ATLANTA (AP) — Lawmakers in the Georgia General Assembly on Friday are concluding the regular 2020 session of the General Assembly after a months-long recess because of COVID-19. Besides their annual duty of passing a budget to govern state spending, here’s a look at the fate of some other significant issues:
PASSED
HATE CRIMES: Georgia lawmakers acceded to a strong push for a hate crimes law, agreeing to House Bill 426, which would impose additional penalties for crimes motivated by a victim’s race, color, religion, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender or disability.
POLICE PROTECTIONS: Republicans pushed through House Bill 838, which would create a new crime of bias-motivated intimidation for people who commit offenses against police, firefighter and emergency personnel.
DUAL ENROLLMENT: The number of college courses that the state would pay for high school students to take was capped under House Bill 444, which Gov. Kemp signed in April. Most students would be limited to 30 hours of college credit, in a money-saving measure.