As the legislative session in Georgia approaches its conclusion, lawmakers are reviving previously stalled bills by attaching their language to active legislation, according to a Mar. 30 report. This practice, often referred to as bringing “zombie” bills back to life, allows measures that failed earlier deadlines another chance at passage.
This process is significant because it can change the content of pending laws and affect which policies ultimately reach the governor’s desk. The tactic can also make it difficult for both professionals and casual observers to track changes during the fast-paced final days of the session.
The article describes how legislators often use amendments and substitutes to attach unrelated proposals onto moving bills. One example cited involved a bill intended to help military spouses gain employment being amended with language legalizing an alternative funerary practice. In that case, House members determined the amendment was not relevant and removed it before passing the original measure.
Recent examples include a Senate Ethics committee meeting on March 20 where a license plate bill was completely rewritten in committee to address regulations around transit special purpose local option sales tax referendums instead. Similarly, three days later, senators passed a bill initially about ambulance regulation that had been altered to propose moving Georgia into the Atlantic Standard Time Zone—a move aimed at eliminating seasonal clock changes.
Another notable case involved HB 1138, which would allow women in Georgia greater access to birth control through pharmacists without needing a doctor’s prescription and permit up to twelve months’ supply at once. During committee discussion on this measure, lawmakers added provisions requiring corn masa products be fortified with folic acid—a vitamin important for preventing certain birth defects—further illustrating how diverse issues can become linked late in session.
While these practices may seem unusual or confusing, they are longstanding features of lawmaking under Georgia’s Gold Dome. Observers will have to wait until session’s end—likened by some lawmakers to Christmas morning—to see which revived measures ultimately become law.
