Sine Die 2020: Live Updates From The Gold Dome

With the historic 2020 legislative session drawing to a close, GPB News is live blogging the frenzied final day. Follow for all the latest.

10:15 p.m. - Sine Die!

That's it! The session is done.

9:45 p.m. - It will not look liked a blizzard of papers in the House.

Another casualty of the coronavirus at the Capitol will be a less-messy Sine Die. 
 
House Speaker David Ralston told lawmakers not to throw papers into the air, despite the "time-honored tradition," because will be no one to pick them up.

There have been fewer people working under the Gold Dome during this shortened legislative session. Ralston suggested lawmakers begin cleaning out their desks.

8:38 p.m. - House passes budget 104 to 52.

The budget has passed and heads to the governor. 

8:20 p.m. - The House takes up the budget.

 The House is finally looking at 2021 budget, House BIll 793.

Appropriations Chair Terry England introduced the legislation.

"We have managed to do some truly remarkable work for our state," said England. "You have a conservative budget… while confronting the challenges in front of us."

The $25.9 billion spending plan was crafted with more than $2 billion in spending cuts, primarily in education.

8:00 p.m. - COVID-19 liability clears the House

The House approved the "Georgia COVID-19 Business Safety Act," which provides liability protections for businesses that open during the pandemic.

Basically, it protects businesses from lawsuits except in cases of gross negligence, which is incredibly difficult to prove.

Many Democrats are opposed because they feel the language limits potential recourse for employees who are working under unsafe conditions. 

“Businesses don’t get COVID; people get COVID,” House Minority Leader Bob Trammell (D-Luthersville) said.

It heads to the Senate.

Meanwhile, the House is taking up the budget proposal.

4:45 p.m. - Still no budget as time ticks away

We're approaching hour seven of the final day of the legislature and the House has not taken up the budget yet. Speaker David Ralston (R-Blue Ridge) has hinted to House members that they would not burn the midnight oil, but they are still plugging away on bills.

It's 4:45 p.m. and political reporter Stephen Fowler updates All Things Considered anchor Rickey Bevington about the latest developments under the Gold Dome.

The Senate approved a bill taxing vaping products for the first time and raising the age to purchase tobacco products to 21.

That would bring in an estimated $9.6 million and $14.5 million in extra revenue for the state. However, that is far less than the $600 million that was left on the table by not increasing the sales tax on cigarettes,

Other bills, like the controversial push to bar the secretary of state's office from mailing out absentee applications to voters, appear to be a temporary blip on the legislative radar and unlikely to gain final passage.

3 p.m. - Georgia has a hate crimes law

Georgia is now the 47th state to have a hate crimes law on the books. Gov. Brian Kemp signed HB 426, surrounded by Democrats and Republicans from the House and Senate. 

The law enacts stricter penalties for someone who is found guilty of committing a certain crime against another based on their race, sexual orientation, disability or other identity. 

It languished in the Senate for well over a year until the killing of Ahmaud Arbery brought discussion of the bill roaring back to life and a nationwide reckoning on racial injustice inspired lawmakers to act. 

Still to come: the state budget in the House.

Noon - Few bills passed as budget looms in the House

It's lunchtime at the Capitol and the House has yet to take up the budget. Voting takes longer because of social distancing precautions that has spread out the House across two floors and two rooms.

The budget represents about a 10% cut from the governor's original proposal - not as bad as originally predicted and aided by a quarter of a billion dollars from the state's rainy day fund.

There's no sign of gambling legislation, no action yet on nuisance farming and still many many hours to go on this final day.

In other news, Gov. Kemp is set to sign hate crimes legislation at 2 p.m., making Georgia the 47th state with such a statute.

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It's the final day of a long and historic 2020 legislative session at the Georgia State Capitol, and the usually frenzied fight for final passage of bills will look different because of the coronavirus pandemic and a changing political landscape.

Since returning last week after nearly three months away, legislators have approved a hate-crimes measure, extended Medicaid coverage for mothers postpartum, allowed home delivery of alcohol and came to an agreement on the terms of a decimated budget.

MORE: Senate Approves Budget With Deep Cuts But Avoids Furloughs

When the final calls of "Sine Die!" finish echoing through three rooms and two chambers under the Gold Dome, the session will come to a close, and only then will the final fates of many bills be known.

The House must still approve the budget, and legislation addressing casino gabmling, absentee voting, tax breaks and vaping still loom on the calendar. 

Follow along for live updates from the GPB News team throughout the day.