The 2024 Georgia legislative session ended on Thursday, March 28, 2024, also known as Sine Die. Ahead of Sine Die, many lawmakers in the state House of Representatives and Senate tried to resurrect a handful of so-called 'Frankenbills' to get them passed, but only one made it past the finish line before the session ended.

Read below to follow four notable Frankenbills through the 2024 session.

The origin of the 'Frankenbill'

Often, in the legislature, bills that have died are added as amendments to those that still have a chance of passing. Sometimes these last-minute add-ons, often unrelated to the original intent of the bill, turn the pieces of legislation into a mixed bag of amendments, some of which become legislative monstrosities for their size and complexities.

The joke among some lawmakers is that a dying or dead bill trying to be revived through the addition of these sundry parts is known as a 'Frankenbill,' a nickname derived from the story of Frankenstein, English writer Mary Shelley's 1818 horror novel about a scientist who tried to bring a humanoid being to life using animal organs.

Frankenbills are usually born once a bill passes the chamber where they from in a vote. Once that bill passes either the House or Senate, it is sent to the other house to be read and assigned to a committee.

Once the bill is in the other chamber, they can add amendments or drastically change the bill. Bills that undergo drastic changes become Frankenbills.

For a more detailed breakdown of Frankenbills in the legislature, read here.
 

Notable 2024 session Frankenbill contenders

The prominent Frankenbills in the 2023-2024 legislative session addressed several topics and issues, including transgender students in sports, parental involvement in libraries, sex education, and more.

House Bill 1104

Failed: On March 26, the Senate passed House Bill 1104 by a substitute in a 33-21 vote along party lines. The bill did not pass the 2023-24 legislative session as it failed to get a final vote from the House, which had to approve the Senate's substitutes.

HB 1104, or the Quality Basic Education Act, originally would have addressed mental health risks for Georgia student-athletes. It became of the more controversial bills towards to end of the legislature after the Senate added three failed bills to it as amendments. Those three bills include:

  • Senate Bill 532 - Prohibits public school students from learning sex education in schools before sixth grade, and parents and guardians must provide consent to do so.
  • Senate Bill 365 - Public school librarians must notify parents and guardians via email every time their kids check out material from the library.
  • Senate Bill 438 - Georgia Public Schools have to guarantee to stop a person from one gender from participating in athletics designated for persons of the opposite gender, therefore limiting transgender students’ ability to participate in school sports.

 

House Bill 1170

Failed: Like the Quality Basic Education Act, HB 1170 passed in the Senate in a 32-19 vote, but failed in the legislative session due to not getting a final House vote.

HB 1170 required certain state government buildings, courthouses, and university buildings to maintain and make opioid antagonists accessible with the help of the Department of Public Health. This would develop a model policy for training people on emergency opioid antagonist administration.

After passing in the House, the Senate added an amendment to the bill that would have prohibited the prescribing of certain hormone therapies and puberty-blocking medications to minors. 

 

House Bill 301

Failed: HB 301 is another Frankenbill that failed in the 2023-24 legislature after passing in the Senate but failing to get a final House vote.

HB 301 would have revised the amount of civil monetary penalty violations for improperly passing a school bus or speeding in school zones when captured by cameras.

Following it passing in the House, the Senate added an amendment to strengthen the enforcement of Georgia’s current law against sanctuary cities by removing sovereign immunity and ceasing state funding for local governments participating in sanctuary policies.

The updated legislation came after the death of nursing student Laken Riley on the University of Georgia campus in Athens-Clarke County.

 

Senate Bill 464

Passed: SB 464, the School Supplies for Teachers Program, required that the State Board Of Education establish a program for the Department of Education to allocate funds for teachers to purchase school supplies online.

The bills was updated in the legislature adds revisions to the Georgia Early Literacy Act to address universal reading screeners. These assessments measure students' reading skills and identify those at risk of learning difficulties.

The bill would provide a free universal reading screener to public schools and local school systems.

SB 464 officially passed the legislature March 26, after the Senate agreed to the House’s substitute in a unanimous 50-0 vote.

It nows heads for Gov. Brian Kemp’s desk where, if the governor choses to sign the bill into law, it will become effect on July 1.

Tags: Georgia  Georgia Politics  georgia legislature  transgender health  trans athletes