
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HB 136
Position: Oppose ❌
Summary: This bill would require the Department of Corrections to collect data and publish regular reports on the immigration statuses, offenses, and home countries of people in prison who are not U.S. citizens. The bill is not only unnecessary and unconducive to public safety, but it feeds into false and harmful narratives about immigrants, making them even more prone to discrimination.
Status: Passed committee
Voting Rights & Elections
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HB 1207
Position: Oppose Section 1 ❌
Summary: Section 1 adds a new U.S. citizenship requirement for “any person employed or retained by a county election superintendent to undertake any election-related duties.” Current law already requires U.S. citizenship for poll managers and workers; this would broaden that requirement to more jobs. U.S. citizenship requirements are an unnecessary barrier to employment that limits job opportunities for non-citizens.
Status: Sent to governor
Learn more: Testimony (3/18/24, 36:20-38:00)
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SB 367
Position: Oppose ❌
Summary: This bill would eliminate drop boxes for primary and general elections, which would make submitting absentee ballots significantly more difficult. SB 367 especially impacts AAPI and immigrant communities because our communities disproportionately rely on absentee ballots to vote. Especially for English language proficient voters, interacting with poll workers and interpreting the ballot at a polling site could potentially be a deterrent to voting in-person. Absentee voting allows voters an ample amount of time to translate or interpret the ballot to ensure they are making the decision that best reflects their views.
Status: Committee Hearing (no vote)
Learn More: Report
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SB 446
Position: Oppose ❌
Summary: This bill would shorten the early voting period for primary, general, and run off elections by five days. This legislation will disproportionately hurt already marginalized communities in Georgia, including AAPI communities, who rely heavily on advance voting in order to cast a ballot.
Status: Passed Committee
Learn More: Testimony (Hearing on 2/6/24, 49:20-55:50)
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SR 454
Position: Oppose ❌
Summary: This resolution aims to clarify that only citizens of the United States shall have a right to vote in elections in Georgia in the state’s Constitution. The changes proposed in SR 454 are minuscule: the current law already limits voting to “every person who is a citizen,” making the resolution redundant. SR 454 will reword the state constitution slightly, but the changes are minute and technical.
Status: Passed Committee
Learn More: Testimony (Hearing on 2/6/24, 27:48-28:57)
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HR 780
Position: Oppose ❌
Summary: A companion resolution to SR 454, this resolution aims to clarify that only citizens of the United have a right to vote in elections in Georgia in the state’s Constitution. The changes proposed in HR 780 and SR 454 are minuscule: the current law already limits voting to “every person who is a citizen,” making the resolution redundant. SR 454 will reword the state constitution slightly, but the changes are minute and technical.
Status: Passed committee
Related Legislation: SR 454
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SB 411
Position: Support ✅
Summary: This bill would expand an existing voting law granting voters who are disabled and/or over the age of 75 preferential treatment in voting lines to include voters accompanied by children aged 5 years or younger. This expansion would allow voters accompanied by young children access to the next available voting machine without having to wait in line during the advance voting period as well as between the hours of 9:30 AM-4:30 PM on Election Day in both primary and general elections. It would also allow these voters to move to the head of absentee voting lines. Considering that a child must be 4 years old in order to enroll in a state-sponsored Pre-K program, this expansion could remove the childcare burden for voters who may otherwise be deterred from going to the polls.
Status: Passed Committee
Learn More: Testimony (Hearing on 2/6/24, 09:08-10:02)
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HB 559
Position: Support ✅
Summary: A companion bill to SB 411, this bill expands an existing voting law granting voters who are disabled and/or seniors preferential treatment in voting lines to include voters accompanied by children aged 5 years or younger.
Status: Passed Committee by Substitute
Related Bills: SB 411
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SB 222
Position: Oppose ❌
Summary: This bill increases the power of the state to limit county and municipal decisions about how to fund local elections. It was targeted at DeKalb County, one of the most diverse counties in the state, home to many immigrant and refugee communities. The bill threatens counties and elections staff with felonies for applying for or receiving grants to support election administration. It also increases the authority, funding and staff of the State Elections Board and separates it from the Secretary of State’s Office.
Status: Passed and signed into law
Learn more: SB 222 one-pager
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SB 226
Position: Oppose ❌
Summary: This bill would require absentee ballots to include a third envelope with a unique barcode identifier. It creates additional complications and barriers to vote-by-mail for no justifiable reason. Asian-American voters are more likely to vote by mail than all other racial/ethnic groups in Georgia and are also most likely to have their absentee ballots rejected.
Status: Committee hearing, no vote
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SB 221
Position: Oppose ❌
Summary: A 20-page omnibus bill that includes multiple harmful provisions, including complete elimination of absentee ballot drop boxes and removal of a voter from the voter list if their name appears in the National Change of Address database, which could violate procedures required by the National Voter Registration act. Asian-American voters are more likely to use absentee ballots than other racial/ethnic groups in Georgia, Counties with large numbers of AAPI voters and other voters of color, have experienced the biggest mass voter challenges.
Status: Portions of SB 221 have been added to HB 1207 and HB 976
Learn more: Report
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SB 3EX
Position: Oppose ❌
Summary: This bill redraws congressional district boundaries in Georgia. A judge recently ruled that Georgia’s congressional maps violate federal law by diluting Black voting power and ordered the state to fix it in specific areas. Importantly, the judge noted that changes should not harm the voting power of people of color in other areas where combined racial/ethnic groups make up a majority of the population. SB 3EX creates a Black majority district in south metro Atlanta, but it does so by shifting Black voters from other majority-Black districts. It also breaks up Congressional District (CD 7), with the highest percentage of Asian voters in the state and includes Johns Creek, Duluth, Peachtree Corners, Norcross, Lilburn, and Lawrenceville, into three different districts. The bill splits Gwinnett County into four congressional districts, dividing communities, reducing representation for people of color, and causing confusion.
Status: Signed by Governor
Learn more: Testimony (1:43:45 - 1:47:44) NPR: “Georgia redistricting tests if the Voting Rights Act protects ‘coalition districts’”
Advancing Immigrant Rights
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FY 2024 Budget Change
The FY 2024 budget, which runs from July 2023 to June 2024, includes $1.7 million to remove the five-year waiting period for pregnant women and children who are lawful permanent residents, or “green card” holders, and otherwise eligible for Medicaid or PeachCare.
Status: Passed and enacted
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HB 127
Position: Support ✅
Summary: This bill establishes standards for local school districts' outreach to students and parents/guardians who speak languages other than English, with specific guidelines for communications pertaining to children with Individualized Education Programs (IEPs). This bill creates Georgia standards for protections guaranteed to all students under existing federal policy.
Status: Later incorporated into HB 262
Learn More: Report
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SB 264
Position: Support ✅
Summary: This bill would classify refugees, Special Immigrant Visa holders, and humanitarian parolees as in-state tuition students upon resettlement in Georgia.
Status: Committee hearing, no vote.
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HB 131
Position: Needs improvement 🚩
Summary: This bill creates an “opportunity tuition” rate for Georgia’s DACA recipients, which would be at least 110% of in-state tuition. However, the bill contains a provision stipulating that DACA applicants may not be considered for admission until all in-state and out-of-state students have been accepted, rejected, or deferred. It also has strict residency requirements that would require DACA students to have lived in Georgia continuously since 2013.
Status: Passed House
Learn more: Bill Analysis | Testimony (1:45:40 - 1:50:11)
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HB 520
Position: Support ✅
Summary: A comprehensive mental health bill that addresses a range of mental healthcare issues including modernizing and growing the mental health workforce in Georgia. It includes provisions that would help foreign-trained clinicians re-enter practice in Georgia and require the state to study and collect data on the cultural and linguistic competencies of the mental health workforce.
Status: Passed House
Learn more: Report
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HB 333
Position: Needs improvement 🚩
Summary: This bill would create a category of drivers’ permits for noncitizen Georgia residents who are ineligible for a driver’s license, temporary permit, or identification card. Currently, Georgia bars those without lawful status in the US from driving. We would like a bill to include more allowable forms of identification to accommodate people’s life circumstances. A more comprehensive bill would also protect people from discrimination and data sharing.
Status: Introduced
Learn more: Freedom to Drive Bill
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SB 476
Position: Support ✅
Summary: This bill would allow all students who have lived in Georgia for at least three years, then graduated high school or earned a high school equivalency, and are legally authorized to work in the state, to pay in-state tuition at Georgia’s technical colleges, state colleges and universities.
Status: Committee hearing; no vote
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SB 478
Position: Support ✅
Summary: This bill would expand the list of allowable forms of identification for people and proof of residency to allow more people to acquire driving cards and personal identification cards. The cards would be visually distinct from REAL ID driver’s licenses, which would not be able to used to allow people to vote or board planes. It also protects people from discrimination and prevents their data from being shared with third parties without a court order.
Status: Introduced
Learn more: Freedom to Drive Website
Other Bills We’re Tracking
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SB 63
Position: Oppose ❌
Summary: This bill dramatically expands mandatory cash bail for 30 new offenses, including many nonviolent misdemeanors that are often leveraged against people experiencing homelessness and/or extreme poverty. Further, this bill will essentially outlaw bail funds by prohibiting them from posting bail more than three times a year. Individuals or organizations that fundraise for bail funds will also be subject to the same requirements as surety companies, which will reduce the agency of charity bail funds that exist to support their communities. Data shows that crime is trending downward in Atlanta; the purpose of this bill is not to reduce crime, but to increase profits for bail bondsmen. There is no evidence that indicates that this bill will deter future unlawful behavior. This bill would ensure that people experiencing poverty cannot purchase their freedom and contribute to overcrowding in jails and prisons. This will also cost taxpayers.
Status: Sent to governor
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SB 523
Position: Oppose ❌
Summary: This bill creates new code section in the Official Code of Georgia to provides for criminal offenses related to individuals’ and groups’ “material support for terrorism,” including a felony offense punishable by a maximum of 20 years in jail and/or a fine of up to $100,000. The bill creates definitions for the terms “acts of terrorism,” “designated foreign terrorist organization,” “material support of resources,” “expert advice or assistance,” and “training.” Modeled after similar bills in states like Florida, this bill has the potential to criminalize acts of civil disobedience and direct action including those that are a part of the Palestinian liberation and Stop Cop City movements.
Status: Passed committee
Related bills: HB 30, HB 505, SB 359
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HB 381
Position: Support ✅
Summary: This bill extends workplace protections against harassment to include private sector workers. Georgia is one of three states without laws protecting private sector workers. Specifically, this bill would create definitions for workplace harassment, provide for an affirmative defense, create a plan in the case of retaliation, provide a statute of limitations, provide for relief and damages and repeal conflicting laws.
Status: Assigned to House Judiciary Committee
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SB 529
Position: Support ✅
Summary: This bill provides pathways to licensure for qualifying foreign medical graduates licensed to practice medicine outside the United States to receive licensure in the state of Georgia. HB 529 streamlines the licensure process for foreign-trained physicians to practice medicine in Georgia while also addressing healthcare professional shortages, particularly for underserved populations.
Status: Assigned to Senate Regulated Industries and Utilities
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HB 1EX
Position: Oppose ❌
Summary: This bill redraws state house district boundaries in Georgia. A judge recently ruled that Georgia’s state house maps violate federal law by diluting Black voting power and ordered the state to fix it in specific areas. The bill makes dozens of changes outside of the scope of the judge’s order, breaking continuity of representation and pairing incumbents.
Status: Signed by Governor
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SB 1EX
Position: Oppose ❌
Summary: This bill redraws state senate district boundaries in Georgia. A judge recently ruled that Georgia’s state senate maps violate federal law by diluting Black voting power and ordered the state to fix it in specific areas. However, SB1EX creates Black majority districts by pulling from other Black majority districts, and fails to meaningfully remedy vote dilution for Black voters as ordered by the court.
Status: Signed by Governor